back to school and fall transitions

 I cannot believe that my baby has started kindergarten. Today is Tuesday and the kids started school last Wednesday. I walked him in his first day but by the 2^nd day he just wanted me to drop him off in car rider line. He did amazing. He was a little nervous that he wouldn’t be able to find his classroom, but I reminded him of which way to go and told him he could ask any adult for help. He did it without hesitation and reported that he found it without a problem when I picked him up. He has handled this transition so well so far. He is a little uninterested in going back again upon waking up each day, but he quickly adjusts and is willing then always reports a fun time when I pick him up. I can already see his confidence growing and I know he is going to change so much this year. I want this for him because it will all be so good for him and his future, but I am also already missing my sweet baby.

 

Ella also started middle school. There were a few nerves there as well, but she has come home smiling each day and has said that it is better than she expected it to be. I can’t believe that Reese is in her last year of middle school and will be headed to high school next year. She turns 14 in a little over half a year and will be eligible to get her permit. This is flying way too fast!  

 

During all of these changes I am transitioning into full time work for the company that Neal worked for, Keeco. I have been working 2 days a week since last March and hired a sitter over the summer for the 2 days. For the first few weeks back to school I am working 3 days but only during school hours so that I can be the one to pick William up from school each day. The 2^nd week of September I have hired a sitter to help me after school 3 days a week with the pick ups and transports. I will work in office all day 3 days and will work from home and manage some of the transports myself the other 2 days. So far it has gone well and Keeco has been so supportive of this transition for our family.

 

Some of these changes are big but so far they have been good.

 

 

30a trip July 2023

 I am so thankful that my kids love the beach like I do. Neal also had a major love of the beach, so we always made room for a beach vacation most years. Growing up my family went to Destin every year. I love the Destin area and Neal did too. We did want our kids to see other things, but we generally made our way back to Destin every other summer. This summer I decided to get back to that area at the end of July. The past few times we have gone we have headed a bit east of where I always went growing up, to the 30a area. We stayed in a complex that we have been to once before. It doesn’t have beach access but comes with a golf cart to be able to cart all of your stuff and people over to the public access areas. Some of the family ended up going with us and we had a fun time. We stayed in a rental with Chelsea and Tyler. Carrie, Ben and Jacob got a unit, Mom, Aunt Mau, Uncle Chris, Uncle Pat and Aunt Cheryl got a unit and Katie and her family got one. We had some fun time with family and were able to celebrate Mom and Chelseas birthday together. 

 

One day a few of us went on a boat ride to see dolphins and go snorkeling at shell island. Shell island had very few shells but it was still a fun adventure.

 

We had a fun week at the beach. The kids can have fun for hours now playing in the water and the sand. William spent many hours on end with goggles and a net immersed in the water swimming around trying to catch the little fish that he could see. I am so glad we are to a point that they can last several hours out by the ocean. The beach is a lot of work though. I knew that Neal did a whole lot to make our trips more enjoyable and boy did I feel the loss of his help this trip. The kids have gotten so big though and they were very helpful. It was a good week spent at the beach but I was so worn out by the end of the week. The 13 hour drive doesn’t help much with the exhaustion at the end of the week.

 

Next summer we are looking at doing a Disney cruise and I am excited about the thought of not having to cart around all the stuff and having some things taken care of.

 

 

William's poop sagas

 For a few years now we have been dealing with some pretty difficult bowel issues. Around the age of 2 William decided that he did not want to poop. He would go long periods of time without pooping and the length of time got longer and longer after the issue started. When he was close to 3 I knew I needed to potty train him but didn’t know how I would handle it with the poop issue. I went ahead and got him pee trained and that was pretty easy but the poop was a major challenge for years. He would hold it for over 30 days sometimes. We would be at the pediatrician wondering how to handle it. They would always push miralax and that was their solution. When I would give too much miralax he would have multiple disgusting accidents a day since he couldn’t control it as well and still was opposed it happening. When I didn’t give him the miralax he was a master at controlling it until it became critical. Then he would have up to 10 grape sized accidents a day for several days until his body would revolt and he would physically be trembling trying to control it. I would have to force him to sit on the toilet and sit with him begging and pleading for him to give up control. He finally would have to and what would come out of him would be more than you could ever fathom coming out of such a small body. It would clog the toilet so I ended up removing it from the toilet to save our plumbing, gross. 

About a year ago we started occupational therapy. His therapist, Sarika, was precious and so so good with him. She focused on core strength, yoga poses that release bowel and breathing. She also read with him and did things that normalized potty needs. He slowly made progress and finally overcame. I believe that this was ultimately a control issue. His pediatrician mentioned that kids can really only control what goes in and what comes out of their bodies so most kids are picky about what they eat but some kids choose this. He has so many things in his life that felt out of control that he found something to control, a move at 2, living in an old house with failing septic that caused stress, his dad fighting cancer, another move and losing his beloved dad. 

This issue caused so much stress for both of us. When he got to a critical point it often meant several hard days. This was hard when he had someone caring for him while I had to travel for sports with his sisters. It was hard when our family traveled. We always had to have many changes of clothes and ways to dispose of gross things. I am so thankful for the progress he has made and that we seem to be past this hurdle. I am so happy about it that his sisters and I threw him a poop party. 

I kept a schedule so I was clear when talking to doctors and therapist:

August 26

October 6

November 1

November 19

December 1

December 16

December 19

December 30

January 11

January 18

January 25

January 29

Feb 5- in the night everywhere 🤪

Feb 12

Feb 16- unprompted on his own 🎉

Feb 19- unprompted on his own 🎉

Feb 22-unprompted on his own 🎉

Feb 26- unprompted on his own 🎉

Feb 28- unprompted on his own 🎉 but painful and he cried

March 17- traumatic & only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again

Mar 28- traumatic & only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again

Apr 12-traumatic & only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again

Apr 23- traumatic & only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again

May 2- only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again

May 13- made to sit on the toilet but didn’t take as long for it to happen. 🙂

May 16- made to sit on the toilet but didn’t take as long for it to happen. 🙂

May 21- only bc he physically couldn’t hold it any longer again and had to sit on the toilets several times for long periods and finally gave in

5/25- showing signs of needing to go so made to sit on the toilet with a phone to watch and decided not to fight it 🎉, took about 20 mins.

5/30- made to sit on the toilet but didn’t take as long for it to happen. 🙂

6/9- made to sit on the toilet but didn’t take as long for it to happen. 🙂

6/13- unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/16- started 10 min sitting after some meals, pooped in 3 minutes 🥳

6/17- unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/20-unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/22-unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/24-unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/24-unprompted and on his own 🥳

6/29- “””” 🥳

7/1- “””” 🥳

7/2- “””” 🥳

7/4- “””” 🥳

7/8- “””” 🥳

7/10- “””” 🥳

7/12

7/15

7/18- twice

7/22-7/29- 4XS beach week

7/30

8/2

8/4

8/6

8/7

8/12

8/14- x2