Six months....where did you go?

A few days ago, after a sweet friend told me she looked at our blog, did I realize it has been 6 months since I posted? What? Wait a minute, where is the new and enthused Nora from New Year's? You know the one that was going to post at least weekly? I think she is somewhere between piles of laundry (both clean and dirty), changing diapers and making doctor's appointments, and working...you know "real work" (the kind that brings a tangible paycheck) :) I had/have the best of intentions and I know that my poor girls are going to wonder what happened in this last six month span if I ever am able to use this blog as a journal. So I am going to attempt to catch us up to present day and then attempt the whole blog updating again!

First of all, our sweet Julia Kate is starting 3 year old preschool at Temple in Winnsboro on Monday! We are all still stunned that she will be four in October! I can still remember exactly where we were when Jason looked at me and said "Aren't you scared?"...after all the talk on us becoming parents for the first time. She is the absolute joy of my heart and the best big sister a little sister could have!

We were blessed enough by Dad (our pool boy) to have a blue, blow up swimming pool in our backyard this year. She has loved swimming "in the pool", hopefully next year she will take swimming lessons. JK and Dad planted, tended and reaped the benefits of a garden this year. We enjoyed tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers and a few squash. The squash didn't last long with our HOT days this summer, JK wasn't really a fan anyway...maybe next year!

Julia Kate attended Camp Darby for the first time this year, well it was the inaugural year! Camp Darby was held at Uncle Dennis and Aunt Darby's house on Lake St. John. Julia Kate joined her cousin Paige and a few "cousin-in-laws" for three days of fun with Aunt Darby, Uncle Dennis and her MK. This was her first camp experience, swimming in the lake and making macaroni crafts! She had a blast!

JK has made every doctor appointment with us for Kelsey. She absolutely loves to stay in a hotel and eat at Chili's. When I asked her where she wanted to go on vacation she said "Let's just go to Shreveport and stay in a hotel"....she is such a trooper. She loves to ask for me to "bring Kelsey in my room, we gonna play restaurant" or babies, or kitchen, or anything that will keep Kelsey's attention and JK will be in charge.

Now she is off to "school". She told me last week that she wasn't going to school, she was going to Temple! We have been back-to-school clothes shopping and she is set! I will keep you posted on how the transition goes, today was her last day at MeMe's house. She has been there since she was 8 weeks old, a lot of transitioning for us all.

Kelsey is 22 months old and weighs close to 20lbs (rounded up) :)

She is doing wonderfully, physical therapy four times each week, occupational therapy once and speech therapy once. We are blessed with so many precious therapists that love Kelsey just like she was their own. I have come to realize that it has to be a calling, like becoming a NICU nurse, it is a ministry and you have to be a very special person. Kelsey will sit independently for maybe 30 seconds, sometimes longer depending on what she is focusing on and how well it is working. She does crawl/scoot on her belly if you hold her trunk, she isn't bearing weight yet on her arms and legs fully.

When meeting with her CP doctor and therapists we have always discussed communicating. That is on the top of my list for "wants" with Kelsey. Now, to say that I don't want to belittle walking or sitting or standing, because I absolutely want her to do all of those things. BUT, I want her to be able to communicate with us, whether verbally or otherwise. I have spoken with mothers whose children couldn't communicate and that was one of the hardest issues to work through. If she is in a wheelchair for the rest of her life, that really isn't that big of a deal, but if she can't speak to us or communicate with us, that is an entire different story. She is learning to say so many different words and I know that her big sister is aiding in that every day, good or bad :) Kelsey can say Mama, Dada, baby, bye, MeMe, bath, no and thank you. She is doing great!

Kelsey had eye surgery at the end of June to try and correct her crossing. Dr. H, her eye doctor, in Shreveport, cut the inner muscles of her eyes to try and help them straighten. Well, we went for a 6 week checkup yesterday and we are back in glasses and dilating one of her eyes everyday. Hopefully when we go back in 8 weeks he will see much improvement.

In these last six months I have read a wonderful book by Ann Voskamp on being thankful, on FOCUSING on being thankful and seeing God in the small things too. Sometimes, a lot of times, I am running all day long and missing what He has for me to see. A few of the things I am thankful for are: sweet sisters laughing in the car on the drive home, wrinkled itsy bitsy toes after bubble baths, warm breezes, brownies baking, sore cheeks from laughing.......I am learning to stop and just stand still, sing another verse or read another story and cherish. I am learning to cherish.

Here are my reasons: