LIfe is Full Life is Good

We are all blessed with the new life of Baby Jude. He brings alot of smiles into our house and fills us all with love. Jude is sitting, laughing, shaking his head..no, no, no, clapping, scooting, back floating in the pool and blowing raspberries to name a few.

This year began quiet and calm, much unlike our beginning to 2010. Olivia had a little reprieve from her mystery illness for a couple of months. In the beginning of April, we were back on the road of hospital and medical visits. She has been dealing with numbness and loss of movement, speech and vision in her episodes. Thankfully, she is scheduled to see a neurologist and all major tests so far have been clear. Despite all of her illness, she has maintained the high honor roll and with 2 AP classes this year as well. She was inducted into National Honor Society. Last fall she enjoyed the football dance team and working as a dancer for an illusionist in the Dells. This spring has been full with a new job at Hollister and preparing for Prom!( below….olivia before prom)

Gretta has enjoyed her first year of high school after homeschooling. She entered the year as one of two freshman on the football dance team. Her cohort was of course best friend Emily. They are literally joined at the hip all the time. She has excelled in her classes with 3.88-4.0 grade point average all quarters. She just finished Drivers Ed and is active in the JV soccer team. She hasn’t played soccer in a few years and was eager to get back on the field and have some fun with friends! We don’t see her a whole lot as she really enjoys having her own room for the first time in her life, although we do hear lots of singing coming from her humble abode.

(below..gretta with emily before winter carnival)

Ella had a busy year playing volleyball and basketball for the city and local Christian school. She is now on hiatus…not a wanted one though…( mom missed soccer sign ups with a new baby) Ella is such a help to have at home with schooling and homelife. She is doing well in her seventh grade work and always a social bee. She works once a week, nannying for a 3 year old girl.

(Below…ella with mom and pop for her special 13th birthday dinner alone)

Dayne has been playing football, basketball, swimming and now entering baseball season. Dayne has enjoyed cooking every Tuesday with a family friend of ours, Linda Sweeney. Linda comes every week to help with any tasks. Since feeding our large family is at the top of our priority list, Linda and Dayne make meals to be frozen every week. Dayne’s favorite recipe has been the snack of squash or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. He has become a huge help and so thoughtful.

(below..happy dayne with a birthday present)

Diego loves being a big brother. He is the one to make Jude laugh the most. Diego has been working on speech this year. We began doing some testing through the school to see where he was with his speech. We found out he is in fact delayed and was emotionally the level of a four year old. We were hoping to have some speech therapy through the school on a weekly basis, but unfortunately as homeschoolers he is not able to get help. He has to fully enroll or is not able to have therapy. He is not ready to enroll full time and we find that he benefits from being home as do our other children. As we tie up our school year this next month we are amazed at his progress. Diego is reading english~ which is a major accomplishment. He is also completing first grade math with adding and subtracting. He is accomplishing so much more than we expected. When we first brought him home a year and a half ago yesterday, he could barely follow simple directions, he could not count and did not know letters. He still struggles with speech and being understood. We are praying that God will turn on a little speech light in his head that makes the sounds flow.

(below…diego and yerly decorate christmas cookies)

Yerly our sweet ,doting girl, has loved being a big sister. She asks to watch Jude daily and loves to entertain him with toys and books. We decided to school Diego and Yerly together doing first grade math and k/1 reading. Keeping them together has worked well. They challenge each other and encourage each other. Yerly is one smart chica! She is flying through first grade math and is reading and writing her own stories. She comes up with the best words to add to her vocabulary. Her favorite word this year has been repulsive. She speaks english and understands it incredibly well.

(below..Ella invited Diego and Yerly to a dress up tea party)

Mike is busy at Grede but his real love is on a football or baseball field as a coach. He puts all of his time and effort into coaching.

I have had fun with zumba with Olivia once Jude hit four months and swimming lessons with Jude which has led to finally using my lifeguarding cert. and some hours this summer at Swim Reedsburg! Thanks to our friend Andrew, I have a website for photos. I have just taken family photos and some for friends. This summer I have two weddings scheduled and am excited to venture down that road.

Life is full and Life is good!

a crazy day….

not only did we welcome a new son, we welcomed home a son with a broken arm today.

After a long day of oooowing and aaahing at Jude, Nana and Grandpa offered to take the kiddos to the football game so MIke and I could have some time alone. We had been up all day and we ready to snuggle in for a nap.  The gang was gone about 45 minutes, when we got a phone call saying Diego broke his arm.  He ran ahead of my parents and sat on the ledge of the bleacher ramp and fell off.  They ran him home to show us and Mike took him into the ER…which followed by a quick “surgery” at 2 am after a whole day of no sleep…plan B is in full swing.

Diego broke his right forearm in 2 places.  So we are in a cast for 8 weeks and a splint for another 4 and the already challenged school…well we will be taking a break and figuring out a payment plan for this new little undertaking. Whilst Diego was in the hospital, we had Olivia in and out for mystery stomache aches, nausea and vomitting all of October and November.  She was the lucky recipient of a endoscopy and colonoscopy….more costs to find out we couldn’t really find anything….  all said and done, time to move on.

Welcoming Baby Jude

Baby Jude Simeon Rothwell was born at home on a warm, breezy, fall night~September 24.2010.  He is our little miracle baby and a  surprise blessing.  Jude means praise and Simeon means God Heard.  The little baby we prayed for 7 years ago is finally here.  He weighed 8.12 and was 21 inches long.  After contractions all day long, Mike and I decided to do our belly cast that night after all of the kids hit the hay.  While in the middle of the cast the contractions became pretty strong around 11pm.  After the cast, I slipped into the tub with the relaxation prompts from Shawni on the ipod.  By midnight it was apparent we needed to call Lindsey and finish getting the portable birthing tub ready.  Mikayla arrived first around 1:15 and Lindsey to follow around 130. The contractions were already strong and 2 minutes apart and quickly turned into back labor~ which I can only describe as the after pains of being smacked with a 2x4 in the base of my back. What seemed like a year, only took an hour and a half.  Baby Jude was born into our arms at 2:46.

About 2minutes after he was born I asked Mike to get the kids, who not to our knowledge were all standing waiting outside our door.  They came in and we all awed at Baby Jude.  

Touched Twice Reedsburg 2010

Here Comes the Sun!

Life is full settling into a new home.  Mike has mastered the pool in record time.  He is such an engineer. He has his spreadsheet with stats everyday and is constantly making changes in chemicals to get the balance just right.  BUT hey….its working!!!!  Diego and Yerly have come to love the pool.  They weren’t sure at first since the shallow end is 3 ft. They strap on their lifejackets( a requirement to be outside now in the back :)  )

Diego and Yerly fit our family like a glove.  We hear over and over how well they are adjusting and how it seems like they have been with our family forever from our family and friends.  It is a huge blessing for us.  Oddly, it has been a bigger adjustment for the kiddos who used to be the youngest two Rothwells.   Diego and Yerly are happy and love life, which is a great thing for all of us to witness and absorb. Diego at times struggles with a little internal anxiety that appears on his little face from time to time…but we no longer have the throw- up- anxiety.  They are both doing extremely well homeschooling and beg to have their turn daily.  They are nearing the end of learning every letter and the sounds in the alphabet in their Sing Spell Read Write program.  Diego amazes us with his ability and desire to learn despite being behind Yerly in his education.  He has caught up with her and we are wondering if he will surpass her in some areas, which will be astounding….since she is one smart chic!

The end of spring capped off with our church carnival….a BIG WIN with Diego and Yerly.

  

PONY RIDES!!!

We kicked off summer with a camping trip to Wilton….our fav memorial day spot.  We set up camp at the little city park campground which is off the 400 bike trail and a short drive from the Kickapoo River to canoe and a walk to the swimming pool and most importantly the PIE SHOP.  We don’t all fit in the camper anymore, but the older girls are real campers and set up their mattresses and teen pad in the big  tent.

 

CAMP ROTHWELL

Pregnancy at a spry-40 is going well.  Swimming has helped and the fact that God prepared my bod last year with training for the mini triathalon and doing a biggest losers program losing 15 pounds…that are now back again.  oh well….Im looking forward to nursing the pounds away. I can burn the BIG cals while sitting with a baby…NICE!!! We decided to find out this time around seeing as we rid of ALL of our baby supplies just last fall.  I even sold all of the cloth diaper wraps and new cloth diapers…ugh!  So off we went to restock the supply once again and the Waunakee Garage Sales have brought us back up to baby par.Soooo …it is a boy…they say.  Diego and Dayne gave a huge shout out that they won! It will even out the hormones a little more in the house with 4 boys/man and 5 girls/women.  We are still amazed at the Master Plan God created.  We are Glad HE is in charge, because we sure would not have chosen this path at our age.  Losing that little boy 7 yrs ago, leading to adoption, leading to a long awaited pregnancy which will infact knit Diego and Yerly more intricately into our Rothwell family as a big brother and sister.  Just amazing. 

 

Firetrucks and Spaghetti

The annual firemans spaghetti supper is another sure sign of spring.  Families walking to the fire department, reuniting with old friends after a long winters hibernation and just good food!!

Dayne and Diego and Yerly were more than excited to go.  Dayne… because his friend Joseph would be there and he is a superstar at the firestation with his dad the firefighter and his grandpa the old fire chief, Diego and Yerly were just excited to go somewhere as a family.

 

 

Easter Days

Easter Blessings!  We are without words some days as to how Great is our God. 

These days as we hit a milestone in our pregnancy….we revisit the memories often….Seven years ago when we lost a baby boy midterm, we did not understand how “all things work for the good of those who love Him.”  We could not understand how the loss that was felt so deep was in some way a part of God’s plan in shaping our lives.

That loss lead our hearts in a whole new direction.  We were very unsettled and felt God’s calling to expand our family.  We were not getting pregnant after several ( 5 to be exact) years of trying  and after two losses.  The desire for a baby was placed in our hearts and left unfulfilled for a reason.  So that would examine all that God has to offer.   We wondered if God was calling us to use our experience in Mexico to adopt a sibling set from a latin american country.

After many prayers and seeking….Now we have two little love bugs  in our family and God has decided to bless us with a baby as well. After all of these years, we just sit in Wonder!!   We can only imagine that God had a plan for Diego and Yerly to be in OUR family and that God has a plan for this new gift.

As we approach the midterm of this pregnancy and the period of loss, we can completely envision this new little life and with a renewed hope that all things do work for the good of those who love Him.

We continue to pray that this baby will remain free of the GBS infection.

 

CELEBRATIONS

we celebrated ella and greenly’s birthday!!! 12 and 2 yrs old!

Easter Finest!

We had a great time decorating eggs this year, with a new excitement brought to the table from two little people.

 

The city easter egg hunt was almost as exciting as we walked out our front door, across the street to the park!  

 

We woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the free Kalahari indoor theme park admission from 530 am until 8 am.  Tired, but so much fun!!!!

Spring has brought a new love….BIKES.  For spring break, we put the training wheels on both of the little love bug bikes.  They love the freedom of being able to ride around the sidewalk!!

For St Pattys Day we celebrated with all things Irish and we had an Ireland Unit Study day for homeschool coop.

Diego and Yerly said their names and ages in english with their lovely shamrock hats!

Gretta gave a report on scones, a tradition from england and ireland and she gave samples of her own scone recipe.

Ella told a little about St Patrick and served a green sherbet drink.

Dayne told a little about leprechauns and had a little tootsie roll hunt for the kids.