The rest of the school year

In late February we made our annual trek to Chicago for the Hustle up the Hancock. Steve gets to compete, and I get to spend the weekend in Chicago seeing some of my college friends. We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown, and that was really nice. We also got to eat at a Korean restaurant and shop at a Korean grocery store. Unfortunately, Gabe did absolutely awful there. Took him forever to go to sleep, and then when he was asleep he was poopy. We changed him, and then he started crying all over again. The next day was fussy, and we didn't get home until late, and he screamed when we put him to bed. All I can say is the rest was a REALLY bad night.

A few weeks later the kids and I headed off for cold Florida for spring break. After how Gabe did in Chicago, and with his first flight since coming, I was braced for the worst. He did great. The only complaint I had with him was waking up early, about 6:45 every day. But the girls did the same thing when they were little. We think maybe the difference was that we talked with him about what was going on. He stayed with my parents for the day, and I surprised the girls with a day at Disney. That started out rough with Lauren being scared of most of the things we did in the morning, but after a talk with Daddy, and Mommy being a bit more careful, she did great in the afternoon. The girls definitely deserved this treat, after the year they had. The have done great with Gabe.

Since then we went on a spring retreat with our church group in Brown County, and Gabe did great there too. Even better than in Florida. Thinking the key is talking to him.

Unfortunately during that weekend, Steve's step-mom Carolyn suddenly passed away. The week before she was to have minor surgery, and she never came out of surgery. She apparently had a stroke (or strokes). Her and his dad had just started going to church, and we worried about his faith. But we were both surprised at how he held his faith through it all. We just pray that it continues despite life going back to "normal" without her or someone by his side.

Again, Gabe is doing much better overall. I feel more like his mom and attaching to him more and more. We even have more and more times of smiles and laughter with each other. He is definitely a daddy's boy, and after that he adores Lauren. But we've come a long way, and can pretty much say we are to "normal" childhood with some adoption and Gabriel quirks. For instance, it is currently 5:50, and I have been up since 5, as Gabe stayed awake until 9 last night talking/fussing, and woke again at 5. With Gabe, if we go in and talk with him, he will absolutely blow up when we leave. After about 20 minutes of him moaning for us, I finally went in and talked with him. When I left, he cried. But at least it wasn't a blow up. Here's to the next two hours until he can actually get up!

Addison is blossoming from a little girl into a big girl. Yes, she is just starting to show signs of maturing, but I also see it in her behavior. The way she talks about her friends and school, how she plays, and her love of performing. We have struggled with her lately with obedience. This has always been her downfall. But she did do her jobs for two weeks in a row, so she earned her allowance and is having two friends over after school today.

Lauren just graduated from Pre-Kindergarten. It doesn't seem possible that my baby girl is going to school in a few months. Academically, she is probably beyond the target, but socially, she has a long way to go. She plays wonderfully with her siblings, but with friends from school she still struggles, wanting to play more by herself or not knowing how to play together. The teachers aren't concerned as they have seen great progress, so I am not as concerned. Just a little:).

My parents are struggling with their health. The 70's have not been kind to their health. Dad was in the hospital twice in Florida due to an irregular heartbeat. It seems it was from being on a certain blood pressure med, and now he is doing better. My mom has had pain in her lower body for some time. She recently found that she is missing bones in her foot, and that is why they are so deformed looking and off center, which causes pain elsewhere. For the past few weeks she has been having unbearable stabbing pain in her eye. The medicine that has finally been helping is hard on her body, and makes her sound drugged. She also can't think clearly, and this has me concerned on many levels.

In two days Steve and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. Boy has this journey been much rockier than I could have ever imagine, but glad I had my best friend to go through it with. We were supposed to go back to this wonderful bed and breakfast in Valpo tonight, but our babysitter had to cancel (see about paragraph). As my parents age, we will have to come up with some other resources to be able to get away. Just not sure we can afford those other resources, and yet Steve and I know how valuable it is to get away even for one night.

Ah, the saga continues. Steve just came in from his early morning run (hey, he was up anyways at 5), and seems to have sprained his ankle. Oy!