The Inside Looking Out

First, I want to say Happy 9 Months to Betsy. It is hard to believe you are 3/4 of a year old. You are mighty precious! We love you and are so thankful you joined our family. You are on the verge of being mobile. This mamas days are numbered... You love to be on your feet though you haven't quite figured out how to pull yourself up to a standing position. You love to sit and see the world, and you are able to bounce, twist and turn to get from one place to another. You haven't quite figured out how to work your arms and legs together in order to propel yourself forward, but you are getting there. I've seen you get from a seated position to your tummy and then back to a seated position. That means there are no more tears when you find yourself on your tummy ~ you just work to get back up. This evening I caught you sitting up in the cradle. It is finally time to set up the pac 'n play! I've been talking about it for months, and the time is finally here. I was hoping we could make it a few more weeks until we move into the house, but your safety is essential and you will be sleeping in the pac 'n play tonight. Tomorrow, I will take down the cradle to send it back to Mobile.
As I was putting Betsy to bed this evening, it was the first time in weeks that I put her on her back and she didn't cry. In fact, she even laughed and giggled as I talked to her and changed her diaper to put on her pajamas. Once again in this little ones life, I didn't realize how hard it had been until a saw a glimpse of change. I realize now she has felt miserable! Her ears probably among other things have hurt. We are set for tubes in two weeks. Hopefully that will help her feel better and maybe even sleep and eat better.

Okay, on to other things ~ I don't know how many of you listen to country music...I do, and I have since high school. I'm not much of a music person so I can't usually tell you who sings anything, but as with most people music provokes memories. Sometimes though memories or experiences trigger a song to play in my head. Today as I was cooking dinner, washing dishes, and cleaning the kitchen {yet again}, I could see my three oldest children from the kitchen window. The song My Front Porch Looking In immediately came to mind. Since having children the beginning lines of the chorus resonate with me ~ {There's a carrot top who can barely walk With a sippy cup of milk A little blue eyed blonde with shoes on wrong 'Cause she likes to dress herself} Hey, that's my life - sippy cups and shoes on wrong! Instead of sitting on my front porch looking in, I was standing at Norval's kitchen window looking out. These were some scenes I captured from the inside looking out ~








They are images of my children loving life and loving each other. When I stand at that kitchen window, I often think of Norval, Frank's mom. So many thoughts can go through my head about Norval and what she meant to so many. Today it was about how missed she is by us! She loved my children, and she would have loved to have watched them grow up. It is moments like this when I think how happy it would make her, that we are living in her house, with her husband, and her stuff. Okay, maybe she wouldn't love the statue being used for target practice, and there are many other times when I know she would cringe to see what goes on in her house. But all in all, I think it would make her happy. It is these moments that I hope we all remember and cherish when this time of being displaced from our own home is over.

I'm not going to lie. It's been a rough week and these images did my heart and my mind good.

On another note ~ It is going to be HARD to get a Christmas card picture of my four little ones.

Maybe we will have to take this route!

Stay tuned for a house update...