March

In like a lion with a snow storm at the beginning of the month. I'd like to believe it'll go out like a lamb, but it's been cold, rainy and wet for a while. We've got several days for it to turn around, and this girl is really ready for some warmer, sunny weather!

We've had a number of doctor's appointments this month, and there is much to give thanks for in regards to them. The kids all went to the dentist early in the month, Bella for her first visit. She did great!! If I haven't said it before, I will say it now. We LOVE our pediatric dentist and her office staff. I take the kids to "Growing Smiles". Sadly, they dropped our insurance last fall, but because the dentist, Dr. Capobianco, is so knowledgable about the oral issues Judah could/will be facing with his SWS and PWS, I am willing to pay the out of network fees in order to keep at least him there, if not all my kids. I'm still waiting to see just how much out of pocket it's going to mean for our kids to keep going there.

Judah had a follow up visit with his endocrinologist this month as well. Much to my surprise and absolute delight, Judah has a growth average within normal ranges. FYI: Normal range for a child Judah's age is 5 cm or more a year. Judah has an average of 5.2 cm. Way to go, Judah!!! And, we are giving much thanks to God for this as well. In addition, Judah has not gone above the 5 percentile in height for years. This last visit, he was in the 6th percentile! I was fully expecting the doctor to want to repeat a test Judah had last year which requires a 3 hour IV and blood draws every 1/2 hour. But, because Judah's numbers were so good, she was satisfied having some simple blood work done right there in the office (which went surprisingly well given I had all three of my kids with me by myself) and taking another height measurement within 6 months.

This week, Judah saw his opthamologist, and there was good news there as well. In regards to his vision, Judah's weaker eye seems to be holding its own, not getting a whole lot better but not getting worse. His pressure appears stable indicating that the glaucoma surgeries he had a couple years ago now are continuing to do their job.

We go tomorrow to Dr. Cohen, Judah's dermatologist, for the dreaded laser treatment. But, last time, Judah resolved not to cry and did amazingly well. We are having his face lasered this time which is much more difficult for him, but we're taking Miss De, and Tucker and Bella will join us this visit as well. Dunkin Donuts will be enjoyed by all afterward, and I'm hoping it'll be a positive experience overall. The nice thing about the scheduling of Judah's laser treatments is that they fall on Friday's which are our "Pizza/Family Night", something the boys have now come to look forward to and enjoy every week. Along with the promise of Dunkin Donuts, Judah also has Pizza/Family Night to look forward to after his treatments. I think that all helps.

I've had a pesky molar tooth that has needed some attention this month as well. It is a tooth that had a root canal 4 years ago. Apparently, the infection is back. (I did not know this could happen before it happened to me). So, I've had a 2nd root canal done now and go back next week to see if the infection is clearing up with the additional work that's been done on it. If the fact that it throbs everyday and I can't eat on that side of my mouth is any indication of how it's doing, I'm thinking it may not be doing so well. I'll wait and see what the doctor says next week.

While it's been a month full of doctors appointments and other medical issues (I have spent many hours on the phone trying to work out some hospital bills that were incorrectly processed), it's also been full of more enjoyable events as well.

LA and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on the 16th of this month. We took an overnight trip to Annapolis back at the end of January as our V-Day/Anniv. celebration. So, on our actual anniversary, we pulled out our wedding album and took the kids through it. It was a sweet way to commemorate our day and begin to draw the boys into that aspect of our life together.

I know I'm not the first mom and won't be the last to say her kids are growing up too quickly. My boys and I went into our church's school early in the month for a Kindergarten open house. The boys got to "meet" their teacher, Mrs. Weber (who they already know from church), and watch her in action. They also got to meet Mrs. Eberwein, their potential music teacher next year, and played "Bingo" in her music class with the rest of the kindergarteners. My boys are simply thrilled about going to school. The only disappointment is that they won't ride a school bus. :) They'll have some testing coming up in April to ensure that they're ready for Kindergarten. I think they'll do fine. Good thing there's no test for the parents to see if they're ready to send their kid(s) because I'm sure I'd fail!

We are all greatly looking forward to and anticipating April 15th, the official "end" of LA's busy season. While it seems his job continues to demand more time of him than any of us would prefer and he seems to always be in a "busy" season of sorts, God willing, Saturdays at the office will stop for certain come mid-April. And, God willing his days won't be as long as they are now. We are all really looking forward to having more of his presence in our home again, especially with the warmer weather coming. We love getting out together as a family to hike, play at the park, take walks, visit friends, and icecream/snowball places, etc.

SO, on that note...I do hope March will settle down into some more mild weather soon. I'm ready to pack up the kids' coats and pull out their crocs. We'll see!

The Scandal of it all

Seems my sweet angel, Bella, has a devilish side to her. Don't we all? Yep. It's called the sin nature and we're born with it no matter how amazingly cute, beautiful or innocent babies look.

Last week in church, our number was flashed at the front of the church to indicate that we needed to attend to one of our children's needs. It's usually for a diaper change or to take one of the boys to the bathroom. Nope. Not this time. This time, it was because my sweet baby threw another little girl out of her chair and tried to steal her pacifier. Nice. Sovereignly, my husband was the one who responded to the call. When he got back to our seat and told me what had happened, I actually started to cry.

I had such a long, hard week of discipline with my little girl, and I was discouraged by this report. I was also embarrassed to say the least. In moments like this, which happen a lot in my world, I want to look around at all the people witnessing my children's bad behavior and reassure them that, yes, I do discipline them at home. Consistently. No. Faithfully. No. But, I do discipline them. I promise. I know it doesn't look like it. But, I do...really. I do.

My ever discerning and gospel-centered husband quickly and rightly concluded what was going on in my heart at the moment and wrote a little note to me on the bulletin. It read something like this, "The scandal is not that our little girl is a sinner. The scandal is that God loved her enough to send His perfect son, Jesus, to shed His blood for her sins."

I was so helped in that moment. I was set straight in such a gracious, God-glorifying way. My heart's response to my husband's little note was, "YES! It's true. It is scandalous that the Perfect Creator of the Universe would condescend in such a way to love us and save us from our sins and from eternal death!"

So, today, when my daughter, unprovoked, smacked some boy in the library and made him cry, I was able to not be so surprised or embarrassed by her behavior but instead remember that I know God, her Savior, and have been given the amazing privilege of leading her to this Savior in these moments. I pray that one day, she will convincingly recognize not only her need for a Savior but also the Savior Himself, Jesus Christ who came to seek and save sinners just like her.