Shepherd is SIX!

Is it possible that this little cutie was born 6 years ago?  Wow!  It doesn't seem possible.  I remember every detail about his birthday as if it was yesterday.  A day of love and beauty for Nate and I.  A day of love,sacrifice and sadness for his birthmom.  I will forever be grateful that she chose life!

Shepherd chose to have his birthday dinner at The Rainforest Cafe.  A good choice indeed.  The kids love watching all the animals and they get excited every time a "storm" comes.  

 Shepherd had to act like a toucan when they sang to him.  It was quite funny.

 Attempt at a family picture...

On Monday we took donuts to Shepherd's class.  

Then Sonic for lunch.  This boy got the goods!!

Then on to Chuck E. Cheese for his party.

Marley got stuck in the air tunnels and I had to go rescue her.  Fun times.

Shepherd, you are a joy!  I love your laughter and how you make other smile.  You are silly and goofy and that is so much fun. You told dad "I want to be an actor when I grow up and dress up and go on the stage and then afterwards go in the lobby and talk to people".  Lately you ask so many questions about heaven and hell. Your heart is tender towards the things of the Lord.  You are memorizing verses that I hope you never forget.  Our prayer is that you will grow in your understanding of God and what Jesus did on the cross for you.  We love you so much.

Broken Arm back story

Friday was a busy day for us.  It's unusual for Nate to have an unexpected surgery come up at the same time I have something planned.  But every now and then it happens.  Friday was one of those days.  I had 3 things on the calendar for after he got home on Friday (he has half days on Friday).  He informed me of a potential surgery or consult and we were going to make it work between the two of us.

After my first meeting (aka: scraping wood at a barn), I realized I was 5 minutes away from where my 2nd and 3rd meeting would be and 30 minutes away from home.  Regardless, I headed home so I could watch the kids while Nate ran to the hospital.  I called him on my way there. He suggested that I see if our  neighbors could watch the kids and I stay where I was.  I called one family for the boys and another for Marley.  And since we have wonderful neighbors they agreed to watch our kids for the 30 minutes to an hour that it would take Nate.

Thirty minutes later Nate was pulling into the drive way as both husband and wife neighbor were walking  Shepherd up.  Shepherd was not crying, but upset and holding his arm.  He was more upset that he had to leave his friend's house.  The story was that he was trying to do a flip on the monkey bars at the park and fell.  Nate checked him out and sent him back to play, hoping that it would just be a sprain.  Friday night he went to bed, protecting his arm and not letting anyone touch it, but not in horrible pain.

Saturday when he woke up he still wouldn't move it, but no pain, unless it was touched.  We called our pediatrician friend and got her opinion.  Then we headed to the Pediatric Urgent Care.  Nate stayed with Shepherd while I took the other two kids to nearby stores.  I wanted to be close just in case Shep needed me.  4 hours later after the x-rays they determined that the radius and ulna were both broken and at an 18% angulation.  Not good.  They put him in a splint and gave him a note to stay out of PE.

Today we met with the orthopedic surgeon and he had to set the arm.  Basically this means that he hold the arm in place while the cast dries.  Shepherd was in tons of pain.  At one point Nate and I were talking to the doctor and I look over and Shep had crawled to the floor and was hugging the trash can.  He looked awful.  Thankfully he didn't get sick or pass out, which apparently isn't unusual.  Then the worst part was when they cut it...both sides.  They do this so that if his arm does swell we won't have to rush him to the ER. Instead we can pry the cast apart a bit to give it room.  Interesting.  The loud noise combined with the pizza blade cutting his arm sent him over the edge.  I was fighting back tears.  It's so hard to watch your kids in pain.

So it looks like 4 weeks will be our sentence.  Hopefully no more.  Shepherd is brave and a happy kid.  I'm proud of how he's handled this.  I'm thankful that there was no blood or guts.  I'm thankful that it wasn't a true emergency.  I'm thankful it didn't happen on my watch.  I'm thankful that he's so cute.    More pictures to come.

First broken arm

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Happy Valentine's Day!

17 Years ago I sent this hottie a valentine.  It read "to Nathan (SN) Livers from your Secret Admirer".  The SN was a code name that I put in there in case later I wanted/needed to prove that I was the one who sent him the valentine.  We (several girlfriends and I) called Nate "Silent Night" when we were talking in code.  I guess that was a dumb high school thing, but at the time I didn't think it was that dumb.  I'm not really sure we ever really talked in code, but I digress.  

Even 17 years ago I saw something special in this crazy guy.  I could tell his quiet demeanor, his loyalty and consistency would be a good compliment to my loud roller coaster life.  And today he compliments me better than I could ever imagine.  And yet as we've grown together our similarities have also increased.  Nate was once the quieter shyer one and me, well, not so much.  But now when we walk into a room he's conversing with everyone, mixing and mingling and I'm quicker to shy away from those I don't know as well.  With our kids...he's loud and crazy and I'm...hummmm...I'm tired.  God created us perfectly for each other and for that I'm so grateful.  I'm thankful that my love didn't have to remain a secret and I'm really looking forward to another 17++ of valentine days together.  

(These pictures aren't from 17 years ago.)

Happy Birthday, Halley Raye!

"But Jesus said, Allow little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14

Someone once asked me if we were trying to "replace Halley and Porter" by trying to have more children.  To that person, let me just say, you can never ever replace your baby.  There is no substitute that will ever take the place of our sweet Halley Raye.  She's the baby that made me a mommy.  Eight years later we miss her just the same, almost more.  The memories fade a bit, her smell, her noises, her baby movements--but the emotions and connection to that little girl will never lessen.  I can't believe it's been 8 years.  It doesn't seem possible.  At times that seems like a different life millions of years ago.  Other times it feels like just yesterday...still so raw.  Because of this little life of 2 month we will never be the same.  We feel a little deeper, hug a little tighter, love a little stronger, think of heaven a little more.  

I received a note in the mail this week.   A friend from high school wrote to say how thankful she was for our children.  Just a short note about how God's provisions in our family were so evident to her.  I couldn't agree more.  God didn't have to give us 3 healthy kids.  He would have still been God and still been good if He hadn't, yet in his mercy and grace he chose to bless us more than we could ever imagine.  Is this God's best for us that Halley died?  I believe it is even though I don't understand it or always like it.  What I do know is that God has gotten glory from her short life and he will continue to use her for His mission.  

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl.  

The difference having friends make

I just had one of my best days since moving to Grapevine.  A few weeks ago when Nate and I went away for a weekend of goal setting and reviewing 2011 I told him how one of the best things going on in my life was that I was starting to have friends again.  Moving is hard as far as friendships go.  I should know--I moved a ton growing up and that hasn't stopped now that I'm married.  In Temple friendships happened fairly quickly due to the Medical alliance and the family friendly nature of Temple.  After 3 years in Temple we knew our time was coming to an end.  One of my newer friends at that point told me she really didn't want to be my friend because she knew I was leaving.  She said it in jest, but we both knew it was true.  I'm glad she didn't hold true to her word because she is now a close friend.

To move again after only 4 years was hard, but we are slowly making friends again.  I struggle with how to handle my long distance friendships.  There's so many friends and so little time.  I want to hold on, but I also want to dig my roots into where I'm at.  That brings us to today.  Nate sets his alarm for 7am.  He heads out for an early run with his friend.  This makes me smile because he has a friend!  Not that Nate isn't friendly or hasn't had friends, but in the past Nate has been so busy with work that he felt guilty for going out with friends.  It was pretty much work and family for the past 5 years.  I love that he now has guys that he does stuff with and enjoys hanging out with.  These aren't just guys--these are MEN who love God and lead their families.  So...he runs 8 miles with his friend. Comes home and we head out with the kids for family time.  Family time included looking at a steal of a deal couch we found on craigslist.  Then I met my friend for lunch and goodwill shopping.  We have an 80's prom thing coming up that we needed outfits for.  No luck this time, but I enjoyed the time with Denise and goodwill laughing anyway.

We got home and decided to go for a run for ourselves.  It was the first time I'd run with someone else in a long time. We ran 3.7 miles.  What???  The difference a friend can make.   We came back from running and our husbands went to pick up our new couch.  Nate and I like to put our friends to work.  After everything was unloaded and set up Nate and I loaded up the kids and headed to Costco.  Who knew Costco closed at 6pm on Saturday?  So we went to Kroger...ate there (which is weird in itself), let the kids push the kiddie shopping carts around and then headed home.  I'm now snuggled up on the couch with the love of my life.  Good friends, good conversation, good day.

Why am I blogging all this boring stuff?  I never want to forget this "boring" day.  I love my life.

Smith Time

It was long overdue...like 6 years overdue.  After med school, our friends the Smiths moved off to Charleston, SC and we moved in the opposite direction to Temple, TX.  We flew out to Charleston twice and then we met them in Little Rock a few times.  Soooooo finally they got to come visit us.  They now live in Springfield, MO.  It's so nice when someone visits you and sees your life in action.  

We went to Legoland and it was actually more fun than I thought it might be.  The Hogs played in the Cotton Bowl that night---so we decked ourselves out and tried to not get in a fight with all the KState fans that were in town.  

The big kids are Corban (7), Finley (6), Shepherd (5), Piper (4) and Owen (4).

These two are two peas in a pod...so cute together.

Thanks Smiths for making the drive to Texas.  We had a great time.