Fall 2011...

Once again, the time has passed relatively quickly between these posts. The Michigan Southerns are staying busy as usual....here's the rundown.

Emma is in 3rd grade this year at Sequoyah Elementary. As we all know, 3rd grade is a tough transitional year for most kids. This is the year that they go from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". So far, so good. Parent conferences were a week ago and the report from Mrs. Fleming was outstanding. Em has mostly all A's with a sprinkle or two of B's. (This is also the first year with letter grades!) She's having to learn how to study this year. Mom used to tell me to study when I was younger and my standard answer was "Sure, I looked it over." I understand now, why should we get so upset with me when I gave her that answer. To Emma's credit, it took one test for her to understand the importance of studying days in advance of a test.

Carter is just motoring along in 1st grade.

His teacher, Mrs. Woodruff, reports that he is doing fantastic We need to work on his hand writing a little, but other than that, he's doing great. His reading is awesome! It really makes me proud to hear him read each night. He doesn't shy away from words he doesn't know. He'll give it his best attempt by using strategies he's learned at school. We didn't accomplish the bike riding objective this summer. While I want him to do it, I'm not going to traumatize him in the process. I guess we'll give that another try this spring. That and swimming.

And Caraline is just growing and growing and growing. Her little motor doesn't stop. In the past month alone she has gone from an army crawl to a hand and knee crawl. In the last two weeks she's getting more and more adventurous with the walking attempts. She'll stand up on her own by pulling on a chair or pushing against a wall. In the last week she's advanced to pushing the laundry basket or chairs around the kitchen. All bets are that she'll have it together sometime between Christmas and New Year's and will be walking on her own.

Kate and are doing well. We put the house up for sale right before Halloween. The plan is to find a place a bit farther out in the country - hopefully something on some acreage that will give us the freedom to be out in the yard much more for years and year to come. Time will tell....

Catching up!

Well, Kate's working on scrapbooks, so whenever she breaks those out, that usually means its time for me to get back on here and blog! I really need to get better about this...

The last 6 months have passed in the blink of an eye. In January, we were welcoming home Caraline. In July, we're celebrating the kids completing another grade in school and me graduating and having a job.. Three years ago, who'd have thought that things would turn out the way they have? I'm certainly living the life of a million blessings.

Here's a rundown of the last 6 months for everyone....

Emma just finished 2nd grade. She did an outstanding job all year improving her reading and

writing each and every marking period. About half way through the year, she really began to start liking football. It started with wanting to watch football with me every now and

then, and over time she began to want

to get football trading cards. Now, she has a little collection of them started and trades with the boys at school. Hopefully, this next school year will allow her to participate in some more activities outside of school like soccer or basketball. She's a good little athlete. We kick the soccer ball around in the yard and she's actually quite good. With school for Kate and I finally settled down, the sky is the limit for what she wants to do.

Carter finished kindergarten. He attended a full-day version by going to his regular teacher in the morning and then spending the afternoon in "kindergarten plus". I think it will certainly ease the transition to first grade and actually having to pay attention all day to what you are supposed to be learning. It was interesting to watch his interactions with his peers as well. The two years at Merrill Palmer at WSU definitely set him up for success both academically and socially. He seemed so at ease from the very beginning. His interests are as variable as ever. Some days its his Matchbox cars, the next day its his Nerf guns, while another its football. One thing he LOVES to do is help Kate give Caraline a bath. She does the bathing, but he helps her get prepared and get the lotions and towels ready. It's like he's her little helper. On the flip side, one thing that he HATES to do is ride his bike. Last time I got him on it, he screamed as loud as police siren while I ran down the street with him...while he was steadied by training wheels. That's my middle of the summer project for him...to get him to not be so terrified of the bike.

Caraline is GROWING! Kate took her in for her check-up a few weeks ago and she's up to 26.5

inches and 16.8lbs. She's babbling like crazy too. One of my favorite things to do with her is to sit her on my bed when we all get home from work/school and ask her about her day. She obviously has no idea yet what I'm asking, but she just jabbers, and jabbers and jabbers to me. The more I vary my pitch and inflections, the more animated she gets. It is quite entertaining. The big event of the last 6 months for her was her baptism in February. Nana 'Pock and Aunt Jenny came up to Michigan with Mom and Dad to spend the weekend with us and share in the celebration of marking her as one of God's own.

Kate is still going strong at Children's Hospital. She has such a cool job. Not to knock the SLP's in schools, but she gets to see the really interesting stuff at her place. Her days are long (10hrs), but the 3 day weekends are nice. I know that she really enjoys it - even on days when her caseload is slammed and reports need to get done...yesterday. It's cool to watch her come home and know that she is exactly where she needs to be in her career. It fits her personality, intellect and beliefs perfectly. I'm proud of what she does and how she does it...in addition to being Mom of the Year everyday to all three kids. I'm darned lucky.

I finally finished up grad school at Wayne State in May. For the Winter term, I did my clinical internship at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield, working primarily in inpatient care. It was a very good experience and I learned a TREMENDOUS amount from my supervisors and CFY's who I had the opportunity to work with. Two weeks prior to graduation, I accepted a Speech-Language Pathologist

position with Encore! Rehabilitation Services working at the Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mt. Clemens Michigan. I graduated on a Thursday and started work the next Monday. I gotta scream this to everyone who will listen: I love my job. This is exactly the reason that I went back to school. I view my job like this: Everyone has a story to tell. In some cases, their ability to tell that story becomes impaired because of an event that they didn't ask for (i.e., stroke, TBI, etc.). My job is to help them reclaim that ability and go on telling their story. To have the opportunity to do that everyday...I'm living the dream.

The last bit of news....I got a new truck!!! Actually, I just got it this past Thursday. Kate says that I've been smiling like the Cheshire Cat for 3 days. I can't help it.

Another beginning...

Our family recently welcomed home a new addition...Miss Caraline Marie Southern. She arrived on December 18th, 2010 at 8:06pm at Troy Beaumont Hospital. She weighed 6lbs 4oz and measured in at a petite little 18.25 inches.

Its been fun trying to pick out features in each of us that we see in her. She has my eyes, Kate's mouth and we think a mix of our noses. Its yet to be determined if she's going to have "Southern Ears". Emma and Carter do the same. They each see parts of them in her.

The kids have been transitioning well so far. This Christmas, Emma got an American Girl doll that looks just like her. Its been interesting to watch. She's found a renewed interest in an older American Girl baby and tends to her more now than she has at any point in the past. It is almost as if she's learning how to deal with another baby in the house, by playing with "her" baby again. Watching her play activity has been insightful. This is not to say that she doesn't do anything with Caraline. She's is quite the helper with changing diapers and such. We haven't quite let her do anything on her own yet, because Caraline was so little (she actually went down to 5lbs 10oz in the week after she was born), but she has such a sincere interest in her. Emma is going to continue to be an outstanding big sister.

Carter is, well, Carter. He's been a non-stop quote machine. Some of his best are: "Does she have a robot brain?" "Does she have teeth and can she talk?" "Her head is like a peach...its soft and fuzzy." He wants to kiss her on the head literally every chance that he gets. I wondered how he would be with her as he's seemed to relish the role of "the youngest". He's been a little gentleman about her.

Kate and I are doing well too. She will be home though the first week of February. One of my favorite things to catch her doing now is taking a nap with Caraline. The little one is quite the snuggler and is always the most content when held as close as possible to her Mama. Kate is quite simply, the happiest I've ever seen her.

Caraline has been out and about a little more this past week than in the first two weeks. We've

been to church a couple of time and made a few quick shopping trips. Yesterday, she even indulged her Mama and Daddy by letting us take her to the movies with us to see "The King's Speech." She enjoyed it by sleeping almost the entire way through!

I start my internship at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield in about a week. I'm really looking forward to it and can't believe that I'm almost done with Grad School completely. Now I just have to find a job!

In summary, this has been an exciting month. The Michigan Southerns have their newest addition and things couldn't be any better than what they are. We're happy. An old and wonderful friend of mine told me in a message today that we just fit together as a family. I think that is a great description. It's easy to fit together when you truly belong together.