There are some teachers out there who are angels sent from Heaven!

We had another meeting at Alex's school today to finalize his hew IEP for the new school he will be attending. He only has one week left at his old middle school. I feel like everyone has been so great and have gone out of their way to help him. I was feeling a little sad that we were moving him as everyone has commented on how much they enjoy having Alex around. And then I talked to his PE teacher, Ms. Woods. I've met her before, but it was just briefly. So we got to talking and she told me she was so sad and shocked to have Alex leaving her class. She told me how much she loved him and his personality. He always kept them on schedule, always knew when the bell would ring, and wouldn't let the other kids try to cheat or misbehave. He never was a problem in her class and she was so good for him! She's been teaching forever, and she said she wanted to go where Alex was going! I was so touched by what she said that it made it even harder to have to say goodbye to his old middle school. What was even more touching was that she told me that the class never let him be the last one chosen. You never want your child to feel left out or different, and when they have disabilities, you are even more protective of them. What a great PE class he's had. I'm so grateful that he's had such a good experience. Just because it's a GIGANTIC place, doesn't mean there aren't people who care. It makes me feel good to know that when Kate enters middle school next year that there are a lot of good teachers out there wanting the best for our kids. Especially a certain PE teacher named Ms. Woods.

It's been one year!

Last year at this time, on General Conference Sunday in October, we brought Seth home from the hospital! He's been home one whole year! I remember the first night he came home, I slept maybe one hour. He was on oxygen and a pulse oximeter and I was afraid it would alarm during the night and I wouldn't hear it, even though his crib was right next to my bed! He's twelve pounds heavier now than he was than and much more mobile. It's been a long stressful year when I think about what we've gone through with just him. At least he sleeps during the night, well he does wake up twice to still eat, but he always goes right back to sleep. He's an alarm clock, though, as he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. every morning, give or take a few minutes. I don't know how he knows, but he does. He still takes to naps a day, though, which gives me a little break. The bruises on the forehead are starting to appear as he tries to climb up to everything, and falls occasionally as well. I love the little guy!

Goodbye September!

Can you believe that September is over already? Tomorrow starts the first day of October. Remember as a kid when time went by so slowly? Now I don't have enough hours in the day to do anything! I'm so far behind, I'll never catch up! So what am I trying to do in my few small moments I like to call spare time? I've got two quilts for the girls in the making, I'm trying to organize my bedroom, I've started doing Family History work again, Sarah's got me into jewelry making, and then there's the organ that I should practice more and the guitar that sits dusty in the corner. But I must admit that this computer finds more of my time than any of the other things I want to be doing. I've got to get off this computer! Ok, I'm gonna work on more of my room right now! TTFN!

Seth's Due Date!

Today we are celebrating Seth's due date, September 26th. It will kind of be like a second birthday party for him. The kids want to make him strawberry shortcake. I'm not sure if Seth will like it, but it sounds good to all of us! Seth is 15 months old now. He is pulling up to everything. It seems he is mastering everything the PT shows him how to do in about two weeks time. Two weeks ago we were teaching Seth how to go from the crawling position to sitting. Two weeks later he's doing it like a pro. This is how his crawling came along as well and going from sitting to crawling position. He mastered all these two weeks after he'd been taught. Now we are working on cruising. He pulls up just fine but doesn't quite know how to sit back down yet. And beware the stairs, he knows how to climb those. We are still on formula, though. I need to find out what's up with the whole milk. I mentioned before it makes him smell so sour. We tried soy milk, but it's way more expensive than formula, so we just continued buying formula. Sarah mentioned trying rice milk as it is even different than soy. We'll give it a try! We love you little guy!

Karsten exploring the deep depths of his nose!

So yesterday I put Karsten in the bathtub for a bath. After washing him down, I left the bathroom and told him he could play for a little while I went and did a little cleaning. After he'd been playing for a time I hear him start crying about his nose bleeding. So I come to the bathroom and find him with a bloody nose. I asked him how it happend. At first he said he didn't know, but then I asked him if he was picking at it. He then told that there was a lego in his nose! He had stuck one in each nostril. The bloody nose was from him digging one out. Apparently the other nostril still had one in there! So we dried him off, pulled out the good ol' tweezers, and got the little sucker out! This reminded me of when I was little and stuck buttons up my nose. Fortunately for Karsten he did not have to go the ER to have them removed. His weren't that high up!

Letting Go!

So Kate decided she wanted to do Emily's hair this morning and Emily was in agreement with this, so, what the heck! I come up stairs after they had been up there for awhile and Kate has Emily's hair in six braids! Then she ties all the braids back. It wasn't too bad, but I had laugh to myself because I remember putting six pony tails in my hair and going to church that way! I know, it's all practice, and eventually they will get really good at it. I love that the girls aren't self conscious, and I hope they never get that way. Kate's personality is more like that, she doesn't care what others think, she does what she wants. Haven't decided how Emily is in that area yet.

Healing

When you've gone through a traumatic experience, does the pain of it ever end? It is true that time heals all wounds, as it is over time that you actually deal with it. I love Seth, and I am thankful he is part of my life. How fragile life is, perhaps this is why I worry so much about him. I think it is much harder looking back on all that happend than it actually was going through it. That is probably why when we read of other people's trials we don't understand how they make it through. Heavenly Father is with us when we are facing these things and that makes all the difference. Perhaps if we remember Him as we mourn for those around us, He can help us through theirs too. I hug Seth, and all my children, a little tighter now, and give them a few extra kisses as other angels return to Heaven, some a little early. "Oh what songs of the heart we shall sing all the day, when again we assemble at home, when we meet ne'er to part with the blest o'er the way, there no more from our loved ones to roam! When we meet ne'er to part, oh, what songs of the heart, we shall sing in our beautiful home. Tho our rapture and bliss there's no song can express, we will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er. As we greet with a kiss, and with joy we caress all our loved ones that passed on before; as we greet with a kiss in our rapture and bliss, all our loved ones that passed on before."