ANOTHER Birthday

Today is another birthday in our home....KATIE'S!!!!! Our sweet baby girl is officially 6 years old. I can't tell you how much it is breaking my heart. From the moment she was born she has been the sweetest angel baby we could have ever wished for. She is our snuggle and cuddle bug. She is just precious.

I am so amazed and honored to be this child's mother. She has one of the biggest, loving, forgiving hearts I have ever seen. Katie always has a smile and a hug for everyone and she is so very eager to welcome anyone as a "new friend". And she teaches me daily about forgiveness. If she feels she has upset me she always says "sorry Mommy" and when I tell her I am sorry she always says "that's okay Mommy". Oh, if I only had that amount of humbleness in my heart.....

And on this day of her birth, I am the one who got a great big gift wrapped up in a small package. Thank you God for blessing us with our sweet Katie Kate and for the privilege to watch her grow daily into the amazing woman she is going to become.

Storms

Well, the last few weeks have seen this area hit with some rough storms. Our neighborhood even got a small tornado. I can't believe it! I didn't think we would really ever experience a tornado up close and personal. We have had so many false alarms that each time we head to the closet I think to myself "boy this so dramatic!".

Last Tuesday we had never ending storms all night long and needless to say 3 kids and 2 dogs in our bed kept me up all night. Add that with a week of not sleeping because Hunter wasn't feeling well and you get one tired crabby mother.

When we went to bed that Wednesday night I asked Jay to "turn that stupid weather radio off" because I desperately wanted to sleep. Now, in my defense that silly thing goes off when there is a flash flood warning in a county on the other side of Dallas. I can only handle so much of that thing. I also knew that my husband was home and on "weather alert" (some of you may not know about his obsession with the weather, but believe me, he puts the weather man to shame) so really there was no cause for me to worry. My man was home and would keep me safe!

Well, imagine the fogginess in our brain when we were awakened at 4:00 a.m. with a sudden gust of wind (or was it rain/hail/all the above). We sat straight up and had 3 kids running in our door 2 seconds before the power went out. Well, no power, no new battery, no weather radio. Add that to no TV, no computer and a very fickle blackberry and we were a little out of sorts wondering what to do. Then we heard it....the sirens. INTO the closet.

Well, the rest of the story is that the tornado did move through and by the time we figured it out, it was all over. Now, that weather radio would have been helpful, I admit to that, but you know my little Hunter summed it up perfectly when we were all tucked in the hall closet "there is no need to be afraid, we have prayed and God will take care of us".

How often we put our safety in the hands of people and things when ultimately God is in control. It's just that simple. In the past I have had to literally say at night when I lay my head down to sleep "okay God, I need some rest now so I am going to let you rule the universe while I am asleep", how silly is that? You would think I would just let my silly self rest peacefully KNOWING that He is ultimately in control (even without my permission! :=)

I know in the future that weather radio is going to be right beside Jay's side of the bed and it will be on for every storm that is within 100 miles of DFW, and that is okay. I learned my lesson about the weather radio. But, once again, God used a significant event to teach me a lesson about control. I just have so much less of it than I think I do! Hmmm, maybe now I can get some rest! ;-)

Relief????

Not yet....Hunter did super during surgery and after a brief bought of nausea she did fine after. The relief the surgery is to provide hasn't come yet, but soon, very soon. She is still swollen in her nasal passages (to be expected) but should feel some relief in the next week.

Thank you all for praying for her. When the doctor told us the surgery couldn't have gone any better my friend Sheryl stated so accurately "it was all the prayer". I couldn't agree more.

I realize that Hunter's surgery was minor, however I just can't imagine anyone going through these types of moments without the power of prayer and faith on their side. When I first saw Hunter lying there and heard the nurse say she had been asking for me I was heartbroken. Here was my sweet girl who was throwing up and I couldn't be there for her. I just knew when she woke up she was going to feel as if I had let her down by not being there as soon as she opened her eyes. But, in hind sight (isn't it so 20/20?) I realize that prayers were answered at that time. God had provided Hunter with a wonderful and compassionate nurse who was looking out for her AND me. She didn't want me to be traumatized by seeing Hunter so sick, so she cleaned her up and calmed her tummy down. She allowed me to walk in and see a beautiful sleeping angel girl who was resting peacefully. She doesn't even really remember throwing up or asking for me! :-)

See, God knew I didn't need to see her in that state, that it would have been very traumatic for me. I would have remained focused on her waking throwing up instead of the doctor saying how well the surgery went. God worked it out better than I could have imagined. Yep, those prayers are so important and so are the people who pray them! Thank you all again for praying for us, it matters!

Surgery day

Surgery in the morning!

Just a quick update to ask everyone to pray for Hunter as she goes into surgery tomorrow morning. She is having her adenoids removed and her sinus blockages cleared. She should feel much better when she awakes.

You know, I remain amazed at how calm we are about this surgery. I remember years ago when Jayson had his tubes put in. I was a wreck. New mommy? Well, maybe, but I tend to think it is more that I was a new believer. I don't really think I had come to grasp at that time the peace that God could offer me if I would let Him.

In my small moment of panic about a possible reaction to anesthesia (after all she is allergic to everything and that's what has brought us to this surgery), my dear friend Sheryl reminded me that God is in control and there is no fear to be had. And that gentle reminder is all it took to calm me back down.

Don't get me wrong, I do not like seeing my child go into a place where I have no control. But knowing, really knowing that the master physician is in there with her sure does make it a lot more peaceful.

Another Birthday

Our second family birthday of 2008 is tomorrow! Our sweet little girl is growing so fast! She is 9 years old. How can that possibly be? Where did our time with her go? Wasn't it yesterday that she was always on my hip (well, yeah, come to think of it, it was yesterday!). She was born attached to her mama and has stayed very close to me since. Now, don't get me wrong, she loves her daddy very much, but this child is my constant shadow and would accompany me on the most boring, mundane errand to be by my side. Jay often reminds me of what a gift it is to be idolized in this way. I have to say, I agree with him. I feel pretty darn special.

Hunter is an amazing child. She is our middle and if you asked her, middle child syndrome is for real! ha ha! But we do strive to help her realize how special she is to us. She may be our middle, but she is our one and only red head after all (and I think that just might be a good thing!).

She is so sassy, quick witted, inquiring, discerning and yet she is so beautiful, smart and friendly (the proud mama coming through, sorry). She loves babies and puppies above all else. She is just an amazing young lady. Jay and I are so blessed to have her.

I think this is one time I search for words.....because I truly believe words can not express the amount of love in my heart for this dear child. She has changed my world for the better. She has taught me so many wonderful lessons about life and I am so proud of her that my heart bursts when I look at her.

I hope that when my daughter is a mother, she is as blessed as I am when she has her children. I hope she is idolized and has a constant shadow following her and then she will understand how awesome it feels to be the mother of such a wonderful child.

Happy Birthday Baby! Mommy loves you so very much!

Prayer

Today I found out that my dear friend Tammy (a woman who I love with all my heart and consider to be one of the 3 wise women God has given me to help me on my journey of being a wife and mother) is on the other end of this country fearing that she is going to lose her dear husband of so many years. Tammy and Ralph are who I want Jay and I to be when we grow up. They are what marriage looks like when I imagine happily ever after. It just can't be fair that this is happening to them now...just after Ralph retired and they began all the wonderful journeys that retirement holds in store.

Okay, I know I sound like I am pouting. Well, I guess I am. I am just plain mad. Stomping on the floor, tantrum throwing mad.

It's funny, if this were another friend and Tammy were listening to me share my feelings (as she so often does), I know what she would say to me. "Kristy, it's okay to be mad. Your feelings are valid. But, let's find a better way to express them rather than throwing this tantrum." And then she would suggest so many different ways I could find the release from my pain besides acting like a 2 year old. All the while loving me just the same as she did before I ever began my rantings.

It's what she does for me. She listens, lets me be me and then advises me, all the while loving and validating me. She is so good to me! You see, that's why I feel so helpless. I want to listen to her share her heart, let her be herself or throw a tantrum and then validate and love her. But she is on the other side of the country and I can't. I long so badly to do this for her, but she is just so far away.

So, I am going to listen to the other 2 wise women God has given me (Sheryl and Janene) and listen very clearly when they tell me that prayer is powerful and IT IS an amazing gift we can give to our dear friends who are in pain. No matter where they are, God is still God and He is there with them all at the same time being he is listening to us.

And then when Tammy gets home (no matter what the outcome), I am going to hug her and let her throw the biggest temper tantrum ever seen, then I am just going to do what she does for me: love her through it!

Please keep my precious friend and her family in your prayers.

Open house

This week has been open house at our children's schools. It has been fun going to their classrooms and seeing all the work they have done in preparation for this night.

It strikes me after veiwing their work, hearing their stories and talking to their teachers the differences in my 3 children. Now, that's totally fine with Jay and I because we realize that God made us all different with special gifts. I guess it just floors me to think that 3 children from the same parents and home environment would be so very different.

As I remark on their differences, I am reminded that even though God made each person on earth different and unique, he loves us all the same. AND, He died for ALL of us. Not just the nice one, not just the smart one, not the most righteous, or the richest of us. ALL of us. How awesome is that? To know that we don't have to try to be a person we aren't to have God love us. We can just be who we are created to be and enjoy it all the while resting in the assurance that Jesus died for our sins so that we may go to Heaven. AMAZING!

It is my prayer that my children can see the love of Christ modeled through Jay and I. That they know that even though they are so different and unique that we love them all just the same and there isn't anything they have to do other than be who they were created to be!