Sophia's first day of Kindergarten

Today was Sophia's first day of school. She was so excited this morning and couldn't wait for it to be time to go. She woke up very early and inhaled her breakfast. She was ready and waiting about forty five minutes before it was time to go out to the bus stop. Daddy rode the bus to school with Sophia (and Samuel as well). It is cool that the kids ride the same bus this year. Next year it will be different. When they arrived at the school the kids were outside on the playground for a little while and then they got lined up in line with whoever they had for a teacher. Sophia's teacher is Mrs. Marcinkewicz! I am sure it will be a little bit of a challenge for her to learn that name. Sophia's class has 21 kids in it. One teacher and her assistant. There is also a Russian girl, two Spanish girls, and a Vietnamese girl in her class! These girls don't speak any English. It was funny listen to Sophia try to explain what their language sounds like :-) I am looking forward to this year for Sophia, as well as for Sam. My prayer is that they both thrive in their classrooms and that they learn all that God has planned for them.

My Little Gymnast

Sophia had her end of year gymnastics show at the end of June. To say she was excited would be the understatement of the year. She absolutely loves gymnastics and loved being able to show Grandma and both Grandpa's her skills. She was so much fun to watch, so animated and lively. I am so thrilled that we were able to send her this year and am praying that we will also be able to send her next year. They essentially went around the whole gymnasium and did a little routine. The first part of Sophia's routine was a little dance to "Yankee Doodle Dandee." It was so cute to see all these tiny little gymnasts. The whole show was dedicated to the military and was wonderfully patriotic. After the floor routine they went to various other areas of the gym, the balance beam, air track, tumbling mats, uneven bars, etc. She did so well but was so fast I didn't catch most of her performances at each individual event. And this is a picture of Sophia with one of her multiple gymnastics teachers, Miss Jen.

GI for Sam and Sophia

Sam and Sophia had a GI appointments at Tufts this week. This was Sam's first appointment back with Dr Zella since he had left MGH. We are so very thankful to have Dr. Zella on our team. He listens so wholeheartedly to Sam, and seems to fight so hard to make him feel well. In discussing how Sam's belly has been recently with Dr. Zella, Dr. Zella was unhappy with Sam's continued discomfort and is really racking his brain trying to figure out how to help him. It is SUCH A TREMENDOUS BLESSING to have someone who wants Sam to feel as well as I do as a part of his medical team. We are going to switch around some medications and see how that helps him. Prayerfully we will get to a place where the belly pain is not a daily occurance. We also saw Sophia's physician assistant Jean. Jean also is very nice. I unfortunately disagree with her about what is going on with Sophia which has been a bit of a challenge for me. I am so used to having medical staff listen to me and really try to grasp what I am trying to get across. And I feel that she really isn't doing that. I have done what she has recommended and don't feel like it has helped Sophia get better. As the time has gone on with whatever this GI thing is with her I have started to really think that maybe this is just some really nasty bug that she has struggled to get over. I feel like we are making slow progress, and that for the most part she is returning to normal. Where Tufts is located is definitely challenging to drive to in Boston. I drove there the first time with Sophia and it was a rough drive. So this time I decided to take the train. The kids were so excited about it. We have heard of some strange things happening on the T but have never experienced anything out of the ordinary until this time. Some guy on the train started trying to take pictures of Sophia! Even when I asked him not to and had Sophia turn so her back was to him he didn't want to back down. Thankfully someone else also told him to back off.... So awkward!!!

The Sound of Music

I was so thrilled to spend a special afternoon with Sophia and my mom recently. Last weekend we went to see the musical "The Sound of Music." Sophia was so excited to have a "mommy day" where we got all dressed fancy. She was so cute. My mom joined us as well, and she asked me to ask my mom if she would dress fancy! We had such a wonderful time! The musical was absolutely phenomenal. I would love to see it again. Sophia just loved the children and the singing. The youngest Von Trapp child in the musical was only five years old! She did so wonderfully. It was a beautiful day. I am so thankful that I got to spend this time with my mom and Sophia making such a wonderful memory.

My Little Gymnast

Since the age of about two and a half, Sophia has had the diagnosis of joint hypermobility and they have done a fairly extensive workup to rule out some kind of skeletal deformity, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and several other problems. She started crying when going down the stairs a couple years ago, completely out of the blue, and no one could figure out why. We did several rounds of PT, and all kinds of strengthening/stretching exercises to help stabilize her joints and muscles. After her last spinal MRI we were told that we should get her into something that could strengthen her muscles. I was absolutely heartbroken last year when we were told that our Christian preschool was closing after 28 years. I so desperately wanted all three (at the time 3) of my children to go there. I started researching all the local schools and found one that included some gymnastics classes within the tuition. The school is fairly expensive, but Sophia has thrived there and done exceptionally well. We have heard from this preschool teacher as well how kind and compassionate she is and how she can organize the whole class and get everyone involved in an activity so that no one feels left out. It has been a good fit for her. That being said, physically she is THRIVING! At the beginning of the year she struggled so much with many aspects of her gymnastics classes, whether it was fear of getting hurt, fear of not doing it as well as her friends, or physical inability. The teacher voiced some concerns about her strength initially, but throughout the year she has pulled me aside multiple times to explain how much progress she has made. And now at the end of the year, she has gone above and beyond all of her classmates in her capabilities. The teachers believe that she has a serious talent, and whats more she is thrilled and loving it! I unfortunately am not there during her classes typically, but the most recent one I was able to watch. She is amazing!!! I am just so thankful that God opened this door for her to go to this school and that she is doing so well. She seems to be so much stronger and almost never complains about the discomfort in her joints anymore!!! Praise God! The pictures don't do her justice, but it is hard to get these action shots, and chase a toddler at the same time :-)

Sophia's Preschool Graduation

I still can't believe my little lady has graduated preschool! And what is crazier is that when Sam graduated preschool I was pregnant in the pics, and now that Sophia is graduating I am pregnant again. The graduation was so sweet! Sophia was so excited. She is such a little ham for pictures most of the time. Preston really wanted to graduate from preschool too. He kept running up to the kids and tried to climb on Sophia's lap. They sang lots of songs and did motions to many of the songs. It was so cute! She was thrilled to get on a frilly dress even though it was terribly rainy outside when we were getting ready to leave the house They started the graduation singing a song to the toon of "The ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah..." So the students walked in according to the number in the song. But it was to the tune of the students.... So cute AQDw/tudc89Efpns/s320/003.JPG" /> Once the kids came in they came and sat in their seats which were labeled with their names. There were 22 kids that graduated with Sophia. Throughout the entire ceremony the kids sung several songs. One of them had a part where they had to tickle each other, it was so cute to watch them. It was so cute when she got her cap put on and the tassel switched over and walked across to get her diploma After the kids had received their diplomas they started to get a little antsy, Preston included... We were so happy that Grandma, Meme' and Grandpa all got to come and enjoy the graduation with us. Sophia with her teachers.... Our family, unfortunately without Sam. The graduation was early in the day, and Sam misses so much school with sickness and doctors appointments that I just couldn't pull him out :-(...