This Minivan Life

 Since I wrote about the three older kids, I had to record Oliver's birth story too. The original birth story was written the night after he was born. Thank goodness most of it is lost to the ages, because it was not a pleasant experience.  Grace's Birth , Zach's Birth , Michael's Birth Every mom has a birth story. Whether you physically delivered the baby, adopted the baby, came to be a mom through marriage, or any other situation, every mom has a birth story. It’s the story of those last few hours or minutes where you were required to rely on the strength you didn’t think you had to bring that child into your life. Some stories are joyful, some are filled with sadness, but I think all of them are worth telling. They’re worth telling because no matter how joyful and triumphant that moment was, it is always hard, it always requires more strength than you thought you had, and I think regardless of the birth outcome or situation, every mom needs to remember that some days

 I have been excellent about tracking Oliver... said no one. But to be fair I've recorded everything on Instagram, so while it isn't here, it's out there!  Oliver Andrew Suker October 25, 2021 11:55am 8lbs, 9oz, 22 inches

 Happy 10th Birthday Mr. Michael,  Sorry I missed your 9th birthday post. Someday I'll tell you it was because of COVID and you will roll your eyes and remember the days of COVID.  You've grown up a lot this last year. You spent a good portion of this year and last "social distancing" and quarantined. It's crazy to think that when you turned 8 you had no idea what quarantine was, but now you not only understand, but you've been quarantined 4 times (at least, I've lost count). But you survived!  Of the three of you, COVID was the hardest on you. You are a social butterfly and COVID shut that down. You were stuck at home with Zach and Grace and nanny that you disliked every day. You made the best of it, but you were thrilled  when you found out that school would be starting again in August. Now that we've made it through an entire school year, you seem much happier.  You love activities, boy do you! You love baseball, basketball, and swim team. I don'

 Happy 7th Birthday my dear mama's boy,  I wish I had written this around your actual birthday, but I was busy and now you're almost 8. Oh well, someday I will get around to doing things on time... maybe.  You survived COVID-19 this last year. Your kindergarten year was derailed by a virus and by quarantine, but you excelled. You are totally fine staying home and doing your own thing. While your brother struggled, you didn't seem to care in the slightest that our life was cancelled, except that you did miss Ms. McDevitt.  You got to start your "own" activities this last year. We've tried baseball, soccer, and basketball, but none of those were your jam. We started piano in June 2020 and hapkido in January 2021 and you love them both. You love individual activities, opportunities to prove yourself, and anything that your brother doesn't do.  You continued to shine at school. You are so bright! I am always shocked by how much you know and how quickly you gra

Oh my little Sassy, This letter is months and months late, that's pretty much how our life works these days, so let's just call say Happy half birthday! Trying out the new dryer.  Oh my Sass, you have had a BIG year! You started kindergarten this year and you have done AWESOME! I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about you and kindergarten. You love to sleep and I knew this would prevent you from getting all the sleep your little body needed. Kindergarten also required you to listen to another adult all day every day. Given how much you like listening to me, I thought this had the potential to be a trainwreck. But... you have Ms. McDevitt for a teacher and  you LOVED her. You blossomed in kindergarten. We always knew you were so smart, but boy howdy are you a little smarty pants! You have loved everything about going to school all the time. You loved the bus, the lunchroom, the kids, and most especially your sweet teacher. When coronavi