Thankful...for Fat

Unbeknown to most of you we had some slight anxiety on top of Kieran's hearing issues at our house the past couple of weeks.  Dan had a lump in his arm that grew 3x in size in a few short months.  He showed it to me awhile back and it was small, like dime size or so.  He thought it was maybe a knot in his muscle and we both didn't think too much of it.  Fast forward a few months and he noticed it one night while lifting weights as it had grown to the size of a ping pong ball.  To make a long story short his Dr. wanted him to have an MRI.  His diagnosis was a fatty benign tumor called Lipoma.  We are so thankful!  Dan is still going to see a surgeon to get his/her opinion on it and he may still get a second opinion.  From the research we did Lipomas are squishy and movable under the skin and not fast growing.  Dan's is hard, doesn't move, and grew quickly.  We just hope the diagnosis is correct:)

Kieran's next test is a week and a half away.  We're still hopeful that nothing is wrong with his hearing or maybe he just has some slight hearing loss.  We are also preparing ourselves for the worst case scenario of not being able to hear at all and we'll just pray and deal with it as it comes.  It would make some parts of his life more difficult, but it wouldn't stop him from living a happy and healthy one. We are also starting some sleep training with him...little stinker is just waking up to snuggle:)

On a good note, Svea stayed in her bed after waking up for the first time this morning.  She called out to Daddy and didn't get out of bed until he came and got her.  She can now count to 13 and knows 15+ songs.  She likes to make up her own songs to melodies she already knows.  "Apple Fruit Bar, I Love You," was the title of one this morning. I don't want to forget all of this stuff:)  If I can catch her with some video I will post! Remember this dress?  It's a size 12 months, but it was WAY too big for her last winter.  I never thought it would fit like a glove this winter. It was either sized horrible wrong or just way too big.  The cute little winter sweater from Grandma D went perfect with it.  And, can you believe it!  We made it to church last Sunday and my Mom wasn't even in town.  Svea ran down the middle aisle to Daddy while he was giving announcements.  We then sat in the pew with him for 3 minutes until she hung on his leg during the beginning of his sermon.  I had arranged for Jackie to be with her in the nursery in case that happened so she enjoyed some play time with her.  We are so thankful for Jackie!

I forgot to post about the referendum within my school district.  It passed, which means that the likelihood that they'll cut my position next year is very small.  Fast Forward to yesterday and I became aware that the state level government is possibly trying to cut Gifted Education funding, which could still impact my job in some small or large way.  I'm not too worried about it.  If I lost my job I would be pushed back into the classroom, but then I'd have to work full time (gasp) and I just don't wan to do that if I don't have to right now when the kids are small.  Plus, I LOVE my job.  The activities and challenges I get to do with my students are so much fun.  I love getting to be creative all day long.  The iPads that we use daily don't hurt either:)