Prayers for Mom

For a bit of time on Tuesday, I thought this photo would be one of the last ones taken of my mom.

My sister had called and was sobbing. I won't go into the details of that phone call, but for a split second, I thought she was already gone and the world stopped.

Fortunately, my Grandma went to check on Mom just in time and finally got a hold of someone to open her apartment and then get the ambulance from across the street (yes, Mom lives directly across the street from the ambulance...what a blessing on Tuesday!).

Right now, she is in the ICU and they are still unsure of what went wrong. Doctors can't agree and we are waiting on tests. She's able to speak now and is in stable condition, albeit still critical.

I am feeling helpless from a state away. I think I would still feel helpless there if I had gone. My duties and responsibilities as a mom has kept me from going back up there at this point. Her doctor said that she's going to continue to improve and that it wasn't critical for me to be there. I still feel stuck between a rock and a hard place though. My kids have already driven more than a 1000 miles in the last week. We still have almost 900 to go in the next couple of days. We have to be back for Brian to come home. But the worry that I feel for my mom is pulling me in another direction. Guilt for not being there is lingering...both by me personally and by an external source as well. I'm standing by my decision though.

I have faith that my mom is going to pull through this. She is STRONG. She is a fighter. She has already been through so much, and while it's all left it's mark on her, she survived. So, I know this is just going to be another mountain that she will overcome and plant her flag on top of.

I am constantly praying for her strength and improving health. I pray for her doctors to have the knowledge they need to figure this puzzle out and prevent it from happening again. I pray for my Grandma and my aunt as they are sure to be exhausted after the last few days. I pray for the future...that it be bright for our family and that we trust in God. He knows how this will all play out and I have to trust that He always does what is right for us.

I love you, Mom. I always will!

Where does time go?

How did my baby get to be old enough to graduate Kindergarten? It seems like just yesterday that he was born!

Regardless of how I feel like time seemed to slip by at times, I am just SO proud of this kid! Looking over the last year, he has been through a TON. Moving, a new area and house, a lost cat, seizures that brought on EEGs and an MRI and ultimately the diagnoses of Epilepsy, a new baby brother, a Daddy deploying and more meds for ADHD (no, I haven't blogged about that as I am still trying to figure it all out).

Austin had persevered through all of it and even thrived and succeeded! There were times when he just didn't want to go to school, but he went anyway. He found the positives in the school year, even though he missed his Pre-School class where he got to play more. :-)

His teacher, Mrs. Bruner, was a bright spot. Austin liked her. He made her a flower out of paper the other day and said that when he goes to First Grade next year, he wants to go to Mrs. Bruner's class first and give her this flower and THEN go to First Grade. Yes, he will miss his Kindergarten teacher.

Austin liked PE and library and computer class. He liked going to "centers." He loved eating the cheese pizza for lunch as well as the corn dogs and chef salad. He loved recess as well, but was always bummed when they had to go to the "little playground" instead of the "big playground."

Austin was apparently very popular with everyone in the class, especially the little girls. On several occasions, he came home with "love notes." But it wasn't all one sided. He was sending them right back, especially to one little girl in particular.

Yes, I think he had his first crush this year. He has had girls as friends in the past. He has liked them pretty well. One even called him her boyfriend (We miss you Skylee!), but this year, he was seen playing with C's hair, holding hands, and we can't forget about those notes. :-) Yep, it was different than with other girls. They sat next to each other at the beginning of the year in class, but the teachers saw the connection pretty early on and moved them so it wasn't a distraction.

At the end of the year, Austin's class had their awards ceremony. Austin was awarded the "Best Friend to All" award. He really is friendly to everyone and we are so proud of that. While we want him to pick his friends wisely in the future, right now, I think he is doing what is best by being friends with everyone, even the class bully, and being a role model for the other kids to just be nice. :-) Plus, being friends with the bully (or at least nice to him) means that he isn't hitting you!

Austin has learned life lessons as well as the regular academic ones. His math is doing great and he's interested in learning more. He is reading a lot better (you know, since he wasn't reading at all before Kindergarten!) and can read simple books at home. He came home with something new everyday!

He's going to do GREAT in First Grade!

Here's a couple of pictures to compare what he looked like on the last day of school (top) vs the first day of school (bottom)!