Well hello there....almost 20 months later!!

Eek!! I knew it had been a really long time, probably a year even. It's been almost two!! Here I am though with much to share, it's crazy what happens in close to two years. 

Ayla will be 7 years old in just six days. What!? Hard to believe I just typed that. She's in first grade. She's so, so smart. Scary even. She's also feisty, even scarier. Girls got attitude, and a lot of it. She pulls it off semi well because she is kind hearted and thinks of others. She loves God. She loves her mama and daddy. She's beautiful with sparkly blue eyes and long blonde hair. She is a fantastic little horseback rider and does well in gymnastics too. She loves boy bands, making bracelets with her rainbow loom and Monster High. I adore my girl!

Kellen will be turning 6 in about 6 weeks. Parental rights were terminated in June and Dailon now goes by Kellen Jon Splonskowski. We haven't adopted yet, still in progress but it's finally coming along. He is a devilishly handsome, charismatic little guy. Everyone who meets him likes him right away. He is in kindergarten this year and doing well. It started of rocky to say the least. His first month was spent in timeout/principals office/ suspended. Really. He was diagnosed with ADHD, we found a medication that is working wonders for him and his last 6 weeks have been wonderful! Praise God. His teacher said that at this point, if a sub came into the classroom, she wouldn't be able to pick Kellen out as the kid with issues. Best.news.ever! He is so much happier too, he comes home from school with a gigantic smile everyday and tells me about his great day and his friends and how well he's doing. He continues attachment and trauma therapy weekly and probably will for several years. My heart bursts with proudness for what this boy has accomplished in the last three years. I love him so much and feel so blessed that God picked Darren and I for him. Kellen loves Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. He ties his shoes and colors inside the lines all the times. He's a bit meticulous. He is so loving and like his big sister, has a big heart. He cares about people and how they feel. 

Chariyona now goes by Aria Jane Splonskowski. This girl is full of zest! She is diva like and a typical youngest child. Pretty care free and mostly goes with the flow although with turning 4 she's decided she'd like to be in charge instead of letting Ayla and Kellen run the show.  This is causing a little friction between the three of them but it's very good for all of them. Aria is in preK this year and for the most part, does well. She has a bit of a hard time with her fine motor skills - cutting with scissors, holding a pencil correctly, coloring in the lines. She's making progress though and hopefully will be caught up soon. She loves God and talks to and about him often. Her favorite part of the day is dinner prayers and highs/lows. She also loves the dogs. She pets them, puts blankets on them, feeds them etc. It's a good thing they're tolerant pooches because she can be a bit much at times :) she is also TALL. She skipped size 5 altogether. She literally went from 4's for summer to 6's for fall and winter. She's gonna catch Kellen very soon! She loves gymnastics and learned to swim fairly well over the summer. She can jump off the diving board in 12 foot water and swim to the edge all on her own. She's also fearless. She loves to be the fastest, highest, loudest etc. She's a wonderful little girl and we love her madly!

Cockatoo. Cockatoo!? I am currently 22 weeks pregnant(an all natural surprise if you can wrap your head around that) with a very active and healthy baby boy! The kids named him Cockatoo months ago, before we knew his gender so we went with it. We didn't see four kiddos in our future but couldn't be happier or more excited with God's plan. He's technically due March 5th but will be born in February(God willing). I'm hoping for at least 37 weeks of cooking time for him, remember Ayla was born at 30 weeks! I am seeing a high risk doctor this go around and so far things have been perfect at all of my appointments. Cockatoo is way more active than Ayla ever was in womb. It's amazing what he can do in there since he's only a pound! I can only imagine what he'll be like weeks and months from now when he's bigger. I haven't gained any weight yet although my belly is big and round. I've craved pickles and sunflower seeds then brownies. By 15-16 weeks I was all about grains...bagels, full grain crackers, plain sun chips etc. Right now I'm eating garlic and dill hummus like its my job. I guess it could be worse. Overall, I'm trying to eat nutritious foods that aren't too unhealthy. 

Anyway, I will be adding pictures soon and updating much more often. Hope to see you all around soon! 

Happy St Paddy's Day!

The Leprechaun came last night! The kids made a trap but that sneaky little guy got away. He did manage to eat all of the Lucky Charms cereal they left as bait though, and then he spelled out "Nice Try" in rainbow colored skittles.

He played many tricks while he was here, left curly green ribbons all over the house, replaced decorative candles with cans of soup, went potty in the toilet leaving the water green and his little green(paint) foot prints on the toilet seat. He covered the tv with a blanket, switched small pieces of furniture around and even turned our milk green!! He left this place a mess!

He was kind too though, he left the kids chocolate golden coins, green suckers and St Patrick's Day shirts. He also left some other various little green prizes. We're gonna catch him for sure next year!

OUTSIDE!!

As I said in my previous post, the weather here has been great. We've been outside as much as possible and have gone to several parks in the last few weeks. The kids are loving it. It makes for hungry, tired kids. This is great news because it means they devour their dinner, take baths and fall asleep fast :)

Little Miss Olive

The kids got a pet guinea pig last month. She was born on Christmas and we've named her Olive. She's easy to care for and the kids adore her. She munches on all kinds of fresh produce and happily sits on little laps while little hands pet her. She's by far the easiest one to care for in this house!

Ayla's 100th day of the school year!

With as many days as they give kids off, I didn't think she'd hit 100 total. I guess I was mistaken. This was an exciting day at school. They had to bring 100 small items to school that they could glue onto a paper chart. She brought popcorn kernals. They made hats, glasses and got stickers. Apparently, this was quite the event.

Mid March!

Wow, middle of March already! I have lots of updates...the kids, the weather, my health , Darren's schedule, and a long awaited wedding! Whew! I'll work backwards.

My cousin Joey is recently engaged to long time girlfriend Arlee. We are VERY excited about this. Everyone in the family loves Arlee and we are incredibly excited to make her an official part of the family. They've also asked Ayla to be their flower girl. As you know, Ayla is an experienced flower girl. Her debut was in August of 2010 at my cousin Jordan's wedding. She is ecstatic about being a part of their wedding and I have to say, I am too!

Darren's schedule has been awful for the past 4-6 weeks. He is working tons of hours, days and nights. It's been hard on everyone. He wants to be home, the kid's miss him and so do I! The good news is that within a few weeks he should be back to having a semi normal schedule.

In a week and a half we're heading to Minneapolis for a little R & R. We're going to spend three days there...to take the kiddos to MOA to play at the amusement park. We'll also do the indoor water park for a day. I am excited for a few days for the 5 of us to hang out. It'll be good for us all.

I've continued to heal from surgery and am doing very well. I'm down 35 pounds, going to the gym 3 days a week and overall feeling more energetic. I had one little scare a week or so ago, passed out in the shower and crashed through the shower doors. Whoops! Ayla heard me and came in. I thought she was going to freak out and be worried about me. Nope, not at all. She put her hand on her hip, looked at the shower door and said "Dad is NOT going to be happy about this!" That's my girl *rolling my eyes here*. Anyway, the dizzy spells have passed, I'm keeping up on my protein, water, vitamins and an iron supplement. All is well.

The weather has been FAN-freakin-TASTIC! We've been in the 70-80's all week! Needless to say we've been spending lots of time outside. We've been to the park nearly everyday, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, walking the dogs, grilling our dinner and airing out our house. I love this weather, it does so much for every one's moods. The kids are requiring daily baths again. At the end of every night they've got dirt under their fingernails, sand in their hair, scraped knees that could use a good soaking and that "dirty kid smell". It's totally worth it though.

Overall, the kids are doing well. Ayla is sassy and mouthy and it seems to be getting worse. I suppose some of that is her age and the other part may just be that she's a bit too much like her mama. Either way, she and I have had some knock-down drag-outs about her behavior. Sigh. I'll just say we're still working on it. She's doing great in school and is reading at a first grade level. She should have no problems in the fall when she starts kindergarten!

Dailon is good. He really wants to be in school, we're trying to get him in to a specialized program for kids who have behavior issues. His behavior is fine at home but at his visits and in a school setting he still struggles. He's had weekly therapy sessions for about a month now, hopefully he's making progress. He's a happy boy, so social and outgoing. Everyone who knows him loves him. He is so smart and has great potential. I pray that there is resolution to this ridiculous case and he gets the permanency that he needs and deserves soon. I know that when that happens, his issues will subside.

Chary will be three in a few short months! Ack! She's been totally potty trained since December and is becoming fiercely independent. She wants to do everything for herself - buckling her car seat, putting on her shoes, zipping her jacket. She gets mad when she in unable to do these things easily. Last night and this afternoon for her nap she slept in her big girl bed! I've had her bed in her room for about 6 months but she's still been sleeping in her crib. I'm sure she was ready, but I wasn't! Amazingly, she did great. She stayed in her bed all night and waited for me to come get her out of bed this morning. She's such a big girl!!

I have pictures to post but need to upload them from the camera. That'll have to wait until tonight. I'll just create a separate picture post later.

Whoops! I forgot about doing a surgery update.

Obviously, I survived :)

I am just about one month out and doing amazingly well. My incisions are all healed. I have about another month of lifting restrictions as my insides take a bit longer to heal than the outside. Initially, I was quite tired after surgery, napped everyday, lived on protein shakes, water and liquid pain medication(which by the way makes cough medicine taste like candy. Blech!!).

In the last week my energy has returned, I feel like me again and have even put make-up on a time or two! I am already down over 20 pounds which is amazing to me...a couple more pounds and I will have lost a whole Chary! I just got clearance for exercise other than walking and am meeting a trainer at the gym today.

I owe all of you a huge thank you - for your support, prayers and positive thoughts. The flowers, cards, visits, help with the kids etc meant so, so much to me. Darren and I could not have managed this without all of you. From the bottom of our hearts....thank you!