Happy Birthday to Nathan!
What a wonderful day we spent celebrating the 6th year of a miracle that was given to us on Oct 24th, 2006!
Nathan enjoyed his special day at school surrounded by friends and teachers that just adore him. No one can love him more then his family though! I left work early, headed over to his school and Nathan's classmates and I showered him with kind words, a birthday song and some yummy cupcakes. That evening at Nathan's request, we went to the Cheesecake Factory to indulge in some rich foods and conversation.
Nathan's birth history somehow came up and for the first time, Trevor and Jackson shared some of their memories about that time. Trevor was only 3 yrs old and Jackson was only 15 months old. As hard as it was to hear Trevor trying to put words together that appropriately expressed how he felt then, it was very interesting to hear what he remembers about that difficult time in all of our lives. He remembers Nathan being in the hospital the first time (when he was born and in the NICU), he remembers when Nathan had to be brought back to the hospital just a few weeks after we had just finally been able to bring him home since birth and he remembers the first time he got to hold Nathan. Jackson just kind of tandem Trevor's memories. :-)
I'm glad our kids feel comfortable talking about those years and those specific trying times. I'm really glad Nathan asks questions as they come to him. Usually the questions revolve around his scars.
At age 6 you're usually just barely figuring out what you're good at and your parents sign you up for just about anything because you're exploring your gifts and talents and your possible interests. Shoot, I'm still trying to figure that stuff out myself! Not for Nathan! This kid has talents that are so crystal clear to me and since day 1 has always been very unique. Nathan has such a passion for cooking, baking, acting, designing and his attention to minute detail is unreal! He thinks of extremely deep questions and thoughts that just blow my mind and often make me think twice, 3x or more before I can get an age appropriate answer for him.
I can't say these 6 years have flown by, but I can say that I very much have enjoyed watching Nathan grow into a healthy young boy. He has so much to offer in any friendship and it's an honor to be his mom. I am privileged and blessed to have such a delightful and important role in his life.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Trevor is on a roll!
Sitting at dinner table, getting organized...
Trevor: Mommy, may I have butter on my roll?
Me: Sure
Trevor: Thanks. I like to upgrade my rolls by adding butter.
In the living room casually putting together a 550 pc puzzle...
Me: Wow guys! I finally did it, I got two pieces together!
Trevor: You did?! Good job!
Jackson: WOW! That's really good mommy!
Me: Ya, I'm averaging about 2 pieces for every 10 min.
Jackson: Ya, that's true
Me: But, at least I'm not giving up
Trevor: Ya because you're one of those people!
Me (laughing): I'm one of those people???
Trevor: Ya, you don't give up.
That last great comment made my heart happy. So glad my kids are aware that I'm not a quitter!
Trevor: Mommy, may I have butter on my roll?
Me: Sure
Trevor: Thanks. I like to upgrade my rolls by adding butter.
In the living room casually putting together a 550 pc puzzle...
Me: Wow guys! I finally did it, I got two pieces together!
Trevor: You did?! Good job!
Jackson: WOW! That's really good mommy!
Me: Ya, I'm averaging about 2 pieces for every 10 min.
Jackson: Ya, that's true
Me: But, at least I'm not giving up
Trevor: Ya because you're one of those people!
Me (laughing): I'm one of those people???
Trevor: Ya, you don't give up.
That last great comment made my heart happy. So glad my kids are aware that I'm not a quitter!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Back to School
Let's just go down the line...
Trevor: (4th grade) Quite the adjustment from lower elementary, to upper elementary. Thankfully, still no homework on the weekends...that's required at least. Although, his teacher has already attempted to do so. Nope! Not gonna happen in this household...at least for this year and hopefully next.
Math and the need for high organizational skills seem to be a lot tougher this year already. "Unfair" (naughty word in our home!) kickball teams seem to be most of Trevor's complaints. I'll take it. ;-) The highlight over the last 2.5 weeks of school has been the celebration of Trevor's birthday on a school day. This is the first! Trevor was THRILLED to have his brothers and I bring cold treats for all to share and a ride home in the family car vs. the daily school bus routine. Another highlight I nearly forgot to write, is that Trevor will be in the school orchestra and has been approved to play the trumpet! Lord help us all... :-)
Trevor is still adjusting to all the changes and it'll be a process.
Jackson: (2nd grade) LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his new school! It's amazing how many families we know there at Valley Pres. School (VPS) and yet we had no idea so many of them attended that school. We've seen families we know back from our Awana days, our own church (!), baseball and MET2 (musical the boys were in last year). Jackson sits near the front of the class and has 2 teachers majority of the week. He really enjoys all his own personal school supplies vs. the generic (but nice!) supplies he received in public school.
That leads me to my next thought. Public school vs. Private school; DANG! MAJOR DIFFERENCES! Quality of teachers so far seems comparable. However, the VPS teachers seem to have more patience and don't seem burned out or exhausted. I know it's only been a couple of days back in school but still, this is already a huge noticeable difference for us. The office staff is calm and seem to have a very good handle on all incoming and outgoing systems, families, info, etc. This is also a major difference for us. The Principal isn't running around looking like she's ready to pull her hair out...another major difference. Another difference worth mentioning is the quality of the school work. Pages aren't coming home looking like they've been photo copied about 1,000 times, it's all very related to character building and seems like work with a purpose (of course major subjects are all like that at any school, but the "fluff" assignments seem all very purposeful, not work to kill time)
Jackson is really enjoying this change, the change that he was so against for a while. He's now adjusting to the uniform policy (solid collar shirt w/ twill pants/shorts).
Nathan: (1st grade) The little man of so little words when discussing his feelings about change or something new. Wait, I think that's most men! ;-)
Nathan LOVES his very own pencil box that is the home of his very own instant hand sanitizer where he can remain as clean and germ free that he'd like (within reason, I've already had to have a discussion with his teacher about this...big brothers were present and they were classic peanut galleries about this topic as well)! Nathan loves that everything is personalized for him and his classmates; i.e. his very own coat/backpack hook with his name, desk with his name, labeled school supplies, his name on all school books, sticker chart with his name and the list could go on...
Nathan LOVES having Jackson at school with him because A.) he loves his brothers B.) this means he doesn't have to make any friends...something else I've already discussed with the teacher.
A BIG change for Nathan (and myself) is no IEP this year for Nathan. He still has one through LAUSD, but since we've switched to Private school it doesn't transfer without a legal fight and a whole lot of money for that fight. Since Nathan has done so well in school and in his previous areas of need, LAUSD and I had agreed on pulling many of his services for the 2012-2013 school year anyhow. Leaving primarily speech therapy as Nathan's main area of need. Nathan hasn't had speech therapy since the beginning of June and I've seen a little set back, but Nathan has been so happy to not have all these appointments and the hard work that goes into these therapies. So, assuming nothing major will change, we're taking this school year off from special ed services and see how Nathan does completely unassisted.
VPS also has a music program (for an additional fee of course) and Nathan couldn't be happier about the possibilities of playing the violin! So I guess our neighbors and ourselves will be hearing a whole lot of trumpet, violin and piano (Trevor and Jackson) practicing around our home. YIKES!
*Let me explain the yellow tape around the playground. It's a brand new playground that was put in over the summer. The kids couldn't play on it until the school went over the rules (which they did shortly after the 1st day of school started).
Trevor: (4th grade) Quite the adjustment from lower elementary, to upper elementary. Thankfully, still no homework on the weekends...that's required at least. Although, his teacher has already attempted to do so. Nope! Not gonna happen in this household...at least for this year and hopefully next.
Math and the need for high organizational skills seem to be a lot tougher this year already. "Unfair" (naughty word in our home!) kickball teams seem to be most of Trevor's complaints. I'll take it. ;-) The highlight over the last 2.5 weeks of school has been the celebration of Trevor's birthday on a school day. This is the first! Trevor was THRILLED to have his brothers and I bring cold treats for all to share and a ride home in the family car vs. the daily school bus routine. Another highlight I nearly forgot to write, is that Trevor will be in the school orchestra and has been approved to play the trumpet! Lord help us all... :-)
Trevor is still adjusting to all the changes and it'll be a process.
Jackson: (2nd grade) LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his new school! It's amazing how many families we know there at Valley Pres. School (VPS) and yet we had no idea so many of them attended that school. We've seen families we know back from our Awana days, our own church (!), baseball and MET2 (musical the boys were in last year). Jackson sits near the front of the class and has 2 teachers majority of the week. He really enjoys all his own personal school supplies vs. the generic (but nice!) supplies he received in public school.
That leads me to my next thought. Public school vs. Private school; DANG! MAJOR DIFFERENCES! Quality of teachers so far seems comparable. However, the VPS teachers seem to have more patience and don't seem burned out or exhausted. I know it's only been a couple of days back in school but still, this is already a huge noticeable difference for us. The office staff is calm and seem to have a very good handle on all incoming and outgoing systems, families, info, etc. This is also a major difference for us. The Principal isn't running around looking like she's ready to pull her hair out...another major difference. Another difference worth mentioning is the quality of the school work. Pages aren't coming home looking like they've been photo copied about 1,000 times, it's all very related to character building and seems like work with a purpose (of course major subjects are all like that at any school, but the "fluff" assignments seem all very purposeful, not work to kill time)
Jackson is really enjoying this change, the change that he was so against for a while. He's now adjusting to the uniform policy (solid collar shirt w/ twill pants/shorts).
Nathan: (1st grade) The little man of so little words when discussing his feelings about change or something new. Wait, I think that's most men! ;-)
Nathan LOVES his very own pencil box that is the home of his very own instant hand sanitizer where he can remain as clean and germ free that he'd like (within reason, I've already had to have a discussion with his teacher about this...big brothers were present and they were classic peanut galleries about this topic as well)! Nathan loves that everything is personalized for him and his classmates; i.e. his very own coat/backpack hook with his name, desk with his name, labeled school supplies, his name on all school books, sticker chart with his name and the list could go on...
Nathan LOVES having Jackson at school with him because A.) he loves his brothers B.) this means he doesn't have to make any friends...something else I've already discussed with the teacher.
A BIG change for Nathan (and myself) is no IEP this year for Nathan. He still has one through LAUSD, but since we've switched to Private school it doesn't transfer without a legal fight and a whole lot of money for that fight. Since Nathan has done so well in school and in his previous areas of need, LAUSD and I had agreed on pulling many of his services for the 2012-2013 school year anyhow. Leaving primarily speech therapy as Nathan's main area of need. Nathan hasn't had speech therapy since the beginning of June and I've seen a little set back, but Nathan has been so happy to not have all these appointments and the hard work that goes into these therapies. So, assuming nothing major will change, we're taking this school year off from special ed services and see how Nathan does completely unassisted.
VPS also has a music program (for an additional fee of course) and Nathan couldn't be happier about the possibilities of playing the violin! So I guess our neighbors and ourselves will be hearing a whole lot of trumpet, violin and piano (Trevor and Jackson) practicing around our home. YIKES!
*Let me explain the yellow tape around the playground. It's a brand new playground that was put in over the summer. The kids couldn't play on it until the school went over the rules (which they did shortly after the 1st day of school started).
Clever Quotes From The Kiddos
Trevor: Mommy, I think I have almost $50.00
Me: Great job!
Jackson: How much does a ladybug kit cost?
Me: About $19.99
Nathan: Trevor, I know what I want you to buy me for my birthday
Trevor: What?
Nathan: Well since you have so much money, I would like you to buy me an ant farm for my birthday.
Trevor: Nathan! I'm just a kid, I don't buy gifts that cost that much with my own money! Mommy, daddy, friends or other family members can buy that for you.
Nathan: Oh, OK.
Me: David, I need to get new bras and the store is right over here. Let's do that before dinner.
David: OK
*We arrive to the store; kids whining
Jackson to David (after seeing store window): See, there are boobs. I don't need to go into the boob store, I don't need boobs.
Me: Great job!
Jackson: How much does a ladybug kit cost?
Me: About $19.99
Nathan: Trevor, I know what I want you to buy me for my birthday
Trevor: What?
Nathan: Well since you have so much money, I would like you to buy me an ant farm for my birthday.
Trevor: Nathan! I'm just a kid, I don't buy gifts that cost that much with my own money! Mommy, daddy, friends or other family members can buy that for you.
Nathan: Oh, OK.
Me: David, I need to get new bras and the store is right over here. Let's do that before dinner.
David: OK
*We arrive to the store; kids whining
Jackson to David (after seeing store window): See, there are boobs. I don't need to go into the boob store, I don't need boobs.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
A Foolish Woman - ME!
Lately I've been in the thick of it as a mom, wife, employee, friend, etc...mostly the mom, wife and employee role. I've been faced with another season of challenges that I am still in the midst of sorting through, looking for God and His will in all of it and praying what to make of any and all of it. This seems to be a far too often trend that happens in my life. One of my sisters have pointed this out as well, things will be calm for a bit and then a big 'ol chain of challenges occur all at one time. I am grateful for the calm times and resist but then always grateful once I seem to be exiting out of the challenging time or situation, the gratitude part is what I've learned through that storm. It's growing pains really. What I've learned as an adult and certainly in the time as a mom, is that we never really do finish growing up or learning until He takes us to our final home..His home. It's amazing the responsibility as a parent we hold, when yet God is still having to parent us through this rough, dark and difficult world.
See, through my recent challenges, I have found myself doubting if I should be away from my home...working, as an employee. Even while I doubt, I continue to remind myself how strong the conviction was to be working and how for certain, without a doubt that God placed this job practically in my lap...He handed it to me; everything lined up perfectly. He answered my prayers that day when I was crying in my car to my mom about our needs and no direction for those needs...at that time. After hanging up with my mom that day, I prayed. I cried out to the Lord (see old blog post about all that), practically begging! Even when friends or family doubted my decision on working, I held tight with what I thought/is (pretty darn certain!) His will for my family and went through with it. I STEPPED OUT IN PURE FAITH!
Fast forward a few months and I have found myself miserable at my job more often than not. I'm surrounded by people who believe the clear opposite of my political believes (thank God for 2 people who shares the same political believes...for the most part), haven't yet spoken to a Christian...that I know of, bored as all heck 95% of the time, blah, blah, blah... Throughout all this, I have fires to put out at home (thankfully, not literally!), the need for regrouping is huge, and getting some answers to a long list of questions is finally starting to happen. It's been killing me to be leaving my family every morning as we're all going through this. With all this going on and with my negative behavior, I've really lost sight of God's GIFT of a job. A solution to some of our needs.
The Holy Spirit totally and completely spoke through my Pastor today during his sermon at church this morning. I realized I was/am pulling a Peter in Matthew 14:27-32!!! Ha! You see, Peter initially had so much faith and through that faith he started walking on water, towards Jesus until he started doubting and became afraid, then he started sinking and cried out "Lord, save me"! Matthew 14:30 What did Jesus do??? Did He leave him? Did He just stand there and watch? NO! He had grace and mercy on Peter! Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31
Today's sermon, the Lord's lesson to me today was stop being a doubter! He's got this; He's got ME! Let go, let God!
My Pastor said something that I actually never knew before or I guess it never really registered the way it has today. Pastor Tim said that even when it's God's will, it doesn't mean it's always going to be easy or smooth. When it does start getting rough, satan will plant thoughts of doubt in our minds and spirit because he doesn't want us to be living out God's will for us, that would mean that he (satan) is losing the battle!
Thankfully I have tools for this battle. I have prayer, my bible, prayerful friends and best of all, the Lord as my warrior. I need to take up my cross with shields of armor and continue in this battle staying focused and unweary of God's plan. I'm doing everything I can for my families' needs and I need to continue to be in prayer for that. None of this means I'll be working forever, this means that God has me exactly where He wants me right now. I cannot look backwards or side to side. Power forward with His strength, guidance and decernment.
Fave quote today:
"Ministry is always dealing with the impossible" - Pastor Tim
See, through my recent challenges, I have found myself doubting if I should be away from my home...working, as an employee. Even while I doubt, I continue to remind myself how strong the conviction was to be working and how for certain, without a doubt that God placed this job practically in my lap...He handed it to me; everything lined up perfectly. He answered my prayers that day when I was crying in my car to my mom about our needs and no direction for those needs...at that time. After hanging up with my mom that day, I prayed. I cried out to the Lord (see old blog post about all that), practically begging! Even when friends or family doubted my decision on working, I held tight with what I thought/is (pretty darn certain!) His will for my family and went through with it. I STEPPED OUT IN PURE FAITH!
Fast forward a few months and I have found myself miserable at my job more often than not. I'm surrounded by people who believe the clear opposite of my political believes (thank God for 2 people who shares the same political believes...for the most part), haven't yet spoken to a Christian...that I know of, bored as all heck 95% of the time, blah, blah, blah... Throughout all this, I have fires to put out at home (thankfully, not literally!), the need for regrouping is huge, and getting some answers to a long list of questions is finally starting to happen. It's been killing me to be leaving my family every morning as we're all going through this. With all this going on and with my negative behavior, I've really lost sight of God's GIFT of a job. A solution to some of our needs.
The Holy Spirit totally and completely spoke through my Pastor today during his sermon at church this morning. I realized I was/am pulling a Peter in Matthew 14:27-32!!! Ha! You see, Peter initially had so much faith and through that faith he started walking on water, towards Jesus until he started doubting and became afraid, then he started sinking and cried out "Lord, save me"! Matthew 14:30 What did Jesus do??? Did He leave him? Did He just stand there and watch? NO! He had grace and mercy on Peter! Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31
Today's sermon, the Lord's lesson to me today was stop being a doubter! He's got this; He's got ME! Let go, let God!
My Pastor said something that I actually never knew before or I guess it never really registered the way it has today. Pastor Tim said that even when it's God's will, it doesn't mean it's always going to be easy or smooth. When it does start getting rough, satan will plant thoughts of doubt in our minds and spirit because he doesn't want us to be living out God's will for us, that would mean that he (satan) is losing the battle!
Thankfully I have tools for this battle. I have prayer, my bible, prayerful friends and best of all, the Lord as my warrior. I need to take up my cross with shields of armor and continue in this battle staying focused and unweary of God's plan. I'm doing everything I can for my families' needs and I need to continue to be in prayer for that. None of this means I'll be working forever, this means that God has me exactly where He wants me right now. I cannot look backwards or side to side. Power forward with His strength, guidance and decernment.
Fave quote today:
"Ministry is always dealing with the impossible" - Pastor Tim
Monday, July 2, 2012
Not Packing Our Bags Quite Yet...
...BUT...hopefully sometime soon...or ever. Last Fall thru the end of the year, last year, I felt led and a desire was placed in my heart to go on a missions trip and possibly quite a few. I've prayed about it and talked to David about it and felt the Lord telling me to get our passports, but I haven't done so. YIKES! The New Year began and I got swept up with everyday life and then before I knew it, I started working full time so my heart has been at bay with that topic with the whirlwind of life filling all my thoughts. Over the last month God has been knocking on my heart and speaking a little louder this time. I feel privilleged that God has approached me about this yet a 2nd time and hasn't just moved on and that I missed out on a really cool blessing, to bless others and show obedience to Christ.
My first step was on Saturday. On our way to lunch, we were approaching a Post Office (yes, they still have them!) and last minute, I asked David to pull over so I could run inside real quick. I ran inside and grabbed 5 passport applications. This is the first step in my obedience and quite a huge one if you ask me! :-)
David, Trevor and Jackson are on board for a missions trip and have been for a while. Nathan? The jury is still out on his thoughts. :-) Not sure if David has a specific place in mind, but we both have agreed that Haiti sounds pretty perfect to start. Trevor wants to go to India, Jackson is a die hard fan of Haiti. Haiti was all that Jackson could talk about for about a month!
I am walking out in faith on this. We don't have the money for a missions trip (don't even know how that works) and time off work would be difficult for both David and I. HOWEVER, I'm talking about God here! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR OUR GOD. He would have never placed this desire and speak so clear to me about this if it weren't possible. My attitude is, we will apply for passports and go through that process so that way, when God says 'GO', we're ready and we're going with our passports.
My first step was on Saturday. On our way to lunch, we were approaching a Post Office (yes, they still have them!) and last minute, I asked David to pull over so I could run inside real quick. I ran inside and grabbed 5 passport applications. This is the first step in my obedience and quite a huge one if you ask me! :-)
David, Trevor and Jackson are on board for a missions trip and have been for a while. Nathan? The jury is still out on his thoughts. :-) Not sure if David has a specific place in mind, but we both have agreed that Haiti sounds pretty perfect to start. Trevor wants to go to India, Jackson is a die hard fan of Haiti. Haiti was all that Jackson could talk about for about a month!
I am walking out in faith on this. We don't have the money for a missions trip (don't even know how that works) and time off work would be difficult for both David and I. HOWEVER, I'm talking about God here! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR OUR GOD. He would have never placed this desire and speak so clear to me about this if it weren't possible. My attitude is, we will apply for passports and go through that process so that way, when God says 'GO', we're ready and we're going with our passports.
Just So Thankful!
In the spirit of feeling the need to stay positive even during challenging times; I must say, I am so thankful for the understanding and compassion that people in the community continue to show my family and I while I am now a working mom.
Being as though it's summer time, now is the time that I like to make special appointments for the boys such as the dentist, eye Dr, with Trevor and Jackson's birthdays' falling in the summer, this also includes their annual physical. Well, Tammy has taken the boys to the dentist (this was a new dentist to us so I had already filled out the paper work ahead of time and faxed in our insurance info) and then just today, Trevor to the eye Dr (who sees him/us all the time so no biggie) and I have got say, our professionals are SO CARING AND KIND!!! They both have called me after to explain everything and give me their professional opinions and game plans. This is just AMAZING to me and clearly a whole lot of grace! Big bummer that I cannot be there myself to comfort my kids (if needed) during the appointment but we do discuss it before I leave for work and then we go over any questions they have then too. But to be able to hear 1st hand from the Dr's right after the appointments is just so appreciated! The other cool thing is that their Pediatrician's office is open on Saturdays so I can/have make/made their physicals on a Saturday which is just so awesome so that way I can attend w/out taking time off work and be able to get my questions answered in person...and most importantly, be there for my little men during their Dr appointment.
My heart is filled with gratitude.
Being as though it's summer time, now is the time that I like to make special appointments for the boys such as the dentist, eye Dr, with Trevor and Jackson's birthdays' falling in the summer, this also includes their annual physical. Well, Tammy has taken the boys to the dentist (this was a new dentist to us so I had already filled out the paper work ahead of time and faxed in our insurance info) and then just today, Trevor to the eye Dr (who sees him/us all the time so no biggie) and I have got say, our professionals are SO CARING AND KIND!!! They both have called me after to explain everything and give me their professional opinions and game plans. This is just AMAZING to me and clearly a whole lot of grace! Big bummer that I cannot be there myself to comfort my kids (if needed) during the appointment but we do discuss it before I leave for work and then we go over any questions they have then too. But to be able to hear 1st hand from the Dr's right after the appointments is just so appreciated! The other cool thing is that their Pediatrician's office is open on Saturdays so I can/have make/made their physicals on a Saturday which is just so awesome so that way I can attend w/out taking time off work and be able to get my questions answered in person...and most importantly, be there for my little men during their Dr appointment.
My heart is filled with gratitude.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)