Skip to main content

Our Year in Review for 2022

 Highlights:

  • Zachy’s expressive speech, independent skills, self-regulation, and swimming skills grew so much last year! Music therapy and swimming lessons were happily parts of his weekly routines.
  • Sophia lost several teeth (now up to 7) and excitedly got lots of visits from the tooth fairy. She’s grown so much in her confidence and skills in the water through swimming lessons and in her use of speaking (and listening to) Spanish at home. It’s been fun for her and Kate to share that.
  • Kate got a new job at UnitedHealth Care that is an answer to many prayers, a great fit and provides many blessings and benefits to her and our family. She discovered and has greatly enjoyed bullet journaling, writing poetry, creating various artistic pieces, and participating with a small group of women reading the book The Artist’s Rule. She’s learning about the monastic and artist’s way of lift and various contemplative practices that have been enriching, healing, surprising and helpful.
  • Louie is enjoying his retro video game hobby, friends and events and has continued having a successful side hustle flipping and selling items to provide additional fun and project money for him and our family.
  • Kate & Louie celebrated 16 years being married with a few days in Rochester. We were also able to celebrate a few of our friends getting married, including a long weekend trip to Wichita, KS.
  • Zachy and Kate joined the 5th graders from his school to a week-long trip (Mon-Fri) to Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. Zachy successfully participated fully in all of the hikes, adventures and much of the class-based learning too. He surprised many with how much he was able to do, showed what a great leader he is and was resilient. Kate was encouraged and enjoyed seeing classmates and friends including, celebrating, enjoying him on throughout the week. This was an enriching and memory-making experience, indeed.
  • Louie and Sophia had a fun night out to dinner and the Children’s Theatre to see a bi-lingual (Spanish) play, while Kate and Zachy were out of town at Wolf Ridge. Kate and Sophia had a fun Mommy & Me bakery date before the trip too.
  • Huge progress was made in efforts towards finishing our basement! Lots of construction, new electrical and additional heating was added, as well as framing out a new full bathroom and enclosing the utility and storage area. We’re enjoying continual progress and being able to use the additional space.

 

Hard things we got through, together:

  • Louie’s time working at PCA ended, due to Covid-related decline in attendance for students and families
  • Kate had a really challenging start to the year (Nov. 2021-April 2022), with declining mental health and extreme changes with her prior role at UHG. We’re grateful she was able to take the month of May off to rest and begin the healing and recovery process. Her new therapist and psychiatrist were helpful additions to her support team.
  • Several therapy and other staff changes were tricky to navigate at the beginning of the school year for Zachy and us. The new team members are so wonderful, caring and committed to him, and continue to be open to collaboration and communicating about what’s working/what’s not at home and school (to provide as consistent of support for him as we can). We’re very thankful for their partnership, especially through the learning curves.
  • Kate was assessed and diagnosed with having ADHD – Inattentive this summer. It was bittersweet information to receive for her. Thankfully she found the right medication, support and treatment to help her manage the symptoms and have improved focus and overall health.

 

Hopes for the new year ahead

  • Having another full bathroom completed
  • Finishing the basement project (painting walls, having carpet laid, setting up our new family room)
  • Continued growth, development, well-being, and connectedness with ourselves, each other, God, and others
  • Being able to host more friend and family gatherings with the additional finished space
  • Learning and enjoying new winter activities for the kids, to add to things we can do together outside, like skiing and snowshoeing. Sophia also hopes to learn how to ice skate this winter.
  • Openness to how God might be working in and through us and those around us, with gratitude and grace

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You're Going to Put on Makeup

  If you’re going to put on makeup, you’ll probably start with some mascara. When you take out your mascara, you’ll remember you like to curl your eyelashes first, so you’ll have to find your curler. When you find your curler, you’ll slowly put your eyelashes in, one eyelid at a time. Curling your eyelashes will remind you of how fun it is to curl your hair, so you’ll probably find your curling iron and plug it in. While it’s heating up, you’ll get inspired about what to wear, so you’ll go to your closet to pick something out. You’ll choose a favorite shirt and pair of pants and excitedly put them on. When you step into your pants, you’ll notice your toenail polish is peeling off and decide that it would be fun to have them match your favorite shirt. So you’ll go to the cupboard and take out your nail polish remover and select the right color. You’ll remove your peeling polish and see the blinking light of inactivity on your curling iron. So you’ll wash your hands and curl your hai...
Post a Comment
Read more

Carry Me

Today I got to carry you on a walk, in which you usually set a pretty fast pace without many rests along the way But today, you needed me you reached up with open arms and without any words I knew So, I picked you up and felt the beauty of your weight in my arms and the heat from our exercise emanating forth you snuggled your sweaty head nuzzled into my neck and whispered "mucky" I said "I love you too, mucky" And I carried you in silence in beauty with gratitude and you grounded me to this moment right now as your strong mama in whose arms you find so many things My son, in whose heart I see the joy of the Lord in whose eyes, I see my own in whose heart, I sense such an amazing knowing that I cannot articulate, because I don't fully understand it yet, myself Today, I helped you take a load off your feet and your growing legs and rest your tired body. You helped my heart soar and my soul know the peace of God in such an i...
1 comment
Read more

Don't Worry About the Small Stuff

.... And most of it is small stuff. Lately I've been thinking about how much other people have the potential to either make you smile or get under your skin. I've recently encountered several situations in which I had been struggling to not let other people completely ruin my experience with something or my attitude about things. Through a lot of processing, I realized that I was trying to micro-manage and control other people's responses, thoughts, actions and words in my own strange way. I was giving them the power to dictate whether or not I enjoy myself and enjoy life. How strange of me! Then I realized that a lot of people tend to do that (although usually subconsciously) and end up being so frustrated by everyone else's junk or bad attitudes that they themselves become junk-carrying crabby people. So I figured, hey, I have enough stuff to carry around on my own. Why on earth would I try to also figure out your issues? (unless of course you ask for help) Plus, ...
1 comment
Read more