Sunday, December 30, 2012

Rollin'

Just when we received some dissapointing news that Evey's scoliosis is a lot worse than we all suspected; she reminds us of how tough she is. "Like a boss" as my 14 year old nephew would wisely say.  This little girl is constantly reminding us not to worry about her, she's so strong and will prevail through it all.  Seven months old and I never thought I'd be this excited about a child rolling.  You go girl!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Ladies

A little update on our Eves knees seeing as how I've been distracted with the chaos of Zoey deciding to potty train herself and climb out of her crib all within the same week. That girl's eagerness to be an adult will be the death of me. And yes my Mom does laugh way too loud when I call to vent about Zoey, oh sweet Karma. Maybe she'll finally settle down when she's 31 like I have.

So on to our other favorite daughter. Evey is still recovering from surgery, her head looks amazing, but we have noticed her eyes are crossing way more now that she has a round head. She's almost 7 months old and is in the 40th percentile for height and 20th for weight. She is still fed all through her g-tube and we hope to get her over her constant colds so we can try and start some oral feeds. The good news is that the desire to suck is there and shes taking an affinity to sucking on her swaddle blankets. Health wise she seems to have one healthy week and then one sick week and then repeats the cycle. We are working on her holding her head up and helping her straighten out her neck. She can hold her head up for a few seconds at a time and then she flops it back down cause she gets so tired. It's bizarre to think that Zoey was crawling at this point in life and we are still trying to get Evey strong enough to hold her head up while we're holding her. There is also the nice part of getting to enjoy this baby mode for a long time that always flew by way too fast with the other kids. We also have a new specialist on board, a pediatric orthopedist who we'll meet with after christmas to address Eves scoliosis that seems to be pretty severe says all the other docs that look at her, so it'll be nice to see what the plan is to help her down the road. Other than that she's still the sweetest, happiest baby that we could ever ask for. When the other kids are jumping all around her and screaming she usually does her little giggle because apparently the fact that we are a 6-man circus is funny to her. She really must have knew exactly what she was coming to. With all the craziness around us in this mortal world, it's a huge blessing to have Evey as a reminder that all things are eternal and that the end goal is returning to a loving Heavenly Father arms.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Las Vegas

I've decided parenting is a lot like gambling in Las Vegas. I've used this analogy for a few years and I've found it to be true over and over again.

Taking your kids out in public wherever it is, is like going to Vegas. You go and you either win big or lose big. Most of the time you lose though, the odds are definitely not in your favor. If the kids behave perfectly, everybody admires you, the cashier tells you how well-behaved your kids are and you smile and nod while thinking you have no idea what a rarity this is. That is a big win in my parenting
play book.

Or what usually happens is you go out, somebody loses it and fights ensue and then yelling and screaming and then we are hastily exiting the public eye, undoubtedly with a screaming/flailing toddler slung over our back while pushing a stroller or grocery cart with most likely another crying child. Big time lose.

Here's the thing, no matter what the outcome, I can't help but keep trying it, just like Las Vegas. Good thing I don't for real gamble because I already have enough parental gambling in my life and I know all about odds.

Here's some of the moments we've been having lately that make me forget all about the big losses. And yes our children are wearing completely mismatched snow clothes dug out of nana and papas snow clothes bin. I'm slowly realizing that the kids get bigger each year and that means I have to invest in new snow clothes every year. Parenting fail.







Monday, December 3, 2012

Mama, Moms, Mother

     I never grew up dreaming of my future husband and children.  Don't get me wrong, I knew it was in the cards for me; it just wasn't on my radar for a long, long time.  I don't think it was in my DNA to think about marriage and motherhood, but thankfully I had a strong dose of nurture that helped dominate my tough nature.  The nurture came in the form of watching my parents who actually liked one another, and truly epitomized the "best friends" concept.   It also came from having 7 brothers and sisters, and, for better or for worse, there was always someone at home to play or fight with: an invaluable gift.  Eventually, I also realized that I was a daughter of God, and with that knowledge came some major responsibility to a future husband and kids.
     So, motherhood came in a two-fold epiphany.  When our firstborn Owen arrived 6 weeks premature, I was completely unprepared for the newborn intensive care unit, aka the NICU.  On the ninth day of Owen being in the NICU, I had a complete and full meltdown. I had had enough of being at home without our son, and was sick of staying up all night crying and trying to pump, while wanting to jump off a bridge because my hormones were practically yelling at me by the second about how wrong it was to have just had a baby and to not have him home with us. So, I sobbed and cried and wailed and had a glorious temper tantrum. It was awesome.  And, Nate was there to pick up the pieces (also within that motherhood epiphany was the 'holy moley I really love and need Nate, forever' epiphany).
     So, the mama bear was officially born, and I waltzed right into that NICU with Nate, my partner in crime, and demanded that they let us bottle feed Owen, and let him go home, or we would take him out ourselves. I call that the '9th day motherhood' epiphany.  From that moment on, I knew that this was it: I was in it, I liked it, and I could do this mom thing, and I'd be darned if I was going to let some NICU nurses hold my son hostage.
     As you can imagine, the second epiphany came 4 years later, almost to the date, with the arrival of Evey.  Evey was the full-blown, 'you are commited to being a mom and you'll be doing this for the rest of your life' epiphany, and I rolled with it from the second she was born.  It was an a-ha moment of Evey being the missing puzzle piece of fulfilling my life's work and purpose.
     I'm slowly learning in my life that the greatest blessings I've received are the ones I never knew I wanted to begin with.  Thank you forever Owen, Eli, Zoey & Evey.