Nine months ago our lives changed...a new school year started, 7th grade for Luke and kindergarten for Nora, and Jace joined our family within the first week of school. I remember several conversations with Brent last summer about how we were in the calm before the storm. We knew life was going to change by adding baby #3, but we didn't
really know how life would change until he arrived. We also had no idea what other life stuff laid ahead of us.
Luke started 7th grade. It was a smooth transition since he had been in middle school the year before, but he did have the new experience of playing school sports for the first time. He started the year with tackle football. He's always loved the game of football, but hasn't ever gotten accustom to the physical contact. He played 3 years of tackle football in Rochester before we moved, but switched to flag football in Stewartville for 5th and 6th grades. He really enjoyed flag football and he was a little tentative about returning to tackle in 7th grade. He had a good season, worked hard, learned from a great coaching staff, and played well in the positions he was assigned. November - February brought school basketball, which was a good season playing the game he loves the most. March brought another new experience of being on the middle school track and field team. He got experience with sprint races (100m, 200m, 400m), sprint relays, and a few field events (high jump, triple jump, and most often, long jump). It was a fun season watching him compete and grow.
Seventh grade also brought two new class experiences in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) and Life Skills (aka Industrial Tech). I think he enjoyed STEAM more of the two and he says he forgot to bring home his projects from Life Skills so I honestly have no idea, other than his grades, how he did on the projects (building a lamp, cutting out and painting/staining a letter monogram, and making a wooden tic-tac-toe board). In STEAM, he mentioned projects in lego robotics, coding, building circuits, parachutes, and rockets, and learning about Mars.
Overall, 7th grade was a good year for Luke in school, activities, and growing as a person. He's responsible with his school work, takes care of his things, and is always prepared for his day and activities. He's an easy going kid who makes parenting him pretty easy 😊 Plus, he's a great big brother. He adores Jace and will go out of his way to pick him up for a snuggle. He and Nora irritate each other more often, but they love each other too 😏
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| First day of school |
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| Night before last day of school |
Nora started kindergarten. This was a BIG step for our girl. Nora had an amazing kindergarten teacher who knew the ropes after 20+ years of teaching and we couldn't have asked for a better fit for Nora. Meet the teacher and the first two days of school went well...then the struggles began. The transition to school and taking in SO many new things really escalated Nora's anxiety. We knew she had some pretty strong fears with particular things, but we learned this school year just how strong her anxiety is and how many areas of her life it was impacting. Without going into too much detail, we learned A LOT this year about Nora, anxiety, and how best to help her face her fears. We are forever grateful to her classroom teacher, the kindergarten paraprofessionals, and the school social worker who were tremendous in helping Nora (and Brent and I) through this school year and working so closely with us to help her be successful each day. We are also so grateful for an anxiety program we started with Nora this spring (outside of school). It has been a game changer for Nora and has equipped Brent and I as parents. She has made incredible strides in facing her fears and anxieties and we continue to make positive strides daily.
Looking back on Nora's year, it's hard to remember the hardest times, when her anxiety felt all consuming and was very debilitating...but it's also amazing to think of how far she has come and how much she has grown. She is a strong girl who I know will do great things and I am excited to see where she finds her niche and to watch her thrive and excel. It can be very hard to see in the moment, but I know we will look back at this year as a year of accomplishment in the midst of adversity.
Nora is also a great big sister. She is right by Jace's side when he needs something and can always get him to smile and is the best at getting him to giggle. He absolutely lights up when he sees her and she loves spending time with him.
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| Nora's fabulous teacher! |
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| First Day |
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| Last Day |
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| Last Day |
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| First Day |
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| Last Day |
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| First Day |
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| Last Day |
Jace joined the family. Our little peanut had a rough first two months. He was quite unsettled when he was awake, spit up a lot, and slept very little during the days. The days felt long and Brent and I felt in over our heads a lot of the time. Thankfully, even though the days were rough, he slept well at night 🙌 We're guessing it was the result of a maturing digestion track, but in his third month, Jace turned the corner. He could be awake and happy/content at the same time and he got into a more predictable routine. You can see my past posts for monthly updates on Jace.
Today, we have a 9 month old and he's changed A LOT this past month!
Fun - Jace has been a busy boy this month! He mastered getting into the sitting position by himself, started crawling on Mother's Day weekend, pulls himself into a kneeling position, and tries to pull himself up though he's not very successful getting to his feet yet. He also
finally had his second, top front tooth break through the gum...he had a swollen spot for a month before it broke through. Jace loves being outside sitting in the grass, playing in his exersaucer or walker, or going on walks in the stroller (which typically result in a nap). On a not so fun note, Jace was diagnosed with his first ear infection today....actually a double ear infection 😩 He's quite the trooper though as our nurse practitioner said his ears were really bad and she was surprised to see how chipper he was at the appointment.
Sleeping - Jace is still sleeping from 7-8pm to 6-7am. This past month he's been more restless laying down at night since he's mastered getting into the seated position and crawling. This boy has things to do and places to go now so he can have a harder time settling in for naps and bed. We often find him sitting up in his pack-n-play looking in the direction of the door where he knows we'll appear. Once he's asleep for the night, he sleeps well.
Eating - Jace transitioned from pureed baby foods to solid foods this month. We still haven't run into a food he doesn't like. It's nice that he can eat most of what we're eating at meals and gives us a lot more options for his meals. He's still getting 4 bottles a day, but he's not drinking as many ounces since he's filling up more on his 3 meals a day.
Growing - Jace is wearing 12 month clothes and size 3-4 diapers. He weighed 20lbs 3oz today at the doctor which is 60th percentile.
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| Jace loves a selfie! |
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| First month with standing pic |
Nine months ago our lives changed...a new school year started, 7th grade for Luke and kindergarten for Nora, and Jace joined our family within the first week of school. August 2018, we had no idea what all the next 9 months would hold, but we've all learned and grown so much on the journey. God is faithful and he has provided what we needed...sometimes even before we knew we needed it...and other times not as quickly as we might have liked... We are blessed, loved, and filled with hope. I am also so grateful to have Brent by my side on this journey with the 3 we've been blessed to raise.
