Counting Down 'til August

A few weeks ago, in my post On the Mend, I mentioned hoping to share with you all some of the plans our family had been trying not to fret over.  I've kept my worrying and apprehension in check pretty well the last few weeks.  I'm hoping to keep that up for the remainder of the summer!

So, to share with you some bittersweet news....Elena will be a Kindergartner come August.  Cue the barrage of tears from Mom.  I mean, really, how is my sweet little baby ready for Kindergarten?  I actually still don't know.  Literally, you blink and your baby is off to school.  There has been SO MUCH apprehension over this for me in the last few months.  For sentimental reasons obviously, but also because our circumstances surrounding Kindergarten are a little more complicated.  We've had to make a lot of tough decisions for Elena's well-being in her nearly five years, and this definitely ranks up there.  I have wrestled often on whether we are making the right decisions for her and gosh, it has been hard.

For starters, my baby will be turning five just a month before school starts.  She'll be the youngest in her class.  She's grown to love her developmental preschool class, her peers, her teachers and now I have to pull her from that and put her into a new environment (which is tough for her).  Not only that, but Elena's been learning a communication system and working with a communication device.  I thought for sure we would have another year of learning this under our belts before we switched it all up on her, but I was mistaken.  It's hard to put her in an academic environment when we haven't been able to fully gauge the complete extent of what she knows.  She knows A LOT, but it's a matter of giving her the means to express what she knows and this just hasn't happened fully yet.  This has been the main reason for my concern, but after several looooooooong conversations with her teachers and therapists, we've all agreed (for lots of reasons I won't elaborate upon) that this is a good step for her.

This is me letting go of my apprehensions, of my worries, of my what ifs, and putting my trust in God and the people who love, care and serve Elena on a daily basis.  There's a million things I could drive myself crazy trying to control and seems I'm crazy enough without going that extra mile of control-freak Mom.  I'm excited to watch Elena grow in school, but good grief, the emotions of it all may zap me.  I mean, I tear up just thinking for three seconds about that first day of school in August!

As if that wasn't enough excitement for us to dwell upon for the next four months, we're shaking things up even more in the Hinton family.  We'll be welcoming a new little brother or sister (we are keeping the gender a surprise) for Laney & Cal at the end of August!  I'm five months in and am still not quite sure how all this is ever going to work, but it's happening so with it, I will roll!

Everyone is healthy and growing just fine.  I'm not exactly pumped about spending a hot summer, all summer, hugely pregnant (I am no dainty pregnant woman), but this little blessing should make it worthwhile.  So as we send our first off to Kindergarten, we'll be bringing a new little life into our family.  Lots of changes ahead, lots of emotions and lots of blessings for our family this summer!  Here's hoping for an Indiana summer of 75 degrees and no humidity, possible no?  :)