Onward with Hanna

Johanna is making strides on a daily basis; Strides around the house at top speed and strides in her development. Johanna's pace is full throttle. She is adding words and phrases and sentences, and expressions to her vocabulary. It is very helpful to have a child be able to tell you what they want or understand how to show you what they need. This cuts down on many possible frustrations.

Hanna loves all of the nursery rhymes and kid's music cd's. We regularly sing in the car together and I love to peek in my rear view window to see her grinning and singing. Some of her favorites are the itsy bitsy spider and twinkle twinkle little star. She consumes books avidly and has progressed to being able to look through paper page books without destroying them. Lately a favorite is the Llama Llama series. It was good timing as one of the books is called "Llama Llama misses Mama" and is about being dropped off at school. Hanna isn't going to school but she does have a new daycare situation.

Aunt Becky is required to increase her work hours from 16 to 32 hours per week, so she will only be able to watch Hanna one day a week, instead of the three she had been doing. They are letting her slowly phase in the hours so we are gradually switching days of care to Ms. Kate Le (Horman). Hanna started 2 weeks ago and is loving her Wednesdays with Ms. Kate and Gena, who is 4. Drop off was easy and both Wednesdays when I have come to pick her up and take her home she has not wanted to leave. Johanna is also excited to have a lunch box of her own. Because she has food allergies we decided it would be better for Hanna to pack her own lunch each day. We will probably be doing this most of her childhood.

On the allergy front Hanna has been doing well. Her skin is looking good (rash free) and the bad case of dermatitis on the bottom of her feet has cleared up. Hanna seems to be growing out of her egg allergy and she can now tolerate baked egg. The allergist has asked that we serve her baked egg everyday so that her body is desensitized to it.  Today Hanna was an excellent baker's helper as we baked egg into banana bread and muffins. The activity held her attention the entire time and she followed directions really well. Egg in other forms is still off limits but we hope she will grow out of that too in time. The cashew and pistachio allergy will probably always be with her.

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Some of the current Hanna-ism's:
Blue - She loves blue, she points out the color and if she has the opportunity to pick a color it is blue
"Me Here" - If Johanna wants you to do something with her she puts out her hand, says "me here", and takes you where she wants you. I think she is saying come with me here. Usually it is to play.
"Stop it" - She is one bossy little girl and tells everyone, multiple times a day to "stop it". Sometimes she wants you to stop singing with her or touching her, but other times someone will walk in the room and Hanna tells them to "stop it".
Peace - Going to Mass with Hanna is an exercise in patience. She talks regularly, walks around, climbs over us, sings "Alleluia" throughout, but the best part is the Sign of Peace. I whisper to her to let her know it is coming and she is ready with her hand outstretched. She moves to every person in our pew and the pew behind; "Peace with you", shakes and moves to greet everyone. It is so dear, makes everyone smile, and undoes any annoyance she may have caused.

This girl is exhausting and inspiring.

Emma's 16th Birthday

16

Sixteen

XVI


How did this happen? My baby is 16 years old and it feels like she is getting older everyday. Not the "isn't she getting big"- older, but the "turning into an adult" - older.

There has been a lot of talk these past few weeks about AP classes and thinking about colleges, and getting a driver's license and finding a part time job. These things carry an air of excitement, but also a weight of responsibility.

I took Emma to the DMV to take her permit test and after 4 lines we got through the process. It was a little anti-climactic because they give you a temporary paper permit while you have to wait for the license to come in the mail. Then I got to take Emma out to practice driving for the first time in St. Mark's Rectory parking lot. In all I think I really enjoyed it, but there were plenty of spikes in stress hormones jumping in. Emma did great, but the idea of progressing to a point where we go on the road is frightening. Meanwhile the actual permit did come in the mail, and in a few months she will get the real thing.

I look at Emma and I see so much capacity to do so much and do it well. She is an amazing daughter and I am happy to celebrate her birth.

Emma asked to have her closest friends over for a sleepover and then she ran with all of the planning. She made a few lists and wrote everything out in a notebook. She planned Messy Twister, where the circles are made of colored Cool Whip and Disney Music Challenge, which involves guessing a song's title and movie after only 10 seconds. The rest of the family helped with clean-up, decorating and food prep. Rachael was camping so we were a helper down but Megan stepped up, helping with fruit and veggie trays, spreading colored cool whip for the game and being the Twister spinner. Emma made her own Nutella Cheesecake and Margherita pizza; both of which were fantastic. She she has great taste in friends, which makes the whole event a pleasure.

I wish her a very Happy Sweet Sixteen!

I pray that she takes the path God has set out for her
and that I have the grace to help her take it.

 Prayer for Discernment (Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus)

God our Father,

You have a plan for each one of us,

You hold out to us a future full of hope.

Give us the wisdom of Your Spirit

So that we can see the shape of Your plan

In the gifts You have given us,

And in the circumstances of our daily lives.

Give us the freedom of Your Spirit,

To seek You with all our hearts,

And to choose Your will above all else.

We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.   Amen.

Back to School Pictures 2014

And it begins again. Here are the newest back to school pictures. 

Emma is the the 11th Grade at CHS.

Rachael starts 8th Grade at CMS. Last year in middle school

Megan starts 5th Grade at Westchester. Her last year of elementary school.

Bridget is in the 2nd Grade at Westchester.

And Hanna is learning without the help of organized schooling.

OC with the Arciagas

We hadn't really planned to take a vacation in 2014, because we have been pouring our money into our house these past few years, and vacations can be expensive. But then good friends of ours proposed going in on a beach house with them. The house slept 12+people and was in a great community and they were offered the house for 1/2 a normal rental, so the place, the people and the price made it something we would find the money for.

I think there was a little anxiety on both families parts since we hadn't traveled together before. We got together to discuss meal planning a few weeks ahead of time but everything else was already at the house.  The week was fantastic and the worries were quickly set aside as we settled into a comfortable vacation state of mind.

The house was in a beautiful gated community on the bay side. It had multiple private bay side sand beaches, a pier, walking path, indoor/outdoor pool, and splash fountains. And the house itself was beautifully decorated, with amazing linens, pool table and arcade. Bikes and kayaks were also available for our use. Emma and Rachael spent most of their time exploring the property, biking, walking to see the sunset, and sunrise at the ocean.  I was comfortable that they were together and proven themselves responsible. I think they liked the autonomy.

Megan, and Bridget shared the fourth floor bunk room with Savannah and Sierra. This also gave them some independence. Jim and I were given the master bedroom so that we could put Hanna's pack and play in the walk in closet. This worked out great! We could come and go from the room with out waking her and it was quiet and dark.

We spent many days on the beach enjoying the waves and the sand. Shari and I were in the shallows while Jim and Wendell were out deep with the girls. Emma and Rachael grabbed boogie boards and headed right into the ocean. Bridget stayed on the edge the 1st day but found her comfort spot and spent the rest of her days body surfing and boogie boarding in the shallows. Megan went right for the waves and boogie boarded with gusto. The waves got bigger and rougher as the week went on. So we had to curtail some of the daring. One day everyone just kept getting plowed by wave after wave unable to ride them in or go over them. It was exhausting. At one point as I was helping in the shallows I saw Megan look at a huge on coming wave, then turn to me with  big smile and brace herself as the wave dumped over her head. She got knocked off her feet but came back up again smiling. The mental picture of Megan's smile with that impending wave just behind her and cresting over her head is a treasure.

All the while Johanna cruised the beach, greeting people and joining them in activity. She walked up to every kid, got face to face, and touched what they were doing. I ran interference, protecting the sand castles and little kids who were uncomfortable with Johanna's directness. Hanna had a blast. On one trek along the water she came upon the scopes camera girl lining up pre-teen boys for a picture. She had them on their bellies. Before I knew it Hanna laid down next to the boys and struck the same pose. Everyone involved experienced the joy that she brings. Most beach days I headed back early with Hanna so she could get a nap in before the group returned. It worked really well since I could also start getting dinner ready.

One of our beach days Rachael got stuck in a rip current and couldn't make her way back. Jim saw her struggle so he went out to help. The 2 of them shared the boogie board and worked to get back. They attracted the attention of the lifeguard and 2 men in the water as well as our whole group. Jim and Rae attempted to swim parallel to the beach but this did not achieve quick results. The life guard sat back down, we guess assessing they were out of danger but still it took a few more minutes before they were clear of the current. They were both exhausted and on edge when they finally made it back to the beach. It was scary so everyone was less aggressive in the water for a while.

We had a few non beach days. One we spent on the property with a picnic lunch and then taking going out in the kayaks. I think we all used muscles we didn't know we had in the process. Most of our evenings involved playing mexican train dominos, cards or watching movies. We played mini golf one day, and went to the board walk for a sandcastle display and ice cream one evening. We never did too much or too little. It was a great paced week and truly was a vacation.