Help

Garrett came to town again this weekend. He makes my heart really happy.  He also makes my kids hearts really happy. There is no doubt he is the fun one. Tonight he decided to put Em in the Baby Bjorn (a baby carrier for those of you who are not versed in baby gear). It was comical to say the least.  Watch for yourself. My favorite part of this video is my mom.  She goes on cooking dinner completely ignoring the dancing man with an almost 2 year old strapped to his body. Apparently she is used to Garrett's uniqueness.

And as if the video wasn't good enough, I somehow managed to snap this pic. It makes me laugh. Not the most flattering picture of Garrett but hilarious nonetheless. 

It's Not All Gloom and Doom

I realized I had been emoting way too much on this blog when my friend Lindsay called the other day and said, "So, you're sad huh. I read your blog." So, in an effort to show the blogosphere that my life is still moving forward and that I don't actually sit around in a house by myself crying all day....here is a photo story depicting some moments from the past few weeks that have made me laugh.  Here we go.

When we are visiting Garrett at the beach, he still has to work and we are stuck in a mostly empty third floor apartment. So, we all start to get bored and begin to look a little like this...

"Mom.....I'm so bored."

"Seriously mom, this is the pits."

So, I got sick of the whining and decided to let the kids entertain themselves while I did a puzzle.  Well, I actually did 2 puzzles but I only have a picture of one.

You would be shocked to know how difficult those leaves were.

While I worked on those Emerson decided to take Evan's temperature.  He said, "noooo."

She did it anyways. He was fever free. 

 We have also taken a few trips to Spartanburg over the past few weeks.  On one of those trips, Garrett's mom dressed Evan up like a duck.

He clearly loved it.

On that same trip, Garrett's dad, made the rookie mistake of setting Emerson's pack and play up right underneath a set of drawers.  Half way through "nap time" (there was definitely no napping), we heard loud banging noises coming from the room.  This is what we found.

 

Here is a closer look at the contents of Garrett's drawers from high school. It should be noted that Emerson had completely cleaned the drawer out.  These pics only show what was left after we put half of it back (it took me a minute to think to grab the camera).

That was fun.  Emmy and I have also been playing outside or "side" as she call it.  I have been taking lots of pictures of her because I love her.  Here are a few.

Garrett came to visit one weekend and we were enjoying a quiet Sunday morning when Em came running into the room looking like this.

She had just been dancing in the shower (one of her favorite past times), but when she ran up to us she was screaming, "ball ball ball ball ball." We were both confused about what she could possibly be so upset about until we smartened up and realized she must have dropped her favorite bouncy ball down the drain while she was dancing. So we spent the next hour doing this....

 Garrett trying to suck the ball up with a vacuum (while using his flashlight app), and Emerson cheering him on crying and screaming "ball ball ball ball." Sadly (especially for my parents since it is their house), the ball was never recovered.

And finally, in case you were wondering, Evan is still chunky.  But, he is able to use his hands more now, so maybe  he will lose some weight from all the exercise. Maybe.

There you have it, even with Garrett gone most of the time, I do still laugh and enjoy life. 

In Case You Are Wondering....

In case you are wondering where the heck we have been....and I know you have been, we have mostly been somewhere between Upstate SC and the beach, with a little bit of time spent in each location.  The kids and I have been haulin' it back and forth so we can spend time with my husband and their father.  His third floor apartment is not really the perfect fit for our family.  So, we go and spend as much time as we can until we start to go nutty, and then we head back.  

We thought the madness might be coming to an end soon and that G's company was going to be making some decisions about a permanent placement for us this week.....but they changed their minds and decided to hold off on any decision making until May.  Yes, I cried when I found this out. Yes, this little journey has made me a cry baby.  By the time it is all said and done with, Garrett and I will have lived apart for almost an entire YEAR.   We are hoping he can get some new housing so we can be together.....please pray that this is possible.  Also pray that I would stop being plagued with little kid type illness....my newest diagnosis as of this morning, Tonsillitis.  Who over the age of 7 has tonsillitis...apparently I do.  And little Em is acting all out of sorts and keeps saying, "Mommy hurt," so we are headed to the pediatrician in a few hours. 

I can't lie, Garrett and I have had the "why is the Lord allowing all of this to happen to us" conversation more than once.  Over the weekend as we were talking and struggling through the events of the past 2 years, I couldn't help but be reminded of Job.  The Lord allowed Satan to test Job because He knew Job could withstand anything Satan threw at him. After losing his business, his health, his family,  Job says to his wife when she questions his continued faith in the Lord, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (job 2:10)" And he goes on to say in chapter 13, "Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him." 

Our struggles don't come close to comparing to that of Job but we feel the weight of them none the less.  However, we know that God is good because of the love He demonstrated to us through Jesus. So, we will continue to hope and trust in Him. I keep singing to myself a little song we used to sing at Young Life stuff in college...

When the morning falls on the farthest hill,

I will sing His name, I will praise Him still.

When dark trials come and my heart is filled

With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him still.

For the Lord our God, He is strong to save

From the arms of death, from the deepest grave.

And He gave us life in His perfect will,

And by His good grace, I will praise Him still.

So, in case you were wondering, that is where we have been and that is what we have been feeling. I can't say I will be posting more often....but I can't say that I won't be either.