May

The stew is in the crock pot, and my house is starting to fill with WONDERFUL smells.  :-)  Now is a good time to sit and catch up on May. 
May started off great!   My grandparents came to visit.  We had a great afternoon with my cousin and her fiance and my family.  Had good food, and just enjoyed eachother in general.  Some-times living in the country is like living on the moon.  You love the moon.  You dreamed about living on the moon.  Your children are happy and safe and nurtured on the moon.  But you are still a thousand miles from home.  And them coming to visit us, was great.

After months of having no idea what was wrong with the baby, he was awake all night, he would cry all day, he wasn't growing, we were all exhausted.  After a particularly BAD week he screamed, held his breath, and passed out.  COMPLETELY terrifying.  I screamed for David and by the time he came back he wasn't screaming anymore, just turning blue.  He held his breath for 10 seconds that first time, and when he came to he was groggy and dis-oriented.  I rushed him to the hospital, and after a cursory examination they tell me that it is completely normal.  Some babies just hold their breath, and as long as he takes a breath at the end. . . he's fine.   BUT, the important thing is that when they were finished seeing us, they decided to transfer all his care to a specialty care group.   Some-one that would co-ordinate all the visits.  Some-one that would have more experience with difficult cases.  And here we are at that first app.    

Having breakfast while we were waiting for the next specialist.

When you have 5 children and home-school the need is GREAT to just get out of the house once in a while. 

A walk in the country fills the bill for a little special mommy and Abi time.

Something that we are needing to put more time and energy into is our children, our biological children.  There is so much stress and just the new dynamics of our family, and we have seen more and more that our children need to know that they are permanent.  They are our special gifts from the Lord that we will do anything to protect and love and nurture.

Mother's day was in May as well and we went to Red Robin for lunch and David gave me a gorgeous necklace.  I love it, and I LOVE being a mom!

Daddy makes everything an adventure.

There were also some not so fun parts of May.  Our little Benji boy, always out to prove that his small stature and age difference makes NO difference, broke his arm.  :-(  Poor little guy.  Running and playing one minute and crying the next. Absolutely broke my heart.  Through tears on the way to the Dr's he says, "Call Miss Amy, and ask her to pray for me!!!!"  Oh, I think I cried as much as he did.  But, as you can see, he is very reisilient and was back to the silly, funny little man that night.

Back to some fun stuff.  :-D  God brought me a wonderful new friend.  They are going through the adoption process now with a little one that they fostered.  And I can not tell you what an encouragement she has been.  Literally having walked in our shoes, and is still living to tell the tale.  What a blessing, and our kids love each other!
We have a family pass to the Natural History Museum, and it is one of our favorite places to go and just enjoy eachother.

Can you see Benji being silly in the window? 

At the end of the month we took the kids downtown on a train.  They had THE BEST time!!!! 

 We all had a great time!

Here we are.  10yrs, 14cars, 5houses, 4cities, 7dogs and 5 children later. 

 I LOVE YOU BABE!!!

Playing in the stores downtown.