It's been a while. Life has gotten interesting.

Let's see, where to begin..........

PJ is working at Sparrow now. He loves it! It's a great position and the potential there is awesome! I'm so proud of him and the leap he made.

I am now 14 weeks pregnant with baby number 4. I am now just down to part time in college- got to be too much. After this semester I will be taking the spring/summer off and returning in fall 2014.

Phillip (now 7!) is almost finished with his grade 1 school books but in all honesty we have strayed from his normal books and he is halfway through the next set. I find that he does better if I write out problems and sit and run through stuff with him. He does 2 workbooks every day by himself and the rest we do together. He started multiplication all by himself! Proud mama right here. 

Hannah (now 4!) got her new glasses. No wonder she was having such a hard time noticing her alphabet- she couldn't see it! She got her 2nd step glasses in May and now she's set for a year. She has writing her name down almost 80% of the time. We are done with shapes and colors and are moving on to recognizing all letters and numbers up to 50.

Sophia's still my little mystery. Her medical stuff is just as confusing today as it was when she was 2 months old. Go figure! Otherwise, she's a happy 20 month old who lets you know what she's feeling!!!!

We just got back from a mini vacation. It was nice few days of swimming and not having a care in the world. Visited Kalahari water park in Sandusky, oh and Fairfield by Marriott :) Fun times!!! 

Let's see hmm, oh the house! After 3 floods and upwards of 20k dollars of cleanup and basement tiling system- the basement is now full of mold. We tore down most of the drywall and paneling and it's even in the support beams now. Even running 2 dehumidifiers 24/7 isn't taking care of the problem. It's frustrating. It has made us all sick and we didn't even notice it. We tested it, we put an old car seat downstairs and 24 hours later it was covered with mold. That's great, huh? We are getting rid of this money/health hole. 

My Name Is Laura...

Since I have certain someones always trying to tell others about me, I thought they should get it right. I have done one of these before, but figured I would go into more detail.

My name is Laura.

 I was born Feb 8^th at 11:57pm.

 I have lived in too many places to name, but all in Michigan.

I am a Christian. But what does that mean to me? I love God. I think Jesus was the son of God. I think the Bible is the interpretation of the spoken word of God and I believe that there are many books that aren’t in the Bible that there should be. I love going to Church, but don’t get there as much as I would like. I don’t necessarily like the people who go to church, however, because mostly they are hypocritical. I feel that God is everywhere, not just in big buildings and who takes the most offerings. It’s better to find God in the little places, like when your kids are screaming and there’s laundry piling up…you hear his voice calming you . I believe that as a Christian it is my duty to NOT judge others. I don’t care what the color of your skin is, who you love or what your occupation is. I do care if you harm others and feel it should be dealt with swiftly, but not with taking a life.

I am a stay at home mom. When I married my wonderful husband we made the pact that I would stay home and raise our kids. This isn't however a knock to those who can’t stay home! We have made big sacrifices so I can stay home. In my humble opinion, it’s far too easy to hand your kids over to someone else to be raised. I love staying home with my kids. I admit I get cabin fever and ache for some adult interaction, but I wouldn't trade this time for the world.

On that note. I home school  I feel that school (public and/or private) has lost it’s touch. They are too interested in teaching our children to test and not to live in the real world. I feel that bullying, drugs, sex, and being skinny are what is taught on the front lines  Again, not knocking those who have their kids in school, it’s just not for us. I won’t judge you for your decisions if you do the same, ok? Although the pressure is immense to have your kids education in your hands, the reward is unbelievable! I am giving my kids a solid foundation of love, faith and respect and hope that when the time comes to enter the world on their own, their foundation is strong enough to withstand the pressures of “real life”

 I don’t clean as often as I should, laundry doesn't always get done, the floors need mopping and I get disorganized as quickly as I organize everything.

I spend way too much time watching tv or on the computer (case in point) and am trying to limit myself and my kiddos, which as been going surprisingly well.

I try to parent peacefully. I am not as good at it as I would like to be. I get upset, frustrated and mad when I know I shouldn't. I try, and that’s all I can do.

Contrary to popular belief I don't limit my husband. We are a team and we make decisions together. There are only 3 things I told my husband from the beginning and they stand true today. 1. Don't do drugs 2. Don't cheat 3. Don't cover up 1 or 2   

I don’t drink or do drugs. Here’s one that gets people. I have never done any kind of drugs. I used to drink. I made a very bad decision early on to get drunk and almost lost my life. I continued to have a beer here and there over the next several years.  One day I sat, prayed and talked to my husband about it. What are the benefits of drinking? I don’t see any. Not a single one. I don’t like the way people act when drinking, so I’m sure people feel the same way about me. It’s not funny. We made the decision that night to never drink again.

I am not social. I am uncomfortable around people. I hate talking on the phone with a passion (there are only a select few that this doesn't pertain to) I don’t know why, and honestly, I find it annoying. I have a circle of people I am around and with them, I am fine, just don’t put me with a whole bunch of people! Because of that, I make sure that my kids know how to speak to adults, to peers and hopefully do it respectfully.

I have panic attacks. I have battled anxiety since I was a teenager. It comes at the most inopportune time! (ok, really there’s never a good time but you know what I am saying!) It is frightening, with no rhyme or reason. I have learned to calm myself and most of the time I can suppress them.

I have 3 kids, which most of you know. And no, we are not done. We have stated from the beginning that we want 4 kids. Children are a blessing! My husband jokes that he wants 10 kids (sometimes, not so sure he’s joking though!). I just know that at this time, we aren't done. No I am not saying I am going to have another baby right now, but sometime (maybe years in the future) I want another as long as God wills it.

My weight seems to be a hot topic of discussion, so let’s nip that in the bum. Yes I am overweight… but over who’s weight? I am not as skinny as I once was. I am not entirely happy with myself at this weight but I love myself, which has taken a long time to say. I am trying to be healthy, NOT trying to be skinny. I will not lose weight to fit someone else’s mold. My husband loves me, my kids love me and that’s all I need.

I try not to lie. I hate lying. If you don’t lie then you don’t have to remember the lie. The truth is so much easier. I find myself sometimes (hey I’m human!) telling a lie and then I feel horrible. Honestly, I feel horrible. I want others to tell me the truth, so I try my hardest to do the same.

So this is me. I am Laura. I make mistakes, I ask for forgiveness, I ask for second chances, I do loud really well, I need more grace and patience. If you have any questions: just ask. All I ask of you is if you feel the need to talk about me, get it right.

Starting 2013 w/A Bang

As 2012 came to a close and we were about to celebrate the new year in coming days Sophia got sick. She wouldn’t keep anything down and quickly grew dehydrated. Of course, as a mom of an FPIES child, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what caused it! As she lay between PJ and I and we comforted her during dry heaving by rubbing her back, my heart was hurting for her. By the next morning she was still unable to keep anything down so the pediatrician, GI, PJ and I made a collaborative decision that it was time for her to be admitted to the hospital. But the admit papers never got finished so we ended up sitting in the ped er, the woman at check-in said she notified the nurse and we would be able to wait in an isolation room, but that didn’t happen either.

I was mad because here we were, holding our immune compromised daughter with a room full of other sick babies with other problems. I decided to sit in the hall with her and if anyone didn’t like it, they could move us to a room. I wasn’t looking to be seen sooner just to keep her from contracting anything else! Well sitting in the hall worked because that opened up an isolation room for her. We sat and waited. After many hours in the er and several tests later Sophia was admitted upstairs to the peds unit. She had a stomach bug.

PJ stayed at the hospital with her and I went to pick up Phillip and Hannah from my mother in law’s house. Hannah was sleeping on the couch and Phillip was mean and rude. I picked up Hannah and as I made my way to the door she threw up down my back and all over the floor. I thought, JUST GREAT, I don’t handle vomit very well. In fact, if I hear it, see it or smell it I am right there with them needing a bucket. Ugh. I spent all night consoling a sick Hannah who continued to be sick all throughout the night. Then just as she was able to sleep, Phillip started. Luckily, he’s big enough to make it to the toilet!!!

It was a day full of ginger ale, gatorade, popsicles and lots of snuggles.

Sophia was released that night; we ended up bringing her home around 8. By then Phillip and Hannah were feeling better…and I was NOT…

I spent all the next day (yesterday) sick and today is PJ’s turn. Also we ended up giving it to my mom in law’s household….sorry!

This ordeal has really kinda hit me…A simple stomach bug….it sucked for the rest of us but we were feeling better 12-24 hours after it started but Sophia had it for 3 days and had to be hospitalized for it… with her immune system being compromised ,she just couldn't fight it.

Consequently we rang in the New Year horribly. Despite the rough start we are determined to make 2013 better than 2012.

Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman

I started reading Not A Fan today. I am on page 25.

Let me tell you, WOW, I didn’t think about its message. I can’t tell you WHY I bought that book. It’s been sitting on my shelf and I keep getting this nagging feeling to read it. Today, I decided to open it. WOW.

I am a Christian right? I know what it means to be a Christian…. I go to church (not as much as we should), I have the Jesus fish on my vehicle, I listen to SmileFM, I pray before meals and before bed, I read the Bible and know most of the really important people in it…. But seriously, who am I trying to impress. Am I trying to convince others I am a follower of Jesus- Or am I trying to live my life the way Jesus wants? Am I trying to prove to God that I love him- Or am I living the way He wants me to?

Page 25 and my faith has been shattered. And to top it off, it is probably one of the best things that have ever happened to me.

It’s Wednesday, so it’s church tonight. I honestly think that it will be the best night at church I have ever attended.