The Past Year in Review

I started this post on Tuesday...now it's Friday. Where has the time gone!

Our little family took a trip up to St. Joseph, MI last weekend. Weston had a great time playing on the beach there...even though it was really tough for him to walk. In fact, it was impossible for him to walk in the sand. He just kept falling over. It was truly fun and precious to watch him experience sand for the first time (well, aside from when he was 3 months old when we went to myrtle beach-that doesn't really count though b/c he didn't really care much for the whole thing).
After many attempts at walking, he decided it was best if he just sat there. So he sat and stared at the little boys throwing sand at each other. I made sure to let him know this was not appropriate behaviour and that if he decides to partake in such behaviours, mommy will make the sand extinct...that's what we tell him about everything-if he plays more with his toy tirger instead of eating, then the tiger will go extinct (we take it away) but you get the point. All of his toys at one point or another have or will have gone extinct or are endangered.




This year has been one of many trials and a lot of fear/anxiety.
Last March/April, Chad lost his job.
Hard core remodeling of the house starts seeing as we couldn't afford it on unemployment.
April 8th-After 26 hours of exhausting labor, our precious boy was born by emergency c-section. We were told he might have to be taken to a hospital in Toledo if he didn't straighten up. He got his act together and I got to hold him 4 hours later.
May/June-Chad gets hired on at KTH. We live half of our time in Bryan and the other half in New Carlisle until October.
July-Our house goes on the Market.
October-Our house sells-all of our stuff gets moved to storage-where it still sits.
November-We find out we are expecting.
December/January-we tell the news of our pregnancy.
January 12-I had a miscarriage.
April-Mom gets diagnosed with breast cancer, has a bi-lateral masectomy, and awaits news of further treatment.
Busy busy-Not to mention all of the travelling we have been doing.
What a busy year. And all of this was mixed in with our day to day lives and holidays and family gatherings. If God would have told me we were going to go through everything that we did this year-I wouldn't have believed him. In fact, I wouldn't have believed that we would make it through and be stronger and closer than we were at the beginning of it all. This could rip a family a part. Thankfully we made it!
Well, i ought to A. either get lunch or B. Go mow whilst little one sleeps.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby Boy!

Ok, so this is a little delayed...but, never-the-less, Happy 1st Birthday Weston! You're birthday was actually almost 2 weeks ago! I can't believe how fast this past year has flown by. It makes me so sad. I have been looking through your pictures from when you were just a little guy. Do you remember this day? I do. I remember just like it was yesterday. Everyday I feel so blessed that God decided to give you to us-even when you are a big fat crankypants monster! You were such a ladies man!In fact, you still are! You are walking like a big boy-barely ever crawling. You are saying new words each day. Your vocabulary includes but is not limited to: mama, daddy, doggie (these two are confused sometimes :) ) here, all done, want mama and shoe. You help us dress you and you fight us when we change your diaper...for some reason you still don't like that. you absolutely love to be outside. You fall ALL THE TIME and have a consistent bruise on your head from such falls. You've taken a tumble down the stairs, but you still don't fear them. You love your puppy greta and she lets you climb all over her. At your doctors appointment, you measured in at 32" and weighed in at 21 lbs and 12.5 ounces. You are in the 95th percentile for height and 40th for weight-skinny and lean like your daddy. We love you so much my handsome little boy! Eat your cake little guy, you deserve it! Happy Birthday-we pray for many more to come!

Not Me Monday!

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

Just to keep our little guy happy in the car, I did not feed him half of a chocolate bunny while he was not wearing his very cute easter outfit with a white shirt. I would not dare let him drool chocolate spit all over his clothes!

This weekend while staying out in the middle of nowhere in a circa late 1800's cabin, while carrying weston in the backpack, my husband did not proceed to walk weston's head straight into the limb of a tree-he is way too careful to do that.

We decided to take a bike ride along the Ohio River in Marietta this while in the area. On said trip I did not take my son's nasty poopy diaper and dump the more solid part in a trash can (there were no restrooms nearby!) and then after checking to see if anybody was looking proceed to rinse it out in the Ohio River, not me, I wouldn't dare contaminate that crystal clear water with little Weston feces, NOT ME! Oh the joy of cloth diapers!

Go on and admit some of your embarrassing moments!

the bird

I forgot to tell you what kind of bird that was in the previous post found here http://chadandemilyclark.blogspot.com/2010/03/back-from-washington-state.html
Did you know? Believe it or not, it is a bald eagle! there were actually 2 of them flying overhead in Oak Harbor but by the time I got my camera out, there was only one. Absolutely amazing!
Here's a cropped view:

And My Heart Skipped a Beat

We've had a lot going on lately some of which have challenged us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Some may believe that this is TMI so it's a good thing that it doesn't bother me...well, it may if somebody says something to me, but as long as I don't hear it, I don't care!
Before I go to far for those who are interested in the meaning of the title, I'll explain it a little later.
It has been 11 or 12 weeks since our miscarriage. I had my first monthly visitor in February-how exciting right! We could start trying to concieve (TTC) again! So, after much waiting, I started testing in March 5 days before I should have started. Negative. First day of missed period-Negative. 3 Days after-Negative. 1 WEEK after-Negative. I am now going on 2 weeks when I should have started and its getting hard-really hard. Some days I feel like I am experiencing the miscarriage all over again. We (I) pray often for God to bless us with another child, but we have yet to hear a "Yes".
I thought that with as easy as it was to concieve Weston and the baby we lost, we would have no issues TTC with the next. I don't have answers to any of the Why's that have been popping up in my head. We just have to keep relying on God and trusting that his timing is perfect, his ways are perfect. We like to think we know best, but that just isn't true and sometimes that truth hurts.
There is another big decision that we are trusting God with. It has been an emotionally taxing process. Chad and I have been back and forth on this decision weighing the pro's and con's of it. I will share when the time is appropriate though, sorry about keeping you out in the cold!
Lastly for this post and the explanation of the title, I started babysitting 2 children yesterday. The little girl is 9 months old and the boy is 2 1/2 years old. I will be watching them every Tuesday for the next 8 weeks. I watch them at their house so it is easier on them. Anyway, yesterday went really well except for one incident-not involving their children but my own. I had Weston by his hand and the 9 month old on my hip. We were getting ready to go down stairs to the living room. I'm sure you've already figured out what happened next...Weston decides to pull his hand down and he tumbled ALL THE WAY DOWN the whole flight of stairs and landed on the linoleum at the bottom. Luckily he rolled down and didn't go head over heels. I uttered and explitive and shot down the stairs, but the baby down and picked up my thankfully wailing son. My heart stopped as I watched him in slow motion bumping, thumping and banging down the stairs. While in shock I check him over and called my mom. I was in tears as she walked me through what to check on him. What scared me most was that after he quit crying he started drifting off to sleep in my lap as he was sitting up right. Granted he was tired beforehand, but this was so terrifying. I checked on him often and thank God in Heaven he was ok. He doesn't even have a bruise or a bump. That was one of the worst and most emotionally exhausting moment in my life (after his birth of course :) )
so now to lighten the mood of this post, Weston got his first haircut and he now looks like a little boy now. He did not enjoy the haircut AT ALL. His daddy was the barber...



Weston also fancies laying on the dog bed and reading, gross I know, I hate reading too! ha...kidding:

Back from Washington State

Chad and I just returned from our trip to WA Saturday evening. What a whirlwind trip...but oh how beautiful and fun! We had some time to go hiking and see the sights around the Oak Harbor area. I thought it was beautiful...what about you? Can you tell what kind of bird is flying overhead in the first picture?

Park

Hope you enjoy these photo's as much as we enjoyed visiting the park last night!