Five for Friday #30: Finding Her Joy

 High five, friends!  We made it to Friday again.  This was my first full week on my own as a stay-at-home mom so I'll take a beer with that high-five, please.   I'm hoping that it will get easier as the house gets set up and we all settle into a routine but there were some really rocky moments that were pretty tough to get through.  We did get through them and we're looking forward to our weekend together.  Here are some of high and low points from our week:
#1
Sky is taking gymnastics classes and loves them



She's tried ballet, tap, hula, swimming, soccer, and T-ball and this is the only one that she's really been excited for.  She asks every day if it's Tuesday, the day she has her lessons, and is so eager to get there that she runs from the car to the studio.  She enjoys every moment of gymnastics and leaves her lessons in a wonderful mood.  I'm so happy that we were able to find something for Sky that brings her so much joy. 

 #2
  Our shipment from Omaha arrived!  We've been very slowly unpacking and wading through boxes full of things we haven't seen in over five years.  There have been some great surprises, like the American art prints I forgot we had and the pottery made by D's uncle and some less pleasant ones, like the garbage cans that were packed with the garbage still in them. 
 
  The living room was originally a maze of boxes and furniture and is slowly starting to take shape as items filter out to the rest of the house to be put away.  We have real furniture again and it's wonderful to be eating at a table instead of "picnicking" on the floor.
  One of the interesting things about unpacking all these things is how little we want them.  When our house in Omaha was packed up, D and I were living a very different life than the one we live now.  When we moved in together, we combined two thrift-store-stocked single, childless households into one and didn't get rid of anything.  We took almost nothing with us to the Marshall Islands and then ended up staying there much longer than we'd planned.  We built a life there and filled it with nicer, higher quality things than we had before.  I've unpacked two sets of cheap pans, countless half-melted spatulas, and so many of the other things that in normal households, are gradually phased out. Since all these things were in storage while our life was changing into what it is now, nothing ever got phased out.  I've taken 10 boxes to the thrift store already and have another two ready to go.  Although our new house is much larger than our house on Kwaj was, we still don't have a ton of space and I've come to really like the uncluttered life we had in the islands, so I'm being pretty harsh and decisive as I unpack.  If something isn't useful anymore, has been replaced by something better, or, for decorative items, doesn't immediately bring me joy, it goes is the give-away pile.  I'm really enjoying shedding these remnants of our old life- our new life is much more fun and much less dependent on things to make it that way.

#3
Fire had his special needs assessment at school this week. 

  It lasted all of 18 minutes.  He didn't even get to the speech assessment because he failed his hearing test.  I've been wondering if a hearing problem might be contributing to his speech delay so I wasn't entirely surprised that he failed that part.  What surprised me was that the nurse said that he failed because he might have an ear infection.  I'd been looking forward to this testing for months now and had really thought that it would be the first step to helping Fire find his voice, both literally and figuratively and it crushed me to have it derailed because of a possible ear infection. We still don't have our health insurance through D's new job so just getting Fire to a doctor will be another hurdle that I'm not feeling up to jumping.  It will be another 4-6 weeks until we can try to reschedule his testing and another three weeks after that until we hear the results of the testing- all told, almost two more months until Fire can start any kind of speech therapy.

#4
Remodeling starts next week!
  Right now the backyard is just rocks and patio, with no place for the kids to play.  The landscapers will be cleaning up the yard, redoing some of the patio and adding a large astroturf area for the new swingset.  We're starting our remodel there so that the kids will have someplace to play when they just get too crazy to be inside any more.  We've never had a swingset in our yard and I think the kids will go wild for this one once it's installed.
The house remodel will be going slowly because of financial and logistical constraints so I'm looking forward to having this part of the work done, just to see some progress.  The work should take about two weeks and then we'll have a new back yard.  I can't wait to be able to tell the kids, "Go play outside!"

#5
Earth is four months old!
   I can't believe how much this sweet pea has grown!  He's got sweet round cheeks now and his arms and legs are starting to get chubby.  Earth has the most beautiful smile and is starting to laugh when you surprise or tickle him.  He's still very alert and already loves to sit up.  I can't wait for our baby chair to arrive from Kwaj for him to use.  Earth is eating five ounces every three hours or so and is still not quite sleeping through the night (but I'm hoping that gets better soon).  He'll have his 4-month check up and shots soon and it'll be exciting to see how much he's grown.
Tummy time is easier when your big brother does it with you!


How was your week?  Got any plans for the weekend?

See where I'm linking up here

Comments

  1. Love the pics! And cracked up over the full garbage cans you found packed! That is so my life.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Shannon! That last one of the two little boys (as we call them) is my favorite. Water loves Earth so much. And at least the trash was just dry stuff, like paper and tape rolls, and not my kitchen trash!

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