Balance.

Life. Parenting. Love. Work. Fun. Balance seems to be our biggest challenge. Trying to prioritize. Trying to figure out where to put your energy. Trying to figure out what is most important in the moment. I can't seem to find the instruction manual on this one and if I did, I know it would change as soon as I could figure it out. We have to take it day by day. Sometimes minute to minute. This is the story of our life.

We make decisions for ourselves.

We make decisions for our kids.

We make decisions for our family.

I find lately that all I do is worry about balance.
First grade has brought on new challenges and new adventures. We will always focus on Owen's goals but we also want him to be part of his class. This definitely causes conflict to figure out how to adapt to the different levels.
Are we pushing too hard? Are we trying to cram too much in? If I take the cues from Owen on a daily basis, the answer is yes. It is all too much. But how will he grow, how will he learn, how will he succeed? We have to push. Thankfully at the end of the day he still tells us he loves us. We can get him to smile no matter how upset he is with the routine he has.

The first few weeks of school are hard. It is hard to find the right adjustments to make it all fit together. It is hard for him to understand all the change. Add on top of that there is therapy after school, being sick and homework.
But I know he is excelling in school. He is happy there. He has wonderful teachers helping him through the challenges and also trying to find the right balance for him. It may just be 1st grade for some but for us it is more. It is a bigger challenge to balance.

A new diagnosis

We've secretly been stressing about a potentially serious health concern for Olivia for the last month and a half. I won't get into all the details but there were multiple signs of puberty showing up and obviously that is not normal for a 3 year old.
Multiple trips to the doctor, on to specialists and off for tests has been our journey since mid July. It has been a waiting game until last Friday when we finally got the official diagnosis "benign premature adrenarche". Sounds scary but actually it is a huge relief becuase what could have been or what it could develop into is potentially very serious. Basically what it means is her adrenal gland is the culprit for now. Her bone age is also showing further advanced than it should so she is growing too quickly. There is no treatment now except to treat her symptoms and do more testing in a few months. Tylenol for leg pains, deoderant for body odor, etc. Never thought I would be in the deodrant aisle looking for a fun smelling, fun looking stick of deoderant for a 3 year old! Luckily the one I picked has her excited and she now asks for me to put it on her.
We have been worried, scared, and reliant on doctors to give us answers. It has been another hard test for us to go through. We learned once again how frightening it can be to google symptoms and potential issues. We learned how scary things can seem when there is so much unknown.

We pray that this doesn't turn into the seriousness we have read about. We pray that Olivia doesn't notice the differences. We pray that we caught this early.

Better late than never?!

A few posts to sum up our last few months...

May...
Kindergarten wrap up.
Our little boy has graduated. Graduated Kindergarten and is moving to FIRST GRADE!!! It was a sad day saying goodbye to his classmates and most especially his kindergarten teacher. It is very hard to express the gratitude we had for her efforts all year. There were so many things that she applied to help Owen succeed that went above and beyond her "regular" job of teaching. Owen's future teachers have some VERY big shoes to fill. But we are not letting her go. She has now become part of our All for Owen team. She is now stuck with us!

 

He may not know all his letters or be able to count to 10 but he made wonderful strides towards his goals we set out for him for the year. At his pace is all we have ever known and at his pace is how we will always approach his unlimited capabilities.

We are proud of his gains and proud of his efforts. He has made long lasting friendships and proved how much of an impact he can have on others. We are now getting excited for his next adventure in first grade. Nervous is an understatement but I know just a few doors down, Mrs. Schnackenberg is there watching out for him!

June....
I know why I never posted in June. Many life changes occurring and too hard to put into words the ups and downs. I look back at the pictures and realize I didn't take too many. I captured some milestones for Zoey and a new adventure for Olivia but beyond that not much.
We were dealt some terrible news around memorial day that PJ's cancer was spreading. The chemo treatments were not affective and there wasn't any hope left. So we prepared, we prayed, we visited, we said goodbye. The kids still ask about him often. Olivia knows he has died and asks many times why. Owen still doesn't know - he just doesn't understand.  He still asks for him to come play and wants to know where he is. Difficult conversations and just no explanation to help him understand.
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We buried PJ the day after we closed on our new house. We've made sacrifices and hard decisions to make it happen but we now have our dream home. We feel blessed, thankful and grateful to have such a wonderful home. We are excited to have the place we want to raise our family in. A place to mark the heights on the walls, a place to call home for many many many many years to come.

Darn Blogger Changes

I would be posting but for some reason Blogger said I am over my limit on photos. I have to figure out a new solution because my posts without photos will be BORING!

Soon. I promise. :)

Take me out to the ball game!

It is that time of year, baseball has begun! We were thrilled to sign up for the Miracle League again this year. The program is so wonderful and just what Owen needs - and what we need to see! It helps build his strength, it teaches him patience and rule following, it gives us a chance to sit back and watch, so many wonderful things. If you ever need a smile just come watch. It is indescribable the feeling you get sitting outside the fence watching these games. The buddies so encouraging. Everyone participates and is treated like the MVP no matter what their ability. The patience that everyone brings and the support you hear from the teammates and crowd. It just makes my heart swell.
Last night was no different. Owen was ready to play. He had his #6 jersey on and away he went. There were a few moments where he didn't want to do what he needed to do. He needed a few reminders to stay in his spot. But overall I noticed a huge change from where he was last year.

Here was his buddy last night. Griffin. He was so patient with Owen and very encouraging. Owen just called him buddy.

My favorite part of the game. Owen hit the ball and was running down the first base line. But instead of running to first base, he headed for the opposite teams bench and started asking everyone for high fives. Cheers buddy, you deserve it.

Even as he runs bases he just wants high fives. He will stop and ask anyone for them. His expression priceless as he pumps his arm and says "yethsss" through his toothless gap.

He has such concentration as he tries to hit that ball.

Zoey made it to her first of many games. Thanks to the help from Auntie Erin!

Playing defense is where we struggle the most. He wants to be silly. He wants to bat. He wants to run around.

Sometimes just laying down is ok too. The best part is that no one blinks an eye. As you can see in the background everyone else is doing their own thing too.

If you are ever interested in watching Owen play. He plays Thursday nights at King park in lakeville. The games start at 6:30 and last about an hour and a half.

Please call me Dragon.

Last week I got a request from Olivia. "Mom please stop calling me Olivia." I asked her what she would like to be called and she responded - Princess. So after about a day of the calling her princess she stopped me again and said "I think I want to be called Dragon instead" and "please ask the family to call me Dragon...Roar". And so it began. Our daughter is going through an identity crisis, eeek.
We have slipped a time or two but she doesn't seem to get to upset with us. On the other hand, anytime Owen calls her "liv" she starts to cry. Not just a little cry but screaming mad cry. "MOM OWEN CALLED ME LIV!"  We try to explain to Owen that she wants to be called Dragon. He smiles, looks at her then laughs a bit. He must think she is crazy. But he than says Dragon and moves on. Next few minutes pass and we start all over.

Personally I think she looks more like a princess than a dragon.

one month down, one month to go

Zoey is officially one month old. The days are long but the weeks are fast. Too fast, it feels like she just came home. She has decided to be our most high maintenance baby. Teaching us that we can't have all easy babies. During the day she is an angel, peaceful, engaging, lovely. But 7-8pm rolls around and she lets us know she really needs us. Colic has arrived. I will be thankful when this phase is over and I can sit down for a relaxing evening after the older 2 go to bed. Her cries are heartbreaking and we try everything to soothe her. She usually calms down around 11pm. But some nights it just doesn't end. We have even resorted to strapping her into the car seat and going for a ride late at night.
I will say though even though it seems like we will never get to bed for the night, she is the most precious thing that it is hard to be frustrated with this face.

We are one month away from our move in date! The house is coming along nicely. This pic is a few weeks old so they have since put all the siding and front finishes on. The inside has been painted and starting to look like a home inside. I am anxious to see the finishes to see all our selections together. Hopefully we made some good decisions! The kids got to take a peak inside this weekend. Olivia is VERY excited and keeps asking if we can go back. Owen is confused at what is going on :)

Sorry for the lack of blog updates. Finding time to get to the computer with more than one hand available has been scarce.