Pink Pits

This was another weekend that made me grateful for the normalcy of the work week! We hit the ground running and we didn't stop until Sunday afternoon. Here is my weekend in a glance.

-Friday we stole my younger nephew from my sister for the day. We started with breakfast at Cracker Barrel where Ian proved to still be terrified of the singing and dancing skeleton. Halloween should be REAL interesting if he is afraid of that. Of course, the night we took him to a Braves game happened to be Zombie night and that didn't seem to cause any tears. Maybe it is just the fact that the skeleton is so skinny that terrifies him...I shall use that as my excuse to not lose too much weight! I mean, I don't want my son to be terrified of me! ;) The rest of the day we ran errands and then headed home. After a nap in his second bed (more on that another day) Ian joined his cousin for a swim.

-Saturday took the cake- but which one, not sure! The morning started with my sister, dad, and myself going to run a 5k nearby. This was my first 5k and due to being a single mommy and not wanting to lose all my spare time with my kid...I had not trained very efficiently. Turned out it didn't really matter. haha. The first half of the race was a trail through the woods with oh about 2 feet in space! Even if you wanted to pass the people walking...there was not really a way to do so. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it (remember no scary skeleton)! Oh did I mention this was one of those races where they throw color powder all over you. Yea, that was fun- until I remembered that I had two weddings to go to later and had to start mentally racking my brain for what dresses I owned that would cover my pink pits! Oh yea, my arm pits were bright neon pink! I scrubbed profusely but that pink was there to stay!

So after finding the one dress in my closet that covered most of the pinkness, which just so happened to be black. So no offense to old fashioned wedding etiquette about black and weddings, but I am pretty sure people would rather me in black that see my hot pink chest! Luckily, my dear sweet friend understood my reasoning and I don't think she held it against me. Although she hasn't called me this week! Anyone know why? ;)

I am kind of sad that I didn't get a picture of her groom's cake. It just so happened to look exactly like a basketball. Poor Ian! He kept running over and pointing, "Ball, peese." I am kind of glad we had to leave before the cutting of the cake because I don't want to confuse him about what the inside of an actual ball looks and tastes like! After a brief 15 minute break at home, we headed out for wedding #2. Did I mention we ran/walked a 5k that morning and we are still going strong at 4:30 pm!

Ian had a blast dancing and running around but seeing as how his rest time had been interrupted twice and cut short, he was spent not long after. He took a little nap before mean mommy woke him up because I certainly wasn't planning on staying up late that night because he caught a cat nap a couple hours before bed time!

-Sunday was church followed by another family reunion. Ian again slept through the first part and woke up in time to be occupied by his cousin while we cleaned up. When we got home, we all crashed. Any by all, I mean everyone except Ian who had already had a nap while we ate lunch. So while I kept dozing off on the couch, Ian kept throwing me a ball to throw him. It turned into fetch, don't judge me. I was tired and needed more rest time in between throws! Plus, he loved it! :) Glad that the weekend is over and looking forward to Gameday this coming weekend!

It's Like a Death

At the beginning, it is hard. Life changes in an instant and you know it will never be the same. The tears come freely and frequently. You are in mourning. There are uncertainties, fears, and doubts. Something that once was is no longer. There are people who attempt to comfort but words only go so far when they are no suffering the same loss as you. There are a lot of lonely moments in rooms filled with people. Even people who know and love you dearly can only do so much.

It is out of your hands and beyond your control. You come to a point where your only choice is to surrender it all to God. You give it all to Him and ask Him to take care of what is left of your heart that weeps. He tenderly tells you that He has had it all along but that He needs to let go and let Him take on the full weight. You don't know what the future holds. You only know there is a piece of you missing and you long to feel whole again.

The sun rises and sets over and over again. Some days are a blur. Some days you walk around in a haze. Some days the sadness consumes you and it is all you can do to put one foot in front of the other. Then one day the sun rises and it shines a little brighter than the day before. The clouds part and you can feel the warmth of the sun for the first time in what seems like months. It seeps into every part of you and fills you with hope and strength. It is God breathing strength and life into the areas that you need it the most.

Still, days come when the clouds move in unexpectedly and rain down. You get wet for a while but you are able to survive the rainfall- all the while knowing the sun will come back and dry you off. But for a moment you get lost in the memories, the pain, and the hurt that you endured and it is like reliving the death all over again.

God is faithful, the sun comes out. You smile more. You are far stronger than you were when you first lost that piece of you. You don't look back in longing for the life you once knew before that death. You cherish the laughs and smile that life brought and thank the Lord for the good times. You begin to see the beauty that came from the ashes.

Then, one day, a friend calls and tell you there has been a death in their life. Your heart hurts for them. The clouds return and you remember the pain more clearly than ever. You comfort your friend as best you can because you know what it is like. You know those clouds well. You tell your friend that there will be sunshine again. You remember that strength you have gained and you lend a little to them. You give a shoulder, a kind word, a funny little joke to get a smile, and an umbrella for them to hold. It makes you the tiniest bit thankful for the death you experienced so that you could be an understanding ear in their time of loss.

Death is not easy, but this type of death can sometimes be harder. It is easier to console yourself when the person you love doesn't have a choice on their departure. It is much harder when they choose to leave your life. It is much harder when they leave for what you can only think of as something they value more. It is a death but not a traditional one. It is not a club I longed to be a member of, I don't imagine anyone really does. Divorce is like a death, the death of a marriage. A bond has died. A tie has been severed. With a few signatures and a check, what was meant to be unbreakable is broken. It requires not just strength but forgiveness as well. A part of you is forever gone and your life is forever changed.

I pray you never experience this kind of death in your life, particularly at the hands of adultery. Pray strength and love over the people in your life that still under the early clouds of this kind of death. It takes a while to feel the warmth of the sun.

Hooray for Monday!

Yes, you read that right! haha! This weekend was one of those weekend that made me look forward to the start of the week! It was just jam packed with all sorts of fun and running around that it made me long for the normalcy of a Monday! I had fun with all our stuff we had going on but I am glad to have a week to recover before the next busy weekend comes up! Friday we took a very enthusiastic one and a half year old to his first Braves game.

 He was excited to say the least. He like watching baseball on tv and knows the chop and yells, "Go Braves." So we were excited (and a little scared) to see how he would do at an actual game.

 The worst case scenario in my mind was him screaming at having to sit still for that long!

He got in for free but that also meant he had to be in one of our laps the whole time. Thankfully, we were on the end of the row and with a good amount of empty seats behind us, nobody had to climb over us!

 He was a big fan of his first ballpark dog and fries. He helped Pop with his lemonade. He stood perched in front of mema for a good little while just watching all the pregame activity and eating.

After a 6th and 7th inning nap, he woke back up full speed ahead and sat with Pop for the remainder of the game. We headed a little further down towards the field after the game for the fireworks. He didn't seem to care too much about those. He laid his head down on my shoulder and I covered his other ear so they wouldn't be too loud. All in all, the game and experience was a great one- especially since they won!

Saturday, after getting home late Friday, my dad and I woke up early for a family golf tournament. We left Mema and Ian fast asleep at home. I have not played a round of golf in two years but I did better than I thought I would. :) After golf, it was time to get ready for the first baby shower of the weekend!

 Which meant bath time for this cutie!

 Cutting the cake. So excited about sweet little E making his arrival soon!

 This little handsome man finally stood still long enough to get a picture of his cuteness!

Terri getting ready to open E's gifts!

 Sunday was our H family reunion right after church. Ian was exhausting after running around with his big cousins. He missed out on the good food, and learned later that he missed out on lunch all together (the dangers of leaving him with his Pop).

 After the reunion we heading back into the church to help with another baby shower with church friends and the same sweet little E! Little babies are so fun and we can't wait to meet this little one and love on him! Please keep little baby E in your prayers because he is currently breached. Pray God will help him turn his little body around!

Doctor Anyone?

 I am thankful that I get to be this boy's momma and he gets increasingly more independent as the days go on. Makes this little momma sad and also makes me wonder how many trips to the hospital I might have to make in the future!

 He loves monkeys. I think he thinks he is a monkey at times. He loves bananas and loves to climb EVERYTHING! He spent about 10 minutes climbing in and out of this cubby at church over and over again.

 He thinks he is one of the big boys. He loves to play big boy games like corn hole! He also followed his big friend H back there all over the playground. There are not many things that scare him...and that scares me. haha.

But at the end of the day, when this face is looking back at you...what more can you do but smile and thank the Lord that we haven't had to go to the emergency room...yet!

Snip snip

 It all started with a little baby whose hair grew too fast for his mommy to keep up with. Ever so often, his mommy was forced to try to keep him to hold still long enough to trim around the ears, neck and bangs. This little boy was much more interested in the scissors and what mommy was doing. What mommy was doing was trying to keep his cute little baby haircut as long as possible.

 

It all ended when it became harder and harder to trim as an amateur stylist! So the little boy's mommy took him to see his favorite Sunday School teacher and "gramma" Carol. He was very interested in how the squirt bottle worked.

 His mommy decided it was time for a big boy hair cut since his hair grew so fast. This was the last they saw of all that hair.

 The little boy did a pretty good job sitting still for Mrs. Carol. A few snacks and a cool brush to hold kept him occupied long enough for gramma Carol to snip snip all around and turn the baby into a little boy. The little boy seemed to like his new cut but was not a fan of the clippers.

The favorite part for the little boy was getting to spray mema with the squirt bottle after he got through! The mommy held it together and no tears were shred, probably helped that she knew she was off the hook for this haircut and would be from here on out! ;)

bzzzz

I have a busy little bee lately and haven't really been up for blogging much lately! I still don't have a whole to update so here are some favorite pictures as of recent!

Working boy!

Cheesin'

Making some important phone calls

My little froggy

Handsome as ever

Pop and Ian going for a swim

Catching up with this gem at National Conference

Celebrating big brother's birthday

Getting some Emma cuddle time

While Ian decides to swim in his clothes!

Rocking the beads we collected at the parade at the beach!

Mommy's little model! So cute!