One Word Wednesday: T's

Flashback Friday: Tate Gets Stitches

 Every August the Higgins family gathers for the Blairs Valley Picnic. It's something that they've been doing for almost a century. It's one of those family traditions that holds a lot of fun memories. It's held by my grandfather's childhood church at their picnic grounds. They have live gospel music, fun little toys to purchase, some of the best ice cream you've ever tasted and the best stream for catching crayfish.

The picnic is always a big hit with the kids because of the toys and ice cream, but especially because of the stream. In August of 2009 when we attended the picnic I was 7 months pregnant with the twins and Tate was just 18 months old. He was loving every minute of playing in the stream. After a couple of minutes he got adventurous and walked off from my dad and Nathan. When he climbed out of the stream he fell and cut  his hand on a rock.

After taking a look at the cut my mom decided that it needed stitches. We left Nathan with my Aunt Pam while my parents went with Tate and I to the Emergency Room. I really expected this to be a horrible experience but Tate shocked us all by remaining calm. We were so lucky to have a wonderful nurse who also happened to be the mom of one of my high school friends! Carla was really great at keeping me calm and making sure that Tate was taken care of. My dad held Tate while the doctor cleaned and stitched the wound. We were all amazed by his tolerance for pain! I was exhausted but so relieved that the whole thing had gone so much better than I ever could have imagined.

One Word Wednesday: Craziness

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took the kids to visit the pumpkin patch. This is one of our annual fall traditions and it's one of the kids favorite activities. They always have such a great time at Summer's Farm. We typically go on a weekend, but this year our weekends have been pretty busy so we had to settle for a weekday evening.

This was the first year that Lana and Jackson were able to participate in all the fun activities. It's hard to believe but two years have passed since we ventured to the pumpkin patch for the first time with four children. The pumpkin patch was our first outing after we brought the twins home from the hospital! I remember thinking that I didn't want Nathan and Tate to miss out on their annual trip to the pumpkin patch but I think most of the people who saw us that day thought we were crazy!

They love visiting with the animals, going down the slides, playing in the corn cribs, pumping water for the duck races and finding their way through the mini-mazes. We didn't have time this year for jumping on the giant air pillow or any of the rides so the kids were a little disappointed, but they got over it. We took the last tractor ride out to the pumpking patch and let the kids pick out their pumpkins.

I think they all enjoyed the trip even if it was shorter than usual. Can you believe how much they've all grown in two years??? AMAZING!

Flashback Friday: Lana and Jackson's First Week Home

Lana and Jackson are turning two this month. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since they were born! When we found out we were having twins I was scared to death. I knew having a 4 year old, a 20 month old and two newborns was going to be hard. Looking back I think in a lot of ways it was a lot harder than I had expected, but in other ways it has been a lot easier. We have definitely faced many challenges, but it's funny how the bad moments are quickly forgotten and all you're left with are the precious memories you want to cherish. I probably wasn't always the best mom. Exhaustion certainly got the best of me on many occasions, but I think my kids will be left will happy memories from their childhoods. At least I hope so.

That first week the twins were home was much easier than I had expected. They slept a lot and our two older boys seemed to have adjusted well. It turns out that it was just a honeymoon period, but at the time it just seemed magical. I was so grateful to have two healthy babies who were born past 38 weeks and were both over 6 pounds. Our first baby had to spend 4 days in the NICU after he was born so we knew what to expect if one or both of the twins needed extra care, but when neither of them had to spend any time in the NICU we were shocked. I think we were still in a daze as we left the hospital with TWO babies.

Trying to balance the needs of four kids who were at three very different stages in their development turned out to be my biggest challenge the last two years. Just trying to make sure everyone got enough "Mommy Time" made my head spin. Nathan and Tate both had to grow-up a lot faster than they should have at that age, becoming more self-reliant than the average 4 and (almost) 2 year-olds. Looking back on the pictures from that first week I am struck with how little Tate was. Compared to the twins he seemed so big. We still call the twins "the babies," but they're already four months older than what Tate was when they were born!

I don't know what I'd do without my little guys! I'm beyond grateful that they arrived healthy and that they have stayed healthy. Looking back I remember how slow each day went by, it seemed to take an eternity to get to bedtime. But as I look back I'm simply amazed at how fast two years have flown by! I just hope the next 16 don't go that fast!

Torn

We have some big decisions to make about our house. When we bought our house seven years ago we knew that one day they would be buildiing new houses in a new neighborhood further back our main street. I had always hoped that when that happened we would be ready to move. When they made the big announcement last summer that the new home lots would be available for purchase this fall I got so excited.

I have been doing everything in my power to gather as much information as possible about the new neighborhood and about the value of our current house. We are hopeful that everything will work out, but I'm nervous that it won't. There are just so many things that need to fall into place and it just doesn't seem possible that it could all happen. Of course the biggest obstacle is money. Isn't that what everything comes down to? The value of our house, the price of the new homes, the amount of the down payment, and the successful sale of our home for the amount of money we need to move.

I've been feeling torn about a possible move. As much as I want to move to a bigger house, I'm not sure I can say good-bye to this one. We have so many memories here.  Our children spent their baby years here. I can look into every room and see a memory of one of them laughing, smiling, learning to walk or crying. During the day when I am struggling with all the issues that having a large family in a small house creates I'm ready to move on, but at night when the house is quiet and I have time to reflect about the last seven years it makes me sad to think about leaving. We want our next house to be the one we stay in for years and years and years. We'll have an opportunity to make so many more memories there, but it's always sad to say good-bye.

I'm not sure where we're going to end up in the next year, but I'm getting the distinct feeling that it's time to move on. I'm not one that embraces change easily. I love to think about it. I love to plan for it. But actually making it happen is another story. Right now I'm just praying for answers. We could definitely stay in our current home for several more years, but an opportunity to build a new home while staying in our current neighborhood/school district won't come along very often. I'm just so grateful to be in a position where building our dream house is something that we can even seriously think about.

I'll leave you with the link to our dream house. Maybe one day I'll be posting pictures of our new house.

http://www.ryanhomes.com/community/maryland/eaglehead-at-lake-linganore/avalon

One Word Wednesday: Helpers

ISO Challenge: Faceless Self Portrait

It took me days to think about what I was going to do for the Faceless Self Portrait Challenge. I have been "unofficially" participating for a couple of weeks but I really wanted to get an offical entry in this week. On Friday I put my Journey 4A Cure t-shirt on and headed to the gym for a great workout. It just so happened to be the last day of September and the end of Childhood Cancer Awareness month. On the way home it dawned on me that I wanted my self portrait to be a picture of my shirt. It felt just right! It took a few tries to get just the right position, but I love how it turned out! I love how the flash reflects in the mirror. It reminds me of the bright lights of Heaven- all the beautiful souls of children shining down on those they left behind.

It's been a year since little Declan's Journey changed me. His death just 6 days before his first birthday from cancer broke my heart. Since then too many children have died from cancer and I've learned of a little girl at my son's school who is also fighting her own battle with cancer. Childhood Cancers are underfunded and under-recognized by our society because the topic is too hard for most people with healthy children to face. But our children deserve better. I donate to many charities throughout the year, especially those related to children, but this one is the one that means the most to me. They deserve to get to live their lives. So today my entry is for Declan, Gabby, Ethan, Lily, Emily, Kate and all the other children I've prayed for.