Almost Wordless Wednesday--Running Buddy

My son and I after his first 10K

Within the last year, my oldest has taken up running races with me.  Usually it entails him rolling out of bed minutes before I leave, scarfing down a quick breakfast, and totally smoking me in the race.  At the end of his first race he said, "Mama, where were you? I was waiting for you and I was getting a little worried because you were taking so long!"  Yeah, kid, I run a LOT slower than you do!

Ever since that first 5K race, we realized that he is a natural runner and has run several 5Ks, a 5-miler, and most recently a 10K with me. And by "with me" I mean, we travel together, the starter goes off, and he's gone.  Several times he has said that he'll start with me and then take off. Hasn't happened yet. I think the adrenaline gets to him and he's gone.

I registered him for rec Cross Country. He only has to run a mile and I told him that it was good for him to work on his speed work.  We have a 5K to sign up for and I realize that it is less than 10 days away and I really should sign up for it ASAP!  I am happy to have a running buddy and that my sweet boy has found something that he enjoys.  He enjoys the race and his aunt made him an awesome bib hanger/chalkboard where he can write down his race times. I love that this is something that he and I can do this together. I strive to look for something to do with each of my children and to partake in their interests. Whether it's racing with #1, coloring in our favorite coloring books with #2, playing legos with #3, or watching Cinderella over and over again with #4. As they age, I'm sure their interests will change and I hope I can keep up.

Mama's Heart Breaks Just a Little

My sweet and goofy Boogie

We've been through some big transitions in the last year.  Bean was born just a little over a year ago and while I was learning to navigate post-partum and mothering 4 children I had to learn to navigate the IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) process from the other side of the table. Being an educator, I knew the process, being a mother who has a child who may need an IEP is a whole different story.  Since preschool I had had some concerns over my son's development.  Things weren't clicking for him as I thought they should. More than once I was told that he's doing "just fine." But that didn't work for  me. You see, I could tell that he was bright, but there was a disconnect. Even though he was reading and processing and comprehending above grade level texts, he was still doing letter reversals in his writing. His handwriting was horrible and he had a hell of a time with executive functioning and following multi-step directions.  So in my 2nd month of pregnancy we started down the road of having him tested.  More than once I was told that he could be on the spectrum.  What spectrum you ask? The autism spectrum.  And quite frankly the developmental pediatrician said that my sweet Boogie walks a fine line.  He said if Aspberger's was still an independent diagnosis and not lumped under the very wide umbrella of autism, there would have been a chance he would have diagnosed Boogs as having Aspberger's. But now the diagnosis would be high functioning autism because of the way it's defined in the DSM.  But at the time, the pediatrician didn't have enough data to make that diagnosis.  He said that Boogie definitely has dysgraphia (difficulty with writing) and he is diagnosed with that.  We will have to do further testing and evaluation if we want to determine definitely if Boogs is on the spectrum.  Right now, we decided to wait.

I bring this up because this has been a tough year trying to understand my son a little more and trying to support and guide him a little more. Meeting his needs and giving him the tools and skills he needs to navigate life.  Academically he's aces.  Socially and emotionally he needs a lot more help.  So we did the IEP process. We had him assessed through the school and from their point of view he came up with NOT being on the spectrum, but having a lot of difficulty with executive functioning.  His writing disability came up. We also found out he's effing brilliant. I don't say that easily. I knew he was bright, but it came up over and over again, "Do you have any idea how intelligent your son is?" I nodded and said, "Well, I know he's bright." It wasn't until I had in my hand his results that I realized that my son is not typical. Not in any way.  And as my husband says, "Why be normal?"  He can't tie his shoes, but he can give you every single detail from every single book he has ever read. He can give you specific stats on just about every animal.  His background knowledge blows me away and often I have to say, "I don't know the answer to that, let me look it up." But he can't follow more than one direction at a time. He can't put together legos. He can't see the forest for the trees. As a result of the testing and giant discrepancy between his cognitive abilities and his writing abilities Boogie was given an IEP. So that we're clear, they (being the school system) don't hand out IEP's like they're candy. They are actually hard to come by and the school systems have a lot of keeper of the keys and they are kind of stingy about handing those out. So imagine my shock when we didn't get a 504 plan, which is lot easier to receive, but an actual IEP. My son has goals, a case manager, accommodation, and support where he needs it most.  Not only that, he was also tested as part of his application to attend a program for the highly gifted students.  So Boogs is academically in the top 3% of 4th graders in the county. (I had no idea until someone else told me the stats). So now we have an IEP and now we are switching schools to meet my son's academic needs because as it was gently put to us, they can't meet his needs at his home school because his academic needs are above his peers.  So we accepted his acceptance and now Boogs attends a school that is a 20 minute bus ride away.

I thought it would be easier. I thought that since he had an IEP he would get the support he needed while his learning was enriched. I LOVED his old school. I loved the teachers and the administration.  I felt supported, I felt like they KNEW and UNDERSTOOD my child. And they did.  They still ask about him when I go to pick up my daughter.  But every school is different. My husband will tell you our home school is like a warm hug. It is welcoming. The new school is all business. No warm hug there.  It's just very different.  We struggled this first quarter to get this case manager to follow Boog's IEP. I was told over and over again, he doesn't need the support as outlined. Nonetheless, they need to follow the IEP until we review and deem it unnecessary. After a meeting and some strongly worded emails, we are getting a little more support. Not a lot, but more.

And then, my son missed his bus this week. Not once, but twice. He missed the bus coming home.  Because of Boog's difficulty with executive functioning he has come to rely heavily on his peers. He observes routines and situations and sets into place things that will help him. When those variables change, he has difficulty going with the flow and putting in new support systems. So this week the teacher changed the seating in the classroom. End of the 1st quarter so everyone got new seats. No big deal, right? Well unbeknownst to her and to us Boogie has been relying on the two girls at his table to know when to leave for the bus. They never told him to get up, but he noticed when they left the table and he would just follow them to make it to his bus. Well now no one at his current table takes his bus. His cues are no longer there and as a result he missed it when his bus was called. TWICE this week. The second time he was just beside himself sobbing on the phone.  I calmed him down and drove the 20 minutes to go pick him up.  And here, this where my heart breaks just a little. So Boogie needs help. When Hubby and I asked him what he could do to ensure that he could make it on the bus he said he could ask his classmates/bus mates to tap him when they leave to catch their bus. Okay, so it's not taking full responsibility, it's still relying on others to help him. But it was a strategy. I found out last night that he asked a bunch of kids and most of them said, "no." They said "no." That's where my heart broke. They just said, "no."  Some had after school clubs and wouldn't be taking the bus everyday. But others who don't just said, "no." "No, I won't help you." What?  So my heart broke.  And today while relaying the story to a friend I broke. I cried. The tears that had been threatening since last night spilled.

I realize I hate the new school. I hate the lack of support. I miss the warm hug and welcoming smile.  It's so closed off and business like. So my heart breaks and I struggle with how to best help my son and support him.  In my head I go back and forth about whether or not to pull him from school. For now, I won't. He belongs in that program. He needs that enrichment. He needs that higher level of learning.  He needs that push.  But he also needs compassion, support, and guidance. I will strive to give that to him from home.  I will strive to teach him to be that kind of person who says, "Yes, I'll help you" when someone asks for help because, quite frankly, I don't want to raise an asshole. And boy it is hard to raise kids who are kind, caring, and compassionate. To some it comes quite easily, and to others, it's a skill that needs to be taught.  So I pray that I will have the tools and skill to raise my children so that they are not assholes. Don't we all want that? So let's do it.

Boogie is 9!

9 Years ago this sweet boy made me a mama.

Happy 9th birthday to my Boogie

My sweet Boogie is 9 years old. I can't even believe it. And I'm pretty sure that I didn't post about his last birthday or about his first communion last year. I feel like the last year has been a blur.  And I am really trying to catch life before it just flies right by me.

This year Boogie was invited to celebrate a friend's birthday with a trip to a local museum. The trip just happened to also land on Boogie's birthday. Intrigued with the idea of going to a museum, he excitedly accepted the invitation. However, the closer the date came, the more apprehensive he became. He didn't want his birthday to get lost.  So we made a plan to celebrate with his special birthday breakfast and dinner the day before his birthday so that he could enjoy the outing with his friend. We also planned that Daddy would go with him. More than anything in the world, Boogie wants to hang out with his Daddy. So we were able to give him that, and a day at the museum where he geeked it out with his friend.

We were fortunate that both his and his sister's soccer games were canceled and we were able to have our traditional birthday breakfast with him.  We allowed him to open one of his presents and spent the morning playing "Settlers of Catan" which, by the way, is a game that many of the Green Bay Packers play together.  That night we let him choose the restaurant and my parents joined us for dinner.

The next day we went to church and right after he and Hubby left with their friends to visit the museum.  When they came back exhausted we ordered pizza and Hubby picked up a yummy ice cream cake.  And we topped it off with presents. It was awesome.  He was thrilled to get his very own tablet. He is an avid reader and it made sense to get him his on tablet where all of his books are in one place and not all over our house.  I am happy I can set the timers on it, but he's been pretty compliant on when to give it to us and when to turn it off.  This will make packing for our beach vacation a little easier this year. He'll have all of his books at his fingertips.

Camp Half-Blood versus Camp Jupiter

We celebrated with a birthday party with friends today.  Boogie finally decided on a Camp Half-Blood birthday party.  Anybody who has read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series will understand the reference.  With the help of Boogie's godmother, I made Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter t-shirts. Hubby organized the games between the two camps. Boogie's godmother came to the rescue to help me clean the house because I realized that having a nursing infant makes it really, really difficult to get anything done in a timely manner. Thank you, A!  We served camp food: hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, and lemonade.  Almost all of the friends that we were invited were able to come.  It was a lot of fun. Most of all Boogie had a great time. Hubby was pretty amazing getting everything coordinated for the games and I am very grateful he took the day off so he could help out with the birthday party during spring break.

9 years of friendship for these two campers.

Boogie with his best friend since birth on his 8th birthday.

7th birthday

5th Birthday and excited about dragons.

6th Birthday

4 and excited about dinosaurs

3 and still loved trains

2 years old and almost a big brother

1st Birthday and learning to walk

Being Present

Happy New Year! I know that I still have so much to document over the past year and I am missing jotting down the milestones for my kiddos.  So much good in their lives has happened and continues to happen.  I will continue to try to keep up with them and their accomplishments and challenges.

Two days ago the three big kids had an unexpected snow day.  After posting on my Facebook Wall about how I love me some snow days a former coworker asked if I had gone back to teaching.  The answer is no. I haven't gone back to teaching. Every now and I again when I see something cool happening in my kids' classrooms I feel that pull to go back into the classroom, but it's still not strong enough to pull me away from my everyday life of being the mother of four.  I am still enjoying my time home with the kids. With my self-diagnosed ADD (Aren't we all just a little ADD?), I'm surprised that I haven't grown bored with being home. But I haven't.  I am thoroughly enjoying this season in my life.  My reply to my friend was, "No, I'm not back in the classroom, but find that these snow days are a gift of time with my favorite people." And that's the truth. Yes, we just finished having the kids home for 2 weeks for winter break.  But it wasn't enough.  As try as we might to have lazy days, things get planned, friends are visited, parties are attended, Christmas and the birth of our Savior are celebrated.  There is more downtime than usual, but we remain busy.  But a snow day! Now that's something different. Our court is usually the last to get plowed and the roads are usually too messy to go anywhere. So the family hunkers down, reads books, play with legos, drinks hot chocolate, goes out in snow gear to play with the other neighborhood children, and bake cookies.  We have no where we HAVE to be and no plans that NEED to be done.  It is awesome and a true gift of time.

It sounds a little silly that I am grateful for this gift of time. I mean, I stay home full-time, don't I see and spend time with my kids all the time. I mean, isn't my job to be home, available, and present?  Well, yes. But too often I am called by the dirty dishes in the sink, dirty clothes that need to be washed, and toys and various items that need to be put away.  So while I am available and most of often in the same room with my children, I am not always present.  I am busy. With stuff. Like chores.

So even though it's been on my New Year's Resolution list for the last two years, I am adding it again. I want to be present.  And on this snow day, this gift of time, I was present.  I helped Buggy put together her life cycle project.  I printed the pictures she needed and helped her type her captions.  But she put together her project.  I found myself trying to neaten it up and make it clean and straight and I stopped. I put it down. This was her project. Not mine. While she needed my help to obtain the information. This was her project to put together.  When I was done with her project, I was able to work on a Lego set with Mr. Bananas.  Which actually meant I put it together and he said, "Thank you, Mommy."  But we spent time together looking for the pieces and talking.  Boogie and I discussed the newest series he is reading.  The baby and I made faces at each other and I sang to her and nursed her.  I helped the big kids gear up to go out in the snow and then made them quesadillas and hot cocoa for lunch.  They had a friend come over to play.  I had planned to bake cookies, but that didn't happen.  What did happen was time spent together. When my husband came home he looked around the house and said with a smile,  "It looks like you had four children home all day."  I replied, "Actually it was five and I was present."  So the dishes are strewn around the kitchen, the legos are in various parts of the family room, we have just enough clean clothes to get through a day at a time, and there are toys that were taken out and forgotten. But what I have is a sense of peace. Peace that it was a day well spent. A day that for which I am grateful for a little extra time with my favorite people.  It was a day free from meltdowns (mine or the kids).  The house is still showing a little wear and tear from that snow day.  Yesterday was a two hour delay and instead of picking up the house I joined a friend for lunch.  Today the three year old is off from school and we ran errands instead.  Tomorrow is another day.  The 3 big kids will be in school and I will have a little extra time when the baby naps. Or maybe I will take a nap with her and be present.

Happy New Year.

My girls

My big boy reading

Silly selfie we sent to daddy during our snow day

Daddy finding time to be present with his baby girl after a ridiculously long day at work.

Another silly selfie with the two kids who aren't in school.

6 month Recap

It's been some time since I last posted. I can't believe where the time has gone. Since I have been absent in the blogging world so much has happened:

I took a creative writing class and learned that writing is one of my callings and I just wish I had more time for it.  I loved the professor and I loved the class and I am looking forward to taking another in another year or so.

My husband and I found out on Valentine's day that we were indeed expecting our fourth child. We are ecstatic! We have since found out that we are expecting another little girl.  My best friend is also pregnant with baby number 4 and it is so nice to do this pregnancy journey with her once again. She is due in the next 4 weeks and I look forward to seeing and holding her newest little one.

Boogie and Hubby praying
 after Boogie received the
sacrament of reconciliation

Boogie received not only the sacrament of reconciliation, but also his first holy communion. My father-in-law gave the homily and presented Boogie his first Eucharist as he had done for me 8 years ago.

Birthdays were celebrated,  Hubby, Mr. Bananas, Boogie, and myself are all another year older.

Boogie finished the 2nd grade and Buggy graduated from preschool.

All three kids joined the swim team this year. Boogie learned to swim 2 new strokes: breast stroke and butterfly.  Buggy learned to swim across the pool in freestyle and backstroke. Both dropped time in meets and had a successful season. Mr. Bananas is officially a swim team kid and loves the water.

Hubby and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  We went out to dinner and talked for two hours reminiscing and laughing. The next morning we went out for breakfast holding hands and laughing some more. All this was made possible by my parents taking the kids for the night. It's amazing how much conversation can be had when one is not constantly answering questions from little ones.  As always on the night of our anniversary we play our wedding song and danced the steps we learned for our wedding day. We haven't forgotten them. They have been modified over time and especially this last dance to accommodate my burgeoning belly.  Our wedding dance is a sweet metaphor for the steps we take throughout our marriage. Sometimes we're in sync, sometimes we're not, sometimes we move too quickly or step slowly, there is a misstep or two and sometimes we're just holding on.  One thing I can say is that I wouldn't want to continue this dance with anyone else. While it's not always perfect, it is ours.  We were made for one another and I love my husband dearly.

The summer is winding down, but not before we take a little family break to go to the beach. I think when that happens I'll be ready to let go of summer, get ready for the new school year, and let the nesting take hold full force as we prepare for our newest arrival due in October.

There is so much to say and so much to share.  But I'll stop here and fill in the space in future postings.  Life is busy and it has gotten busier.  My goal is to carve out time for more writing, more posting, more baby blankets, and more running. Yes, I'm still running. I'm officially 28 weeks pregnant today and I will be heading out shortly to do some intervals on the treadmill. I'm not as fast I was, but I'm still moving 2-3 miles a day.

Overall, Life is good. I am still one very blessed, albeit busy, mama.  This is a season and I am trying to savor as much of it as I can.

Blessing to all of  you!

Celebrating Mr. Bananas' 3rd birthday with a special birthday breakfast

The boys' celebrating their birthdays together with a Star Wars theme.

Lunchbox Love Notes

Last week when my kids went back to school, my hubby was still home on vacation.  He woke up early and allowed me to sleep in an extra before we woke up the kids and got them ready for school. While I was still sleeping he made their lunches.  Later, when I emptied their lunch boxes after school I found sweet little lunchbox love notes from Hubby to the kids.  I try to write notes to the kids as often as I can and leave it in their lunchboxes. I think it's really sweet that Hubby wrote them each a note. I know that they loved getting a love note from Daddy.  It was a sweet transition from vacation to going back to school. His help made it a smoother transition for me, too.

Almost Wordless Wednesday--Chester

Chester has been with our family for about 6 years.  He was given to Boogie as a party favor when he attended a birthday party when he was about a year old. Little did we know that this party favor would be a beloved animal friend and best friend to our oldest. He sat unnoticed for almost a year before Boogie fell in love with him.  We think he's a Cheetah and when Boogs asked me his name I suggested Chester.

Chester has been Boogie's best animal friend. He has sparked an interest in anything that has to do with animals. Boogie wants to be a animal biologist or a zoologist when he grows up. He loves studying anything that has to do with animals, especially African cats.  He has become known as the "animal expert" with his classmates. I love that this simple little gift given as a party favor has inspired my son to read, explore, watch documentaries, and learn about animals. What a great gift for him.

Chester usually finds himself abandoned in various rooms in the house. There have been nights where he sleeps alone because Boogie has forgotten about him, but Chester always finds his way back to Boogie.  Just the other day I found Chester propped on the bannister waiting patiently for his buddy to come home from school. And tucked underneath Chester is Boogie's yellow blankie, the same blanket in which Boogie was swaddled when he was infant.  Chester and Yellow Blankie are reminders that even though my sweet Boogie is growing up, he is still my baby.

Chester and Yellow Blankie waiting patiently for Boogie to come home from school

Almost Wordless Wednesday--Fun Run

Lolo and Lola with the kids before the Fun Run

My son's school holds an annual 1.5 mile fun run. They've been doing it for about 6 years now. We participated last year. I pushed a stroller while running with Buggy and Bananas in it while Boogie ran the course.  Hubby was out of town for work that week and it was just me and the kiddos. This year, Hubby was unable to get home from work in time and my folks stepped in to run it with the big kids while I ran it with Mr. Bananas. I'm pretty sure he was the youngest participant.

The big kids did really well and ran most of it with very little walking. I never saw them once they passed us.  I stayed with Bananas the whole time and he did really well. He is the most excited about running and may very well be my running buddy when he is older.  He ran most of the course and walked very little. He never asked to be carried. He did ask for his shirt to be taken off halfway through. He had his own cheering section any time we passed a group of people. At the halfway point we passed the table of volunteers who were recording times and they cheered him on.  Throughout the run he kept saying, "Go Big Boy! Go Big Boy! Go Mommy! Go Yem, Go Yen! Go Big Boy! Go Yo-Yo, Go Yo-Ya!" He cheered on each of us as he ran along, even if no one else was near enough to hear him.

Me with the next generation of runners

It was fun evening followed by DJ and dancing on the school grounds.

Mr. Bananas on the first loop of the Fun Run

Second loop of the Fun Run

Hey You! You should be running!

Dancing at the After Party

Big Kids Dancing Together

Playing in the dirt after their run

Almost Wordless Wednesday--Boogie Starts 2nd Grade!

Boogie started 2nd grade this week. I am grateful that the preparations were drama free. I think that since we have had so many activities this summer between swim team, Chinese camp, religion camp, and our beach vacation, going to school was just another transition in our busy lives.  The only hint that Boogie was nervous was the fact that he couldn't fall asleep easily the night before.  He woke up easily on the first day and had a great day. Hubby was able to walk with us to take Boogie to school and then go into work late. I know it meant a lot to Boogie and it meant a lot to me. I think it helped to make the day go a little more smoothly. Hubby got up early and picked up Boogie's favorite crumb donuts for breakfast and flowers for Boogie to give to his 2nd grade teacher.  Boogie came home all smiles and the day ended well. We had one more swim lesson for Bananas and spent a wonderfully warm afternoon swimming after school. Dinner was fast food and ice cream, but why not? We were celebrating!  I hope that 2nd grade continues to go smoothly for our big second grader.

Super 2nd Grader!

Love note

My little boy

I love this face!

Daddy and son

All my loves walking to school

Celebrating Boogie

I cannot believe it has been almost a month since my last post. Seriously!  Things are so crazy busy, but in a good way. I'm constantly on the run literally and figuratively.  I have so much on my mind lately...Boogie turning 7, me turning 35 and entering a new age bracket on the racing front, Easter, my half marathon coming up, meeting my favorite author and having her sign one of my books,  my first Goddaughter receiving her first holy communion, the tragedy in Boston, keeping up with my class, and my kids being in my former student's wedding (am I really old enough to have students I taught in 4th grade now old enough to get married?!?)...life does not slow down!  I really need to find the time to write everything down before my head explodes because I really need to process it all. I won't write about it all now and I hope it will not be another month before I write about all of it.  Slow and steady...

However, with all that is going on in our busy lives I am so grateful for the blessings that keep raining down.  I am one very blessed mama.

So, Boogie turned 7 before Easter. My first baby is 7. Wow. I look at him and I am in awe of this amazing young man. His faith continues to grow. He is inquisitive about so many things and it is very hard to keep up with his thoughts and questions.  Just the other day he told me that he never wanted to work. I said, "Oh? Why's that?"

"Well, Mama, if I do what I love, I'll never have to work. And what I want to do is observe animals, write down notes, and share them with future generations of kids. I love animals. So if I love what I'm doing, I won't be working. Right?"  

Um, how can I argue with that logic. And why did it take only 7 years for my kid to figure it out and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. The possibilities are endless!

Lolo and Boogie enjoying time together at dinner

Boogie's birthday was during Spring Break.  I had arranged to bring in his birthday treat to his class a few days before school let out for vacation. He asked me to bring his favorite donuts and juice boxes. I did and it was fun. He felt so special and I was so happy to do that for him.  My mom came with me and my friend was also there volunteering in his class. L has a child in the same class so it was nice to have her join in the celebration.

Boogie's birthday fell on Good Friday this year. Being an April baby, my birthday falls on Good Friday a lot. Several people have said it is a blessing...but fasting on my birthday and spending most of it with a headache and feeling lethargic while trying to get a better understanding of my Savior's sacrifice is not, how do I say this without being blasphemous?...um, not my idea of a rocking celebration...and it shouldn't be...but I think I'm way too human and way too selfish to really count my blessings that my birthday sometimes falls on Good Friday.  When I realized that Boogie's birthday fell on Good Friday I wanted him to be able to celebrate and enjoy so we celebrated a day early with a trip to the Museum of Natural History (his request) and dinner at his favorite restaurant where my parents joined us.  Although Hubby and I were fasting the next day we allowed him to pick a place for dinner (I fasted the first two meals and was joining Boogie in eating dinner) and he chose sushi.  Lucky kid. Two birthday dinners in row. He opened presents from us, found a gift waiting for him at home from the neighbors, was able to Face Time with his best friend, and was called on his birthday by Godparents, cousins, and Grandma where he was serenaded.  It was a pretty good celebration considering we were solemn and reflective throughout the day including spending time participating at Stations of the Cross at Church.

I love his smile here

Boogie was able to extend his birthday celebration and the following weekend he took his best friend J to Medieval Times to celebrate one more time. I decided not to do an at home party or a big party.  Boogie rarely gets to see his friend J. now that they are both in school full time. So Hubby took the kids and celebrated and the kids had a wonderful time.  J. is a girl so Hubby and Boogie cheered for her so that their knight would throw her a flower.  As the knight was looking for his last lady, Hubby and Boogie cheered so loudly that J. received her flower.  Things have been so busy for us lately that this was a perfect ending birthday celebration for Boogie.  I think next year I will try once again to do a party and invite more friends, but this year W. and J. celebrated being friends for the last 7 years. Yes, they have known each other since birth and it is a very special friendship.

Happy Birthday Animal Adventurer!
As a kid we always received an ice cream
cake and Boogie wanted one for his birthday
too. It's a nice memory for me :)

I am so thankful for my firstborn. He taught me how to be patient, how to love, how to give of myself, how to be grateful for my many blessings, how to feel real terror (like when I lost him on an elevator in a condo where we staying during one of my Hubby's work rotations in another state) and realizing that I really shouldn't sweat the small stuff, how to see through the eyes of a child, how to play, how to grow in my faith, how to stand firm and provide consequences when necessary, how to be okay with change, how to learn to be flexible, and most importantly how to be the mother he needs me to be.

Dear Boogie, thank you for making me better than I was. Thank you for making me a Mama. Thank you for loving me and showing me forgiveness when I make mistakes because you are the first of my children and I am still learning how to be a parent. I love you from here to Satren (Saturn), all around the universe, all around the world, from the tips of my toes, around my heart infinity times, to the top of my head. I love you.  I thank God you are mine. Happy, happy birthday. May you continue to grow in wisdom, age, and grace.  Love, Mama

Boogie's 7th Birthday

6!

5!

4!

3!

Celebrating his 2nd birthday in our new home with a real backyard

Turning 1
He still has that infectious smile

Just Born
Happy Birth Day Boogie!