heart

i'm happy to say, the boys are all almost completely well. that was a rough week or so, but hopefully soon we'll be over it all. thankfully, caleb was able to go to his annual cardiology appointment after having to reschedule because he was so sick. he goes every year for an echocardiagram and follow up appointment with his riley cardiologist due to two holes in his heart known as a VSD and ASD (ventricular septal defect & atrial septal defect). these are very benign as they are tiny, but still warrant a peek at every year. dr. johnson was surprised that the vsd had not closed yet. the asd (or pfo) was still present and probably will be for his life, but causes no problems. he was born with these and since he's been asymptomatic, he will never have to have surgery or any restrictions. well, i guess one restriction is that he would not be able to scuba dive due to the intense pressure, but if he chooses to someday, he could have extensive testing done to allow him to do it. i was so very proud of him during his appointment. it's not a small task for a 3 year old energetic boy to lay completely still while they perform a VERY lengthy echo on his heart. he was entertained by diego cartoons and impressed the tech so much that she nearly gave him every toy she had after it was over. she had fallen in love with him the minute she saw him walking into the clinic. he's such a charmer with his innocent big brown eyes. he was holding his kitty tight and talking my ear off as we registered. she specifically told the secretary to give caleb to her to do. caleb is quite the talker, but of course became mute when he met her. by the end of the echo though he was talking her ear off. i tell him all of the time that he makes my heart smile because he truly does in so many ways. he's just so happy-go-lucky, carefree, and silly. you just want to squeeze him all the time. he'll say things like, "eli, you're my best buddy", or "mom, i love you bae-bae (baby)". he's simply precious and i hope he never loses his energetic, loving spirit. i love that little boy so much and although his talking is sometimes exhausting, i can't imagine how boring my life would be without it! (the picture of him here is at home after his appointment showing off 3 of the 20 stickers he got that day)

germs!

well, maddie's germs didn't stay away for long...eli is so sick and has missed school all week! caleb has it too, but not quite as bad. butt cream on a 6 year old is not cute. i've never heard, "mom, my belly is hurtin'" so many times as i then race them to the bathroom. and abram is fussy, snotty, and wheezy. i'm now washing & wiping down every toy, book, etc that has been touched...fun stuff!

6

my first baby boy turned 6 years old last week!! in celebration of eli's birthday we decided to take him and a friend on a special day out where he could pick whatever he wanted to do for the whole day. he chose his friend, maddie, from school and what a fun day we had! first we headed to the children's museum which is always fun, of course, but maddie decided to make it a little more exciting as she vomited in the robots exhibit. i caught as much of it as i could in my jacket, but her entire stomach contents wouldn't exactly fit in my white jacket! needless to say, we were both covered in puke and so i had to strip her shirt off and put her winter coat on to cover her until the boys finished up in the museum. after dropping her off to go "get better" at home, we ate eli's favorite chicken and fries at ljs then had a blast bowling. we finished the night off watching a scooby doo movie while eating our ice cream from frostbite...yummy! he and caleb were so incredibly good all day and truly enjoyed every minute of eli's "special day". sunday we had a small party for him with his grandparents and cousins where he got tons of new lego sets...his favorite thing right now! he was so excited when he opened the big castle lego set he's been wanting from us. i've never seen him hug his daddy so tight after he opened that one. although i can't believe he's 6 already, i feel like he's been a part of my life forever. i can't imagine what i did before having him!! how blessed we are!!

sacred parenting

"...calls us to focus our brief lives on what will create the most impact for future generations. we will soon be forgotten on earth, but we'll be remembered in heaven. let us humbly accept this fact, and then embrace the sacred trust of children that God bestows on us. we must reprioritize our lives according to our own relative insignificance, finally learning to think as God thinks- generationally. we are born, we die, and then we get out of the way. but those who hold parenting as a sacred journey, and treat it accordingly, will leave behind something wonderful and lasting."