I am long past due for an update.  It was a rough winter in regards to illnesses.  Rebekah seemed to catch everything that came along.  In addition to the run-of-the-mill colds & tummy bugs, she had bronchitis & slight pneumonia, chicken pox and influenza.  Someone in our house was sick almost constantly from just after Thanksgiving until the beginning of March.  We have never had a winter like that.  I am now trying to dig myself out from under the disaster that is my house and trying to get caught up on homeschooling.  We'll get there. 

Rebekah turned 2 in February!  Despite the constant illnesses, Rebekah is doing very well.  She is talking and signing up a storm.  She has 70+ words/signs now and is learning more everyday.  This is huge for her.  We really expected her to have major speech delays, but she is not far behind at all.  I credit most of her amazing progress to Signing Time!  If you haven't seen Signing Time! you need to check it out.  It is a DVD series teaching ASL to infants & children.  All of my kids love, but especially Rebekah.  Aside from the developing language skills, we are working on physical skills as well.  Still no crawling, standing or walking, but she is starting to scoot around on her bottom and her legs are getting stronger.  We got a stander last month and she spends 30-40 minutes two to three times per day in it.  She will be getting orthotics for her legs soon and we will try a reverse walker with her to see if that can help get her moving.  She is not thrilled with all of the therapy, but you can tell that she is ready to be moving.  She goes in for a sleep study tomorrow night, so that we can try to pinpoint where her sleep problems stem from.  She has slept through the night 5-6 times in her life.  Two of those times were within the last week, so hopefully we are seeing the beginning of improvement.

Rachel (5) is doing great.  She has matured so much over the last few months.  She still has her moments where she just loses it, but overall she handles things so much better.  She is ready to be finished with preschool and begin homeschooling with us for Kindergarten in the fall.  She got her hair cut short and it is so adorable.  I was reluctant to let her cut it, but I am so glad we did.  It is sooooooo much easier to take care of.  She has entered the stage where she really likes to be helpful.  She tries to do so much and doesn't let much stop her.  Of all of my children, Rachel has the most determined spirit. 

Ryan is trucking right along in school, despite my lack of attention to it lately.  He really does seem to just absorb knowledge like a sponge.  He is reading better and finding some books that he enjoys.  He spends alot more time playing and building with his legos and is learning to be more patient in finding solutions to things that are hard.  His big interests are still science and math.  I am going to be in trouble some day, as those are definitely not my strong areas!  He played basketball in the winter and really enjoyed it.  He plans to play again in the summer. 

John is still going to school on-line full time.  It is tough but he is doing very, very well with it.  After 11 classes, he has a 4.0GPA.  I am so proud of him.  Despite going to school full time and working full time, he still spends hours with the kids and has been picking up the slack for me alot during our months of illness.  God has surely blessed me with him.  He is an amazing father and husband.

Rebekah is waking up and Ryan is begging for some computer time.  I'll try not to let so much time pass without bloggin again.  Pray for wellness for all of us.