Life Changes

2014 has been a year of major changes, life, illness, death.

February 5th we welcomed Lincoln Douglas to our family! #3 weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long. A sweet, perfect little boy. He liked to sleep during the day and snuggle at night wide awake, it was bitter cold and snuggles were nice!

11 days later Dad called and my world crashed down. It was a Sunday. Mom had a stroke or as was determined hours later a brain anerusym. Layton asked me "will grannie be ok", all I could do was cry...I wanted to comfort him but could not lie to him..."Layton, I don't know, we have to hope for the best" was all I could choke out through tears. 2 weeks in SICU with some of the very best medical professionals..(nurses hardly feels adequate the describe the level of care, professionalism, and compassion offered), brain surgery to coil the bleed, highs, lows, the unknown, life was a challenge with a new born and sick parent all away from home in a hotel. March 5 Mom we said our final goodbye, and she was pronounced brain dead and we donated her organs. The harvest of liver, kidneys, and eyes took place March 6. We laid her to rest March 10, one of the saddest days of my life.

Through the two weeks of sickness I have never felt so close to my Dad and Sister. Talking several times a day, crying together, laughing together, all scared and sorting through our emotions. We didn't know how much if ever she would recover, we learned a lot about brains, brain injury, medicine and intensive care. The outpouring of love, support, prayer, kindness was astounding, overwhelming, refreshing, telling, comforting, the list could go on. Weeks later I still talk to Dad at least once a day..

More feelings, emotions, events to come...

November Thankfulness!

Nov 1 - God
Nov 2 - Family - Evan, Layton, Julia and my extended Family!
Nov 3 - Good Health and our wonderful Doctors!
Nov 4 - My Mary Kay
Nov 5 - Living in a small town
Nov 6 - Old friends
Nov 7- a comfortable bed
Nov 8 - my Grandma Venda's sense of humor
Nov 9 - fall colors
Nov 10 - the new redbox of drinks in Wendy's
Nov 11 - VETERANS!
Nov 12 - a car getting 30 mpg, good weather,a wonderful dr, and sweet pharmacy staff!
Nov 13 - the library and books
Nov 14 - sunny days in November
Nov 15 - 4 day school week
Nov 16 - the innocence of children
Nov 17 - pianos, even though I don't play...the music soothes me
Nov 18 - Robert and Marilyn
Nov 19 - being a stay at home mom, and the fact Evan is around more in the winter
Nov 20 - modern technology
Nov 21 - guardian angels, Kleenex, emts, firemen and firewomen
Nov 22 - my sister in law Christy
Nov 23 - quiet morning to reflect, read and write
Nov 24 - Game night
Nov 25 - the power of prayer and the healing of hugs!
Nov 26 - my Dad
Nov 27 - therapy, knowing what my soul needs
Nov 28 - Thanksgiving! An abundance of food, loving family, tears
Nov 29 - shopping, even though we avoid the frenzy!
Nov 30 - Christmas Lights and the un bridled excitement of kids to decorate for Christmas,

One week!

Dare I say it? One week! Julia was potty trained in one week! In the last four days we have only had two accidents and only two poo accidents in one week!!! Hooray for little girl! She has even started telling me or going to the bathroom on her own versus waiting on me to take her!!

She turned the corner on Wednesday, determined to keep her pretty princess undies dry! Great motivation, plus marshmallows.

On a funny note, she has her own potty chair at the shop.....a broken cinder block! To me a little cold and rough but a throne to her!

Potty Training Take 2

Three days, some success, many accidents, much additional laundry, along with a case of cabin fever!!! We started seriously potty training Julia Sunday afternoon, she is doing great....as long as we take her. She has yet to tell us when she needs to go and only has gone once on her own. Any advice?

Sunday night to Wednesday morning we have stayed home! She only wears a pull up for nap time and a diaper at night, all other times she has been in pretty undies!!!! Through all the accidents, wardrobe changes; the extra hugs and cuteness make the challenge all worth it! Today we ventured to town for groceries and to pick Layton up from school, she made did great with no accidents and using public toilets!

One positive note about pregnancy bladder, if I need to go, so does the toddler bladder!!

Stay tuned to see the results, will she be out of diapers by February when #3 arrives?

WIND...W.I.N.D

THE WIND IS BLOWING! The wind is blowing extremely hard today....makes you take stock and perspective; especially after one mopped the floor this morning.

In my world wind
-makes dirt and fields blow
-moves tumble weeds (sometimes to better places, sometimes to more work kind of places)
-makes all of us a little more edgy and grumpy
-creates a terrible hair day but a good excuse for a ponytail
-gives us a reason to watch movies and cartoons more than 2 hours
-perfect fort building
-good purpose to dust and mop after it all settles
-usually blows in warmer or cooler air
-takes the flies away
-realize if the kids had a trampoline it would be a land boat complete with a giant sail
-reminds us to secure down patio chairs, grill covers and put away lawn chairs
-BAKE, COOK, and WARM the house
-remember god is good and gives us all experiences

Random

Nothing overly funny, witty, or charming seems to be coming to mind...only randomness today.

*Our normal Labor Day weekend is typically spent drilling wheat, a weekend full of labor. Normal right? The second hardest farm labor on labor day weekend, makes perfect sense to me! This year started the same but BAM, it rained!! Over an inch on all of our fields, so Monday we took a day trip to the lake! Layton and Julia both went on their first tube rides, Layton got to help drive, Daddy tubed (he did a scorpion in the water :) ) and Mommy, I enjoyed the beach. It's so relaxing to walk along look for shells, rocks and watch the boats...

*We should have stayed at the lake! Tuesday brought two parts runs to Cheyenne Wells, the need for a new tractor starter (UPS from Garden City) and a blown semi tire (requiring a trip to Lamar for 2 new tires)....we are blessed to cultivate the land and feed the masses is my mantra on those days!!!

*Our delivering Dr in Scott City agreed to take us again! HOORAY!! Yes, we have a prenatal Dr and a different delivery Dr due to the shortage of Drs in Tribune. Another prayer answered!!

*Layton has done wonderful with Pre-K! His only trouble seems to be learning names. A very difficult task with 14 classmates plus a different set of kids on the bus. There is a little boy who sits with him on the bus every day, three weeks into school (after asking each day if he learned his name)...Layton proudly tells me he learned his name is "Franklin". My mind is a little skeptical as there is a cartoon turtle named Franklin, but I give him the benefit of the doubt, for a day...then he tells me "no, no, Franklin isn't right, it's Quintin"...they are close....I still have yet to 100% confirm which little girl walked him to class for the first two weeks....bless their hearts for being such good, caring friends to Layton!

*Today was Julia and my first solo library trip! She did well but only played 3 of the 8 various stations. She was content to fish, create with play dough, and play kitchen...it was much calmer with 1 versus 2 kids. Potty training might be on the horizon yet, we tried last week but life goes on! We will master it, we will master it, we will master it (hopefully before February!)


*My deep thought...normally I stay away from political topics (those who know my husband know why....he is very intelligent and likes to debate) why should we support Syria attacking Syria when we have our own battle at home with Obama Care. 

Changes at our House

August 20 came! Layton started Pre-K! The bus comes to get him and brings him home! Changes are abound at our house. Julia and I are settling gradually into a new routine while Layton is at school each morning. We are now officially back into a schedule, setting alarm clocks, firm bedtimes, and loving it!

My new resolution is to be up, showered, and dressed before I need to get Layton up at 6:10, then we can fix breakfast together, chat about the day and spend a few quiet minutes together! So far so good. The bus comes at 6:50 and Layton is so excited to see his driver each morning! Plus he has a friend sitting with him (not sure of the name though :) ) and he asks another fellow bus rider to walk him to class so he doesn't get lost. So Sweet!! At the end of each trip home he thanks the driver for the ride home!

Julia and I started potty training today. One trip + one success = marshmallows!! We are trying the alarm method to remind us both...we shall see.....

With my mornings (6:50 to 12:00) with only one kid, maybe I will blog more frequently and regularly!

Stay tuned....