random catch up post

I must say, I am loving January this year.  We have been having a lot of fun and our 2012 is off to a really good start.  I have been processing a lot so far this year and really do have a lot to say.  But for some reason, I haven't been blogging.  I'm hoping to change that by doing this catch up post and getting back to regular blogging.  I have an organizing series that is knocking around in my brain that I'm planning to start.  I'm thinking of linking to a few series already out there instead of hosting a blog series with links on my blog.  And I'm going to post my one little word soon.  Which I have done for several years.  In 2009 I picked present, in 2010 I picked simplify and last year I picked intentional (which it appears, I never blogged about).

For now, here are some pictures from the first nine days of 2012.  I just know it's going to be a great year!

Here are some more from Luke's birthday.   He got a new Spiderman costume and wears it every day.  Literally, every day.  We made Spiderman cookies to take to school using these Williams and Sonoma cookie cutters.  Mark's mom bought them when they visited in October and they just worked okay.  The other super hero's came out better.

 

We have been having warm weather, which I love.  The boys have re-discovered their love of our playset and have been swinging every chance they get.  Luke even decided he was going to learn to swing by himself now that he was six and he no longer needs a push to get started.  And as you can see, sister loves to swing too!

Grace is turning five next week.  I can't believe it.  Her personality is coming out in spades this year and she has become this funny, engaging little girl.  She is still seriously delayed in ALL areas but she just feels more present these days.  We are praying for some big changes for our daughter this year, which I'll post more on another day.  Right now we are beginning a major transition for Grace which will allow our family much more freedom in the future.

Sweet friends from church gave us this bed and the super cute butterfly sheets in the fall.  Well, Grace has been sleeping in it for the past three nights.  I can't begin to tell you what this means to me.  We weren't really planning on transitioning her right now since she still fits in her crib.  Originally, she was scared and would freeze anytime we put her in it but slowly she began to relax in it.  So we decided to just to just go for it and see what would happen.  And what happened was she fell asleep and stayed asleep in it all night long.  It is so cute to come in in the morning and see my baby girl sleeping in a regular bed. 

One of the most limiting factors when traveling with a child with disabilities or special needs is answering 'where will she sleep?'  A regular bed is just not safe for some children with intellectual or physical disabilities.  Well, as they grow a pack-n-play stops being the answer when they are too tall to fit into one.  This is the case with Grace, last year we had her sleep in a pack-n-play and she was really too big for it.  My fear was that we were going to have to say no to trips away or vacations where we couldn't rent a full size crib for Grace.  So the fact that she is transitioning easily into her big girl bed, means that our family will have the freedom to do the things that we want to do and not have to worry about 'where will she sleep?'  It is so much easier to bring bed rails than it is to bring a full size crib.

So as you can see our first days of 2012 have been great.  How about yours?  Is 2012 shaping up to be a good year for you?