That's what it seems like or that's the excuse I give for not blogging as much. We just have too much going on. Keeping up all the daily household stuff + homeschooling + any extra life activities and then I can barely keep up. I don't know how to make life any simpler because I feel like we live fairly simply.
I got to get away last weekend with my best friend from high school and still best girl friend today! She and I went away to celebrate our 40th birthdays! When I was little and my mom turned 40, I remember what a big deal it was...now, it doesn't seem like such a big birthday. I guess it is all perspective. Anyway, we went away to the coast and just relaxed and shopped all weekend. We stayed in Cambria and there are so many cute stores to peruse around in, it was fun. Aside from the uninterrupted sleep, I told her the best part was having time to finish a conversation and not be interrupted. That was nice. Daddy was a trooper and held down the fort, the kids didn't even miss me...dads do a good job of that.
A few weeks ago Grandma Cheri bought the kids a play set and this week we have been assembling it. It will have swings, a slide, a fort on top and monkey bars to crawl across. The boxes have been in our garage for a bit and the kids have been asking when we would build it and the time has arrived. Uncle Paul has been a trooper and has been over here doing a bulk of the work. I feel like I am just here for moral support and to find pieces. Especially pieces that the kids pick up and move around and shouldn't do that to. Hopefully it will get finished today.
Mia is still having seizures. We have an appointment in April to explore alternative treatment for her (cannabis oil). Please be praying about that, just wisdom and direction on what to do. She also has a tentative surgery scheduled in May, but I'm waiting to hear back from doctors regarding that. It will simplify our bowel management process and so just be praying about that also. We hate doing surgeries, but know that sometimes it is the best choice and now seems to be the right time for this to happen.
Calvin and Asher are doing well. They both had check ups a few days ago and are growing, healthy kids. Thank you Lord! Asher has just started to recognize certain letters/sounds that start words. The other day he said, "pink, that starts with "puh" with is a p." He was super excited. I said, "what does Asher start with?" He said, "aaa with is a." Just trying to write down and soak up the sweet moments because there are quite a few not so sweet moments too. :)
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Birthdays, Birthdays, and more Birthdays
It seems like February is the month of birthdays in our family. We start the month off with our sweet groundhog baby and then move on to daddy's birthday on Valentine's day. Then on the 21st of the month is Calvin's 1/2 birthday. Its been a fun month of birthday celebrations for the family.
Asher had an airplane birthday party. We invited a few friends and had dinner, cake and presents. Rather than trying to plan some themed activities, I decided to just let them run around and play. It worked perfect, they were completely happy to do that.
Daddy wanted a special "cashew" cheesecake for his birthday. I tend to get intimidated by recipes and I've been trying my best to push threw that, so I took the challenge. We have a vitamix and that helped to blend up the cashews until they were creamy. Surprisingly, the cheesecake itself was easy to make. It was the raspberry topping that was challenging because of all the boiling and straining of seeds that took place. But it was delicious and Joy especially approved. :)
Calvin had no clue that his 1/2 birthday was on the 21st. I was trying not to make a big deal about it because it was our Missions day at church and I knew we were going to be consumed with stuff to do. Rather than telling him, I wrote Calvin, 5 1/2 on our chalkboard on the wall. I guess he was eating his breakfast and noticed the sign and ran to ask Daddy what it was all about. I then showed him his 1/2 a birthday cake and he was so excited that today was a special day for him. When we got to church, the activity center was decorated for the missions lunch and there were red balloons on all the tables. Calvin's eyes grew really wide and he looked up at me and said, "Is all of this for me, Mama?!" It was rather sweet.
Anyway, I didn't get enough great pictures of much, but here are a few pictures from Asher's party.
Asher had an airplane birthday party. We invited a few friends and had dinner, cake and presents. Rather than trying to plan some themed activities, I decided to just let them run around and play. It worked perfect, they were completely happy to do that.
Daddy wanted a special "cashew" cheesecake for his birthday. I tend to get intimidated by recipes and I've been trying my best to push threw that, so I took the challenge. We have a vitamix and that helped to blend up the cashews until they were creamy. Surprisingly, the cheesecake itself was easy to make. It was the raspberry topping that was challenging because of all the boiling and straining of seeds that took place. But it was delicious and Joy especially approved. :)
Calvin had no clue that his 1/2 birthday was on the 21st. I was trying not to make a big deal about it because it was our Missions day at church and I knew we were going to be consumed with stuff to do. Rather than telling him, I wrote Calvin, 5 1/2 on our chalkboard on the wall. I guess he was eating his breakfast and noticed the sign and ran to ask Daddy what it was all about. I then showed him his 1/2 a birthday cake and he was so excited that today was a special day for him. When we got to church, the activity center was decorated for the missions lunch and there were red balloons on all the tables. Calvin's eyes grew really wide and he looked up at me and said, "Is all of this for me, Mama?!" It was rather sweet.
Anyway, I didn't get enough great pictures of much, but here are a few pictures from Asher's party.
Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Happy Birthday, Asher!
Dear sweet Asher,
You are 3 today! What an amazing ride these past 3 years have been with you!! You are so passionate about so many things, we pray that God can help us to grow your passion for good!
You are a big boy. You've grown 4 inches this past year. You are like a little bean stock. We keep telling Calvin to watch out, you might pass him up one of these days.
Last year we could barely understand a word you said, but your speech has improved so much this year that we can clearly tell what you want and when you want it. You have two volume levels, quiet and extremely loud. This year we really want to work on your inside voice. :)
You love to learn and want to do everything that big brother and big sister do. One of your favorite toys are Legos and you can't get enough of them. You are also excellent at puzzles and you are slowly learning how to use a scissors!
Mama is your best friend, except when you are in trouble. Calvin is your favorite person to play with. You love music and you love digging in the dirt. If you could listen to music and dig in the dirt, you would be the happiest boy in the world.
We love you sweet boy! We can't wait to see how God grows you this year!
Love,
Mama and Daddy...Mia and Calvin
Sunday, January 31, 2016
January
I can't believe today is the last day of January. It's been a busy month. I think I need a vacation...when is it spring break?
Mia is still having seizures. At times it is super discouraging to me because we had a week without seizures in December. I hate them. I hate what they do to her and I hate how much they control our life. Yet, I keep thinking about the verse in Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." It redirects my thoughts and I can only think of Jesus and God and the amazing things that have been done for Mia. These seizures stink, but God is sovereign. And when I get discouraged, I have to look to God. I can't help but be encouraged when I look at how far He has taken her. Do I want her to have seizures and struggle in life? Absolutely not. Do I trust God and His plan? Absolutely. I may not get it or understand it, but I trust it.
Mia and Calvin are both participating in Fun Sports, a 6 week sports program for different ages. The program runs a few different sports throughout the year and the point is for all kids to get to play, which is what makes it fun. Calvin threw a fit when we signed him up because he didn't want to do something new. He displays a lot of the introverted tendencies his mom and dad have. But he has been having so much fun. They practice one night a week and then play one game a week. They are doing basketball right now and I asked him if he wanted to try the next sport and he was hesitant, but then said he would like to try baseball and maybe soccer. I'm proud of how far he has come.
Mia is also playing basketball and we are realizing how much of a challenge this is on many levels for her. Mostly, we are concerned about her having a seizure on the court. It happened once at a game and once at practice. Because of this, either Brad or myself are with her at all times on the court during practice and games. Her coach does a great job of including her, but the reality of a team sport is that you don't always get the ball equally. Since the game play is so quick, she really struggles with that and she's gotten bonked a few times in the face with the ball because she just couldn't keep up. But she loves it and has loved it from the beginning. She is quite the opposite of Calvin and is definitely not introverted.
Asher, of course, was hugely disappointed that he's not old enough to do Fun Sports. (You have to be at least 4 for basketball.) The joys of being the littlest, you don't always to get to participate. :)
Pray for us as we continue to look for answers to help Mia be seizure free. We meet with her neurologist next week.
Mia is still having seizures. At times it is super discouraging to me because we had a week without seizures in December. I hate them. I hate what they do to her and I hate how much they control our life. Yet, I keep thinking about the verse in Philippians 4:8. "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." It redirects my thoughts and I can only think of Jesus and God and the amazing things that have been done for Mia. These seizures stink, but God is sovereign. And when I get discouraged, I have to look to God. I can't help but be encouraged when I look at how far He has taken her. Do I want her to have seizures and struggle in life? Absolutely not. Do I trust God and His plan? Absolutely. I may not get it or understand it, but I trust it.
Mia and Calvin are both participating in Fun Sports, a 6 week sports program for different ages. The program runs a few different sports throughout the year and the point is for all kids to get to play, which is what makes it fun. Calvin threw a fit when we signed him up because he didn't want to do something new. He displays a lot of the introverted tendencies his mom and dad have. But he has been having so much fun. They practice one night a week and then play one game a week. They are doing basketball right now and I asked him if he wanted to try the next sport and he was hesitant, but then said he would like to try baseball and maybe soccer. I'm proud of how far he has come.
Mia is also playing basketball and we are realizing how much of a challenge this is on many levels for her. Mostly, we are concerned about her having a seizure on the court. It happened once at a game and once at practice. Because of this, either Brad or myself are with her at all times on the court during practice and games. Her coach does a great job of including her, but the reality of a team sport is that you don't always get the ball equally. Since the game play is so quick, she really struggles with that and she's gotten bonked a few times in the face with the ball because she just couldn't keep up. But she loves it and has loved it from the beginning. She is quite the opposite of Calvin and is definitely not introverted.
Asher, of course, was hugely disappointed that he's not old enough to do Fun Sports. (You have to be at least 4 for basketball.) The joys of being the littlest, you don't always to get to participate. :)
Pray for us as we continue to look for answers to help Mia be seizure free. We meet with her neurologist next week.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
New Year...when did that happen?
I'm sorry for not blogging more over the holidays. I wanted to. But then I didn't want to. And of course I didn't!
We had so much fun with our family over the holidays. The cousins were inseparable. It was nice to have a few weeks to just enjoy each other. Then of course, it was January. We started getting back in the swing of school and we got a surprise visit from Laura, Brad's sister. So, of course, that was fun and we got some more family time!
We got a dog and now we don't have a dog. Tim & Rachel found a stray in our neighborhood right after the new year and we housed him for awhile. We contemplated keeping him, but realized after a week or so that he wasn't a great fit for us because he loved to eat the kids toys. We had talked awhile about getting a pet for the kids, but this was not the pet for us. Thankfully, Tim & Rachel found him a new home with another dog and he is doing fabulous there. A happy ending for Marley.
Now, it's almost the end of January, and life just keeps plugging along. An update on Mia...after she had been seizure free for a week, I tried decreasing one of her meds and within a week, the seizures came back. We waited a few days just to be sure and we were sure, and then re-upped that medicine again. Sadly, I chose the medicine that takes 3 weeks to stabalize (because I really thought it wasn't contributing that much and clearly I was wrong) and so now we are almost at the 3 week mark and hoping in the next few days she will be seizure free again. We have a visit with her neurologist on Thursday and will just discuss the plan for her, but if we can get her seizure free again, I don't want to change anything. I want to give her a break from the seizures and I think we will just stay where we are medicine wise.
The kids are doing well in school. I'm trying to think out of the box for Mia and some of her struggles. We are caught in the I want and I don't want stage. Asher so desperately "wants" to do school and everything that the big kids are doing. Calvin so desperately "doesn't want" to do school and would gladly let Asher take his spot in everything. The grass is always greener, I suppose.
Thank you for praying for Mia, please keep praying for her. We are so grateful for all you faithful prayer warriors!
We had so much fun with our family over the holidays. The cousins were inseparable. It was nice to have a few weeks to just enjoy each other. Then of course, it was January. We started getting back in the swing of school and we got a surprise visit from Laura, Brad's sister. So, of course, that was fun and we got some more family time!
We got a dog and now we don't have a dog. Tim & Rachel found a stray in our neighborhood right after the new year and we housed him for awhile. We contemplated keeping him, but realized after a week or so that he wasn't a great fit for us because he loved to eat the kids toys. We had talked awhile about getting a pet for the kids, but this was not the pet for us. Thankfully, Tim & Rachel found him a new home with another dog and he is doing fabulous there. A happy ending for Marley.
Now, it's almost the end of January, and life just keeps plugging along. An update on Mia...after she had been seizure free for a week, I tried decreasing one of her meds and within a week, the seizures came back. We waited a few days just to be sure and we were sure, and then re-upped that medicine again. Sadly, I chose the medicine that takes 3 weeks to stabalize (because I really thought it wasn't contributing that much and clearly I was wrong) and so now we are almost at the 3 week mark and hoping in the next few days she will be seizure free again. We have a visit with her neurologist on Thursday and will just discuss the plan for her, but if we can get her seizure free again, I don't want to change anything. I want to give her a break from the seizures and I think we will just stay where we are medicine wise.
The kids are doing well in school. I'm trying to think out of the box for Mia and some of her struggles. We are caught in the I want and I don't want stage. Asher so desperately "wants" to do school and everything that the big kids are doing. Calvin so desperately "doesn't want" to do school and would gladly let Asher take his spot in everything. The grass is always greener, I suppose.
Thank you for praying for Mia, please keep praying for her. We are so grateful for all you faithful prayer warriors!
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