Quiet Home

Life is quiet now. Very quiet. Like "crickets chirping" quiet.  And honestly, its been rather nice. We have adjusted to our new routine. 6:45 – I wake up, shower, snuggle/feed Porter. 7:00 – I wake up the boys/eat/get dressed. And then, as long as things go smoothly (which they have thus far…knock on wood... its only been 2 days), I have plenty of time to do some quick chores – dishes, laundry, vacuum, and then we leave the house at 8:15 and drop Landon off at 8:30. School starts at 9. Whew! Morning Routine complete!

Now that Landon is in school, it’s all about the little men in my life. 

Porter is two weeks old and pretty low maintenance right now. He only requires milk and snuggles, both of which I love to give him! I often find myself just staring at him. Beautiful. Perfect. He is just the sweetest thing. I love to kiss his baby feet and let him wrap his little hands around my finger. Seriously, I could hold him ALL day long and not feel bad about it.

Kaison, on the other hand, requires a little more from me. He is enjoying being the biggest kid in the house, and loves to plan our next move! We are enjoying Learning Time geared towards him. I managed to create a Learning Log for him with the skills that I want him to have mastered this year. He has always done whatever Landon has done, and it has served him well intellectually, but it is really nice to take a step back and focus specifically on his 3 year old needs and then enrich him with a challenge! He amazes me every day with his knowledge. I constantly find myself telling Steven, "He shouldn't be able to do that", but yet, there he is! His newest thing is to grab a piece of paper and a pen, crayon, marker, whatever he can get his hands on and write his name. Seriously! The "s" looks like a "B" but whatever, he is 3 and every other letter is completely legible! I hope he keeps this passion for learning. We started the “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons” yesterday. Should be interesting… 

Here is Kaison working on Math/Shapes:

My silly Kaison has been interested in taking pictures lately. I've been able to bribe him for a good picture by telling him he can take a silly picture after he takes a good one!

  

Pretty Picture

 Funny Picture

I am feeling very relaxed. I've been on Maternity Leave since August 1st and I am finally starting to feel like myself again health wise. I no longer have to see 3 specialists a week and I'm down to only being poked every Monday to monitor my blood, my veins appreciate that. I am enjoying the peace, quiet, snuggles, and family time without the pressure of having to dash to the phone for an incoming work call or the necessity of scheduling time to sit down and grade student work. Somehow, I know that 12 weeks leave will not be enough. :(

I received a call from the doctor today that my blood counts are rising. Definitely a good thing, still trying to ween myself off of the steroids. With levels rising, I get to take less medications until I'm completely off. Platelets at 77 and Hemaglobin at 11.6. My blood levels will never be normal, but at least I'm no longer in a dangerous place. Life is good. Trying to make each moment count.