She's 14 Today!!!

My biggest fears about childbirth involved needles (you'd be surprise at how many blood samples are needed and then finding the vein for the IV...OUCH!!!) and embarrassing myself in front of the nurses and doctors.  I know, I know! Now I know that by the time you have your first child, nothing can possibly embarrass you anymore!

Let me share a snippet of my delivery story...Krista came 3.5 weeks early.  I hadn't stopped working yet and was going to see the doctor for yet another urine sample (TMI, right?!?) and uncomfortable exam (I will NOT go into detail!!!).  I expected to be in and out again so I could continue my afternoon show until I got off the air at 6pm.  But the exam was taking forever! I didn't know what tests Dr. Udeshi was running, but I needed to leave so I asked her why she had hooked me up to the monitor and could I please get off and get going.  That's when she informed me I was in labor.  Oh.  Really??? I expected labor to feel painful and I wasn't feeling any differently than before.  I told her I had to go and finish my show and that's when she asked if I wanted to give birth at the radio station.  I did a quick inventory of who would still be there when I got back and having to lay down on nasty carpets... My answer was definitely a NO Thank you!!!

We finally compromised.  I would check into the hospital the moment I finished the show and call her when I was there.  When I got back to the station and casually told my manager that I was in labor, we decided I would tape the last hour of the show and check in at the hospital since having a baby a the station wasn't an option.  Ewwwww! No!!! I taped the show and signed off the air by saying I was in labor and headed to the hospital.

Fast forward 24 hours later...  I was starving and dreaming of steak and potatoes (the ironic thing is I've never cared for steak before yet it consumed my mind because I was starving and wasn't allowed to eat!!!) and Krista wasn't out...yet.  To make a looooong story short, the extra dosage of Epidural (it was ineffective the first go around because the nausea from the Pitocin that had been increased tremendously had me exhausted from trying to keep myself from puking all over!) numbed me from the nose down.  Yep.  I kid you not. My throat was so numb I could hardly talk (something that was so frustrating as you can only imagine!!!) and I definitely couldn't feel anything anywhere!!! I'll spare you the minute details of everything afterward.

Fast forward 14 years later... She's growing up and already taller than me...unless she's in bed or sitting down :o)

Here are14 things I love about her:
1.  She loves her Savior
2.  She's been even sweeter with Michael lately :o)
3.  She feels deeply
4.  She's great at sharing the details of her day with me
5.  She works hard in school
6.  She is funny and makes me laugh (don't get me started about the fire hydrant outside of LOCC!!!)
7.  She's still huggable
8.  She's a great reading buddy
9.  She falls for my pranks ;oD
10. She is helpful
11. She is kind and caring
12. She's compassionate
13. She shares her things willingly
14. She laughs with me and sometimes, at me, too :o)

I love how The Amplified Bible puts Psalm 139:13-18...
¹³For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother's womb.    ¹⁴I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.
    ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].
    ¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.
    ¹⁷How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
    ¹⁸If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awoke, [could I count to the end] I would still be with You.

The whole chapter is worth reading because it's a great reminder of how valuable we are in the eyes of God.  Yes, you.  You are loved by the Creator of the universe.  Amazing, isn't it??? 

Here we are at her 8th grade graduation in June and since she really doesn't look any differently now, I'm using this picture until I get another pic to replace it :o) Happy Birthday, Krista!!!

 

 

         

    

The Night Before...14

I'm beginning to believe that stuffed animals do come alive at night.  Before you think I've gone off the deep end, hear me out!  For the past few days, Michael has been waking up with a new scratch or bump on his face.  Today, I finally had a conversation with him about it...

Me:   Michael, what's going on when you're supposed to be going night night?  Are you fighting with the animals in your bed?!?

Michael:  What do you mean?

Me:  You've been waking up with owies on your face and now you have one on your lip this morning.

Michael:  Oh, I guess you're right! I have been fighting with my animals because they started it first.

Clearly, we need to have a heart to heart chat! On weekends, Michael gets to play games on the iPad and for the first time, Krista wanted to play on it, too.  It's comical listening to them because they both need to learn patience and all I keep hearing is Michael saying, "Is it my turn yet?"  You gotta love it!!!

Tomorrow, Krista will be turning 14.  It has been an incredible journey so far!!! She is changing so quickly now that she has braces, wears contacts and has her ears pierced.  She is everything I would want to have in a daughter because after all, she's a girl after my own heart!!!

But I remind myself that she's not really mine to "keep" because she's God's girl.  I only have her for a short time and I must cherish the time and train her to stand on her own while growing in her faith. 

I love how the Amplified Bible puts Proverbs 22:6..."Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Parenting isn't about control and proving your authority.  It's about pointing your child/children to Christ by consistently living His Word to them.  Parenting means you'll mess up and make big time mistakes, but be willing to own up to your wrongs and ask for forgiveness from them.  Show them Jesus by spending time in His Word so you can be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer of it.  Thanks, James (James 1:22)!

"I See An Elephant That Looks Awkward"

Michael and I were waiting in the car while Krista was skating.  The computer ran out of juice so I put the seats down so we could lay back and look up at the trees and sky.  We used the binoculars to look for squirrels in the trees (I keep them in the glove compartment and they sure do come in handy!).  We used them for looking at the birds on the roof of the rink.  And then we just laid back and looked at the sky and looked for cloud pictures as one cloud slowly drifted by.  I saw a dog.  He saw an elephant that looked awkward.  Where in the world does a 4.5 year old get that?!?  An awkward elephant?!?  Seriously?!? Don't you just love children with imagination?!?

There are so many things in a day that make me laugh!!!  I guess it also helps that I'm easily amused.  Michael and I have been playing Bingo lately.  The game goes on and on!!! It's a great way for him to learn his numbers...and teach me patience!!! Plus, he learns that he's not going to win at every game and that it's okay.  Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't.  I'm not the parent that lets him win at everything because that's unrealistic and it will be a rude awakening when they play games with their peers and lose to them.  I want him to learn about good sportsmanship and it's important that he learns to lose gracefully.  Heavens knows I've perfected that since I stink at most games!  But it's fun!!!


Krista turns 14 on Monday and Michael will be 5 a few days before Christmas.  Life seems to be on fast forward as I try to memorize their faces and expressions at this age in time.  Forget the camera and camcorder.  The moment it comes out, their expressions move from natural to staged.  And of course, Michael is at the stage where he wants to make silly faces every time we have the camera out! I lament over all the great pics I've failed to capture!!! Oh well!

I'm currently reading Vickie McDonough's Long Trail Home downstairs and Mercy Come Morning by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  The latter is about a mom with Alzheimer's who doesn't recognize her daughter.  Whew! I am so thankful that God will always remember us.  In the ESV (English Standard Version), Isaiah 49:15-15 puts it like this... " 
¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child,
   that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
   yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
   your walls are continually before me."

What a comfort to know that you and I will never be forgotten by God!

 

"Mommy, Will You Tell Me All About Blood Cells And What They Do In Our Bodies?"

Last night after midnight (after having been up since 3am the night before, I was exhausted and actually asleep before midnight!), we were awakened by Michael crying in the hallway.  His nose was bleeding and it was squirting everywhere on the carpet, his clothes, and on me.  I was holding him in the rocking chair and trying to stop the nose bleed while assessing the damage on the carpet and on his pj's.  I had him in the bathroom washing the blood off his hands, arms and face afterward and then put him back to bed.  I was scrubbing the blood off the carpet and apparently, he was wide awake.  Meanwhile, I was dying from being awakened from a deep sleep!

As I'm trying to go back and forth to the bathroom to get paper towels, water, my Melaleuca PreSpot spray, he was asking me about blood cells.  Hello! I could barely stay awake trying to scrub off the blood from the light tan carpet while planning to put in deep burgandy carpet in the kids rooms in the next house somewhere out in the far future! We had just read a chapter about blood cells from our body book so I knew he probably knew the answer to his question, but was stalling so he didn't have to go back to bed! As I scrubbed furiously (cleaning up blood is a pain!) I had to tell him to lay down and stop talking because it was night night time.   Silence.  Finally!

Someday, I will look back and remember his inquisitive nature with fondness, but not after midnight! But, to put things in perspective, every nosebleed reminds me that I still have a son that survived a febrile seizure earlier this year so I'm grateful.  However, I would be more appreciative if his nosebleed issues happened between 10am and 10pm!

After I finished cleaning up, I went back to bed hoping to fall back asleep, but it didn't happen.  Now I was wide awake and so was Jacob! He went downstairs and then I turned on my light to read The Opposite of Art by Athol Dickson.  By the time I finished three-quarters of it, I was finally tired...after 3am!

I finished it this afternoon (I took a lovely nap while Michael was taking his!) and started on Lynn Austin's Wonderland Creek tonight.  Then I finished my Precepts homework on Hebrew (The In and Out version of the study requires a lot more work than I wanted!!! Eeks! But God clearly wants me to study Hebrews which has always been a mystery to me, so here I am!) and am planning to be in bed before midnight...hopefully!

I'll end with a great answer of whom Jesus is from my study in Hebrew 1:3-4 from the Amplified Bible...
" ³He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high,
    ⁴[Taking a place and rank by which] He Himself became as much superior to angels as the glorious Name (title) which He has inherited is different from and more excellent than theirs."

Now that's what I call a thorough explanation!

Still Remembering 9/11...

I wanted to blog yesterday.  But, it didn't happen (duh).  Thoughts of 9/11 have been on my mind and it's hard to believe that yesterday was the 10th anniversary of that horrific time.  Seeing the images and just remembering the tragedy of so many lives taken continues to bring tears to my eyes.

On September 11th, I was in the studio recording a commercial for a Michael W. Smith concert (he was coming to New York) and in between takes, I was trying to call Atlantic Records to set up an interview with one of the artist on their label.  It was 8 something in the morning and I couldn't get through because all the lines were busy.  I remember thinking, What in the world is going on that all the lines are tied up so early in the morning?!?  I finished recording the commercial spot and stepped out of the studio when Bill Jones, our news director came running up the hall saying, "The Twin Tower was hit by a plane.  I think this is a terrorist attack!" I thought he was joking.  My immediate response was, "Terrorist attack?  You're kidding, me, right?"  We quickly went to the news room and then news that the second tower went down came over the AP wire... Chills went up my spine because we knew some friends from our church who worked in the towers.  But most of all, I wanted to grab Krista in my arms and hold her tightly.

Naturally, her school didn't want to encourage parents to pull their children out of their school program, but I didn't care.  As soon as I was able to wrap things up, I called Jacob and told him I was going to get Krista and found that he was on his way to her school, too.  We both pulled in at the same time.

We signed her out and went home to watch the TV sans the sound so Krista wouldn't get frightened.  But she found the remote and un-muted the TV as footage showed the towers going up in flames as they went crashing down.  And then she was scared.  I had to explain that bad people who didn't have the love of Jesus hurt many innocent people and we needed to pray for everyone.  And so we did.  It was very comforting to be together as a family.

In the midst of deep pain, sorrow and loss, it's hard to keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  Our natural inclination is to drown in our sorrow or turn bitter towards God because after all, He's powerful enough to prevent any tragedy, right?  I don't pretend to understand why God allowed 9/11, but I do  know that we live in a fallen world where men and women make sinful choices every moment because God gave us a free will.  God did not cause 9/11.  Members of Al-Qaeda (the Islamist militant group) did.

There were so many amazing stories that came out of the September 11 attacks and hearing the stories from our listeners was a reminder that God makes beauty out of ashes. "Psalm 46 continues to encourage me and I hope it does the same for you.  Here it is from The Amplified Bible...

¹GOD IS our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.    ²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken into the midst of the seas,
    ³Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
    ⁴There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
    ⁵God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning].
    ⁶The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered and were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
    ⁷The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our Fortress and High Tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
    ⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations and wonders in the earth.
    ⁹He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two; He burns the chariots in the fire.
    ¹⁰Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!
    ¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge (our High Tower and Stronghold). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!"

September issue of Five Star Books and More by The Reading Mom

It's here!!! Just click on the tab above this blog that says, "Five Star Books and More Newsletter" and find my reviews on my favorite books and resources!!!

"Will You Be Around When I'm 100 Years Old?" and Other Questions From a 4.5 Year Old

I'm happy to report that Michael can now hold his bladder so good-bye (and good riddance!) to the days of stopping for a bathroom break every 10 - 12 minutes!!! I won't miss it one bit either!!!

Yesterday, I asked Michael to help me put everything away neatly before going to bed.  Let me show you what he did...

This is what's left after he was asked to remove and return all the couch cushions to their rightful place!

This ottoman used to close until Michael decided to dump a ton of extra things from the play room and the living room.  Later, we found all the remotes, some baby/toddler toys, a box of coasters and his art box in there, too!

Michael loves to pretend he's baking.  Lately, he's informed me that he's making me gluten-free cakes and cookies! I love how thoughtful he is even when he's pretending!!!

We're in the car a lot these days and Michael is always full of questions.  Lately, he's been obsessed with age issues.  This is what I hear on a regular basis...

Michael:  Will you be around when I'm 100 years old, mommy?

Me:  Definitely no!

Michael:  Okay, how about when I'm 20?

Me:  Probably! Let's just enjoy how old you are now, okay?

Michael:  I'm five years old.

Me:  No, you're not!

Michael:  Yes, I am! I just celebrated my birthday!

Me:  Michael, your birthday is in December.  You can't pick any day to be your birthday.  That's not how it works.  Besides, if you were five, you would have gotten a lot more immunizations by now.

Michael:  Are those shots?

Me:  Yep.

Michael:  Then I want to be 3 forever.

Me:  Sorry, buddy, but that's not how it works.  Once you're 4 years old, you can't go backwards in age.

Michael:  Yes, I can!

Me:  O-k-a-y, then.  Now it's time to listen to Adventures in Odyssey...

Ah....ya gotta love a 4-year-old's logic! I love this stage of his life.  He's learning to do so much on his own, but yet, he still loves to settle in my lap and be read to.  He loves to fill up the water bottles and be responsible, and still snuggle on the couch with me.  Sometimes, he mimics what we say and it comes out like this:

Michael:  I don't want to play on the iPad today.  That's too much electronics for me.

And then in the next minute...

Michael:  I haven't exercised in a long time! I need to practice my rowing squats on the Wii! Can I please, oh please, play on the Wii, mommy?

Thanks to this blog, I can capture some of these memories for Michael since he's not going to get many pictures of himself!!! I love how Michael loves other little children.  He loves to help and he loves giving hugs to his favorite people in the world!!!

I'm so thankful Krista is loving high school and meeting so many new friends.  I'm watching her go out of her comfort zone and she's growing because of it.  I'm encouraging her to live each day like it's her last day on earth.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul encourages Timothy with these words, "Let no one despise or think less of you because of your youth, but be an example (pattern) for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity."

 In the years to come, I can't wait to hear the stories of how she and her LOMSAA friends have impacted their world for good!