I know it's been quite a while since I posted back at the beginning of the year. A lot has happened since then. We went to Disney back in January and it was our first official family vacation. We had so much fun and it was such an awesome family time that we got to spend together. Since then, the time has just been flying by. I've been busy with my photo shoots and Pat has been working a lot and they've been really busy.
The kids have finished another year of school (Alaina finished Kindergarten and Declan finished 2nd grade). I was so proud of Alaina for getting the "super pal" award for her classroom. The teacher said that she like to befriend everyone and make sure that no one was left out and everyone was included and having fun. Declan's classmates all wrote something about him and about 95% of them wrote about how funny he is.
Declan was having some issues in school listening and focusing so we made a trip to the pediatrician only to find out he has ADD and was put on a form of ritalin. Deep down I knew this day would eventually come, but I kept putting it off and making excuses for his behavioral patterns at school. Finally when he had a break down during a homework assignment I realized it was more than just him "acting up". The first day after starting the medicine, he came home and said, "it was so easy to be good today at school". It made me feel bad for not trying to help him sooner. As parents we want the best for our children and I think sometimes we're extra hard on ourselves in these kinds of situations. After he started taking his medicine I received numerous emails and phone calls from his teacher saying how focused and sweet he had been recently. She stated that she loved how involved and calm he was and that he was no longer afraid to ask for help.
Now that the kids are finished with school, Alaina is super excited to start her first year of summer camp. The owner of the daycare they go to has a large amount of land with a swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball court, and hiking trails. Everyday they get to swim, play games, hike, and play sports. I love this time of year because they come home exhausted and don't mind going to bed even though the sun is still out. Our kids go to bed so early compared to most. Alaina is in bed around 7:30 and Declan at 8:00 and we still have to wake them up every morning at 6:30. Of course they pop right out of bed at 6:30 on the weekends all by themselves when it's a struggle during the week.
Other than that, we're just chugging along. Pat was offered a permanent position with Ascension and starts as their employee on 6/16 and he is so very excited. This will be the first time in a looooooong time, if ever that he gets more than a couple days PTO for the entire year. For those of you that are unaware, he's been a "contractor" for the last three years with no paid time off. We are so excited for this new chapter of our lives and look forward to what opportunities it brings in the future.
