big decisions...

Hey Friends (:

People have started calling, so I guess it's time to update you all. We are doing good over here, getting ready for summer and everything all seems to be changing all at once.

Lyla will be finishing up her last month and a half of preschool soon. A few weeks ago I was losing sleep and having chest pains over where to send her to kindergarten. There is a great Christian school nearby, a great public school, and the homeschooling option. After weeks of prayer and talking with Lyla about it, she is dying to go to our neighborhood school. She loved kindergarten roundup and knows a few kids from the neighborhood who will be headed there with her. Her main reason for needing to go to full-day school is "I want to eat lunch at school." It's still a big tug on my heart but I think this is God's plan... for next year anyway (:

I took Evie to Lyla's school for "sibling day" and she had an absolute blast. After talking to her PT and services coordinator she may be eligible for "preschool" at another public school here in our district after her 3rd birthday. It had never occurred to me to send Eve to school until she was 4... why would she need three years of preschool? Well after sibling day we decided to take Eve over to the school to check it out. She walked in her walker right up to the circle where story time was happening and completely forgot John and I were there. Right now Evie gets speech therapy, PT, and OT in our home about once a week. Evie's walking and speech improve drastically every time we learn a new skill. If she went to school she would go four, half-days a week with a speech therapist present, and could receive all of her services at school. On paper it makes sense, we just need to pray big time about what is best for her and our family.

The thought of sending both of our girls to school in the fall makes me nauseous and teary eyed. Preschool is not a done deal, but Lyla has her mind set on kindergarten. At least with Evie home I will have a shoulder to cry on until I get used to it (:

We also switched to a different foster agency in Omaha. We have been waiting since last August for a placement of a child but haven't had success with the agency we are with, so we decided to try something new. It's exciting and scary at the same time. Big prayers to see where this journey takes us. We are also pursuing infant adoption through the same organization, although this process takes a lot longer and we will probably be waiting on that for a while.

The girls have decided to form the "best buddies club" and now sleep in the same room (: While struggling to get Evie to sleep in her bed about a week ago I asked if she wanted to sleep in Lyla's room (as a desperate attempt to get a single good night sleep without her in our room). She was totally excited and for the next two hours Lyla gave her the run-down... "this is a slumber party. I'm the big sister, that's why I sleep on the top bunk. If you need anything, you ask ME. You don't ask mom and dad, because that is why this is a slumber party." repeat... repeat... repeat... The late night conversations and giggling are slowly getting better, and Eve has slept in Lyla's room for over a week. I offered to let her sleep in our room last night because she has a cold, and she screamed until I put her back on Lyla's bottom bunk. She apparently likes it there (:

Lyla loves being the big sister, and it's really fun to watch the girls grow closer together. It's fun to have them in the same room, but also causes me to think... Switch foster agencies and have an empty bedroom in nearly the same week? What's going on here... (:

Evie is doing great with her walker... she wants to take it EVERYWHERE! It's so great to see her becoming more independent. I love when I open the van door and she says "walk walk walk" because she wants to take her walker with us. She is at such a fun age, I'm really looking forward to spending the summer with both girls.

On the health front, after Evie's seizures in January her pulmonologist (lung doc) suggested we see a cardiologist (heart doc). We did that last week and all of the tests came back fine, Praise God for that. There is still some apprehension about whether or not Eve can hear correctly, so we see the school audiologist tomorrow. It will be interesting to get his perspective. I know she can hear me, I just don't know exactly what things sound like since her speech is off, for example she could hear like she's underwater, people could sound like robots, who knows. Hopefully we'll have a better answer tomorrow.

I took Evie in for a weight check last week because I was afraid she was losing weight, and she had actually gained a pound, she's back in the 1% of weight. I am really proud of her. Lyla has decided that she should eat like an adult and sleep 12 hours a night, and has grown an INCH. Her tight little pants are now loose and too short (:

Easter was incredible this year. When we turned the calendar to April, Lyla gasped "Oh no, Jesus is going to die soon." She pays very good attention to things and it was fun to share the joy of Easter with her and our families, because He Rose!

I apologize for not blogging sooner, with the nicer weather I spend most of the day chasing the girls around outside, or running from one activity to the next carrying Eve, our bag, her walker, and making sure Lyla doesn't run across any parking lots. I haven't been this tired in a while.

Love you friends, I will update soon (: