It’s Been A While

It’s already February 19th and I haven’t written one post in 2019. I have 3 drafts of I don’t even remember what, but I figured I better get one out there.

You may be wondering how our Kylan Jack is doing. This year is much more ‘uneventful’ as far as updates on him go since all of the Dr. appointments and evaluations are behind us. Now it’s all about using the information or advice we’ve been given to navigate through it all. The best we can.

We decided to stop his private therapies at the beginning of the year and see how it would go. He has made HUGE improvements with all of the extra help he received in 2018. We may get him into some group therapy in the summertime, but for now he’s still receiving chiropractic care and services through the school district, so we felt he’s still getting the help he needs, just not quite as much. I think it was a scarier decision for me then it was for Travis, being I’m with him day in and day out, but just like anything else, we’ve pushed through and figured it out. The kid may struggle academically but he’s got drive and determination. He’s the most stubborn and strong-willed human being I’ve ever known. I thought my husband was stubborn, but Kylan blows him out of the water. I have no clue what his future looks like, but it’ll be something bright. And he will be our greatest story to tell.

On our way to church this past Sunday, I said to Travis I need to find out when Kindergarten Round-Up is. My voice immediately started to shake and tears welled up in my eyes. I had to stop talking (and thinking) about it. As exciting as it is to think about getting a little bit more of a breather during the day and getting him more structure to see how this whole ‘full-time school’ thing is going to go, my heart sinks. He’s been with the same teacher the past 2 years. He ADORES her. She’s gone through everything with us. I’m not sure if I’m ready to move onto someone new, let alone if Kylan is ready. He struggles with new people. So I’m bracing myself for the backlash we may experience when this milestone happens. He’s also been my little side kick for 5 years. I honestly can’t imagine my days without him being at home with me. So until then, we’ll cherish these last months and I’ll grow some more grey hairs. Because real life…the kid is the culprit of 90% of my grey hairs.

Grayson and Talan are growing up before our eyes and refusing to take pictures with their Mama. (Or any pictures for that matter) Looking at my pictures, the first one is the last single one I’ve taken of G and it was at Christmastime! Trust me…I’ve tried. It’s not because he’s the poor neglected middle child. Well, maybe a little bit. (I feel you buddy) Ha! But seriously. Luckily Trav got some of him at the Fire Station recently. Talan turns double digits in a few short months which I’m NOT ready for. How can my sweet, little nugget be turning 10!?! It’s gonna happen whether I want it to or not. *sigh* Yesterday I booked his birthday party. I love Birthdays, but with 4 kids, it can be challenging to make a huge deal out of every year. So this year it’s all about Talan.

He was the first of us to get pretty sick this month, and he didn’t bounce back too quickly either. Travis and I had many whispering conversations, “Should we bring him to the Dr!?!?…He’s not even playing Fortnite!!…He doesn’t have a fever anymore…Is he having problems with friends at school??…Is this an age thing??…Please God don’t let this be an age thing!!” It’s true. I messaged his teacher and made a joke that I wasn’t sure if it’s because he’s still not 100% or because he’s turning 10 soon. Lol. Y’all, we may have 4 kids but we do NOT have this figured out! We make mistakes daily and all that gets me through is a whole lot of prayers, reminding each other to give ourselves grace, and a whole bunch of chocolate. Parenting is HARD. Parenting your first, ‘easy’ child is hard. You’re a rookie at it for 18 years. And then God blesses you with a 2nd child who’s completely different and you’re a rookie at it for another 18 years. And then…and THEN you’re blessed with a Kylan Jack and you’ll never be good at this parenting thing but you’ll try. You’ll never quite figure it out but you’ll lean on God and the experts. And you’ll grow your village. Because you aren’t meant to do this alone. And by number 4 you’re exhausted. You do whatever you need to do to just get by. She’ll pretty much raise herself. I mean, the girl can hold a pencil like a professional and she knows her colors. She’ll be good, right?

I’m happy to say this year is starting out much more uneventful then our 2018, and that’s TOTALLY fine. Our January was crazy enough with sporting events I don’t think we could have squeezed in all the appointments we were having this time last year, along with everything else!

Now I have to brag on Travis for a minute. He’s been on his own health journey since last June and y’all, he’s killing it! He says this is the slowest he’s lost weight (hello, you’re not a young chicken anymore), but he’s made it a lifestyle change and I’m so proud of him! He’s lost 45 pounds (crushing another milestone just this past Saturday) and when I’m curled up in bed eating snickers under the covers (true story), he goes out on a walk. Every. Single. Night. The only 2 nights he hasn’t gone out was because it was -20° or something crazy like that, and then he walked laps and played some basketball in the basement to get in his 10,000 steps for the day. He’s the real MVP over here.

(He took the kids to the fire station our friend works at a couple Sundays ago while I did some hair, and they had a blast!)

Hopefully I won’t go so long in between posts next time. I’ve been in a funk lately (thank you, winter), but sometimes writing out little glimpses of what’s been going on (or not going on) helps remind you how extremely blessed you are. There’s always so much to be thankful for in this crazy, messy, busy, and ordinary life.

~xoxo