Moving Blues and Saturday Fun

We have lived in Northwest Arkansas for almost 6 months now... and I still get the moving blues every once in a while (like this morning before church)... but I am doing much better. Before moving to NWA (and not including college) I had lived in Little Rock, AR, for my entire life. I LOVE Little Rock. I am comfortable and connected there. My family lives there, my friends live there, my church is there, my favorite restaurants are there, I know the roads and the shortcuts and the stores and the schools, and the doctors, and the neighborhoods etc., etc., etc.

When we moved here, on August 1, almost every single aspect of my life changed... and though we are extremely blessed and I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has provided for us in NWA... It has been hard for me to feel blessed because of the pain of the move. I feel guilty about that, but I'm just being honest. I have felt very alone and frustrated for much of the last six months. But I am working through those emotions and we are working to become connected in NWA and I am doing much better. I won't say that I wouldn't move back to Little Rock tomorrow if the opportunity presented itself but I have decided to enjoy my time and find my purpose here whether it's for the next six months or the next 60 years.

And on a happy note, one of the best things I've found about moving to a new town is that it feels like you are on an extended vacation. There are so many new things to learn and explore and enjoy. Yesterday, we took the opportunity to explore our new(ish) home and we came across some pretty wonderful places and we had a really great day!

We started the day out by going to Hobbs State Park. The visitor's center has a museum type area with live reptiles and amphibians and some fun and interactive learning areas.

Then we went to War Eagle Mill for lunch. It was SUCH a cool place!! After lunch, we threw rocks into the War Eagle Creek.

Love, love this picture of my boys in their boots!!! :)

Our last stop for the day was Turpentine Creek- a wildlife refuge for exotic cats (and they also have a bear!). It was feeding time when we arrived and the roaring coming from the cages was pretty scary but Seth LOVED it!! I couldn't believe how close we were to some of the animals- way closer than you can get to them at a zoo!

We ended our day by having pizza with our friends, Haleigh and Logan, but I didn't take any pictures! Haleigh is also a NWA resident originally from Little Rock and we went to high school together... so she understands my situation and it has really helped to have her up here! :)

Here's to having a good attitude; making the most of the situation that you are in; and figuring out what God has for you no matter where you are!

Have a great week! :)

Miracle

For the last 2 weeks, we have been in a funk at our house! Last week, I was REALLY sick. I was coughing so much that I couldn't sleep or talk and I just felt SO awful. We basically stayed home all week and Nick Jr. babysat Seth while I laid on the couch in a daze. Ha! And this week, Evan missed 2 days of work with the same stuff that I had last week and Seth has missed MDO and therapy this week because of pink eye and an ear infection... I am SO over being stuck at home! haha

I took this picture yesterday morning... this is all the medicine that was sitting out on our kitchen counter (to be honest, we are keeping my parents' lab and she has arthritis and two of the medicines are things that Seth takes every day of his life... so all of these meds aren't because of our current sickness! But I still thought it was funny!).

On Tuesday, before Seth got sick, we went to his 2 year check up. He had to get 2 shots and we found out that he is in the 96th percentile for height and the 85th percentile for weight... poor tiny child. :) That afternoon, we went to get frozen yogurt as a reward for surviving the shots!

The next morning, I had to finally wake Seth up at 10:30! He had been asleep for almost 14 hours and I was starting to get worried about him! When I woke him up, I discovered why he had been sleeping so much... his eye was super red and his snot was super green! So we headed back to the doctor for the second day in a row!

And now on to the reason that I am actually writing this post... In the last two days, we have seen two new doctors. When we moved to NWA at the end of the summer, we chose a pediatrician and went to one appointment with him before he moved to another town and left the clinic. So, we chose another doctor in the same clinic but we had never actually seen him (before Tuesday) because Seth hadn't had any check ups or sick visits since September. Then on Wednesday, when we had the sick visit, our new doctor didn't have any available appointments so we had to see yet another doctor.

So, twice this week, I have had to update a new doctor (and complete stranger) on Seth's rather extensive medical history. As I sat there rattling off all of the things that have happened to Seth in the last 24 months, both of the doctors looked at me in amazement and commented at different times on how miraculous Seth's story is... something that I have almost forgotten because it is so everyday life to me now. It was so good for me to watch a stranger experience the miracle of Seth's life. It was so good for me to remember that although I have experienced God's goodness many times in my life, I had never witnessed a true miracle before Seth.

I am so thankful to God for the miracles that he has done in Seth's life... and I am talking TRUE miracles like "raised the dead to life" and "made the lame to walk" and "made the blind to see" type miracles. The expectations on Seth's life after he was injured at 6 months of age were grim but God is bigger than grim expectations. Among many other miracles, my son, who was once near death, is now full of energy and zest for life. My son who wasn't guaranteed to walk, who wore braces on his feet and didn't take his first steps until he was 15 months old, now runs and climbs and dances. My son, who lost his vision completely after the injury, now has the vision of a typical 2 year old.

My son is a miracle and I don't ever want to forget that. My son is a miracle and I don't want to ever stop telling his story. My son is a miracle and I don't say it enough.

"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples." -Psalm 77:11-14

Our First Family Christmas

Better late than never, right? I could have just skipped it but I really wanted to record our first official Christmas as a family of 3! So here is my attempt at a quick overview...

The night before Christmas Eve (which I like to refer to as Christmas Eve Eve), we rode a Christmas train! It was wonderful and Seth LOVED it!! It was a real train that traveled from Springdale to Fayetteville and then back to Springdale. The kids wore their pajamas and we were served cookies and hot chocolate. We also sang Christmas carols and got a visit from Santa and Frosty the Snowman! :)

About halfway through the train ride, we gave Seth a Christmas present... "The Polar Express". We plan to ride the Christmas train every year and we wanted to commemorate the first year of our new tradition so we gave him the book and wrote a little note in the front of it!

When we got home from the train ride, we made cookies for Santa!

We had our "Christmas Morning" on Christmas Eve morning this year because we wanted Seth to be able to have a Christmas at home but we also wanted to travel to see our families during the weekend.

After we opened presents, Seth and Evan went outside to try out Seth's new ride while I made pancakes!

We had double chocolate Santa pancakes and they were delicious!! I saw some similar Santa pancakes on Pinterest but decided that I wanted our Santas to be made with chocolate pancakes and fresh fruit. I found the recipe that I used for the pancakes here. We also did "Elf on the Shelf" this year and our elf, "Gus", came to our breakfast to say goodbye until next year! :)

And don't worry, we didn't forget about Jack this year! He had some goodies in his stocking too! :)

We spent the rest of the day at home playing and packing and we headed to Little Rock late that afternoon. We got to Little Rock around 8:30 and we went straight to my grandparents' house for dinner and a few gifts.

My grandmother, my mom and me playing in our new hats :)

My grandparents gave Seth this superhero costume and I thought he looked SO cute playing in it!

We spent that night with my parents and on Christmas morning we opened more presents, ate brunch together and read the REAL Christmas story together before packing up and heading to Arkadelphia to be with Evan's family.

At Evan's parents' house, Seth got to meet some Aunts and Uncles that he hadn't met, we ate dinner together and we opened MORE presents... and we learned that Seth is a really great drummer! :)

We spent the night with Evan's parents that night and the next morning, Seth was FINALLY ready to hold Preslee. She was almost a month old at this point and every time we had tried to get him to hold her before, he quickly opted out! haha

He loves his sweet baby cousin (and I LOVE how he is holding her tiny little hand in this picture)! :)

Evan and I have officially decided that Christmas as parents is WONDERFUL and we look forward to many, many more! :)

A VERY Long Day and Pretty in Pink

The week before Seth's birthday, we had to make a special trip to Little Rock for an 8 hour EEG at Children's Hospital... it was a LONG day, to say the least. Seth has a history of seizures and his physical therapist and occupational therapist thought that they may have noticed him having some "absent seizures" so that was the reason for the testing. It wasn't painful at all but it was a VERY long time for an almost two year old boy to sit still and he was very frustrated. I felt so bad for my sweet boy and we were SO glad when it was over!

We spent the night in Little Rock after the EEG and then the next day, my mom and brother came back to NWA with us... because I needed their help! As you may have noticed, my family has a LOT of double birthdays!! My mom's birthday and Evan's birthday are one week apart; my grandmother's birthday and my brother's birthday are one day apart; Seth's Forever Day and my birthday are one day apart and my sister's birthday and Seth's birthday are 3 days apart!! So, Seth wasn't the only family member that we celebrated last week! My sister, Anna, turned 23 on the 12th and we had a little birthday party for her on Thursday night when the rest of my family arrived at our house for the weekend.

Here are a few pictures from her girly party...

My mom had the napkins imprinted with Anna's monogram!

This picture was taken when Anna was 18 months old!

It's hard to see but one of the cakes says, "Happy Birthday" and the other says, "Anna Victoria".

The birthday girl with her table :)

Seth loves his "Nanna" SO much!!

Now, if I had only blogged about Christmas, I would be all caught up! haha

Maybe next week :)

Seth's Birthday Day

Seth's birthday was on a Sunday this year so we started the day out by going to church. My parents and siblings were still in town so they went with us. When Seth's name tag printed for Sunday school, it said, "Happy Birthday!" on it! I thought that was so fun but I forgot to take a picture of it!

After church, we all went out to eat. Seth opened a few little presents and the restaurant brought him an ice-cream sundae with a balloon tied to it and sang Happy Birthday to him!

After lunch, my family went back to Little Rock and we went home to take a nap! On Sunday night, Evan, Seth and I went to a movie! It wasn't technically Seth's first movie but it was his first kid movie and he LOVED it!!! We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

It was a fun day with our sweet TWO year old! And it feels so weird to say that! :)