The Birds and The Bees talk

Vernon and I decided a long time ago that we would always tell our children the truth. We tell them all the time that they can ask us anything and trust us completely. On hard questions we tell them the truth in simple age-appropriate ways or tell them we will explain it later when they are older or more mature. Janessa has asked me about sex several times. I have always told her I would explain it all to her when I thought she was mature enough to handle it. Well, my oldest son (our nephew that we have legal custody of) is in the Army. We found out his girlfriend is pregnant some time ago (about 4 months along now). (ADDITION - Whooo - that was really hard to put out there finally. I have been wanting to write about it for a while. Not only is it hard to deal with, but I feel like we failed miserably as substitute parents to him. - More later I'm sure) We put off telling the kids until his Boot Camp Graduation. We knew that it would bring up lots of questions and of course it did. Janessa asked us then how it happened and has brought it up several times since. I kept telling her I would tell her as soon as we got a chance and Momma figured out the best way to explain it.

Well tonight it finally happened........ How nerve racking and funny at the same time. I explained that God made a man and woman like a puzzle. We fit together to form a family in more ways than one. Though I agonized over this and read books about how to explain it to your kids with a Christian foundation, I offered lots of information and answered lots of questions. She was absolutely floored and somewhat in a state of horror and shock. She of course asked it Vernon and I did that and I said yes. She said "yuck...why?" I told her it was the only way to have babies. She said "Well, you always say Brayden was a suprise. Why did you do that to get pregnant with him?" I said "uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh, it's just what married people do!" Oh my gosh, raising kids is so much fun!

The devil can't even stop me...for today at least!

On Wednesday, I started a Bible study at church. It was a crazy morning to say the least. The house was a wreck, the phone was ringing, the kids were wearing breakfast and I had just figured out that I was suppose to at the church at that very moment...class was starting. I took a deep breath and said (out loud, mind you) "devil, you can not keep me from this Bible Study." So, we were 30 minutes late and Amy had only one sock on (with boots!), but we made it. And guess what the class is called...Fresh Elastics for Stressed out Moms! This 'otta be good! (and quite useful I'm sure!)

What a long enlightening day

I had to take Janessa to the hospital this morning for blood work. She did great and only whimpered once. She has more strength and endurance than any 9 year old should possess. I am so proud of the way she is handling all this.

Brayden went for his first set of allergy shots. My sweet baby has to get two shots twice a week. He wasn't very happy, but did great considering.

I am once again reminded how blessed I am. I love my children. They bring me such joy. I love to sit and talk to each of them. Janessa is such a deep thinker. She is constantly mulling over whatever topic is at hand and doesn't hesitate to keep asking questions until she is satisfied. Carson is so simplistic. I really have to work to get anything out of him. He answers all my questions with one-word answers until I hit on a topic of interest. Then he goes into great detail! Brayden is so animated and still so hard to understand. He bubbles over with excitement and words just tumble out. He talks nonstop, but I only catch about half. I have to piece it all together and nod until I do!

I am so blessed with great friends. Ones that listen, don't judge and give great advice. Ones that I love and know that they love me too! I have just been reminded today about how blessed I am!

Now I must try and get some sleep...insomnia is really getting too me I think. My emotions are really running high!

Not so bad!

OK - I just wrote a blog about a lot of things I'm bummed about. Maybe I need to start taking happy pills. hehe

It's so easy to only think about or ponder the bad. I may have had a lot of not so good things happen this weekend, but I've also had some really great moments.

I have been reminded how absolutely awesome my daughter is! She is taking all these changes in her diabetes care with strength and grace that only she possesses. She did 17 blood checks in one day without complaint. She blesses me daily and I am so proud to be her mom.

We had our Diabetes Support Group swim party Saturday. It was so much fun to connect with others that are dealing with the same things you are on a daily basis. I now have renewed energy to do the things needed to care for Janessa. We also are in the process of trying to get her a new pump. This pump can continuously tell us her blood sugar. PLEASE PRAY THAT THIS HAPPENS!

I spent Sunday morning at my favorite place in the whole world - church! I love our church. I love the people I work with in the nursery. I love the music. I love the "preaching" and I love that I can worship with my husband, mom, dad and sister every week. I am so glad God has led us to Southcrest and placed us with people that we have really connected with.

Sunday night we spent some time with Vernon's family. His brother was down from Ohio, so it was really a rare event to have so many family members together at once these days. We were up late talking, laughing and reminiscing. It was lots of fun!

We bought this really cool outdoor game called ladderball. Vernon and Janessa played it before at a Girl Scout Father Daughter event, but it was called Redneck Golf. It is made of PVC and stands 3 tiers high. You toss ropes with rubber balls on either end and try to get them to stay on one of the tiers. How funny is that? So, we all learned how to play Redneck Golf!!! It was lots of fun. Even B could play and actually scored points!

See, I can see the good as well as the bad. God just has to gently remind me to do so sometimes, and I am so thankful He does!

Bummer...

The last week has been slap full of a lot of "bummer" moments.

We have had Callaway Gardens Season Passes for the last three years bought through our Girl Scout Troop. This year they changed a lot of their policies and we longer meet their qualifications. Of course this wasn't figured out until after I had inconvenienced a lot of people and caused myself lots of work and heartache. I just hope I haven't lost friends over this. I sure am going to miss Callaway. We love to camp at Franklin D Roosevelt State Park and spend our days at the Gardens. What a bummer....

One of my best friends just found out her husband is getting this great promotion. Why is this a bummer? Because, now they are moving 2 hours away. Right now they live in the same subdivision. What a bummer..., but we do LOVE to talk on the phone!!!

The wind over the weekend knocked over and broke our basketball goal. What a bummer...

Potty training B is not going very well. All I do is change wet or soiled clothes. What a bummer for me, but I can't let up this time. B will be 4 years old in December!!!

I took J to the Endiocrinologist Friday. It was awful. Her A1C was way too high. Now we are back to the basics. We have to write everything down. I hate weighing and counting, so I had gotten very slack. I thought I was good at guestimating, but obviously not good enough. I will do whatever it takes to take the best care of J as possible, so we are really buckeling down with everything. (This is really hard to write about, because I am so disgusted with myself.) This is more than just a bummer..., but like my husband says, we can not change the past, but we can change what we do in the future.

With all the changes the doctor made on J's basal rates, we have been chasing lows all weekend. She has been as low as 35 and has been really low at least twice a day. What a big bummer...not to mention it makes J just feel yucky. I hope we can get this under control fast.

I haven't been able to get much sleep. I'm having a really hard time just going to sleep. I just lay there and lay there. Insomnia..what a bummer...

Vernon hasn't been feeling well. I can't stand when he's sick. He works so hard and it just seems so unfair that he doesn't feel good. Bummer man!!