Old friends

This weekend Devin and I were invited to our friends- the Sylvester's- for some fun in the sun. Devin and Emma have been friends since about 20 months old and you can find many posts with Emma and her awesome family here on my blog. Emma has always had a little "thing" for Devin and we love to watch them as they grow. They remain great friends with a little bit more of flirt coming through. At one point they flipped the boat upside down and were "fooling around" under it. I know it was all innocent but it reminded us that we may not have much longer for their actions to stay innocent! 

We'll Definitely keep an eye on them! :)

Obsession

Devin, now 8, is completely obsessed with baseball. Redsox games on tv, player/team stats and sports news, baseball movies, baseball documentaries, baseball video games and his most favorite- playing baseball! There's is no shortage of baseball around here and that proves  evident when Devin wakes durning the night asking for his baseball in his sleep so that he can "throw a strike" too funny! 

Devin was able to move up to AA level this spring (his birthday falls the day after the cut off) after a successful try- out. The AA level is when the kids begin pitching the ball with coach assistance after four balls thrown. Little did I know that Devin would really thrive in pitching this year! I could see he had potential in the beginning of the season and I did some asking around until I was able to help Devin with his pitching technique. By the end of the season he didn't even need any coach assistance and was throwing most pitches in the strike zone. 

He did so well, in fact, that he received MANY compliments from coaches. Including an opposing coach chasing down our car to tell us that Devin "was the best pitcher his team faced all season!" What?! We were both so proud with huge smiles plastered on our faces. 

Devin just finished a week of baseball camp. He loved it, even with the 88* with high humidity temps. 

I pledge that I will do everything in my power to help Devin foster this passion and talent. ⚾️

Roller coasters

It's funny how life has it's ups and downs. I guess we truly never know where life will lead us. 

I spent many hours reading back on my Blog tonight. I am so grateful to have preserved all of these Memories. One thing that stuck out was a post where Devin (age 4 at the time) asked me if I was "married" and would I "always be married?" Without a single hesitation I answered yes. In so many places in my blog it is evident just how much I loved my husband. 

And yet I sit here tonight, reminiscing and  nostalgic, and completely alone. I have no husband to recount these

Memories with. I have no husband to talk about the future, to share the moments yet to come. He broke my heart into a million pieces and left me alone to raise OUR son. The man who was such an admirable father and husband exists no more. He has become a stranger... A villain. 

The time goes on and the days get a little bit easier. Day after day I become more independent. I have learned how to unclog a toilet and that Christmas lights aren't worth fixing. I've learned how to help my son in baseball and how to adjust the a/c vents. 

 I've learned about sacrifice and heart ache and betrayal. I've learned how to pick myself up off the ground.  I've learned how strong of a woman I am. Most importantly, I've learned about ME. 

1st Day of Elementary School

Despite Devin's hesitancy and nervousness he had a great first day of first grade!! To quote Devin as he came off the bus with a huge smile, he said "It was great! I made a lot of friends and didn't even get in trouble!"  I am so proud of Devin and happy for him. I know that not knowing the other kids or what to expect at a new school was nerve-wrecking for him (subsequently making it nerve-wrecking for Mama!) Devin likes his teacher, Mrs. Marques, and feels comfort in knowing that she "won't make him do anything he doesn't know how to do" though I think Devin won't find that an issue. ;) He does wish his classroom space was bigger, but there is not much anyone can do about that!

Nadya also enjoyed her first day of second grade and talked a lot about the "work" and the shelter in place drill that they had. She has several friends in her class again this year and found great comfort in that. I know she will do well with Mrs. Martin.

 Bus Stop

 Here he goes! Off to first grade!

I hope that both of these kiddos have a wonderful school year- full of learning, friendships, and pride.

End of Summer

Labor Day signifies the end of summer. The nights get cool, most days are still warm. School buses navigate the neighborhoods and kids are excited at the prospect of a new school year beginning. Here are a couple of end of summer pictures and an interview with the kids.

You may notice that Devin is nervous about beginning first grade~ new school, new teachers, new friends and a bus ride are a few of his worries... He plays it off by trying to be "funny boy"  I think I'm in for it....

Hmmm....not working....will get the video up if I can.

Special Days

One thing that I did with the kids this summer is give each of them a "Special Day."

For Devin's special day we went to a super-fun place called "Mel's Funway Park" where we went mini-golfing, go-carting, played laser tag and arcade games. It was great to spend some one-on-one time with my boy. I previously had taken for granted all of the time alone I had with him...now its precious time. Devin was so funny about his mini-golfing, at first he was taking slap shots, at one point having to chase down his ball! haha And then he became super serious- planning each stroke and checking out the course ahead.

For Nadya's special day we went to Barnes and Nobles to get her free book for a book log,  got her hair trimmed, and spent a few hours painting at You're Fired. I requested that Nadya choose a bank to paint- so she picked a princess bank. I painted a small bowl for my bureau (for loose change and such) and then together we painted a ring holder for window sill by the sink. It was nice to have some time alone with Nadya and to teach her something new. She definitely has a creative side and enjoyed decorating her princess.

I hope that the children got as much out of these special days as I did. <3 br="br">

Summer Fun in the Pool

When the kids are not at summer camp (which they LOVE- sports, sports, SPORTS for Devin and crafts, cards, and girlies for Nadya) we are most often found at our development's pool. For Devin and I this has been our summer ritual since he was 2. We've now turned Nadya into a fish!

Here is a (quick) video of the kids playing with the Cespedes boys and Lexi in the pool yesterday.

New skills in the pool this summer include Nadya becoming proficient in the deep end and sustaining swimming for longer periods of time without a life jacket. Devin has been exploring with jumping and has had some success with diving. His swimming skills have remained strong and he can swim the breast stroke from one end of the pool to the other (the long way!).

Well Hello There...

The past 10 months have been crazy for us, but you can not tell that from my lack of blog posts. Because of the complication of our situation, I had stopped blogging. I now realize that was a poor choice. During some rare solo down time the other day I read through my blog, watched the videos, and admired all of the pictures (of varied quality). I realized what a true time capsule my time spent blogging had become. I realized that I wanted to continue this- for memories, record, and pleasure.

Let's play catch-up!

Last October, due to extenuating circumstances, a relative's child came to live with us. Now that we are "legal guardians" I feel that I can and should include Nadya on our blog.

Nadya is a spirited 7 year old. She is artistic and eager to learn. She is full of energy and attitude. We hope to help Nadya grow into a kind, responsible, and loving young adult.

Devin and Nadya have semi-adjusted to their new roles as "siblings." For Devin this has been a whole new world. Devin spent 5 1/2 years as an "only" and was thrown into sharing EVERYTHING in his life with another child- a child a year older than him who has had many bumps in her road. For me, Devin's understanding-heart-of-gold and ability to adapt has been confirmed.

The kids fight like siblings and perhaps this has been one of the hardest things to adjust to. It was not a gradual grow into the arguing, blaming, accusing. It was a flip-of-the-switch. Between their rivalry and my teaching children of the same age- my life became quite an exhausting, stressful whirlwind. I am hoping that as we (I) better learn how to manage all of these roles, it will get easier.

For now I leave you with this picture (from my birthday at the New England Aquarium) and a promise that I will be back SOON!

(I wish Devin were looking in this picture but that would have been TOO easy! LOL)

Devin's Christmas Pageant 12/20/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Visits with Santa

Candy Cane Lane Concert 12/15/11

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Busy Saturday

I officially became a "soccer Mom" on Saturday! Devin started his soccer team, the Sting. He is in a Kindergarten league in our town and all of their practices/games are held at 8:00 am on Saturday mornings! Devin LOVED soccer and can't wait to go back.
In the picture below you can *barely* see him in the center of the picture. He is #4. He was running and dribbling the ball in the practice drills. After a 30 minute practice there are 2- 15 minute games.
Last Saturday, after having soccer, Devin had to participate in his karate promotion. He is getting to a pretty advanced level in his Little Ninjas Program. He currently has a white belt with a red stripe and just received a "Junior Leader" patch. He only has a few stripes left in this program! Go Devin!
I also had to buy him a new karate uniform on Saturday (we went for black this time). It was the first time Devin had worn the jacket since spring and he has grown a little (okay, A LOT!) and his sleeves were about 3 inches too short and the jacket barely made it to his waist! ***Big shout out to Memmere for switching over/adding on all of the patches!! Thanks! Love ya!***

Kindergarten Boy!

Devin started KINDERGARTEN on Tuesday!!! What a big boy!! Here he is, ready to go Tuesday morning in front of our house with his pack back and name tag on. We were just about ready to head over to our neighbor's house where he hangs out for about a half hour before she brings Devin and her grand daughter to school in the morning (I pick them up in the afternoon). The kids go to a private kindergarten from 9am to 2pm.

Once he was at school, it seems like the kids got right to work. He brought home a paper in which he copied the alphabet and wrote his name and told me about doing some math- writing his numbers (but I didn't see it). The concept of "seat work" was definitely something that Devin did not welcome with open arms and we had to talk about that Tuesday night and do a bit of practicing. I'm told he did much better with this on Wednesday (yay!). In some ways I do feel bad for the kid with his mom being a teacher and all.

I am super-happy about his teacher being strict and expecting near-perfect behavior from him though. While she expects this, she is also understanding that there is some adjustment time needed and that he is having some health problems (see below). I'm hoping this helps to prepare him with great behavior for first grade in public school next year.

On Wednesday he told me that he worked on patterning and that his was blue, yellow, blue yellow, etc. They got to make their pattern with stamps. He really enjoyed this. They also did a Bible Story with the pastor and he told me about how God made all of us. I'm so glad that he is able to get the Christian aspect of education this year without being in a Catholic school.
Through all of this Devin has been battling an ear infection....since his surgery on August 23. His poor right ear has been so angry that its resisted the Floxin drops, azithromycin (oral antibiotics), and the Cortosporin drops (when used alone). He is now on Cefdinir (oral antibiotics) as well as the Cortosporin drops. I sure hope this does the trick! He is due for some relief (which is what I was hoping for with the surgery!). We are scheduled to go for a recheck with the specialist in Boston next Thursday.

Signing off for Now,
Mom of a Kindergartener....Karla

Surgery Outcome

This was BEFORE the surgery, see how happy Devin looks here? It took a little bribery and reassuring to calm him down, though. We had a great discussion at dinner the night before the procedure where I explained to Devin what was going to take place the next morning and allowed him to ask questions. He seemed fine. We got up early and headed into Boston and all was fine still. Once it was time to put on these pajamas, though, something clicked for Devin and he got REALLY freaked out! I think he was extremely nervous all of a sudden. We talked to him and told him that it was okay to be a bit nervous and okay I admit I bribed him with a new Wii game (Cars 2) if he "did a good job." (Hey, I was desperate!!!! I don't even like for him to play that much Wii!)

Overall, things went fine with his surgery. The biggest surprise was that it wasn't his re-grown adenoids like his Pediatric ENT suspected from the x-rays (she had told us this was possible because of shadowing). It was actually what is called Gerlach Tonsils. They are very swollen (hence the shadowing on the x-rays) and blocking the Eustachian tubes from working properly and causing all of Devin's symptoms (fluid in the ears, nasal congestion/allergy type symptoms, headaches/pressure, hearing loss). The placement of tubes (set #3 for Devin) should alleviate these symptoms for the duration of the tubes. It is likely that the symptoms will return once the tubes fall out and then we will have to discuss action at that time.

Poor Devin had a very difficult time coming out the anesthesia. He was crying and screaming and thrashing around. Three nurses and myself trying to calm him, soothe him. Once he started to wake up a little he started screaming, "I can't hear! I can't hear!" Now, up until that point I was holding it together very well. I was strong, hadn't cried. We've been through this twice before. I'm a veteran. Once he started screaming, "I can't hear anything!" I got scared. I couldn't help it. I felt bad for my baby. I was worried something was wrong. I knew the doctor had to put tubes in his ears because there was cotton in them... but I hadn't spoken to her yet. Erick had just been allowed in recovery with me and he looked worried, said he spoke to the doctor briefly and Devin has some "condition" but he couldn't remember what it was called. Something wrong with his ears.... That's when my tears started flowing. I didn't want Devin to see me crying so I kept my face away from him. The nurses got me some tissues and patted me on the back. Erick took Devin in his lap (I had been trying to rock him) and calmed him down with a Popsicle (got to love distraction).

We waited there in recovery for what felt like forever. It was probably only an hour or two but we were waiting for the doctor because she wanted to talk to us. We watched Devin's stats- his O2 is fantastic considering he has been off of his asthma medication since June! and rubbed his back. We could tell when he was feeling better because he started wiggling his finger enough to make the alarm go off on the stat monitor (is that what its called??) on purpose....little stinker!

She finally came in, once she had a break in between surgeries I guess, and explained to us what the Gerlach Tonsils were doing to Devin and what it meant for him in the future. I was disappointed to learn he had to get tubes put back in, as was he (that means ear plugs when he swims- and he LOVES to swim under water!) and that he will likely encounter all of these issues again when this set of tubes fall out. *sigh* Its been such a long road for Devin and all of his ear problems. I guess in one way its good to know WHY he is having all of these issues. On the other hand, I recognize that it could be so much worse.

We are so grateful to Devin's Pediatric ENT Doctor and all of the fantastic nurses and staff at Mass Eye and Ear. EVERYONE was just wonderful with us, especially with Devin. We have not one complaint. Thank you God for taking care of my baby.

Summer's End

With only one week left in my summer vacation I realize that I've hardly blogged all summer. We haven't done a whole lot this summer, in terms of big vacations or hitting the "hot spots" but we've had a great summer. In summary we've spent a lot of time at the pool and just enjoyed being at home. We've done the typical park trips and visited with friends and grandparents. We went to the ocean and the lake once, as well as an amusement park.

Its been a laid back summer, and I'm okay with that. I think we have all enjoyed ourselves and each other and that's the most important part. Devin is set to start kindergarten in two weeks and I will return to teaching next week.

First, though, we have Devin's second adenoidectomy at Mass Eye and Ear tomorrow. She may put in tubes set #3 as well, but she will decide during surgery. This should alleviate the fluid in the ears that Devin had all last winter (that resulted in hearing loss, behavior issues, ear pain, and headaches). These issues haven't been as prevalent this summer, but we all fully expect they would return after summer. Here's to hoping that Devin's surgery goes smoothly and his issues are cured!!

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

(Trying to be) Crafty

So it was a beautiful, hot day and our development's pool was closed for maintenance, our lawn was being landscaped (convenient) and we had already hit up the park for bike riding and playing. We went to staples for their back to school (Already?!?!?) specials and headed home to find something to occupy our time.

After reading my friend Sharon's craft blog I decided that Devin and I would make some multi-colored crayons. First we picked through the crayons to find all of the broken ones, as well as the restaurant and cheaper crayons. Then we had to peel them...that was the longest part! We broke them, mixed them up and put them in a mini-muffin tin and baked them for about 10 minutes at 250*. Once I took them out of the oven I set them on top of the cooling rack for a few minutes and then put them in the freezer until they were formed. After that we were ready to color....but first Devin wanted to play! We made letters, shapes, and all kinds of designs with the multi colored little discs before we settled in to make some pictures!
Of course Lolly was watching our every move. She is always interested in what we are doing. Independent cat? Not here!

Vacation Day 15...

for Erick that is. We've been busy doing this and that. We've gone to the beach, our pool, Erick's parents' pool (each pool a few times), celebrated my birthday, been to BBQs, a baby shower, a climbing play place, redecorated our bedroom, spent lots of time with friends and families, and especially each other. Here are some random pictures of our time during the past two weeks.


My new bedding
Me and Kim on our night out for my birthday
Kim and her beautiful girls at my pool for an afternoon swim
My little fish in the pool!
Devin and Nadya at my parents' house celebrating my Mom's birthday with a BBQ
Ahhh the beach on a gorgeous day!
Blueberry picking!

We've still got 2 more days before Erick heads back. On our agenda? A play date with a friend who is visiting from out of state and helping other friends who just bought a new house. We might also hit up a (semi) local Folk Festival. Whatever we do, I'm sure we will have fun!

Swimming Tricks

Devin does a handstand-flip and then a simmersault followed by Lexi doing a flip!

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Kitty in a Basket

Dancing Devin