wait. February 9, 2010

From as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be the fastest.  I had 2 older brothers and a slew of neighborhood kids I was in competition with. It was simple; faster was better. Growing up, I could say “I’m one of the fastest runners in the school”.  I was always one of the first to be done with tests, homework and those of you who know me well know that I always finish my food first!

At home my Dad would play the “think fast” game with us. This was basically my Dad throwing some random object at one of us and then yelling “think fast” and hopefully we caught the object before it smacked one of us in the gut.  It was a very fun game, but no one wanted to be the one with slow hands!

In high school I loved sports. I loved the feeling of running fast. I was very proud to be fast. Fast meant better. Fast meant smarter…right? I couldn’t even fathom why someone would not want to be FAST like me! There was no possible way that a person would ever do things slowly on purpose. Right?

Being fast at everything yielded one result- impatience. This is something I’ve obviously had to struggle with. If you are the fastest at everything, you end up waiting for everyone else. So, do you really win? All of the waiting…waiting in line, waiting for friends to finish eating, waiting for someone to come pick me up, waiting for all of the slooooow cars. To me, waiting was just a waste of time- a huge, boring waste of time.

September of 2007 was the month we found out our little boy would have hydrocephalus. When we found out his diagnosis, I wanted all of the answers. Fast.

No luck.

There was only one answer… Wait.

So, we have been waiting since  September of 2007 to find out the prognosis of our little boy. We will continue to wait at least another year until we know for sure how he will fare. Has all of this waiting been a waste of time?

No way. These past years have been the hardest and the best years of my life.  I can’t even put into words how I have grown or how we have grown as a family.  God is in control and definitely has a great purpose for all of this. And I am proud to say that am truly savoring my life at a much, much slower pace.

weird bird. February 9, 2010

Being Greta’s mother is well…interesting. You just never know what this little girl will come up with next! Miles has had “the runs” for several days now and is pretty crabby. Joe’s back has been hurting him from shoveling the snow. So, what did dear Greta do???

She decided to have a surprise party for Daddy and Miles to “make them feel better”. And here are her decorations…

I know,  fabulous! Yes, she often decorates in this way. If there is a knob in the room, it is sure to be adorned with a necklace, shoe, purse or even tights.

Last week, Greta went on a special date with Daddy to see Mommy in her musical. Most little girls would be very excited to go see ladies in fancy dresses singing and dancing on stage. My little girl was very upset that she would not be able to be on stage.  In fact, I am told that during intermission she made an attempt to get on stage on perform herself!

She is just so fun! So much spunk! So much pizzazz! It is our challenge to help  mold her into a godly, gentle lady without squelching her Greta-ness! Any advice?

weekly menu. February 8, 2010

This weeks Menu-

French Onion Burgers/Salad

Panera Bread style Broccoli Cheddar soup/Sourdough bread

Scallops/Quinoa/Grapefruit glaze

Creamy Italian Chicken/Basmati rice

Tacos

Spicy Black bean Burgers/Carrots/Hummus

Something Frozen!

a new normal. February 1, 2010

2 years ago, we were adjusting to “a new normal”.   Unfortunately, this new normal meant regular Dr.’s appointments with the neurosurgeon, neurologist, ophthalmologist, chiropractor, pediatrician, craniofacial team, physical therapy every week,  and eventually speech therapy 2 times a week.

We are again at a point where we are adjusting to a new normal. The Neurosurgeon doesn’t want to see him for a year, the Neurologist and ophthalmologist for 6 months, he is DONE with the craniofacial stuff and chiropractor. Now he only has physical therapy every other week and speech therapy once a week. What does all of this extra time mean for Mr. Miles?

More time to be a little boy!

We are so grateful.

This week, Miles learned how to climb down the stairs and his latest word is “dinosaur”. He says “Roar-saurs!!! rarrrrr!”.  It is the cutest thing.

He is still stubborn as ever with the walking.  He is climbing up on everything and getting good at getting  back down.This is great, because he had been doing somersaults to get off of the couch, etc! But now that he has mastered bending his knees and getting down, he does just that when you try to walk with him. He bends his knees and sits down!

still busy. January 27, 2010

Am I crazy!?!!?!!??  I thought I was busy last month…

Here is what I’ve been up to.

(I’m the one in green)

my favorite place. January 20, 2010

For Greta’s Birthday, she received a beautiful princess desk from her Mimi and Papa. She loves it and uses it often to write and draw, BUT… there is someone who likes it even more!

In fact, if we let him, he would spend hours a day in this desk!

This does mean that he has mastered the art of climbing up into the desk. We just need to work with him on learning how to get out of the desk.

Because somewhere there is a princess who would like her desk back!

Lemonade Stand Award! January 14, 2010

Cool! I’ve been nominated for a blogging award! I have been nominated by my blogging friend from So This Is Holland. This is my first ever “award”. Thanks, Carla! I’ve nominated 10 of my favorite blogs below. Enjoy reading up on these great blogs!

**Rules for the Award**

*Put the Lemonade Logo on your blog or in your blog post * Nominate at least 10 blogs with a great attitude or gratitude * Link Nominees to your post *Let your nominees know about their award by leaving them a comment on their blog *Share the Love & link to the person from whom you recieved the award:)

I, herby bestow the Lemonade Stand award to these fine bloggers:

Soldatke6

A day in the life of a Podany

The Far Side of Complexity

Nola Gracyn

Here We Go

The Lollipop kids

Poverty Hills

Roots and Wings

Alice Kubac’s Blog

Higgins Family Blog

Coming soon: new posts with photos saved from our old computers (yes, plural):) This should be fun!

december. January 7, 2010

I have been pretty much gone from blogging the entire month of December. The first week  I had rehearsals for the musical at church as well as all the last minute painting for the set. The 2nd week, we had the musical at church. The 3rd week was a whirlwind of preparing for Christmas, Miles’ MRI, Greta’s Birthday and my audition for another musical. We ended up having 3 family Christmases that pretty much took up 2 entire weeks due to all the snow! Then finally Miles’ Birthday. So here are the belated photos from all of December. I am missing a bunch of photos of Miles’ Birthday and Christmas as they are on my Mother’s camera. Enjoy!

on the day you were born. January 7, 2010

When you were born, the skin on your head was stretched so tightly, you couldn’t close your eyes.  We had to put special drops in for a few months to make sure your eyes wouldn’t dry out.  Those first months, some how God kept me from worrying about the future. Despite the fact that we literally had to turn your head for you as you slept because it was so heavy, despite the fact that your MRI’s showed very, very little brain tissue, despite the fact that everywhere we went we were greeted with stares. Not  “look at that new baby” stares, but stares of shock and then pity. We were instructed to stay home with you as much as we could those first months. We did. Staying in our own little world kept me from comparing you to others and worrying about what sort of life you would have.

As you got a little older,  the worry crept in.  I started to worry that you might not be able to have a full life. Then things started to happen… you laughed. You sat up. You crawled.  You started talking. And while you are not yet walking, I know it is just around the corner.

The best day of my life was the first day I heard your laugh. I was not sure I would ever get to hear you laugh.  When I heard that first chuckle, I was in disbelief. It felt like sparks were rushing to my limbs. That was when I knew everything would be OK.

Now you are 2.  I couldn’t be more proud of my son. My little soldier. My miracle.

Happy Birthday, Miles.

Miles’ birthday was January 3rd

4! December 21, 2009

Some photos from Greta’s 4th bithday party on Saturday

Thanks, Mom for lending me your camera!