Growing Up

The little ones in my life finished their school year a few days ago.   They started the school year thinking they would be in the South for who-knows-how-long...and finished the year in the Midwest. 

They grew and changed and embraced change and made me one proud momma.

T-Man took the changes in stride.  He smoothly transitioned from one climate and culture into the next.  He is a helper, a leader, a reader, and radiates positivity.  Ironically, his name means "long-winded talker" and "cheerful".  Both of those meanings fit our little T-Man perfectly.  And I love him to pieces for both of those qualities.

Fearless had the hardest time with the changes--he is one that loves the routine and anticipating what is coming next.  Moving and starting over with new school rules, new friends, new climate...it took awhile for him to adjust.  But being the little rock star he is, he realized he was having a hard time and every night he would pray that he would be happy.  And each day he tried hard to choose to be happy. 

That attitude is pretty grown-up for a five year old.  I'm so proud of him for pushing himself to grow and embrace the change. 

And this little lovey?  She's still my doll-baby; but she's grown-up too.  She loves her independence and is communicating what she needs and wants like a champ.  And although we lovingly refer to her as our little F5 Tornado (or just F5 for short) I love her curiosity and her sense of adventure.  I love hearing about what is going on in her mind. I love learning what is important to her, so it can be important to me too. 

Having them all home everyday means that our home is full of ruckus & chaos at any given moment--and surprisingly, it doesn't bother me.  Just having them close and deepening our relationship is worth all the noise and Lego messes.

Yay for 3 months of uninterrupted time for me to spend with my little ones!!

Bring on summer!!

Tent and Beach People.

This is the post I was supposed to write before Miss B decided to take her little extra "vacation" at the hospital.  Let's hope we have more vacations like this trip instead of that one.

I needed to get out of The Village for a little bit...the city girl/traveler in me feels stifled when I am too long contained to the main highway going through town. 

Dr. C understands this about me; so on the Wednesday before Memorial Day, when I told him it was time we visited the Gulf, he obliged my impulse and we were in Gulf Shores, AL by Friday evening.

And seeing how we decided to visit a major resort town on a major holiday weekend, we were lucky to get one of the last three camping spots available.  It was divine providence, I tell ya.  Or at least, simply divine.

We were the Tent People among the hundreds of RVs.  Someday we might buy something more comfortable to camp in; but for now, I find a quaint pleasure in teaching my children the fun of "roughing it" and cooking over a fire.  My parents taught me, and now I get to instill the love of the outdoors to my children.  I grew up a Tent Person, and now my kids are Tent People too.

Of course our trip to the Gulf involved oodles of time at the beach. 



After spending a weekend at the Gulf, I've come to the following conclusion:

I was meant for the beach.

I completely and utterly fell in love with the Gulf...with it's pristine white-sand beaches that are as soft as flour, the refreshing cool breeze that makes kite-flying possible on any day, the gentle waves that are big enough for body boards but small enough to entice even the most timid child...I think a little while spent there would turn even the most devout mountain-person into a full-fledged Beach Person.

T-Man spent his time attacking the waves with reckless abandon.  He was determined to conquer, and conquer he did.  He earned his beach-person status the moment we stepped on the sand.

Miss B spent her time discovering the amazing qualities of sand...what it looks like when you pour it, how much it takes to fill up a bucket, what it tastes like.  I'm pretty sure she was about 75% sand when were done. 

Definitely a beach person.

And Fearless?  He did it all...riding the waves, digging in the sand, searching for the perfect shells, flying a kite...observing and testing...becoming a beach person.

The beauty and majesty and joy of that place soothed my soul in a way that few places can.

The best part?  Spending an entire weekend with my family--a whole weekend of happiness and memories that will not be forgotten.

We are definitely Beach People.

I Have A Voice

Kristin over at Two Kids, a Dog, and a Blog posted this awhile ago...and I fell in love with it.

Simple, but powerful.

And Then There's a Rainbow

Last week was a hard week.  Dr. C was out of town; we had the toilet episode, then the faucet on one of the bathroom sinks broke, then the air conditioner in my van broke during a solid week of 100+ degree heat index days, then the dryer (that was already taking bites out of our clothes) started squeaking in that make-dogs-go-crazy way.  Then the phone company and the Internet company had some miscommunication and turned off our phone service.  Then I hit the wall for the first time running.  Needless to say, it was not a pretty week.

Sometimes I think it takes those low weeks for me to recognize all of the good things that I have going. 

One of my favorite hymns:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Now I don't think that last week counts as being "upon life's billows" because we've certainly had harder weeks than that one.  But when something seems to go wrong everyday, my usually-sunny disposition gets overrun by dark thunder clouds of grumpiness.  Ironically, the weather the past few days has seemed to mirror my mood.

But then the other night we were driving home in the rain with the windows rolled down (no air conditioning!) and the rain cooled things off a few degrees.  Grateful for some relief, I could feel my irritability lessen a little.  And then T-Man yelled from the back seat that he saw a rainbow.

A rainbow.  One of nature's simple, beautiful phenomenon.  A flash of color over a dismal gray sky.  A small reminder that the gray doesn't last forever and there are wonderful things just around the corner.

In an instant, as I appreciated the wonder of the rainbow and heard my children oooh and aahh over the beauty of the colors, my grumpy clouds started to disperse and life was good again.

To top it off, Dr. C has returned and has been fulfilling his role as my knight in shining armor.  He fixed the faucet, restored our phone service, figured out what was wrong with the dryer (waiting on a part to get it totally fixed) and the van will be fixed hopefully by the end of the day today.  I love that man.

Today, I am thankful for rainbows--the ones that show up in the sky after rain and for the people around me that break through my grumpiness and remind me that there is beauty ahead.

We Dance

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning how to dance in the rain."

--Anonymous

It's cliche, I know.  But we live it.  And we don't just dance--we rock out.  Air guitars and all.

Sometimes there's even some "Thriller" dancing.

And lots of love and happiness.

My kids are rockstars.

We are teaching Miss B to love the rain-dance too.

And you know, I think she likes it.

World Down Syndrome Day 2010

Check out who Miss B got to meet yesterday at a small reception our nearest Down syndrome society held as a kick-off for their World Down Syndrome Day events today:

Yup, that's Chris Burke, of Life Goes On fame. 

And he said that Miss B is ADORABLE.  I think he's right.

New Year's Resolutions

I know we are already a few days into 2010, but the holidays (and my birthday!) are a bit crazy, so I never have time to sit and think about what I really want to accomplish the next year until a few days after the whole shebang calms down.  This year I have a lot of going back to the basics to do.  Last year I didn't even attempt to make New Year's Resolutions because there were so many unknowns--would Dr. C find a job?  Would Miss B be living?  How would T-Man and Fearless handle a big move? How would they handle a new sibling?  How would they handle starting school?  What would daily life be like after our child with Down syndrome is born?  It as really just too overwhelming (plus I was pregnant and hormonal!) so my goal for last year was just to survive.  Just ride out the waves and crawl to the finish line.  And that's pretty much what I did.

I'm done with that though--just surviving gets pretty boring after awhile and I feel the urge to move upward and have those Hallelujah! times and to THRIVE.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the things to do to feel happy--and I keep remembering a talk I heard by Dieter F. Uchtdorf called Happiness, Your Heritage.   I specifically like the part where he talks about our need to create, he says:

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

With that in mind, I wrote my list of New Year's Resolutions.  I'm sharing them with you all because I do much better with following through if I know other people are keeping tabs on me.  Someday I hope to have better internal motivation, but until then, ask me how I'm doing. :)  Some of them I have already been working on and I just need to tweak or be more consistent about, some of them I used to do but just couldn't over the past year, and some of them are totally new to me. 

Here they are, in no particular order:

• Read the scriptures every day
• Say personal morning and evening prayers every day
• Write in my journal at least once a week
• Run consistently again, complete a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon
• Go to bed by 10:30PM (this is probably going to be harder than finishing a marathon!)
• Be five minutes early for all appointments, meetings, church, etc. (also harder than a marathon!)
• Complete one sewing project per month (I finally got a sewing machine for my b-day and Christmas--I'll post on my new little love later!)
• Complete one craft project per month
• Write down one thing I love about my husband and one thing I am thankful for everyday
• Perform one act of service for someone else everyday
• Laugh more, scold less
  

I think they should all be attainable, but it is going to require work and effort on my part.  Wish me luck!

What about you?  What are your goals for 2010?  What are you going to do to make 2010 the best year ever?  Let me know and we can help keep each other motivated!

P.S. In the "create" mode, I'm also adding a new blog list of blogs that inspire me to create something--and that have instructions on how to do it.  Let me know your favorite blogs that inspire you to create so I can add them to the list!

Little Gems

Fearless goes to a preschool that is funded by some federal grant. As some part of the whole grant program, the parents of the kids have to attend parenting classes (only 6 hours during the whole school year, so not too bad.) This morning was my first class, and I have to admit that I was grumbling about going. Thursdays are supposed to be my lazy days where I can relax a little, play with the kiddos, read a book, etc. so to have to get up and get ready right away was not welcome. Plus, I am a parenting book junkie...I seriously have several shelves devoted to parenting on my bookcase. Do I really have to go to the class too??

With that attitude, I showed up, expecting...nothing really. Just two hours of blah, blah, blah. I was surprised when I received some little gems instead. Just little things that let me know that God knows me and takes care of me and reminds me of His love and what He wants me to do when I least expect it.

The first came when another mom in the class was watching Miss B play. After a little bit, she asked, "How old is she?" When I replied six months, she said, "Really? Only six months? She's so smart!" I beamed. "I know, isn't she great??" (In retrospect, I really shouldn't care what other people say, but sometimes it's nice for external validation!) The class was already starting to look up.

The next gem came when the instructor was talking about the difference between surviving and thriving as a parent and child. I have been thinking about this a lot lately...for the past six months, I feel like we have been simply surviving. Just making it through. But I don't want to just survive, I want to thrive. Why settle for fine when life can be Amazing? The instructor put it well when she said (in her very Southern accent) "Motherhood (and I would add being a wife too) should be your "Hallelujah! time". How right she is. I think it was another nudge from my Heavenly Father that it's time to move past survival mode and move into HALLELUJAH! mode. Isn't that how life is supposed to be?

The last gem was probably the most unexpected. I was sitting next to another mom who had her baby in her lap. Her little girl was sitting well and just looked...I don't know...sturdier? than Miss B. I felt a few little pangs, wishing that Miss B was a little more solid. (Unimportant, I know, but sometimes when it's blatently obvious that kids that are younger than her have more advanced physical skills, it stings a little.) After the class was over, we chatted a bit about our babies...who are exactly two months apart. Another pang came. As if trying to justify why my baby was smaller, I told this mom about Miss B's heart surgery at 2 1/2 months. Come to find out, her oldest son had had open heart surgery when he was 1 week old (he had transposition of the greater arteries.) and could totally relate to the stress and worry and fear that I feel/felt. Instantly, I had a new friend. A few minutes earlier I had passed this lady off because her baby was sitting better than mine. Silly, isn't it? I thought of a line from one of my favorite hymns:

Who am I to judge another when I walk imperfectly?
In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can't see.

It was reminder that we all have things than make our hearts hurt and that we when we reach out and connect with others, our lives are better.

I needed those little gems today.