....in December. Still hoping I can catch up all the fun we had in October and November in the next week, and then FORCE myself to finish blogging 2014 before 2015 arrives in a few short weeks!
In this, the first second third week of December, it is hard to imagine we were in bathing suits and still enjoying pool days less than 90 days ago! But we were! We had fun at Mac and Gramps' house :)
And this kid had a follow-up ENT appointment which showed he had fluid in his ears and he'd already lost one tube.
This happened......Whitney got flowers (seeds) from a little boy in her class. She and S had become really close and our afternoons were filled with stories about S and how funny he is and how smart he is. Unfortunately, he unexpectedly had to move schools in mid-October and Whitney is still a little heartbroken and wishes he said "goodbye" to her. :( Its hard to explain grown-up stuff to little hearts.
I LOVE their love for each other.
One afternoon, as I was feeling overwhelmed by life, I looked down at my hand on the steering wheel and noticed my ring that says, "Faith", and my bracelet reminding me that "the tough times make us stronger". And it was like God's little reminder that life isnt always easy but it gets better (and worse) and He has it under control so we dont need to worry :)
Whitney and I checked out the (inappropriately-named??) "Touch an Instrument" night at her school. She really wants to try the violin next year! We promised ourselves we would skip extra-curricular activities until the first half of Kindergarten was over. We've had a great time learning the ropes of the school and getting to know what things are worth investing in and what we should skip, as well as learning how tiring Kindergarten can be! So we will look into gymnastics and/or ballet in January :)
Some mornings, I just want to keep her home and hang out with my kids all day.
She's seriously so stinking cool.
Homework is the real deal this year! We try to say "We GET to do homework after school!" instead of "We HAVE to do homework after school." She doesnt complain, and does a really nice job getting to work! She asked to have some oils in the diffuser "to help me do really good on my homework!"
This dude loves to help with the trash....
....and provides the perfect amount of distraction and comic relief while big sister does homework :)
So we waited until September for homework to start, and then I was super, duper impressed with the assignments. Whitney's teacher sends home a calendar on the first of each month. Each weekday has an activity or assignment relating to whatever they are working on in class that week, but the calendar also has "challenge" activities and "required" activities. Some math, some writing, some "learn how to tie your shoes and practice five times." Truly awesome and it made me glad that I took the time to have Whitney take the placement test in the Spring so she could end up in the perfect class for her.
Its like he knew I wouldnt be blogging this until December :)
Grady continued to love school, and while he couldnt tell me a whole lot about his day back in September, he now tells me who he played with and what they played and what stories Ms. Bonnie read, etc. He even tells me when he gets in trouble. :) Looking at these pics, its hard to believe he wasnt really talking in complete sentences back then because now??? He's talking in amazing, awesome paragraphs of awesomeness :)
The. Best.
And then, after a loooooong wait....it was Tiger Football season again!
Our microwave kicked it without warning, so these two jokers helped us were "those kids", running around an appliance warehouse as we picked out a new microwave. How can you make kids NOT run and explore and touch and push buttons and open doors in a place like this!? You cant. And you shouldnt.
And a mattress warehouse attached to the appliance showroom!? While I wouldnt allow jumping on the beds, I absolutely encouraged snuggling on beds to try them out :) (while listening to game highlights, of course)
And then, the best husband ever installed the new appliance and ensured that our family could eat once again :)
And this dude loves his daddy!
He was soooo tired and wanted Daddy to play with him, but Eric was pretending to fall asleep.
He tried everything to wake Daddy up and eventually resorted to hitting him in the head. Eric "cried" and told Grady how sad that made him, and Grady felt so bad that he "hurt" his daddy. It was funny to see him show empathy and understand cause and effect :)
Eric's dad's side of the family planned a fun family day to get together and let the cousins play and the siblings catch up! Unfortunately, Eric's sister from out-of-town was unable to make it last minute, but the day was still a success : )
And its soooo amazing to think that this kid was so new to our family and life in America just a year ago. And now? Its like he's always been here. God creates these kids with bodies and minds that are so adaptable and exceptional and amazing. They can overcome anything!
And.....they know technology better than anyone we know.
This kid spends an awesome amount of time with my parents. I never imagined how frequently I would call on my parents to grab Grady from school or spend more-than-a-few-hours with this toddler when big sister's Elementary School has a need for volunteers! My parents have NEVER said "no" when we've asked them to watch the kids, and we can never tell who has more fun during a visit with Mac and Gramps. The kids?! Or the grandparents!?
In mid-September, Eric, Grady, and I got the chance to see Grady's MAPS doctor in-the-flesh while she was here for a MAPS conference in Orlando. This woman is truly the answer to a ton of prayers. She knew exactly how to treat Grady and his MTHFR-related issues, and because of her, Grady went from "the brink of autism" and a "profound apraxia" diagnosis to being a totally typical toddler boy with zero signs of autism or apraxia. Im so hopeful that our journey can help other worried moms help their kids thrive the way Grady has since we met Dr. Hardy!
And THIS girl is another answered prayer! Devon is a Clemson friend of mine from freshman year (think: straight out of high school). Through the magic of Facebook, Devon read my status updates about Grady's speech and health issues throughout last year. When I once mentioned MTHFR, Devon messaged me and told me she might be able to help. I was knee-deep in my own research, so it took me weeks (months?) to take her up on her offer and ask for help, and it was hands-down the best move I made in trying to help Grady. Devon connected us with Dr. Hardy who is an MTHFR genius, and was able to truly recover Grady and give him words. Devon will always have a place in our hearts and prayers. :)
This girl brings home more sand each day. Had I known how much she was going to bring home in her shoes (and pockets and hair and cuffs and ...) I wouldve invested in a sand box!
for. real.
Whitney had her Kindergarten picture day in September. Seriously? How stinking cute is she!?
Woulda been a great pic, right?!
And I got to work in her classroom that day!
and that afternoon...thankfully AFTER pictures were done, she decided that her shoes werent the only way to cart sand home! She made her FACE a sandy transport!
(Seriously!? She hadnt been on the playground in an hour. Howwww does sand stick like that?!)
As soon as the Halloween/Fall decorations were up at Disney, we got to Magic Kingdom!
I loooove adventures with this girl :)
And then? Our Rapunzel got to meet THE Rapunzel. And it was epic.
THE Rapunzel pretended to trade places with OUR Rapunel. So Whitney/Rapunzel was starting to greet the next set of guests who really wanted their photo taken with THE Rapunzel. It was super cute and Whitney giggled the whole time. :) Thats just part of the reason we love going to Disney. The kids experience something magical like this on every visit!
And the parades are always a hit :)
The first several weeks of school, Grady only wanted to play at school. He wasnt interested in the structured activities. He liked storytime and going on the playground and playing with the toys. That's what two year old preschool is all about! But towards the end of the month, he started joining in the activities and sorting things by color and shape. Pretty cool to see him enjoy it so much!
This is a frequent scene in my life. Picking my kids up from my parents' house and both Mac and Gramps lingering at the car windows giving high fives and belly laughs before we head home. Im so grateful that these moments occur on a weekly basis instead of months and months apart. I remember my Grandma Mac standing in her driveway waving to our car as we headed back home from Ohio to Connecticut, and Im so glad my kids get to live so close to my parents.
Before-Bed Family Weezie :)
Whitney comes home with a handful of papers each day. One day she brought home this "part of an apple" worksheet she'd completed in class that day. I recognized it right away and knew it was a worksheet I had given my second graders when I was teaching! Second grade work?? LOVING her teacher and school!
Whitney and Eric started Awana at church again in September, leaving me and this guy home alone on Wednesday evenings. He wanted to go with Daddy and Sissy, so in an effort to distract him (and a momentary lapse in sanity), I trucked out the Polar Express box. He was SOOOOOOO happy!!!
I love catching happy pics before school in the morning :)
I leave the smudges on the kids' mirrors so they can see their baby handprints :) I will miss those little smudges.
We got a text in September that Dad/Gramps had ANOTHER hole-in-one! Now my parents each have FOUR holes-in-one!!
And not surprisingly, Whitney's first progress report was AWESOME! She had all "S" for Satisfactory! (The Kindergarten equivalent of an 'A')
We are SO proud of her!!
Whitney had her Anna Halloween costume for months, thanks to Mac and Gramps. But we needed to get an Olaf costume for Grady, so we headed to the Halloween Store. Let the belly laughs begin!
(Out of order)
Congratulations FaceTime with Mac and Gramps when Whitney got her progress report!
It was still brutally hot in September but we managed to get outside for some bubbles :)
and swings!
Whitney's top teeth were wiggly for a while, and finally started to show signs of breaking free!
And I love when life slows down and I get time with my girl to myself.
All gone!!!! She is so brave!!
The trip to the Halloween Store was a huge success :)
Olaf was ready for his entrance!
And somehow. One night. I found myself looking through pet rescue websites at all the dogs waiting to be adopted. And imagine my surprise when I came across this guy:
Mac got Grady from his bed after a nap one day. He loves his Mac.
I love when the playroom suddenly seems too quiet, and I peek around the corner and find this:
So I was in the kitchen one afternoon when, to my surprise, Grady comes around the corner with Bubbles' fishbowl in his arms. Mostly empty. Wow.
Thankfully, Bubbles had juuuuust enough water to cling to life, but I called for Eric and followed the trail of water to Whitney's room, where I found this:
Poor Bubbles mustve had quite an adventure! He (she??) typically sits nicely on Whitney's dresser. We've had the discussion with Grady re: not feeding Bubbles, but never imagined he would actually try to take Bubbles on a walk! Boys are ridiculous.
So, Eric rescued Bubbles while Grady and I cleaned up the pebbles and prayed the fish water smell would subside (it did). And Eric said, "Yeah, let's go get a DOG. That'd be GREAT."
Sigh. Grady was NOT helping my case in the "Whitney (and I) want a dog" showdown.
But I couldnt get this dog outta my head and I had already called the rescue offices to learn more about the mutt who looked JUST LIKE Bailey!
His name was Wiley and he was rescued from a kill shelter in Alabama back in July. He was estimated to be about 10 months old and they told me he was good with kids. They said he would be at PetSmart in Orlando that Saturday, so we told the kids we MIGHT get a dog and that we wanted to go meet him. Eric and Whitney went to the store and came home with an orange collar. I knew Eric would give in eventually :)
We drove to PetSmart and the manager Id spoken with introduced us to Wiley. He immediately fell to his back, paws in the air, and was wagging his tail! He loved us right away!
It was like we were looking at Bailey. My mom, who had been vehemently opposed to us getting a dog, saw the picture of Wiley and said, "You have to get that dog." She and my dad offered to buy the mutt for Christmas, and with the finances figured out, Bingo was soon to be ours. :)
We got to spend a little time with Wiley in a private room during the adoption event. He was sooo Bailey, but a younger, more energetic version.
He just kept falling to his back, asking for belly rubs. He was good with the kids right away, and we all kept calling him "Bailey" or "Bay" by accident.
Whitney really wanted a small lap dog like Bennie or Libby, our favorite dog-sitting friends. But I was certain we needed another Bailey-sized dog, and once she laid eyes on Bingo, she was in love.
I mean. Really??
He was too sweet to leave there.
Three months in, I can tell you that Bingo is part of the family. He is soooo good with the kids. He's a lot likely Bailey in a lot of great ways, and after some major separation anxiety issues, he has earned his way out of a cage. He was an escape artist and was literally injuring himself trying to get out of the cage while we were away.
Hindsight is 20/20 and while I love Bingo, I shoulda listened to our five year old and gotten a lap dog. Whitney would do great with a dog she could actually walk and carry around. And it woulda been a LOT of fun to have a small dog under the Christmas tree next week.
But. We really do like having a dog around again. Sorta.
We had some growing pains as Bingo's tranquilizers wore off real personality emerged in the weeks after becoming a Bass. And we quickly realized that a giant one-year-old dog has way more energy than we were used to. He's good. He hasnt had any accidents in the house (unless you count the five or six GIANT piles of crap he left in various rooms around my mother's home the second week he was home....that was something.) and he doesnt have any of the concerning food or territorial issues some older rescues can have. He knows which toys are his and knows not to touch the kids' toys.
He is smart. He graduated from training class and knows "sit" and "down" with 95% accuracy and "come" when indoors. Outside? Notsomuch. He has gotten loose a few times, but always comes back and knows which house is ours. He has a great routine, going outside before Eric leaves for work in the morning and again when Eric gets home, and then one or two times during the day if Im home. He really is a GOOD dog. He just has a lot of energy, and we forget what it was like when Bailey was this age/stage. So its taking some adjusting for the human Basses.
Whitney drops everything to find Bingo in the house and smother him with kisses and cuddles. She LOVES him.
And he gets soooooo excited when she gets home from school!
The first night we had him, some of our besties came over. Bingo was like a big puddle of snuggly mush.
And at first, he was GREAT on a leash. Whitney walked him without any issues and we had no concerns that he would hurt her. Now? He likes to pull too hard and she cant walk him yet.
These two jokers got used to the cage in our room :)
And I cant count the number of times I see Bailey in this mutt.
It was love at first sight :)
Copy cats! (err...dog?)
And in other news, the second tooth finally broke free!
That makes SIX lost teeth at five-and-a-half!
Whitney and Grady got post cards from Papa and Ms. Martha! She was SO excited! She loves getting mail :)
Bingo was a good walker for a while and we are working on it now. But for a while, he allowed both kids to "walk" him.
What's better than going on a walk with your grandparents?!
1----2--------3!!!!!!!!!!
"Again, Gramps!"
Seriously?! She's so stinkin' pretty :)
Bailey?! Is that you!?
Bingo:
Bailey:
September had other fun and excitement, too! More pool days and some fun at Mac and Gramps'!
And lots of funnies:
Laying Grady down. He hugs me and says, "Grady make mommy happy!" I got tears and said "you sure do, Buddy! Are YOU happy?" And he smiled, burped, and said, "'scue me. Yeah. I happy."
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