Leap Day. St. Patrick’s Day.

Megan has been looking forward to Leap Day for over a year. She has been counting down to February 29th ever since she became fascinated with the calendar.

I made her a froggie breakfast in the mornings, (you know, because frogs “leap.”) And she wore her frog t-shirt from Grandma Marshall. I had a bunch of other “leap” activities scheduled for the day, but Megan decided to be apathetic. In fact, she wanted no part of her frog-shaped grilled cheese, or gummy Haribo frogs (which I finally found after checking 4 stores.) Oh well.

Megan practically begged me to have a baby on Leap Day, and she was so sad when I told her it wasn’t gonna happen (maybe 2016?) However, my cousin Clayton and his wife Kristie, did welcome their second child on Leap Day! Megan was excited to help me pick out a frog balloon, and a frog stuffed animal to deliver at the hospital (she also had no problem throwing in one of our bags of the Haribo gummy frogs to the mix.) What a fun day to have a birthday!!! Max is SOOOOOO cute!

So my brother-in-law Joshua informed me that my children are about 2% Irish. That’s not much, but it’s enough to go out of our way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Donning green from head to toe, (including those beautiful green eyes!) Megan was so surprised to find a note from “Lisa Leprechaun” leading her through a trail of clues to find her hidden treasure. She LOVED the hunt and figuring out each clue. So fun.

Megan loved her green lunch. She especially loved how the water magically turned green once it was poured into her glass. It’s amazing how a little bit of effort to do a few fun things made the day so fun for Megan.

My cousin Kyle invited us over to his house for a corned beef and cabbage dinner. He and Heather are the best hosts and we all had a great time. Thanks Kyle and Heather for helping us celebrate our 2% Irish heritage with a bang!

Megan. 5 years, 9 months.

Megan is doing really well these days. She is excelling in school, and blossoming into the sweetest little lady.

Megan is loving Kindergarten. She has no problems with any of the coursework, and is enjoying every aspect of each day. She loves P.E., and has been taking an after school art class that she has really enjoyed. She is becoming more and more comfortable with new situations, and is trying things that she wouldn’t have tried a few months ago. We continue to stretch her mind outside of the classroom, and she is currently really interested in mathematics, especially fractions and percentages. She can do all sorts of addition and subtraction, with no struggle, and she is also pretty good at multiplication (!!! Seriously. She’s five!) I know some of it is just the way her special little mind works, but Adam and I work hard to find ways to stretch her abilities. She is lucky to have Adam as a daddy, he is the perfect math teacher for her.

We also started Megan in piano this month. She is taking to piano like a fish takes to water. We always knew she would excel, it was just finding the right time and teacher for her that had us delaying the start of lessons. Again, Adam is a great resource for her. He attends the lessons with her, so that he can better review the work with her at home. While we both play the piano, he is much more technically minded then I am, and he’ll be better suited to help Megan with the proper piano technique. I am crossing my fingers that the novelty of actual lessons won’t soon wear off, and that Megan will thrive in her studies.

Megan continues to attend behavior therapy once a week, and she also really enjoys that. They have ruled out the need for physical therapy, and she will continue occupational and speech therapy for now. We have had several people ask us what we have told her about Aspergers and her need for therapy. Honestly, we haven’t told her too much. Basically, I told her, “you know how sometimes you get really sad or upset when things don’t go the way you want them to or when people don’t do the things you want them to? Therapy is to help you to be happier.” And she’s fine with that. I don’t think she would understand much more of it right now, and I don’t think she needs to. We’ll see. We don’t really know what we are doing ourselves, so we might as well just keep it simple for her.

As certain as her therapist is that she has Aspergers, her therapist wants to continue evaluations to rule out or also diagnose ADD/ADHD, high functioning autism, or hyperlexia. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were dealing with some ADD and I am still very curious about hyperlexia. Only time will tell.

It’s been refreshing to see how people treat Megan now that she has a diagnosis. In the past, a meltdown or difficult situation might have led people to believe that she was just misbehaving, undisciplined, or spoiled. Now that they know that her mind really does work in an atypical manner, they are so much more understanding and long-suffering. It has taken such a weight off my shoulders.

It is interesting all the “a-ha” moments we have had with Megan over the past few months since getting her diagnosis. Sometimes I kick myself for not pushing for a diagnosis sooner, but I am not sure how much of a difference it would have made. We have very few really difficult days with her anymore, but those days are still hard enough that I find myself breaking down and crying, thinking “I can’t do this Autism thing.” But then I pick myself up and dust myself off and know I don’t have a choice, nor would I choose to change anything if I could. I just love my Megan so much.

Well that’s the latest on Megan. I can’t believe that soon she will complete Kindergarten and then turn 6!!! Where has the time gone!? 🙂

A Girl’s Best Friend

We first met Corbin when we moved into the ward two years ago. He was just about the cutest three-year old I ever did see, and he was equally sweet and smart to boot. I know I wasn’t the only mom in the ward who wanted Corbin to be friends with their child. It was a highly sought after position. I remember jokingly commenting at playgroup along the lines of “I wouldn’t mind at all if Corbin and Megan got married” and was met with reactions of bared teeth and angry eyes from the moms of other three-year old girlies. Okay, maybe not, but there definitely was a resounding chorus of “get in line!” Corbin is the oldest of three (equally adorable) boys, and his mom and dad are just about the salt of the earth. I had high opinions of all of them when we first met, and I have even higher opinions of all of them to this day.

For a while, Corbin and Megan were just peers. They were in the same class at church, but that was about the extent of their relationship. They would play together at playgroup or ward activities, but since Corbin was so “popular”, Megan would often hang back from the crowd. While there were plenty of sweet and fun children Megan’s age in our little community, I just saw Corbin as the perfect little pal for her. When her fifth birthday rolled around, I asked her who she would like to invite. She wanted to invite her cousins, and…Corbin. Not one other of her church or preschool classmates was on the list. There was even one girl who she referred to as her “best friend” (pretty sure this girl was unaware that Megan felt this way about her) and even she didn’t make the cut. She just wanted Corbin.

So Corbin was invited. And he came. And it was fun. But even then the friendship didn’t truly blossom. In fact, I am not sure exactly when it happened. I just know that kindergarten started and they were in the same class. And then one day they only had eyes for each other. No exaggeration.

I don’t think there could be two children better suited for each other. Both children are bright, funny, and sweet. They have similar interests that are unlike the interests of other kids their age. They make jokes that are only funny to each other. They don’t fight and they don’t get mad at each other. They write each other notes at school, and give each other gifts. The thing is, this isn’t just some kindergarten crush. These two don’t even know what a “crush” is (and trust me, there are plenty of kids their age who DO know what a “crush” is). They just GENUINELY care about each other. When Corbin is not in school, Megan mentions him in her prayers at night. When Corbin was at a friend’s house and the mom was watching “The Biggest Loser” he asked the mom to tell him all about it, so he could tell Megan what he knew (true story!) At first, I thought Megan was much more invested in the relationship than Corbin. But then I saw the way he treated her and the way he acted around her, and I knew that my little girl was a part of something special.

My heart aches tonight as I write this, because as happy as it sounds, it was almost too good to last. Corbin and his family moved last weekend. Not too far away (about 20 miles), but far enough away that Megan and Corbin’s relationship likely has an expiration date. He’ll finish out the school year in her class, and we’ll continue playdates as often as we can, but once the Summer begins…well, it’s too sad to even write about.

My Megan doesn’t have many friends. In fact, Corbin is her only real friend. She doesn’t care for anyone else the way she cares for him, and no other child is as good a match for her. Megan has always had difficulty in social situations, and it’s pretty severe (all part of her Aspergers) so Corbin has been such a bright light in her life (and MINE) the last few months.

I know this is long, but I have one last thing to share. A tender mercy of sorts. This past Sunday was supposed to be Corbin’s last Sunday at church. Some Sundays, the only way we can convince Megan to go to church is by reminding her that Corbin will be there. I told her that after this week, she will have to make a new friend. Well, she arrived to primary, and Corbin…wasn’t there. But there was new boy there. And with the way Megan’s mind works, she thought, “new boy = new friend” and so she set herself down next to this boy and was good to go the rest of the block. After church she told me all about her new friend (who also showed up in her kindergarten class the next day). I know that he might not end up being her soul mate, but just that little experience will make the transition all the easier for Megan, and I know it was no mere coincidence.

It’s bittersweet to experience this first parenting milestone of losing a best friend. I know there will be more friends along the way and that they will come and go. I will never forget Corbin and the imprint he has left on the heart and life of my little Megan. Thanks, Nibroc. We love you.

Jane. 15 Months.

Last week I sat down to update the blog, but all I worked on got deleted somehow. I was so bummed about it, that I haven’t been back since. I hope to get all updated in the next few days! To start, here is a post update about little miss Jane.

Jane will be 15 months old in just a few days. She’s got 12 teeth and beautiful green eyes. She still nurses quite a bit, but she’s getting more and more interested in other foods. I am totally fine just letting her lead, but I would LOVE a good night’s sleep. She still is waking to nurse about every 3 hours or so, and I think it’s a combination of using nursing as self-soothing and the fact that she doesn’t eat a ton during the day. I don’t mind it too much though. I’m sure once she’s done nursing I’ll miss it more than I expect; just like with Megan.

Jane talks a whole lot, but doesn’t say much that we understand. She just jabbers mostly. She can say no, and dog. I guess a few other random things here and there. She just hasn’t had the need much to use real words, since her mom and dad and sister wait on her hand and foot. I kinda feel like she should be saying a few more things by now, but I’m not stressing too much about it. Especially since she can already sing along with the alphabet song. Yep, looks like little sister’s got a similar love of letters as big sister. I am not pushing her or expecting anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she is an early reader like Meg.

Jane is definitely an animal lover. Our neighbors have a dog, a cat, and chickens, and she is just crazy about ALL of them. She has loved animals from the start, so we’ll see if that love continues as she gets older. Her mother is NOT an animal lover so I’m kinda hoping the love fades away. But right now it’s pretty sweet.

Jane also LOVES to be outside. The weather has turned really nice these days, and we spend ALL our free time outside. She is just in heaven. It’s crazy how fast she is growing up. She just wants to run and jump and play with the big kids. It’s so fun. She just melts my heart. She’s also our little dancer. Megan had no desire to dance until she was about 4. Jane hears a beat and gets grooving. So cute.

Well, I am sure I am missing some things, but that’s the latest update. She continues to be just the brightest ray of sunshine in our family. I’m so so so happy she’s here.

Valentine’s Day 2012

The girl’s new favorite toys are little dolls called “Lalaloopsies.” For Valentine’s Day, they woke up to Lalaloopsy Valentine’s gifts (Megan got some new shoes and a scarf as well.) Both girls lalaloved their gifts.

I did the “14 Days of Valentine’s” for Adam. Some mornings I forgot to get pictures of the gifts. Whoopsies! Every morning though, Adam found a little gift waiting for him on the table.

The girl’s Johanson grandparents sent them a special Valentine’s Day package. Megan was so excited! I was planning on having the girls wear their “love bug” shirts from last year, but they wore the cute outfits their Grandma Jo sent instead.

I was able to attend Megan’s Valentine’s Day party at her school. I don’t get to participate in class activities too often, so it was fun to watch Megan in her Kindergarten element. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Working on their valentines:

Corbin is Megan’s best friend. His valentine was to Megan. Awwwwwwwwwwww.

While a lot of the children in Megan’s class accepted my offer to help them deliver their valentines, Megan wanted to deliver them all herself. She LOVED it!

We finished the day off with a delicious heart-shaped pizza:

I know a lot of people say that it’s lame to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I used to be one of them. But not anymore. Sure, Adam doesn’t need me to give him Valentine’s Day gifts to know that I love him. And the girls don’t need extra gifts that day as well. But everyone loved it and had so much fun. So I am officially on the Valentine’s Day bandwagon.

I mean, how could you NOT want to go out of your way and celebrate the holiday of love for these cuties??

I love them!