Yo soy La Lay

It appears that we have two options here:  we can look back at 2016, full of woe and frustration for the many things that overwhelmed us, pushed us, didn’t go our way, or we can choose to be grateful for all that we have with which to enter 2017. 

My choice is to be grateful.

(That is not to say that my phrase of the year still wasn’t “but that doesn’t even make any sense!” but I digress.)

In any case, three cheers from 2016:

Cheers to deeper relationships

My babies spent half of 2016 developing relationships with their grandparents that could only have come through those sleepy Saturday mornings and chaotic nightly dinner scenes.  We may have lost in independence for that brief time, but there is something to be said for the opportunity to enjoy my children through the eyes of their grandparents.

And on our own, in our cozy house, with no money to go anywhere or do anything, followed closely by All The Germs, our family of four grew on our own again, figuring out our new routines (must make lunches after dinner) new rules (no ice cream unless we walk there), and new traditions (hello, parade right in front of our house!).

Cheers to solidarity

The political season has left deep, scarring wounds on so many of our hearts.  But I think, at least for me, there is some comfort in the voices I found that banded together against ugly words and behaviors.  My hope for 2017 is in the willingness of so many to still stand up for rationality and compassion.

Cheers to Taking Care of Each Other

I started the school year with a reminder to myself that we are called to serve and not be served.  It has been challenging to live this every day. (Most especially when pregnant.)

Challenging, yes, but in those moments when I listen to my heart, oh so worth it.  

2017 is not the year that I lose my baby weight. It’s not the year where I get fit or dedicate myself to making time for me.  Instead, I’m forging forward with serving.  I feel like right now, it’s the least I can do.

May courage, compassion, and empathy rule in our hearts in 2017.

❤️

Dearest Friends and Family,

If there were ever a year to write a Christmas letter to you all, this would be it… which is also why it didn’t happen (at least not in time to be mailed with our cards).

(And while we’re at it, can we talk about the Christmas miracle that is me getting ANY cards in the mail by today?)

It’s so odd, during this time of social media, that a letter might need to be written.  And yet, here I am.  So forgive me if you’ve heard this craziness already.  I just want to relive the mostly-mass chaos that was 2016.

I suppose that our biggest news of 2016 was that John decided to coach basketball!  This has been an amazing addition to our family schedule.  The girls and I were really lacking quality “girl” time together, so it’s been a great blessing to have them all to myself every day… especially since we got our Karaoke machine.  There is never a dull moment in our home!

Because of John’s coaching, we realized how much better zone defense is, as opposed to man-to-man coverage.  This relevation lead to another development – Baby Lay #3.  Surely if the middle school players can do so well with zone defense, John and I will love it as much in our own home.  The girls are actually quite excited about the new addition, whom we expect to arrive in early June.  Once again, Ellie has reminded us that we are only allowed to bring home a girl.  John is praying every day for a son.  He has even asked others who are expecting if they might be interested in a trade, should this baby’s gender not work out in his favor.  We won’t be finding out boy or girl until June though, so you’ll have to wait for the surprise!

Most other exciting news items from this year are probably best bulleted.  So here you have them:

• We bought a house and moved.  We will never be doing that again.
• Within a week or so of moving in to said new house, we locked ourselves outside with two mostly-naked, ice cream covered children.  Multiple squad cars and a fire engine came to rescue us.
• Tessa started walking, talking in sentences, and really testing our ability to child-proof anything. We are failing at this.  She will start preschool in two weeks.  I suspect that they will be much better at channeling her lively spirit toward good than we are.
• Last year and this year I planned a big conference for Down syndrome and now I’m on the Board of Directors for that organization.  I love keeping the plate full!
• Ellie started her Dual Language kindergarten, where she spends about 80% of her day learning in Spanish.  This has been incredibly useful when she and I want to have secret Mommy-Ellie conversations.  However, it also means that I get reprimanded by my five-year-old in two languages.
• The girls had lice for like a month.  That was awesome.  It’s also pretty much why we hibernated through most of the fall.  It’s all better now.  Knock on wood.
• John ran another half marathon to raise money for UPS for DownS.  Thank you all SO much for donating to our cause.  It was a great day with crazy weather.  Looking forward to another race in July!

I do believe that we have about summed up our year, save for the runny noses and random family excursions that keep us busy (and happy!) throughout the year.  I hope you all are able to look back at 2016 with at least a few fond memories as we are.  I know that we are all looking forward to 2017 and the roller coaster that no doubt awaits!  Cheers to a wonderful holiday season!

Much love,

The Lays

I have long dreaded this week.

For as long as we have been working with Early Intervention, I have taken great comfort in our services.  The routine of therapy visits, the work to help Tessa move and speak correctly, the comforting relationships that we developed with each of her therapists… as I have said before, EI has been a lifeline for us. 

Admittedly, balancing this summer’s therapies with our family’s on-the-go nature was tough.  We skipped a lot of zoo/pool/friend time to fit in her sessions.  We grew tired of the daily interruption.  

And this week, as therapy fades away to nothing, we prepare for the transition to school.

Probably, the school transition is what has caught me so off guard.  Transitions have always been hard for me.  We have been prepared – and are eternally grateful to our local group, UPS for DownS, for helping us to be so, and still today I cried because my baby is going to have to carry a backpack that is as big as she is.  She is so excited about that and like many other times in motherhood, I just have to be excited for her new adventure.

Our evaluation and IEP meeting with the school district could not have gone better.  We worked as a team and they gave us choices and input into her services.  They listened to what we know about our girl and created a plan with us that will play to her strengths and support her areas of need.  When we again mentioned our plans to enroll her in Dual Language kindergarten, there was an audible murmur of excitement.

We are in the right place.

I’d like to order up a few more Sundays like this one.

Just a few.  Enough to get us through Christmas, then we can cut this off.  But seriously, swooooon.

It has been almost a month since we last wrote anything.  Have you missed us?  It’s been a little busy since Halloween.  Not that we aren’t always on the go, but

Sick. Roseola. Lice. Flu. Coaching. IEP stuff. Thanksgiving.  First trimester. Broken computer. Broken internet. Broken hearts. Lots of heavy. Lots of sad. Lots of good. Lots of nausea.  Evals. Paperwork. Conferences. Big news. Frustrating news. Tired parents. Hyper kids. More lice. Plumbing issues. Car issues. Phone issues.

And no wine! Boo!

As my energy is coming up a bit, and the words start rolling around even more up in my brain, I’ve got to get back.  Friday night, I was lamenting to John about my need to write, but inability to get to it.  Gotta get the words out.  Got to.  So get to it I will.

In the next week, we have a big transition from Early Intervention to IEP.  So much to say… so much to share.  For now, I’m going back to enjoying the snow (from inside the house) and mulling over all the things I want to tell you.