A LONG wait.

Many of you know that I have been struggling with my job situation. I love my co-workers, but some of the challenges there were difficult. I was hoping to move schools last year, but it was very clear that God wanted me to stay put. Then, near the end of this year, it seemed that God was preparing me for a move. Some things happened which would have made it very difficult to stay there, and stay part time. I just prayed for direction and that God would put me in the place that was right for me. I was able to have a great conversation with my principal and we discussed that staying there was not the best thing for my family. So, a transfer was put in and I found out the next day that I would be moving to another morning kinder position in the district. It is mid-way between our baby-sitter's house and our church where Ryan will be in pre-school.
It is an answer to prayer--and I had actually applied for this position. I got a notification that it was canceled and found out that I would be moving there a few hours later. I'm very excited to start in a new school! I'm hoping that excitement will still be there when I deal with the reality of leaving Nicholas to go to work!

Not tired?

The other night, I was awake feeding Nicholas and I could hear Ryan crying and talking in his sleep. After I put Nicholas down, I went into Ryan's room to try to settle him down. He was still talking, so I rubbed his back for a little while. As I'm doing that, Ryan keeps saying over and over, "I'm not tired, I'm not tired, I'm not tired." He was FAST asleep the entire time!

Making Progress

When Nicholas was born, he had a brachio-plexus injury. This is basically a nerve strain in his neck that affected the movement of his arm. We aren't sure if this occured before he was born, or if it happened during the birth; but when he was first born, he could not move his right arm at all.

So, while in the hospital, Nicholas had x-rays done, saw the orthopedist and at 10 days old had his first physical therapy appointment. At 11 days old, we went up to OHSU in Portland to see the orthopedist.

It was really hard for me--especially after I did some research on this issue and freaked myself out. I haven't talked much about this and most people can't even tell that anything was wrong at this point.
We have gotten a lot of good news, and the movement is coming back to Nicholas' arm better than we expected. He now has a pretty good range of motion, but we still have work to do. He still does have areas that need improvement, and we are continuing with his therapy. We don't know how long this will continue or if this will affect motor skills in the future (like crawling).
The power of prayer is amazing. I know that we have had friends and family all over the country praying for Nicholas and the orthopedist up in Portland was amazed at how much motion was coming back on its own at 11 days old. God has definitely been at work in helping Nicholas to heal, but also in helping me to come to terms with this issue. It is hard knowing that some babies with this injury do not fully recover. We are praying that Nicholas will continue to improve and that he will completely recover and be able to have full strength and use of his arm and hand. He is such a blessing to us and an example of God's faithfulness to answer prayer!

2 months!

Nicholas is two-months old tomorrow! He is such a doll and will now smile and laugh for you if you talk to him. He loves laying under his gym and hitting the toys and he is starting to like tummy time a little better!

He is getting SO big! We pulled out the 3-6 month clothes this past weekend, and they fit! It is crazy how fast the time goes!

K is for...

If you have met Ryan, you know that he has some speech issues. A star is a "tar", and a car is also a "tar". And of course, his favorite place to go is "tarbucks."
Last night, I was trying to correct him and get him to say "cart," emphasizing the cccc sound. Ryan looked at me and said, "that word starts with a k!"
As a kinder teacher and a proud mommy, I just LOVE when he gets things like that!!

(And yes--I understand that cart doesn't start with a k, but at this stage, just connecting the sound to the letter is important.)

Planning...

Today, we were sitting in the conference room at church during an AWANA meeting. Ryan was sitting next to me, and was drawing on a paper with my pen. He looks at me expectantly with his pen poised in the air, and says, "What are we planning to do today Mommy?"

Oh my. Anyone care to guess who he got this from?