Do the math!

So I have never been good in math, but Bryan is supposed to be this math wiz and he was blinded too.

Preparing for our first day back at school this fall got me thinking. Brady has begun 8th grade... he is 5 years away from high school graduation! Kenzie just began 6th grade - 1/2 way through with her academic career (besides college)! Conner is considered one of the "big" kids in Elementary school. Entering 3rd grade he is a few years away from middle school! And little Jailyn is turning 2 the end of September. Wow! This means that Jailyn will begin Kindergarten when Brady is in his senior year in High School. I will be attending a High School graduation and a Kindergarten graduation all in the same week. WOW!

And next year, Jailyn will begin preschool. (She will qualify for special preschool) This means we will have one child in each school.. high, middle, elementary and preschool.
And we want to adopt another little one! Though we have looked into adopting an infant - I may be too old for this! Another 16 month old at time of adoption is looking better and better! Please pray with us that God will lead us to our next baby or older child!

How did I get here?

Wow! Life sure throws curves!

Don't get me wrong I love my kids but...

Today I found myself, researching Off Campus PE for our 13 year old son. Trying to convince the school that soccer players should have the same rights as a tennis player or golfer, so that he can have 7th period to train for soccer. Forbid a young boy is in PE in Texas and doesn't want to play on the football team... you're not a real athlete. So we have been told from one of the coaches! What are we even thinking that a 8th grader needs to leave school to train for his specialized sport? Is this world crazy or what?

Then I had to argue with my new 6th grade daughter about the school district dress code. We haven't spent 7 years in the school district!!! and every year we have heard about the dress code... but my Angel thinks she knows everything. Amazing how a few days in Middle School makes you an expert in everything! :) Needless to say, 12 minutes after school began we received a phone call from our beautiful daughter asking for a different shirt. "Why would you need a different shirt?" "Tank tops aren't allowed at school." Surprise! Surprise! She had to wait in the office before Dad brought her another shirt. (Dad offered to bring her the shirt - he was just protecting her from the wrath of Mom!) And of course, Kenzie always being positive... while she waited, met a newly enrolled student. They are great friends now. "Mom, we would never have met if I didn't have that shirt on." Oh, give me a break!

This is all after I had to spend breakfast bartering with our 8 year old. After not sleeping well last night knowing that I had promised that I would go to his school to have lunch with him and that I had to break the news that I had to break our date. (I had forgotten that Jailyn had speech therapy at the same time.) "Conner can I make it up to you next week and come eat with you then?" With his sad puppy dog eyes, that break my heart, he shook his head "no". "What if I call your friends Mom and see if he can spend the night?" Jumping down from the kitchen stool he began cheering "yeah! I get a sleepover!!!!!" Hummm... he got over lunch with me pretty fast! Wish the bags under my eyes would go away just as fast.

Last but not least, my darling almost 2year old baby girl! She only has about 25 words and many of them are only understandable by Mom and her speech therapist. There is one word that she can pronounce very loudly, and very clearly! "MmmoooooooM" We may not have the same eyes or skin tone but anyone who sees us in public knows that she is my daughter. Though we all wait for the day that our children say "Mom" Jailyn has learned to say it in a very demanding way. When we are in the car and she doesn't want to hold her sippy cup anymore its, "MmmooooM!!!" Does she forget that I bought a car seat with a cup holder on it? I do count my blessings - atleast she is not chucking it the length of the minivan and spilling juice everywhere!

I am also babysitting an almost one year old boy. He is so cute and so funny! But man is he fast and his favorite place is climbing on the stairs! He is going to give me a heart attack!

Who thought 40 looked like this!

6 months!

Amazing! Can't believe that we were united with Jailyn 6 months ago last Sunday! I am still amazed at how easily she has become part of our family! With a lot of prayer God prepared our family for this journey! Jailyn loves her siblings and loves mommy and daddy! She is so fun to play with, but even more fun to just watch as she gets a feeling of overwhelming joy spring through her body and she just runs and hops across the family room and down the hallway giggling! I wonder what she is thinking when she does this - she just looks so happy!
Jailyn loves swimming! Well, being in the water! She spent 2 hours playing in a friends pool on Sunday and only got out because mom made her! Yesterday we caught her taking her stacking cups to Cosmo's (our black lab) water bowl and playing in the water with her cups. This would be okay except for the fear I have of her slipping on the wet tile floor.
Speech is going well! Her therapist said yesterday that she is catching up to be close to her peers in speech. Her articulation will need extra work because of the severity of her cleft. We are still working on getting her to suck. She still drinks from her bottle and sippy cups on the side of her mouth - so that is my new goal to work on this month. Hopefully, we can break her of this habit! She does smack her lips together after we put on her lip gloss! :)

Update on the rest of the family!
Brady begins 8th grade in a few weeks! One more year of Jr. High! He loves soccer and is all about soccer! He even decided not to pursue football this year, so that he can give all his energy to his club soccer team (that Dad coaches). He is also the Asst. coach of a U-5boys soccer team! The Head coach is a close family friend who is excited to have Brady join him. Brady will also be a referee too - Here's hoping his too busy to get into trouble! :)
Kenzie begins middle school this year, entering 6th grade. She is busy with karate and soccer! Karate is her first love and she is excelling in this sport. She is a red belt presently and her goal is to be a black belt by the beginning of 7th grade! Dad is hoping this will keep the boys at bay! She has also joined club soccer this year (Dad is coaching). She is enjoying this too. Kenzie has been invited to travel with People to People Student Ambassador program for next summer. We will be looking into that more!
Conner J begins 3rd grade! Not sure who is more nervous about this Conner or Mom! He is also into karate and soccer. Soccer being his favorite, like Brady. Conner plays on two outdoor teams, one recreational team, and one club team, (Dad coaches).
He loves both teams! In Karate he is a blue belt, getting ready to test for red belt later this month. At this rate he will be a black belt by the end of 4th grade! Wow!
He wants to interview for the STORM team, Student Team of Role Models. This team helps lower belts learn their drills, patterns, kicks, punches, leadership... He is already looking forward to helping Dad coach Jailyn's soccer team!
Dad is working hard at Raytheon, still in the Naval Reserves, and coaching the kids teams and being the President of Manchester Soccer Club youth division. He loves soccer and has really found his niche!
Mom is busy chasing everyone! and will be baby sitting a little guy this school year. We are also looking into other adoption options and praying that God lead us to our next child. Please pray with us as we begin the adoption journey again. :)
Hope you enjoyed this longer post. Good thing they aren't all like this! :)
Have a great day! My children are beginning to stir for the day... here we go!

Love,
Jodi