Kid Update: August 2016

It has been awhile since I have posted an update on the kids in general.

Grace: I will admit that after her last outburst on May 8 after which we considered having her in respite somewhere for awhile and dreaded the reality of summer... she did pretty well this summer! She went until the night of her first day back at school without another one of those types of incidents. Three months is the longest she has ever gone between them. We are thankful for that, and very thankful for a summer where we all got to breathe a little and just enjoy her:) She is growing into such a pretty young lady with thoughtful ideas and creativity.  Please keep praying for her increased maturity, impulse control, and decision making skills.

JJ: His issues have also improved over the summer. We discovered that with more frequent chiropractor appointments that he is vomiting much less often. Instead of every time he eats it is more like once very 1 - 2 days.

He is sleeping better!!!!  I have actually gotten him in a schedule that he is often asleep by 10:30!!!!  I almost don't know what to do with myself since I am used to going to sleep at 12:00 - 12:30 a.m. after he finally goes to sleep lol! We use essential oils on him that seem to be helping. We start his bedtime routine at 9:30 when Superman heads to bed. It takes a full hour for JJ to go through his "routine" that he likes before bed. But there are no complaints here since he is going to sleep much earlier. His big issue this summer was he wanted to get rid of pull-ups since they itch him (the vast majority of the time when he wakes at night to come to our bed it is because he is itchy. He is a very itchy kid). We told him that he needed to prove that if he didn't wet his pull up he could go to underwear at night. That has gone well and he hasn't had an accident in 2 weeks. The only problem with that is I have 4 bags of pullups and no more kids lol!  I will bless someone with them when we know we are done with them for sure:)  He still goes in stretches of sleeping all night in his own bed for days to a week, versus coming to our bed in the middle of the night for a week or longer. We can't quite figure that part out. But he has slept all night in his bed all but 1 night for the past week so I am thankful for the uninterrupted sleep this week!

His emotional outbursts are less frequent. His eating is improved. His speaking is improved. He starts school next week. We are home schooling him and he will be starting kindergarten. We shall see how it goes. Please pray for his compliance and agreement to actually learn things, and for my husband to handle that all well. I am sad that I work too much to be more than a part time partner in that...but that is reality...

Superman: He is starting 5th grade at the local Christian School. I am so excited for him to make new strong friendships, be accountable in the classroom to someone other than us so we aren't the "bad guys," and for him to be able to come into his own a bit. He turned 11 this summer and he is at the stage of wanting to start to break away from his siblings and be his own person. Can't blame him;)

Faith: She is also going to be a 5th grader at the Christian School. It has been a tough 10 months with her. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have 3 same aged kids certainly did NOT consider the ramifications of, uh, girls. I am so thankful that we only have 3 daughters and not all 6! Seriously though, Faith is as smart as a whip and we are excited to see what options the Christian school provides for her to progress toward some improved academic opportunities. We have seen some fruit in her attitude in the past 3 weeks and are hopeful it will continue:)

Buddy: He will be starting as a Junior next week. I cannot believe how sad I am about that! I still have 2 years with him at home and I am almost heart broken that he will graduate in 2 years and be moving on. I don't post much about him but he is such a steady rock in our home. I have mentioned that he is the kid most like me and I will miss having someone around who "gets" me like he does. I have been pushing some more social activities for him given that he is going to be an adult way too soon and he has, shockingly, not refused!  He will be taking a finance class with other home schoolers this fall. Hopefully it goes well:)

And.... Last but NOT least....Beautiful and her husband:) They are doing well. We have 2 grand puppies and a grand kitty. All I will say about that is I am glad they are at their house and not mine lol! Sometimes we see them a lot and sometimes we don't see them for a week. I have to laugh when she shows up after her husband heads to work and before her shift to eat food or just be around people because being in a house by herself is not something she is used to lol! Maybe when she does that I should head to her house to see what it is like to be uninterrupted for awhile. I would probably miss the chaos and come home soon too;)