Life Lately

Where has the time gone? This season of life is busy and I’ve been in a blogging rut……so in an effort to jump start back in to blogging, here’s what we’ve been up to lately!

Belle

My sweet girl has turned in to a major sassy pants. She is NOT TO BE IGNORED and she must get what she wants. I have to be honest and admit that if she were my first child, I would be seriously sweating it right about now. I would be researching what to do and talking to my mom friends to see if their child was like this. But because she’s #3, I know that this too shall pass. I try not to give in to her, which has led to many tears (by her, not me) and battles, and time outs in the frozen food aisle at Target. As a mom of three I am no longer embarrassed when my child has a tantrum because I know it’s not my fault (mostly). I also know that with time and patience, she will revert back to her sweet little self. And honestly it’s quite funny when she has a fit. I FOR SURE never felt that way when Hudson had a meltdown! Most of the time she’s a bottle of sunshine and happiness, and she shocks everyone she meets with her vocabulary and how well she can carry on a conversation. She’s a smart little stinker!

Sadie

Sadie’s big news is that she got glasses! And she LOVES them. Well, she loves looking at herself wearing them, and admiring them in her case….actually wearing them all day is another story, but we are working on it and she is getting better about it every day. Several people have asked me how we knew she needed glasses, and although I want to respect her privacy, I think this is an important question. We didn’t really notice she had trouble seeing because she could spot things in books and in the car when we were driving. What alerted us was that she had trouble with the eye exam that was administered at her pre-school. They sent home a form recommending that we take her in for additional testing….and I FREAKED OUT. I have no idea why. Jon and his entire family wear glasses, so it was definitely possible one or more of our kids would need them too. I called her pediatrician and he recommended an ophthalmologist and I quickly scheduled her an appointment. The appointment was actually really fun for Sadie and we both LOVED her doctor. All of the eye tests were cleverly disguised as games and they were so sweet with her (if you live in Grand Rapids and need an ophthalmologist recommendation, let me know!). Her doctor found that she had some trouble seeing far away in her left eye but he re-assured me she could see and that he didn’t think we needed to do anything yet. He recommended we come back in 6 months to re-check to see if her left eye had caught up with her right eye.  Something relaxed in me during that 6 month period because last month when we went back and her eyes hadn’t changed and he said she needed glasses, I was totally okay with it….and Sadie was SO excited to pick out her glasses. She of course picked the pink Lilly Pulitzer glasses and surprised no one by her choice. And I surprised everyone (i.e. my husband) by letting her pick which ever pair she wanted without inserting my opinion. Good job mama.

Hudson

Hudson finished fall soccer all wins except for one game. And a bunch of goals scored. He really enjoyed this season and his team and coach….we can’t wait for January indoor soccer with the same group! And the biggest news around here is that Hudson can read!!!! It is so exciting! This further reinforces my belief that kid’s will learn things when they are ready. We’ve been practicing sight words on and off for over a year, practicing reading, and reading out loud to Hudson a TON. He would go through spurts of being interested in learning to read and then he would move on to something else. So we never pushed it. But then all of a sudden he came home one day asking for a book he could read. Side note: I highly recommend BOB Books for new readers! They are super short and the skills build upon each other as you go. Because the books were so short, Hudson was THRILLED when he could finish one. We made a big deal out of it “you just read an entire book!” and he was so proud of himself. That pride translated into a drive in him to read more and more. And then all of  a sudden he could actually read. And write! It just amazes me how quickly they learn and how vital 1st grade is! Speaking of 1st grade, Hudson loves school and loves his teacher! We couldn’t be happier.

Julie

As for me, I’m keeping busy with mom’s group, bible study, book club, and kid’s activities. We’ve taken our fall family photos and Christmas pj photos and that is one huge accomplishment right there, am I right? Oh, and I’ve been super in to podcasts lately! My hands down favorite podcast is The Office Ladies. It’s SOOOOO good. Even Jon loves it. I also like 10 Things to Tell You….but I need some more recommendations….what should I be listening to?

This month I also traveled to California for my Uncle Kurt’s funeral, which was sad and happy at the same time. It was nice to see my family since the last time I visited I was pregnant with Belle! But it was lonely to travel alone and not have my husband and kids with me. While in California I also go to catch up with my lifelong friend from college, Erin (you probably know her from Instagram) for like 5 hours. Which was amazing and unheard of.  And I forgot to document it with a picture, of course.

And that’s what we’ve been up to lately!