Merry Christmas from the Garlands! Sorry this is so long--we're making up for lost time!
We have had an eventful 2011! It has been very challenging and very rewarding, at times frustrating and at times exhilarating. We've leaned on the love of family and friends like never before, and we've collapsed at the feet of Jesus more than a few times. Through it all, we've never been alone.
The new year found us doing well, with a pregnant belly on Leah and lots of basketball games for Jerod. Cayla really began to love being at games, and she spent many nights in the gym. Jerod enjoyed moving to the high school this year and coaching girls' basketball and 9th grade baseball. Though the basketball season ended 3 points away from the state tournament, Jerod enjoyed coaching another great group of seniors. When spring break came, Jerod took his annual trip to the NCAA tournament with three buddies for a few days of basketball and fun. This year the boys went to Chicago and had a blast, waiting two hours for Chicago-style pizza, walking around the city, and zipping around on the trains.
Leah saw her job at Bethany Christian Services transition a bit, allowing for more family time and learning more about fundraising and family support. Although this change took her out of meeting with families regularly, the trade-off has been well worth it. She loves the opportunity to share her passion for the kids and families Bethany serves with the community and churches in Central Iowa. She was also able to plan her first big fundraiser throughout the summer, and it culminated in a great success last month. The dinner and dessert auction raised over $25,000, which will help Bethany support women, men, and children facing unplanned pregnancies.
In May we welcomed a new member to the family! Eliana Lynn was born in Pella and man, this one was a much easier process for Leah. As much as we love Cayla, there was a small part of us that was anxious about Ana being born with Down Syndrome and somewhat relieved that we wouldn't have the same challenges with our second child. We know there will still be challenges, but they will be different.
In regards to Cayla's adjustment, it has been like Jekyll and Hyde. At times she is incredibly sweet with her sister, wanting to kiss her and acting worried when she cries. At other times, it has been very difficult for her to deal with someone stealing some of our attention away. At her age, she doesn't really know how to handle these emotions--they just come out. Unfortunately, it usually comes out in the form of aggression. Let's just say Eliana may be the toughest 6-month old kid of all time. We're just glad she still has both eyes and hasn't needed any trips to the ER yet. The relationship is a work in progress. We're praying our daughters would one day have an incredible bond, laughing at each other and combing each other's hair. For now, though, there is a lot of pulling each other's hair instead.
One huge step for Cayla this fall has been successfully saying adios to diapers!!! Woo hoo!! We are so excited for her because it's yet one more thing she has conquered on her journey. She is so good about telling us "poop" when it's time to head in there. And she no longer needs M&Ms as a reward. She hasn't worn a diaper for 2 or 3 months!
In other big Cayla news, this fall we got her a
backpack, crayons, markers, glue, kleenexes, and scissors. Can you believe she started pre-k already?? I think it officially hit us in August while we were walking around Wal-Mart with the school list of ITEMS STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE. This is just weird, we thought. We're not ready for this. But sure enough, our spunky lil' girl started school at Madison this fall, just a few blocks from our
home. She goes in the afternoons and she loves her teacher Miss Amy, or, as Cayla calls her, "S'Amy." Cayla enjoys the kids in her class a lot, and can often be found trying to sit on their laps (when she's not pinching them or pulling their hair). She also loves going to gym class and running to the music, as well as Center Time when she gets to play with the dolls. Leah joined the class on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and she enjoyed seeing Cayla interact with her classmates. She usually gets good reports from school, although she does bring home the occasional "mischievous" label. Sounds about
right. :)
Eliana has proven to be a wonderful baby girl! She is very content, a good eater, and usually happy. It's easy to get a smile out of her, which is something we didn't experience much with Cayla. She is sitting up very well and loves to play with toys. She gets very focused when she is looking for toys to play with. Ana is also good for pooping through her outfit at least once per day, which is a running joke with Joy, her daycare provider. She also loves her jumper, bouncing up and down so much we think she's going to get sick. Cayla can often be found trying to get Ana to stop jumping so she can give her a kiss.
Cayla continues to love music, and tries to get up to the stage after church to see the instruments up close. She has even started singing to Eliana, and it has been awesome. She is putting together 2-word phrases all the time, and even a few 3-word phrases. She knows most of the numbers from zero to ten. She loves the bassoon and can draw a figure 8. Much of this has come from the hard work her daycare provider Sonya puts into her during the day, as well as her continued development with school. Cayla continues to surprise us with her ability to comprehend things, and she seems to learn something new every day. It's so fun. The main areas still lagging behind are her ability to feed herself and speech development.
We want to close by thanking everyone for loving our family so well, especially over these past six months, which have been such a major adjustment for us. We hope to do a better job updating the blog in the future. We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you be blessed richly in the coming year.
With love,
the Garlands
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