Hudson's First Day of Kindergarten

Wow.  How did we get here??  I cannot believe Hudson started Kindergarten this morning!  Surely I'm not old enough for that!!!  

It was an awesome start.  He bounced right in and was SO EXCITED.  His excitement definitely made it easier for me.  

He is such a gift...he is smart, funny, quirky, compassionate.  I love this little man, and I hope that he always has a love for learning. 

Early morning breakfast : )  Muffins!

Here is Micah on Hudson's first day.  

 And sweet Lily..."What?  Why do I have to be up this early?"

 Wow.  I cannot believe how old he looks.

 Hudson & his teacher, Mrs. Foster.  We love her already!

Walking to class!  I caught it all : )

  Think he looks like me just a little bit??? 

 He picked a superhero backpack.  Shocking.

 Sigh.  Time, please slow down...or Lord, help me slow down. 

Lily 5 Months

Where is the time going???  I don't know how in the world Lily is already 5 (and a half) months old.  I need the time to slow down.

Lily is a sweet, sweet baby.  She is such a blessing and I cannot imagine our life without her. 

Sweet Pea.  Her first tutu : )

"What, mom?  Why are you looking at me like that??"

Her cheeks and thighs are so scrumptious.

Here's what's really going on behind the camera : )
Thank heavens for big brothers with superhero action figures!

Micah needed to be in on the picture-taking action.  Sweet boy.  He is feeling a lot better.

My Ugly Heart

I think Micah is handling the broken leg better than I am.

My heart is so ugly.  I feel very un-thankful.  I am, by nature, a worrier.  

I can think of lists upon lists of things to worry about.  I know that the Lord says in His Word to not worry about tomorrow...and I can understand why.  And yet, I worry.  I worry about Matt going back to work next week.  How will I keep it all together?  I worry about my oldest little man starting kindergarten.  I worry that Micah won't be ready to start school and that he'll be sad.  I worry about my milk supply and the fact that Lily won't take a bottle.  It goes on, and on, and on...and it's exhausting.  

So, today, I am going to try my hardest to rest in Jesus and still my mind. 

 I need to grow in thankfulness.  I am ashamed at my perspective when I see others all around me with greater needs than my own.  

A dear friend just lost her mother to cancer.  I see kids in the clinic that have chronic conditions.  I am reminded of a friend that has a child Micah's age in a wheelchair all the time.  And I'm ashamed.  

Praying today that God would give me the gift of thankfulness.

On another note, here is the sweet little man that starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks.  I almost can't handle it, he's so cute.  I told him the other day that I thought we'd call the school and tell them that mommy's not ready for him to start this year.  He just giggled.  I can't believe it's that time.  

 Little cutie.  I love this boy. 

Adjusting

I think we are all adjusting pretty well.  Micah is really doing great.  He has weaned off of almost all his pain medicine.  Just a little ibuprofen now.  I, on the other hand, could use a few meds to calm me : )  We may have to make that happen.

We are trying to figure this thing out and think of new inside summer activities for two rambunctious little boys.  Not the easiest thing in life.  But they are adjusting.

He's hilarious.  Even with a broken leg. 

 Hudson is adjusting.  Poor man...he lost his running buddy.

 Matt bought them soft dart guns...that's been a distraction for sure.

 I love this.  Dart gun with a spiderman shirt.  

 He looks so sad : (  He's ready to run around.

 We tried getting out and about.  First trip:  Chill for some ice cream.  It made me nervous.

 Sweet blue eyes.

 Here's Micah tasting the non-dairy choices.

 We rigged a prop for his leg with a plant stand and a pillow.  Gotta do what you gotta do.

 I love him.

So, we've been trying to keep them busy.  My mom just left yesterday...I could have cried.  Seriously.  It felt like after I had a baby and didn't want my mom to leave.  I put my big girl panties on, though, and hopefully we can adjust to our new normal.  We go back to the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully we'll get a good report.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers.  We appreciate them.  

Here's the Scoop: Micah's Broken Leg

This time last week we were headed to a family reunion and to spend a couple of days with my mom.  Wow, has it been a week.  It's hard to believe that in a week's time, we have gone from

this: 

to this:

I'll try to re-cap a bit of the story.  We got back to Mobile on Tuesday about 11 a.m. and the boys wanted to play on the slip-n-slide.  So Matt took them outside to play while I got a few things unloaded and started on lunch.  Micah had a freak accident where he got his left leg twisted underneath him and Matt was confident it was broken.  

From there, I packed up Hudson and Lily while Matt held Micah and we headed to the ER.  Thankfully, a friend met me and took Hudson and Lily.  God bless you.  It was excruciating to see him in that much pain.  X-rays were awful because we had to move him and he had only had Tylenol with Codeine.  I have cried many, many tears over my little man's pain.  It is so awful to see your child suffer.  Once the orthopaedic doctor on call saw his x-rays, they decided we should be transferred to USA Women's & Children's Hospital so that an Ortho that specializes in pediatrics could see him.  Once we were transferred and seen by their doctor, they admitted us and made a plan to take him to surgery the next day at 3 p.m. (their doctor would be at a clinic in Selma until then).  

That night was so so so awful.  Micah's pain was terrible all through the night.  Matt and I stood on either side of his bed.  Matt comforted as I cried.  He would begin to sleep and then jerk awake screaming crying every 5-10 minutes.  At about 4 a.m., he jerked really hard and bent his knee...and he was inconsolable from then on.  I asked for the doctor to be called, and thankfully he was at the hospital in about 15 minutes.  He decided that they needed to re-set the leg, but after taking a look at his chart decided that he didn't want to give him any more pain med before he did it, because he didn't want to risk having too many narcotics on board and compromise his breathing.  It. Was. Awful.  The tears streamed down my face, but what could I say?  I definitely couldn't say for him to risk Micah's breathing just to keep him out of pain.  So, I stepped out of the room while they re-set his leg.  Thankfully, after that Micah was able to rest peacefully.  

He had surgery on Wed. at 3, and the doctor was able to place 2 "nails" on either side of his bone to create a type of "internal cast", and so we were able to avoid the spica cast, which would have been a lot harder for us to take care of.  I am thankful for that.  

He has done well.  Moving him was awful and very upsetting for me, but he has manged very well at home.  He has been sitting in his wheelchair, and we are beginning to figure this thing out.  I am thankful that his pain is getting better.  Thankful for many things.  Thank you all for your prayers.  I have learned a lot through this process.  I have learned that my husband is more calm and rock solid than I ever really knew.  He has been kind, caring, compassionate, and rock solid through it all.  He has carried Micah over and over again.  I am so, so thankful.  He balances out my nerves.  I have also been reminded of friends that have to watch their children suffer often and I have grown in compassion for them.  I have thought about the many women around the world that watch their children suffer and don't have the means to take them to a hospital for treatment.  I can't imagine what they go through.  I am grateful.  Grateful we have insurance, a hospital nearby, for doctor friends who give advice, for pain medicine, for a husband that is off work and helps, for friends and family, for it all.  I'm grateful that though he has suffered, he will recover soon.  

Matt Spivey, the Artist

I love this man.  I love that he is an artist...and that no one would ever guess : )

He is so talented.  Buttttt.....I'm just saying that the same man that does this can NOT be the same man who gave me "tator mits" for Christmas one year.  Just sayin'.

 These are for our boys' namesakes.  Micah 6:8 and the Good Samaritan for Micah-do.  And then the well and John 14 after Hudson Taylor for our little Hudson.

 These are for the boys' room.  Love them.

 This was my birthday present...Matt painted it & the boys did the bottom right.  It is based on Isaiah 61.  Sweet.  And I love it.

 This is for Lily's room.  LOVE.  It's just missing the verse in the middle.

 This was a present for our 1st anniversary.  7 years ago.  Yeesh.  Inspired by Isaiah 61 again... Man, we love some Isaiah in this house : )

Love, love, love him.  And love, love, love that he is an artist.  It's restoring to him...and I think he is so good at it.  Love it.

Lily...Happy 4 Months!

How does time fly so fast?  Man, I am so in love with this little girl.  She has stolen every heart in this family.  She is the sweetest little girl.  I don't know what we would do without her.  Here are a few pics today to celebrate her 4 month Birthday!

Here's what she is up to lately:
Eating:  She eats every 3 hours.  She refuses to take a bottle : )  A lot like her big brother, Micah.  And she is a no go for a paci.  She's so cute I don't even care.
Sleeping:  By FAR my best sleeper.  I usually put her to bed at 8:00 p.m. and she wakes around 5:00 or 5:30, I feed her and put her right back down.  Awesome.  She's not the best napper, but she's still the best in our house : )
Loves:  She loves her brothers, her bouncy seat, her own bed, eating, and her super silly daddy.  She is smiley smiley but has yet to give us a big belly laugh.  We are all waiting!