First of all I want to apologize for not being better at posting updates. I honestly had the best of intentions to do at least weekly updates, but when we brought Keller home on that glorious day in April we basically brought home a newborn. Keller functions perfectly for his adjusted age and not like the almost five month old that he chronologically is. I know that you are all itching to know how he is doing, how we are doing, and what life is like for the official family of 5 so without further ado here is our update....
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| Kell's 1 Month Adjusted Age Picture |
Keller has grown so much, he is close to 12 pounds now! Micah calls him the face cuddler because he loves to have his face close to mine. After Keller's hernia surgery we both longed to snuggle. The nurse on duty could tell and suggested that I hold him even though he had only been out of surgery for a few hours. While I wanted to hold him I was really nervous about hurting him. That cuddle session did both of us a lot of good. We both sacked out almost immediately and were nose to nose. I woke up to the nurse trying to sneak a picture of us, she thought that we looked so sweet together. Even now, Micah often finds us passed out together nose to nose or forehead to forehead. What can I say!?! It's our happy place!
Kell has started therapy and it's going well! The therapist comes right to our house and gives me a list of things to do with Kell to help his development. He's been working hard on neck strength and he's not a big fan of tummy time on the floor. He cries and it breaks my heart, but he has to do it. Keller is becoming more social...holding our gaze and smiling at mommy's hilarious antics. It's so exciting to see him making progress. I pray everyday for his development and it weighs heavily on my heart but God's got this.
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| Asher for Crazy Hat Day at his preschool. |
Asher....oh Asher, crazy, Asher! He's getting SO big! I can't believe how much he has grown up in the past few months. Micah and I went to his school conference last week (Cutest thing ever! I practically melted in my chair!) and he got a little report card and everything. He's doing great and we're so proud of him! He has handled all the changes with such grace. He is a kind, respectful boy at school and a tender big brother at home. He watches closely to see if Keller has spit up and if he has he wipes his little mouth with such care that it makes me want to cry. Then the next moment he's back bugging Grayson and that takes care of those tears!
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| Gray's team won it's league tournament tonight. Now we're off to play the other leagues on the Eastside. |
Grayson my in-betweener. He so wants to be big but he's still my sweet little boy. Asher was doing something yesterday that was melting my heart and I told him that he was precious. Ash asked me if Gray was precious, too and I said no. Ash gave Gray a victorious look (brothers...) until I said he was my Mr.. Handsome. Gray acted like he was way too cool for his nerdy mama, but his eye rolling, grin said it all. He loved it. Grayson has also grown up so much as well and it's hard for Micah and I to see him begin those awkward growing pains. Where did all the time go!?! You can pray for his heart to heal more. His soft heart took a beating this year and it's been harder for him to bounce back.
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| Sad baseball bear...ready to go home & eat! |
Micah and I are doing really well. Micah started a new job as a project manager for MN Custom Homes at the beginning of April (never a dull moment in the Dolen household!) and he loves it. We're looking forward to the summer and continuing on our path of the new normal. Part of our new normal will include me staying home next year. We still aren't exactly sure what we can expect from Keller (developmentally) and what his schedule will look like. Not to mention the colds and flues I would be exposed to and in turn be exposing Keller to. After much prayer and discussion, kindergarten just doesn't fit into the plan for next year. It makes me a little sad to think about not being in the classroom but it will be a huge blessing to be home to care for my boys.
Thank you so much for loving our family & continuing to pray for us! I will do my best to do a better job at updating.
Lots of Love,
Shelly
