Hello to all--sorry about the 5 month wait on updating our blog. The first half of the school year seemed to fly by without much warning and then suddenly the holidays are over and a new year has begun. Where has all the time gone? January 19th will be one year since we first saw Shae Rose's face, and the light at the end of the tunnel.
On September 17th, Shae had outpatient oral surgery, receiving 5 crowns and 1 filling. It took almost 3 months to coordinate the insurance and to wait for our scheduled date, but it finally happened and Shae was proud to show everyone her "new teeth" (including the grocery store check-out people, gas station cashiers, and bank tellers!).
Shae Rose completed her 2nd round of swim lessons at the end of October. She really enjoyed herself and I am seeing alot of progress. She keeps asking when are we going to open our pool, and can't understand why it's not fun to swim in 56 degree water. She's really looking forward to getting back out there.
My mother came to visit in October also, and met Shae for the first time. Shae and I went to the Atlanta Airport to pick her up, just us two. As soon as my mom spotted Shae, she teared up. She was so happy to meet her for the first time. They spent alot of quality one-on-one time together; playing cards, singing, reading, coloring, and playing games. My mother isn't traveling as much these days, so for her to come all the way down to Georgia from Wisconsin was pretty special.
Shae Rose experienced alot of "firsts" from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to seeing the ocean for the first time. She dressed up as a princess for Halloween and loved getting all that candy (which is already gone--Jared is still working on his). After the first 3 houses she gave a big "whew" and I told her she has to do the walking in order to get the candy. She didn't complain for the remainder of the 2hours of trick-or-treating. :) Our family always takes a short vacation over Thanksgiving, as all of our relatives live in WI. We usually alternate the mountains and the beach, and this year it was the beach. We drove to Destin, Florida and spent some time at the gulf. She was awed by the water as she splashed on the edges, but the first time walking the beach ended up in screaming and crying as she was afraid of the crabs walking in the sand and the jelly fish that were washing up on the shore. The next day we were suppose to spend the whole afternoon out by the ocean, so I was alittle worried that it wasn't going to go well. Thankfully, I was wrong. Shae had a great time playing in the sand the whole time. When we first told her that she was going to see the ocean, she knew that dolphins lived there and the only thing she wanted to do was see them jump out of the water. I told that it was possible, but that you never know when it will happen..... Jeffrey and I wanted to make sure she saw a real dolphin, so we drove to Panama City and saw a dolphin show as a surprise. Jared and Shae loved it; they even got to touch one!! That was the highlight of the whole trip for Shae Rose; her trip was complete. I don't think Shae will ever forget her first Christmas either. She was not afraid to meet Santa. The only thing she asked of him for Christmas was a slinky. At the end of their visit, Santa gave Shae a small coloring book. She had a certain look on her face as she walked back to me -- I was confused because I thought they had a nice visit. After she approached me, I asked her what was wrong. She gave me the coloring book and said, "I don't want this--I asked Santa for a slinky." I then told her that she had to wait for Christmas day to see if Santa would give her the slinky. She understood, but was still disappointed. :) Shae Rose was in her first program at church with other pre-schoolers and they sang two songs. According to Shae Rose, they were "The Stable Song" and "Twinkling Star." She did a great job; she loves to perform. She loved learning lots of Christmas songs from the radio also, which she is still singing (just now she was singing "Santa Baby"). Other favorites of hers are "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph," and "O Holy Night." One of our favorite days during the school break, before the 25th, was "Jammie Day." Jared, Shae, and I stayed in our p.j.'s all day. We played in our jammies, rode our bikes outside in our jammies, watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and ate popcorn in our jammies, and read Christmas stories and had hot chocolate and candy canes, too. It was a great day! But, of course, Christmas eve (going to church and then out for an Italian meal) and Christmas day (watching the kids open their presents) were the best. The biggest blessing is that Shae Rose understands the reason we celebrate Christmas.
Jared is doing well; he is beginning to embrace his big brother role. He is protective of Shae Rose, but he also gets typically annoyed as all older siblings get with their younger bro/sis. Their common bond is "Sponge Bob." They get along best when they are watching Sponge Bob together (each holding their Sponge Bob pillow that they got from mom and dad for Christmas). Other favorites are throwing a light-weight frisbee back and forth in the livingroom, wrestling with their dad (they call it "hop on pop"), and Shae's all-time favorite of riding on Jared's back around the house playing horsie.
Jared has become very independent his fifth grade year at St. Luke School, managing his time and his homework. We are especially proud because the first and second quarters he was on the Principal's List with all A's. His favorite subjects are Science and Social Studies. I can't believe that this school year is 1/2 done already, and middle school is around the corner!
Jared also continues to enjoy being on the Hurricane swim team. He swims 3-4 days and close to 6 miles per week. So far, he has had a very successful swim season receiving personal best times in the majority of his events. Next weekend he will be attending his first 2011 swimmeet at Auburn University in Alabama.
I will close for now, so I hope that this finds you well and thank you for checking in with us. Blessings to you.
