Life Lately

The tree

Rich arrived home from work last Friday night with a (ah, inhale the wonderful scent) plump Christmas tree tied to the roof of the Volvo.  The sight caused Emily to scream in delight, while poor Anna began to cry because she wanted to go as a family and pick out a tree together.  I asked her what we could do to make it better and she told Rich that he needed to return it.  



Taking photos like this is a good way to see if you've distributed your lights evenly.

Santa Claus

Or Eddie Claus, as the girls call him.

Last weekend was busier than I wanted it to be.  Saturday, the girls had their first reconciliation (church, mandatory) in the morning followed by the massive, because there are so many people, Christmas party for Rich's side of the family.  This year, the role of Santa was played by the girls' cousin, Eddie.







And then on Sunday, I slept in while Rich brought the girls to CCD, which I recently learned is no longer called CCD.  And then we were gone for the afternoon for a birthday party.  And then there was my favorite activity - laundry.  As of this posting, I am still not finished Christmas shopping.  Awesome.

Trouble

This one's middle name.



Check out the hand on the hip.

I had intended to take photos for our holiday card the first weekend in December but then I was sick so that didn't happen.  I managed to squeeze in a five minute photo shoot on Saturday in between church and the Christmas party.  The photo above was a test shot so I could see what I had for light.  That night, I edited the photos I needed for the card, found a card on Tiny Prints and ordered 'em up.  They arrived earlier this week.  Thank goodness for free expedited shipping.

Second grade update

I know I have some readers who found me after their babies were diagnosed with spina bifida and so I like to update here and there with how Anna is doing.  I recently met with the girls' teachers for our first parent/teacher conferences of the school year.  Anna is in a bit of a unique situation in that she has not just one, but two identical sisters and although no one intends to compare their children, sometimes being able to compare provides a certain level of comfort.

So Anna is doing really well.  To quote her teacher, she's exactly where she should be academically.  I was also able to speak with her PT and OT.  She continues to gain strength and balance, although she sometimes doesn't use proper form when walking and her left ankle easily tightens up.  No one really knows why she needed to see an OT.  Was it because she has spina bifida? One could argue that it's because she's left-handed.  Regardless, they are thinking of cutting her loose from OT in a few months. Yippee!

Anna's an awesome kid who is well liked by her classmates and easily makes friends.

I've read and maybe even quoted that kids with spina bifida are of average intelligence.  I'd like to change that to say that the intelligence level of kids with spina bifida is determined by genetics.  The other implies that these kids can only hold an average intelligence level.  Not true.

So now for some fun (and interesting) comparisons.  The girls all prefer literacy to math and although they all score high on math concepts testing, none of them score above the class average on the timed math facts tests.  Their scores are near the class average so there are no concerns but it's funny to see how they all essentially feel the same when it comes to those timed tests and practicing math facts.