Why I Quit Facebook

I quit facebook this week.

Our parting of ways was a long time coming.

It was just too easy.  Too easy to walk past the computer and wonder what my friends were up to, or what was new, or to find myself reading some article that didn't really matter to me, but it was there...so I read it.

And it was just too easy.  Too easy to compare my life with everyone else.  To see what they were doing with their kids and feel guilty because of the crafts I don't do or the books I don't read or the places I don't take them...and on and on and on.  Nevermind that I do lots with them, all I was thinking about was the things I wasn't doing.  It was crippling.

It really was too easy.  Too easy to miss life.  Too easy to miss the moments happening right in front of me because my nose was stuck in my computer and I was distracted way too often.  

The conviction had been there for a long time, so yesterday I pulled the plug on facebook. I'm done with it for at least the rest of the year...maybe forever.  I don't in any way think facebook is wrong or evil or any of that.  I think that for me it was too addicting, a great big time sucker, and something I used as an escape from little people who were screaming!

But I don't want to miss this...

So I'm all done.  It's only been one day...but oh, the freedom!

Sharing Our Story

We were thrilled to be able to share our adoption story on our adoption agency's website this week!  This is the agency we used for both Nathan and Hannah's adoptions (they were our placement agency and we used local agencies for our home studies). We cannot say enough good things about AAC Adoption and would not hesitate to use them again (if I can ever talk Brad into it!!).

Click here to read our story!

Our First Campout

We had wanted to try camping with the kids but hadn't gotten around to it yet, until this weekend!  Truthfully I was a bit scared that it would be awful :)  But we thought we'd give it a try in our backyard first, so that if it was terrible we could just go inside and pretend it never happened.

We started with dinner...

...and ended the meal with marshmallows (the kids didn't want them cooked and I was pretty glad about that - they get in such a mess when they eat cooked ones!)

Then it was playtime!  In the tent...

...the sandbox...

...helping little sister on the slide...

...and just hanging out!

A few spins around the yard...

...and finally it started getting dark enough that we could go to bed!

I was exhausted and ready to sleep by 9pm!

The kids took a while to wind down, but at long last 

we were all asleep

in our cozy little tent!

I was thrilled that the kids slept so well.  Hannah woke up once to go potty, which is pretty normal for her.  Other than that, we all stayed tucked into our beds until almost 7am.  Success!

Saturday was filled with laundry, bath time (filthy children!), more laundry, playing outside, napping, putting everything away, and of course popsicle time with Daddy!  I think the aftermath of camping is my least favorite part.  In a couple of weeks we are hoping to try out a real campsite for a couple of nights.  The boys are so excited and surprisingly, so am I!

Bits and Pieces

This little girl loves shoes.  Last night she really wanted to wear shoes to bed but since that wasn't an option we went on a hunt to see if we had any slippers for her.  She was super excited when I pulled out these little boots!  The insides are lined and really soft.  She went to bed in them and at 5:50am when she woke up to go potty the first thing she signed was "Shoes!".  One of her boots had fallen off and she wanted it back on again. Thankfully she went back to sleep for a while. 

Hannah loves Daisy except when Daisy sniffs in her face.  Then Hannah freaks out.  Last night she was feeling pretty friendly with her doggy.

Look at my little climber!  These three are always on the go.  Having some playtime in the yard before bed last night helped them to burn off some energy!  It must have worked - all three slept through the night for the first time since they started sharing a room.

I'm not sure how this happened - my baby is a big boy!  It's just crazy to have conversations with him, to see all he's learning, to hear the questions he asks...I don't care what other people say, I think life gets way easier once your kids can talk and be reasoned with!  I love this age and we are enjoying our time together every day.

Nathan is changing and growing so much as well!  He is really enjoying learning about letters and has started asking what everything says.  He never realized before that the letters make up words and now he is starting to be much more interested in reading.  It's so fun to see!

The BAHA (hearing aid) is going really well.  Hannah hasn't pulled it off at all!  The first several days she was just so worn out by the end of the day, probably all the extra stimulation, but now she is doing really well.  The only frustration is how much it moves around because of her hair and how often I have to fix it.  Still, it's a small price to pay for her to be able to hear!!!

The days are full, and sometimes they feel reeeeeaaalllly long, but at the same time I know they are passing so quickly.  It has been a wonderful summer so far and we have some fun plans up ahead!

Exciting Times

It has been a great day around here!  We have been waiting for months for Hannah to get a hearing aid and at long last, today she finally got one!  It is just a loaner for now but we are thankful to have this while we wait for some insurance problems to get worked out so that we can get her very own BAHA.

Since Hannah has atresia  (she does not have any ear openings), she is not able to have behind-the-ear hearing aids like Nathan has.  She has a BAHA which stands for Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (except hers isn't bone anchored now, it is just on a softband).  This transmits the sound through bone conduction (there is a little box on the side of her head behind her ear).

I was nervous about putting it on her for the first time.  Nathan had a BAHA when he came home, and the first time we put it on him...he threw up!  Yep, poor kiddo was so overwhelmed that it all came out.  Thankfully Hannah didn't have the same reaction at all.  She was upset for a few minutes, but it was nothing that a popsicle couldn't fix!

It's hard to tell about how much better her hearing is with the BAHA just yet since she seemed pretty overwhelmed.  But she wore it for several hours without trying to take it off (if you know anything about Hannah and hair accessories you know this means something!!!) and we found we were talking in softer voices than normal to her and getting responses.  I'm so thrilled for her to be hearing at last!!!

Our sweet boy, Nathan, had several appointments this morning.  We have been concerned about his speech development and today he had an evaluation to determine if he may be having issues with his soft palate not closing completely (this leads to air coming out the nose for certain sounds).  

This little guy was a total rock star today!  Our appointments lasted 3 full hours and he was as good as gold the entire time.  He did everything they asked, he said all the words they wanted him to say, he wore this crazy contraption...

...and he was amazing when the doctor decided to do a scope (basically inserting a little camera up his nose and to the back of his throat to check out his voice box and soft palate).  The doctors were shocked with how well he did and commented that they had never seen a child do so well...and that he did better than many adults!  So proud of my little guy!

We were very happy to hear that Nathan only has a mild issue with his soft palate and that for right now no intervention is needed.  We are going to be seeking out additional speech therapy for him (right now he qualifies for services through our state).  We're glad to have answers and direction as we continue on this journey.  I am so thankful for how far Nathan has come - he is an amazing boy and I just love him so much!  

I just have to say...it was a GOOD day!

For Fun Around Here

Our house is rarely quiet these days, that's for sure!  Hannah is finding her voice and it's a LOUD ONE :)  Sometimes having kiddos so close in age is really hard, but a lot of things are really good.  For example, they all love the same toys!  My Mom found this bin of Duplo for $5.00 at the resale shop.  Score!  We love Duplo and now we have lots for everyone to build with.

When I do need a moments quiet, I pull out the rice bin.  Hannah is pretty crazy with it still, so this is a nice activity for while she is sleeping :)  The boys played for 1.5 hours straight the other day and barely made a sound!  You'd think I'd have done something productive, but all I could manage to do was sit on the couch and watch in awe while enjoying a few moments of quiet.

The boys think it's hilarious when I put Hannah's hair up like this!  I think it's adorable.

They are forever dumping out bins and baskets so that they can sit in them.  I think I'll just get them cardboard boxes for Christmas :)

Hannah loves coloring and drawing.  She naturally picks up a pencil and holds it correctly - it's kind of hilarious!  I'm thinking of having her teach the boys how to write...

We have lots of fun around here but I'm finding that late afternoon, right before Brad comes home from work in the time leading up to dinner, is terrible!  I have got to come up with some kind of structure for this time of day or some fun (easy) activities for the kids to do when they get up from rest time.  I think that will be tomorrow's goal...make a plan!  The plan right now: go to bed!