Although we were extremely busy trying to balance getting
the house complete, a newborn, and getting Jayden and Brooklyn in school, we
still had time to celebrate!
August 7 our anniversary
The week of our Anniversary was spent working on the house
with the CELP group. We were blessed to have students from Limestone University
volunteer their time and help us paint the entire trim in the house, seed our
huge lawn, pack and clean the old house, build the make a wish playset and
bless us with their fresh energy as ours was depleting. Thank you to everyone
who helped us feed the group and the Clarks for letting them take over your
home for the weekend. Dan and Jill were amazing coordinating all the workers,
thank you! It was the best gift ever!
August 8 Uncle Chads birthday
We love Uncle Chad. He has been living at Ken and Joans, so
it has been nice coming home and seeing him because we have been crashing at
Ken and Joan’s for some extra hands with the kids. It is great seeing Chad wrestle with the
kids, and take special care of Ellie. He is going to be such a great dad
someday! He has such a sweet, tender
heart and is extremely thoughtful, although to most he seems reserved. We adore him and are so thankful for him on
his birthday!
August 26 Angie’s birthday
My dearest gal, Angie celebrated her big day today. She is
an amazing friend and outstanding person. I love everything about this lady!
She makes me laugh, catches my tears, listens well, helps with the kids, and is
always up for a night out dancing! I couldn’t do this life without her and feel
blessed to call her friend.
August 29 Bill’s birthday
Uncle Bill has been a great addition to the family. Rian’s
husband is a tough police officer with a great heart. His love language is
generosity and he would do anything for the people he loves. I think it was
hard for him to enter in with Jayden in the beginning, but now, they have a
special bond. He has taken a special liking to him and really spends quality
one on one time with Jayden. It just warms my heart.
August 11-12
August is also crazy for me because it is my busiest time at work. I plan two retreats and a ministry fair. The retreats are for our freshman and our Juniors and are a highlight of my year. To say the least, it is always a great time and this year was no exception. Sandwiched inbetween the chaos, though, it was hard to fully embrace the weekend.
To be honest, August…and the rest of 2012 is a big blur. We
don’t know how we survived it, actually. A newborn, two kids with special
needs, and building a house almost buried us. We are fried and ran on fumes for
so long, now trying to update a blog in Jan 2013 from this far back is difficult.
I really want to remember these days, however, there is little energy left to
reflect back. I feel like we are just no
trying to fill our tank, so to speak. And, it is an adjustment actually having
a ¼ tank to function with. We are still tired. Three years ago, the physical
demands are not nearly what they were today. Although we have “adjusted”, it
seems our physical needs for help are greater. In the beginning, everyone is
offering to “help” but in the emotional aftermath of the diagnosis, there is
very little to DO. But now, there are
sleepless nights, 3 people with diapers, and the ever looming truth of what
Sanfilippo means. Overall, emotionally we are in a better place of coping and
acceptance, we still struggle to make time for our marriage, friends,
meaningful time with our family, and individual attention for our children that
goes beyond the normal daily demand to meet their basic needs. I am sure this
is a universal truth. The end of the day comes and we are tired. I want to
unplug. Yet, the night never brings a full nights rest. Someone is always
waking. The sun rises, and the day starts, but we are still tired from
yesterday. We are on the up and up, though. I think we slowly are trying to
make adjustments to our ever-changing daily demands while fighting for who we
want to be. Again, I think that is just
part of the universal rat race. I have always struggled with slowing down. I
don’t know what to do when there is actually space. It’s in internal struggle
between shutting down and staying busy just to be busy. I will probably dance this line my entire
life. And, I think it’s ok. I think that’s
life. It’s Jan 14, 2013 as I write, and
I am happy. I am ok with the imperfect reality that I am.
