Birthday musings

Saturday is my birthday.  Saturday is a wonderful day on which to have a birthday.  I used to hate it when my birthday fell on a Saturday.  Who wants their birthday on a weekend when they can get recognition at school on a weekday??

Now, though, I stay at home, so I love a weekend birthday when Handsome Hero can be home with me.  See how I'm getting wiser?  Growing up and everything.

I'll be thirty-six this year.  Thirty-six.  I want to be really excited about getting closer to forty.  I mean, it's a landmark in life, right?  It's when people do that "Lordy, Lordy" rhyme!  It's the age of knowing what you're made of! 

Wait, I think I got that from a Viagra commercial. 

Let's move on.

I am looking forward to the wisdom that really does come with getting older, but I have my concerns about this age thing.  I am already having a harder time losing the baby weight, have tons of gray hair, and varicose veins have drawn road maps behind my knees.  I'm thinking of tattooing a you are here sign on my left calf.

Isn't it all downhill from here?

Actually, I don't think so.  Getting older has advantages.  Big ones.  As I get older, I become more comfortable in who I am.  I don't feel like I need to make excuses for being the person God made me.  There are things to grow into and out of as time passes; that's maturity. But the personality with which I have been blessed is my gift from God and I rejoice in it.

There are other things I've come to realize.  I will never be an athlete, but I can exercise consistently.  I will always be so pale that make-up often doesn't come in a light enough shade.  I could not care less.  I talk to myself when no one is around, and sometimes when I just think no one is around.  Why do you think I started a blog?  I am convinced that I will meet that guy from HGTV's Bath Crashers in Home Depot one day and all of my bathroom renovation dreams will come true, so I practice for my interview when I get ready in the morning.  In case you're wondering, I'm clever and pithy, but not too over-the-top.  Just right for TV.

I am also more comfortable in my marriage as time goes on.  Not to be confused with becoming complacent, being comfortable is a lovely place to be, restful and peaceful.  Handsome Hero is still a big stud who makes my heart go pitter patter.  We're going on a date tonight and I've been thinking of my outfit all day.  I still want to make him happy, but as we grow together in the Lord, we begin to make each other happy by default.  It becomes more and more natural.

So while I'm not thrilled about the outward signs of getting older, I'm more excited about the inward signs of growing up.  I look forward to what I will learn this year that I didn't know last year.

It's a journey I'm on, and I have a built in road map, if I could just twist around to see it.

Mother Earth

Today, Ella and I planted our garden.  It is our first time planting from seed, and our first for-reals garden bed.  Last year we only did a little bit in a corner of the flower garden.  We learned somewhat and decided to build raised beds this year.

Handsome Hero did an amazing job putting these together.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Of course, the area needs a lot of work, but the beds themselves are so pretty.  This picture was taken from the deck, so you can see they are very close to the house {it was the best place for ease of use and full sun}.  Because of that we decided they should be as pretty as possible, and Handsome Hero came up with this design.

I think there is still a cap piece coming to finish the whole thing off, but either way I am really excited about them!  I'm not excited that we're so late planting, but we didn't spend much on seeds, so if it's a total bust we'll be ahead of the game next year because of all the prep work this time around.  We had to move the mulch, move the landscape fabric, build the beds, level the ground, replace the fabric, put the beds together, fill them with dirt, and all the other stuff that goes into preparing the space.  By we, let's just say that I have a very willing and loving husband and that I kept the kids out of his way.

Ella and I did the planting together, which was fun and frustrating all rolled into one.  A few more seeds than intended may have been dropped in maybe most of the holes, but she was really excited about it!

As we worked, she had an epiphany.  "Mom, you know, these seeds are like children.  They need to be loved and comforted by the earth.  The earth is like the mother of the seeds.  It hugs them close as they grow.  It's like, it's like, Mother Earth.  That's it.  That's what I'm going to call it."

So now you know.  We have planted seed children in mother earth.  Let us hope they grow with the aid of father time.  And water, whatever relation she may be.

p.s.  To those who knew that Nate was having tubes put in his ears yesterday and were praying, thank you so much. He took it like a champ and is acting today like nothing happened.  We hope to see an improvement in his speech and gross motor skills soon.

Update on Nate the Great

It's been awhile since I updated you on how our little guy is doing.  Nate is 23 months old, and he is one awesome little boy.  He continues to be a source of great joy to us.  He laughs a lot, and makes funny faces, and does things on purpose to get a laugh from us.  It's hilarious to play games with him.

At the children's museum, enjoying the view from the stroller.

 

He is also a source of bewilderment to me because he has a horrible temper, which doesn't jive with the rest of his personality!  He's really laid back, until he isn't.  He really enjoys people, until he doesn't.  He eats really well now, until he stops.  He loved taking baths, until he hated them, and then loved them again.  

He is usually willing to be dressed up any way Ella pleases, which usually means dress up clothes or her clothes.

 

Color me confused!  He's been treated as a baby for much longer than our other kids because he isn't walking, isn't talking, and has, physically speaking, been in the infant stage for a long time.  But he's almost two.  TWO!  In a matter of weeks he will be two years old.  He understands things, though to what extent I don't know because as I said, he doesn't talk.  The only consistent things he has been saying are "Ella," "hello," and "Where's Ella?" which sounds like "Whellella?"  He only added "bye-bye" and "baby" in the last couple of weeks.  "Momma" and "Dadda" are rarely spoken.  Who do you think is the favorite, hhmmm?

 

I know it's blurry but I love this picture.  They love to rock together.  She usually sings or reads to him.  He usually honks her nose.  It's a love thing.

 

He is still seeing a therapist who works with him on his speech and physical development.  It's really funny to me to watch him crawl, because he was taught to do so by someone instead of figuring it out himself, so he looks like a little robot crawling down the hall.  Left, right, left, right. 

 

Once he started pulling himself up, the dining room window became a favorite spot.

A couple of months ago he began pulling himself up to the coffee table and stools, anything that was at the right height.  At first he wouldn't shift his feet to gain purchase, so he looked really awkward until he just fell over.  We were concerned that it was the pesky sensory issues again, that he didn't like the feeling of the carpet on his feet and wouldn't move them, but gradually he has begun to adjust himself really well and now he walks along furniture like a champ.  He will walk in the open with both hands held, and has stood up by himself several times, only to fall on his rump, laughing hysterically.

Nate was actually having a really good time here, but Handsome Hero had to stop so I could get a better picture, and he didn't like that.  Notice that Ella is holding reigns.  That man is one amazing dad.

His fine motor skills are pretty much right on for his age.  His gross motor skills and speech are at about a fourteen month level.  We hope to see a great improvement in those things very soon, though, because on Monday morning he is having tubes put in his ears.  We found out that he has had fluid in his ears for a very long time, but it is usually sterile, so he hasn't had an unusual amount of ear infections.  However, he doesn't hear much and his equilibrium is all off because of it, which would, of course, effect speech and walking. 

So there you have it.  A year ago, we were talking about feeding tubes and this was what eating looked like.

 

 

We are indeed blessed.