Babies at 5 Months

Now all my babies at five months. I love doing this, so I am sorry if I am boring you. Actually, I really do not care if I am boring you. You are the one checking out my blog when you probably should be doing something better with your precious time!! :-) I am one to talk because I probably read yours earlier today. Anyway......

Yes, Wyatt was unfortunate looking as a baby. I told you so, Erin, who always says he was not.

Hanging Out With Daddy

The Many Faces of Wyatt

Best Buds

Couples Night Out

Beach Babe

Cracking Each Other Up

Body Surfing

Happy Birthday Kayla

My baby is 7! Where does the time go? I love you baby girl.

Today we are off to the beach for the week for vacation (or diversion as mom likes to call it since mothers do not actually get a real vacation).

Kayla's 7th Birthday Party

School Ideas For Little Ones

I would love some ideas for Wyatt to do for "school" this year. I am not looking for structured curriculum, but something fun that he can do basically by himself. ( It really is crazy to me that they have actual structured curriculum for kids his age. That is another topic for another day.)

He does well just playing on a blanket while I do school with Kayla, but I would slowly like to incorporate some sit down at the table time for him. I thought about just going somewhere to get little books with easy activities, but most of those are preschool and he will only be 3 1/2.

I don't know....any ideas???

(Jenn, you are not allowed to give random, strange ideas that make no sense and that I will never use)

Life

I haven't done much real posting recently. It is mostly because my life is crazy and I do not have time to sit down and actually use brain power. When I do post I like it to make sense and sound nice, but I realized today that it does not have to. Part of my goal for this blog is to journal my life with my kids to one day maybe look back on and laugh. Even if that is laughing at how I never make any sense. How fun for my kids to read what their mom was thinking and doing "back in the day".

So here it is. My life is crazy. Sometimes I sit down during naps and wonder how I am going to make it the rest of the day. What should I accomplish while they sleep. Schooling Kayla? Maybe clean a bathroom? Oh, no wait, laundry? Nope, I should read the Bible. Or perhaps read a story to Kayla. What am I thinking, I need to start dinner!

I get seriously overwhelmed at all there is to do and it seems, no matter how hard I try, that I never am able to get it all done. I understand this is ok. How many times have we heard that a lot of this is unimportant and will be forgotten in time. The important stuff is God, husband, and kids. Now, does anyone else still worry about the other stuff ALL the time like me, even when we know what is truly important.

Don't get me wrong, I understand and believe that running a good, clean household is also important, but not when it becomes such an idol that I am getting angry with my kids. What is interesting is during this week, while Anniston was running a temp and teething, I found myself playing with her more. I sat on the couch and read her books, played memory with the three of them, and we played outside a lot together. I guess it was because I felt bad she was sick, but the funny thing is, I found myself less prone to getting angry and a lot more patient.

Don't get me wrong, Annie still drove me crazy when she fell on the floor screaming because I had not idea what she was asking for and that makes her mad, but I was more patient with her. Instead of getting upset when she made a mess while I was cleaning, I had her help me clean. She loved it. I know that kids love to clean and that I should get them involved, but seriously, it makes it take forever and is a little annoying. But not this week. I had fun with them cleaning. I had fun reading them books and coloring with them.

I realize I will never get it all done. I would like to, but I will not. Finding the balance might be something I work on until I am dead, and I am not ok with that. In my mind I will find a way to clean the whole house, homeschool, play with the kids, make wonderful dinners, have lots of time with my husband and have time to spare. I am going to make a plan and incorporate it next week. Then I will fail and be mad and try a new schedule the next week.

My prayer for this summer is I will trust God to help me be content with whatever it is I do or do not get done. I pray that the most important things I will accomplish such as a quiet time, special time with the kids, and not be too tired or frustrated at the end of the day that my husband suffers the consequences. Intermixed with all of that my family will be fed and clothed and live in sanitary conditions, but most important, I pray my kids will know that their mommy loves to be with them. I want to make them laugh just like they make me laugh.

So how do I get it all done? I don't. Am I ok with that? Not really, but I want to be. It would probably make me a better wife and mother. I wonder if anyone feels like they can do it all? Apparently it would help me if one of my children was not feeling well once a week. That seems to help.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what they call rambling.......

Danae 3 1/2 Months

There Is A God In Heaven

I have been working with Anniston for months now on sitting still for short periods of time. At times I have felt like it was a never ending battle. Well, today she stayed on her blanket and played for 45 minutes! Oh my gosh, not only do I now believe there is no doubt that there is a God in heaven, I might have actually died and gone to heaven!

Anxiety

I wanted to share something I read from a friends blog post. It was amazing the timing of when I read it and all that was happening with Danae. It basically has become an almost daily reading for me!

I have been stressing about finances, whether Danae's eye will need to be worked on again, and also just the stuff of daily life. What a wonderful reminder this is. Thanks Megan!

I hope it blesses some of you as well.


“Some of you are perplexed with a multitude of anxieties about your life.
You do not know what to do.
One plan was suggested, and for a time it seemed the best action.
But now you have doubts. You are bewildered and you cannot see Providence’s clue.
You are lost in a maze...

You have tried various ways and methods to escape your present difficulty.
But you have been disappointed and are distracted.
Your thoughts have no order; they drag you in opposite directions.
The currents meet and twist as if you were in a whirlpool.

My perplexed friend, remember the children of Israel at the Red Sea.
The sea was before them, rocks were on either side,
and the cruel Egyptians roared in the rear. Imitate Israel’s actions.
‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,
which He will accomplish for you today’ (Ex. 14.13)
You reply, ‘I cannot be quiet. I am agitated, perturbed, perplexed, tossed, and distracted.
What shall I do?’

‘In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul’ (Ps. 94.19)
Turn your eyes to the deep things of God.
Cease from an anxious consideration of seen things, which are temporary,
and gaze by faith on things that are eternal.

Remember your way is ordered by a higher power than your will and choice.
The eternal God has fixed your every step.
All things are fixed by the Father’s hand.
He who loved us from before the foundations of the world
has immutably determined every step of our pilgrimage.

It is a blessed thing,
after you have been muddling and meddling with your anxieties,
to throw your burdens on the Lord and leave them there.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon | Beside Still Waters

According to Wyatt

This was a conversation sparked by PJ telling him that before he was married he did not have children.

"Mommy, I am going to take the rings down to Lauren (he is the ring bearer with JJ), give them to her, and then she will have lots of babies."


Another conversation about sin.

"How did Jesus not sin?" Because He was God's son. "But what about when he was mad?" He had self-control, Buddy. "What about when he screamed?" I guess he never screamed with a bad attitude. "What if someone took his toys?" Well honey, he must have just shared his toys with a good attitude. "Probably He did not have any motorcycles." "And probably He did not have any Annie's" What do you mean He had no Annie's? "If he had a Annie, he would have screamed at her."


Talking about Adam and Eve.

"Mommy, Adam was scared of God so he hid." Yes Buddy, Adam and Eve were sad and scared that they ate the fruit and disobeyed God, so they thought maybe they could hide from God. "If I hide from God, I am going to go under your bed." Why would you hide from God, honey? "Because I might eat lots of cookies later."

Another Eye Update

I took Danae to the Dr. again yesterday morning. Everything looks good and she is off all of the medication. Praise God.

The only thing now is that part of the abcess is still there. He is hoping it goes away all on its own, but if it does not, it may need to be removed. If not it would be there forever I guess. You can see the remains of it in the picture above.

The abcess is still hard, but there is nothing "wrong" with it except not wanting her to live with it there the rest of her life. I am praying God heals it and nothing invasive will have to happen. He will be watching this as well as keeping an eye on her sight over the next couple years. He does not think her sight would have been affected, but wants to make sure.

If you look closely you can see her left eye is shaped different than her right. In the grand scheme of life this is not a big deal, but I am hoping this also gets better as her eye continues to heal and she gets older.

Danae continues to be the PERFECT baby and I am so grateful she is in our life. I am grateful for God's protection of her over the past month and trust he will continue to heal her.

Want To Keep The Kids Out Of The Way?

Give them a hose.

Surgery

Danae had surgery this morning to open up her left tear duct and remove a cyst in her left nostril that had apparently been there since birth. (She has had trouble breathing through that side since she first came out. It was finally found that was the problem.) The surgery went well and it seems as though this will fix the problems.

Thankfully she had no adverse reactions to putting her to sleep. Her opthamologist says we still have a long road ahead to make sure this fixes everything, so many Dr. visits are still going to be a part of my life. Please pray that God continues to heal these two areas, that the process would be over sooner rather than later, and that there would not large amounts of scar tissue in her nose where they cut out the cyst. Please also pray that a cold she picked up a few days ago would clear quickly, and now that the cyst is gone, the cold would leave so she could see what it was like to breathe free and clear!

I am praising God for protecting my baby and trust He will continue to heal her little nose and eye. Thank you for all of your prayers for her!

We Are Home!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Danae and I. I am sure most of my readers know what happened, so if you do not, you can email me and I will explain the whole thing.

Here is an update for those who do not know. The infection in the eye is gone. By God's grace is never made it to her optic nerve (they were worried at first) and as far as they know did not affect her sight. Although the actual infection is gone, her eye is still swollen and there is a place in her nose that is also swollen. Because of that, we are being sent to a surgeon specialist to find out if this will need to be surgically drained.

The Dr.'s do not think that the cysts are anything but fluid, so long term damage will be none. This I am thankful for. Please be praying that the Dr.'s are correct, it is just fluid in these parts, and that whatever needs to be done to fix it will be safe and effective.

Our hospital stay was as good as a hospital stay could be. There was lack of sleep, annoying things to be done constantly like vital signs, and lots of sticking my poor baby to get iv fluids in her. They must have stuck her 10 times at least during the stay. It was aweful. She had 3 collapsed veins during the stay, so they had to keep redoing the iv. It was difficult for me to see her in pain and being fooled with so much, but God and the best mother and grandmother in the world helped me through it. My mom helped me to realize that this was a great opportunity to get some reading, praying and thinking done. I was able to listen to worship music, read a great biography, and pray lots while I was there. It was a great way to pass the time!

Thank you to everyone who stepped up and helped me and my family. Thank you Tammy for being the best friend ever and organizing everything. Thanks Rachel and Tara for cleaning my house! And thanks to all who helped with my kids (Rachel, Rebekah, Amy, Erin, JJ, Janelle, Dad, Elyse. Did I miss someone?) I was telling mom that it amazes me how people rally around each other in time of need. It was awesome to see the local church in action!

Please continue to pray for us as the ordeal is not over. Things to be praying for are:

The infection stays away

Finances

Wisdom for all her Dr.'s

Rest for Danae and I

And most important protection for my baby girl in whatever needs to happen.

Last, thank you to my mom for being the most amazing person that I know. Thank you for sitting in the room with me for all those days. For holding Danae and comforting her when it was too hard for me to watch. For the many lunches and dinners you got me so I did not have to eat the food there. And mostly for being there for me. Just knowing you were there, or coming soon, helped me to get through this ordeal and I am sure it helped the baby girl too! If it were not for the fact I was her food source, I truly believe you would be her favorite person. :-) I love you!