Not Me Monday, Stellan Style

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My heart goes out to this sweet family! If you don't know the whole story about baby Stellan, please go to his mommy's blog, it's an amazing story of heartbreak, hope, miracles, and awe inspiring faith in God! I wish there was something I could do for them, I'm praying of course, but yet, I still wish I could do more. So, in honor of Stellan....here's my "Not Me Monday!" Stellan Style!

I did not get pissed along with MckMama last week, or understand why she was so angry, no way, no how!

I did not question God why this is happening to this poor baby and his family.

I did not go through and read almost all of MckMama's posts from when they first found out baby Stellan was sick, after I learned about this sweet family a few weeks ago.

I do not tear up every time I read an update on baby Stellan.

My heart did not melt when I saw the picture of Stellan sleeping safely with his central line!

I did not love the pictures MckMama posted of her other MSC and what they've been up to.

I did not rack my brain trying to come up with an awesome way to spell Stellan for him.

I did not pray for this sweet baby every day.

I did not pray that MckMama continues to stand strong in her faith which has carried her this far.

I do not know that God can work a second miracle on Stellan's tiny heart in His own time!

Never a Dull Moment

Sunday morning my husband was kind enough to let me sleep in while he took the kiddos downstairs with him. Although this was bliss for me, it turned out to be the opposite for him! After waking up and drifting back off several times, I awoke when he opened our bedroom door and said "Sheldon just threw up!" I groggily got up out of bed and headed downstairs a few minutes later...it's going to be a great day!

As I rounded the corner from the bottom step our youngest son looked at me and confirmed that he had indeed thrown up, and then said "I told you dad," followed by Delainey repeating "told you dad!" My poor husband was cleaning the floor under our kitchen table and the char in which Sheldon had been sitting. I, of course, questioned the whole situation a little confused.

The past few weeks Sheldon has been a little obsessed with his Nintendo DS, and apparently, as soon as he woke up Sunday, wanted to get right on it and play. When breakfast was ready, he was asked to put it down and come to the table to eat. He did, but as he was sitting there he started to complain that his stomach hurt and was not eating. His daddy told him that he wasn't going to play his DS or go to his friends house without eating breakfast! You see, Sheldon frequently rushes through things or doesn't finish them in order to get back to his DS sooner, so of course, daddy assumed this is why he wasn't eating!

Sheldon reluctantly continued to eat, all the while saying his stomach hurt, while daddy was telling him to finish, he didn't have that much to eat anyway. So, as Sheldon got down to the last bite or two, my husband got up to go and get something out of the fridge. When he turned to come back to the table, there was our son, his breakfast reemerging!

My poor husband was instantly struck with guilt...his stomach really did hurt! And of course, Sheldon said "I told you dad," making him feel even worse, and left the table to go pick up his DS. He felt the guilt, that I've felt many times, of not believing that your child is sick when they really are. They say it so often that it's sometimes hard to know if they are telling the truth or not, like just a few weeks ago when I told Sheldon that the doctor better find something wrong with the ear that he said hurt, after all, I had to take 4 kids with me just to go to the doctor, and he did not appear sick at all, bouncing around the room and what not. Of course, he did have and ear infection, and I felt about 2 inches tall!

So, in our never a dull moment household, we ended the weekend with a case of the stomach bug, which I'm now praying off of the rest of us! And my poor husband now shares a spot with me in the guilt ridden parent hall of fame!

When do you pray?

My husband has asked me on several occasions, "when do you pray?" My answer is always short and sweet, "everyday, all day!" You see, as a stay home mom of 4 children, and a home daycare owner with 3 children that I care for daily, I couldn't make it through each day without praying! My days start long before the sun even thinks about shining and end long after the moon has reclaimed it's spot in the night sky. So prayer is often what gives me the stamina to sustain my long days. Sadly, it's not often down on my knees praying that I know it should be, it's throwing out one or two line prayers to God every few hours...or sometimes every few minutes!

My first prayer of the day is usually as I'm rolling out of bed at 5:30 am, "please God, get me through this day!" The next is usually not too far behind when it's time to wake my kindergartner up, he's the one that on most mornings thinks the best way to start the day is with a little fit! He will whine and cry, telling me how boring school is, and how much he misses me, that's is so unfair he has to go, and on and on. I then find myself praying for God to give me patience with my son, as for some reason he fails to understand I still have about 40 more things to do before we leave the house! Throughout the course the my day my prayers continue for fairly common things, praying for discernment, more patience (that pretty much and all day prayer), energy, time management skills, for my family and things like that.

Lately though I have found that my recent daily prayer is for change. I've been asking God to change me, for I know He's the only one who can! To change me into the daughter He wants me to be too Him, to change me into the wife He wants me to be to my husband, into the mother He wants me to be, into the person He intends for me to be. This prayer is fairly new to me and I'm excited to see where it takes me, for I know with God in the lead, it will take me through some awesome changes!

So, yes, I really do pray all day, everyday! It's one of the things that sustain me and keeps me grounded...how about you, when do you pray?

Pete or Repete?

Remember that joke you hated when you were a child...who was left in the boat, Pete or Repete? And inevitably every time you fell for it, saying that "Repete" was the one left, of course starting the entire joke over again! Well, living in my home right now is sort of like being stuck on that boat, only Pete is not an option, Repete is the lone sailor!

You see, Laineybug is quite the chatter box these days. And that's putting it mildly! I laugh now when I think back to just a few short months ago when her daddy would ask me almost daily, "when is she going to start talking to me?" He was concerned because Sheldon was such an early talker, that he expected the same from her as well. I told him often that she would get it, and he would then be asking, when is she going to stop?

Well, that day has come! Riding in the car this weekend, with her right behind daddy, he looked over at me and said " I don't think I can do this all the way to Florida!" He was referring to our trip to Disney this Fall, which we are driving too! She sat behind him chatting all the way around town, often non-stop, demanding to be talked back too. God most definitely has given our sweet daughter the gift of gab! She on average repeats everything she says 3 times before she stops saying it, such as, " daddy drive car, daddy drive car, daddy drive car?" And sometimes, even once you tell her, "yes, daddy drive car," you get to hear her version a time or two more. And if you don't confirm what she is telling you, then yes, you are sure to hear it again until you do!

I often take a deep breath and laugh as she is talking to me...she looks at me with her big blue eyes, and beautiful smile, chattering away, repeating everything as she goes, waiting for me to repeat it back. I still don't understand everything that comes out of her sweet mouth, which to her, brings a new level of frustration. When that occurs, she makes sure our conversation is not finished until I clearly understand what she's trying to tell me, and I of course repeat it back to her!

So, yes indeed, Laineybug has more than made up for her slightly delayed verbal skills. I often remind my husband when she's talking his ear off, " remember when you used to worry about that not happening?" Well, she's talking now, and it's time to sit and cherish every moment of it, for before we know it, she won't want to talk to us all day, she'll be busy with friends and life, and all we'll get is a few quick words now and then!

That's what having kids does to you!

My husband laughed and told me, "that was a good one," when I told him one of our children's fish went crazy from having babies. I on the other hand, didn't laugh, as I was serious...well, sort of anyway! You see, a few weeks ago he and I saw the rare event of actually watching one of the fish in our kitchen give birth to 4 tiny fish, that in itself was shocking to me as I've always thought fish lay eggs, hence caviar being fish eggs, but anyway, we sat amazed and watched the miracle of child, I mean, fish birth!

A few days later we noticed that the mommy fish was not doing so well, swimming erratically, floating upside down, strange things like that. After this continued for several days my husband decided that something must be wrong with her brain from having babies. This is when I told him that, yes, having children kills your brain, which explains why I no longer have a memory when I need it, I told him that having babies sucks the life out of you, they steal your brain, they make you so tired you can't see straight, or swim straight, and that yes, having the baby fish made her crazy! He thought this was quite comical.

Sadly, after swimming upside down and keeping us all glued to the aquarium with watchful eyes for several weeks, our mommy fish passed away yesterday. Luckily though, even though my children have stolen my brain, keep me so tired I don't know what day it is, and plain run me ragged...I am still here to love every minute of it, and would gladly give up my brain, and sleep for them any day!