Sometimes I really stare & marvel at how peacefully E sleeps. Look at her little hand tucked underneath her cheek. Where did she learn to do this?

I snapped this photo when I went in to wake E up from her afternoon nap because her therapist had arrived. This girl is a deep sleeper; sometimes I can kiss her sweaty little head a million times before she’ll even stir. I remember once I went in to check on her after a date night (around 11PM) and in the dark I accidentally kicked over her trashcan with a loud bang. She didn’t hear a thing and slept through it all.

Her love for sleep is even more astounding because when she was first born, homegirl would NOT SLEEP. Like, at all. I still feel remnant pangs of terror when I think back to her first 6 weeks home from the hospital. She used to be a terrible sleeper; it was so bad that we eventually had to call in a professional newborn sleep consultant and do some serious work with her to get her to SLEEP (I’m not even talking about sleeping in her crib or not sleeping in our arms, I mean she just wouldn’t sleep ever, anywhere). As a random aside – if you ever have questions about newborn sleep, I am definitely your gal because I’ve been through it all with E.

Anyway, back to my point.

Just a few short years later and I can’t get my daughter to wake up for the life of me. It’s crazy how much life changes as you switch from one season of life to another. Newborn to toddler. Toddler to preschooler. Preschooler to kindergartener …

Speaking of kindergarten, we recently had E’s annual IEP meeting; this is the first of several upcoming meetings we’ll be having as we prepare to transition her to start kindergarten as our local elementary school this fall. Cue: Tears. My newborn who wouldn’t sleep is now going to be a kindergartener. I was very curious to hear what E’s current Early Intervention pre-K teachers would be recommending for her as far as mainstream education and the what not. Obviously, our ultimate goal for her is to be fully mainstreamed at some point. I personally don’t think she’s ready for that 100% mainstream class quite yet but I was really itching to know what her teachers thought. Much to my surprise and pleasure, they are pushing for E to be mainstreamed as much as possible next year. Academically, cognitively, and motor skills-wise, she is more than ready to be with typical age peers. Her social and language skills tend to fall the shortest right now, and she could probably use some extra support in staying focused during class (but honestly, what 5-year old doesn’t??). We have a lot to finalize before school starts in the fall but for now, it looks like she’ll be receiving some speech services throughout her school day while spending most of her time in a regular kindergarten class with regular kindergarten kids. Yay!! We are beyond excited for her as we start this new season of life as parents of an elementary school student.

Seasons, people. They end and begin and change, and whatever challenges we face, we need to remember that they are for but a season and then the season ends. Even if the season ends up being 20 years or maybe even a lifetime, for me I know that death is not the end of it all for me. There’s more that comes afterwards and everything that has transpired here on earth is but a season. A whole ‘nother side of eternity waits for me with my Savior and Lord and when that season comes, there will be no sin, no heartaches, no tears or challenges. It’s the best news of all, that the mistakes and hard things we face right now will seem like just a blip when compared with eternal glory. I live for this hope & promise; it’s the one thing that sustains me day in and day out.

And, just because. Here’s a cute pic of D sleeping, too. Babies are the cutest when they’re asleep, huh??