Has it really been THAT long?!?!?

I just have to admit that I am the world's worst blogger. I just seem to fall of the invisible internet world and then randomly appear again. This time I have a good reason. Well, I guess first trimester pregnancy is an okay excuse but this one is better.

(This turned out to be a looonnggg post but the end is worth it. God is amazing!)

First of all, we had our second child. Corbin Isaiah was born on April 8, 2009. The birth itself was awesome! Thank God it went exactly like I had envisioned, with the exception of induction. I had developed high blood pressure and it was becoming dangerous for the baby and myself. The contractions started at 4 pm. At 8 pm I was 3 cm and then at 9:00 I was 10 cm. Corbin was born at 9:34. I was even able to have him without an ephideral because my husband was a wonderful lamaze coach! Thanks honey!

Everything seemed to be going great. They seemed to be able to get my blood pressure back down and everyone seemed pretty healthy. The night before I was to be discharged from the hospital they told me that Corbin was not going to be released because he had lost more than ten percent of his birth weight. Since Corbin was going to be kept one more day, the doctor said he would let me stay another night. God knew exactly why Corbin lost the weight: I needed to be in the hospital the next day.

That morning my blood pressure started to rise. The doctors started medication that morning but it still wasn't working. They decided to go ahead and give me a shot. About 30 minutes after the shot, I started feeling pretty bad. My heart started to beat exceptionally fast and I was becoming short of breath. I paged my nurse and waited for a few minutes. I pressed the button again but by the time she got in the room I was barely breathing and my heart rate was 190.

After many tests and 24 hours in the ICU, the doctors still do not know why this happened to me. I do know that God made sure that I was still in the hospital when this happened. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I would have been at home! I am so thankful that Little Man lost enough weight to justify being in the hospital another night.

We spent a week in the hospital and then it just took me a while to get adjusted to "normal". I didn't mean to let blogging, or Michaela's school for that matter, go for so long but it just happened. I was about to start again but...

We decided to go to the zoo one day. The day seemed like any other day until we decided to get on the train. Chris was sitting in the cart in front of me and I was holding Corbin on my lap and I had Michaela sitting next to me with my arm around her. As we went around a curve the train derailed.

I don't want to go into too many details, but everone in the family except me was hospitalized that day. Michaela had some bleeding on her brain and had to have plastic surgery. Corbin had a fractured skull and Chris, who had been pinned under the train, had broken both bones in the lower part of his leg. He also had severe road rash on both legs. (This is not a full list of the injuries but this gives you the gist of what happened.)

I spent the next week living at the 2 hospitals. We have an AMAZING children's hospital right here in our city and it's only 3 blocks from our trauma hospital! The kids were released about a week later and Chris was there about 3 weeks total. We are all home now and everyone is recovering beautifully. God is so good and faithful. It has been amazing to see the great physician work in our lives.

Today I got to think about something though. I started to think about the children's names. Michaela's middle name is Grace. I can tell you right now it is only by the grace of God that she is still here. It is only by the grace of our wonderful healer that the bleeding was stopped on her brain. It is only by the grace of God that I get to see my baby turn two next month.

Corbin's middle name, Isaiah, means "saved by God." We chose that because Corbin means "dark and bruding" and we wanted something to balance it out. (Can you tell that we really like choosing names because of significance and meaning?) Anyway... I was thinking about Corbin's short life. Within the first few days God used him to possibly save my life. He was the only reason I was at the hospital when I had my 'attack'. Then just a few weeks later God used me to help save Corbin's life. As we were falling over, I can remember pulling him close to me and wrapping my body around his while I was grabbing Michaela. God has already saved him and he has been used as an instrument to save someone else. I pray that God will continue to use him to save many more people!

So needless to say, I haven't had much time for blogging lately. But I think I'm back.

Food Guide for Preschoolers

Do you have trouble remembering exactly what your preschooler should be eating every day? This website will give you a personalized food pyramid for your LO based on age, gender and activeness.

Vanity of Vanities! All is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:¹The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
²"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,
"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."...
⁸All things are wearisome;
Man is not able to tell it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor is the ear filled with hearing.
⁹That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

Vanity:(from Webster's Dictionary) 1: something that is vain, empty, or valueless 2: the quality or fact of being vain

Vain: (from Webster's Dictionary) 1: having no real value 2: marked by futility or ineffectualness

In the past few days I have felt a tidal wave of conviction. You probably know what I'm talking about. It's the times, as my preacher would say, that you "have been taken to the Holy Ghost woodshed for a good whippin" (He's from down south in Alabama). Last night God confirmed these convictions and lovingly gave me a little wisdom and direction.

You see, I have felt like I have been in a spiritual pit or valley for a while. I have been continuing to go through the motions but it has felt completely empty and ineffective. I would read my bible, do my bible studies with a friend, pray with Michaela every night. The typical rituals that Christians have but felt nothing.

Finally, I began to pray to have a desire again. God will always answer when we ask with a sincere heart. He began to show me that I have no desire or joy because I am trying to find meaning from anything and everything apart from Him. Everything I try to accomplish is meaningless and ineffective without Him. He is the only reason I will find joy.

This also spills over into my work with Michaela. Verses 3&4 of Ecclesiastes 1 say: ³What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? ⁴A generation goes and a generation comes, But the earth remains forever. Where am I teaching her to get her joy from? Soon I will be gone and I only get one shot to instill God's values into her. It is great if she knows her colors, how to count and transfer objects. However, all of my work is meaningless if I do not teach her about the greatest source of joy and satisfaction in her life.

We need more Bible time in Tot School.

Thanks Nana!

I bought a baby bedding set for Michaela's new big girl bed It was the only comforter set I could find that fit her bed since it's still a crib sized mattress. Nana had a great idea for the bumper: make a bumper for the rails but use the rest for pillows and the valences.
Valences still to come. Thanks for your hard work Nana! One of these days I'm going to have to get the sewing machine out of the box and learn!

Mommy Confession Monday:Clean and Dirty Room Edition

For this week there is so much that I could confess to you all. Like we didn't get out of our PJ's most days, she watched more TV this week then the rest of her life combined or the fact that she had goldfish and yogurt one night for dinner. But I decided to be vulnerable and include pictures this week. I'm going to show you my children's rooms:

The nice, clean, organized nursery just waiting for the precious addition to our family.

Michaela's room. A complete unorganized mess!I have to explain so my embarrassment is lessened a little. I am in the middle of the dreaded switch of clothing sizes. I HATE HATE HATE to switch out one size clothes for the next. I have to do this in small doses. I had nice neat piles ready to be hung up or put away but unfortunately, my LO started playing in there before I could finish. Now I have so much more work ahead of me. I'll get there eventually but now my doses are even smaller!

What about you? Do you have something you need to get off your chest?

Our Trays

I had a few people ask where I got Michaela's trays from. I was going to respond in the comment section, but I wanted to show a few pictures.

I actually got this idea from Carisa at 1+1+1=1. She suggested using the trays from her Melissa & Doug toys. We have a few different sets of these toys.
I emptied the contents of these trays and viola: Perfect trays with compartments. Some of the trays are a little more complex which will be great once we start sorting more objects.
I love yard sale season. I found these M&D toys for $4.00 each in someone's front yard!

We have Trays!

~Michaela is currently 19 months old~

This was our first week using actual trays and somewhat planned activities. She had such a great time. I have to say transferring the beans was her favorite activity. She did this for at least 20 minutes before I asked her if she would like to do something else. Even then she told me no, so we kept playing with the beans! Here is a look at our week:

Puzzles are always a must around here. She loves them!

Learning to sort the shapes.

She entertained herself by stacking the wipe containers while I put away the groceries and Daddy started dinner. They are amazed by the simplest things!

Then Daddy gave her the drumsticks!

Transferring Beans with a Spoon.

She started with the spoon...

but quickly decided that she would have more fun pouring directly from the container.
Every time she would drop one on the ground she would say, "Aw, man!"

Putting small things in a container.

She would put 1 piece in each hole and then pull them right back out. Then she realized that they would break off and fall in the holes. Our activity then turned into taking the lid on and off. Then we just completely derailed!

She decided this looked like her cup with a straw. She actually would take a "drink" and say, "Umm." What an imagination!

Putting the feathers into styrofoam.

She had fun with this one until she broke one. I think it made her sad because she didn't want to do this activity any more!

She took the feathers and started to say "Tickle, Tickle!"
I have no idea where she got that from!

Her friend came over this week and they practiced taking turns.
They wanted to buckle the seat.

Then we realized there were 2 sets of buckles.
I'm glad they got to practice taking turns first though.

Building with the Mega Blocks. She did most of this tower on her own.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures this week. She loves the princess crown!

I'm just happy she enjoys reading books as much as she does!

Check out this post for many other great ideas for Tot School.