A Life More Ordinary

I've had a lot of questions about how Laura Kate is doing, and have gotten a little behind in updating the blog. Sorry. Well, back on the 15 of September, we had an appointment with Dr. Bierwirth, LK's pediatrician. He said she looks wonderful (aside from having steroid face), and that he and the GI and Kidney doctors agreed to begin tapering her steroids. Instead of 6 weeks of a high dose, followed by the taper, she was adjusted to a 6 week course...total! We were pretty excited.

So, we are here, two weeks later, with only two more weeks to go until she's off of the steroid completely. Today, as a matter of fact, we cut her dose in half again. The doctor said that we could take her places, like out to eat, but that we needed to avoid contact with other children. Some people have asked about this. The reasoning behind it is that, little kids can be carrying viruses and things before they show signs of being sick. They proceed to put their hands and toys in their mouths or noses. They transfer their germs to all sorts of things, and then other little kids come behind them and pick them up. Dr. Bierwirth wants to avoid Laura Kate being a picker-upper :) , since her immune system is a little down.

Once she completes the taper, she should be ok. With so many things going around right now, we may opt to keep her out of nursery-type settings for a few more weeks past the taper. We'll just have to wait and see.

The girls are doing really well. They've both mellowed out considerably. We aren't having many meltdowns, and they are getting along really well. And, they're feeling great, which takes a load off of my mind. We've been enjoying the "cooler" weather. We try to be out as much as possible. We've also had a few visitors. A friend of ours asked if we could have people come see us with Laura Kate's condition being as it is. I told her that I usually made folks swear an oath of wellness before being admitted into the house ;) Yesterday, my mom and sister swore such an oath, so we had a nice little gathering. The girls have really missed their cousin Sara and enjoyed seeing her. Below is a picture of this most motley crew:

Laura Kate-2 and11/12, Anna-4 and 1/2, Sara-17 months

We have another little cousin, Madi, on the way. She's set to make her arrival December 3rd...one day after her dear Aunt Keri's birthday. This time next year we will be in for quite a bit more mischief...if that's even possible.

Fun Finds Us

Things have been a little restricted around here in terms of what we can do and where we can go. But, somehow fun always finds us. The girls always have ideas of activities they can do...although they aren't always practical :)

Since Justin had gotten behind with some of his lawn clients, we have had to spend a few nights without him. Not to worry. Our new girls' night tradition is movie night. The girls are on a popcorn kick. They wouldn't mind eating it four or five times a day, so I've reserved it for snack time and movie night. And, movie night it extra special because they actually get to eat AND drink in the living room...note the spill-proof sippy cups below.

We've managed to keep busy these last few weeks home. I've had time with the girls that I've lacked in months past, even before Laura Kate's illness. Being confined has forced me to exercise more patience. I have to close my mouth and open my ears a little more, which is something we have to tell the girls sometimes :) I believe it's brought the girls even closer together. Of course the still argue some, but I think they value the time they have together a little more. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it :) I've found such joy in just observing the girls individually as well as together. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Anna is getting so big! Not only physically, but mentally as well. She never ceases to amaze. She expresses the most creative thoughts. Her imagination never switches off. And her singing has picked back up. I would love to get her into some kind of music or voice lessons when she's the right age. I would like to encourage her to pursue her interests as much as possible. She's such a ham!

Laura Kate is also blossoming. It's amazing how different the girls personalities are. Laura Kate is still a laid back, go with the flow kind of kid. She'd just a soon sit quietly by herself, reading a book, as she would be the center of attention and have a rip roarin' time. Her imagination is almost the caliber of Anna's, and she's acquired her sister's desire to sing and dance. But, I see Anna more as our performer and Laura Kate as our bookworm :)

I just can't imagine being anywhere else right now. I've not only learned more about children than I ever would have as a teacher, but I've learned a great deal about myself. I think of everything I would have missed working, and tears come to my eyes. I've been so blessed staying home with them. The Lord has confirmed time and time again that this is what He wants for our family. Yet, I fear I've squandered a good deal of that time, and I have only one year left with Anna! It's hard to believe she'll be five soon. But, I can't dwell on the mistakes and wasted moments. I just have to keep moving forward and make every minute of the next 11 months count :)

First Day of "School"

If Anna's first day of kindergarten is anything like this morning was, we'll have an interesting year, to be sure. Today was day one of "preschool" for Anna and Laura Kate. A few months ago I bought a school house calendar for the girls. It has the calendar, months, holidays, weather chart, the whole nine. It was only $12, so I picked it up. I just now got around to mounting it onto a cork board. I spent until 3 a.m. (I had a cappuchino from McDonald's at about 8 p.m...big mistake) getting the pieces that we needed for this morning laminated with contact paper. Not as easy as it looks. The rest I'll take to the teacher store and get laminated by the machine. I don't even want to see contact paper for a while.

Anyway, this morning after breakfast we started school. We had calendar time, where we sang the months of the year and days of the week in English and Spanish, we counted how many days were in the month of September, discussed Labor Day, and observed the weather for today. After that we had prayer time and a bible story. They colored corresponding coloring pages. Anna and I worked on letter sounds, beginning word sounds, and handwriting. We had taken a break and were just about to move on to numbers, when she started whining.

But, she is a smart little cookie. My expectations of her are so high. I hope we can both come to a middle ground and work from there. I'm excited to see how quickly and how well she'll pick up on the things we'll do...as I know she will. Aren't kids amazing? Their brains are like little sponges. And Laura Kate's is more like a steel trap. She's like an elephant, she never forgets.

Speaking of Laura Kate, she's doing well. She (and we) is tired of being stuck at home. Hopefully we can get her back to more strenuous activities soon. I think that will help take her mind off of the fact that we aren't going and doing as much as we're all used to. I also think the steroids are making her face swell. It's like her cheeks are on, er, steroids...I guess they are.

Justin and I enjoyed a few hours out yesterday. Our dear friend Nancy called up, unexpectedly, and offered to watch the girls while we got out of the house. We went to eat and catch a movie. We saw Traitor. It was decent. More than anything, we appreciated a little bit of time alone. The girls had fun as well. Nancy read to them, painted with them, and they all played Candy Land. When Nancy left, Anna said she was disappointed- "I wanted Ms. Nancy to stay the WHOLE day!" I'm sure that could be arranged at a later date :)