On Letting Go

Lately I've realized just how quickly time has gone by.  I look at Aric and I know our baby/toddler/preschool days are rapidly coming to an end.  On Tuesday I was online researching information about which elementary he will attend this fall.  I also printed out the application for him to attend Kindergarten Round-Up this April.  It was a tearful day for me.  On one hand I want to hold onto him forever.  On the other I know that I need to teach him to be self-sufficient and let him be his own person.  He needs to learn how to function on his own and not be dependent on us.  Right now I'm praying for wisdom on whether sending him to half-day kindergarten is the best or if a full day is what he really needs.

The truth is he is growing up.  He can read, he can write, he can do math problems and so much more.  Yesterday he learned how to tie his shoes.

...and was rewarded for his efforts:

I want the best for him as he grows up and begins to expand his world.  As a mother all I can do is support him, teach him, pray for him and not hold on too tight when it's time to let him go.  Now if you'll excuse me I need to go cry some more. 

Hair

Last Friday I put Kellyn's hair up in her first pigtails.  I was excited, because it's finally long enough.

She was not so excited.

The pig tails lasted long enough for me to take photos and then they came out.  She was pretty upset with them.  I'll try again this summer when it's hot and she doesn't mind having her hair up off of her neck.

The same day I took the kids to the grocery store.  While there a store employee approached us and asked, "How are you ladies doing today?"  I didn't correct him and he eventually wandered off.  Aric, however, was quite perturbed with being called a lady.  That's when I realized that as a parent, it is not acceptable for me to avoid confrontation because I don't want to make me or anyone else uncomfortable.  As a parent it is my job to defend and protect my children.  I dropped the ball by not correcting the employee that Aric is a boy.  I won't make the same mistake next time.

Afterwards I took Aric to have his hair cut.  We've been needing to do it for awhile, and Aric has asked to have his hair a bit shorter.

Now it is out of his eyes and he is much happier.

Treasuring Every Moment

I've been unintentionally absent this past week.  It's not that I didn't have anything to say,  I had much to say.  It's that last Sunday night we had a huge wake up call and ever since I've been cherishing the moments with Aric and Kellyn.  Every time I look at them my heart overflows with love.  I just want to hold them and enjoy every precious moment that God gives me with them.

Last Sunday, as usual, we tucked the kids into bed and went downstairs.  I went back to sewing and Ryan was in the kitchen. About 5-10 minutes after we tucked them in I heard a huge thud upstairs.  It wasn't a normal I dropped my water/toy/book, etc, kind of thud it sounded like a body fell.  I ran upstairs to find Kellyn coming out of the bedroom crying.  She was inconsolable.  I held her on the couch, while Aric explained to Ryan what happened.  Apparently after we tucked them in, Kellyn climbed into Aric's bed, the top bunk, and was sitting there talking and playing with him.  She leaned backwards and fell head first over the railing.  She landed on top of her head.

We knew by the way she was acting that it was a terrible fall.  She was clingy, when I set her down to walk over to Ryan, she went limp and wouldn't walk.  We knew this wasn't normal behavior and decided to take her to the ER.  We went to the ER as a family, because we knew there was no way I would have been able to check her in at the front desk over the volume of her crying and screaming.

I sat down with her in the waiting room while Ryan checked her in.  Ryan answered the usual questions, and we were told to take a seat.  Before Ryan could sit down with us, Kellyn began to projectile vomit into my lap and purse.  It's amazing how quickly everyone moves when that begins to happen.  Ryan took Aric back home to get us a change of clothes, while Kellyn and I were rushed back.  The nurses quickly checked her in, gave us hospital gowns to change into and put Kellyn in a bed.

Kellyn answered questions, cried, remembered what happened, what she had for dinner, cried some more and kept telling us she wanted to go home to take a shower and sleep in daddy and mommy's bed.  As a precautionary measure she had a Ct scan done or in simpler terms they looked at her head in a big doughnut.  Unfortunately for Kellyn, they had to strap her down on a papoose board.  She struggled against being strapped down, but did remarkably well and even wanted her picture taken so she could see how silly she looked.

Long story short, she was diagnosed with a concussion and was released from the hospital after midnight.  We all went home, showered, put on clean clothes and fell asleep in daddy and mommy's bed.  Ryan stayed home from work the next day and dismantled the bunk beds.  The kids are now sleeping in twin beds in their own bedrooms.

Ever since I've been treasuring the little moments and thanking God for the precious lives he entrusted us with.

Things Heard Around Here

Last night I was in the kitchen mopping the floor when Kellyn came in and said, "This is my beach house and my baby is in the closet."

It made me feel like I was "the help".  For the record she did not learn about keeping babies in the closet from me.

Colorado

At the beginning of the month, Ryan and I went on a trip to Colorado.  My parents stayed at our house to take care of our kids, giving us four nights away just to ourselves.  It was our first trip away without kids, a weird, but wonderful experience.

We have had this trip in the planning stages for two years.  It was a big celebration for our tenth anniversary.  We headed to Breckenridge, CO, where we had honeymooned ten years ago, for a week of skiing.  Unfortunately the week before, I aggravated my knee and was having enough problems with it that I questioned the wisdom of skiing.  Thankfully there are other things to do besides skiing.

We spent time walking around the shops in downtown Breckenridge, we did some outlet shopping, saw a few movies, went snowmobiling, and snowboarding.  Yes, I said snowboarding.  In a moment of pure wisdom I decided after doing research, of course, that snowboarding would be easier on my knees than skiing. 

I've snowboarded before, but it was twelve years ago.  I stink at it, which I conveniently forgot just how bad I am at it.  I was reminded all too well.  We had fun, even went down some green runs a few times.  On our last run of the day I fell hard on my butt.  Really hard.  I remember sitting there for a moment or two trying to gather myself together and get back up.  It turns out that I actually fractured my tail bone in that fall, a souvenir from our trip that I could have done without.

In spite of that it was a wonderful trip.  Ryan and I were able to sit and talk, reconnect, and have meaningful conversations without a million interruptions from the kids.  I think it was a trip that we both will cherish.  And next time... I'll just go skiing.

Things Heard Around Here

Me: Kellyn it's not 7 yet, you need to go back to bed.

Kellyn: I'm just pretending it's 7.

I'm glad that Kellyn has a fantastic imagination and likes to pretend.  I'm not sure how much I enjoy her imagination at 6:30 when I'm trying to enjoy my first cup of coffee in peace.  I guess you can't have everything.

The Quilt

I have spent the New Year enjoying my family, catching up on housework, preparing for a K-State Bowl game watching party, getting ready for an anniversary trip to Colorado, and sewing.  After a year, I finally made and finished Aric a quilt. 

It went from this:

To this:

 

It started out as a dinosaur quilt, but over the past six months I wondered if maybe the dinosaurs would be quickly outgrown.  Star Wars seemed like a better, longer-lasting choice.  I previously decided my first quilt top was not going well.  It was an ambitious pattern for a first time quilt.  After research, I decided a rag quilt might be a better project for me.  It was.

I even like how the all red back turned out.

Now all we have to do is turn the play room back into Aric's bedroom.  But that is a project for another day...