The Power of a Quiet Moment

While I don't get many quiet moments, when I do get them they don't last but a literal moment anyway. Sometimes though, I like to sit and think about the day and it's many memories. Some good, some bad, but memories nonetheless.

I've realized, especially lately that I more often than not neglect to take that quiet time. The pureness of an uninterrupted moment. I'm sure if I took the time, it would feed my soul and make my worries fade, if only for a short time.

Tomorrow always brings with it a multitude of stimuli and activity...brimming with noise and chaos from sun up until well after sun down, but I will try to 'stop and smell the roses' or curl up with a little one and a book because life's too short not to recharge and discover the power of a quiet moment.

I am relishing in a quiet moment right now as all of the kids are piled on the couch in the basement watching a movie with their Grandpa. Yay me!

Bubbles, Bubbles...Everywhere!

You can't see it, but there are even bubbles on the wall...


And what I wouldn't give to have a soak in that tub tonight!

I know I am a week behind in blogging again. Bear with me...I'm struggling with balancing all of the hats I wear as a Mom, wife and employee these days. Plus, I've been totally sick and had to spend a day in the hospital strapped to an IV. Home health care is on the horizon if I can't keep up with my fluids. I'm working on it valiantly!

While I was hospitalized, I got the privilege of having a full blown ultrasound. What an amazing sight to see my little one kicking around and waving tiny fists. AND, 'unofficially' I was told that the baby has "nothing between the legs". (aka-GIRL!) We'll see about that though. After having had 4 boys and just one girl, my skepticism is heavy on that one :)

A huge decision was made today and without saying too much, I am weighed down with guilt and at the same time filled with relief. I'll explain more later...

Gotta run---seems bath time has turned to battle.

Trick or Treat!

The cutest dinosaur and kitty cat I've ever seen :)

The older boys ran off before I could snap their picture, but they painted their faces in various ways. None of which were really explainable. Boys!

Loads of candy later...

Monday Montage

Yes, I know that I haven't blogged since last Monday. And yes, I know that I said last Monday that I would be doing 'Not Me' Mondays. Well, this week I'm not. Deal with it. Blame it on the hormones. Or not.

Instead, since I finally unearthed my computer/photo card reader, I thought I'd innundate this blog with pictures. Some are waaaay dated--just a fair warning.

Moving Day

Josh hangin' out. Where else would he be?


The New House (and cute little Sam)


Our Cello Player


Sam's First Haircut


A bit traumatized, you think?

Yup, I think so!

Feeling a little better about things...and looking SO handsome!

A Little Silliness From Gracie

How'd she DO that, anyway?

Little Bug-Eyed Cuteness

Happy 8th Birthday Josh!

What a Look!

Ummm, There Are No Words for This One
Poor, poor Abbey...

Okay, a little blogging out of my system and a few pictures off of my memory card.

I'm turning in...the pregnancy stuff is tiring!

G'night!

Who Me?

I've decided to jump on the 'Not Me Monday' bandwagon. A fabulous blogger over at www.mycharmingkids.net has shared her idea and asked her readers to join in too.

Jumpin' in!

Oh, but where, oh where, do I begin? There are SO many things that I have NOT done. For example, I did not let my 12 year old have a cookie for breakfast this morning because he lost all self control over the --gasp--store brand waffles that were on the table. I also did not let him have a cup of coffee on the way to school.

Speaking of school, I did NOT utter out loud THANK YOU GOD(!) when I pulled away after dropping all the boys off at school. They have NOT been out of school the last two weeks on Fall Break.

Yesterday, I did not lay down on Gracie's bed for a long time while the littles played around me. I did not fall asleep either. I was not tired after not throwing up in the kitchen sink and not scaring all the kids in the room.

I most certainly did not stress out for nearly 15 minutes while trying to find the baby's heartbeat on my doppler. I also did not lock my bedroom and bathroom doors to prevent any little people from barging in while I soaked in my tub. Oh, and I did not eat miniature chocolate bars while in the tub either. Nope, no way!

Okay, enough Not Me's for today.

I'm not tired. (okay, one more!)

Can You Hear Me Now?

Ongoing saga with Eli's hearing. Not good news from the specialist. Eli's latest hearing test shows that he has some nerve damage, called a 'Sensorineural' hearing loss. That pretty much means that the loss is permanent and he needs a hearing aid in his left ear. Bummer :(

Anyway, just as I thought I was beginning to feel partially human again, some relentless nausea has resurfaced and I found myself losing my lunch. Ewww. And something else really weird is I seem to have come down with a some affliction termed 'Horribly-Terribly-Cranky-For-No-Apparent-Reason-itis'. I've Googled it, looked it up in my pregnancy books and have almost called the OB about it. Believe me, it's no fun. Hopefully, with the ringing in of my second trimester, that will go away, along with the nausea.

I haven't updated on my boss lately. He's doing incredible! He was taken off the ventilator quite a while ago and he's now up and walking around the Rehab-Unit of the hospital. He's expected to be there through this next week, and then discharged HOME! Wow. Granted, he's got a long way to go in terms of recovery from his TBI (traumatic brain injury) but things are looking up...especially considering his accident was just three weeks ago.

I'm going to run and make myself a decaf-sugar free mocha latte...I need to kick my puffy ankles up and watch some tv.

Later!

Foot Loose and Fancy Free

Thanks to some daring wonderful friends, hubby and I were afforded 15 whole hours alone this past Saturday night. At first, even just thinking about it, I was pretty nervous. I mean, anyone that knows us, knows that we've had our share of struggles and troubles over the last few years. We're still in deep with some of those struggles now.

I had visions of sitting across the table from hubby totally not knowing what to say to him, nor him to me. An uncomfortable silence, if you will.

Thankfully, as we shared tortilla chips and ranchero sauce, we found plenty to talk about. And I think we even enjoyed it.

And let me tell you how AWESOME it was to be able to sleep through the night(without counting my hourly trips to the bathroom) without having a little one knock on the door wanting to climb into bed. I felt a twinge of guilt when I walked by the kids bedrooms seeing their empty beds, but it passed quickly. Really. And for the record, the kids had a great time away from us too.

The kids are all still home on Fall Break. 6 more days and counting...

Signing off to hit the hay. Even though I am heading into my second trimester, I am still fighting major fatigue.

Later!