Soccer

Maddie had her first soccer game.  She was very excited and even more so when she scored a goal!  This morning she was still basking in the glory of that goal!!!!  I'm so proud of her for overcoming her fear of the "new" and stretching herself to try something outside of her comfort zone.

Here are some picks of my sweet girl!!!

She's having so much fun and making new friends!

Hurdles and Milestones...

Maddie is growing up so quickly and looking back at pictures of her confirms just how fast time is flying.  She started Kindergarten this August and I can't believe it.  She was ready on the big day with her back pack and all her supplies.  Now with a few weeks under her belt, she is a confident Kindergarten student and learning sooo much.  Some days I even think she has more homework than Lizzy who is a junior in High School.

It has been a long 1st year for Maddie adjusting to having Mia as part of our family.  Historically, Maddie does very well in an environment where she is the center of attention, which we were guilty of promoting when she initially came home.  With the addition of Mia she has had to share the spotlight and has struggled to find her place as well as how to deal with a younger sibling.  Sometimes things just take time to work themselves out and this was one of them.  No amount of parenting or disciplining can help what only time will work out.  Lately, I have noticed Maddie and Mia playing nicely together, Maddie helping Mia get dressed and even comforting her when she is upset - just like a big sister would do.  I'm so proud of the big sister she is becoming.

Maddie has many gifts that GOD has blessed her with.  One is being extremely athletic and is a gifted swimmer, fast runner and by admission of her PE teacher a great potential soccer player.  In an effort to try and develop her swimming skills, I had taken her for a try out for the local competitive swimming team.  She was extremely uncertain and nervous and wouldn't even swim for the coach trying to evaluate her.  That was a bust.  So when the PE teacher brought it to my attention how good her soccer skills were, I had a flashback of the swim tryout.  So for a whole year Maddie and I have been talking about playing soccer.  Her response was always "once I turn 6 I will play soccer".  Well the time has come and her birthday is approaching in October.  I was skeptical how Maddie would react to a new situation with new people she had not met.  First soccer practice was touch and go - I even had to call in the calvary and have my mom and dad come to the soccer practice and cheer her on.  After that initial practice, she was hooked.   She is doing great and will play her first game this weekend.  I am so proud of her for overcoming her fears to do something she is really good at.  Can't wait to see what this soccer season holds for her.  GOOOOOO  MADDIE!!!!!!!!

  

Mia

As promised, here is a new post.  Earlier this year Mia had surgery to close her palate.  It was successfully closed but the true test was to wait and see if it functioned and allowed her to make the appropriate sounds and eventually begin speaking.  Well, I am happy to report that we have achieved success!  Mia's vocabulary grows everyday.  She began with Mama, of course but now can name all of her family members and is speaking in small sentences.  She will let you know what she wants and what she doesn't want.  We will be have a visit soon with her Speech Therapist in Houston to evaluate her progress and make recommendations on future speech therapy needed if any.

Mia turned 2 in April and we celebrated with a large gathering of family and friends.  We delayed the party until Christopher was home from college - I wanted all the kids there to celebrate this special day with her.  She had such a good time!  I must say I was a little sad to see her turn 2 - She is the caboose of the family and I wanted to savor the baby in her.

Another big hurdle Mia is working to overcome is potty training!!!!  She can communicate well enough  now so it was time to leave the diapers behind.  We have spent several weeks in pull ups and are doing quite well.  She is rewarded with Candy each time she potties as well as she can wear her Dora panties over her pull up as a reward.  Panties and Candy - works for her!

Her hair is finally growing and required a small trim.  My neighbor kindly trimmed it for her.  Now it is just enough for her to wear a small pony tail, like her sisters.

She is still sweet as ever and loving.  Her personality has flourished over the last year.  We have come to realize that she likes to pick and joke.  Her crinkled nose laugh after she does something funny is infectious.  More in love with her each day that goes by....