Magical Moment of the Day

Sitting in my rocker, I gaze through a slit in the blinds, taking in the beautiful new morning, feeling a tiny squeeze on my finger as I cradle this sweet boy and listen to him gulp hungrily at my breast.

Let the Games Begin!

Remember that little burrito-boy I brought home from the hospital? I know I am way behind on pictures and I promise to post more soon, but let's just fast forward 5 and a half months and see what he's been up to. Rolling from front to back and back to front, scooting, grabbing, pulling, pushing....oh boy, diaper changes just got a whole lot more interesting. This guy is mobile!

(Click the arrow to see him in action)

Surprise, Surprise!

Well, if you didn't already know that my husband is the coolest, you will after you read what he did for me a while back. As some of you may have heard from me in the past, Xee is quite terrible at surprises. I mean, he loves to surprise me, but cannot contain himself and begins to drop hints the minute he has something in mind. He tells me he has a surprise for me and I always end up guessing it.

So when he said he had a huge one planned for my birthday/Mother's Day/Christmas planned, he did his best not to give it away. He said things like, "You can't take it back, Queen of Returns!" to try and throw me off. As usual, I plugged my ears, "La la la la..." I happen to like surprises and I don't ever want to ruin them.

Boy oh boy did this guy have a whopper for me! He threw me off by giving me a gift certificate for a day spa, along with a nice, little technical gadget. Then a few days later, the doorbell rang while I was "resting my eyes". With eyes half-open I shuffled to the door, expecting to tell the neighborhood kids that it wasn't a good time for Phoebe to play. Instead I saw my dear friend, Lara standing there before me, with Xee video taping behind her! A surprise indeed!

Though I was coming down with a cold, I had a lovely time with my friend for the few days she was able to visit. On her last day here, I was planning a bit of a scenic drive, when Xee called me and said he was getting off work early to join us. I was literally in the car with the kiddos buckled up, but I said, "Okay."

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Lara answered it and told me my neighbor really needed to speak with me. I told her she's just have to wait as I was sitting on the couch, nursing the baby! Poor Lara tried to convince me to come to the door, but I wasn't going to budge. So in waltzes my SISTER and her entire family, one at a time. All I could do is shake my head, and say, "No...no...no."

My husband had been in cahoots with my mom and my sister for months in preparation for their trip. Truly the surprise of a lifetime. I hadn't seen my sister in well over a year and was desperately missing her. Now here she was, arms wrapped around me. A moment I will never forget. A treasure. I couldn't even express to Xee in words the love I felt from him and for him.

I am trying to play catch-up with the chronicle of this blog. I made my sister a Smilebox slideshow of her trip and I have posted it here. A shortcut for me. Enjoy the slides! (just click the arrow, Mom)

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

To Us!

Ahem...I'd like to propose a toast

To Eleven Years of Marriage

To not-so-chance encounters

To that amazing first kiss

To a casual proposal in Old Navy

To dancing as Man and Wife

To our first home

To seven moves, to packing-tape, to many flights of stairs

To furniture assembly

To putting dining table legs on backwards!

To incredible fits of laughter

To pillow fights

To fancy dinners and fast food

To hot tea by the fire

To foot massages

To Country Music

To California, to Kauai, to Arizona, to Spain and London, to Maui, to Hawaii, to Oahu

To long road trips and books on tape

To midnight snacks and weekend movie marathons

To financial successes

To financial disasters

To joy and pain and sweat and tears

To passion

To the birth of our baby girl!

To dirty diapers, spit-up, and drool

To piggy-back rides and trips to the zoo

To bedtime stories

To little shoes at our doorstep

To the Verse O' the Day

To praise and worship, to spiritual growth!

To golf cart rides and sand between our toes

To Pilate's, to running, to swimming, to hiking, to yoga

To ice cream

To pushing a very prego me in a wheelchair through Home Depot

To the sweet smell of new babies

To our son!

To grey hairs and wrinkles and stretch marks

To growing older and a little bit wiser

To silliness

To singing out of tune

To innocence lost and regained

To mysteries yet uncovered

To dreams yet fulfilled

To holding on tight

To adventure

To friendship

To family

To Us!

The Glue

I opened up a screen to write a new post and I am just sitting here staring blankly at the screen. I am so fried. So totally fried. I often say that women are the "glue" in the family. We're the glue. And even when the glue gets sick, the glue keeps doing what she always does. Other people in the house take a nap. The glue keeps, well, being the glue. Wandering around the house in a fog, somehow managing to keep everything going. Now, I'm not saying I do it all. I just happened to be married to an awesome guy who grocery shops and does laundry and dishes too. But he is not the Mama, therefore he is not the glue.

This week has been a challenging one. I have so many little things I have wanted to chronicle here in our blog...visits from friends and family, pictures of the kids and reports of Ezra's progress. I write in my head all the time, but getting the words from my brain to the page seems like a bit of a long journey lately. I have my to-do lists. I would like to blog more, clean my house more thoroughly, possibly hang some pictures of our family on the walls. But in every day life, there are often many detours. This week is a prime example.

Phoebe went to Vacation Bible School a couple weeks ago and had an awesome time. We were so blessed to hear her learning new songs and scriptures, and just having a great time with the other kids at church. She came away gaining so much. The only thing we weren't so blessed by was the nasty virus that came home with her. Despite all my natural remedies and tinctures that would normally kick it out of her system within a day or two, she was really, really sick for over a week. We happened to have last-minute guests, some dear friends of mine from college, and poor Phoebe was just not herself. We all had an amazing time anyway.

Now, that wouldn't be so bad if Daddy hadn't gotten it too. Daddy and Phoebe seemed to be in the clear and on the mend when Mommy felt the symptoms. Then Daddy came home one morning from work and said, "My eye kind of hurts." I took one look at him and barked, "Conjunctivitis!" Pink Eye!!! We tried to quarantine Daddy, but it was too late. The very next morning little Ezra woke up with a very swollen, very pink, little eye...and a deep cough...and runny nose. And to top it all off, what I had summed up to be mere drool rash on his face, with closer examination, saw that it covered his entire body. A terrible case of Eczema out of the blue (which I believe is due to me allowing myself to reintroduce more chocolate into my diet...so SIGH, I will have to back off once more from this indulgence). Remember, this poor little dude is teething as well!

So the days have blurred together with doctor's visits and non-stop treatments. In between ushering out a slew of natural remedies to myself or others, we have been occupied with coaxing remedies into Ezra's mouth, rubbing creams on his body and ointment in his eyes, excessive (but necessary) hand-washing, sanitizing toys, teethers, sheets, etc, and me shouting, "Don't touch your brother!" In the meantime, Phoebe's appetite came back full-force, following the baby's growth spurt, has been going through one of her own. She is insatiable and I feel like I am FEEDING people at every moment of the day! Phew! Now everyone seems to be on the mend, though it is taking extra long for me, since the definition of "sleep" eludes me at the moment.

But this is not a list of complaints, as it may seem. I woke up feeling blessed. And thankful! So very thankful that these challenges are temporary. I cannot imagine what it is like for parents with terminally ill children, or impoverished children. Watching my kiddos suffer these past couple weeks has been terrible. I'm so thankful they are healthy. So thankful for all we've been blessed with.

I tell ya, it's not easy being the Wanted One. It can be so overwhelming when it seems that everyone needs something from me all at once. Xee and I have this little saying...well, it's my saying, but he agrees. You might hear me say sometime, "Even the fish is looking at me!" Have you ever walked past a fishbowl and watched their behavior? They always appear to be hungry, frantically swimming to and fro, looking to you to sprinkle more food at the top. Or so it seems. That really resonates with me as a mom.

At some point this week I told Phoebe she needed to go to be early because "sleep is the best medicine." She was quick to reply, "Mommies are the best medicine!" Music to my ears. My magical moment of the day, the week, the century! It is not easy being the glue. But I have to say that it can be so darn wonderful. There are so many blissful moments in the mayhem. Keeping my eyes open to see them is the important part. And really, I am not the glue. Jesus Christ is the glue in our home. I only pray that His love is at the heart of all I do, as I take center-stage in our home. I take a deep breath....and I pray. Then I get to work. There's laundry to do!

Hold Your Horses

Yeah, yeah. I know. I AM still here. Did I mention that Ezra is teething? And that he just went through a major growth spurt that has left me very sleep deprived for the last month or so? And since my laptop crashed months ago, I had been using Xee's, which is now on the fritz as well. So...Xee bought me (us) a new MacBook Pro and I can't wait for him to transfer our pictures to it. It will be so much faster getting you all recent pics of the kiddos.

Happy Independence Day! No fireworks for me...just sleep...I hope!