Aedan: 29 Months, Week 3
Tuesday was a MOPS day since it was the second Tuesday of the month. It was good to go again and to have some good food and good conversations. Sometimes it's hard for me feel comfortable with small talk, but I know it's just all a part of the process. It was a busy day for Samantha because she had picture day in the morning followed by a class field trip to Bell's Farm in the afternoon. I thought about going on the field trip with her and taking Aedan along with me, but I decided against it because I didn't know how Aedan would do being out during his nap time. I wouldn't be too much help with the class if I was trying to chase Aedan around. Plus, it seemed like they would have plenty of parents along to help. If I know about her next field trip ahead of time, hopefully I can plan for a babysitter so that I can go on the field trip with Samantha. With ClassDojo, we are able to see pictures that the teachers post during the day, so I was able to live vicariously through the pictures of Samantha and her class. She was very excited to tell me about it when she got home, and as you can see by the pictures, they got to see horses and their gear, go on a hayride, and go on a nature walk where they collected leaves, moss, acorns, and other items out in the forest. I'm so glad they got to experience this field trip to Bell's Farm, and I'm so glad the rain held off for them so they could have a good day exploring the outdoors. Here are some of pictures where she was included or where they were doing something interesting.
I haven't posted many pictures of Samantha at school from ClassDojo, so these are actually from last week, but I just wanted to include them to give a glimse into her classroom. They have recently started Writer's Workshop, and this is what they are working on this picture. They each have their own folder of stories, and from what I've seen, they gather with Ms. Cornwell on the carpet to talk about what to write and what to think about when writing, then they go back to their seats to work independently on their writing. Most of the time they draw a picture at the top of what they want to write about, and then they write in the lines below, teaching us something they know a lot about. It's great to see them working hard and practicing their writing, even though they don't know how to spell everything correctly yet.
After Samantha got home, she was warned to act nicely or she would lose her TV time for the next day. (We have started doing this to help her watch her behavior in the evenings, especially towards Aedan, because she can be kind of a brat, getting in his face, pushing him, being mean, and it's because she's had a long day, but she knows that's not okay.) The kids played very nicely while I made dinner. They both had backpacks and pretended like they were going to school, had to rush to the bus, and then came home to tell me how many points they got. We had tacos for dinner and both kids ate well, which was nice because Ben was teaching late on campus again. Since Monday was technically their fall break, all Monday classes were moved to Tuesday, meaning Ben had his night class on Tuesday and Wednesday night this week and two nights in a row where I was on my own with the kids int he evening.
We had a really pleasant evening together, and I was glad that they were doing such a good job for me. We played for a little while after dinner and did puzzles before it was time to get ready for bed. Samantha left a piece for Daddy to do when he got home, saying he had to do it wrong (meaning upside down) and even practiced like she was Daddy coming in from work and I had to tell her how to put the piece in. For how good the night was, Samantha resisted getting ready for bed some, but we did it, they were excited to use their new chapstick, and then we did bedtime together. I like having both my kids sitting on my lap and reading books to them. They are so sweet together at bedtime that it's almost more fun doing bedtime together. While we were in the middle of our last book, Daddy got home and the kids were so excited to see him. We finished reading, and then Daddy helped put Samantha to bed while I put Aedan to bed. It's always nice to sit and talk to Ben after a long day apart, and it will sure be nice when this semester is over and we don't have any more late nights.
On Wednesday morning, Samantha came into the room with me to get Aedan in the morning. She gave him Piggy, and he hugged it and cuddled it. Then, he looked at Samantha and said, "Sissy gave me animal," with a big smile. Samantha was being extra sweet with him while he slowly woke up, and while she was rubbing his back and stroking his cheek, Aedan looked at Samantha with complete love on his face and said, "She love me." Samantha said, "Yeah, I do, buddy. I'll always love you." Oh man, that just about melted my heart. Their love for each other is powerful.
Both kids were in a good mood that morning and played for awhile before taking Samantha to school. We have started dropping her off a little later in the morning since she said she didn't really want to be at school early to play outside, and that way the kids have more time together in the morning and our mornings aren't quite as rushed. Then, Daddy hung out with Aedan for a little while before dropping me off at Samantha's school to help in her classroom.
I helped put up a bulletin board and then assisted with writer's workshop. It seems like the morning was a little more organized than on Monday. The kids were working as they should be, for the most part, while the teachers circulated the room helping various kids with their writing ideas. Just before I left, I noticed Samantha putting away her paper, so I looked at it, and it said, "I love Mom." I told her how sweet that was, and that her picture was really good. She split it into three sections showing things she can do outside like going to the beach or climbing a tree. I tried to point out to her that she was supposed to write about her pictures, telling a story about her pictures, and she started to get upset, crying, and saying she didn't want to write anymore. I told her that she wasn't really doing what she was supposed to do. I tried to help her brainstorm what she could write, but lately when she gets corrected in the least bit like this, she tends to shut down, so she just said, "I don't want to tell you anything..." I had to go, so I told her I would ask her when she got home what sentence she decided to write. I'm not sure why she has gotten upset like this lately and is so sensitive to the littlest bit of correction, even when done in a gentle manner. Anyways, I enjoyed my time helping her teacher and with her class, and I was encouraged by the work I saw being done while I was there.
When Aedan was with Daddy on Wednesday morning, they ran a few errands, one of them being a stop at Walmart for a few things. One thing was to look at Halloween costumes for Aedan. Samantha has lots of princess dresses that we got her for her last birthday, but Aedan doesn't have any dress-up clothes to pull from. Ben said he gave Aedan a few choices, and Aedan chose the football player outfit. After he woke up, he wanted to try it on, so I got it out for him, and man, he was was just too cute. I love his little cheesy smile. He thought his costume was pretty awesome, and I'm sure he will love wearing it for Halloween.
And then right after taking his football costume off, he wanted to put his Cubs clothes back on with Sissy's pink dress over the top. I texted these two pictures to Ben and asked, "Which do you think he'd rather wear for Halloween, given a choice?" We obviously won't let him wear a dress, but he certainly has liked wearing Sissy's dresses lately.
Thursday was a big day for us because we planned to leave for our weekend in Upland once Samantha was done with school for the day. Ben went to work and taught his normal classes except for his 5:00, which he cancelled so that we could get out of town earlier. Aedan and I spent the morning getting everything packed up, washing his diapers, and getting the car packed and ready to go. Aedan likes to be helpful, and he doesn't really like going off and playing by himself very often, so he hung around me most of the day. At one point, while I was packing things from the bathroom downstairs, I heard him singing, jumping up and down on the bed, and watching himself in the mirror attached to the top of our dresser. He was also singing "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," but as soon as I started recording, he stopped. Either way, these videos are cute to watch.
Ben came home a little before 3:00 so that I could drop Roscoe off at the boarder, we got our last things packed up, Aedan woke up from his nap, and we hit the road. Aedan and Samantha were both super excited to be going to Upland and to be able to see Ema and Papa. Our plan was to drive for a couple hours and stop for dinner. Then, drive for about an hour longer and stop for gas and to change the kids into their pajamas for bedtime. The kids did pretty well in the car. They played, watched Frozen (which was actually Aedan's choice of movie), and Ben and I were able to talk some in the front seat. Our kids do pretty well on these long car trips.
We talked a lot about what we expected from the kids on Thursday night, that they needed to sleep in the car, and if for some reason they woke up, they would just have to go back to sleep. It was after 8:00 when we started driving again. They both had their pajamas on. Samantha had her blankie, and Aedan had his paci. They had blankets to cover themselves up, and it was nice and dark outside. I read two books to them, and we sang songs and prayed just as we usually do. Samantha did an excellent job and fell asleep right away, by 8:35 she was snoring in the backseat. Aedan, on the other hand, just sat in his car seat looking around. In fact, at one point he saw wind turbines outside. Now, he associates wind turbines with Upland since there are two on Taylor's campus, so when he saw us driving by these window turbines, he got really worried. He said, "See wind turbines. Pass wind turbines!" I think he was afraid that we we were in Upland and were driving right by them. Ben was driving, since I'm not great at driving in the dark when I'm tired, so I tried my hardest to get Aedan to be quiet and not wake Samantha up. I tried telling him to close his eyes and go to sleep, I tried taking his blanket away and then giving it back to him, and I even threatened to take his paci away if he didn't go to sleep. Luckily, Samantha slept through all this, and Aedan never got very loud. He was sitting in his seat quietly at least, but he didn't make any attempt to go to sleep for quite awhile. Finally, sometime around 10:00, he finally fell asleep. Ben and I were both relieved, and we hoped the kids would stay asleep for the rest of our two hour ride to Upland. Aedan woke up crying a few times where I would have to reach back and put my hand on him to calm him down or help him find his paci. Then, around 11:30, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep. Luckily, we were getting close so it wasn't too bad. Samantha didn't wake up until we pulled into Ema and Papa's driveway.
Once we arrived, we quickly brought the kids in the house and went into high gear getting their bedrooms set up for bedtime: the monitors, Samantha's bunny clock, Aedan's sound machine, and his pack and play, too. Ema and Papa heard us come in, and even though they were both in bed, they decided to come upstairs and say hi to us, particularly the kids. Samantha and Aedan were thrilled to see them because we told them that they probably wouldn't see them until Friday morning. Then, we tucked the kids into bed, hoping that they would go right back to sleep, and then Ben and I got into bed ourselves. Samantha had developed a stuffy nose and cough, so she took a little while falling back to sleep due to her cough. We figured we'd try making the trip in one day with the kids sleeping in the car rather than stopping halfway at a hotel. We decided to try it once and if it worked, then we would consider doing it again. We hoped Aedan would have fallen asleep faster. In fact, we figured that Samantha would be the one giving us trouble falling asleep and not Aedan, but overall it worked out okay. It was nice getting there on Thursday night instead of spending all of Friday driving down to Upland.
We talked a lot about what we expected from the kids on Thursday night, that they needed to sleep in the car, and if for some reason they woke up, they would just have to go back to sleep. It was after 8:00 when we started driving again. They both had their pajamas on. Samantha had her blankie, and Aedan had his paci. They had blankets to cover themselves up, and it was nice and dark outside. I read two books to them, and we sang songs and prayed just as we usually do. Samantha did an excellent job and fell asleep right away, by 8:35 she was snoring in the backseat. Aedan, on the other hand, just sat in his car seat looking around. In fact, at one point he saw wind turbines outside. Now, he associates wind turbines with Upland since there are two on Taylor's campus, so when he saw us driving by these window turbines, he got really worried. He said, "See wind turbines. Pass wind turbines!" I think he was afraid that we we were in Upland and were driving right by them. Ben was driving, since I'm not great at driving in the dark when I'm tired, so I tried my hardest to get Aedan to be quiet and not wake Samantha up. I tried telling him to close his eyes and go to sleep, I tried taking his blanket away and then giving it back to him, and I even threatened to take his paci away if he didn't go to sleep. Luckily, Samantha slept through all this, and Aedan never got very loud. He was sitting in his seat quietly at least, but he didn't make any attempt to go to sleep for quite awhile. Finally, sometime around 10:00, he finally fell asleep. Ben and I were both relieved, and we hoped the kids would stay asleep for the rest of our two hour ride to Upland. Aedan woke up crying a few times where I would have to reach back and put my hand on him to calm him down or help him find his paci. Then, around 11:30, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep. Luckily, we were getting close so it wasn't too bad. Samantha didn't wake up until we pulled into Ema and Papa's driveway.
Once we arrived, we quickly brought the kids in the house and went into high gear getting their bedrooms set up for bedtime: the monitors, Samantha's bunny clock, Aedan's sound machine, and his pack and play, too. Ema and Papa heard us come in, and even though they were both in bed, they decided to come upstairs and say hi to us, particularly the kids. Samantha and Aedan were thrilled to see them because we told them that they probably wouldn't see them until Friday morning. Then, we tucked the kids into bed, hoping that they would go right back to sleep, and then Ben and I got into bed ourselves. Samantha had developed a stuffy nose and cough, so she took a little while falling back to sleep due to her cough. We figured we'd try making the trip in one day with the kids sleeping in the car rather than stopping halfway at a hotel. We decided to try it once and if it worked, then we would consider doing it again. We hoped Aedan would have fallen asleep faster. In fact, we figured that Samantha would be the one giving us trouble falling asleep and not Aedan, but overall it worked out okay. It was nice getting there on Thursday night instead of spending all of Friday driving down to Upland.
On Friday morning the kids got to see Ema and Papa for a little while before it was time for them to head to work. The weather was wonderful for our weekend in Upland, so we decided to go enjoy campus for awhile. We drove over to chapel and took the kids into the beginning of the chapel service to hear the music, which they thought was pretty cool. We got our registrations materials, and then we just enjoyed walking around campus and letting the kids wander and explore where they wanted. It was so fun having Samantha with us rather than at school. I forget how much I miss her sometimes.
The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with family, and it was wonderful. I think it was good for all of our souls to be back in Upland again. We have been feeling the distance of living in the U.P. lately and being farther away from the people that really know us and our children. Samantha and Aedan were thrilled when Ema and Papa came home, and they just could not wait for Aunt Jeni and Alaina to come as well. We were so glad that they could make the trip down even though Jeni wasn't feeling too well. Here are Aunt Jeni and Aedan playing with silly Larry Boy after dinner. Very few people can make Aedan laugh as hard as Aunt Jeni does. :)
After dinner Ben was outside with Samantha and Alaina to watch the birds gather in the tree in the yard. They were very loud and there were just tons of them in the tree. Ben decided their mission would be to scare the birds away by running down the hill and yelling at the top of their lungs. Of course the girls thought that was a great idea. At first, they really were scaring the birds away, but then the birds got used to all their noise and didn't fly away anymore, so finally Ben had to resort to hitting a ball at the tree with a baseball bat. That definitely scared all the birds away, and then they decided to congregate in another tree so as not to be bothered again.
A lot of the times when we are in Upland, the kids pick Ema and Papa to put them to bed. On Friday night both Ben and I were off duty because Samantha picked Papa and Aedan picked Ema. For some reason his diaper leaked at nap time, so I had to wash his wrap and blanket. However, I didn't get it into the dryer in time, so we were waiting for his wrap to dry while Ema read him this book over and over again. They were just too cute together for me not to take a picture of it. Aedan LOVES his Ema. He loves Papa too, but Ema is often his favorite, and he will almost always choose her. This bond between the two of them is just so precious, and I love how he is leaning his little head up against her shoulder. He is in the best place in the world in this picture, and I know Ema thinks this little guy is pretty special as well.
Saturday was going to be a big day, but the kids slept in until past 7:30 which was a nice surprise for Ben and me. Since Jeni and Alaina came Friday night, Samantha moved into our room to sleep on an air mattress. She did really well going to sleep and only stirred slightly when we came into the room to go to sleep ourselves. In the past we have had issues with her sleeping well, getting enough sleep, and being respectful, but she did really well for us in Upland that weekend.
Ema and Papa always think of fun activities for the kids when they come to visit, usually a craft of some kind as well as making something for a special treat. Well, since it is almost Halloween, Papa cut out the shapes of pumpkins for the kids to draw faces on. Then, he used his special saw to cut the faces out just like the kids drew. Samantha and Alaina were excited to see how Papa would cut out the face, but Aedan was too afraid that it was going to be loud and decided to just play outside instead.
Sometime mid-morning, my friends and their kids started showing up at the house to hang out and commence the Homecoming activities. Rebekah, Jorge, Benaiah, and Isaac came first, followed by Brad, Melissa, and Madeline. Before the kids came over, I talked to Samantha about being a good friend to all the kids since they won't know anyone, and to make them feel welcome and included. Samantha is really good at being friendly and making people feel at ease, so the kids immediately ran off and started playing in Ema and Papa's large yard. It was so fun watching them all run around together, the kids of my friends and my kids were playing together, what a surreal and cool experience. While the kids ran around and played outside, the parents were able to talk and catch up some. Once it looked like the kids were done playing outside and were getting hungry for a snack, we went back inside to play with toys until lunchtime.
The only official Homecoming activity we registered for was our class lunch on Saturday afternoon. Brad and Melissa signed up as well, so we headed over to the gym for lunch. Samantha and Aedan decided it would be more fun to stay home with Ema and Papa, which made it easier for us. All the reunion years were set up in the same area with long tables marked with balloon numbers for what year reunion it was. It was a little strange and kind of impersonal. We saw a few people we knew and talked to for a few minutes, but it didn't seem to be very well-attended. (It was much more enjoyable just to hang out with our friends in a more comfortable environment anyways.) So then we went back to the house to get kids situated for nap time. Melissa put Madeline down in a pack and play in Ben's parents' room, Aedan slept in the play room like normal, and Rebekah tried to get Benaiah to lay down on the air mattress that Samantha slept on. We decided the girls didn't need to take naps and could just play quietly together. Benaiah didn't feel like napping, so that meant that he, Isaac, Alaina, and Samantha could play together. The parents had a good time sitting in the basement chatting and keeping enough of an eye on our children that we knew they weren't up to too much mischief. At one point I was curious about what everyone was doing, and I captured these pictures.
Once everyone was up from their naps, we decided to go on a walk around campus to get all the kids out of the house and to allow everyone to see the new buildings that have been built on campus in the last ten years. We pushed the younger kids in strollers, but most of them ended up getting out and walking around anyways. We stopped at the prayer chapel where we met up with Janell, walked around the science building, and then made our way over to the new student center.
After our walk came to an end, we made our way back to Ben's parents' house for dinner. Ben cooked out sausage patties, and Donna provided sides like chips, baked sweet potatoes, and fruit to go along with our dinner. I was so grateful that they opened their home to be invaded by so many more people. We were having a wonderful time together, and we were so glad to have this extended time with one another.
After dinner, Samantha, Alaina, and Aedan finished painting their pumpkins. I love how everyone's pumpkin turned out to reflect each individual personality. Aedan was thrilled to be included with the girls, and Ema said that he was very particular about his painting and concentrated on it very hard. They turned out very cute, and they even have a little stand to be propped up in as well as a battery-operated candle to place behind the pumpkin to make it look like a jack-o-lantern. It was such a cute idea, and they all turned out really well.
On Saturday evening we planned to have a girls' night out, so all the husband's put the kids to bed while we went out together, and I'm SO glad that we did. We went over to Payne's to get some dessert and talk, staying until 11:00 when they closed. It's amazing how we can be apart for so long yet still get together and connect so personally with each other. I hadn't seen or talked to Rebekah since her wedding, but it was wonderful reconnecting with her, hearing about her children, and learning more about their ministry with sex trafficking in Miami. I've kept up with Janell and Melissa a little more over the past ten years, but it's not like we talk all the time. Despite time and distance, it's like we were right back in college again: talking, laughing, and sharing. In fact, my cheeks hurt because I was smiling and laughing so much that night. I was so glad to be able to spend time with my friends, and I'm so glad we can keep up these dear, true college friendships. I hope they will continue into the future as well. We weren't ready to part ways at 11:00, so we made our way back to campus and sat in the student center to talk some more. I don't think any of us wanted to be the ones to declare it was time to part ways. We even managed to get someone to take a picture of the four of us together. :)
Once it got to be 12:15, I decided it was time to call it a night, even though I didn't want our night to end. However, I still had to drive Melissa back to Berne and then drive back to Upland, and we had a big day of driving the next day as we made our way back home to Sault Ste. Marie. Even though it was late, it was nice to have more time to talk with Melissa. I don't think I realized how much I have missed these deep connections with friends where I can just be myself. With all the moving we have done over the past ten years since college, we haven't had many opportunities to make and keep friendships. I was truly blessed by our time spent with friends, and I hope it can happen again sooner than in ten more years.
Sunday was our day to head home, so after spending some time with Ema, Papa, Jeni, and Alaina before they left for church, we hit the road around 10:30. Both kids were so sad about leaving that it broke my heart. Samantha was sitting at the kitchen table just crying because she was so sad to leave. She just loves coming to Upland, and particularly loves spending time with Alaina, who Samantha and Alaina affectionately call "cuzy." I had never seen Samantha so sad before. She doesn't normally cry unless she is hurt or mad, so this was a rare show of her emotions that we don't see very often. Ema reassured her that we would all see each other again soon, but Samantha continued to have tears trickle down her little cheeks. I came up to give her a hug and console her, but it was hard for me not to cry as well. We had a wonderful weekend surrounded by wonderful time with family and friends, and we were all sad to see it end. As we drove away, we tried to talk to Samantha about how she was feeling, but she just needed some time to sit quietly and cry, which I understand. I feel like I have been feeling the distance a lot more lately. Living in Sault Ste. Marie is just so far away from family, and it will take some getting used to for all of us.
Our trip home on Sunday was uneventful. We stopped in Lansing for lunch at Chipotle and arrived home between 6:00 and 6:30. We picked up pizza for dinner, got ourselves unpacked a little, gave the kids baths, and got everyone in bed before the start of another week of school.
We had a very busy Monday, really with way too many things going on for one day. Ben and I had fingerprint appointments at 9:10 and 9:20 for our criminal background check to be foster parents. I had to go grocery shopping, finish getting unpacked, and do laundry. Ben and I had an appointment with the urologist at 4:15, so I had to wake Aedan up from his nap so that we could go pick Samantha up from school and then drop them off at another mom's house so we could go to our appointment without dragging the kids along with us. We had to wait for awhile to see the doctor, making Ben have to cancel his 5:00 class. The doctor again reiterated that Ben's results came back fine; even though his motility number was low, his sperm count was high enough that she is confident we will conceive at some point. However, she did give him a prescription for medicine that can improve his sperm count. He is to take that on certain days of my cycle, and then he has another appointment in January to see how it has affected his sperm count. We figured we might as well try something that might help us and see how it goes.
Then, we rushed back to pick up the kids, quickly pick up some food for dinner, drop Ben off on campus for his night class, and then rush to our small group meeting. It was too much for us to agree to do this after having such a crazy day, but since we missed group last week due to totally forgetting about, I figured we should try to make it that night. The small group was good, but the kids didn't do a great job of staying in the basement to play and kept coming upstairs and interrupting the adults. This is always a hard time of night for our kids because they are getting tired and "done" for the night, and when it was time to leave everyone was having a meltdown. Samantha didn't want to leave and wasn't listening. Aedan was copying her behavior, and then pinched his hand in the closet door. Then, Samantha started complaining about her ear hurting. Both kids were crying as we were trying to get shoes on and get out the door. I was slightly embarrassed by our "first impression" and just wanted to get out of there.
As we drove home, I tried to get Samantha to calm down so she could explain to me more about how she felt. She said, "It feels like I have an ear infection." When we got home, Ben was already home from his class so he was able to help me get the kids ready for bed. Samantha could not stop crying and holding her left ear, complaining about it hurting. I tried to get her ready for bed, but with how she was acting, I knew she wasn't going to get any sleep. I found a walk-in clinic that was still open until 8:30 and decided it was more important to get her to the doctor and hopefully get her on some antibiotics than to try to get her to bed right then. Ben volunteered to take her, and the doctor didn't have to do much to decide she had an ear infection: a slight ear infection in her right ear and a really bad one in her left ear. Even though she had a cough and cold, her chest was clear, and she was sent on her way with a prescription for amoxicillin. Ben took her to Walgreens to fill the prescription since the pharmacy was open until 10:00, but the computer system was down, and they had to wait for a really long time for the medicine to be ready. Samantha felt terrible and just curled up on her Daddy's lap. She was so tired and was begging to just go home and go to sleep. Eventually, she gave in and sleep overtook her. Ben sent me this picture with the text "me=melting." It was so sad that she was sick, but we were so glad she told us that her ear was hurting so that we could take her to get antibiotics and help her feel better faster. It was almost 10:30 before she got home and was tucked into bed after her first dose of medicine. We had already decided she wouldn't be going to school on Tuesday and encouraged her to sleep in as long as her body needed. Poor girl, it's so hard when your kids are sick.
(Blog about October 11-17, 2016)
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