Good Ridance Winter!

It's hard to believe that we'll be welcoming spring next week. We are excited to get outside more and to say good-bye to these winter germs! We made it through the last round of colds and ear infections and now we have moved on to another round :( Sophia is also getting 5 new teeth right now (yes, FIVE!) including some molars so she has been a bit of a pistol. We had limited paci use to nap and bedtime, but this poor babe has needed it a bit more often lately and I am not objecting!
Isabelle always loves her arts and crafts! Here she is busy finger painting :) She is getting very excited for preschool next fall. We are hoping for her to attend a 4-day reverse integration program at Jordan Creek Elementary in West Des Moines (where I previously taught). For those that don't know, reverse integration simply means that she would be an integrated "peer" in a preschool program that serves children with special needs. In April, she will go for story time and we hope to hear shortly after that if she is officially "in". I am really hoping this works out as we think it will be a wonderful opportunity for her and I know she will gain so much from both her peers and the wonderful teachers in the program! Our big girl is certainly ready for new adventures!

Sophia turned 15 months on March 1! My baby is growing up... and yes, that makes this Mama a little sad at times. However, we are celebrating every day and every milestone with this little girl (no matter how small/big-- think throwing tantrums at bedtime-- tiresome, yes, but very age appropriate)! We are so proud of her. She recently started receiving therapy for an oral motor (feeding) and a communication goal. While she is babbling some and is certainly very vocal, she still does not produce any spoken words at this time. However, this smart girl has at least 9 signs that she uses to communicate with us on a regular basis-- more, bath, up, want, ball, eat, help, color, and my turn. She also shows great understanding of her environment and all that goes on in our world! We believe, as do her therapists, that Sophia will eventually learn to talk. This girl has acheived so much already-- I have absolutely no doubt that she will be an even sassier Miss Thing than she already is!

Daddy and his girls ~ Jason had a boy's weekend recently. They went to an ISU game and then had poker night at our house. The girls couldn't resist being part of the fun!

This is just one example of Sophia's explorations... she is scooting everywhere now and getting into everything! I hadn't realized before what a blessing it is to need to baby proof your home... it's all about perception! While she is keeping us on our toes, we are loving every minute of it. We see it as more prayers being answered... she is mobile (in her own way) and curious and doing many of the things that any other 15 month old might be doing. We are so proud of her... and as you can see in the photo above, she's usually pretty proud of herself too!

I love this and so I had to share! Isabelle is holding her poster that she made for Jason after we were able to watch him play basketball in the Iowa Games. We are all so proud of Jason, but perhaps no one more than Isabelle! This past year, Jason joined a basketball league that he plays in weekly. He really seems to enjoy it and we enjoy watching him do something he loves. This coming weekend, he and his teammates get to play before the Iowa Energy game at Wells Fargo. We've got our tickets and we're ready to cheer Jason on!!

Once again, I'd like to thank each and everyone of you who take the time to "check in" on our family via our blog. As Jason says, "This is the craziest life I've ever known." And we are loving every minute of it!