So now it's been 2 months since I've posted?! Yikes! I love having this blog to look back on from years past, but I am finding it harder and harder to keep up with it as our lives get busier and busier! I will continue to do my best, but most of my life is documented on Facebook these days.
Health Update:
I went off the wagon with my eating for a couple of months and gained a few pounds (ahem...8 lbs to be exact!) back. I guess I assumed that I wouldn't because I have remained consistent with my working out, but I was wrong about that! Weight loss (for me at least) happens at the dinner table...period. It certainly boosts my results that I am working out, but when I fall off the diet wagon, my working out doesn't make up for that. Soooo...lesson learned!
I got back on Whole30 (which I LOVE...I feel sooo much better when I am not eating dairy, grains or processed foods!) and yesterday was my last day with it. I weighed myself this morning and found that my 30 days on the program helped me to shed off 15lbs! I'll take it! I don't think I will be done...I would like to lose 10 more pounds before switching back to normal paleo. We'll see how that works. :)
I am still doing the gym 5-6 days a week and doing some running outdoors again now that the weather is nicer. Body Pump is my favorite class and I have even started getting Sean to go...he loves it too!
Cason Update:
Cason's last day of preschool for this year is this Thursday! He is going to do the summer program, so that will be good for him, but he has several weeks off starting Thursday afternoon! He will probably wonder what on earth is going on. He LOVES school! He has the most incredible teachers and his year alone made me realize how worth it it was for us to make the huge life decision to up and move to the district last year. For us, and our family needs, it was the best choice. He has accomplished so many things this year...he wears his glasses all the time now, matches colors, speaks so much more functionally and has matured socially as well! He loves music and can sing every song (on key!) that plays on the radio. It's so crazy and awesome!
Wesley Update:
Kindergarten was a rough transition for Wesley as so much more was expected of him this year than in years past, but the team at his school has been amazing at working with him to provide for him what he needs to be successful. His academic IEP was dropped at the beginning of the year because he tested on target and has remained above that benchmark all year! He struggles in many areas, but seems to remain JUST above that threshold. :) His behavior has been up and down...he struggles maintaining focus. He is now working with a school based therapist from Vera French who we really like and has been diagnosed with ADHD and they are concerned about some attachment disorders...neither of which are surprising to Sean or I. He is so well known in the school....I swear, every child in that school knows him! I've never seen anything like it! We will even be at HyVee or WalMart and multiple adults will pass us and say "Hi Wesley!" and I will have no idea who they are! So funny! He is such an athlete...man, he is going to be great at athletics. He did great in soccer this year and really enjoys any sport he can play. Wesley will take part in the summer school program as well which he is looking forward to. We are proud of all that he has accomplished this year. He has started to read and has really grown academically and in the last few weeks has really made amazing strides in improving some of his behavioral challenges as well! I hate to even type out the words, but this has been Wesley's healthiest year yet! He hasn't had a hospital stay for over a year and has hardly gotten sick at all. Thank goodness!
Tate Update:
Starting 2nd grade at a new school proved to be difficult for Tate as well. Academically, he has been great, but he struggled to make friends and his teacher had some health issues this year which caused her to be out for extended periods of time. She was such a wonderful teacher for him though and we are glad he had her. He probably needed some of that inconsistency to force him to learn coping skills, but it was hard for him at times. Those of you who know him know that Tate needs consistency! It took a while, but in just the last few months, Tate has really started to make friends. It was never his peers that didn't want to be friends with him, it was more him not agreeing to play with them when they asked or him just preferring to be alone. He started playing soccer which he is actually really good at and really enjoys! He looks forward to playing again in the fall. We are thrilled that he found a sport that he enjoys! We believe that soccer may have been a factor in helping him come out of his shell. He did start cub scouts back in the fall, but after the first few meetings, it became a struggle as he didn't enjoy it and didn't want to go. We kept him in for several months and tried to help him enjoy it more, but once he joined soccer and continued to not want to do cub scouts, we gave in and let him quit. :/ We just don't know that cub scouts is his "thing". We are hopeful that in 3rd grade, Tate will continue to make friends and continue to grow and mature more socially. We are so proud of him and the things that he has accomplished this year and the ways that he has surprised us. He has stepped out of his comfort zone more than once and actually enjoyed his new ventures on several of the occasions.
This summer will be a busy one! Between a few trips we are taking, some work around our house we are doing, my photography businesses being busier than ever this year and the 2 littles participating in summer school, we are jam packed! Glad this is a longer summer so we can fit it all in. :)
Our nephew Bode turns 10 at the beginning of July so that means we will have a fun 10th birthday trip for him! We've been planning his trip for a few months now and look forward to surprising him. For those that don't know, 4 years ago we started a tradition with our oldest nephew that when all of our nieces and nephews turn 10, we take them on a short getaway. So far, we've only had 2 turn 10. We took Brigg to St. Louis for 2 nights and went to 2 Cardinals games and stayed in a hotel and had fun dinners out. We went to the Magic House and the zoo. It was an amazing trip! Then, for Lani a year and a half ago, we took the train and stayed in downtown Chicago for 2 nights and I took her to see Wicked. We never tell our nieces/nephews when we will show up and say, "let's go, we're taking you for a couple of days!" so it makes it a huge surprise. After Bode turns 10, we have Leah and Tyler that turn 10 in January. They will be SUPER surprised because they are the oldest on the Peakin side and don't know of this tradition yet!
So our trip with Bode will be at the end of June, then we are going on a family vacation in July with just the 5 of us. We are going to Colorado...spending a few nights in Denver and then heading up to Winter Park for a couple of nights. We are driving so we plan to hit the zoo in Omaha on the way. Can't wait for a family vacation to somewhere fun and new that the kids have never been! Then in August, Sean and I get to go on our 10 year anniversary trip (11 months late...ha!) to St. Lucia. We had been planning to take a trip to Italy, but to make a long story short, plans changed because of a few fears I had about traveling over seas right now. So St. Lucia it is! It is another destination that I've been wanting to go to since I learned about it back in 1999 when I met someone from there while in school. We are SUPER excited to get some time away just the 2 of us and relax!
To say our summer will be busy is pretty much an understatement! All fun things, but busy none the less. Hoping I can find time to keep this blog updated more often amidst all of the other things we have going on this summer. The boys still have 2 weeks of school left, but then BRING ON SUMMER!
