Talk About Bittersweet

Bitter:  Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning Tim's Grandpa had a massive stroke and passed away.  I was able to tell Tim over the phone Tuesday morning then I sent a Red Cross message requesting his presense for the Memorial Service.

Sweet:  Tim is coming home!!!  Aaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!  We weren't sure if they would even let him come, but we found out a few hours ago that they approved a few days of leave for him! 

AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited, and not ready, and sad, and excited, and anxious, and concerned for the boys, etc, and excited, etc, etc.  We know it is going to be hard to see each other for just a few days and then part ways again.  We are thankful for the break, but sad that we will be having to mourn the loss of his Grandpa.  We are also thankful that it is near the end of this deployment, so after he goes back we should only have about six or seven weeks left. 

Now we are just praying that all travel arrangements come together smoothly and our time together will be blessed.  We can't schedule our flights till we know when Tim will be in.  We won't really know when Tim will be in until he's in.  :)  Then there's always that chance that he could get stuck in Kuwait.  (While we're kind of praying that he might get stuck for about 24 hours...too much more could be bad.)

Moving On Up

About four weeks ago, Ryan walked in the house on a Friday afternoon and told me he wanted to ride his bike without his training wheels.  I was hoping that moment would wait until Tim came home, and it nearly broke my heart..but we started working on it.  This vid is from about a month ago.  He's getting better and better.

Then tonight, I took the boys out in the front to ride their bikes.  I came back in the house to grab the keys (just in case one of the boys decided to lock the door behind us) and by the time I got back out Colin was almost at the next driveway pedaling the little trike.  When he tried it two weeks ago he couldn't.

Just because it's quiet.....

it doesn't mean they are sleeping.

Every mom knows that quiet normally means trouble.  One of the few times you can relax in the quiet is during nap time, or bed time.  On Sunday I put Colin down for a nap.  I had some issues getting him to bed because he fell asleep on the way home, then didn't want to go back to sleep.  I never went back to check on him.  I was afraid if he was still in "limbo", and I went in, it would just make it worse and we would be back at square one.  So I left him to himself.  About an hour later I heard him asking to get up to play.  I went in to get him and change his diaper and noticed how shiny he looked.  A few more seconds and I realized he was playing in the Vaseline.  Face.  Arms.  Legs.  Curtains.  Sheets.  Thankfully it was just a little travel size jar that was already half empty.  It still made a mess and left me wondering if he ever took a nap.  And thankfully this time, it was just the Vaseline.  He has made other messes with desitin, lotion, and baby powder.  Sometimes a mixture.  He definitely keeps me on my toes.

Photo Shoot: Sidney & Jenny

Meet Sidney, Jenny, Andi, and Milly....

They are very dear friends to us.  They were one of the first couples we met at our church after we moved.  They have been SO generous in the ways that they have helped us while Tim has been gone.  They are some of our favorites!

Around Christmas Jenny had posted a picture on Facebook of her two girls in matching dresses that she took in their dining room.  It had been a while since I did pictures for anyone, I knew Jenny had

some empty holes in some picture frames she recently bought for their house, and I wanted a shot at taking some pictures of girls in pretty dresses!  So I called Jenny up to see if she was interested and we got together later that week.

Love these guys!!

What a pain.

These last few months have had a lot of ups & downs.  A few weeks back I felt like I was finally getting back on my feet from my (what seemed like for.e.ver.) sinus infection.  I think it stemmed from my allergies, but nothing I was doing seemed to be kicking it.  It killed my energy level and my milk supply.  I eventually gave in and went to the doctor to get on some antibiotics.  I was getting my energy level back, my milk supply, and some sort of motivation.

I had a few plans to continue my "upper-room" project and a shopping trip with my friend Sarah to the Outlets.  Sarah's husband, Matt, was going to keep the older 3 of our 5 boys (total).  An hour drive of some good girl time, then shopping, then meet Matt and the boys for lunch.....OH how I was looking forward to that trip.  It's amazing how quickly things can change.

Wednesday night we went to church.  All was well.  Midnight comes and Colin wakes up crying.  There's been multiple times where he's waken up in the middle of the night crying.  He normally says his leg hurts, so I assume it's a leg cramp or growing pains.  Anywho.  Unfortunately it wasn't a leg cramp this time.  Round 1 was already in his bed.  And of course I made an impromptu decision to catch the second round with his favorite blanket.  That didn't go over too well with him either.  Poor guy.  I think he's gotten sick more than the rest of us put together.  In the past when he has gotten sick it's normally just a 24 hour thing and he's better by the next afternoon.  His last "episode" was a 4 AM and he had never had a fever, so I hoping it was just something he ate.  He jumped up out of bed at the regular time, started dancing, and ate a pretty normal breakfast.  I called Sarah and let her know we might have to cancel our Friday trip, but we both agreed to wait the day out, see how he was acting, and hope for the best.  We continued as normal; did a few chores, I showered, the boys went outside to play, and then I got Blaine up to feed him.  As I was feeding Blaine, Colin comes in kind of crying.  I thought he got hurt while playing.  He came and sat down next to me and next thing I know he's getting sick.  Blaine and I both got "hit", but not full blast (PRAISE GOD!)  Still nasty! 

Trip cancelled.  MAJOR bummer. 

Friday everyone seemed back to normal so we headed to Home Depot to pick up some stripper.  I figured I'd start on one of my projects that weekend.  Well Friday night around 5 PM I started feeling kind of sick.  By eight I was rushing the boys to bed, and by 11 PM I was completely ill.  No matter how old I am, these are the times I still wish my mommy would be there.  :)  The following day was filled with lots of movies, and outdoor play for the boys.  SO thankful we had nice weather that day.  On Sunday, Sarah drove out and picked up Ryan & Colin and took them to church and kept them till later that day.  I was still extremely weak, and it allowed me some extra time for a good nap and rest.  (God has blessed me with some amazing friends!) 

The following week I spent "recovering".  Just about everything was washed/sanitized.  The following week my mom came down for a visit.  It was Ryan's birthday and we planned a trip to San Antonio.  I was so excited to be on the upside of things.  We were planning to head to Oklahoma to visit with Tim's family in about another week and I had a few more things I wanted to accomplish before our trip.  I was feeling motivated and encouraged by finally getting some things crossed off my list.

Then, last Wednesday night we had another set-back.  We went to church as normal.  After our drive home I went to get out of the car and I had so much back pain I could barely walk.  The pain was even more intense when I tried carrying Blaine.  I have both a crib and a playpen set up.  Blaine has still been sleeping in the playpen down in my room at night, but I couldn't bend over to get him in it.  Of course the crib is upstairs, but I didn't have too many options.  Plus I figured if I did kind of drop him the crib mattress would be softer to land on then the playpen mat.  Anyway.  I have no idea what happened.  The joys of motherhood just caught up with me I guess.  :) 

I went to bed praying my pain would be gone by the morning, but I still woke up just about as bad as when I went to bed.  Long story short...I made it to a chiropractor and received some electrode therapy for all the muscle spasms I was having on Thursday.  It definitely provided some relief...temporarily.  My pain was kind of up/down over the weekend.  Sometimes it was a sharp/burning constant pain in my lower back.  Other times I had muscle spasms to the point that I couldn't stand up straight.  Sometimes it was both.  There was one central place in my lower back that I knew was the source of a majority of my pain.  My sister-in-law, Liz, came down on Saturday to help me out for a few days.  She has three little ones of her own, but just brought Baylee with her.  (Baylee is 10 tens older than Blaine.)  Her other two boys got to hang out with Grandma & Papa for a few days.  I might have been able to manage, but I was SO thankful for the extra hand.  Plus it was great being able to hang out with her!

Monday morning I went back to the chiropractor and we reviewed my x-rays and I got adjusted.  Praise God!  I know not everyone is a believer when it comes to chiropractors, but I would go once a week if I could!  Within a few hours of being adjusted the majority of my pain was gone.  At least the intense, sharp pain.  Since then, I've been struggling more with a strong pressure/tension throughout most of my back.  Probably muscle spasms. 

Liz and & I carpooled back up to Oklahoma on Tuesday.  On Saturday I wasn't sure we would be going, but I also knew the extra help for a few more days would be great if I could just make it there.  One of the reasons I decided to keep with our trip was because I found a chiropractor who agreed to see me for the time I'll be up here.  It seems to be getting better everyday.  I can't wait to get back to normal!

In the meantime...
I have a few more chiropractor appointments.
I will be doing some specific stretches to help strengthen my lower back.
I will be ditching the front pack and will not be carrying Blaine around in it.
I will be limiting the amount of time I am carrying Blaine around.
I will be trying to remember to bend at my knees when needing to pick up toys/children, etc.
And I will try my best to "take it slow" to allow my back time to heal.

I know some of you have been praying for me and I appreciate it!  Keep 'em coming!

I'm ready to be well.  The last few months I have just really struggled with keeping up and getting beyond the basics.  Every time I feel like I'm about to "go above and beyond" (ha!), something happens.  I'm sure this is common when you have three children, but I also feel like I've been missing my motivation.  We are also on the tail end of this deployment and I do believe that has somewhat of a part in it.  The first six months aren't too bad.  After that, time kind of stops.  My lack of motivation/accomplishment has just seemed to slow things down even more.

Thankful that tomorrow is a new day.  I'm looking forward to my time with family, hopefully crossing a few more things off my list, and going home feeling refreshed.     

I Think We've Got Another Screamer: Part 2

So....there was supposed to be a video of Blaine at the end of that last post.  I had typed up the post a few days prior and set it to post automatically.  I meant to get the video of Blaine uploaded and added before it posted, but...come Wednesday night I had a minor setback.  My back went out.  That's a story for another day.  Here's the vid. 

 

I Think We've Got Another Screamer

When Colin was a baby he did this really wierd screaming thing as his way of talking.  Here's an old video...

Yes, I'm 100% positve he wasn't pooping.  He was right about 6 months when I took this video.  I remember he really liked to do it at dinner time for some reason.  It would drive Tim & I nuts!

Blaine loves to talk as well and he seems to be leaning in the same direction.  He's 5 months now.  At this point it's mainly when you tickle him.  He doesn't really giggle...he screams.  :)