Funny Boy Story

Late morning I got a call to come and pick Peter up from school for "vomiting".  Thankfully, our family has managed to avoid stomach bugs over the years- I don't know how- just the grace of God.  So I have sorta been waiting for it.  Lily threw up the night after the Father- Daughter Dance and I swallowed hard and told Mike that I was trying to count it a victory that we'd avoided puking kids for 6.5 years.  I layed awake that night waiting for her to throw up again.  But nothing.  I really think she just ate too much "junk" and "sweets" that eve.  Our girl does love to eat, like her mama.  
So today, again, I did the 'oh no, its our time' thing in my head.  And immediately thought of myself and how I dread the idea of me getting it and puking at 33 weeks pregnant.  I'd also made note this morning that Peter had been a touch congested.  If you know Peter you know that he is congested half the time.  I went in to get him.  There was a little hustle and bustle in the clinic and the nurse called Peter to come out and mentioned that it happened in the cafeteria.  I asked about how much and just got the passing report of "a lot" but not in an overly convincing way, more of a polite 'just get your kid out of here' way.  Peter, Lily and I head down the hall and out the front door.  I say to Peter, "So what happened, buddy?"

"I sneezed and my {granola} bar came out of my mouth."

HAHAHA!!  Bwah, haha!  My sneezy, slobbery, doesn't-care boy.  Of course that's what happened.  #grossboystory

In the van, I went through parts of his body to ask if they hurt.  'No' to all of them, except when I asked about his head, he said "I think watching TV will help my head feel better".  Smart boy. There's been no TV watching here today.

They immediately ran out of the van to play in the backyard.  Bellies down, spinning on the swings.  Oh, I love this scenario with the boy home from school for a 'legitimate' reason (that does NOT involved vomiting) on a sunny day!

Hallelujah!  Thank you, Lord!

The Tale of Two Front Teeth

Peter's front teeth have been getting loose for a while.  Its been about a year since his bottom two came out.  We all think its fun to wiggle them and... we can make that part of oral motor exercises, right?  Wiggle your teeth with your tongue?

Lily gets in on the action of feeling them.

This weekend at the river, Paw got in on the action and wanted to get them out.

 The vet and nurse get a last pic :)

 Peter wiggles...

 ... and pulls.

 And then eventually Paw gets one out!  

 But we had to leave one in for Daddy to pull.  
After a day of the pirate look, we were bound and determined.

 They actually tied some fishing line around it and then Mike pulled.

Peter was pretty pumped.  These pics crack me up!!

(click for full size)

Card for a Cousin

Both Kathy and Mike have been parent readers in Peter's class this month (my turn was in Jan).  The week that Kathy read, Lily was reeeeally sad to not go in (oops- I forgot!) so she got a special date with Goo that afternoon.  So Peter and I had the afternoon to ourselves.  We went out to pick out a birthday gift for cousin, B.  At the toy store, Peter got this "free" PlayMobile catalog- you would have thought I bought him the moon.  He studied it for days!  After the toy store, we stopped by Five Guys for a burger for ME (hungry!).

Then we went home and he drew a card for B.  I loved sitting with him and watching him work on it.  Oh, their minds and imaginations and dreams!  He and B are heroes going up to save a princess who is yelling 'help!' in the arms of a 'bad gi'.  The fine motor progress and cognitive development still blesses & soothes my soul each time I watch it!

 Then the flame they zoomed up with had to be colored in fire colors.

 Thankful for the one on one time with him!

My Birthday

We celebrated my 37th birthday earlier this month- on the date that's a command. 

Mike made me the traditional Dennis breakfast of steaming grits, bacon, and eggs.  He is so glad he married a southern, country girl to get in on this heavenly breakfast.  

Love my different colored Fiesta dishes- its the little things!

3 babies (!!!) and my man

 My oldest boy

 sweet girl

There was the P family tradition of pizza and cupcakes- Goo and Pop came to our party.

And then my parents were in town the following night and brought us a second dinner party.

They were looking at a boat- woohoo- we are dreaming of summer!

Daddy came with us...

We had another great snow storm this week.  I think it helped me mentally that we'd been away for the weekend, so it felt like a bonus, instead of mooore days at home.

And Daddy worked from home so he came sledding with us this time!  He was bummed to have missed our last adventure and had to get in on it this time around.

 It was pretty to be in the snow while it was falling!

 Love these three.

We all had fun!!

Uncles and Cousins, Oh My!

{Hello middle of the night blogging!  Third trimester body discomfort has set in.  But there are no complaints, just joy at the thought of this little one.  And I need to blog anyway!}

We had a family gathering over the weekend with the brothers.  J&J were generous to host us in their neck of the woods, and Maw & Paw were generous to put us up at a hotel with a pool!

I love any chance for the kids to have a faux breakout from winter in a pool.  :)

All the cousins pictured, apart from the one in my belly.  See sweet, snugly Sarah on Jessica's lap. :)

 Love even a blurry pic of this girl on the side of the pool!

 We had gorgeous weather and managed to dodge the recurrent snow storms.

The dogs chased the cat, Octopus, into this tree.  See him near the very top.

I set this as the wallpaper on my phone.  The bright blue sky is just what I need to see at this point in winter.

Esp remembering we were in Turks and Caicos this week last year!  

AHHH man, even just the pics get me! 

 There were Legos with Uncle Will.  Peter loved a partner in building too.

 We had a yummy dinner... 

 ...of ELK burgers!!  

I think, assume this is the one John shot when he was in CO in the fall.  I was hesitant at first, but JD reminded me that this meat is probably much "cleaner" than beef I'd buy at the store.  

It was really good!

 Elizabeth and Sarah... reminding me of the spacing of Peter and Lily.  This was my life.  :)

 Peter loved extra time with Paw.  We all kept threatening to pull those teeth.

 And we celebrated my birthday and ELIZABETH'S 2nd birthday with cake.

We really missed Mike and Emily!  But are glad they each had good weekends with other fun things going on.  Another highlight was an escape that Mom, Jessica, and I made (along with Sarah & Elizabeth) to go shopping.  I loved the extra time with the big & little girls for some retail therapy & lunch.
Holly, we missed you too!  You complete our family!  2 boys and 2 girls :)

Deep Thoughts on Pregnancy & Waiting

I've thought about this post so many times in my mind, and a few times with the keyboard, without finishing and hitting "publish".  I've waffled back and forth about whether to document it.  On sad days, I want to.  And on other days, I too don't want to be bothered with the heaviness. 

A few weeks ago, I had my one hour glucose tolerance test.  
(And I passed!  First time ever!!  BS of 77- go older body!!)  
Being at the office, surrounded by pregnant ladies, stirs the emotions for me again.  Every time someone "announces" their pregnancy, or congratulates someone on a pregnancy- even me-, I still feel it.  To a lesser degree, but its there, its always there somewhere. That gut reaction sometimes takes the Spirit to tame.  And leads me to remember that He is trustworthy, and He calls me to follow Him.  There is so much excitement and blessing and thrill that I'll get to hold a baby, MY baby, again soon.  But there is still the sting, the awareness, the touch of bitterness, that that place holds... the awareness of all the grief and heartache that lurks in those walls for some, and that has been so real for me, and ones I love, for seasons.  And it feels so real, so mean, so wrong. 
Part of me doesn't want to mention it.  How could I complain?  But part of me wants to make it known, not just for me but for others too.  I know that being known doesn't change what it is or make it different, but maybe it does help a little. 

This pregnancy, this baby is such a gift.  I am so excited.  But my heart still feels the ache some days of not having some of our children with us.  I also know, and don't want to forget the blessing in that.  And that somehow, God made and molded our story in that season.

This testimony (during Advent) from someone in our church during Advent really resonated (& stuck) with me related to this.  Even with a new baby on the way, I am still waiting for Jesus, and waiting for heaven.  And I don't want to misplace my hope to somewhere else.  You've gotta click and read, its really good.

Here is another part of what I scribbled in a little bit of free time that I had early on:
Also with another pregnancy comes a mixed bag of emotions.  Its what I wanted for so long, always, but the Lord had led me to a place of accepting that it wasn't His plan for us, and trusting Him in that.  His ways are not our ways.  Although always a low lying level of disappointment, in submitting to that came some joy and bittersweet, and heartbreak.  
There were also blessings.  The blessing of longing for heaven in  knowing that things aren't as they should be, but knowing He surely has a sweet purpose, and one day He will make all things {death} right.  I'm happy to be a part of His story.