The best part of new year’s eve is seeing neighbors we barely see in the cold of winter. This year the star of the party was the host family’s new spaniel puppy, Ollie. So cute!
The worst part of beginning 2016 was going through yet another miscarriage on January 4th. Although we are super happy with 4 children and know that is the right number for us, we were surprised by another pregnancy and wondered if maybe our son was going to get the brother he was asking for but the idea of raising 5 children was simply overwhelming for me. So when I began to bleed I felt relief. Yet as I lay in bed with heavy cramping and bleeding I suddenly was saddened beyond belief. I think much of it is the memory of the other miscarriages I had. The first was a complete surprise — I had so much hope attached to a 10/5/2005 due date — but then I learned what a miscarriage is and how going to the ER does you no good that early on. Then 3 more miscarriages and beginning to see a fertility specialist and filling out adoption paperwork. Bringing home our first baby girl and having no idea what we were doing! Bringing home a baby boy who couldn’t have been easier — perhaps because K had been our guinea pig. Then the surprise of giving birth for the first time. Then another miscarriage — and after 5 years of wondering why I miscarry, finally having a scientific answer. Some of my eggs didn’t divide when they were being formed. Can’t make a baby with 69 chromosomes in there! It was pure joy to know that it was totally out of my control and I hadn’t done anything wrong. Then N coming into our lives 2.5 years ago. We had our magic number and I began giving all our baby stuff away. Somehow, though, this still hurt, and I did not like starting off a new year with such pain and mixed emotions. I didn’t like having to lay in bed instead of taking care of the children I already had. I didn’t like having to tell my son the next time he asked for a brother that I had had a baby in my tummy but there wouldn’t be a new baby in our house. He didn’t seem to mind — he just asked if we could go out and adopt one. Oh, honey. If it was as easy as that.
2016 has also brought some changes in our children’s schedules. My super talented swimmer of an 8-year-old decided to take a break from lessons. I do miss watching her glide through the water. She certainly is talented at any sport she tries. This semester she will continue with dance class, Activity Days, and chilaxed kids (which all 4 of my children do together 2x/month). She will also try a magic class after school in February. And Grandma made her a strawberry cake to mark her half birthday. K was insistent that we not stop that tradition unit she is 10 years old. (:
D will begin an after school Lego class and he is super excited. Not as excited as he was to go skiing with his dad over MLK Day weekend, though! They had a magnificent time and he earned his ski poles and started running on blues. Also over that weekend he had friends over to play and in January he began going to 100 mile club again. He had pretty much stopped after earning his t-shirt, but wants to go back to earn smiley faces on his chart at home. Each smiley face is worth 50 cents and he gets one for every 2 laps he runs. Lucky boy. I’m totally willing to bribe, him, though, because it helps him sleep better at night.
M and K also had friends over to play during MLK weekend. But on MLD Day itself, M went to a dance camp at our local high school. She was thrilled to see one of the YW from church at check in! She had a wonderful time and was super excited to perform in the high school half time show the next night. You should have seen her smile! I am glad she loved this so much because she decided to stop doing her weekly dance class. I had purchased a dance dvd for them they love and she decided she would rather do that at her will instead of being rushed away from school once a week. She still has her Girl Scouts and is super excited to begin selling cookies on January 31st! Looks like our house is where the cookies are going to be stored, so if you want some, come get them! $4 a box! The troop decided funds would go to the humane society and a trip to the zoo. I think I see an animal theme there! The girls met at my house instead of the school on MLK Day and wow, was that a party! While my co-leader was upstairs talking to the parents about selling cookies, my mom and I were downstairs doing the same but in a much different way. I was glad they could meet my stage crew -- my mom does almost all the prep for the meetings I run. I would not have been willing to sign up for that position if she hadn't promised to help. (: Oh, and my dad even helped make the cookie bingo game to help the girls learn the names of the cookies. No wonder I earned the highest award in Girl Scouting when I was in high school. I had very supportive parents!
N also quit a class - swimming! I could not believe it, but after Thanksgiving break she began to absolutely hate swim class. She has loved it for so long we were shocked. At first we thought maybe her asthma was making it too hard and let her have her inhaler medicine before class like the pediatrician recommended. That made it easier for her to breathe but mercy, she wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Eventually I decided that Miss Stubborn wasn’t worth signing up against her will and lost my deposit I had paid but saved 6x that in tuition. I did want her to have socialization in a more formal setting if she was loosing swim class, so she now attends a preschool play group once a week. The best part is it’s free at a friend’s house and the moms simply take turns providing snack and babysitting the host mommy’s kids every few weeks (which I’ve already done and my girls love it when I do).
In other January randomness: 1.) my husband went to the dermatologist to make sure he didn’t have skin cancer. He doesn’t but had an abnormal biopsy so the dermatologist wants him to get checked every year. 2.) I took K to the orthodontist to see if we should start anything with her. He said she had a great jaw structure, etc. and we won’t have to worry about it until all her permanent teeth have come in and she’ll only have to wear braces for a year or two. Yay! After all the grief I went through, that was even better news for me than her. Ignorance is indeed bliss. 3.) I went to the optometrist for the first time since my last Lasik check-up. My eyes were given a clean bill of health. I had been worried because I was convinced I needed glasses again, but after I miscarried my eye sight went back to normal and checked out just fine. If there is a bright side to miscarriage, I guess that’s it. 4.) I took D and husband took K to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens after he and I had seen it together. We all really enjoyed it! There was something really special about seeing it in a theater full of people who laughed when you did and gasped at the Millennium Falcon just like you. When I took K I got to sit next to a woman who was there because her son was one of the people who worked on BB-8! 5.) Hubby has begun playing church ball and I am still in charge of the book club emails and a member of the primary presidency. He is also taking another class this semester. His #1 goal for 2016 is that he will graduate with his masters! That will be so nice to not have class and homework anymore! I love him dearly and love to have as much time with him as I can, so I’m looking forward to it too. (:
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