Holey May

Hi friends!

Since we've spoken last, we've had a few life events.  Some planned, some unplanned!

First, Xavier made his first communion followed by a lovely Mother's Day.  The kids got me some lotion and when Ellie sees me use it she points to her hand and makes a noise. I then give her a blob in her hand and she rubs it so cutely!

Xavier's quilt finally got finished and now Ellie likes to climb on his bed and read herself a book  .This day she was learning about our 50 states.

Here she is celebrating Memorial Day with fork and cup in hand.  The girl eats!  I would not have believed it 6 months ago if you told me how much of a good little eater she would become.  I have to say once again how grateful we are to not have to attend that program for feeding issues. I pray the families that do attend have success when they get finished. 

Trying a homemade croissant.  Yes there was alot of butter that went into the dough.  Yes it was sublime.  Yes I had four.

Then our little Julia just tripped and fell in the house yesterday evening.  She cut her forehead open pretty badly.  It was a definite trip to the ER so as we began gathering shoes, calling grandma and applying pressure, Ellie plopped herself right in the middle of all of it and began crying out of concern for Julia and being bothered by all the noise and intensity. The boys then lovingly took Ellie into their bedroom with them and tried to calm her down while we got Julia situated.  Three hours later she was all stitched up and today she's doing great.  Ellie was so happy to have Julia back at home and happy that her little bedtime routine was back in place tonight.

I guess you could say with Julia's gash in her head...she was Holey Julia for a day.  Let's hope we're all as Holy as we can be every day.  

May 1st

This is big huge gigantic monumental.  Today we removed Ellie's feeding tube from her stomach.

Just shy of three years in her body, that thing came out. It was pretty uneventful, done at the home thanks to some teaching we got in the hospital.  But what an important event it was.

She had a heart ultrasound today which was what we were waiting for to make sure she was doing well before we removed it.  This appointment followed a regular check up where her weight gain was outstanding - up several pounds from that rough start we had with the transition to eating.  The appoinment was set months ago for May 1st and I thought it my mind, "Ha, May 1st...the present".

The middle of December 2011 marked transition between "before knowledge" and "after knowledge.  After we gained the knowledge at that ultrasound, things didn't make any sense.  Being a very visual person, I searched to come up with something to let my brain "rest" on.  In the middle of wrapping presents later that day, I decided I was going to need a reminder that the baby was a gift.  A gift from God that he'd chosen especially for our family.  

I found an empty little box and wrapped it up and put a label on it.

Ellie's due date was May 1st and until that day came, I would have to trust God in his infinite wisdom with the gift he had willed for us.  That box sat in a prominent place in our house and spoke to me to wait, trust and let go.

Today as I took this picture Ellie swooped in and grabbed the box from the table.  Apparently she did not read the label and thought it was her birthday all over again.

Luckily I salvaged it.  If I had to list 10 material things that had the most meaning to me, this little box would be on that list.  

So here we are...three and a half years later.  We're taking her tube out on this day, so much to celebrate.  Inside that box there are many things to celebrate.  This is the kind of gift that just keeps on giving!!!

Birthday Misc.

A few extra photos from the birthday celebration. Ellie seems to love being three and we all enjoy calling her a three year old!  3 is so big!

 

A special surprise for the other three kids - Ellie got tickets to go see "Curious George", the play at the theater!  She was so happy to sit in her seat - she had a fun time trying to keep it from closing up on her!

This next thing doesn't really fit anywhere but I wanted to share it.  This is a cabinet in our house that once housed nine large boxes.  The boxes were brought to us by a friend only weeks after we moved in to the house.  Remember that the move occurred when Ellie was 6-weeks old, right in the middle of two hospitalizations.  This friend had bought a "Pre-K" home education cirriculum and when her plans changed, she no longer needed it.  She generously came by the house and donated the boxes to us.  When she left I wondered if I could use them for then 5 year old Xavier and 2 year old Julia.  While forming that thought I'm sure I heard some sort of beeping on Ellie's machines and ran to tend to that.  So the boxes found their way into this cabinet and there they stayed - for two years.  Last fall with Julia as an eager-to-learn 4 year old, we pulled those boxes out one by one and had quite the time with those lessons.  Xavier, then 7 was more than happy to participate in the wonderful crafts and lessons and it was a real blessing to our family.

I just pulled our last box out of the cabinet today. 

How the cabinet now looks.  It's amazing how melancholy this has made me.  It seems that when anything that relates to that raw, difficult time in our lives comes to an end - it takes me back to that moment then I'm flung right back into the present realizing the time that has passed.  Instead of "empty nest" I guess you could call this feeling "empty cabinet".