1/4 of my whole world.......

You will be his first kiss

You will be his first love

You will be his first friend

 

You are his Momma

And he is your whole world

He is your little boy

 

When I first saw this I thought how lucky am I to have been blessed with a boy. These things are a gift just for me because I am his Momma. As each day passes, I see him maturing and slowly finding his own way. Most parents are sadden by this separation. I am sure one day I will be sad and miss him terribly since he will no longer be under my roof.

 

But I can not lie.......I am truly excited to watch him grow and change each day.

 

When he chooses to he has a huge heart and will do just about anything for anyone if you ask. I watch him at the bus stop watching over Madelynn to keep her safe. Math comes very for Jackson. When he gets something and his sisters do not he takes the time to teach them what he knows. He almost never flaunts that he is smarter than many children his age.

 

He is my whole world when it comes to little boys. I am one lucky Momma.

 

Thank You Jackson!!

 

TTFN~

Chelsea

 

Never, Ever Stop Fighting......

It has been so long since I posted anything, when I went to long in I forgot my password. Crazy!! Well what's crazier yet is my life lately. In the last two weeks, my ac went in both of our cars. It has been in the high 80's and 90's with humidity. I probably left 10 lbs on the trip to work. At least God was kind enough to let it go out after the kids camps were over.

Phil also spent a chunk of change buying car parts for the van to assemble himself to save us money. Remember he is a "motorhead",  it is what he went to school for, not to mention I LOVE his mechanical mind. The day before he had planned to put all of these parts on the ac compressor in the van goes out. The same day the dryer stops heating. It runs cold air but the heating element went out.

The list goes on about all the things that happened in the last too weeks. Monday evening was my breaking point. I yelled, cried and finally went to bed emotionally exhausted. Every Tuesday morning at work there is a group of us that meet for a 15 minute break and just pray for whatever is on our hearts that day.

I broke down.....I just asked God to take it all away and just fix it because I could not and was at the mercy of anyone who could help. I was no longer in control and God showed me He HEARD me LOUD and CLEAR.

My good friend's husband found the dryer part for $25.00, when I was about to pay $100.00; and then wouldn't even let us pay for the part. Thank You Roger!! Phil and Roger worked endlessly on the van because the parts that needed replacing reared their ugly head and gave them a run for their money. The AC still needs to be fixed but when we get the money in another week or so it will be an easy repair. Everything else is finished.

The dryer part arrived Friday afternoon. Once the van was put back together, about 11:30 pm the dryer part was put on and a glorious heatwave was coming from my dryer and clothes were tumbling around and around. I have been doing laundry non stop for 24 hours. On top of our regular laundry, Jack had a few bed wetting mishaps, I had towels screaming to be cleaned and it was tax free weekend on school supplies including clothes. I had two loads of new clothes to was too.

But today was the icing on the cake. Today was the day my cup runneth over.

This morning we had soccer evaluations. I did not have all the money today because the school clothes and the car were more important. My children do not understand that concept. I went to the evaluations and talked to someone in charge. I told her I only had half the money. In her best smile the woman said, "We never turn anyone away just pay the balance before the end of the season." I almost fell on the floor. I just needed two weeks not 12 weeks.

While at the evaluations I sat and watched the kids stand in each line and give it their best effort. Jack and Katie because of their ages had to stand in a different line than Maddie. Yes, Maddie is going to play soccer. When I saw Maddie standing in a line without her siblings and I saw all the other parents standing with their child I walked over to her. I asked her if I could stand here with her. She told me, "No Mommy, I can do it myself. You can sit over there."

All the Parents standing around just looked at me with dropped jaws. I said, "Ok, I love you."

I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry because she did it!!! She is living and thriving even though she almost died. We made it to the day where she feels just like everyone else even though she knows she's not. She has more specialist's than most of the kids in her school. But today she looked, breathed, laughed and ran just like all the other kids.

Well not quite........

When the evaluations were over, I looked and all three of their results before I turned them in. Maddie ran the fastest 10 yard and 20 yard sprints and scored the highest on the goal kicking. Katie scored the highest dribbling around the cones and Jack scored the highest on the free dribbling.

I truly had no words for this........

So all though we still have a ways to go to get things back to normal, we don't need normal it is SO overrated. We have EXTRAORDINARY!!! 

This is my PSA reminding all of you to never give up and never ever stop fighting.

TTFN~

don't forget to laugh......

I have mentioned this before but, I have been working on my picture project that is far from done. I came across this picture.

 

I LOVE this picture!!

 

However, the amount of times the shutter clicked to get this one picture and the giggles, begging and fussing that came along for the ride was ridiculous. This picture was taken the last day of three weeks of day camp. Kaitlynn was in fine arts camp, Jackson sports camp and Madelynn was in mini camp (for mini people like her). Each week of the fine arts camp, Kaitlynn was able to make a tye-dye shirt. She was so thoughtful and made a shirt for each of them.

 

Thinking Jackson was stronger than Kaitlynn I originally tried something else. However he was having problems balancing Madelynn. All the sudden I hear, "Jack I'm falling", "Maddie I can't see", "Mommy Maddie just kicked me".

 

Which resulted in this:

 

 

 

Whenever I see the the good picture I will always remember what ensued to actually get it. It will always make me laugh.

 

 

Don't ever forget to laugh......

 

TTFN~



not an obligation.........

Love is a Gift NOT an obligation.

Today has been one of those days that this Mama was truly tested. My children are a gift. As an extention of that gift is the love I have for them. But today I could not take it. I have been battling a headache that took 12 hours to go away. Two of my children came home from school an absolute wreck.

Jack was so tired everything made him whine and cry. Even when I wasn't talking to him he would high-pitched squeal and cry. He had about 5 melt downs in about 4 hours. This mama was pushed to the edge today. Finally, we got enough food in him (seriously he come home everyday eats about 700 calories in snacks and still eats dinner less that two hours later, God help me when he is a teenager, he's only seven now), he cleaned his room, did some homework and I sent him to bed.

The Girls on the other hand REFUSED to clean their room, made an even bigger mess and nothing gets their attention. I have to be a mean mommy again. Before Christmas I threatened to take all the toys away. I did. I sorted the toys with sentimental value bagged up the rest and took them to Good Will. Just to walk in their room frustrates me to a point I want to cry. So tomorrow I will be collecting the new Christmas toys and throwing them in a bag.

I always tell them I love them even after we have disagreed about something, clothes, messy room, homework. Sometimes they even ask, "Mommy do you love me even though you are mad right now." The answer is always,"Yes, to infinity and beyond, to the moon and back, forever and ever, ALWAYS!"

As I head off to bed to end this EXHAUSTING day. I am thankful for my gifts but more greatful the sun has gone down and very soon today will be a memory. Here is to starting fresh in the morning and always treasuring a gift.

TTFN~

Over the last week....

During the last week I have been running, running, running.......and I am exhausted.

To start Madelynn finally started school. She was very nervous. To start 90% of her friends she has gone to this school with for the last two years are not in her class this you. She is one of the youngest children in the class. I believe she is also nervous because for the last two years she has had the same teachers and this year she has new teachers. Unfortunately, the day after she met her teachers the week before one of them left. So she started the school year off with a teacher she had never met.

Madelynn was very excited about the classroom and all the fun things to do. This year she has and art center, nature center with a fish tank, kitchen and family care area. She would have been happy to taking care of the babies all day. I was thrilled to see all the things that will challenge her this year. I believe that over the next few weeks she will get acclimated and do very well. Sadly, I discovered she needs help learning how to use scissors. Since she cut her own hair last year I assumed this was not an issue. However cutting hair and paper are two different things. guess we will have to practice.

 

 

 

 

Today was the first GAME Day of the season for Kaitlynn and Jackson. Let me just say when I left for the field this morning it was grey and foggy. However, I came home with face, arms and feet that resembled a roasted tomato. I have flip flop stripes across the tops of my feet, farmers stripe across my bicep and my face looks like I tried a new raspberry makeup.

Enough about me.....Kaitlynn and Jackson did great on the field today. Jackson's game was up first  and he wowed the crowd. The first play of the game he was passed the ball at mid-field without taking a step he used those powerful legs and scored. I and most of the parents watching were stunned. His team won 7-2 and Jackson scored 4 times. He did really well.

 

 

 

 

 

Right after Jackson's game we moved fields and settled in for Kaitlynn's game. Kaitlynn's team did not fair as well they lost 9-7. Kaitlynn scored twice and did very well acclimating to her teammates and being one of the smallest players on the team. Even though they lost many of the parents, from the other team, and the official walked over and complimented how well they played. I think it was a good learning experience for the team. Kaitlynn was not disappointed they lost because her coach pulled her aside and told her how great she did. If nothing else I hope this is a great confidence builder for her as the season goes on.

 

 

 

 

Over all it was a Good week and Great Soccer Day. But my favorite pictures of the week are.......

 

 

Welcome to Fall Soccer Season....

TTFN~

Farewell Summer 2012

The end of Summer is here. Like most parents, I am a little sad it is coming to a close. I have truly enjoyed my children this summer and everything it entailed.

It started out with one child mastering her bike, one child brave enough to just take off and ride, and one child finally having long enough legs to ride the big wheel (you would have thought she won the lottery), Vacation Bible School, Family Weekend and three weeks of Camp Gabe took us through the end of July.

Camp Gabe is where the kids really thrived this summer. Kaitlynn was enrolled in the Fine Arts Camp. She came home each week with some amazing art work. Not to mentioned she loved the freedom to just create. Jackson on the other hand spent three weeks in Sports Camp. My favorite part about Jackson in Sports Camp, someone finally wore him down. He LOVED it, but he was beyond exhausted.....best he slept all summer.

Madelynn was in three weeks of "Mini" Camp. Half her pre-school class was enrolled, she loved it. My favorite part about "Mini" Camp was the first day when Madelynn crawled out of bed she pulled her Minnie Mouse T-shirt out the drawer. She looked at me and said, "I have to wear my Minnie shirt for "Mini" Camp." Never a dull moment.

The rest of the summer was spent sitting under trees as the breeze blew by, sneaking off to Brewsters's for after dinner ice cream, magic tricks and wild animals at the library and swimming as much as possible. It also included lots of tests and doctor visits. All three had their annual physicals. except for Madelynn's weight the doctor was very please with all three. We also left the pediatric cardiologist with a great report. We have to wait until next year to find out more about Madelynn's nerve damage in her diaphragm but all is well for now.

I'm not going to lie I LOVE when school is in session. It is nice to know if I leave for work and the house is clean, when I come home it will still be clean. My children are routine people. If they know the plan they depend on it. Ask those who come to visit and the plan is disrupted.

This year marks big changes for Kaitlynn. She will earn real grades instead of satisfactory or unsatisfactory. She will participate in End of Grade (EOG) testing. If she does not pass this testing she does not pass the grade. Each student Must pass both the class and the EOG. I have not talked to her about this yet, it is on the agenda for the week.

Jackson will still be on the satisfactory/unsatisfatory program but his teacher will have a challange. Lucky for us she knows all the tricks, has been teching for 25 years, and been at the school since it opened in 1998. Jackson was very excited when he heard she would be his teacher. I hope this was an answered prayer.

Madelynn starts school this week. She was very sad when we drove Kaitlynn and Jackson to school and she could not go. She cannot wait for school to start.

Enjoy the photos from the first day of school through the first day of school.

So Long Summer...




TTFN~

7 years old today......

Jack,

By the time you were born, I had been awake for more than 24 hours. I had gained more than 40 lbs carrying you. I walked around 5 centimeters dilated for two weeks and you still wouldn't come out. It was in the dead of summer I couldn't sleep, I couldn't sit, I was just plain miserable. Finally, a week before the due date I begged the doctor to get you out. She had an idea and told me she would be surprised if we weren't heading to the hospital in the next few hours.

She said, "No doctor in their right mind would turn a 39 week pregnant, 5 centimeter dilated mother to be away. They will induce you the rest of the way and he might be here by this evening."

Boy was she wrong. He did not want to come out. The doctor in the hospital said the baby will be around 7 - 7.5 lbs this will be no problem. Finally at 8:29 am, the morning after I went in out popped a 9.5lb healthy baby boy.

My whole body felt like I deflated a balloon. As soon as they laid him on my belly I felt my insides collapsed. My first thought was 7 lbs? She's dreaming. The doctor comes over and says, "I am so sorry, I had no idea he would be that big." Tell me something I don't know.

New born baby clothes didn't fit, you cried all the time until I finally realized you are still hungry. You were drinking 8oz bottles at 5 months of age. One of my first thoughts was I am going to go broke feeding you......what happens when you are a teenager. I might have to take a loan out just to feed you.

Well some things never change.....at 8:29 this morning you are officially 7 years old. I still can not keep you fed, you are just as stubborn as the day we tried to make you come out.

But I love everything about you......your gentle heart, peaceful soul. I love the fact that you tell me everyday that you love me and I don't have to say it first. I love the fact that you still want to hold my hand. I love the fact that you randomly give me hugs.

I could go on and on about all the things I love about you. Most of all I love the fact that God trusted  me enough to gift me with a very intelligent, inquisitive and special little boy. I know you won't be little forever but you will always be mine.

I hope you have a Wonderful 7th Birthday!!

I love you to the Moon and Back, to Infinity and Beyond, Forever and Ever Always, Mom.

TTFN~

100,000

Back in September 2011, I posted about the 88,888 miles we had travelled in our van. We bought it new. We put every single mile on that van. In September 2005, some time in the afternoon that 2006 Van was rolled off the delivery truck. They hadn't even pulled all the delivery stickers and tape off of it yet and we signed papers to drive it home.

 I am not going to lie I felt like I was driving a tank. Earlier last month we reached the 100,000 mile mark. I was so caught up in the everyday events of our life to even notice. Phil finally had some time at home, so he did a little tune up on her before we left for Family Weekend to Mason and noticed the numbers had turned. To be honest, I liked the fact I didn't notice.

If we aren't careful we can spend our whole lives worried about the numbers and what they mean. Until Madelynn had her surgery I always worried about the "numbers" and every little detail they represented. While Madelynn was recovering, the nurses were constantly telling me, "Don't look at the numbers look at your daughter."

That phrase rings so true in too many aspects in life. I know sometimes the little details are incredibly important but if I spent all my days on the little details I would miss the big picture. I want to share my big picture.....

Quick side note......sometimes I have difficulty and am technically challenged. I recently figured out how to link my phone to my laptop to transfer pictures. To most this is an easy task but I finally just spent the time two hours exactly and educated myself. Because of my recent education I can share the following......

This is Madelynn's Heart 10/12/2008.

In a recent visit to Madelynn's Pulmunologist, he showed me x-rays from the day the Urgent Care Doctor realized there was a problem (the one saved her life). Her heart was boot-shaped, deformed from lack of blood flow. The only reason this x-ray was taken was to rule out a different condition.

This is a picture of Madelynn's Heart last week (7/5/12)

The second x-ray is from the week before her appointment to the pulmunologist. You can clearly see how much she has grown but her heart has also re-shaped. This is that bigger picture that brings me so much JOY!!!

The side view from 7/5/12 that shows the reminder.

If you look closely at the this third x-ray along the breast bone you will see the metal wire wrapped around her when they broke it to repair her heart. We were told the bone would eventually infuse over the wire but I don't think it will ever disappear from a x-ray.

We have come so far in 100,000+ miles. We bought the van because our CRV just couldn't manage our two car seats and everything else you need for a 2 month and 21 month old children (Madelynn wasn't even a thought at the time). The van has seen beautiful beach filled coastlines and crazy bitter winter weather. It has heard hoards of crazy laughter and silently cruised as tears streamed down.

Hopefully, with Phil's mechanic background it will easily last another 100,000.

For those of you, wanting an update on Madelynn's Pulmuology appointment. We did not get any bad news but still nothing concrete. They did do a quick lung study that confirmed her lungs appeared to be functioning normally. There is a more detailed study they will do around her birthday next year. If she is cooperative they will be able to tell how much nerve damage there is from the collapsed lung and paralysis in her diaphragm she suffered days after her heart repair.

The doctor's best estimation is that the nerve damage will be minimal. The best explanation he gave was that she will be allowed to play sports but she would never be a marathon runner. We will know more next year. In the meantime, we will do our best to keep her healthy and enjoy all the every day moments with all of our children. Spending the days enjoying the bigger picture and worrying about the details as they occur and not let life control us with them.

TTFN~

Summer is officially here...

This year the tree in our front yard is finally large enough to do us a service.  It provides wonderful shade against the front of the house in the hot afternoon sun. Sunday morning after breakfast I found Phil sitting under the tree in a chair watching this.

Throughout Father's Day Weekend the kids begged us to play out front so they could ride their bikes. Katie was the only one who had mastered riding. This statistical fact will be short lived. Watching Jack concentrate and trying to get it so he could keep up with his sister was fun to watch.

The extreme concentration and the protruding tongue made me laugh.

He is trying to enjoy it. See the tongue?

He's getting better. Do you see it?

I am not going to lie his legs have a few learning abrasions. At one point he became a little too confident ran into Katie. They bumped front tires, went over their own handle bars and crash one on top of each other and the bikes. I didn't run to them right away as I was so stunned at what I just saw.

Katie was so mad and in such shock she started yelling at Jack. I had to remind her he was still learning, she was the better rider and she should avoid him. After a few minutes she settled down and wasn't quite so mad.

I must say I could have sat under that tree all day watching them. The TV wasn't on, the computer was being ignored, it wasn't raining we just immersed ourselves in it. It was wonderful. I know they need to read and work on their studies during the summer but I think this could have been extended recess day.

TTFN~

Endings and Beginnings....Part 3

The day after school was out for the summer Katie and Jack had their last soccer games of the Spring season. I had no idea what a difference it would make for them to play sports. Not to mention Katie did really well for her first season. Jack on the other hand just showed them what he has learned.

He has really developed strong legs.

He loves his orange shorts.

He looks so at home standing there.

She may be the smallest....

and one of the only girls on the team.....

but she gave the boys a run for their money.

I had no idea she would love it so much.

I think she found a home in playing soccer.

We actually register for fall soccer this week, have evaluations in July and the first practice in August.

Madelynn has also asked to play but she has to be cleared by the heart and lung doctors first. She has a series of tests with the pediatric pulmonologist in July and I still have to make the pediatric cardiologist appointment. If they say she can play, we will sign her up. Originally, Phil and I talked that when she started kindergarten we would sign her up. However, Phil decided if the doctor says yes, she will be on the roster this season.

TTFN~

Endings and Beginning.....Part 2

I am not sure who was more excited that school was ending, Maddie, Katie and Jack or myself.

Maddie has been out of school for two and a half weeks prior to Katie and Jack's last day. During her million question a day conversations, she would always ask how many days until Katie and Jack could stay home with her. Finally that day came.

Good-bye boots, sneakers

....and cleats

Hello flip flops, crocs, slides

.....and bare feet

We don't have many big plans for the summer except to spend as much time together as a family. Needless to say, this will make Maddie one Happy girl.

TTFN~