So, we haven't updated in awhile. Sorry. Things are good here. Of course, I say this in light of the fact that SOMEONE has been sick in our house every single day since we moved here. But, for the most part, it's just been colds/sinus stuff, so I can deal with that. It is WAY better than the stomach flu. :)
So...where to start...let's start at the top. Mark is still working, which is a blessing in this economy. His company does insurance work like fire restoration and such, so it is not dependent on the economy. He has built shelves in our garage and basement storage room and is trying to get things organized, though time is sparse these days between the kids and our time together.
Let's see...what have I been up to? The kids. I am also teaching piano lessons on Wednesday mornings. I teach 4 siblings out of a family of 7. The mom and oldest kids take care of my 2 kids while I teach. I am enjoying it and they are good students. I have been getting stuff put on the walls and things decorated around our house and it is feeling much more like our home than just a house.
Cassie is a budding 3-year-old. Well, she WILL be a 3-year-old in less than a month. UGH! If you have young children, you need to know what people don't tell you. The 3's are definitely much more challenging than the 2's. They are finding their own voice...their own ideas...their independence. It is certainly a challenge to reign Cassie in and to produce the behavior that we expect consistently. With the help of Love and Logic, we are doing it, but it is definitely about consistency. She is learning new things by leaps and bounds. She really is a smart little thing and I never really know what she's going to say next. She says "Actually..." about 5 times a day as she puts her 2 cents worth into life. She is an awesome big sister and loves to make her brother smile, laugh, and talk. She also loves it when he crawls* after her. She is really excited for the summer and more time to play outside with "the friends" also known as the neighborhood kids. She'll look at the window and say "KIDS! It is NOT SAFE to be in the STREET!" She's too funny and really cares about people's safety and well-being. Whenever she sees Mark on a ladder, she reminds him to be "tareful" every 2-3 minutes...literally.
Our big man is on his way to being a 1-year-old. He's 10-1/2 months now. He has lots to say and says it in a BIG, definitely boy, voice. He follows me around all day long in a walker. He gets into EVERYTHING that is within reach. I believe he has the longest reach of any baby ever. :) He eats and eats and eats. I've decided that once he really starts eating, we're going to have to take out a second mortgage on our house to feed him! :) The other night, he ate 2 entire pieces of a large pizza for dinner. If he's eating, he's happy. As previously noted, he's been weaned from nursing to bottles. I have further weaned him to whole milk. Yes, I know...most pediatricians don't recommend it until 1 year, but he eats yogurt, cheese, ice cream, etc. without problems so I decided to try it. We went slow and he never had an issue. I researched a TON before doing it and found that we are one of the only countries in the world that keeps their babies on formula to 1 year and the evidence that it was necessary was thin, at best. The main concern is always iron. Well, Conrey eats tons of meat and other iron-fortified snacks, so I am confident that he is getting adequate, well-rounded nutrition.
In other family news, we have been in the trenches with wedding plans for my sister's wedding. It is going to be a fabulous wedding. If you don't know my sister, she is very fashion forward, very stylish, and knows exactly what she likes and dislikes. Her wedding is going to showcase who she is to a T. I have had adequate time to come to terms with my baby sister getting married so young and now am just excited for it to come!
You know what's HARD about this wedding, though? Planning a bachelorette party for 18 and 19-year-old girls. There is one bridesmaid that is in her early 20s and one that is 16. Not exactly bachelorette-aged girls! :) Plus, I'm the only married one. If anyone has any brilliant ideas that are age-approriate, you be sure and let me know! :)
Well, I think that's about it. Thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
AMAZING!
This is our old preacher, David Young. It's a pretty amazing story!
“I went running on the greenway (off Thompson Lane) about 12 o’clock, ran a couple of miles. When it started lightning real hard and hailing, I went back toward the house. I got about behind Goff’s Barbecue, the hail was coming down pretty hard, and I got down near the river behind the bushes to keep the hail from hitting me. I hard the train coming. I said this is a tornado and I’m out here in it.
I wrapped my arms around a tree and curled up. About three or four seconds after that, I looked up and the tornado was right above me. I was in the tornado and trees were falling and flying through the air. There was debris, a building flew over my head. My legs went out from under me and my legs flapped in the wind like a flag.
The eye settled on me a couple of seconds and I settled back down on the ground.
When the back wall of the tornado hit me, it knocked at least two trees on me, they caught all the debris ... and probably saved my life.
Within 15 or 20 seconds it was gone. I managed to crawl and hobble up on the parking lot where Design landscape parking lot is. I was hobbling along and I must have looked worse than I thought. Two guys put me in the back of the pickup truck and took me to the emergency room. I suffered a concussion and a beat-up leg. Other than that, I’m all right.
Man, I looked up and I was in the middle of that tornado. I was thinking I’m gonna get to be on Oprah. Honestly, I wasn’t scared. Really what I was thinking, I was hoping nobody was one the greenway. When I got up, it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. That tree I was holding onto was the only thing standing. That tree and I were the only thing left. Everything else was wiped out ...
While I was holding on to the tree I had a two-hour conversation with God in 15 seconds.”
“I went running on the greenway (off Thompson Lane) about 12 o’clock, ran a couple of miles. When it started lightning real hard and hailing, I went back toward the house. I got about behind Goff’s Barbecue, the hail was coming down pretty hard, and I got down near the river behind the bushes to keep the hail from hitting me. I hard the train coming. I said this is a tornado and I’m out here in it.
I wrapped my arms around a tree and curled up. About three or four seconds after that, I looked up and the tornado was right above me. I was in the tornado and trees were falling and flying through the air. There was debris, a building flew over my head. My legs went out from under me and my legs flapped in the wind like a flag.
The eye settled on me a couple of seconds and I settled back down on the ground.
When the back wall of the tornado hit me, it knocked at least two trees on me, they caught all the debris ... and probably saved my life.
Within 15 or 20 seconds it was gone. I managed to crawl and hobble up on the parking lot where Design landscape parking lot is. I was hobbling along and I must have looked worse than I thought. Two guys put me in the back of the pickup truck and took me to the emergency room. I suffered a concussion and a beat-up leg. Other than that, I’m all right.
Man, I looked up and I was in the middle of that tornado. I was thinking I’m gonna get to be on Oprah. Honestly, I wasn’t scared. Really what I was thinking, I was hoping nobody was one the greenway. When I got up, it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. That tree I was holding onto was the only thing standing. That tree and I were the only thing left. Everything else was wiped out ...
While I was holding on to the tree I had a two-hour conversation with God in 15 seconds.”
Monday, April 6, 2009
?!?
What? You're still here?!? Well, I declare (read that in a Scarlett O'Hare type voice)! I can't believe you're still checkin' on me with all the neglect and all. Thanks so much for your faithful patience.
HA! Patience! That's something that hasn't been seen much around these parts lately! It's been rough around here. Let me tell 'ya! It's been rough. However, I am immediately humbled by those around me dealing with much more than I am in my whiney little world and I thank God...THANK GOD for his providence over my children and my family. I have a friends dealing with very difficult parenting issues with the truest grace and faith imaginable (KT). I have friends dealing with metastatic melanoma. I have loved ones who are very sick. My brother and his wife are in the process of trying to move with 3 young kids...the weekend of Easter. There is so much to be thankful for...to be praying diligently for...to be praising God for. I find it infuriating that I am such a complainer.
We have all had our share of sickness for the past 2 to 2.5 months. The most recent being Mark and Conrey with head/sinus junk and myself with an UTI or bladder infection. The med I have to take for it is A) Drowsy medicine and B) Makes me really, really sick for 5-6 hours after taking it. It's not fun.
Here is what makes me write above about the providence of God: I am still feeling extremely guilty about it, so please...no awful posts about how irresponsible I was...
Conrey fell down the stairs and Derin and Mandy's house Saturday while we were there helping them pack. Like 12 stairs or something...almost all the way down to the basement. It was humbling. It was devastating. It was gut-wrenching. It was nauseating. It was horrifying. It was a miracle from our great God that he was not seriously hurt. He is sore if you try to pick him up under his arms (like you generally pick up a 10-month-old 500 times a day!). He has no bumps or bruises. He has nothing besides the sore ribs. I just cannot get over this happening.
Let me tell you the story. D and M had removed their baby gate since they are moving next weekend. They needed to patch and paint the walls. Well, having discovered that the moment we arrived at their house, we set up a blockade between the livingroom and the stairs. We mostly had him in the basement just for precaution's sake. However, he was brought upstairs and I decided that I would just play with him up there while everyone else packed. At some point, the blockade was moved for Cassie to get through and then put back in place. I am NOT pointing blame at anyone, as it doesn't matter. I should have checked it thoroughly before leaving Conrey. Anyway, it had a huge gap at the bottom that allowed him to try to follow me. I walked back to the nursery because my sis-in-law was going through clothes that their daughter had outgrown and was asking me if a particular onsies was mine or not. We hear this awful series of thuds and then moaning/crying. My heart stopped and I rushed to the stairs. Someone said, "What was that???" I remember saying, "My baby falling down the stairs!!!!!!!" If you have ever seen me under pressure, I am typically very calm, cool, and collected. I supressed the urge to panick and ran down the stairs scooping Conrey up (which now was probably a bad idea...but he's fine, so I just, again, thank God for that). I brought him upstairs and snuggled him close. He only cried until I got him his paci and then calmed down. I began stripping his clothes to look for signs of injury. All I found was some rug-burned knees. I had my sis-in-law fix him a bottle and he was really anxious for it. I noticed that it wasn't shaken well enough, so I took it to shake it more and he was FURIOUS! He was way more mad about that than about falling down the stairs. By the time I redressed him an hour and a half later, the rug-burns were pretty much gone and he seemed fine. Now, he only has the sore ribs.
I just cannot believe that I let such a thing happen. It is in the past and it happened, regrettably. It gave me a wake-up call to be more involved, more observant, and more cautious.
Thank you, dear Lord, that my baby is alright.
HA! Patience! That's something that hasn't been seen much around these parts lately! It's been rough around here. Let me tell 'ya! It's been rough. However, I am immediately humbled by those around me dealing with much more than I am in my whiney little world and I thank God...THANK GOD for his providence over my children and my family. I have a friends dealing with very difficult parenting issues with the truest grace and faith imaginable (KT). I have friends dealing with metastatic melanoma. I have loved ones who are very sick. My brother and his wife are in the process of trying to move with 3 young kids...the weekend of Easter. There is so much to be thankful for...to be praying diligently for...to be praising God for. I find it infuriating that I am such a complainer.
We have all had our share of sickness for the past 2 to 2.5 months. The most recent being Mark and Conrey with head/sinus junk and myself with an UTI or bladder infection. The med I have to take for it is A) Drowsy medicine and B) Makes me really, really sick for 5-6 hours after taking it. It's not fun.
Here is what makes me write above about the providence of God: I am still feeling extremely guilty about it, so please...no awful posts about how irresponsible I was...
Conrey fell down the stairs and Derin and Mandy's house Saturday while we were there helping them pack. Like 12 stairs or something...almost all the way down to the basement. It was humbling. It was devastating. It was gut-wrenching. It was nauseating. It was horrifying. It was a miracle from our great God that he was not seriously hurt. He is sore if you try to pick him up under his arms (like you generally pick up a 10-month-old 500 times a day!). He has no bumps or bruises. He has nothing besides the sore ribs. I just cannot get over this happening.
Let me tell you the story. D and M had removed their baby gate since they are moving next weekend. They needed to patch and paint the walls. Well, having discovered that the moment we arrived at their house, we set up a blockade between the livingroom and the stairs. We mostly had him in the basement just for precaution's sake. However, he was brought upstairs and I decided that I would just play with him up there while everyone else packed. At some point, the blockade was moved for Cassie to get through and then put back in place. I am NOT pointing blame at anyone, as it doesn't matter. I should have checked it thoroughly before leaving Conrey. Anyway, it had a huge gap at the bottom that allowed him to try to follow me. I walked back to the nursery because my sis-in-law was going through clothes that their daughter had outgrown and was asking me if a particular onsies was mine or not. We hear this awful series of thuds and then moaning/crying. My heart stopped and I rushed to the stairs. Someone said, "What was that???" I remember saying, "My baby falling down the stairs!!!!!!!" If you have ever seen me under pressure, I am typically very calm, cool, and collected. I supressed the urge to panick and ran down the stairs scooping Conrey up (which now was probably a bad idea...but he's fine, so I just, again, thank God for that). I brought him upstairs and snuggled him close. He only cried until I got him his paci and then calmed down. I began stripping his clothes to look for signs of injury. All I found was some rug-burned knees. I had my sis-in-law fix him a bottle and he was really anxious for it. I noticed that it wasn't shaken well enough, so I took it to shake it more and he was FURIOUS! He was way more mad about that than about falling down the stairs. By the time I redressed him an hour and a half later, the rug-burns were pretty much gone and he seemed fine. Now, he only has the sore ribs.
I just cannot believe that I let such a thing happen. It is in the past and it happened, regrettably. It gave me a wake-up call to be more involved, more observant, and more cautious.
Thank you, dear Lord, that my baby is alright.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)