School Daze

Both kids have started school and it is going so great!!

I was a little worried about how Jackson would do.  He didn't like school last year, didn't like reading, I was worried about his abilities and the effort he puts out, but I guess I was just worried for nothing.  He still doesn't love school, but he did admit he likes it better this year.  His teacher is new, but she is very nice and enthusiastic.  He still doesn't like reading but on his placement tests he apparently did very well and scored higher than the rest of the kids in his class. Yippee!  Maybe one day he will have a love of books like I do.

He's made a couple of new friends, but he's still shy, he's a lot like me, and it takes a while to come out of his shell.  Yes I realize most people wouldn't realize I'm shy, but I am.  He has also joined Cub Scouts, which I am thrilled about.  We have begged for him to join sports or something he can be a part of , and this is the first thing he's really excited about.  Will be a big time commitment but it's worth it!

As for my darling baby girl, she's fabulous!  She's such a charming character with lots of spunk and personality.  She started school as well too.  I was worried how she would do, especially since she insisted that she wanted to stay w/ me, but she is loving her school  I had originally put a deposit on a different school, but then an opening in the school I had wanted opened, so I transferred her.  I lost the first deposit, but it's worth it.  She has loved the school since day one, and she's making lots of friends.  I love how she insists there are two Audreys in class, the teacher insists there's only one, and she describes her friends, by the clothes and shoes they wear.  LOL

Vacation

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated.  Things have been hectic, crazy and busy as usual.  We actually took a family vacation this year that was awesome!  We haven't been on a family vacation that was just the four of us, not visiting family, and it was great!

We went to Daytona for 5days/4 nights.  The drive down was long but worth it.  We stayed at a hotel right on the beach.  Elena's never been to the beach and she loved it!  We played in the ocean, the sand, the hotel's pool, the baby pool, it was great!  It would have been even better had I not had a sinus and ear infection and John had some sort of sinus junk too.  We still made the best of it though.

We also spent a fortune going to Sea World, which the kids enjoyed, but don't think we're going to be doing that again soon, it was outrageously priced.  We also went to St. Augustine , played at the Fort and checked out the lighthouse, I love that city so much!!

A time of mourning

Got some bad news this morning, a friend who is like family to us, lost his wife and infant son.

We first met Andrew when he was just a teenager, and was looking for a new job. We hired him and immediately took him under our wings and he became like family to us, almost like a son. He was such a nice kid, with good values, and family was always most important to him. He talked about wanting to get married and having a big family.

We watched him graduate high school, graduate college, get married, and were anxiously awaiting the arrival of his child. We first learned of their pregnancy last year, unfortunately, Ashley (Andrew's wife) miscarried. Another pregnancy soon after, this time twins, sadly, one of the twins wouldn't survive, although it seemed to make the other fetus stronger. An ultrasound showed the fetus to be a girl. Andrew really wanted a daughter, although he had wanted a son first.

I'm not sure of all the details, since John was the one who talked to Andrew, but what I do know is, Ashley was sitting on the couch, apparently didn't feel well, and she died while sitting there. She was only 25 years old. Andrew administered CPR until paramedics came, and she couldn't be saved, but they were hoping to save the fetus. It ended up being a boy, and survived for 45 minutes thanks to Andrew's CPR on Ashley. He named him Elijah Christian McKnight.

So now, here's a man, who we've known since he was in high school, who's great with kids, and became an elementary school teacher because he loves kids so much . That has always wanted a wife and lots of kids, and now in the past year, he's lost two fetuses, a wife, and a child less than an hour old.

My heart mourns for his loss, and I pray that his family can get him through the sort of grief you should never have to face, especially at such a young age.

If you've made it through all of this, please add Andrew and his family to your prayer list.

Thanks and please give your babies and loved ones an extra tight hug the next time you see them! Everything can change in the blink of an eye.

Weekend happenings

Mom took the kids for the weekend, leaving John and I some quality alone time. We went out to dinner and movie one night, the next we got take out and stayed in and watched a movie. It's nice to just have some time to veg.

We stay so busy, when we get some time to relax, it's great! Got the kids Sunday, went to the pool, Jackson is doing so much better in the water, it's great to see! Then we went to a friend's house, let the kids play and adults hang out, it was really nice. Came home in the pouring rain, and had to unload sleeping kids in it, wasn't good, but the weekend overall was great!

Hello again

So not doing so good on keeping this updated, but I don't think many still follow this, so I guess it's okay. lol

Happenings:
First and most importantly is I finally got Elena potty trained. A lot of it was my fault, just too busy w/ work, and going here, there and everywhere, plus she is stubborn, but I bit the bullet and she has done super! She's even consistenly dry overnight, she still has an occasional accident, but I am so happy and so proud of her. So glad we're done w/ diapers!!

School for Jackson is starting much earlier than I realized. We booked our Florida vacation in the middle of August, thinking he started school at the end of August. Well, guess I should have checked because they start at the BEGINNING of August. Bad mommy moment for me, but the kid's just gonna have to miss a little school, because if I change the dates, it costs more.

Things have been a little nuts around here, we've been so busy and pretty much have plans every day of the month, I need to remind myself of my vow to start saying no and doing less.