Resolution for 2015: Living with Open Hands
As we start this new year, I find myself looking back at the last four years since we got Littlest's diagnosis. I am amazed at how much our family has grown and changed since then. All of us have been taking more joy in the little things, not worrying so much about...
Highs and Lows
September has traditionally been one of my favorite months. I met J in September. We got engaged a few Septembers later. Our Oldest was born in September. We found out we were expecting Littlest in September. My favorite season of year (Autumn) starts in September,...
10 Years
Ten years ago {yesterday} J asked me to marry him. Actually, he asked me to marry him in April way back in 2004, but Sept. 17 was the 10th anniversary of him giving me the smallest, most amazing gift anyone has ever given me—a diamond ring that said I was his {and he...
Joy in the Mourning
J's grandmother Beatrice quietly went home to be with Jesus on April third. She fought a long battle with cancer, and we are grateful she went home peacefully without too much pain. She was happily close to her three daughters, adored her twenty-one grandchildren...
Run the Race for Love
I will run, I will run this race, And I will do it all for love. Your love compels me forward, Your love controls my heart, And I just can't, I cannot get away. So I will fight this good fight of faith, And I will do it all for love. You are my great reward, You're so...
Gifts and Blessings
So, the last four Aprils/Mays have been unusually difficult. In 2010, I was suffering from debilitating pain, and ended up having vascular surgery that May to address the problems. Then in 2011, we were counting down the days until Littlest's birth, and I was...
Introducing Emma
In August, Joel's second youngest sister Em moved in with us. She came out to mostly "help" (that amazing nebulously defined term that can mean anything) us (me especially) catch up on the sleep deprivation, overcome the stress load, and to start to...
A Day at the Zoo. . .
We went to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo yesterday with some friends, it was the first time for Littlest, and I hadn't gone in three or so years. We loved seeing the newly remodeled exhibits, and listening to what their plans are for expansion and renovation in the next few...
On Disney's Frozen and Throwing off Modesty Shaming
So, Disney's Frozen won Best Animated Film and Best Original Song (for Let It Go) last night at the Oscars. Let It Go also won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. I love the movie, and feel like it's such a positive thing for so many reasons, but then I read...
La Vie est Belle
I have been busy. Busy with caring for Littlest. Busy with schooling Oldest and Quietest on the work they got behind in during the Crazy Fall of Hospital Living. Busy with trying to plug into "real-life" people and situations that challenge and convict me. I'm part of...
Just Two Years
Littlest is turning two tomorrow. That is just.... a miracle. Something that makes my breath catch and my eyes sting with tears. This event is something that many would not have expected us to celebrate; I think many would have expected us to be mourning. By all...
A Love Story
I am a romantic. I always have been. Being a mother, I look down the imaginary road to my children's futures, and I see my kids developing friendships, going through relationships, finding "the one" and falling in love, marrying and having kiddos. And I want that for...
How to Get Me Riled (Inwardly, at least.)
This post will have other posts that follow it, as I come across things that should never be said to a parent (of any child, able or disabled). Sometimes I wish I could just give people "the hand" to make them stop talking. When you become a parent, you tend to get...
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Hyper-what?
I have been writing this post in my head for a while now. I still don't know how to best put it, so I'll paste the e-mail I sent to family, with explanations added as needed. Wednesday, July 11, two days after my "alls well!" post (yes, I'll probably never post an...
He's a Toddler at Heart.
I think it's pretty safe to say, Littlest has passed the baby stage. He is an 18lb., paraplegic toddler. He is a joy, a goof, mischievous (but can't get *into* mischief!) and an all around star here at our house. I'm working on an update on his health, and...
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He's One!
Wow. This is such an awesome post to write. I'm so grateful I *can* write it, since at so many points over the last eight months we weren't sure if he would make it to today. Littlest turned one at 0537 this morning. One.Year.Old! Praise God! He's still struggling in...