Oops I did it Again!

Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, make dinner, help kids with homework, bathe kids, spend time together, go to bed. Repeat for the next oh....6 years.  Oops, I did it again. This probably won't be the last time either. It's life.  My life, our life has been go, go go.  Can I please just get a break? Someone hit pause for me.  Slow down the time.

Anyway, since it has been so long, let's get up to speed on what our family has been up to lately. Since the last post, we moved from Utah back to West Virginia in February 2016.  While I liked being around my family and reconnecting with them, Utah is just not for me.  I am able to visit but living there, I was just miserable.  Too many bad experiences in Utah.  I asked Richard if he would like to move back to WV and we decided we would head out as soon as our lease was up.  That is exactly what we did.  We packed up the moving truck (thanks Dad and Uncle Ned for helping us).  We decided to leave that same day rather than wait until morning.  It took us five long days to drive cross country.  We stopped each night and stayed in a motel to get rest.  By the time we got to WV, we were all tired of the car.  I was beyond exhausted and crabby.  More crabby than usual.  Richard asked me if I was pregnant and I (being the lovely person I am when pregnant) snapped at him that I was JUST TIRED.  Well, it dawned on me that I hadn't had a cycle and was actually late, so I did a pregnancy test. To my surprise, that little white and blue plastic thing said 'Yes, 2-3 weeks.' Wow.  Not expected, but surely excited. 

We got all settled in to our town home (the same exact town home we lived in from 2011-2013, so that was a blessing). The kids started school and life went on.  We found out in May that we were expecting a little girl.  I had to do genetic testing due to being high risk and wanted to know the gender so they were able to tell me very early.  We decided not to tell anyone until the birth to make it more special.  I really annoyed a lot of people by not telling them, but they sure love our last baby girl.  On October 8, 2016, we welcomed our little girl.  We decided to name her Scarlett Elizabeth Mae Jackson.  Scarlett is a name I have always liked. Richard didn't care what I named the baby as long I put Mae in the name somewhere being that was his grandmothers middle name who had passed away a few years ago and they were very close. 

Scarlett's birth stats 

 The other kids were so excited to have another little sister and I will be honest, I was worried about how Caleb would be with a little sister.  They have the closest relationship and play together very nicely.  Caleb has lovingly nicknamed his sister "Scarley" and often calls her that.

Scarlett after her 1st bath

Scarlett 1 day old

Jen 

I was able to get picked up at IRS and started working in the call site very close to our home a month before Scarlett was born. I've met some really nice coworkers and have become friends with quite a few of them.  I had gastric bypass surgery in June 2019 and have lost a lot of weight, but have not yet reached my goal. I have so much more energy and enjoy doing a lot of the things I had given up on years ago (hiking, bike rides, walks, etc).  I also had cochlear implant surgery and can hear so much better now.  The kids can longer talk back because guess what? I can hear them now. LOL I plan to get the other ear done, but I am not sure when.  It will be either later this year or next year.


Richard got his disability approved in January 2017 and has been home since.  He still does plumbing jobs here and there but its not a full time thing anymore.  He does a lot of projects around the house and just finished painting the inside and is now remodeling the downstairs bathroom.  Caleb is his little shadow and wants to do everything daddy does.  Richard will be having
 knee surgery soon as he has a cyst on his knee that is causing a lot of issues. He had rotator cuff surgery as well as carpal tunnel and surgery on his right elbow.  The dr that did the surgeries on his arm did not do it correctly so he is still in pain and will be getting surgery again on them but he has a different dr now. Hopefully he can get some relief as he has a goal of going back to work.  He misses his plumbing too much.

Shaylee

Shaylee is now 21. Who said she could grow up? She is still attending Shepherd University pursuing a degree in Psychology.  She is doing really well academically and has made the Deans list a few times. She is also working at a group home for disabled adults.  She lives about 2 minutes from us and visits us often.  She also helps out with the little kids and takes them on day dates from time to time. We are strengthening our mother/daughter relationship and I think we are getting close again.

Megan

Megan is now 18 and will be graduating from Martinsburg High School on Tuesday.  Due to the COVID-19, it will not be a traditional graduation at this time.  The school district is planning to do the graduation in June or July when it is safe.  She has maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA all through her schooling.  She didn't apply for college or scholarships in time, so her plan is to just work for the time being.  She currently does not have a job but has a been applying. She is also working on getting her driver's license, so watch out for her. ;)

Morgan

Morgan is not quite 15. She will be attending Martinsburg High School as a sophmore in the fall.  She loves dance and has learned quite a few dances, even teaching them to Caleb and Scarlett.  She is a social butterfly and loves meeting new people.  Her plan is to eventually be on the dance team, so she is working on that goal. She has improved her grades tremendously this year as we have kept reminding her it now counts towards graduation.  Who knows, maybe she is finally taking it serious?

Caleb

Caleb is now 5 and will be 6 in August.  He just finished his third and final year of Pre-K at Pikeside. He loved school and all the things he learned as well as his many friends he made there.  He will start kindergarten in the fall at Berkeley Heights.  He loves music and can often be found dancing anytime music is playing. He loves the Avengers and anytime he steals the tv remote, he is quickly turning it to Hulk or Endgame. He absolutely loves art and creating things.  He has played soccer on a team and now wants to try football and baseball.  He says when he grows up, he is going to be "big." I don't think he fully understands what I mean when I ask him what he wants to be when he grows up.

Scarlett is now 3.  She also attended her first year of Pre-K at Pikeside.  She loves going to school. She will attend again in the fall for her second year of preschool.  She loves anything Disney princess and is often watching Mulan, Moana or Frozen.  She loves to sing any of the Disney songs. She has recently started playing more with her baby dolls and carries them everywhere with her. In December 2019, she had tubes put in both ears and now she talks much better.  She loves to FaceTime anyone who will talk to her, so if she calls you, I apologize in advance. She once called her grandpa 10 times in a row (hey, she loves her "Gampa").

Kendra

Last but surely not least, Kendra is now 23. She is currently not living with us, but we are hoping we can soon update that she is.  She still lives in Utah in a group home and wants to move out here to be closer to family.  I have filed a petition for guardianship and hopefully we have the hearing soon.  Things with her have not been easy lately and a change will do her good.  Also being around her family would be very beneficial to her. She has been calling a few times each day and has talked not only with Richard and I,  but also her siblings.  We usually have her laughing by the end of the phone calls.


I know I said this last time, so I will say it again: I hope to be able to update more regularly.  This writing is therapeutic for me. It just seems that I have been getting busier and busier as the weeks go one and the kids get older.

Until next time (and hopefully not 6 years from now LOL),

Jen