Counting My Blessings

First, I want to thank everyone for their sweet comments and prayers for Andrew. I think the general consensus is that he has/had both an upper respiratory infection and a nasty stomach bug. Thankfully, the stomach stuff cleared up, and it looks like we'll be heading to the ENT Monday to get those ears checked out.

The truth is, I can handle the ear stuff. I don't love it, but I've dealt with it so long that it doesn't freak me out. But puke . . . puke freaks me out. Especially when it covers my entire bathroom floor. Disgusting? Yes. Must I share that with you? Yes. I feel the need to bring others into my world.

In the middle of all of the puke and coughing and clogged ears yesterday, I was reminded that while no one ever wants their child to be ill, this too shall pass. I was in the garage getting food out of our freezer when two ambulances flew by. We live in a small subdivision. There are kids everywhere. There are lots of families. When two ambulances enter our neighborhood, it's always cause for concern. Shortly thereafter, I heard a helicopter and went out to find Starflight landing in one of the cul-de-sacs.

I don't know all the details, but apparently a two year old had either fallen and was having seizures as a result of the fall or had taken a bad fall as a result of having seizures. Immediately, my problems seemed very trivial. While I hate to see my son sick, he was laying (albeit very still) on our couch watching cartoons. While, I don't much enjoy cleaning up puke, I realized that I was thankful that all I had to deal with was puke. As a two year lifted off in a helicopter to the nearest children's hospital, I was reminded that we need to cherish each moment and count our blessings.

A quick pre-bed breathing treatment. You should know that he eats this up. He likes having his picture taken with the mask on his face, and I think he looks ridiculously cute. The breathing treatments help to prevent the onset of allergy induced breathing issues . . . and they also rev him up . . . maybe I should stop doing them at bedtime!?!

Sick Days

I'm home this morning with a sick little boy. You name it he's got it. Fever . . . check. Vomiting . . . check. Cough . . . check. Congestion . . . check. Because he's so nauseated, I've gone against my usual judgment and not rushed him to the doctor. His doctor's office is a good 25 min drive, and there is nothing worse than riding in a car nauseated.

In case you're wondering, I've already entertained the possibility that it could be the flu (even though the stomach part is a little unusual for the flu). But, while the doc could confirm that one way or the other, his pediatrician is not a fan of giving healthy children antivirals. So a trip to the doctor would most likely result in me cleaning up puke for the 20th time and not much else. Plus his doctor is open on Saturday mornings so if need be, we can go in the morning.

The other thing is, I've talked to his ENT's office, and it looks like he may have to go in Monday, to make sure his ears are okay (that's still up in the air). He's also having some symptoms of a clogged tube. Or maybe the tube has come out and I didn't notice it. Those things are tiny and sneaky.

So that's what we're doing. Sitting around the house in our jammies, watching cartoons, and praying that this nasty bug gets better ASAP. There have been lots of back rubs and wet washcloths on the forehead. Which both have magical powers to make even the sickest kiddo feel better. My house is a wreck . . . that always seems to happen when someone is sick, but we'll get it back in order when everyone is back to normal. And I've pulled out the big guns . . . bleach and Lysol. I don't use them often, but when puke comes a knockin' they answer the door. Sorry if that's way too much information. I know all you moms out there completely understand.

Here's to feeling better and fevers breaking.

True Righteousness

Psalm 34

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God

A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

⁴ I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel^[a] of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

¹¹ Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
¹⁶ The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
²⁰ He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
²¹ Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
²² The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

This Psalm talks of God's deliverance and His goodness. It speaks of how He rescues the righteous. Which begs the obvious question: who is truly righteous? Who of us really deserves deliverance? The honest answer is none of us. None of us are righteous. None of us deserve deliverance. Which is why Jesus came. It's through His blood that we are made righteous. It's through His death and Resurrection, that our sins are washed away. Maybe you feel as far from righteous as anyone could ever be. Maybe you feel completely undeserving of God's deliverance. Just know this, if you've accepted Jesus as your saviour . . . if you believe that He died and rose again . . . then you are righteous not because of who you are, but in spite of who you are. And that is a truth that is common to all those who follow Christ.

An Unode

What's the opposite of an ode? Because that's what this post is . . . I'll call it An Unode to Standardized Testing.

This morning, all over the state of Texas, students took the first part of the new STAAR test. Anxiety was high . . . nerves were shot . . . massive amounts of coffee were consumed . . . and I'm just talking about the teachers here. I'm pretty sure that the only thing as bad as taking "the test" is administering it.

Methinks standardized tests were invented as a torture device for teachers.

The list of things you can't do is a mile and a half long:

• You can't help . . . "I can't answer that question. Just do your best."
• You can't answer questions (see above)
• You can't read or even glance at their work
• You can't grade papers
• You can't do lesson plans
• You can't turn on your phone, or computers, or any other electronic devices
• You can't read the test either out loud or in your head . . . it's top secret . . . like CIA top secret
• You can't sit down
• You can't smile
• You can't frown
• You can't juggle knives or babies
• You can't sing Broadway show tunes or read trashy novels or The National Enquirer
• You can't eat swords
• You can't breathe fire  . . . just checking to see who's still reading

The list of things you must do isn't quite as long:

• You must time the test
• You must walk around at a pace fast enough to avoid reading the test but slow enough to see if the child is doing the correct part of the test . . . virtually impossible
• You must keep all test items secure at all times
• You must keep your face and tone expressionless at all times throughout the testing
• You must sign away your life and swear under penalty of law that you will and will not do the appropriate things at the appropriate times
• You must stay awake (can someone come help me get these toothpicks out of my eyes?)

No big deal really. I mean aren't standardized tests what life is all about? Don't they lead to great successes in life?

Day one down . . .

Crazy, Busy Weekend

I mean crazy, busy . . .

Saturday was opening day for baseball. We started the morning with a parade . . . of which I have no pictures . . . epic fail. But I was in the back of a truck with six four, five, and six year olds, hoping and praying no one fell or jumped out . . . I was distracted . . . that's my excuse.

Seriously, have you ever seen anything cuter? I mean, I may be biased . . . just a little.

After the parade, we headed to Mr. Taco to carb load for the game . . . everyone needs pancakes and chocolate milk before the big game.

Those eyes kill me . . . absolutely, kill me . . .

The game was a blast. The kids did so good. They don't keep score in T-ball, but they had fun. Everyone hit the ball, everyone ran the right way, and the crying was kept to a minimum. Couldn't ask for more.

Did I mention that I left my camera in my car? Since, I had to hike 26.2 miles from where I parked to the fields, I wasn't going back . . . epic fail number two. My sister took pictures, so I'll post them when I get them.

Saturday night, I conned Patrick into going with a friend and me to see The Hunger Games. I read and loved the books. The movie was really good, but I've never seen a movie that lived up to the book . . . never. But, if you're a fan of the books, then you definitely need to see the movie.

Yesterday, was church and a birthday party followed by grocery shopping and getting ready for another week. Like I said, it was a crazy busy weekend, but it was a good weekend . . . it was a fun weekend . . . and there's more where that came from.

A Bit of an Adoption Rant

Warning: I'm ranting . . . if you don't want to read it then feel free to skip it completely.

People ask me all the time how the adoption is going. I don't mind answering. We're waiting. I don't mind telling you that we will be waiting at least another year but most likely another year and a half. But then when I say that people say, "No way . . . I'm sure it will be faster . . . Maybe you'll move ahead of someone . . . Just pray for favor . . . Why would you adopt from somewhere that takes so long?"

Let me tell you that those responses rank right up there at the top of my list of pet peeves. They annoy the heck out of me. Seriously. Here's how I want to respond, "Yes way (sarcastically and obnoxiously might I add) . . . Nope it sure won't be faster (again with saracasm) . . . I don't want to move ahead of someone. They've been waiting longer than we have . . . Favor doesn't give us the right to push others out of the way . . . And . . . Frankly, it's none of your business why we would pick a country that takes so long."

But, I don't say those things. At least not out loud.

I know people don't mean anything by the comments. I know they're trying to sympathize and understand and make sense of this whole thing. The truth is, some days this whole adoption seems very surreal and very far off in the distance. Sometimes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Sometimes I wonder if I have the patience to wait as long as we have to. Sometimes, I'm terrified that I'm not going to be a good enough mother to this little girl. And sometimes, I'm okay with everything and know that God will take care of it all . . . because He will . . . He always does.

Like I said, I don't mind the questions. So, ask away. I like that people are interested. But when I'm honest please don't try to play down that honesty. Please don't try to change what is reality. That's all I'm asking.

Rant over . . .

On Eating Healthy and All that Jazz

I wrote this during my conference. I didn't have time to proofread. Sorry for any mistakes.

I've always been a healthy eater. I was raised eating almost any and all vegetables and fruits, meats, and seafood. The problem is I'm not in the least bit a picky eater. Meaning most days I get my complete serving of vegetables/fruits, but I also more than my complete serving of ice cream, salty snacks, butter, you name it. I'm what you call an indiscriminate eater. I'll eat anything.

So, I started working out around a month ago, and then about three weeks ago, I decided I needed to change the way I we eat. To be completely honest, we haven't given up all ice cream, eating out, and yummy food, but my goal is for us to eat healthy at most meals on most days. I've been drinking lots of water (I've never been a big soda drinker, but I didn't drink enough water either). When I use oil, I only use olive oil and then a minimal amount. We've been eating a lot of grilled vegetables, fresh fruit, beans, and grilled fish and chicken. I've also made an effort to switch all of our grains to whole grains. On most nights, instead of dessert I have fruit. Instead of flavor blasted Goldfish, I have a small piece of cheese and an apple.

So, on Monday night instead of using white flour to make our pizza crust, I used whole wheat flour, and while Patrick had pepperoni on his part (he's holding out on this whole healthy eating thing), the rest was veggie all the way (Andrew's was only black olives and cheese . . . he has a passion for black olives). And you know? It was good. Really good. So yes, I'm tooting my own horn . . . just a little bit.

The point is, between eating better and exercising, I feel so much better physically. It's not about losing weight or being skinnier. It's about having a healthier family overall . . . Don't worry though, I'm not giving up Mexican food, and I'm not swearing off desserts . . . I just save that stuff for the weekends ;).

Back to the Daily Grind

Spring Break is pretty much over. Can you hear me crying all the way from your corner of the world?

These last nine days were so nice. It started off cold and rainy, but by Monday it was warm (not hot) and sunny. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the spring weather.

It's a close race between spring and fall for my favorite time of year. Each has its merits, but spring has something that fall can't compete with . . . bluebonnets. They are just starting to pop up, and with our nice rainy winter, we're gonna have a gorgeous wildfire season.

They may be a weed to some, but to us Texans there just isn't much that's more beautiful than a field full of bluebonnets. And yes we will traipse right into that (possibly) snake infected patch and plop our babies down to get the perfect bluebonnet pictures. Rattlesnakes schmattlesnakes. We've gotta have our bluebonnet pictures. Live here a while . . . you'll be doing it too.

So, tomorrow morning it's back to the real world. Back to early mornings and busy days. Back to math and literature and dumb old standardized tests. But it's only 10 weeks until summer. Of course, by then it'll probably be 110 degrees which isn't quite so nice. I'm praying for a rainy spring and a summer that's a tad bit cooler than last. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

Enjoy your Monday everyone.



T-Ball Practice . . . Team of the Century

Ah, t-ball . . . It's an experience. That much is for certain. Most of the kids are really trying and doing pretty well . . . and then there's the four year olds. Their attention span is approximately 2.5 milliseconds which leads to lots of, "pay attention" and "run, run, run . . . why are you running that way?". Definitely never a dull moment.

There is no "I" in team. Too bad no one told Mr. I Need An Attitude Adjustment.

Yep, we practice throwing with our helmet on. Not because we need the helmet, but mostly because we refused to remove it.

I'm about to have a colossal melt down because the sun is in my eyes.

This will fix the problem. Where am I?

It's dark in here . . . I can't see a thing.

There is, however, smiling in baseball.

All I have to do is make contact with the ball . . . not someone else's head. It's harder than it looks.

I need my binoculars to see from way out here on second base . . . run? Who said anything about running? I'm busy.

And that folks is just a little bit of the t-ball experience . . . like I said never a dull moment.

The Great Wolf Lodge

So last weekend we took a trip to The Great Wolf Lodge a.k.a. a parent's worst nightmare. When we got there (at 10:30 at night . . . see last post for that ridiculous drama) the place was crawling with kids in pajamas running around with wands. It's like Vegas for kids. And like I said, it's a parent's worst nightmare. Generally speaking, even with Andrew we try to avoid these types of hotels, but The Great Wolf has an indoor water park so we thought we'd give it a shot.

The water park was good. The water was cold, but the air temp was warm so no real complaints there. And it actually ended up being a perfect weekend to visit since most of Texas was dealing with cold rainy weather. Andrew had a great time. I'm not sure that we'll ever go back, but it was fun and nice to get away for a couple nights.

Wow who's that hot mama? Oh that's me sans make-up. ;)

Story time

The trees talked. Andrew is still convinced they are real.

And that's all the pictures I took. All in a two hour period. I'm one of those moms that's right on top of things.

Now for your coming attractions:

T-ball pictures coming soon to a blog near you. (Hope you can sleep tonight . . . I know the anticipation is killing you.)

Busy, Busy

So it's been a while since I lasted posted. We're busy. It's spring. Life happens.

On Friday, Spring Break started. Yay! We left Friday after school and headed to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine (near Fort Worth). Anyone, who's ever been unlucky enough to travel on I-35 between Austin and the DFW area knows how awful it can be. Ummm, it wasn't awful . . . it was a parking lot. Which may or may not have caused some frustration. Then we got into Fort Worth, over an hour later than we should've, and the road we needed to go down was closed. It wasn't just closed. It was closed like Twilight Zone closed. We got off because we had to, but there was no stinkin' way to turn around, and it was dark, and traffic was bumper to bumper, and did I mention I was navigating using my phone which only had eight percent battery left on it because I may or may not have spent most of the drive playing on the internet because I hadn't forseen this little problem (big run-on). It took us over an hour to drive five miles. I suggested we pull over and ask someone how to go around the construction mess of the century. Patrick's response was, "That just seems like the thing to do doesn't it?" "Yes, yes it does." Clearly I think like a human being and not like a man. Anyway, we got there without anyone getting killed. Although, had we been in the car five more minutes . . .

I'll post details and pictures on the trip soon.

Yesterday, I went and bought these babies.

I needed the Red Converse because Andrew's t-ball team is the Red Sox, and I needed cute shoes to match my shirt . . . and that was just an excuse to buy Red Converse.

I also got new running shoes. I've actually kept up the running. I was running quite a bit last summer, and I don't know why I ever stopped. I like running. I don't always want to do it, but I like the way it makes me feel. Yesterday, I managed to run two miles and walk half a mile (not bad for three weeks back at it). The reason for my new shoes is my knees. I have horrible ankles which overpronate (they roll in) which causes knee problems if my shoes are either worn out or don't have enough support (I know you really care). This morning I could only run a mile. I walked the rest of the way. My knees were begging me to stop. I felt like I was 150. Any suggestions or exercises to help this problem would be welcome.

The other reason I'm sore probably has something to do with the 50 lb bags of garden soil I lugged around yesterday. Andrew and I planted the world's smallest garden, and it only took us three hours. I'll show pictures of that later too.

Well, I better run (or walk). My cousin is in town (another yay!), and we're having dinner at my parents' tonight. I'm making an extremely unhealthy delicious dessert so I better get on it.

Growing Up and Going Forward

Being a mom is hard. I mean it's rewarding there's no doubt about it, but y'all it's still hard. One of the hardest parts about it is watching your baby grow up. No one warned me about this phenomenon . . . this whole growing up thing. Oh wait, people actually did warn me. That's what they meant when they said things like, "Time flies" and "They grow up too fast." Who knew?

The truth is I've been pretty okay with Andrew getting older. I wasn't a huge fan of the newborn stage. They eat, they sleep, they poop, and you don't eat, you don't sleep, and I'll stop there. But the other day, I picked my baby up, and he was huge. Huge being a relative term. I'm a really small person, and by small I mean most twelve ten year olds are bigger than I am. So when I say Andrew is huge, it shouldn't be taken too literally. Anyway, I couldn't help but think about when I brought him home from the hospital, and his entire little body would fit on my chest. He was only 17 inches long, and he weighed less than a bag of flour. I couldn't help but think about how he would lay on my chest and sleep while I would read books or watch t.v.

When Andrew was so little, I couldn't imagine that one day he would walk, and talk, and play sports, and make friends, and be too big to sleep on my chest. It's a huge privilege to watch our kids grow and change. It is also one of the most terrifying and humbling yet awesome experiences on this Earth.

Through all of this, God is showing me that growth is part of life. Our children are supposed to grow up, and one day become independent. But growth shouldn't stop with independence from our Earthly parents. As long as we are living and breathing on this Earth, we should continue to grow. We should continue to seek to allow God to change and mature us in a new way with each day that passes. As long as we are growing, we are living. We were not created to live stagnant lives that never change. God created us to dream and live our lives growing and changing and becoming more today than we were yesterday and more tomorrow than we are today.

Quick Catch Up

Yowzers . . . it's like someone flipped the busy switch around these parts. I've been going from sun-up to sun down  . . . literally.

Andrew started t-ball practice yesterday. It was entertaining. He's by far the smallest one on his team. He looks tiny compared to all the other kids. Including the other four years olds. Somehow we my husband ended up being the head coach of Andrew's team. Ummm . . . yeah, we know absolutely nothing about baseball . . . or football or soccer or any other organized sport for that matter. So we were obviously the first and best choice to help shape and mold these fine young athletes. At least it's just t-ball. Maybe they won't be too damaged  . . .

Had I been "on my game" (no pun intended), I would've taken pictures of Andrew's first t-ball practice, but I wasn't. I promise actual photographs in the near future. I'll just use the lame excuse that I was too busy to grab my camera.

Thankfully, Spring Break starts on Friday. I'm so glad that March has begun, and spring will soon be in full swing. I love the warmer weather and longer days.

Surfacing for Air

Hey y'all. It's been a few days. I think this is one of the longest stretches I've gone without blogging. It's just been one of those insane weeks when you don't have a moment to stop and breathe, and I feel like this is the first moment I've had to sit down and write.

Thankfully, with the reintroduction of Zyrtec, we got Andrew's hives to go away and stay away (hopefully). He and Patrick both ended last week and started this week with colds. Now they're both on the mend, and I feel like my face may explode at any moment. Plus, I can't breathe through my nose which has to be some form of medieval torture. Glorious sinus pressure. I took two . . . yep two . . . that's a hefty dose for me . . . Benadryl last night to knock myself out. I slept okay, but was up at 2:30 looking for some ibuprofen to fix my pounding head.

I know the current state of my family's health is fascinating y'all, but I have switch gears here.

Our adoption agency received two referrals this past week for two little boys. Once again, we're super excited for those families, and we're "movin' on up" the line. Everytime our agency receives another referral the theme song from "The Jeffersons" plays in my head. I never claimed to be normal. Anyway, it's still a long wait, but everyday is a day closer. Sometimes, as we go about our everyday life day after day, week after week, it seems a little surreal that we are actually waiting for a precious little girl.  But we know that God has it all in control, and that's all that matters.

So that's it. Cold or no cold, the laundry beckons, and the sheets and towels must be changed. Have an awesome and safe weekend y'all.