Lazy Weekend

I am blogging from the mountains this weekend. My sweet husband brought me to my favorite place for a few days. There is something about cabin life that is so refreshing. Maybe it's the simplicity of it all - nothing but snow and trees.


How's your weekend?

Happy Birthday Finley

When clouds veil sun, and disaster comes



Oh my soul, oh my soul



When waters rise, and hope takes flight



Oh my soul, oh my soul




Ever faithful



Ever true



You alone



You never let go....



You never let go



You never let go



You never let go.



When clouds brought rain



and disaster came




Oh my soul, oh my soul




When waters rose, and hope had flown




Oh my soul, oh my soul



Oh my soul




overflows



Oh what love, oh what love



O my soul



fills with hope




perfect love that never lets go.....




In joy and pain



in sun and rain



You're the same
oh you never let go
(lyrics by David Crowder Band)

"In the same way, the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

Romans 8:26

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

These verses have given me great comfort in times of need. I know some people may question why I always write about the bad times along with the good when it comes to celebrating Finley's birthdays. Here's why: In the Bible, whenever someone witnessed a miracle or someone was healed they were told to spread the great news; to tell everyone they encountered about what they had seen. I feel in a way this happened to us. We needed and prayed for a miracle and were given one... so we will tell of it until the end of our days. I thank God for Finley's life and can't imagine ours without him in it. We serve an amazing and gracious God...a God of miracles!

A Blogging Break.....

I cannot express what this blog has been for me. Not just this blog, but the act of blogging in general. I so enjoy getting my feelings out there and on "paper" as a general sense of therapy, but also to update our family and friends on our everyday lives. This blog has been a way to journal our lives, the good times and bad, and feel a sense of community with other moms and families. However, I feel like my blogging life needs a break for now.... so I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has faithfully followed my rantings and also to those who have come from the special needs community to offer advice and encouragement. I still plan on following everyone else's blogs... I've always been a lurker.... and hope that you all will continue to allow me to do so.

Smiles,

Meredith

Who Dat?

I know I have so many other things to blog about but this just has to be said.....

I cannot believe that the New Orleans Saints are going to the Superbowl!!!!

Can you even believe it??? As a southerner, I am so dang proud.

Bless their football-lovin' hearts :)

Syrup and such

Well, I haven't posted in a while because we have been super busy the past few months. At some point, I suppose I will blog about all of that, but for now my heart is aching and I just want to tell you about today.
At 12:30 p.m., Finley Paul will start preschool. Sigh. I knew this was coming. When he turns three (double sigh) he no longer qualifies for therapy services at home and must get them through the school district. So we picked out a backpack, HE picked out a motorcycle backpack, packed it with some extra clothes, all of his paperwork, emergency medication, etc. and at noon I will load him up in the car and try to drop him off. Try. Really hard. Maybe tomorrow?
As this day has been approaching, I can't help but catch myself thinking about the day he was born. I keep thinking about how he smelled and felt and made those sweet grunt-y noises that babies make. I'll skip all of the in between, but here we are almost three years later and I still think about how he feels and smells often.
When the boys are running through the house, I will often grab one of them up and hold them as long as they will let me. I smell their hair and their cheeks and try to hold onto it for the days I will no longer be able to.
Which brings me to the syrup. Finley, inevitably, always smells like syrup to me. I don't know why... he just does. This morning he smells like syrup and blueberries (probably from the blueberry pancakes we had for dinner). But other days he smells like syrup and playdoh, or syrup and a diaper (gross, I know). So, this morning as I was holding him and smelling his hair, J.T. asked me what I was doing to Finley. I told him I was just holding my baby and smelling his hair and he said, "What does he smell like mom?". I said, "Oh, you know, syrup and such" as the tears filled my eyes. J.T., being the super-sensitive child that he is, came and gave me a hug as well, and then said to me, with a straight face, "don't worry mom, I DO NOT smell like syrup-n-uch."

So, will you pray for me today? I know it seems so small to some people, but I feel like this is a big step for our family and is one of the final steps to no longer having babies in the house. I feel like I am closing the door on a huge part of my life and the ache it is leaving is painful right now....

What's in a picture?

Last week my sister-in-law had us meet her in Parker to do a photo shoot with all of our kiddos. I have to warn you that she has mad photography skills and can capture some pretty wicked photos. :) Take these for instance, I'm sure I'm biased but I think my boys are so beautiful, it takes my breath away.....











I can't wait to have these somewhere in my house. Want some of your own?

( Your family silly, not mine!)

Contact her here.
Smiles,
Meredith

Meet Tough, Muff and Max... our 3 Butterflies

A few weeks ago, I won a blog contest from this little guy, who had a stroke just like Finley! We won a butterfly garden and were so excited to send off for our caterpillars the day our habitat arrived. We checked the mail every day anxiously awaiting their arrival. Finally, they came and I can't even describe how amazing it was to watch their transformation! I am obviously not the best with words, but I do take a lot of pictures....













During this process, which takes about 3 weeks, we also read the book Hermie... this is a book written by Max Lucado and is a "just like Jesus story." I am not sure how much the boys understood, but it is a start. I have recently gone part-time at work AND took the boys out of daycare.... and we are having such a great time! This was definitely a great way to start our new routine of spending more time together.


....and Ellen, you will be glad to know we DID NOT let the caterpillars drink and drive!!!

What exciting things have you been up to?