time flies

My sweet boy begins kindergarten today!!!! Woohoo!!! Stay tuned for pictures.....

The sun was shining as mom and I went to Ingles to get groceries last night. As we were checking out it began to POUR DOWN RAIN. I mean, REALLY rain. Mom ran to get the car and I waited with the food under the awning. I was soaking wet by the time I slid into the car!

If we had waited 20 more minutes to leave our house, we would not have gotten caught in the rain. The upside? On the way home we saw the most beautiful rainbow. It was, by far, the most beautiful one I have EVER seen. We all know that rainbows come from God as a reminder of His promises. That is not what the Holy Spirit reminded me of last night, though. As we turned onto our street, it hit me. The rainbow came AFTER the storm.

God wants all of us to enjoy His beauty. But, often times we must first endure the rain.

build a bear & party at gaga's

This is my FIVE YEAR OLD little man!! On the morning of his birthday, Scott, Laurie and I took the boys to Build A Bear Workshop. JP was SO EXCITED!!

JP and daddy on the way...

Sweet face!

Scott's parents always have a party for MacKenzie (her birthday is one day after JP's) and JP. They had such a good time...

Eating dinner...

The birthday babies! They are growing up SO FAST!! Boo!!

Gaga bought them each a mini karaoke player...a big hit!

new day, new perspective

I don't mind telling you, I have been an emotional WRECK this week. I have wondered to myself, "What in the world is going on?" If I sit and think about it though. A lot is going on. Here are a few stressors that I listed in my journal last night:

• Scott is not doing well physically


• I am going back to work


• JP is beginning kindergarten


• JP is going to a new daycare this week (never been in daycare before)

I think that my emotions in this season of my life are stronger than when we adopted JP! Seriously. I mean, I remember all too well what that felt like on some days, but this may be worse. Last night I had, had enough. You can only cry so much. So, I sat and wrote out my feelings in my journal. Man, I forgot how freeing that can be! It was almost like a light switch...just by putting my feelings on paper, I felt lighter. I thanked God over and over again. I felt at peace for the first time in a while. Now, I just have to leave my burdens at His feet. I am a champ at giving them up and then taking them right back.

I am always telling my sister to not borrow trouble from tomorrow or next week. I tell her to take things ONE DAY AT A TIME! I need to take my own advice!!

I sat down this morning to have my quiet time. I read the first chapter of John and re-read some old sermon notes I had in my Bible. There is one that JUMPED off the page at me.

"If God brought you to it, He will lead you through it!"

I love that!! I needed to hear that! Anxiety and pain are human emotions. Normal. I am not going to beat myself up over having them. I just do not want to waste them! God has allowed me to be in my circumstances for a reason. I pray that God will help me to be open to what He wants me to learn through my trials. I don't want to miss it because I'm crying!

Well, I'm off to take JP to daycare. He seems excited this morning, which helps! I hope everyone has a great day!!!

birthday part 1

Preston taking in all the action...

JP will miss Mrs. Connie this year!! (So will we...)

JP and his "family" of animals...pretty soon, he won't have room to sleep! He had such a nice birthday. I'll post the rest of the pictures tomorrow!

happy 5th birthday to my sweet (not so) baby boy!

Just some pics of my FAVORITE five year old! Happy Birthday, sweet boy! You are our favorite part of EVERY day! We love you!

We went back to the orthopedic doctor Friday to see if they would be willing to remove the "cyst" from the back of Scott's knee. In addition to a different surgeon, we also were seen by a doctor from the Mayo Clinic. I LOVED both of them. I'll take this opportunity to give a "shout out" to Steadman Hawkins of the Carolinas...they are awesome!

Unfortunately, we were given the same opinion as the original doctor. The cyst is not causing Scott pain. Apparently, it is a very common cyst that some people may not even realize they have. All of Scott's blood panels were high, so they are not willing to remove the cyst until they find out what is going on in his body. I appreciate and respect their decisions, I am just not happy about them. Obviously, this means there is NO EASY FIX for the pain he is in. They drew more fluid off of his knee to culture. If there is infection in his joint, they will have to do surgery immediately and put him on a round of IV antibiotics. If the culture shows no infection, then we begin our trip down the LONG road to find out where his infection is and what is wrong. In the meantime, Scott no longer feels like playing golf, he is having trouble driving (he only drives to and from work), and he finally has agreed to use crutches. He HATES crutches.

If there is no infection, we go next Friday to repeat his MRI. I will keep you posted as to where we go from there.

I do not want this blog to be a WHINE fest. However, I do use this as an outlet to journal our life. I do not feel very positive right now, so in turn, you do not have a positive blog post! Sorry! I am very anxious about JP beginning kindergarten and with everything else going on, I feel SO STINKIN' EMOTIONAL!! I just want to scream. Instead, I wait until both boys go to bed and I cry and pray. Please continue to pray for us. I know there are those of you out there who have lived with and watched your spouse suffer on a daily basis. You understand how hard it is and how taxing it is on your mind and spirit.

Okay, ENOUGH!! Look forward to a birthday post in the next day or two!!! My baby turns FIVE tomorrow!!!! THANK YOU, LORD, FOR HIS LIFE!!!! Despite our circumstances, You are too good!