September Happenings

Our September was fairly quiet. It is probably the calm before the moving storm we will have at the end of October. Here is a picture of Kimball buying a Lego toy that he paid with using his birthday money. He was so excited to buy a toy with his own money.

Joseph is using up his vacation days before we leave so it has been nice having him home 1 extra day a week. Here is a picture of Joseph and Kimball riding bikes one cool morning that Joseph took off.

The biggest event for the month was a trip to Syracuse. Joseph's new company flew both of us out to look at housing options and paid for 3 nights in a hotel. It was very nice and much appreciated. It was nice for me to see our soon to be home-- meaning the area where we will be living. We don't actually have a house yet, but it was good to look at a few houses that are for sale. We did find an apartment to rent that will rent on a month by month basis since we don't want to be locked into a year lease.

We also took a drive up to Lake Ontario for fun. It was fun to see one of the lakes in person and they are so much bigger than I imagined. It was a little chilly by the lake since it was windy. I was glad I had my fleece jacket. Our trip was mainly for settling business matters so it was a productive trip. The kids stayed in Russellville with a family that moved here recently. Our families connected right away so I felt perfectly comfortable leaving our kids with a family we have only known for 6 weeks. The kids had a BLAST. They were having so much fun they rarely wanted to take a break from playing to talk with us when we called. I was glad they had a good time, I really wouldn't want them missing us for 4 days. Our time is short here in Russellville. We have a trip planned to St. Louis to visit our family one last time before we move so far away. Aside from that trip we have 2 weeks to finish packing. I have packed quite a few boxes over the last 6 weeks, but there is still a lot to do.

Happy Birthday, Kimball!

Last week Kimball celebrated his 5th birthday. He was so excited about his birthday. He told me he wanted scones for breakfast so I made him white chocolate cranberry scones which he loved. I love this picture of Kimball, he is looks so happy anticipating his scone!

Here is another great picture of him blowing out his candle.

After breakfast, we dropped Kimball off at preschool and I returned two hours later to bring birthday treats. Kimball originally told me that for his birthday cake he wanted a mint cake, but later said he wanted to take mint cupcakes to preschool since I don't like mint. I thought it was thoughtful of him to think of me. I was surprised when I showed up with cupcakes and about 1/3 of his classmates said they didn't like cupcakes. I wasn't going to waste the cupcakes if they weren't going to be appreciated so I gladly took home the extras to give to my family. Kimball seemed happy that I brought cupcakes to his class. I picked Kimball up early again from preschool so we could spend the afternoon together since Joseph had a meeting Thursday evening.

Kimball in front of the birthday banner. I can't believe how grown up Kimball looks in this picture. We love him and we are so glad he is in our family!

With most of his presents. More than half of his presents were Lego in some form, but Kimball didn't mind in the least. He also got some money and a bike.

For Kimball's birthday dinner he wanted black bean tortilla pie and a red, white and blue cake. I made a red velvet cake and then the layer of frosting between the cake layers was white and the outer frosting was blue with white chocolate chips to garnish the top. Kimball loved it and the cake was yummy if I do say so myself. I really liked the white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Preschool

Last week was a big week for Kimball. He started preschool on Tuesday. He missed the kindergarten cut off by 23 days so we decided to put him in preschool to keep him out of trouble. He goes to preschool twice a week. The hours are 8:45 to 2:45, but last week I picked him up before the nap time because I don't really want him napping during the day. Kimball LOVES preschool. He was so excited to go back and he was disappointed that he had to wait a day. We are sad that he will only be in preschool 2 months before we move, but we figured it would still be a good opportunity for him to develop some social skills and learn to take instruction from adults who aren't his parents. His first two days he was rather reserved and quiet, but once he is comfortable in his class...watch out Miss Cami and Miss Megan!

Kimball was very excited to get a matching lunch bag and backpack that were Lego! He can't get enough Lego in his life.

Syracuse, New York

Most of you know already, but for those who don't...we are moving to Syracuse, NY. Joseph was offered a position last Friday and we accepted it. It will be a big change for our family, but we are excited about the opportunity. Joseph will start at the end of October or beginning of November. We hope to get all moved in before the snow flies...we will get a lot of snow in Syracuse. I have already bought some snow gear for the children. We have been busy this week getting our house ready to sell. I have painted and painted and painted. Joseph is refinishing our wood floor and will then start on tidying up the yard. We hope for a speedy sale, but then again, most people do.

Dream Big Read!

Dream Big Read! That was the theme for the summer reading program this year. I don't really enjoyed taking the kids each week to the library during the summer because it is so crowded, but they really looked forward to it. We set a goal to read 50 different books this summer. We usually read our books multiple times so if we were counting actual books read our count would have been much higher. The kids got a t-shirt at the start of the program and then each week they got a cheap little prize.

One week the kids did get cups which they love using. Another week for a door prize Kimball won a water bottle. Rebecah didn't care at the time, but throughout the next week as Rebecah saw Kimball drinking from it she started to get jealous. I was SO relieved when Rebecah won the door prize the following week and got a water bottle. They love them so much!

The grand finale of the reading program was a music concert with Brian and Terri Kinder. They travel throughout the state putting on concerts for children singing songs that they have written. At the end of the concert more door prizes were given out. Kimball really wanted a prize, but there were probably 200 kids at the concert. I was so surprised when his name was called with just 6 prizes to go. He won a Kinder CD that is the safety CD the Kinders have made with songs about child safety. I was glad that Kimball's prize was something that Rebecah can enjoy too since she didn't win a prize. I was also glad that Kimball's prize was age appropriate since so many of them were geared toward older children.

Here are the kids with some of their reading program loot. It was so hard to take these pictures since the kids are always moving!

Recovery Phase II: Two Weeks Later

I think I have made a lot of progress in the past two weeks since Joseph removed my stitches. I am able to fully extend my arm and then bend it up to my shoulder. I really had to work at this to stretch the muscles back out. If I keep my arm in the same position too long it is quite stiff when I change position. I stretch it every day to try to keep it moving. Joseph said the stiffness will probably last until the swelling goes away in my elbow which could take months.

My arm just after having the stitches removed.

Two weeks later. My arm is still ugly, but I think it looks much better. The first three fingers on my hand are slowly getting stronger. I was able to push the button on my stand mixer with my left hand on Monday, before that I was too weak and I had to use my right hand. I'll be happy when I'm finally strong enough to push the red button on Rebecah's car seat to release the bottom clasps. I can do my own ponytail now and put my shirts on normally again. I'm sure all of these accomplishments seem rather silly and insignificant to most of you, but they have been huge milestones for me. My last two fingers are still numb, still painful and still weak. At my post-op appointment, Dr. Allison said this could all last 6 months to a year. That feels like an eternity, but hopefully it all will get better. It is frustrating to be trying to spread my fingers apart and straining as hard as I can and my fingers hardly move. Patience, is what I'm learning in addition to other lessons.

Peaceful Moments

Often as a parent you hear a lot of fighting or noise and you just have to stop and enjoy the peaceful times. Here are a few peaceful moments from the last week:

Here is Kimball giving Rebecah a ride. Soon after these pictures Kimball got too tired and crashed so I was glad I got the pictures even though the lighting wasn't the best.

Rebecah and Kimball are getting better and better about playing together. Their favorite thing to do together is to make a "whole big mess" and play in it. I think it is their version of a fort because they get out all or most of our toys and then organize it like a house. Sometimes all of the toy food and blocks get dumped out and sometimes they don't. Here they are with their "whole big mess" as they call it.

Rebecah has pretty much given up naps. She will only nap on her terms so most days she doesn't. I can't really fight her on it too much since my left arm is still pretty weak and I can't pick her up easily, especially if she is struggling. This afternoon while we were reading stories Rebecah wandered into my room and crawled under the covers.

After I finished my last story, Kimball put his head down on the couch and fell asleep. He rarely naps, but has done so twice this week.