fall recap

unfortunately i have fallen wayyy behind in keeping up to date here.
not sure i can even remember back to October, let alone, get all of November in one post... so perhaps i will just say that we've been busy. ... and try to recount some of what's happened in the last couple of months...
The boys are growing like little weeds. They love the leaf jumping, bike riding, apple picking, pumpkiny fun of fall. We're trying to shelter them from the Christmas Songs already playing on the radio, and the decorations that are already hung in every store window. But it's not easy!
Even the weather seems to not be able to let Fall be Fall.
we were all slightly confused when Halloween Weekend brought us a surprise snowstorm! But we took full advantage of the 3 inches while it lasted (about 24hrs). Sledding up and down our hill and getting as many photo opps as possible. It was really the first snow Kyren could remember seeing. He simply loved it. And i must admit it was nice to have a little preview of winter... and then return to 60 degree temps for another month!
By Halloween night it had melted, leaving us with the cutest Tigger and Pooh you've ever seen. We lucked out that it was a chilly night for trick-or-treating, since their costumes were about the warmest you can possibly get!
I've been eating their candy ever since. They fortunately? forgot about it by the next morning.

They are finally reaching a safe 'independent play' stage, where i can actually get things done around the house, take a shower, or surf the net for christmas bargains while they undo whatever cleaning i just did. mostly they are obsessed with the brio trainset. it's migrated into the livingroom and has not been put away in over a week. they never get tired of it. especially C. he uses his imagination to fill in whatever's missing, uses legos to build stations, tunnels, bridges, etc, and gets new ideas from watching other peoples' home videos of Thomas trains on YouTube. Kyren delights most in messing up whatever Christian is building, just to get a reaction. tho he can often be found pushing his own train around, when he's not causing trouble. it's been a big month for him in the speech arena. he's talking up a storm these days-- well, a storm for him-- stringing 2 and sometimes 3 words together! "Down, peeze, mommy." "Beeeg Tow Truck". "Bye Bye Ball". And yesterday after we hung up from talking to daddy on the phone (well, k just listens and smiles when someone talks to him through the phone), he looked up at me and said, "Daddy. Work." It was both adorable and sad. Dave has had to work the last few weekends, and we miss him a lot. it's starting to wear on all of us (tho mostly him), and we are really hoping December slows down a bit so we can be a family again.
And as wearying as it is some days to feel like a single mom, i'm trying really hard to have a good attitude about it all. Because, in reality, i'm NOT a single mom. i just have to stop and remind myself that it really isn't that much of a hardship in light of all the suffering around us. we've had some major perspective checks this month, as friends and family are diagnosed with cancer, advanced and aggressive, and other friends and family experience job loss and stress beyond what we have ever known. So we'll take little extra workload for now, thanks!
Christian is enjoying his new school, and has only missed 2 days due to colds. Kyren has made it through both of these colds rather well too, for a change! No nebulizer and no trips to the Doc. or E.R.! Hooray! We're hoping that his lungs will prove to be stronger this winter than last, and that he will continue to grow out of his aspirations and be able to drink from a cup soon. he likes to steal Christian's sippy cup of water and choke and laugh and run away from us.

The only other thing that is newsworthy around here, besides all the adorable things our boys do and say, is that we decided to talk with some doctors about what happened with my last pregnancy and what, if any, risks may face us should we decide to try for a third. We met with 2 specialists, a week apart, and got similar information... tho we're glad we got two opinions, b/c one was a lot easier to understand than the other! The most fascinating part of it all, to us, was actually getting to read some of my records and discover some details about K's arrival that we had not previously known. One of the docs took a lot of time explaining what most likely happened to cause me to go into labor in the first place, and that it was one of those random things that isn't necessarily likely to happen again (esp. since i had a normal delivery with my first). With some precautions he said that next time there might be a 10% chance of going into preterm labor. . . which is really only about 5% more than someone who's never had such an experience. We were a bit surprised by this, as we didn't expect to hear such positive things from either doc.
It's kinda funny thinking about it in terms of statistics, when we really don't see Kyren's story merely through scientific eyes -- as we recall how every single detail of it was timed and ordained by God. We know that any pregnancy is a 'risk' from a medical perspective, and yet we don't look at our babies as statistics/numbers. It really is ultimately about God's plan for each person -- when and how they come into the world-- as much as it's His sovereignty that takes us from this life at the exact moment we are meant to no longer be here. Don't get me wrong, i am totally fascinated by science, stats, and the medical discoveries therein. I really like to be informed and understand the why's and how's of it all... Sit me down and spell it all out! but that is not solely what we base our decisions on. It's not where we found our comfort during our NICU experience with K-- how many babies did or didn't make it. We relied on God's perfect plan, whatever it would be. We know that our precious miracle DID defy a lot of odds. We are so thankful that God chose to let him be in the whatever percentage of kids who make it, and turn out 'normal'. We don't take that for granted and indeed are sobered by the idea of going through something like that again.
So.... we'll see. We're not in a hurry to add to our family at the present time. But at least now we aren't in complete darkness when it comes to what happened to my body, and what a future pregnancy may involve.
So that's some of what's been going on this fall-- as usual we're just trying to get as much time in watching our boys delight in the simple things of childhood-- trying to soak up every moment of it, before it slips away. Squeezing them tight, and tickling them to pieces, as long as they'll let us. Watching them watch the world through new and innocent eyes, trying constantly to help them stay that way.
Christian now uses the term "allitrerative" properly. He asked us last night what a 'soul' is. He's been picking out his own outfits, brushing his own teeth, and asking how babies come out of a mommy's tummy. He uses phrases like, "Speaking of trains..." and "That reminds me..." , and we just have to sigh and hope that we can at least keep him liking Winnie The Pooh for a little while longer.