Rattins living Coram Deo

We are SO thrilled with Gracie's school. Josh and I both spent a day there this week and it is so amazing that we are eager to send our little 3.5 year old to public school every day! Her 2.5 hours in school are packed full of things that we can't provide at home - PT, OT, speech, a consistent approach, one-on-one consistent attention and coaching, other kids, tons of toys, crafts, stories, ABC's, days of the week, colors, routine tasks, songs... Everything that she does in preschool develops her skills more and more. Her para, Kelly, is so patient, consistent, and kind with her - she makes her work hard, she doesn't do a THING for her that Gracie can do for herself and Gracie knows it so she works hard for her! her therapists love her and are so excited with her. They have learned her so well that they know how to motivate her, they know that when she's hungry she's a bear, they know that she loves taking things out of containers and loves things that make nois...

Beth had her baby (the "prego" on the far right in the photo) so that means that we're only 2 months away from ours! Caleb Murray! I'm most discouraged by the weekly screaming sessions that we have over Gracie's hair. She still screams bloody murder at any touch of her head that resembles fixing her hair. She's got lovely hair, but most of the time it looks messy because the screaming is so tiring that I can't handle it frequently, not to mention the fact that even nightly touch-ups and oiling invoke screaming so that my precious 1.5 hours with her in the evening are not spent playing or snuggling but rather her yelling and screaming and looking at me with pitiful eyes. Not quite the mommy-daughter bonding that I cherish. I bought an organic olive oil spray which helps (less hands-on the scalp) but I still need to fix her hair well once a week and that just wipes me out. Good thing that she loves bath time which preceeds hair fixing! Please pray that Graci...

Gracie was back to regular school this week. We really love her school and she seems to really enjoy the 2.5 hours a day of preschool and therapies. Some of her therapists and teachers hadn't seen her all summer so it was so rewarding to hear everyone's shock and amazement and encouragement at how much she has grown physically, socially, emotionally, and developmentally. She is doing so much more now than she was just in June and is so much more assertive (good and bad!). It was very exciting for us to hear their excitement about our precious little girl. She's doing great sleeping on her own, still has rough nights (what kid doesn't?!) and her pediatrician yesterday said, "just let her cry! that's normal!" Ok, okay. So I'm a strict mom during the day but due to my own need to be there for her if she seizes, I'm a little more jumpy at night when she's not under anyone's direct supervision for a whole 8 hours at a stretch! She still often ha...

29 weeks pregnant, flanked by my fellow "pregos" at church - Wanda is 22 weeks, Beth is 37 week!

Gracie kicking around "on her own" in the swimming pool - think she likes the water?! Can't quite tell from the huge grin on her beautiful face! Gracie sleeping peacefully in her own room and bed.

We had our first successful night of Gracie sleeping in her OWN room by herself. Gracie OUT of our bed, in her big girl bed! Moma slept, Gracie slept, and mama and daddy were very happy to have a bed to ourselves! I only had to get up twice for her, both just little visits to put her in a new position when she was whining and couldn't get herself back to sleep. I know this was only the first night, but a big step for all of us!

We finally had opportunity to visit the Ruhls in Minnesota - it was SO fun to spend time with their 4 beautiful children, introduce Gracie, meet more of their church family, and of course, spend time with Gregg and Dianne. Gracie and Ruhls' kids got along famously - she's just half a year younger than little Abby who was so sweet to her. Katie is an excellent big sister and loves taking care of children with special needs - she was so attentive and competent with Gracie. Jacob and David enjoyed Gracie's love for rough housing and making her giggle. She got lots of love and attention and also made some milestone leaps in the company of such amazing kids. She kicked around BY HERSELF (with a head supporting life jacket) in the pool purposefully, she lifted one leg at a time to get her shoes on, and she played with the kids beautifully! She especially enjoyed the yard complete with playground equipment and giggled hysterically at the boys catching her at the bottom of the slid...