Staying busy

We have a very different pace of life now living in Homer. We are actually a lot busier, spending a lot of time with friends and family. We take Lara to therapy every week, plus we have MOPS, and WOW. We also typically spend an evening a week at a small group through our church. But at least once a week, we are spending time with friends at our house or friends' houses. We also spend evenings with our families, having dinner or just hanging out in the evening. There were times I found it stressful, but I realized that the stress surfaced more from doing things that I didn't want to do. But when the week is busy because we are having fun at programs and with friends & family, then I really enjoy it all.

One thing I had to do last week (that I did not enjoy doing in the midst of a busy week), was pick up Lara's braces. It works very differently in the Champaign area, and the process is very inconvenient. I had an appointment set up with the orthotist at the therapy office, but I had to arrive with braces in hand, which had to be picked up from the hospital. So I had to leave a half hour earlier, walk all through the hospital, pick up the braces, walk all back through the hospital (with Lara), drive through town to the therapy building, have appointment with the orthotist. Ugh. And after all that, the orthotist wanted to keep the braces until we did a shoe adjustment. I must have had a look on my face, because he agreed to let me take them home. After that, I had to take Lara to the shoe store in order to purchase dressy shoes for the braces, which is REALLY hard. Most shoes are not wide enough to accommodate braces, so you have to simply get a really big size shoe, but then they are too long and the heel slips out of the shoes. In order to rectify this, you must get a large shoe with a strap that will keep the shoe hooked onto the foot. Unfortunately, youth shoe sizes very rarely have a strap on them (just the little kid shoes). SIGH. Whenever I am in that situation, I start to feel sorry for myself and Lara that we have to deal with this. I think how hard it is, how stressful it is. I mean, this whole thing from brace pick-up to shoe-buying was a 3-hour process! But then I realize that this isn't really a big deal. Braces are a pain, but Lara has a lot of fun shoe-shopping. She also gets to pick out some shoes to wear without her braces, and she is a good enough walker that it is okay for us to take a break from braces sometimes. And the last time we had to get braces was a year ago. We go to therapy, once or twice a year we go through the braces-process, and we go up to Peoria a few times a year for specialist appointments; a lot of parents deal with A LOT more. It is all a matter of perspective. Plus, Lara LOVES her new braces! They are very colorful.

So, what else. The girls got lucky with receiving some gorgeous furniture for their room last week. 2 dressers (one with a large shelf), a mirror, a nightstand, and a desk. Dustin's parents learned about this furniture that the owner wanted to get rid of, and they helped us get it. It is so pretty, and Lara was so excited about it. (Obviously, Claire doesn't really care.) We also received a very pretty desk for our upstairs "office" area. Jackpot!

I think the girls are having a lot of fun over here. So many more people to play with, especially now that we are getting connected. Lots of fun playing and creating and imagining goes on around here. The other day, my little brother Christian spent the night as my parents went out of town. In the morning, I made a huge pile of leaves for the kids to jump and play in, and it was so delightful to hear them laughing and squealing from so much fun. They are never bored and they never watch TV. ;) (Of course, we still like our princess movies!)

We are gearing up for holiday fun, and this year, I plan to make it all about FUN! In many (too many) previous years, the holidays have been stressful and tiring, and I was all too glad for them to be over. But this year, my goal is to be joyful and excited, and not allow anyone to get me down! I have a Christmas shopping trip planned (in Chicago), and Lara and I just purchased our annual "Nutcracker" tickets.

Have a nice weekend!