state of the mooneys

anders has the same tone & curiosity when asking the question
"can i play with my choo choo train mom?"
as he does when asking
"can i bang this plate glass window with my baseball bat, mom?"

so much sweet & wild in one little boy.
as he is talking more & more, we see that he is an encourager.
"wow, that block tower wooks great, hazel"
"tank you, mom, for my wunch, it's yummy"
"Lena, your hair wooks cute"
in the middle of dinner: "I wuv you daddy, you're the best"
{{and my personal favorite}}
"momma, you sing soooo good"

he is learning to not say "no" & to not "run off".  learning.  he is quite acquainted with timeout, but is quick to say he's sorry... occasionally when he has done something like hit hazel with a block, i see the light go on in his head & he is sorry.  he is the epitome of rough and tumble.  he laughs so hard when you tickle him & never tires of it.  he loves to play chase & he loooooves his dad...every time the front door opens, he runs to it yelling "daaaadddd" & after some hugs he looks up at matt & says
"you chase me now?".  he loves his sisters.  his hair is amazing.  i tried cutting it the other day & it's crooked & with those waves, who cares.  he can sit still, he just doesn't when i'm trying to cut his hair.  (can't get him to be still for pictures either, hence none on here of him...which is such a shame because he's so cute)
he is in "miss headers" (heather) class at mom's day out.  he loves "school".  last year he cried many mornings at drop off & now, instead of crying he lingers at the door to see if i'm really gonna leave. then goes right in & loves the puzzles & the big diggers & dump trucks.  i have said for quite
some time that life would look drastically different if anders would just come when i say "hey anders,    come here"...still saying that.


hazel is in preschool. for the talent show coming up she said she wants to just dress up like a princess
twirl around the stage singing "ah,ah,ahhhhhhhh"...not sure about that.  

she picks out all her own clothes every day, right down to the socks & she has decided to grow her bangs out & her hair out (like rapunzel).  she asks for bows & real girly hair things...i loved the bob.  brushing & fixing her hair is a battle but 'm dealing with it:) 
she really likes preschool.  matt & i thought it would be good for her & it really is...structure & learning mixed with a place where she can imagine & be creative.  also, with the dynamics of our family & all the transitions of  the last year, it's good that she has "her thing". she also takes ballet 
every monday. she saw an episode of angelina ballerina about a year ago & has said she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up ever since.  if you say "you look like a ballerina", she will say "i am a ballerina".

mostly she's too smart for her own good. we're working on her listening & waiting her turn to speak, as she is so ready to tell you something that she'll just talk over you & talk louder until she says something like: 
"you're not listening to me" or "you don't understand what i'm trying to say"
no, she's not 14, she's almost 4 & yes, she really says these type of things.  
she loves letters & learning what sounds they make.  coloring & craft-type things occupy her for hours.  

she loves to make elaborate things with wooden blocks and describes what she made in great detail.  

imagination & detail are definitely her thing.  this morning she thought the leaves in the tree in our backyard looked like a chicken & a momma monkey & a baby monkey.  the monkey was 1 year old and she knew how the monkeys would get in a tree but not how chickens get in trees because they don't fly.  then, because of the monkeys in the tree, she talked about the book "caps for sale" & named the man "mr caps" & said that even though his wife wasn't in the story that he did, indeed, have a wife and her name was "sally".  i've also toured a new york city apartment made out of pillows & suitcases & chairs in my very own living room.  she lived there by herself, however her dad was in the same building.  it had a kitchen & bedroom & of course, a bathroom.  
detail. imagination.

lena has been home 8 months. to look at her in january & then now is astounding.  only 8 months.  and i have to be reminded of that still because the day to day can be 2 steps forward & 1 step back.  and not that i have some expectation of specific progress, but i feed her, i play with her, i talk to all of her therapists & i just know everything about her so if she starts to not drink as good as she used to, i know it & i'm the one working through it with her.  she's so smart... in an email to someone recently i said "she's learning at a remarkable pace".  and it's true, she is!

she has gained a total of almost 10 pounds in 8 months...going from 5 percentile in weight to 25 percentile! i mean, just look at this tummy:)

she signs::
yes, drink, eat, music, more, please, bye-bye, book...she gets them confused sometimes but she knows how to do all of them.
she babbles "dadadada"(specifically for matt!), "l-l-l-lllll", "nnnnnn" & a few times lately we've heard some "mmmma".
she is crawling all over.  she is just starting to really grasp that she can crawl somewhere.  usually she just wants to crawl to people so she can get them to help her stand up.  she's so smart that she doesn't even try with me because she knows i'll redirect her to pull up on a chair or couch (which is harder so she has to work harder).  when a new person comes in the room & she's crawling around, she quickly heads straight to them.  she must be thinking...sucker!
most of her hard moments center around transitions.  car to restaurant, restaurant to outside, sitting to crawling, book to drink, etc.  so, we are helping her with this by giving her plenty of time & talking her through the change.  usually if she thinks it's her idea then it will go much better than it just happening to her.  for example if she's crawling around & i want her to go to her wheelchair...instead of scooping her up & plopping her in the chair, i'll roll the chair close to her & say "oh look, lena, your chair. do you wanna sit in your chair? lena do it".
she is still working on walking in her walker.
she usually comes to church with us instead of going in her class.  but she went to the class for the first time last week with her "buddy"...our friend & babysitter, karly.  she did great & the other kids were so cute with her.

she LOVES brown bear book, her bath, getting her hair dried, the vacuum cleaner (the noise & the warm air that blows out), running water, fettucini alfredo & baby einstein movies.

matt turned 35 on september 17...closer to 40 than 30:)

he has a really wonderfully wild fall.  he was speaking in ireland last week, sharing of eliot & 99 balloons.  he's leading conferences, speaking again in pennsylvania coming up, working on some writing & working full time.  he is juggling it all & we miss him when he travels, believe in him, & cheer him on from the homefront...believing so strongly in where God has called him & how He's using his giftings.  he, along with the entire state of arkansas, is mourning the razorback football season.

i have been struggling with a herniated disc & pinched nerve in my back for 2 months.  nerve pain is the main problem & i'm taking meds for that.  i also had an injection in my back that is supposed to help.  not gonna lie, it's not fun.  it has been wearing on my emotions & it has made me wear larger pants, as i haven't moved much.  but, there is silver lining...i have a great doc who has a plan.  you can have up to 3 of these injections & most likely one of them will work.  

i got to go to kansas city a few weeks ago on a girls trip for my dear friend, ashley's 30th birthday.  it was a minor miracle to pull off such a feat but i have a great husband & great in-laws & great babysitters & it worked.  so fun, so life-giving, so great to come back home, too:)

 in other news, i have loved the fall schedule.  hazel's preschool is tuesday & thursday, anders' mother's day out is monday & thursday.  so, i have mondays with hazel & lena & get some good one on one time with hazel when lena has therapy....& i have good time with anders on tuesdays...& thursdays is just lena & i.  i thought i would find that schedule too busy-feeling, but it's just the opposite.  it's also adorable to see hazel & anders after the hours they've been apart...they hug & play so well together.  it's fun to see them becoming really good friends.  lena really misses them when they're gone, too.  they maul her with hugs & kisses before running off to play & lena just smiles & pats at them.  

it's a really great season in our house and we are so, so, thankful.