Merry Christmas 2016 and Happy NEW YEAR!

This is my last post of 2016! I didn't write much here this year because, well, we were busy! My boys and I reflected back on the year today. WOW. What an incredible year. We made tons of memories that will never be forgotten. It'll go down in the books as one of our biggest. I am grateful for everything that 2016 brought our way. We are praying for another year filled with great memories, adventure, family and good health!

This month was crazy. At times I wanted to hide in bed for days, but we kept marching on and made some great memories with loved ones. We hosted Dan's family on Christmas Eve, my dad and stepmom flew in the following day and the day after we had my sisters and their families over. We have the best families and it's another big thing we are grateful for!

We have been loving our new house! It has been a comforting spot for us all and I don't think there's another family who would love it and feel as blessed to have it as we do. We say prayers of gratitude every day.

The boys had a fruitful Christmas. They received a few prize gifts and were genuinely grateful for everything, even though they didn't get everything they wished could have fallen into their laps. We made an effort to focus on giving more than ever this year, so hopefully it rubbed off a bit.

My dad and stepmom left today after being here for almost a week. We loved having them here and both boys were so sad not to have their Grammy and Gramps tuck-ins tonight. More fun memories with them were made this week.

We accomplished a momentous feat today. The glorious locks were chopped! I personally love long hair especially on Sammy, but both boys looked so super handsome afterward. Look at my handsome boys!

I am going to make more of an effort to get here more often this year. There are constantly so many funny/cute things coming from these boys and I need to be better at writing them down. More to come soon! Thanks for checking in!

Tears and happiness

For the past two years we haven't known exactly how much Daylight Savings has impacted Elijah's sleep because everything else was totally chaotic. It was impossible to pinpoint the main pieces of the puzzle because we were basically existing in the middle of a tornado. Now that things are much calmer, we have been able to see that Daylight Savings wreaks havoc on our early bird. That one teeny tiny hour of change sends our oldest boy into a tailspin. We have seen wake-up times between 1:30 and 4:30 for the past few weeks. Today he slept until 4:46 and I practically did cartwheels around the house! We will find our way back to a better place slowly. 

Last Friday Dan and I went to the boys' school to watch Elijah and the rest of the third graders do a Veterans' Day performance. Honestly, it made me sad and I wish we could redo it. Right away I could see that Elijah was upset. His teacher told me that he was nervous, but I know my boy and I could see that something specific was bothering him. I noticed that every kid was holding a flag...except for him. I knew he was upset about this. I frantically looked around for an extra flag that I could grab and bring to him, but I couldn't see anything. Aside from interrupting the music teacher, I didn't know what else to do. I stood and watched my boy cry through the entire performance. :( He stood so still with his arms folded in front of him, occasionally reaching up to wipe tears from his face and not doing a single action or singing a single word. I have been beating myself up, thinking I should have done something! I don't know what, but I should have been able to make him happy! The good news is that when it was his class' turn to come down in front and do a dance, Elijah participated! He didn't just participate...he did GREAT! He did all the actions! That turned things around for him (and for me). 

On Saturday we were so lucky to be able to spend time with my cousin's cutie pie. The boys were BEYOND excited to have Veda over! She is such a sweet girl and they all play so well together. The three of them played "Inside Out" and created some Play-Doh animals and then we headed to see the new Peanuts movie. It was such a fun day!

And on Sunday, thanks to Hope Kids, we were able to watch a live Timberwolves game! KG is back! I worked at Timberwolves games years ago, so I felt right at home. It was fun to watch the boys take everything in.

My silly boys with their pants pulled up just a tad too high! :)

Yesterday after the Twolves game, our boys were TIRED. Sammy was being especially sassy in the car and started doing some uncharacteristic whining that lasted for way too long. I said, "Sammy, can we please stop the whining?" He whined back to me in the longest, most drawn out voice: "WHINING IS WORTH IT!" Dan, Elijah and I exploded in laughter.

The boys got Operation Christmas Child boxes at church on Sunday, so today after school we picked up some goodies to put inside the boxes. I LOVED watching them get so excited about blessing kids who are less fortunate. I let them pick out what to put in the boxes (with some direction) and they took such pride and were genuinely so excited about making other kids happy. Tomorrow they will write letters to the kids and we will drop off the boxes together so they can experience the entire process. I love that they are old enough to appreciate and understand the concept of giving!

We have noticed some definite self-awareness in Elijah lately that is good...and bad. He is starting to see how other kids see him and he doesn't like it. He tells us all the time, "Everyone thinks I'm dumb." It kills me. We do our best to assure him that he is so super smart. That he is SUCH a good boy and so loved and liked by so many people. Even though this hurts my heart, it is also good. It's good that he is starting to look outside himself a bit. This will be a process for him, but we are here to love him and help him through it.

Both boys got their report cards today! Sammy's report was excellent. He is doing so well in kindergarten. We are so proud of him. Elijah's report was great, too! We are proud of how far he has come in the past year (heck, the past almost nine years!) and we see every "little" success as a very huge thing. Instead of getting hung up on current challenges, we see the progress and it encourages us and makes us so happy. There is SO much progress being made these days and we see every bit of it. We see it all, Elijah!

Thanks for checking in! Hoping you all have a wonderful week!

On Charlotte 2015

Our time in Charlotte with my dad and stepmom went by way too fast. It always happens that way, I suppose since we are in the good company of family. The second we pulled in their driveway, we felt right at home (as always). My stepmom had the perfect beds prepared for each of us. I got a bedroom ALL TO MYSELF....complete with comfy bed, pillows and a fan. And across the house from the boys. I slept great! All of us slept well!

The morning after we arrived, all of the boys dressed up as cows so they could get a free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. I love this picture! :) Gramps is such a good sport. (By the way, we barely got Sammy in this outfit and out the door looking like this.) 

The boys got to watch TWO movies in the theater while we were there. Inside Out for the first time (they loved this one soooo much and are still talking about it daily) and Minions for the second time. Check out these cozy recliner movie theater chairs!

We checked out a local museum one day. The boys had fun running around. Here they are doing "creepy bug faces."

Bath time! Washing off the sunscreen and sweat from the day!

While we were there, my dad/stepmom offered to watch a friend's dog for a few days. They have a dog of their own (Juan), but (sorry Juan!) he's a little bit grumpy and old. Elijah and Sammy were SO excited for Daisy to arrive! Oh my goodness, they were squealing and running in circles when she came up to the door for the first time. She is an old dog, too, but she is so laid back and gentle. The boys and I adored her.

Before we left, Sammy drew this picture for Juan and hung it by his bed in the living room. "So he will remember me!" :)

The boys did story time with Grammie and Gramps every night. A special end to every day!

We went to the Lazy 5 Ranch again this year and this time we drove through it in the car. We drove along the winding path through tons of wildlife, feeding them, talking to them, telling them to GET AWAY, squealing, but loving the entire adventure. We were told NOT to feed or pet the zebras, so Sammy dissed this guy right away.

I loved feeding a giraffe from the sunroof. He was by far the most gentle creature we encountered during the entire adventure. He accepted the food gingerly, almost with gratitude. We all loved him!

Elijah and Grammie, playing on the ship at Lazy 5!

We made it to their community pool 3 or 4 times. The boys had a blast! They loved their swim noodles and time in the water. Sammy began "swimming" (with the help of his floatie and a noodle under his armpits) across the entire pool by himself...kicking, paddling with his hands and all! I was so proud of my boy! He is becoming more adventurous all the time!

When we went to the park by their house, instead of playing on the swing or slides, Sammy started picking up garbage. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I HAVE to clean up this litter! Is there a recycling bin around here?" That's my organized, thoughtful Sammy. As we got in the car to leave, he saw a stray piece of garbage he had missed and felt terrible about leaving it behind.

I love making memories with my precious boys and my parents. This summer's trip was so much fun. We get to see Grammie and Gramps again this coming weekend in Iowa and we are all excited for it. Dan and I constantly express gratitude about our boys have such loving grandparents. Thank you, DAD and PAULA for being so kind, gracious and selfless! We love you guys and love that you let us invade your home without a single complaint.

We drove back to Louisville for a QUICK night after our time in Charlotte, and drove the rest of the way home the following day. It was a long one! The last few hours were rough, involving potty in pants, a smelly car, a VERY windy car ride, VERY loud and excited-to-be-home boys and a VERY crabby mama. I literally pulled into our driveway, got out of the car (without closing the door) and ran inside to ask Dan for HELP. An hour later we were all feeling much better (and sleeping).

This coming week is a busy one for us. Hoping you are doing well and thank you for peeking in!

Berries and behavior

Soccer and swim lessons are done...hooray! It's sad, too. Sammy cried at the thought of not seeing his teammates again. He does not like change!

On a fun note, the boys and I picked berries for a Hope Kids event yesterday. It was fun and filled with flying beetles that were VERY attracted to Sammy. Despite that, we loved picking juicy strawberries. We picked three pints and they are all GONE! Yum!

I love these smiling faces!

We found a heart-shaped berry! 

I met with Elijah's Fraser social skills therapist by myself on Monday and had an unexpected reaction to our visit. I hadn't met with her sans Elijah since February. I explained to her what we experience daily... the fact that none of us really sleep past 4am and that we are often changing sheets and cleaning up accidents in the middle of the night and that we are constantly on edge and TIRED and we never know what to expect with behavior. C literally dropped her pen onto her pad of paper and said, "Megan...this is TOUGH stuff. Your lives are not the norm. PLEASE be easy on yourself."

Ugh...unexpected tears..

I know this, and I feel like I almost try to hide it from people. I never want anyone to feel like we think we are stretched more than anyone else. EVERYONE I know feels stretched beyond their means. Life is crazy for everyone! But things are tough here. C was validating.

I mentioned the medication Dr. M had prescribed and she felt like we should just try it. Why not?! My brain says, "Ha!" I have prayed so hard about this. Elijah is SO sensitive to meds and usually has such a negative reaction, but it is so enticing to try SOMETHING.

Dr. M thought we would know within two to three days if this med wasn't a good fit. This morning I handed E the capsule and prayed, "If he can't swallow it easily, it's a sign." He swallowed it easily. Overall, behavior today was slightly above average. We'll stick with the meds for a few more days before committing.

To be continued!

Super fun weekend with friends and surgery tomorrow.

The little boys and I spent a day at home after spending a super fun weekend with our awesome Texas friends. We were so sad to say good-bye to them this morning. I feel like we gave them a very accurate "slice" of our summer lives in the three full days we spent together. The kids had so much fun playing, no matter where we were at. The Legos and blocks (and snuggling) were huge hits while we were at home.

On Friday, our first full day together, we went to Minnehaha Falls and let the kids run and play. We had a picnic lunch and walked along the roaring rapids. I didn't get a single photo while we were there because Elijah had a really rough stretch, which I'm happy to report was the only "really" rough stretch of the weekend. 

On Friday afternoon we headed to a lake near our home to take part in the 4th of July festivities. Here are 4 of the 5 kids walking hand in hand. So sweet!

Elijah and Gracie have a special bond since they are both heart survivors. They are drawn to each other, which is so sweet. On our walk to Round Lake, Elijah wanted to hold Grace's hand and didn't want ANYONE else to hold his other hand at the same time. It was a Gracie-Elijah-ONLY moment for him. :)

Grace, Bennett and Maggie are the cutest, sweetest, kindest, most polite kids. I fell totally in love with them this weekend (their parents, too!).  

The kids jumped in many a bouncy house that evening and ate deliciously greasy-yummy food and played their hearts out. We made a spur-of-the-moment decision to have Dan take Elijah home a bit early so he could get some rest. That meant that he would miss fireworks. :( I was so torn about this. I always want our boys to experience everything they can. But...making sure Elijah gets his sleep is so super important these days. He seemed ok about leaving, and it actually brought a silver lining....no, TWO silver linings! On Dan's/Elijah's way to the car, they ran into my good friend Pam and her family so I was able to connect with them after Dan texted me about running into them! And...Elijah got an extra two hours of sleep.

The next morning we went to a beach/splash park and ate lunch at a yummy burger joint. After cleaning up, we headed to the dropzone. This is how the kids felt at that point..

Every kid except Sammy fell asleep on the ride to the dz. Jennifer made her first skydive with Dan and loved it! I am always so happy to share the sky with people! I think I got an adrenaline rush off of her adrenaline rush!

After jumping, we grilled out and cooked s'mores and attempted a few fireworks (before freaking 60% of our children out and stopping). ALL of the kids slept really well that night. We sufficiently wore them out.

The next day was church (sooo thankful the Coopers came along with us!) to listen to Dan's dad preach (super awesome message) and then we headed to the Mall of America. It was nuts, as expected. Here is Elijah, studiously perusing a map while the kids waited for the carousel.

Gracie and Elijah had a blast on the "fast cars" together! I love this pic. :)

And that was sadly the end of our journey! Our amazing friends left to head back home early this morning. Elijah cried genuine tears when they left. This was the first time I have EVER seen Elijah express true emotion about missing someone. He cried in my arms for at least five minutes, sobbing, tears falling onto my arms, as he said, "I misssss Graaaacieeee...." over and over. :( It was so sad, but Dan and I were both happy about the true emotion that he expressed. This is not typical for him. I never want my boys to feel sadness, but knowing that E feels that kind of emotion is a good sign.

Sleep/behavior in a quick nutshell... We had stopped the Clonidine (sleep med) and started a low dose of Valium almost two weeks ago. We got a fitbit and had E wear it on his wrist overnight to monitor his sleep. On the nights we were able to put him in bed by 7:00ish, he was actually getting 9.5ish hours of sleep/night. That is decent sleep! That told me that when he woke up looking like a completely wiped-out zombie, it was likely the meds that were affecting him. Dan and I made the decision to stop giving him the V mid-last week. Since then, we have seen only one major behavior incident (at the Falls on Friday) and a few minor issues. He looks much less zombie-ish and seems overall much more well-adjusted. This morning he slept in till...are you ready for this? 7:00am! This literally NEVER happens! We are still seeing him purposely try to anger us on occasion, but it gets out of control much less often. I am on the anti-med train for now. To be continued.

Ear surgery #3 is tomorrow at 11:00! We have NO idea what to expect. We are praying hard for a much better experience than last time. I'll do my best to post timely updates. It is so super easy to write something quick on Facebook, so glance there first but I'll eventually get it here. I feel like I haven't seen Dan in ages since he has been working so much, so I'm off to relax with him for a bit before bed. Thank you for checking in and I hope you all had a safe/fun holiday weekend!

Declaring FUN TIMES!

I don't write about many fun things on this blog these days. This year has been HEAVY in so many ways. I want to bring fun back! I declare today until July 8th (E's ear surgery date) FUN TIMES! I got home from work tonight and got my camera out. It's so rare that I take fun pics of the boys anymore, so I decided to change that. Check this out! Elijah can now ride a bike with training wheels! Uhhm, maybe don't tell Sammy since this is technically his bike. Sshhh.

It's a good thing I had the urge to get my camera out because I otherwise may not have noticed that it was BROKEN! A day before shooting a wedding, followed by another wedding on Saturday! Ugh. So tonight I scurried and found an upgrade at a nearby Best Buy. I'll pick it up in the morning, charge the batteries, learn the camera and head out to photograph my friend's wedding! Thankfully Dan's sister agreed to watch the boys tomorrow so that Dan can come along with me. This gives me an immense sense of peace. There is no one in the world who makes me feel more peaceful than Dan, so having him at my side eliminates anxiety. Please pray that our boys do well away from home tomorrow night (they've never stayed overnight with this awesome auntie before) and that Dan and I take some great wedding photos!

The boys are donning new summer shirts that they LOVE. They were both so excited to wear them today.

Thanks for checking in on our cutie pies! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

(Isn't this little Sammy ADORABLE? Oh my goodness, I love him soooo much!)

4th of July 2013

Whew! I'm trying to get caught up before our trip, so things have been busy! Most of the time my nose is in my computer while the boys play. Or fight. :) I keep apologizing to them and promising that for the next three weeks I'll hardly have my computer open at all.

We had an awesome 4th of July. It was the first time we took our boys to see fireworks! Dan had the day off, so we were all able to spend the day together. It was an awesome day. There is nothing better than seeing smiles on these two little boys' faces. We started the day off with some outside pool/sprinkler play-time. Then we headed to Grandma's for dinner and hammocking and sparklers. Then it was off to Round Lake to enjoy festivities. Bouncy houses and face painting and ice cream and fireworks. The boys...ok, we were ALL...exhausted by midnight. Honestly, I don't think the boys have ever stayed up that late. It was definitely a treat for all of us, but well worth the sleep lost.

I'll post some favorite 4th photos below! Enjoy!

I have one more post coming before we leave for our trip on Tuesday morning. After that, I likely will not have a chance to post here until after we get back (July 26th). When we are home, I will compile a huge post with photos and details. If you want to follow our daily trip details, find me on Facebook. I believe anyone can peek at my timeline. I'm under Megan Weiss Porta.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!