Born From My Heart

Just a quick catch up post. I now have 2 official elementary kids. 3rd grade and kindergarten. It's so hard to believe they are this grown up! My sweet girl went from this To this And my sweet boy went from this To this They are both doing so well and flourishing at school. We are so proud of both of them!

So about 11p last Wednesday night I was sitting on the couch in my PJs watching TV and playing Candy Crush on my phone.  My husband Adam was in the garage finishing our daughter’s field day costume and my son was on his iPad next to me.  Out of nowhere I get this crushing, squeezing, pushing, vise-like pain in my chest – just below my breast bone.  It was so intense and so instant.  I sat there breathless and confused for a minute and then felt nauseous.  I tried leaning back, standing up, laying down, walking, etc. and nothing was doing anything to relieve the pain.  It wasn’t getting worse or better it was just constant.  My (split) brain starts having an argument with itself that went on for 30 minutes something like this: Right Brain (RB) – OMG is this a heart attack?! Left Brain (LB) – No, don’t be silly, it CAN’T be a heart attack. RB – Are you sure because I think it is a heart attack and I’m about to freak out! LB – Nah, we are ...

On Monday, August 18, 2014 my baby girl started kindergarten at 5 years 8 months 2 weeks and 1 day old.  Um, exactly how did that much time pass from this: To this: I swear I only blinked liked two or three times.  Moms of newborns right now, don't blink! So to backup just a bit, on Thursday, May 29, 2014, Reagan graduated from VPK.  I barely held it together through the ceremony and Reagan was her true funny little self throughout which helped.  Here is her graduation video clip.  She speaks so fast but she is saying "In Pre-K I learned how to read".   She had a great year in VPK and learned so many things and loved her teachers, Ms. Cara and Ms. Michelle.  Her least favorite part of her day was naptime so she was very happy to learn that you don't sleep in kindergarten!   She had a long, fun summer full of fun and family time and visits from relatives and late nights.  The late nights came to screeching halt the nig...

Boy did we ever luck out with the people in Trevor's life.  We started him in preschool a year ago to help his speech and his teacher is AMAZING!  We love her so much and have become friends with her and her family too.  Her 17 year old daughter is actually Trevor's girlfriend. ;-)  He sure loves his 'NaNa'.  Anyway, between his therapist, who we also adore, and his teacher, Trevor has come so far. When he started he pretty much used 'Ma' for everything.  Quite quickly after beginning preschool he added new words and began babbling in his car seat after school everyday.  Yellow was one of his favorite words for a while and he still will say that is his favorite color.  His teacher, Miss Mary, was so eager and willing to work with his therapist, Miss Tina, and the two of them implemented so many things in the classroom that helped not only Trevor but his classmates as well.  He loves to go to school every day and he loves the routi...

I try to expose my children to the same kind of faith I was while growing up.  I was raised in a couple of really, really good United Methodist churches.  They were open, friendly, supportive, non-judgemental, fun, loving, etc.  We were taught the fundamentals of Christianity but we were also taught so much more.  To be honest, I was shocked as I got older and realized that all religions and all churches were not so welcoming of everyone and anyone because that wasn't what I had been taught.  I am thankful for those churches of my childhood because I have now grown into an adult who is secure in my faith yet respectful of others who share my faith differently, more, less or not at all.  I will gladly tell others about my personal walk if they desire however I do not expect others to have that desire and feel everyone is entitled to their own beliefs or non-beliefs.  I do however like to read of others' walks in faith so there are a couple of blogs I fo...

Something the other day that made me remember how kids sometimes perceive things.  One of my BFFs has a son who we used to joke that I had shared custody of him.  This child's heart really is a sight to behold.  He has always been very sweet, loving, caring and empathetic beyond his years.  He always seems to understand things on a deep heart level even when his young mind can't quite grasp all that is.  One of those instances happened when I was in the trenches of fertility treatments and he himself had his little world off-kilter.  Without going into too many details, he was 4 years old, his older brother had been horribly injured in Iraq (he is miraculously fine now thank God!) and his mom had to fly out for an undefined period of time to be with his brother as none of us knew if his brother was even going to survive.  While his mom was away, he stayed with me and up until that point had never been away from his mother even overnight.  D...

For as long as I can remember, my mom would go around to all of the family graves for each major holiday and put flowers.  Of my mother's 3 daughters, I was the only one who enjoyed doing this with her.  I can actually distinctly remember the last time she ever made my two older sisters go but I will get to that a bit later.  I have very fond memories of visiting each grave and paying our respects and after I moved 800 miles away from where I grew up I really missed doing so with my mom.  This past Christmas the kids and I spent the holiday up with my mom.  I was so excited to visit the graves for Christmas and made my mom promise not to do it until I could be there.  It made me feel good to be there for this tradition. This is for my grandmother and grandfather:      This is for my much beloved great-aunt: This is for my aunt (my cousin had also been there): This is for my grandmother's best friend who was always part of...

As mentioned in my previous post, both kids started preschool on April 8th.  I was excited and terrified at the same time, plus a little sad.  Since Reagan was born she has been home with me, her dad or close friends.  Of course Trevor was too and these arrangements were great for us all.  I started looking at preschools in February to get a jump on picking one for Reagan to start VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) in August as I was told that if you wait then your first choice may no longer have open spots.  I have a tendency to procrastinate so I wanted to get the choosing and registering done well before August approached and sent me into a panic-driven choice.  After visiting several daycare centers and talking to other moms who already use daycare I narrowed down my choices to tour.  The center I decided on is small (no children under 2 and no children older than VPK), has lots of teachers and assistants in ratio to the number of kids, d...

Well my baby boy is almost 2!  I can hardly believe it.  He is such a joy and growing leaps and bounds, of course, and continues to be a pretty easy going little man.  At his 18 month well baby check I knew there were going to be concerns.  Even though he started on track verbally with early babble he kind of stalled.  He was late to say his first real word - Eat - but he didn't continue to say it.  Instead, everything was "Ma".  Everything.  Me, his dad, his sister, his cup, his pets, his toys, his bed, food - everything!  When he wanted to express that he wanted or needed something he would only say "Ma" with an occasional "Mama" thrown in.  I remembered counting up the number of words Reagan was saying at her 18 month appointment and quit counting when I was well past the number of words they hope they can say by that age.  His one single word was not going to be good news to his doctor.  At his appointment they gave me a ...

we are still here. busy as ever. trevor is now walking and he started at fourteen months old just like his big sister.  reagan starts her second season of soccer in a couple weeks and she is very excited. i just cannot get over how quickly my babies are growing up.  

What a day full of emotion in our household.  There is absolute joy and wonderment at being the mommy of my two beautiful babies.  Babies that I worried for many years I wouldn't get the chance to mother.  I have no words to describe how wonderful motherhood feels and how deep my love flows for my daughter and my son.  They are my entire world. There is also wistfulness as I spend the day 800 miles away from my own mother.  We see each other several times a year and talk on the phone often but there is nothing like having your mom accessible in person daily.  Happy Mother's Day Mom!  I love you very, very, very much! We also have a weave of deep sadness in our home on this and other important holidays.  My mother-in-law passed away a few weeks after Reagan was born.  It was very sudden and unexpected and the unfairness of the timing cuts deep.  She barely got to be MaMere (an informal French nickname for Grandma) before she was ta...

So last night I officially became a soccer mom!  Ever since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when Reagan was about 18 months old, she has been interested in soccer.  She had been playing on the floor with her toys one day when I clicked over to a match.  She stopped what she was doing and began to watch intently.  I was amazed that she was watching the ball movements during a wide shot of the field and I have to say I was also very impressed.  After a few moments of watching, she stood up and went to find one of her big rubber balls.  She brought it back in front of the TV and began to kick it around.  It was a proud moment and I quickly texted my nieces and nephews (who also love soccer!) to tell them all about it.  We always end up at a soccer game or two of theirs during our couple times a year trips up north to visit and Reagan ALWAYS asks to play soccer too every time we watch a game.  The YMCA by us offers Pre-K soccer be...

It has been a while since I participated in 5 Question Friday but wanted to join in on the fun today!  You can head on over to My Little Life if you want to play along too! 1. Are you looking forward to the time change this weekend? Absolutely 100% positively NOT!  I have always hated Spring Forward.  I swear it makes me tired clear through until Fall Back!  I really wish they would do away with it and just leave it one way or the other. 2. A re you getting the new iP ad /would you want a iPad ? I actually would rather get a Tablet.  I am not an iFan as I find there are certain things I can't do on iDevices that I can do on other devices and that makes me feel a little like I am part of a hostage situation. 3. I f money was not a problem, what is the one thing you would splurge on? Travel.  There are so many places I want to show my children.  I'd love to be able to one day say, oh you learned about Asia this semester in school?  How a...

How cool that my 100th post is my son's birth story!  I think that is pretty neat!

Well Trevor is 9 months and 1 week old today and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet posted his birth story!  I guess now is as good a time as any.  I do think though that part of me may have avoided this just a little in the early days because, well, it wasn't exactly what I had pictured it would be and that made me a little sad.  No matter though.  He arrived, he was/is gorgeous and is a healthy little man.  As postings leading up to his birth (and Reagan's too) show, their birth mother does home births and has a history of interrupted labors.  Basically what that means is the first stage of labor begins and then stops at some point before the second stage.  In a hospital setting, if the mother is in full-term range, Pitocin is frequently used to continue labor.  In a home setting, no interventions are normally done.  The body is allowed to decide on its own when and if labor will progress.  So, several times before his actual birth,...