ah, parenting...

BIG BOY BED!!!

I have been thinking and talking alot about parenting lately. That reads a little ridiculous as I look at that first sentence--of course that is what I have been doing--but it feels like it has been particularly poignant in conversations.

My birthday was last week. I joke with friends that I got: a new vacuum cleaner, 2 new van tires and bribery presents for our children (heath moved officially to his BIG BOY BED). Chris' birthday was this Wednesday, and he received similar gifts. :)

Ella Brooks said, "Heath, you know what mommy really wants for her birthday? For you to pee in the toilet..." (at least SHE is trained well. ha!) We ate at Cracker Barrel for dinner because
a. we knew our children would actually eat & play checkers (with Chris!!) and
b. we had a gift card. (well, and I love some "Eggs in a Basket...")

I got a couple hours to myself in the afternoon to flip through magazines at Barnes & Noble, sipping on a chai latte, thanks to my sweet husband. It was a good day--as a parent your perspective changes a bit about what constitutes a "good birthday," I suppose.

There is a blog post that so many of my friends have posted or sent about parenting that really struck home: www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/news/momastery
It's called "Don't Carpe Diem" and it really rings true to the joys and challenges of parenting on a day to day basis. You should read it.

I think after some of the things that we've been through in the last few years that we tend to live somewhere between the "enjoy every moment" and the "don't carpe diem." We know the reality of perspective-building experience, but we also know the reality of a willful child who needs to be treated as normal as possible. We know his wonderful sister also needs to not just be the "sister of the sick kid." It is a delicate balance.

On our medical front--not too much new. Heath has had some good progress with his leg issue (he has been wearing his boot/afo more regularly). We think, after a few weeks of dragging him in and out of the hospital for bloodwork, that we finally have his med levels in check. It turns out that one of his immuno-suppressant meds was reacting with the med for his GI issue. He took it in stride, actually saying to the man sticking him, "I think I would like to come in every day for a finger prick..." He did NOT mean that. We will have his annual hearth catharization in a couple weeks. He is feeling good--good enough to give all of us a run for our money. His wonderful teacher said, "he was a little less stubborn today..." :)

There have been two tragic accidents in our community with kids that have reminded many of us to "savor the moments" a little more (please pray for the Nichols family, whose son is heath's age and recovering from a gunshot wound to the head and Hubbard family, whose lost their 14-year-old when he was electrocuted & fell from an tower). The trick, I think, is figuring out how to enjoy the little things a bit more, without parenting a little less. You can't live every moment of life wondering if it will be the last--it's not healthy for anyone. But it is helpful every once in a while, amidst the chaos of daily life, to remember that we need to find and savor some of those moments a little more than we do.

So, I will settle for the extra moment of snuggling in the big boy bed that took some parental struggling (and, don't judge too harshly, Playmobil BRIBERY) to be in in the first place.

(EB as photographer)
Speaking of parenting, I have some wonderful friends from college who also now go to Westminster with us. They have a great desire to parent another child (their daughter Maeve is EB's pal too) and they have a website introducing them to prospective birth parents-- www.erinandkirk.com/index.html.

I throw this in because you never know who might see something like this and have a connection for them. Just as you never know what else might surprise you in this life journey.

Say a prayer for them, and for all those who desire to parent and are having struggles, for those in the throes of parenting, and for all those saints along the way who help with raising the village!

(heath as photographer--poor daddy is out of town and not getting to experience the joy of his children as photographers...ahhh...)

love, carrie