Ordinary Moments to Remember

Everyday is an adventure with these babies! 

The last day of school! Brooks finished up pre-k and will go to Kindergarten next year, Ramsey will be in the 3 year old class next year! 

Alyson graduated high school! The boys loved going to the stadium and watching her graduate! 

We have enjoyed the first few pool days of the year! I just adore Eden in her suit and hat! 

Eden and her BFF, Abigail (our neighbors) 😁

Ramsey sure does look up to his daddy! 

Tim and I played our first full round of golf  together! We had a great time! I shot 121 😂 so there's a lot of work to do! 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Month of Sickness

May was not our best month! It was quite a struggle for me and I'm hoping it's all behind us now and we are ready for a happy, healthy summer! 

For me, the bad luck started on Eden's birthday when I ripped off my toenail. I babied that for a week or 2, which then led into a virus. 

I got a 104 degree fever on a Monday and nursed it for a few days before I headed to urgent care for some Tamiflu. But lo and behold, it wasn't the flu... just a virus! I got a steroid shot and was sent home. By the end of the week I was starting to feel better.

 

Then that Saturday night I got a terrible headache. This seemed to be a migraine that I just couldn't shake. It ruined our Mother's Day plans and I tried to cope with Motrin until Monday. When the headache was still going strong on Monday I headed to my primary care doctor. She gave me a shot for migraines and said it would be gone in 30 minutes.... WRONG! 

That night I was still debilitated and decided to call on the on-call doctor. He had me load up on steroids and said if the headache was still there in the morning to head to the ER.

Morning came and I still didn't feel right. I picked up my mama and headed to the ER. Part of me felt like I was being dramatic and the other part of me was sure I had a brain tumor or meningitis.

The doctors were very thorough (and now that I got the bill, a little too thorough). They did a full blood work up, chest X-ray, and head CT scan to rule some things out. All those came back without any results. The doctor felt like we should do a spinal tap next. He inserted what my mom described as a foot long needle into my back and drained my spinal fluid. He told us it would take an hour to process. He came back in 15 minutes with the news... I had meningitis!! 

They immediately came in with a mask for me and moved me quickly to a private room. Along with that came the news that I would miss Brooks' pre-k graduation that night because I would have to stay in the hospital for a few days 😔

 

 
 

Long story short- I spent a few days in the hospital hooked up to IVs, went home  on Thursday and continued to recover for the next week. The worst part was how difficult it was to enjoy the kids, any light or noise amplified my headache. They didn't quite understand the concept of staying quiet, so it was hard on them too.

Thank goodness for my village that came in and took care of everything! My family all helped out with the kids, my mama also babied me in the hospital, Tim was super dad and a doting husband, and my work family came through with meals and gift cards to keep our house running!  At the end of the day, I am so very blessed and this whole experience helped me remember that. Praise God! 

 

It Happened!

My baby girl turned 1!! Just like that she is walking, waving, saying bye-bye, and copping an attitude when she doesn't get her way! She is growing big and strong too! Height: 29 inches (46%)Weight: 20 pounds 10 oz (42%)Head: 44.8 cm (42%)She still just has 4 teeth (2 on top and 2 on bottom), but that doesn't stop her! She loves to eat table foods and has finally gotten the hang of sucking on a applesauce pouch! I can see more teeth coming in, but I hope they're slow bc that will just make her look more grown!And this little sugar lover had her hands in the cake before I could even lay it down! I had to grab the candle as fast as I could! She devoured about half of her smash cake, but still offered me some! So many people came and loved on her, thank you! She is enjoying all her sweet gifts! She just adores her brothers and is already trying to keep up!

Let's Cut Ourselves Some Slack...

In this busy, publicized world we live in it's easy to find ourselves overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with all of the pressures we put on ourselves. I, for one, constantly work at being a great mom, a great wife, a great housekeeper, and a great educator among other things. We see people doing it all on social media and cannot even fathom how it's possible. Well folks, it's not! And I'm not saying you can't be all of those things, just not at the same time.  Something has to go on the back burner in order to focus our attention. I have finally realized (and given myself permission) to put things on the back burner. You see, there are times when I truly need to focus on my career. I got another degree and had to give a lot of attention to that- so other things slipped. Sometimes we have to let things slip for a day, an hour, or a month. What I want to remind you is that it's okay!  It's okay if your house becomes a wreck because you are focusing on quality time with the kiddos. It's okay to neglect the special time with the kids to get a project finished one afternoon. It's okay to leave work early to squeeze in some one on one time with your oldest. It's okay to run by the gym for some "me time." And it's okay to stay at work late and finish up that to-do list. I think most importantly we need to cut ourselves some slack.  You'll never be the best at everything, but you do the best you can. You see, we all juggle a lot. So let some things slide while you focus on what's important in that moment- and give yourself permission to not feel guilty about it (because Mom Guilt is a serious thing!)

So if you're stopping by my house anytime soon, I'll just remind you that housekeeping isn't my focus right now 😉

Cheers 🍻 to cutting ourselves some slack and  not feeling guilty about it!