Christmas Letter 2011

Greetings Family and Friends!  The big news of 2011 is that I am no longer a distraught, over-scheduled working mom!  In September, I traded in my Blackberry and long work days for library story time and after school snacks.  It became clear to us over the last year that the Lord was calling me home to be present for my kids and husband rather than pressing on toward professional burnout.  I love being able to focus on Kai during the day, going to the girls' school for various activities and the slower pace being at home has afforded.  Eric is working part-time for a friend's document storage company, selling advertising for a local magazine and actively seeking full-time employment/income.  Although it is a difficult lesson in trust and humility, we relying fully on God's provision and plan for us and we are at such peace with this decision.  Wow, what will the 2012 Christmas letter say, I wonder?

We were able to take a few memorable trips this year.  In Feb., Eric and I visited my sister Amy, her fiance Brian and their new baby Stefan in Seattle.  It is such a cool city and we had a wonderful time with them.  Then we began our tour of the East Coast beaches...in April, we enjoyed a relaxing, special week long trip to Edisto Beach, SC for Spring Break.  The last time I'd been to the beach for a full week was college Spring Break--needless to say, this was a drastically different experience!  We also took short trips to Seabrook Island--a favorite spot, Holden Beach and Springmaid Beach.  We went back to Indiana for a week in July because I was missing my sweet family too much!  It was great to spend time with them and see my old friends Julie and Tiffany.  Another memorable experience was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of both Rylie and Madelyn to see Taylor Swift.  When the rainy November day finally came, I think I was more excited than they were and she was awesome! 

Rylie is 8 1/2 and in the 3rd grade.  She took gymnastics this year and loved it, often sneaking in handstand and back walkover practice in the living room when she thought no one was looking.  The school pace is picking up, sometimes with three tests on the same day, but she's doing great.  Early this school year, she experienced the same shock many of us have felt when receiving a less than stellar test score.  Let's hope the math lesson in how many subsequent As and Bs it takes to recover from an F sticks with her!  Inspired by my sister Amy, Rylie and I took a knitting class this Spring; we both really liked it.  She spread the love by teaching her friend Emma (they have been seen knitting on the TOP of the monkey bars in the backyard, yarn hanging down to the ground); I've even sold a few of my wares to some friends.

Madelyn will be 6 at the end of this month and made a fairly smooth transition into Kindergarten this year after she learned the behavior expectations of the classroom, bus line and bus.  For the first 1 1/2 weeks we got notes, emails or calls almost every day about her!  Moving on, it has been so encouraging to see how her reading and writing skills have developed.  We are constantly finding little scraps of paper throughout the house with random words written on them as she practices.  She has her daddy's drawing talent, too.  After getting a kidney infection in Aug., Madelyn was diagnosed with vesicoureteral reflux this Fall so she's experienced multiple imaging scans, trips to the pediatric urologist and an outpatient surgery to correct the problem.  We have a follow up appointment at the beginning of the year to ensure the procedure worked as expected.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

Kai is a cuddly, talkative and inquisitive 3 year old who keeps us laughing.  It is a wonder that we were concerned last year that his language skills might not be developing on track because he talks non-stop now!  He is the consummate man's man, loving to hang with the guys and literally jumping into male acquaintances' arms.  Yet, he can charm the ladies with his humor, charismatic smile and acts of kindness.  He often kisses me on the cheek out of the blue, brings me a Pepsi from the refrigerator (so that he can justify a juice box?) and sings his bedtime songs with me.  Recently when telling him we were going to see his "girlfriend", a neighbor girl his age, he questioned, "Which one?"

Eric is still passionate about deer hunting, sadly coming up short thus far this season but maiming two deer who are probably walking around with an arrow in their side and a permanent limp.  I still try to remain active with regular tennis matches, trying not to maim myself or anyone in the process.

In a few days, we are heading to Indiana for Christmas.  We are so excited to get all the boys in the family together (great-nephews Gunner and Kaiden, cousin Gannon, nephew Stefan and Kai).  We are historically a family of girls so "the times they are a-changin'".  We will greatly miss our nephew Erik and our niece's husband Justin who are both serving in Afghanistan.

Book recommendations:

• 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
• The Immoral Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Prodigal Summer
• Half-Broke Horses

We are so thankful for each and every one of you. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season full of the peace and hope only Jesus can give!
Love Always,
Eric, April, Rylie, Madelyn and Kai

Couple notes before the (somewhat famous) annual Christmas letter

Kai is downright hilarious.  He has such a wonderful sense of humor, excellent comedic timing, and often, he's funny without trying to be.  Also, it is so fun to watch his mind work and see what he picks up on about the world around him.  It is a wonder that we were ever concerned about his speech last year as he talks incessantly now.  Sometimes he talks so much it is hard to think!  Things he's been saying and doing:

• Very popular phrase he uses when he's trying to get his way: "The story says the boy..."  For example, "The story says the boy doesn't have to take a nap."  A creative negotiator!
• "After my nap and when the sun's awake" (meaning "in the morning")
• "On Friday" (this can refer to anything that happened in the past or may happen at a future date)
• "Whoa!  I did not see that coming" when tripped up by something.
• He's getting into superheros.  After his bath, he'll run around upstairs naked, except for his towel which makes a handy cape.  He talks about the "smoke on my back" which makes him fast.
• Loves to talk about poop and farts and will call anyone, friend or foe, "stank".
• If he wants you to stop reading or playing a game, he will decide where the pause button is on said book or game and push it.  You aren't allowed to unpause until he's ready again.
• I was heading to small group last week and he didn't want me to leave.  I said, "Oh Kai, you will be fine without my presence."  He exclaimed, "Yes, I want presents!"  Amidst my laughing, he continued, "Ask me what I want."
• Favorites: Mac N Cheese, color orange, Monsters, Inc. movie, SuperWhy TV show, playing on the iPad (Cookie Maker or Spy Mouse are faves)

Madelyn's reading skills have really picked up.  The first books she read from start to finish were Llama Llama Red Pajama and I Love Bugs.  She took them to school and read to the class.  Recently at bedtime, she asked, "Mommy, may I have the primbridge (privilege) of reading to you and Kai?"

Monumentous occasion: Rylie got her first pimple!  It was a sweet, tiny little thing on her forehead and I was very careful not to say anything until she asked, "Mommy, did you notice my zit?"  My baby is growing up!  Although, I don't remember getting zits at 8 years old...

Update on Madelyn

Sorry for the delay in providing an update!  The doctor was able to go with the outpatient procedure and, to our amazement, he was done in 40 minutes.  After we settled a disoriented Madelyn, coming off her general anesthesia, we headed home and she was back to herself the next day.  Praise God!  We are so grateful!  We had a minor setback during that week where she had stomach pain due to minor swelling of her kidneys, but Dr. Perez assured us that was fine and expected.  She goes back on Dec. 5 for a second cystogram to ensure that the urine flows one way and another ultrasound to ensure that the Deflux balloon inserted into her bladder wall has remained intact.

Life is back in full swings as we battle colds, push through Social Studies and Math tests and enjoyed the Taylor Swift concert last Wednesday.  She is a class act and we LOVED the show!  It was so fun to go with other little girls on the street and share in their excitement.  Honestly, I think I was more excited about it than the girls were since I know how much they love her, how BIG she is, and how awesome a great concert can be!

Right when Taylor hit the stage (sadly, Madelyn had the worst day of her cold that night so she was a little lethargic during the show)

Follow up on Madelyn: Procedure Nov. 5

We went to the pediatric urologist a few weeks ago and he performed an ultrasound to look at her kidneys. Somewhere between 14 months of age and now, she has experienced some kidney damage on the lower side of her left kidney (used the phrase "shriveled up").  As stated in a previous blog post, she has vesicoureteral reflux (good info on www.deflux.com). They measure severity on a 5 point scale, 5 being the worst; she has a 4 on the left side and 3 on the right side.

There are two procedures that are typically done; one is less invasive with an injection of a drug called Deflux into her ureters and the other is open surgery.  The procedures are scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 5 at 12:30pm.  The urology will go in assuming he can do the less invasive procedure, but be prepared to perform surgery that day, if necessary.  She is on long term antibiotics to prevent another infection until she is healed. He said the success rate of the less invasive procedure is about 80% with surgery being about 95%.  The less invasive is an outpatient procedure; the surgery will require multiple days in the hospital with a 4-6 week recovery period.

We ask for your prayers on that day.  Please pray for the doctors and nurses, for their wisdom, for our calm and for her complete healing with no complications.  I am convinced that we will end up with surgery (not sure if I am preparing myself for the worst or being realistic based on my research), so I also ask that we all humbly and boldly ask the Lord to allow the outpatient procedure to be the appropriate course of action. 

The Story of the Cat, the Dog and the Mermaid

We'll start with the fun stuff--Halloween as a blast for our trick-or-treaters (or "frick-o-freat" if you are Kai).  We are overflowing with candy and all the neighborhood kids looked super cute.  I love their excitement and energy on this all-about-the-kids day.

Stuff about Kai:

• "sfring cheese" instead of "string cheese", "sfosed to" instead of "supposed to"
• "belly belly sandwich" for "peanut butter and jelly sandwich"
• "actually", "usually" (big words for little kid!)
• "hunny" matured to "hungry" in mid-Oct.
• I was telling Kai that his Aunt Susan was visiting and he said, "One who have tractors?"  That's Aunt Kari with all her accumulated toy tractors for Gunner!
• Starting to try to use his fingers to show how many of something.  Loves to count items on the page of a book.
• Getting obsessed with books.  Each library book is read for every nap and bedtime until it thankfully goes back to the library the following week.  One REALLY helped him learn his colors though--he's got them down now!  Yea!
• Getting more and more confident on his new bike.  Says "I want to ride...my Cars 2 bike" or "...my bike I got for my birthday with the helmet".

Rylie:

• Due to family budget cuts, Rylie took her last gymnastics class last week.  I was so upset to take something that she loved away from her and was tearing up as I explained the situation to her, looking to Eric to take over the conversation, then she said, "Oh good!  I can play more now!" 
• She was able to ring the bell (everyone in the gym watches you perform your skill) the week that mom and Susan visited when she accomplished her chin up, pull up on the uneven bars.
• Today she shouts, "This is the worst day of my life!" because she missed an opportunity to eat candy, she forgot her Social Studies study guide at school and was grounded, and I didn't record Dancing With The Stars like she thought.  I couldn't help but giggle and tell her I certainly hoped this was the worst day she'd ever have!
• Huge praise--Ry moved her F-grade in Social Studies up to a C by report cards!  She failed a Social Studies test in the first weeks of school so she had a lot of work to do to move her grade up.  She looked at me with serious concern after she got her test score back and said, "Mommy, a 54 is bad, isn't it?"  Grades are new in 3rd grade, so this was her first shocker.  We had a long discussion about responsibility for her grades and the extra effort required to improve.  She followed up with two As on subsequent tests.  Great!  Learning responsibility is a bi-product of 3rd grade apparently.

Madelyn:

• She's made significant progress in learning the processes of Kindergarten.  She tries to trick me each day that she got a yellow card when she really got a green card (green=good behavior).
• Most popular word of the moment: "awkward" (Kai has copied)
• Every week we have Taco Tuesday/Family Game Night.  This girl is on her 128 consecutive win in Memory.  (I made the number up, but I am not far off--she's a machine!)

Our annual trip for pumpkins.  Sun was in their eyes.

Awesome balloon festival, went to with mom and Susan

Playing before trick-or-treating

Agile cat

Ready for the fun!

The kitty cats

Ry's favorite part of her recent zoo trip

We love Madelyn's teacher, Mrs. Shaw...cute email she sent after emailing that Mad was complaining of a headache...

Just in case you are feeling guilty for not coming to get her… She is perfectly fine. Went out to recess, is dancing her fairy dance across the room to get water right now, enjoying the free time snack affords to laugh and chat with her friends. I think she is all better. =) Wish I always had the same kind joy that comes from inside her. I love to watch her smile! Thanks, S

Busy week!

Blowing out candles on his Monster Truck cake.  All he asked for were Monster Truck cupcakes, but Boppa MUST go all out!

The family after dinner

The inaugural video attachment!!!!  I didn't realize the blog had that capability for free.  Hopefully, it will come across so you all can view it.  Kai received a new bike from Grammy and Papa, Mama Louise and Eric and me for his birthday and he loves it.  Everyday he asks if he can go outside and ride his bike--unfortunately it has rained a lot this week.  At first he was afraid to even pedal, but this was videoed just a few hours later and he quickly became a pro.  If you can't hear what he says, he's talking about going to the library and "the restaurant" (McDonald's) for his birthday and that he's going to tell Mama and Boppa "all that stuff".

Now for some bad news...as many of you know, Mad had a kidney infection at the beginning of school.  We took her for a cystogram imaging test on Monday to check for urine reflux back into the kidneys.  While we were at the doctor for Kai's 3-year well baby visit, we learned the results.  She has pretty severe vesicoureteral reflux so we have scheduled an appointment for mid-Oct. with a pediatric urologist to understand treatment options.  Later in the week, we took our third trip of the week to a medical facility because she was complaining of pain in her side/back.  Turns out she has a urinary tract infection.  Another round of antibiotics.  Please pray for this little girl and her future care.

Breaking News

• So the greatest news is that I quit my job!  No, Eric doesn't have one yet, but it became exceedingly difficult to be the kind of wife and mother I am meant to be with the demands of the job I had.  Suffice it to say, 10 hour work days, monthly travel, personnel issues, and stressful work expectations do not support being a mom of three little kids.  I saw my children for about 1 1/2 hours daily, was plagued with dreams of work, risked my life by trying to catch up on emails during my drive home, and life revolved around not the to-do's of my personal life, but the to-do's of my work life.  It was all too much and there was no end in sight.  Therefore, Eric and I prayed and prayed since May for the right answer and the right next step.  The Lord made it very clear to us that He would provide and that my life was not to revolve around work.  He has greater plans for us.  Stay tuned!
• I am calling the next 3 months "detox" and we'll see what happens next--maybe part-time work, maybe not.
• I just finished my first week as a stay-at-home mom and was truly wooed by my little boy.  He knows that I tend to have a Pepsi around 9-10am instead of coffee and would ask me if I was "sirsty" (thirsty) and bring me one!  I have discovered that this precious thing talks non-stop and starts every sentence with "Mommy?"  Such a lovely sound, but every sentence?  ha!  I think I wore myself out trying to organize, clean and run errands.  I need to learn that, just as in my career, there's always more to do and you have to know when to draw the line and chill.  I didn't feel I could do that here, but I can make those sort of choices at home.
• Eric has been amazing--knowing my tendency to over do it, tells me to do nothing some days. 

Funny things Kai says and does:

• "That's not my job" when he's been asked to do something he doesn't want to do.
• "I'm busy right now" as another stall tactic.
• "Thanks a lot" out of context.  He is copying Madelyn as she commonly uses this phrase right before throwing a fit and getting a spanking or being put in timeout.
• "Hmmmm" and stroking his chin when he's pondering a question.  We have no idea where he's seen this!
• "Bay-bing soup" (bathing suit)

School Daze and other things:

• The first few days of school were quite a challenge for the new kindergartner.  She got in trouble at school and on the bus a few of those days, we received one call from the teacher about her behavior in the bus line and one another call from the school nurse. 
• Turns out, Mad had a kidney infection so was out for a few days recovering.  She's completely healed now, but we are going to have an imaging test done to see if there are issues since she's had a UTI before and this one went to the kidneys so quickly.
• Rylie got in her first school fight...on the bus, day 3, with her SISTER!  That was maddening!
• We learned that Rylie's best friend, Emma, will be moving to New York.  Those girls are inseparable thanks to having class together the last two years and our backyards touching. They are excited about Skyping/Face Time and being pen pals.  What a treasure it will be one day when they are adults and still friends, but this is going to be hard on all of us.  Her family still needs to sell their house, so it could be a few months from now.
• Madelyn says "My bad".  Is she really a girl from the 80s?  Maybe rebellious Madonna incarnate?
• Rylie is doing awesome at math so far and struggling in Social Studies.  That's opposite from last year.
• Ry got to ring the bell at gymnastics for the first time.  When one of the kids sticks a skill, they ring a bell and everyone is quiet and watches them perform their skill.  She got her back walkover! Yea, Ry!
• Funny: right before school started, we were talking to Madelyn about what riding the bus was like, where to sit, etc.  We decided that she and Rylie would sit together for the first few days (hence the future brawl) and Rylie said, "Do NOT sit at the back of the bus.  That's where the big kids sit and they talked about bad stuff."  I asked what the big kids talked about. "Breaking news," Rylie said with an air of mystery.
• Rylie was very excited to walk her sister to class each morning.  As we prepared for what the school calls "Independence Day" where all children are to walk independently to class, I could see the look of worry and disappointment on Rylie's face.  Good big sis! (even though she often speaks to her sister with a tone of distain--we need to work on that)
• Speaking of, one day Madelyn was looking at a photo album and there was a picture of both girls hugging each other and smiling. Madelyn said, "Mommy, is that from last year when sissy liked me?"
  
  
  

  

  Our street buddies on their first day of school



BFF Joey



Kai had to have his own backpack



Quick trip to Holden Beach to visit Emmy and Matt with Matt's family



Emmy and Rylie practicing handstands



Twins





You've knitted atop your playset, right?



Emma and Rylie

Seabrook 2011

I am way behind on the blog posts so I will put the highlights from Seabrook and focus on uploading the pics since I know that's what you visit the site for anyway! :)

• During a shower with me, Kai slipped, fell and had to get 3 stitches on his chin.  Eric and I drove 45 minutes to Charleston to get to the nearest ER; thankfully it wasn't worse than that!  Kai was super brave and so patient as we waited for care.  Got home at 1am that night (first night).
• This was the trip of injuries, including Ry and Eric both getting jellyfish stings. Leon kept a daily list of all the injuries. We capped off the trip with me getting a piece of sand stuck under my eyelid. My Charlotte optometrist took it out for me and I was SO GRATEFUL--it hurt like crazy!

• Awesome experience seeing the dolphins close up as they congregated at low tide in a tidepool area. It was so cool to see how they communicated and worked together to move the fish to a certain area along the shore, then made the fish fly up, caught them and ate them.

• Super hot weather, good times with family, great waves for the boogie board. We love this place!

The Titlers love their Bocce.  You'd think we were old Italian men!

Kai means "sea water"...






Miss Sandi, Brian's girlfriend






Hunting for shells and fish



My babies in the morning light






Beautiful Love



Dolphins getting breakfast

Funny story

As we were getting ready for Rylie's Debutante Ball, Kai said alarmingly, "Mommy, I don't have anything in my pocket!".  I let him find a toy to put in his pocket, thinking he picked the front pocket.  In the car, he kept saying, "My butt hurting...something hurting my butt."  We couldn't figure out what it was until well into the party.  ha!

A long time coming

I kept thinking that I wanted to update the blog, but couldn't get around to it.  The fact that the last update was from Spring Break and it's now July 31, that's a testament to how busy the Summer has been.  I knew my work was going to pick up at a ridiculous pace once that Spring Break trip ended, but I guess I really had no idea.  We are working on a big project at work and organized our supplier negotiations to be 7a-7p days a few times a week.  Coupling that type of schedule with the normal craziness of our fast-paced, dynamic work environment and some personnel issues have taken a toll on me and family time.

Kai, you are well on your way to being potty trained completely.  Of all three kids, you were the fastest and easiest to train.  And you look adorable in your Thomas the Train underwear (tighty whitey style)!  It is so funny the phrases that you have picked up on: "anyways", "maybe", "I think so".  And the question of "why" is in full swing!!  Ah, the life of a two year old.  You adore Rylie and follow her around.  You and Madelyn fight like cats and dogs, but she's the first you go to when you want to snuggle.  What wonderful mommas you have...thanks girls.  You love to have books read to you, love to ride your Radio Flyer tricycle, and you love to play in the sandbox.  It is full of diggers, dump trucks and bulldozers: "Come dig with me, mommy. You be the digger and I be the bulldozer".  Recently, Madelyn and Rylie got new backpacks from Mama and Boppa for school, you were desperate for one too.  As luck would have it, Mad's wasn't big enough so you got your wish.  You carried your new backpack around for two days straight, full of cars.  Finally, you little rascal, you are starting to get into EVERYTHING.  My potted plants are missing dirt, you've eaten something that made you throw up red, the alarm clock may blare a random radio station in the morning shocking us awake, and you put Nair on all over your hands: "I need wotion (lotion), mommy."  Every night I sing you Jesus Loves Me (you make me change "me" to "Kai") and Beautiful Boy by John Lennon.  Since I have been singing Beautiful Boy to you for 3 years, you know all the words now and will sing along--so sweet!

Dear Madelyn, I love you more than you can ever imagine.  I love you past the moon and stars (you told me to write that, but it's true) and often one of my favorite moments of the day is to snuggle with you and Blankie.  You really need to stop sucking that thumb though.  We already now that Rylie will have to get braces because of how tight her teeth are packed in her mouth.  Now you too?  We decided to grow your bangs out, but who knows given your propensity to not wear anything in your hair for more than 5 minutes and then it's lost.  It seems that I am constantly buying ponytail holders for you and your sister.  Kindergarten starts soon--you are going to love all the new experiences in learning and friendship that come with Kindergarten!  You love to play with Joey, your best friend, watch and learn about birds (a love developed from preschool lessions) and work on art projects.  You are getting more confident on your scooter and bike.  We laugh because when we are playing outside in the Summer heat, you will all of a sudden decide you've had enough and head inside without saying a word.  We will find you in front of the TV, little couch potato.

Rylie turned the big 8 and we celebrated in Indiana with Rylie's Debutante Ball Revisited.  See the pictures from the fancy event full of beautiful dresses, candles and music provided by Frank Sinatra.  Rylie, you are growing up so fast and have such a wonderful heart.  You have been reading up a storm this Summer and enjoy mysteries the most, it seems.  For your birthday, you received an alarm clock and you love to listen to "soothing music" before bedtime now.  I think having music in your room makes you feel very grown up.  You also picked out a fancy chandelier-like bedside lamp as the Disney princess lamp was "too babyish", in your words.  Friends are still your LIFE, but you also love to play with your American Girl Doll, Zoe, practice knitting (something you and I learned together), gymnastics, work on art projects, hunt for insects and enjoy nature, and watch TV shows like Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place and iCarly with Madelyn.

Our trip to Indiana was much needed.  We needed to see our family as it had been 1 1/2 years.  Eric and I went out one night to Broad Ripple with Susan, Leah, Emmy and Matt.  We saw fireworks at the Edgewood Country Club, went to Brown's Pool, hung out lots with the sisters and mom (love to read magazines with my mom on the back porch), played tennis with Susan, got to see my old friend Julie who recently moved back, see my cousin, Jenny's, new baby Gannon and swam in her backyard, ate at Pizza King and Rally's (yum!).  We'll be back again at Christmas and for Emmy's wedding in May.  On the way home, we stopped to spend the night with my good friend, Tiffany, and her family (fun dance party) and visited the Cincinnati Zoo.  There are so many fun stops along the way and it breaks up the trip!



Out on the town in Broad Ripple



Mom's grandkids, except Cori, Gunner and Erik



 



My Munchkin outfit from being in The Wizard of Oz

 

Kai and his favorite buddy Matt

Check out this girl!

These boots caused quite the argument among my kids.  They loved them!

We received teacher assignments yesterday.  Everyone is raving about Madelyn's teacher, Ms. Shaw, but we haven't heard much about Rylie's teacher.  For 3rd grade, the kids have a separate Math and, maybe, Science teacher; that will be good for her.  I look forward to the stories with both girls at the same school!  I also look forward to a much calmer Fall...





Tiff's and my kids having Dance Party