Fall Family Photos

What a beautiful month October has been here in Pennsylvania.  So thankful to live in a climate where leaves change and a crispness creeps in when you least expect it.  I'm happy to share my family photos with you.  Enjoy!

Landry is 7 months old!

Another month has come and gone in the matter of blinking my eyes. Landry turned SEVEN months old today! What an exciting month it's been. Landry learned how to belly crawl this past month and is in to whatever he can get his hands on. We started giving him broken yogurt melts and puffs for a fun snack. He loves them both! We tried a lot of new food this past month and quickly found out that he is not a fan of avocados. He still loves his bouncer but would much rather be mobile and crawling around seeing what he can find. His favorite activity seems to be pulling out all of the DVDs. 

He's been a joy to watch grow and develop. He's so animated and funny and his gummy smile (still no teeth) could melt any heart. 

Feeling Emotional Today

Life is going way too fast. I know people warn you how fast it goes, but it doesn’t prepare you for it. Sometimes I feel like I need to be medicated because I can get overwhelmed to the point of tears that “forever” isn’t long enough. Especially when I’m talking about time spent with my family. I mean think about it, some people reading this, their mothers or fathers have passed away, or their sisters or brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, best friends, or husband or wives, or God forbid their children. Anyone who has known someone to pass away can attest to the fact that they didn’t get enough time with them. That if they had one more moment they would have so much to say, one more hug, they’d hold on a lot longer. Ugh oh man, I don’t know what it is about the past 24 hours but this sadness has a grip on me that I’d like to shake. I don’t like dwelling on death or the fact that I won’t feel like I had long enough with Landry or Cris. It seriously makes me so sad.

The only way that I know how to pull myself out of this thought that if left to snowball could turn into full-blown depression is that I have hope and faith for eternal life after this one. I don’t know how it all works, and I don’t have to. No one knows how it all works, no one has died and come back to life, except for Jesus Christ, and He is who I choose to follow. He is who I worship. I am nothing without His love, and because of His love, I can have hope that after this life as I know it is over for myself or anyone else I know and love, that there is a“forever” somewhere, that will feel long enough. That we are right now surrounded by souls of people that have passed. That we are loved beyond what we deserve and can enter into an existence where there is no sadness, pain, or suffering. Heaven doesn’t seem far away anymore. With that, I’m inhaling and honoring my loved ones that are still very near. I choose to believe, this is my choice. Thank you God for giving me this life, and forgive me if I ever seem ungrateful. I love you and I know how very blessed I am.

Tis the season...

     As a new mom you don't realize how scared and sad you could be when your baby is sick.  Then it hits...the first real fever.  It's terrifying.  Especially with all the shit going around right now that is actually KILLING people.  The enterovirus, the flu, EBOLA for Pete's sake!  I know I'm not the only mom worried about what is going around these days, especially because all these horrible things start out with "cold symptoms."  Great.  So first sign of the sniffles puts you on high alert. 

     I can't tell you how much of a freak I am about washing my hands, sanitizing my doorknobs, remotes, handles, cell phone, etc.  If you lived with me, it's enough to drive you up a wall.  Yes, you could call me a germaphobe.  However, I wish people were more type A about washing their hands and hand sanitizing, and cleaning surfaces and toys. 
 
     All I wanted to say was that in this world, when your baby is sick, it's not just the stress of him/her not feeling well anymore.  Now there is a fear so thick in your veins that something serious and deadly could have been contracted. 

    Can I just be inappropriate for a second and say, stop being lazy and go wash your hands, and teach your kids to wash their dirty grubby little fingers PROPERLY!  Not just running their hands under water for 10 seconds.  Every day when Landry gets home from daycare we wash his hands under warm water for 20 seconds.  Same with us as parents, every time we enter our home the first thing we do is wash our hands before we do anything else.  Get into that habit!  And stop sending your sick kids to daycare...JERKS!  Ugh!  Thanks for letting me vent!



 

One Day At A Time

I think that at certain times in our lives we feel like the world we know is just moving SO fast that it feels like we will never catch up.

In the last three weeks, two people I know passed away. One was my PopPop, and the other was a very close coworker/friend of mine. Within that time frame, Landry has gotten his 6 month vaccines and flu shot, and also might be teething. So we went through a rough patch with nights of screaming and no sleep. On top of grieving the death of loved ones. To say that I was exhausted is an understatement. I didn't even feel human. Sleep deprivation is NO JOKE.

Well, we are finally on the mend, though Landry spiked a fever last night and again this morning. We'll see how today goes. And that's all you can do. Take one day at a time. I am so thankful for supportive friends and family that reassure me that I'm doing a great job with Landry and it's completely normal to feel inadequate as a mom sometimes. When Landry wasn't sleeping and he was waking up screaming (not like him), it made me feel like I was doing something wrong, that I should know what to do to help him. But then, you hear a friend (an angel) say to you, "this is out of your control, you can only support him through this, " made me feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

If you are going through a rough time right now, let this be a reminder to you that you aren't meant to control everything. God is in control. We can only do so much as a human being and to put your trust in God and rest in the fact that He will handle whatever situation you are facing. I know, that's easier said than done, but the more you rest in Him and the bigger your faith grows, the more miracles you begin to see. God bless you today and always.