1. Paul taught at Bloomsburg from January through June and then started teaching at Bucknell in August.
2. Ian accepted Christ as his personal Savior on January 20.
3. Oliver learned to walk, talk, sing, do 12 piece jigsaw puzzles, and was daytime potty trained. He's starting to work on 24 piece puzzles.
4. Oliver's urological surgery went well. His repair only took one surgery!!!
5. Oliver was hospitalized for RSV and RAD in April. The nebulizer is now our friend. He had his first PICU stay due to RSV and a collapsed lung in December.
6. Nadia started riding BIG roller coasters with an adult and sometimes by herself! She also learned how to tie her shoes.
7. We switched churches in September. The church had three balloons sent to Oliver yesterday, and one pastor will visit us every day we are here. Oliver is in Puggles, Nadia and Ian are in the Soul Patrol choir, Nadia is in Sparks, and Ian is in Cubbies. I am in the choir. I also joined a different ladies Bible study and have made some new friends.
8. Nadia played on her first basketball team, Ian played on his first soccer team, and Paul had his first coaching debuts with both sports. Nadia and Ian took their first horseback riding lessons.
9. I've continued to make progress with my photography skills!
10. Nadia and Ian sang in a children's choir at church for the first time, and Nadia sang a vocal solo as the special music at church in August.
11. We spent a week in the Poconos with my parents and a week in Orlando with Paul's parents. We visited Magic Kingdom and Sesame Place for the second time and Hollywood Studios for the first time. Nadia rode with Paul's parents to Florida; this was by far her longest road trip.
12. Spent a week with the Benners which included trips to the Baltimore Aquarium, Six Flags, National Zoo in DC, Lake Tobias Wildlife Park, and Smithsonian's Air and Space and Natural History museums.
13. Spent several days with the Towfighis which included two trips to Hersheypark in November and a day at the science museum in Baltimore in September.
14. Ian learned to buckle his seat belt, write all his uppercase letters, and really improved in his reading skills. Nadia made HUGE strides with her reading skills and is currently at the middle of the fourth grade reading level.
I also thought it was high time that I reflected on the goals I wrote for the year to see how I did. Those that were accomplished included:
- Finding a time to have the kids work on their Bible memory every day (lunch)
- Finding a time for me to have my quiet time every day (usually during Oliver's nap)
- I did try my hand at making pies this year as well as a cheesecake
- I've been doing better at having the kids help more around the house although I still end up cleaning the toys more often that I should. I need to stop doing that as they can (and should) do it! Nadia started to learn how to vacuum and how to wrap presents, for example.
- I did make a soup, stew, or chili once a week most of the time and in the process tried many new recipes.
- I did work on fleshing out how we celebrate holidays more this year, but there is still room for growth with this!
- They made progress with liking more and more foods over the course of the year.
- Nadia now eats vegetables without raisins, and she has been doing a MUCH better job with making her bed and keeping her room neat.
- Ian did learn to write his uppercase letters, buckle his own seat belt, and play games with rules.
- Oliver is daytime potty trained, walking, talking more, and better at responding to the word "no."
Those that were not accomplished included:
- Having Nadia practice the piano 5 days a week
- Trying a crepe recipe or finding THE pizza dough recipe
- Involving the kids with my communication with the three kids we sponsor
- Giving Nadia and Ian money except for giving them the same amount of dollars as how old they are on their birthdays and giving $5 for the first lost tooth and $1 for each tooth after that.
- Nadia didn't break her thumb sucking habit
- Ian rarely finishes dinner in an hour or less, unless we're eating pizza or chocolate chip pancakes. He also didn't learn to swing himself, and he still is fussing and crying quite a bit every day.
- Oliver still tends to use his fingers more than his utensils when eating.
- I didn't do a weekly craft with the kids, and I haven't been using Pinterest.
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