Night/Day

This is night.
And now it's day.

I had a conference this morning with Jonah's teacher. It was good. Did you catch that? It was GOOD! After the beast that last year's teacher thought Jonah was, it was so good to hear from a teacher that loves him and attempts to understand him. She also recognized that so much of what Jonah does is not because he's trying to be rude or disrespectful, but there are many times that he just can't comprehend what he's doing is wrong. She gave the example of getting in line when he steps all over the kids. He's not trying to be aggressive; it's a space issue that he hasn't gotten control of yet. (Ironically, this is the area that his OT is working with most-- helping him realize where he is in space).

His teacher also reported that his classmates like him and don't seem bothered by him. This was music to my ears.

I praised his teachers as much as I could. We've noticed such a change in him over the past two months. We definitely have more good days than bad, and for the most part, it seems like he's really trying. We're not doing anything different at home so I credit the therapy and the preschool program for the change-- and the prayer, of course.

This year has been COMPLETELY different than last year. I have a new kid. Now that's something to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Surgery

It's been a crazy fall. There's no doubt about it. I feel odd admitting that I'm in survival mode. After all, I'm JUST a stay-at-home mom (yeah, right) but the additional responsibilities of MOPS and photography have been a bit "taxing" to say the least. I'm typically good at setting boundaries, but with the success of the photography business, and my desire to give everything 100%, I've driven myself crazy!

So, needless to say, I wasn't emotionally prepared for Mike's surgery this week. We've adapted to Daddy spending all his time in bed, and I've been reminded of the ways Mike helps around the house and with the kids-- cleaning toilets, emptying trash cans, cuddling with Jonah after a nightmare, emptying the dishwasher, decluttering the garage, giving Lydia cough medicine in the middle of the night, etc. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband!

He's healing as planned. The doctor reminded us today that his surgery was only one week ago, and there are still many ways he needs to take it easy. We've played lots of Uno and Go Fish!

Thanks for all of you who have helped. What would I do without friends?

Mom Jeans

It feels good to laugh.

Lydieray

Hmm....

I feel like there's been a lot to blog about recently-- like the day I recently spent with college girlfriends or the night that Jonah locked Lydia in the car while it was running or the weekend I spent with one of my best friends from high school or the fact that I'm emotionally disengaged from everyone because I'm too busy to fill my mind with anything but my "to do list" or the fact that, regardless of how I voted, I'd like to tell this country that our president-elect is not, contrary to popular opinion, the Savior-- that would be Jesus.

But rather than spend time on each of those subjects, I'm choosing to show you how Jonah adorned his body last night.

There were some other parts colored in their entirety, too, that I'm choosing not to show!

Harvest Party

I'm very thankful for a good group of friends in town. They're girls with which I enjoy spending time, shopping, talking, and living life. We each have our talents, and it was confirmed that my friend, Dez, has the gift of creativity/hospitality. She planned a Harvest Party last Thursday when the kids were on Fall Break.