John Owen Has A Birthday...We're So Glad!!

Well, this past Saturday marked the 6th birthday of my wonderful, no longer a baby, big boy, John Owen! On the night before his birthday as we were putting him to bed, I took out his baby book, and we spent several minutes going through and looking at the story of his birth! In the book I have placed the ultrasound pictures we viewed as God created his every part, captions detailing how we felt about the experience of becoming parents, and other special moments and pictures prior to his coming into this world! And as I approached the page announcing his birthday, April 25th, I was overcome with disbelief that the beautiful baby boy in those pictures now sat beside me as a handsome 6 year old boy! My mind raced as I thought about 6 more years like these and he'll be 12! Then 6 more and he'll be 18!! What in world?!I could tell from the look on Jan's face that he was thinking the same thing! Jan and I both are so lucky to have John Owen. He is so smart and sensitive and well-liked by his friends...he's just great to be around! He's always loved his mommy, loved to hold my hair...and still does, but probably wouldn't want his "big" friends to know that!:-) He is so good at many things...reading, playing baseball, singing, board games, video games, & driving his little brother around in his jeep!

I am just amazed at his abilities everyday! Even when he's sick, he's a good patient! I feel overwhelmingly blessed to have John Owen, and I am so thankful that he was (and will always be) my 1st baby!

We held his birthday party on Sunday since we were trying to avoid baseball games on Saturday, and we had so much fun! John Owen requested a "Black Spiderman" cake, and he informed me that he would be dressed as "Black Spiderman," so we decided to ask his guests to dress up as whatever they wanted to be for the party. (Like Halloween in April!):-) It was so cute to see them all dressed up and playing in the backyard! It was rather warm for some of the costumes, but everyone was a good sport about it.

Here's a picture of the group...I'll have to post more pics from the party after I get my camera back from my husband who has borrowed it for work!:-)

Happy Birthday, John Owen! You hold a special place in my heart. After all, you made me a "Mommy!" We love you!

Mommy Marathon

Lately my mind has been plagued by the fact that I can't seem to find the time to exercise. I know what you are thinking cause I have been thinking the same thing...with 3 kids, TIME is VERY limited! I used to be a fairly decent athlete, and I have always enjoyed exercising, but since Mary Claire arrived last May, exercising has taken a backseat to other things in my life! I admire my friend, Laura, for her dedication to running. I wish I could run a real marathon and have even toyed around with the idea of slowly getting myself back in shape and trying a marathon sometime in the future. (It's always good to set a goal, right?) So, with this in mind and with the finalization of my nursing Mary Claire, I decided to mark this past Monday as my 1st day of training! I was up a little before 6:00 a.m. (which my husband couldn't believe!) and was out the door! I loved being out there by myself in the early morning. Personally, I think it's the best time to walk or run. It's gonna have to be cause this is the only time I can seem to make right now!

I thought to myself...this is good! I'll do this everyday this week! Maybe a marathon IS in my future! I was truly excited! I went back and got ready for the day. Little did I know that God had another marathon in mind for me this week!

Monday went like this...Boys off to school, Mary Claire and Mommy to work, juggle office work and feeding Mary Claire breakfast, call dr. to tell them Jonah's neck was still hurting him, juggle more office work, ordered cake and cookies for John Owen's bday party, put Mary Claire down for a.m. nap, more office work, told Jan I was taking Jonah for neck x-ray per Dr. Davis, picked up boys from school, ran home, sweet Andi Katherine was there to take over with John Owen and Mary Claire while I tried to get Jonah back into the car to go the dr.(He was hurting and wasn't a happy camper!) I left with Jonah and picked up Jan who had decided he wanted to go with us to see what the dr. found out about Jonah's neck and fever that we had been dealing with for now 6 days! Whew!

2:30 xray at Meth. Germantown, 3:20 with Dr. Davis...who informed us Jonah would be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and a CT scan because something "hazy" had shown up on his x-ray! I think it all seemed to happen so fast that I didn't have time to think about it! You know...no real reaction time!

We got back in the car, headed back to the hosptial, and checked my sweet Jonah into the same room he had stayed in for his tonsillectomy 2 months ago! What fate! That we would be in the same room! He remembered it and climbed right up in the bed and then asked if he could watch a movie...good grief!:-)

An IV was started, and I drove home QUICKLY to get clothes for Jonah and myself because we were told it might be a 2 night stay, plus I had to get some things squared away for the other 2 kiddos! I drove back to the hospital only to find out he had already had the CT scan and Dr. Klugg had called to diagnose Jonah with abscessed lymph nodes! I finally ate something although I didnt really have the appetite for it. I think we finally went to sleep some where around 10:45 or 11:00! Of course, I didn't sleep well, fearful of Jonah thrashing about in his sleep and IV coming out! And who can sleep with all the beeping and nurses coming in and out all night?

And so then from Monday to Thursday morning, I was there with Jonah as he received his medicine, underwent another CT scan, and believe me when I say we BOTH suffered from the side effects of the steroid medicine he was on! "Steriod Monster" (Why must this medicine have this effect on people?)

Home on Thursday (finally) and then it was off to the stores to play catch up on getting ready for John Owen's birthday! Picked John Owen from school, ran to Naifeh's to let him pick out cupcakes to take to class the next day, ran home, got everybody down for a nap, then started on getting house cleaned up and ready for the party. A couple of hours later, John Owen had his first baseball game of the season...a double header!!!

So, here I am, running what I am calling my "Mommy Marathon". I guess that's life, huh? My life anyway! So, maybe this is God's way of preparing me for my goal of running a REAL marathon someday. Maybe I'll get around to it, maybe I won't. One thing's for sure, I probably be runnin' in the "Mommy Marathon" for a while. I'll probably be runnin' so long, I won't know what to do when it stops. I can so see myself, like Forrest Gump when he stopped running all that way and someone asked him, "What ya' gonna do now?"

Hard to Believe

The family that explores together...

Down, down, down...into the cave we go!

This past Friday we made a VERY last minute decision to get out of town and enjoy a short family trip to Nashville and Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Jan and I used to do "last minute trips" alot before we had children. It was so much fun! We'd get a map and talk about places we'd never been, and then just GO! We had some great trips! You know, it's hard to believe that even after adding three more people to "the mix", we can still manage to pull off a GREAT last minute trip! A rush of thoughts come to me as I think about this past weekend among other things, so bear with me as I unload the thoughts encased in this brain of mine...

Hard to believe...

That I have given birth to 3 "people" in 5 years!

Dining at the Aquarium at Opry Mills

That I still love to do just about anything with the guy I married after ALMOST 12 years together! :-) (We started dating 12 years ago this month!)

That my "baby" will turn 6 years old at the end of this month! And that the last time I visited Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, he was but a tiny creation still yet formed in me!!

That the last time I stayed in Nashville, my Jonah was just a little over a year old...and now he's almost 4!

Have boys? Will climb!!

Hard to believe that time could ever pass so fast!

Hard to believe...

That Mary Claire just spent her first night in a hotel, took her first family trip, and acted better than the 3 year old! hehe

That we spent Easter Sunday not in a church building where we usually are, but together... having our own Easter Sunday service in our pajamas with breakfast in our hotel room.

Hard to believe that He loved me so much that He made the ultimate sacrifice in allowing Jesus Christ, His Son, to die on the cross for my sins.

There are so many things that seem hard to believe, and I find myself wondering how God could have allowed Jesus to die the type of death He died! And that Jesus was even able to go through with it?! Well, that's beyond belief!

Lord, I can hardly believe all that You did for me. You walked this earth so I might one day walk with You in heaven. Thank you for giving me so much. Amen.

I was blessed to have spent a wonderful weekend with my family and reminded that time together is so very special! And even though this was the first time I ever remember NOT being dressed in my Easter best and sitting in a church, I think this will always be a weekend I will never forget. My soul felt revived! An Easter with the ones God has blessed my life with, taught me unconditional love through, and showed me with their lives what an awesome God we serve! An Easter where I delivered the message and story of Jesus and His death on the cross and how He rose again just as He said He would. I hope everyone had an equally reviving Easter as well!

Oh, and here's some more shots from our trip!

Jonah searching under rocks for "mammothis"(translation-mammoths)

(Even after my thorough explanation that mammoths were extinct.)

Mommy: "There are no more mammoths roaming the earth, Jonah. They all died off many, many years ago."

Jonah: "I bet I can find one under this rock, Mommy!"

Who can climb their way out?

My 1st experience in go-cart racing!

Jan and Jonah get their race on!