A Lifetime of Love

We all just got over colds (with the exception of Th, he still has a cough) and now a stomach bug has hit us! Ugh!!! It started with T.G. on Saturday. She seemed fine all morning and played as usual. We came home from Th’s soccer game and the kids played outside until lunch. In the middle of lunch, she vomited EVERYWHERE! TJ stripped her, and I bathed her while he cleaned up. If I haven’t shared it before, I don’t do well with vomit. I get sick at the smell of it. She vomited a couple more times after that, and had diarrhea to make matters worse. Poor baby- her bottom was raw and despite my efforts to keep her diaper fresh and apply cream after each change, it didn’t really help. It’s better today, and so is she. However, the bug met Ta at 1am this morning. Nothing like being woke up to the sound of vomit. Thankfully it was on TJ’s side of the bed. The smell alone made me gag a few times, but I worked my way through it to help TJ clean up. Ta is home with me today and I keep praying he...

"The first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007 I received this in an email from a friend of mine. It is difficult to look at; in fact, it kills me to look at it. I hate Planned Parenthood and all they stand for. They deceive so many women, myself included, into thinking abortion is okay and an acceptable option. IT’S NOT! I am so thankful there are crisis pregnancy centers around the country to help dispel some of the myths surrounding abortion. I just wish I had walked into one of those centers rather than Planned Parenthood. In my scared, confused state of thinking I made the worst decision of my life. Knowing I did this to my own child makes me sick to my stomach and brings tears to my eyes. BUT, more importantly, I have been forgiven in Christ and learned from my mistake. Now that Obama is President and the Senate...

From this. . . to this. . . You have grown into such a big girl! You are sweet and loving, and a great big sister to Teagan. I am so thankful the Lord allowed me to be your mommy. Happy Birthday, baby girl!

Talk about convicting! I lost my patience in these past 30 hours more times than I care to acknowledge. Then I got on-line and read about moms who have recently lost their children to horrible illnesses- 1 to CDH and another to cancer. Of course, now I have tremendous guilt and wish I could have handled situations differently today. I’m sure each of those moms would give anything to have their kids back, and here I am thankful it’s bed time because the house is peaceful and I am able to sit for a minute without having to go break up an argument (or worse) between the kids. As much as I love my children, some days I think I’m going to go insane. Mothering is by far the most difficult task I have ever done. I guess the good thing about TJ going away is that I appreciate him more now. I never realized how much I need those breaks that he offers me by coming home for lunch and helping me with bedtime. Having to do it myself, I learned I could never be a single mom, or at least not a happy ...

Man oh man am I tired! TJ is at the Wilds this weekend for a men's retreat so I have been home with the kiddos. We went to visit the nursing home yesterday afternoon for Halloween, and then came home and ordered a pizza. While we waited for the pizza to arrive, we went through the candy and put all the stuff they aren't allowed to have (hard candy mainly) in a bowl for the trick-or-treaters who come to our neighborhood (we don't do trick-or-treating except at the nursing home- during daylight hours). They had fun periodically checking the bowl to see if it was empty. Surprisingly, most of it was gone within about 2 hours. There were only about 8 pieces or so left by the time I turned off our porch light at 8pm. This was the first time I have done that (I usually send the candy to work with TJ) and the kids had such a good time, I think I'll do it every year. Ta and T.G. aren't feeling well and both had difficulty sleeping last night. T.G. woke up at 10:15pm and I di...

What a whirlwind week! We just finished up Missions Week at church, and we had 5 missionaries and their families from all over the world. We had lunch with all of them on Thursday and then hosted one family for supper on Friday night. Of all the ministries through our church, missions is my favorite, and I think my family's favorite, too. The kids have a bulletin board in their room that exclusively holds prayer cards for missionaries. The kids know each missionary on the board and love adding new prayer cards. They enjoyed learning about the people and places each of the missionaries are striving to bring the gospel to during Missions Conference this week, and we are all sad it's over. But, it was a sort of reunion for us because we got to spend time with the Kings, who used to live down the street from us but moved about a month ago to begin their church plant in Concord, North Carolina. They now live about 45 minutes from us, not too far, but not within walking distance like...

I took the kids to get their picture taken. . . well, pictures of their feet, anyway. The picture turned out soooooo cute! I wish I could have been able to afford the wall-size portrait. Instead, I settled for a smaller framed version. Teagan is doing awesome. She is still sleeping great, especially at night. She has been going 5-7 hours at night, meaning TJ hasn't had to get up with her for a few days. :) I, on the other hand, am still absolutely exhausted. I haven't been getting to bed until between 11:30 and midnight, and then Teagan wakes between 3:30 and 4:30am to feed. Thursday she woke at 4:30 and didn't go back down until 5:15am. My alarm goes off at 5:30. Needless to say, I didn't go back to bed and am still suffering from the lack of sleep. I am slowly beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as school work goes. I am teaching a lot and learning so much. I also had a sort of epiphany moment regarding a solution for my own kids. I can'...