Friday, March 18, 2011

Time Goes By

Today I was reminded all day that it was one year ago that I was on bed rest in the hospital. I went in to the hospital just to receive the steroid shot and never came home..well not at least until Hunter was born. I have thought about that time quite a bit the past year. It was a long four weeks without my family. There were days that I just sat in the bed and felt relatively OK. Then there were days that all I could think about was what were my boys doing at home? Were they OK without mommy? Would they understand why I wasn't there? My friend reminded me that there was going to be an end. I would go home. I wasn't terminally ill...this did help me at times. The Lord taught me a lesson those four weeks..."you are not in control, Annie." I had no control over my life...no control at my house, no control over my boys and what they were doing, no control over my own body!

Now, here I am a year later with a beautiful baby boy who is almost one! I am not sure where the year went. It makes me sad to think Hunter will be one in three weeks. My baby boy will be one! I try to remember to cherish every day and not get caught up in the daily stress of keeping up with the house or the bills. Every day is a precious blessing from the Lord. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, all we have is today. What will my children remember about today? Did I hug them enough? Did I tell them that I love them? Did we laugh together?

I pray that I always remember this...that this becomes my daily motto.

Monday, March 14, 2011

I know, I know...it has been a few weeks again! I can't help it...my four boys keep me busy. Actually busy is an understatement. The past few weeks have been filled with ups and downs but we are still on the crazy ride of our life. Jonah successfully gave up his pacifier. He cried the first night wanting it back which is to be expected. He wanted me to go back the to dentist office to get them. If that wasn't going to work he wanted me to find the "lost" orange one that we never found. Well, his loving older brother found that gross orange one under the couch about a week later. Jonah came walking up the stairs with the thing in his mouth with a huge grin. "Mom, look what E found for me!" Fabulous! My wheels started turning..."how was I going to get this one away from him?" Then I got the idea...I said,"Oh, I was just going to say that I have been so proud of you this past week. I thought we could go out for ice cream." Jonah's eyes got big, "I will throw it in the trash right now." And that was it....now we had to go out for ice cream at 7pm on a school night. But that was ok...the pacifier was gone.

Hunter had surgery about a month ago for tubes in his ears. Not only does he favor Jonah in looks but also in ear infections, apparently. After having 6 infections, we decided surgery was a good thing. Rather have the 5 minute procedure than more antibiotics. He was a trooper. They took him back at 7:52, I was in the holding room waiting for the doctor at 7:55 and the doctor was in the room at 7:59 telling me he did great. By 8:15 I was back in the recovery room with him. He never cried once. I could hear him whining when I was walking back but as soon as he saw his mama, he gave me his usual smile. Such a good baby! I am having a hard time with the fact that he is almost one! Where did this year go? My little baby...I keep telling him that he is supposed to stay this age. He is so easy going and so darn cute! He is crawling everywhere, standing up and making all sorts of sounds. The boys fight over who gets to hold him... I have to tell them to just let him be and crawl around. Just let him play....

Another realization I had the other day is that my Liam is almost 3! I still call him a baby...but he is a little boy. I a hate that time is going by so fast. I keep telling myself to just enjoy each day. Don't think about tomorrow or the past just cherish the moment. I am really trying to remember that the house will be here, the mess will be here but the boys won't always be here or want to play. This is definitely something I could use prayer on...I have a hard time not letting the house mess get to me. This is the case especially so now that the house is on the market again. We have had 6 showings in the past 10 days...no offers though. I am getting pretty good at throwing stuff places. Now if I could just find that stuff after the showing when I need it!

Mike has been busy this past month. He went to the New Orleans Mardi Gras outreach that he has gone to the past two years. He had another great experience this year. He went with about 23 co-workers and friends...in a caravan of 4 vehicles (sounds like fun...15 hours in a car). Another big announcement, he received a promotion at work. He is now the Service Operations Director. We are so proud of him and all the hard work he does for our family.

Ethan is getting through is Kindergarten year. He has learned to read and is working on math now. His writing has greatly improved. He is really working hard...we are proud of him. Everyday though on the way to school he asks me to homeschool him next year. I tell him that we are considering it..somedays it sounds more doable than others. It is something that I desire to do just have to get my head around the how of doing it. I am going to go to the homeschool conference at the end of the month. Hopefully that will help. Ethan started his fifth season of soccer tonight. He is already thinking long term and says that he will be a professional soccer player when he is older and will be on t.v. I guess it is good to have goals, right?

I will try to add photos tomorrow...tried tonight but its not working and I am tired!