Benjamin Turned 3!

Lego Block Cake

HOURS of fun on the new trampoline!

Cute, Rian!

Benjamin turned 3 years old this weekend! I can't believe it. We had a great bday party for him. I was pretty proud of how the cake(s) turned out, but they still didn't turn out as smooth looking as the lady who did it on the video...go figure! He had great fun on his 'big' birthday present. Don't tell him, but it's really for the whole family to enjoy...which we did. Oh, and don't you just love your self portrait mug shot, Rian!

Oh my gosh, I'm cute!

So, now that he's 3, that also means he started his PPCD class today. MY BABY IS IN SCHOOL! I really thought I would cry, but I didn't. I kept my mind focused on all the things I would get done in the 2 hours I have by myself 3 days week, until summer. He looked darn cute (and small) with his

backpack on!

Ready to learn with my teacher!

The Things of Life

I'm sitting here listening to my children fight. Avery yelling at Ian for saying 'bad'. Ian saying it all the more because Avery is screaming at him. It gets funny after a while. But right now, it's just kinda tiring. I'm in one of those spots.

A very special friend of mine and her sweet family are moving away in a couple of weeks. I understand why the need for it, but it doesn't make it any easier on my heart. A lot more goes into it for me, but I won't go into that. I will miss her so very much, and miss watching all the milestones of their bathed in love little boy. I don't doubt that we'll keep in touch.

Side note: Avery just screamed so loud my eardrums about popped! Can't handle that at all. Silence now, as I sent her to her room. All is good. :)

We have friends who are struggling with their marriage, and it makes me so sad. I'm glad that they feel comfortable talking to us. I just feel helpless and hope that God, who instituted marriage, will restore this sweet couple's marriage. I know they're wanting the same thing.

Family stuff is about to drive me nuts. I've no doubt a lot of you could relate if I went into the whole story. But you know how it is....never know who's reading. Let's just say all is about to blow within me if the nonsense keeps up, especially if there's anymore of it during another 'time of the month' for me. Hold me back, sista!!!! I just don't get it, and truth is, I don't wanna get it. I just want people to start acting like adults, take responsibility, stop enabling, and take responsibility for crap that comes out of the mouth. Is that too much to ask? Okay, better stop there. You get the picture. After all, I am perfect, ya know. Ha Ha Ha. Kidding, I fully realize the majority of my many faults. Maybe one day I'll blog about those. Naaaaah!

Side note: Ian is loving on me as he asks for about a million different videos and laughing after he says each one. Silly boy!

Side side note: Benjamin is ripping all the books off the book shelf. ALL the books he can reach.

This all reminds me of a country song I've heard a couple of times. I think it may be called "Sounds Like Life" or something like that. It's this guy who's talking to a friend of his who is struggling with a bunch of things (little work, can't pay bills, fridge went out, wife's pregnant, etc.). Anyway, basically this guy listening is noticing that it's all the things life is really made of. The everyday things and struggles. So in the chorus, he says something like, "may not be whatcha wanna hear, but sounds like life to me." So true. Not that we're happy in them, but it's true. We've never been promised a life of no struggles. But we have been promised a Savior who knows and knows the end of the story as well. I can still hurt and cry and get angry, but in the end, hope is the answer. Life is really fleeting. While we don't ignore the 'struggles' and 'everyday things', let's never never never let those overshadow the many wonderful things of life! Whoa! Where'd all that come from?!

Side and end note: I just heard Ian say, "oooh, Ben pee'd". Benjamin took his diaper off and pee'd on the furniture!!!! We don't have a dog for just that reason! Here's where ya gotta laugh.....the things of life!

Gotta go clean up a mess so I can get us packed to go out of town in a few hours. Thanks for listening. I'm sure I'll be okay in a few hours.....or days. :)

A Lot of Nothing....Sorta

This'll be a short one. Not in a real 'with it' mood today. Probably because I'm about to start. Yes, finally after 28 or so years of having a period I've finally been able to catch my mood and know when I'm gonna start. Shouldn't have taken me so long.

Anyway...just a bunch of family and friends issues going on....none of which are related in nature. Things that make me want to just move away (for a little while) while people get their stuff sorted out. Sounds kinda selfish, I know. I guess I'm getting a little tired of watching people who don't listen to wisdom, get themselves deeper into _ _ _ _, then blame God or everybody else for the mess they've gotten into. And the kicker is that it's always the person on the outside of the situation who can see all the junk a-comin, or at least some of it. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I made all the right choices in my lifetime. I know better than to make a statement like that. I've definitely messed enough up in my life. Unfortunately at that time in my life, I didn't have sound people to listen to. They were all in the same boat I was. But it's just irritating to watch it be someone else you know and love do it, especially when they do have people in their life who can give sound advice. Seems like any question, any statement, any act of love gets turned against you. My solution? I'm stayin out of it all. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. I'm getting way better at not offering advice or any sort of statements when not asked. And I've gotten even better at skatin' around the issue when asked. I figure I can still love them and pray for them even when all else fails. As humans, we can't save anyone from themselves, right?

Then to top it all off I found out yesterday that my very, very, very, very good friends are putting their house up for sell and headin' out. As sad as I am, I can understand why. There's really not too many friendships I consider strong enough to try to keep up with when one moves away, but this is one that will be worth it. So, Rian, if you're reading this, I love you dearly!

Okay, I'll be better in a few days. Words of encouragement would be great about now.

I Am Still Alive....I Think

It's been so long since I've been on blog land. I'm looking forward to catching up on reading everyone's entries that I'm so behind on. I think I just got in such a funk cause everything seemed to be so negative, I didn't want all my entries to be so pessimistic. Quick, quick update:

So much for dying without making a turkey. We had Jim's family come to our house....don't ask how that happened. That made 10 adults and 4 children. Okay, truth be told....Jim made the turkey. We had a really good time, and I was so glad we had it at our house. It gave Grandma and Papa a break this year. Plus, even though I kept telling everyone that Jim cooked, I cleaned, I still got all the credit for the meal. I finally gave in and just said, "Thank you." How great is that!

Trip to Oklahoma City to be with my family was much different. Everything has been much different since my dad's stroke. I am very thankful that he is alive, walking, talking. However, I want my pre-stroke dad back, and my mom wants her pre-stroke husband back. It's been very difficult for my family. I think I feel like I get to 'run away' from it by being here. But going back home shows me how real it really is. I felt like I either cried or was griping at Jim for some reason the whole weekend. It definitely forces me to concentrate on what the meaning of Thanksgiving is and to remember all the blessings the Lord has poured down. Blessings are great, but I also have to remember that we were never promised an easy life of roses. It's what I do with all the hard times that determine how thankful I am for Jesus. After all, He didn't exactly have a rosy life when He walked the earth. Next....

Benjamin is officially a toddler!!!! A clumsy one, but oh well. While he's still quite weak and can't walk for enormous amounts at a time, he way prefers to walk on his two feet than to crawl. I had forgotten how adorable they look.

Avery is pretty much officially potty trained. The only thing we haven't tackled is nighttime. The latest joy is that she has finally started to poop more on the big potty than on the little one. Cleaning that thing out gets pretty gross after a while. I'm so proud of her.

Ian is still a day by day. We've been struggling a lot more with his behavior. Jim is ready to go for stronger meds. I AM NOT. This is a big source of contention with us. Probably the hardest thing we've had to try to work together on. More on that later. I just love my little boy so much......

My friend, Rian, had her baby boy!!!!! His name is Malachi "Kai" Ellington, and he is adorable. He was born November 17. I got to see him come into this world and it was amazing. Rian did great. I already can't wait for him and Benjamin to play together!

That's about it for now. Thanks for those who wrote to check up on me. I'm still in a bit of a funk, but working through it.

He's A Boy!

Remember my good friends I told you about a while back that had had consecutive miscarriages and difficulties getting pregnant? Well, I told you she was pregnant. Now I get to tell you that they're having a boy! I'm so excited for them. They will make wonderful parents. She's about 21 weeks now. She let me go with her to her last sono (a level 2). It was sooooo great seeing that little guy, and seeing him so active. Rian is really starting to shine now, after understandably having a difficult time enjoying this pregnancy. I can't wait for Benjamin to meet his new friend in November. Rian can only hope he's as cute as Benjamin! Hee hee, not biased!

Just Stuff

The night of the day Jim got the mohawk, we put the kids to bed and got out the clippers again in hopes of making his head look somewhat normal. The mission was successful. I've never seen his hair that shaved before, but I must say, I did quite a good job!

After hitting Benjamin's one year since diagnosis mark (June 8), I decided I'm not really in the mood to go through the details of each diagnosis like I thought I wanted to. So, that's that.

A month in our new house (well, new to us) and Avery still hates sleeping in her room. We finally got the carpet in, which we hoped would help....NOPE. Then we got her this ADORABLE handpainted bedroom set, hoping that would really get her excited about sleeping in her room by herself....NOPE. So, tomorrow Jim will paint her room. She picked purple, so purple it is...a much lighter shade. Then I'll work on getting girly stuff on the walls. Yep, all in hopes that it will finally get her excited. We put our foot down tonight and told her that Daddy would not be sleeping in her room tonight. She was not thrilled, but luckily tiredness does win over in the end.

Remember a while back I mentioned a friend of mine who is pregnant after several miscarriages and had just gotten to hear her first hearbeat? Well, I am sooo excited to say that she is at 18 weeks! She goes this week to find out the sex of the baby. I'm hoping to be able to go with her.

That's it for the stuff.