The past few weeks

Ok, I promised details of some of the things we did these past few weeks so here's my feeble attempt.

Sammy had his 3rd birthday on Monday while his grandparents were visiting. I do feel a little guilty that I didn't blog on his birthday, but things were nuts here! We had a nice day together.
He opened some gifts in the morning.


We went to the zoo which is easily Sammy's favorite place to go!


Yeah, he's brushing the goat's butt! Whatever!


Just look at this sweet little bundled boy!


We went to Pat's for cheesesteaks for lunch (passed the Rocky statue on the way and had to take a pic for my father-in-law who thinks it's just the coolest thing!)


We went to dinner together and just had a really nice day.

His party wasn't until Saturday and he was so excited! We had family and a few friends over and Sammy had a great time!


This was Sammy's big gift. We had it waiting in the basement for several weeks and he was beside himself he was so excited to set it up! Once it was ready he got in and jumped for nearly 2 straight hours!!


Sammy asked for a Boz cake for months before his birthday. He wanted a "Boz cake with Mickey Mouse candles" (we got one because it was insanely expensive to get more than one!). He decided he liked the Mickey Mouse plates and things so it became a Mickey Mouse party, but with a Boz cake. I must say that it was SOOO much work to make that cake that during the 2.5 hours it took to decorate it I got him the say that next year we can get a Friendly's ice cream cake!!


Opening gifts with one of his friends


Caleb picked a doozy of a weekend to get his (and our) first ear infection! We had my parents over for dinner Thursday night, a house full of friends over Friday night, Sammy's party on Saturday and Caleb's dedication at church on Sunday. He was feeling much better though by Sunday so it was a really nice day.

He squawked a few times when he saw Grandmom up front taking pictures. He gets so excited when he sees her! =) So cute!


Overall we had a busy, but great weekend. Caleb's dedication was another time for me to get all emotional and grateful for all that God has blessed me with. I can't begin to tell how blessed I am to have such a wonderful and loving husband, two sweet beautiful boys and so many extended family and friends who love and care for us! God has been so amazingly good to us! I was also reminded of all we went through during my pregnancy with Caleb and thank the Lord for His protection and healing and for a happy and perfectly healthy little boy who is an absolute joy!

God is good!

A few things have happened lately and I'm feeling somewhat overwhelmed at how good God is!
Today on our way home from MOPS we were in a minor accident. (The only "damage" was to our license plate so that's how minor it was!) I was really shaken. It was the first time something has happened while I've had the boys with me and it made me feel super nervous, but God is good! When I got back into the car I asked Sammy if he was ok and he said yes. Then he asked me "Are you okay, Mommy?" I told him I was and the rest of the way home Sammy kept saying "Mommy, are we ok? Are they ok? Are the cars ok? Are the houses ok? Are the trees ok?" It was funny, but it just shows how incredibly sensitive he is. He is always so concered for other people...and things! He then said to me, "Mommy, Jesus loves us?" and I, of course, said "YES!!! Jesus does love us!!"
The other thing that has made me reflect on God's goodness is a VERY different situation. My mom was supposed to donate a kidney to a good friend of ours. We're 2 weeks away from the surgery date and my mom's surgeon made the difficult decision to not go through with the transplant. My mom has some funky kidneys =) Apparently one of her kidneys (the one to be donated) has 2 working filters instead of one so taking it would essentialy leave her with 1/3 of her current kidney function which is just too risky. Anyway, it's such a difficult thing. She went through months of testing and the surgery date was so close. And, more importantly, our friend now has to wait until another kidney becomes available. So, why do I say that it's a reason for me to see God's goodness? Because I believe that God is good ALL the time. It's hard and it's certainly not what we were hoping or praying for, but ultimately God knows what He's doing. He's not been caught off guard. My mom put it well. She said, "you know, God has known that this would happen before we were ever born. It just took us until now to find it out."
God IS good! He sometimes does things that scream to us how good He is. Other times He does things that, in our minds, are confusing and leave us with nothing else, but to trust Him and learn that He continues to scream of His goodness, we're just too blind to always see it that way.
Our family certainly has seen God's provision and protection in the past and we would be so foolish not to trust that He is working and doing what's best in this situation as well! (If you don't know some of the "big" things that have happened check out this post and see how good He is even in the midst of very hard times!:
http://totedebbysammy.blogspot.com/2007/08/what-great-physician-we-have.html
(Sorry. once again my brain is foggy and I can't figure out why this link isn't working so you're on your own! If you have trouble look for the post on August 24, 2007)

What a Great Physician we have!

Just last night I was feeding Caleb and Tote was heading down to his office to get some work done. He said "I'll be right back to put him to bed". We always give kisses and put him to bed together or at least make sure he has said goodnight before I put him down. Just the way that he said that threw my mind into what this time might look like had my burns been worse than they were or had Caleb been delivered early as we feared.
For those of you who don't know, I was severely burned in April when I was 9 months pregnant with Caleb. We feared that he would come early before I had a chance to heal and that I would not be able to care for him. It was so hard and humbling to not be able to care for myself during those weeks, but by far the hardest thing that I have ever dealt with in my entire life was to not be able to care for Sammy. I wasn't able to get him up in the morning, put him to bed or naps, get his meals, change his diaper, dress him, hold him or even hug him. It tore me up inside! I can't imagine if Caleb had been born during all of that and I wasn't able to hold my baby or nurse him!
God is so good!!!! We took the last bandage off the day before Caleb arrived! He is healthy and the happiest little sweetheart!! I can nurse him and care for him and just be a mommy to him and to Sammy. I can't express how grateful I am for that blessing! I love being their mommy!!
That moment last night just made me reflect on how things could have been and how thankful we are for God's healing and provision during such a rough time!