I've entered a new chapter in my life. I am...

...soccer mom.

Both Nicholas and Blake are on soccer teams which means we have 2 practices during the week and as many as 4 games over the course of a weekend. Nicholas is off to a great start. He's enjoying the practices and he knows one boy from school which always helps. He may never bend it like Beckham, but he's particpating and having fun. They had their first 2 games over the weekend. The first game was bitter cold, but he started off as goalie and even blocked one shot. He was quite proud of himself, and it's always just a bit more fun when you win.

Blake played that afternoon, and by the time his game started, the temps had dropped about 10 degrees...from bitter cold to almost unbearable cold. Jason took the other 2 kids to the car. Most of the team and the coaches were bundled up like they were preparing for an Alaskan adventure. Blake didn't want to cover up his uniform. He did amazingly well the first half despite the cold, and despite that the other team was scoring about 10 goals to every one of ours, and despite the fact that the other team had more players and could rotate kids in while our kids never got a break.

This isn't to say that he played much. You know how when a game of 6 year olds takes place, there always seems to be one kid out picking dandelions? That's my Blake. Instead of running, he'd skip. Kids would kick the ball right next to him, but he'd be picking at his fingernails or adjusting his socks. But as cold as it was, I was impressed that he never complained...until the second half.

All of a sudden, Blake's shoulders were slumped, and his head was hanging low. There was no skipping or admiring weeds. He came for a drink of water and reported, "this is soooo not fun."

Getting a pep talk from his coach

But he kept at it. It was one of those times as a mom when you want to pull your kid so badly. The weather was so nasty, the other team was killing us, and everyone was cold and exhausted. But he toughed it out, and now I don't know if I'll ever get him back out there. I was really glad that Tuesday's practice was rained out. I'll save that battle for later.

Nick had another soccer game on Sunday afternoon with warmer temps and another win. I wish Blake could have played on Nick's team.

Monday night, Alexis and I had to report to the Peyton Manning Children's Hospital for a sleep study.

Superbaby...crawling at the speed of light!

The staff was great, the room was great, but the experience was awful. Alexis is usually a great sleeper but being attached to all those wires made it so hard to sleep that she was up crying non stop for almost 3 hours in the night. Luckily, they eventually got the data they needed and woke us up at 5 a.m. to send us on our way.

After all the wires were removed

We have a follow up appointment with the ENT to go over the results and decide on our plan of action.


After getting 2 hours of sleep on Monday night, I'd hoped to make up some of that lost sleep on Tuesday night, but minutes after Jason left for work, the tornado sirens sounded and I had to haul 3 sleeping kids down into a cold, hard, unfinished basement. I plopped Blake down next to the paint cans, Nicholas slept among the Geo Trax, Alexis was near the Christmas boxes, while I leaned up against the foosball table. Note to self: clean basement.

Lexi's birthday present from Grandma C. and Pops

Wednesday was Alexis's 6 month appointment at the Down syndrome clinic. She was seen by the physiatrist, geneticist, endochrinologist, audiologist, had a blood draw and 2 x-rays. The physiatrist noticed that she has one leg longer than the other which was the reason for the hip x-rays. We are waiting to hear the blood test results to make sure the synthroid is working like it should. The audiologist was pleased with her ears and the geneticist was thrilled with her progress in the past 6 months. 4 long hours later, we were on our way home.