The Taste Of Love

My Aunt Elaine makes the best chicken pot pie ever.  She has given me her recipe and I have attempted it several times.  Each time gets better than the last, but I still can't quite get it as good as hers.  I made it tonight and I must say that it was exceptionally good.  As we were sitting at the table, Jonah asked for seconds.  When I put some on his plate he asked what I had put in the pie.  I started listing off the ingredients (chicken, corn, potatoes, peas, carrots...) when he interrupted me; "But what is it that makes it taste so good?"
I smiled and winked and said, "Well that is all the love I put in!"  Jonah then picked up a large peice of the crust and said, "See this yummy part Daddy?  That is called the love!" 
I thought Joe was going to fall out of his chair laughing and I suddenly could not see past the tears that filled my eyes.  If any of you knew my Grandmother, you know why this affected me so.   Granny Faye's favorite part of anything was the crust.  You could always tell when Granny had been into any pie because the crust would be missing all the way around.  She would claim that it just fell off, but we all knew what really happened.  It is strange that simple things like pie crust can make me miss my grandmother the most.
Tonight I am thankful for family recipes, laughter, and sweet memories.  However, I am most thankful for the four little boys who constantly bring those sweet memories to life while creating new ones of their own.  I never look at pie crust without thinking of Granny Faye, and now I will not be able to look at it without thinking of her as well as Jonah's definition of love.

Milestones

Yes it is an important day in the Givens household.  Finally after four years, a monumental event has happened.  I'll tell you about it in Jonah's own words...

Guess what?  I can wipe my own butt now!

Keep in mind that he is very proud of this accomplishment and tells everyone he sees (even the UPS driver) about his new found independence. 
Now if we could only get Micah to attempt the potty.  Then we get to start all over with Ezrah.  Oh well, one step at a time I guess, and today we celebrate the small victory of Jonah wiping his own butt.

Mirror Image

There are some things as a Mother that I find myself saying that I never would have imagined coming out of my mouth before having children.  There are also some things that come out of my children's mouths that I never expected to hear as well.  Take tonight for instance.  We all went out to eat as a family.  As we were sitting around the table waiting on our meals, Jonah looks at Joe and out of nowhere says, "Are you really my Daddy?"
I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open, trying to come up with a response when Joe just as quickly responds, "Well son, that is what your Mom tells me."  Sometimes Joe's sense of humor makes me want to kick him, but that is not the point here.
As I was trying to figure out where the question had come from, I realized that we were sitting directly across from a large mirror.  From where Jonah was sitting he had a direct view of Joe's reflection.  He was trying to figure out if his Daddy was the man sitting beside him or the reflection he saw in front of him.
It gave us a good laugh, but also made me very thankful for the choices that Joe and I have made in our lives.  It sure makes the answer for the "who is my Daddy" question a whole lot simpler than the answer that some mothers have to come up with.

I Should Pay More Attention

Jonah:  Mom can I go outside and brush Dixie's hair?

Me: Go ahead, but don't go out the gate.

Jonah: Okay, I won't.


.....later.....


Jonah:  I remembered to put your hairbrush back, are you proud of me?

Laying Down The Law

This little boy has been getting away with anything he wants for far too long!  Some days I feel like our entire house revolves around Jonah.

Poor thing, it really isn't his fault.  His father and I have allowed it to happen and now we have to put it to an end.  I think for me it all started when I was pregnant with Jonah and was so scared that something was wrong with him.  Then when he was born and demanded so much from us, it just seemed normal to keep giving even when it was no longer required.  So if you are local, you soon will see us putting our foot down when it comes to Jonah.  I am sure it will not be pleasant on either end, but it has to be done and preferably sooner than later.
I put this on here to remind myself of the necessity of training him up the way that he should go...because when he wraps those little arms around my neck and holds on tight, all I want to do is give in and give him the world!

Influenza

 This little fellow has not been feeling well lately.  We all had taken flu shots, but Jonah can't take them because of his egg allergy. We tried to be very careful with him, but he got sick anyway.  He started running a fever last Tuesday night and I took him in to see his pediatrician Wednesday morning.  They thought it was strep at first but that test came back negative, so they tested for the flu.  Sure enough it came back positive for Influenza B.  I have never seen a child so sick before.  His fever hovered between 102 and 103 even with alternating Tylenol and Motrin around the clock.  He refused to eat and would barely drink.  What he did drink came right back up as soon as he got it down.  This Tuesday was his first day fever free and he still has a really bad cough from it, but is starting to get back to his normal self. 

If I ever wondered about the effectiveness of flu shots, I no longer will!  It is amazing that none of the rest of us got sick with all of the snot, puke, and other germs that were flying all over the house this past week.  I can guarantee that my family will continue to get our flu shots every year.  I would hate for anyone to have to suffer through this flu if there was a known way to avoid it.  Hopefully next year there will be a flu vaccine for Jonah that is not grown in eggs or maybe we will not have to worry about the egg issue at all!

For now I am just glad that this little boy is feeling better and that Influenza B is behind us!

Mother~Son Love?

At some point early this morning Jonah snuck into my bed.  When I woke up he was snuggled up next to me sleeping away.  As I lay there watching him sleep he stirred and said, "Bye, I love you....byyyeeee, I looovee you!" 

When he opened his eyes and looked up at me he had such a sad little look on his face.  I said, "Sweetie were you having a bad dream?"  He shook his head no and said "It was a good dream.  I dreamed you were leaving and I was going to spend the whole day with Daddy."


My response?   GET OUT OF MY BED!

After Three

Today Granny Faye was helping Jonah with his numbers...

Granny: One
Jonah: Two
Granny: Three
Jonah: Ummmmmm...
Granny: What comes after three?
Jonah: (In his best Joe impression) Boy, don't make me have to get up and come over there!

If laughter is the best medicine, then we have the cure for what ails you!

Slacker

Yep, I am referring to myself.  It is a full two weeks later and I am finally getting around to posting the pictures of Jonah's birthday bash.  Well it wasn't a bash exactly, just family over for some homemade chili and cornbread...one of our favorite suppers around here.

Jonah with his "cake".

 Don't you just love that dimple?

Papa and Pa were there.

 Mama showed up too.

Linny brought Pappy out just three days post surgery.  A big thank you to everyone for their prayers.  Dad is recovering from the surgery well.  Although the tumor was malignant, the surgeon feels confident that it was all contained within the kidney that was removed and Dad does not need any further treatments.  Now Linny has the task of making sure Pappy keeps his other kidney healthy!

Granny Faye sure did enjoy her chili and cornbread...but she said she paid for it the next day.  I know TMI, but if I have to hear about it I guess you should too. Granny is doing a little better after her pacemaker and recent hospital stays.  My children have no idea how blessed they are to be able to enjoy my grandmother.  I pray that we will all be able to enjoy her for many more years to come.

The kids had such fun opening gifts.  It was the first time that Jonah really got into it.  I think that Christmas is going to be a blast this year!  I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning.  Especially since I have now found the Puppy Dog Pillow Pets and they are safely stashed away!

 The cousins always have a great time playing together.  Mom did get them to all stand still for at least one picture.

 If you haven't noticed, my Mom is not in any of these pictures.  She is always behind the camera.  I'm not complaining...if she didn't take pictures they probably would not be taken.  Nine times out of ten any pictures you see on this blog were taken by her.  Thanks Mom for being my personal photographer.  Oh yeah, thanks for being a great Mom and Grammy as well!

Surprise!

This has been the year of the birthday trip.  In January for Noah's birthday we went to Savannah to the Round House Railroad Museum and rode home on the Amtrak.  In February for Micah's birthday we took some friends to the circus.  Since we had not been to the mountains in a few years, we decided that a fall trip to NC would be perfect for Jonah's birthday.  If the look on his face in this picture is any indication, he thought it was a perfect trip as well.

We set out Sunday after church and drove to Maggie Valley, NC.  The leaves on the trees were beautiful.  We got to the hotel about 7:00 and I took the older boys for a swim in the pool.  We got up early Monday morning and found ourselves under a severe weather advisory.  (Oops, forgot to check to see what the weather would be like!)  Anyway, about 10:00 the weather cleared and we headed out to Cherokee.  We took the kids to pan for gemstones and Noah found a "diamond" for Grammy.  After panning for gemstones we had lunch at the Oconaluftee Park and then headed out to the main attraction of the day...SANTA LAND!!!  The kids all had a blast riding rides, feeding animals, paddling paddle boats, and watching bears. We closed down Santa Land and headed back to the hotel for another swim and night's sleep before heading out for home this morning.  It was a fun, fast paced, short trip...and I am already looking forward to the next one!

Out-Laws

My newly turned three year old rudely informed me tonight at the dinner table that I needed to shut my mouth so that he could speak.  After the shock wore off, Joe and I asked him where he had heard that before.  I refuse to mention any names but I can assure everyone that there will be no more unsupervised visits to my husband's parents' house anytime soon!  Ugh.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Jonah!

Your smile lights up my world.

 Your mischievousness keeps me on my toes.

 Your excitement is contagious.

 Your determination is inspiring.

You were an amazing two year old and we have a big surprise in store to start out year number three!  More on that to come later...

Wordless Wednesday

Four Months

"I'll see you in four months."

Words so sweet they nearly made me cry.  Jonah saw his allergist today and really impressed him with how well he was doing.  So much so in fact that the doctor said that other than having Jonah's normal blood work done, he was good to go for FOUR WHOLE MONTHS!!  That is like Thanksgiving time or something, every time I think about it I smile...four months!

Jonah has an appointment with the gastrointerologist in a couple of weeks and I am thinking that they are going to completely release him.  We are not having near the issues with diarrhea that we were having back a few months ago.

After the gastrointerologist, then we just have to see the dermatologist.  I don't see us getting an all clear there anytime soon, but at least he is maintaining well and has not had too many flares in the past few weeks.

Thank you God for your miracles.  Hearing four months today was a special gift!

Jonah

My Jonah is growing up so fast and becoming such a sweet little boy!  Last night Joe and I had to run into town with the boys to take care of some trucking business and we were nearing bed time on the way home.  Joe made a sudden turn and Jonah's car seat (that accidentally had been put in the car without attaching the seat belt to it) flipped upside down and caused him to bang his head on the door. 
We pulled over and got everything buckled correctly, but Jonah was upset, scared, and tired...not a good combination.  Since we were close to  home, I decided to just hold him in my lap the rest of the way there.  I know it was bad parenting; we broke the law and I endangered my child's life, but I have to say that was one of the sweetest times I have ever had with Jonah.  We cuddled close and sang ♫Jesus loves me♫ over and over.  Then we had the best conversation ever...

Momma, Jesus loves me!
Yes Jonah, He sure does.
Jesus helps me.
Yep.
Jesus makes me feel better.
Yes He does.
Jesus and lotion makes mine skin feel better.
You are right Jonah.
Jesus is gonna make mine tummy better and Him gonna make mine skin not itch.
I'm glad.
Yep, Jesus loves me and I love Him to the moon and back!  I love you too Momma!
And I love you!

I wish I had that childlike faith.  I know God can, I just don't know that He will.  To be honest, I have been afraid to believe and get my hopes up.
Jonah had been doing so well lately, but had another allergic reaction last week.  I still do not know if he got into something that he was not supposed to have or if he is developing other allergies that we are going to have to watch out for.  This reaction happened back on the 6th and as of this morning, he is still having side effects from it. He has to have more blood drawn before the end of the month, but I have been putting it off.  I think I hate doing it more than he does...
And back to his faith, I want to believe that someday soon Jonah will be free of all of these problems, but I know that may not be the path that he is to walk.  I am not being sceptical, but rather realistic.  God does not always answer our prayers in the way that we see fit.  How do I prepare my child for that without crushing that precious "childlike" faith?  As you can see, I am in over my head and any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I just want to do what is best for Jonah without dragging my fears into the mix!

Sunday Funnies

Jonah, what did you see at the zoo?
Monkeys.
What were they doing?
Swingin' in the trees.
What kind of monkeys were they?
Grease Monkeys!

Noah, did you like riding to Maryland with Daddy?
Yes 'Mam.
Do you think you want to drive a truck when you grow up?
No 'Mam, that is too much sitting for me.
What do you think you want to do when you grow up?
I think I want to be a logger.
Do you really think you want to work in the logging woods?
Oh no 'Mam, I don't want to work...I want to be the BOSS!

Labels

I don't post on here a lot about Jonah's health issues.  Sure I give updates (as I do with all of the children) but the everyday struggles are something that I have purposely not blogged about.  It is not that I am trying to ignore the issues, it is more that I do not want Jonah to be defined by them.  I want people to know Jonah for the loving, adventurous, helping little fellow that he is, not for the problems that he has no control over.

When people see us out and about, I am sure that they think very poorly of me as a mother. 
They see me calmly watching my child who is frantically digging at his skin until he bleeds.  What they do not know is that I have tried everything under the sun (with the exception of the wonder drug my MIL found on the Internet that "even cures cancer" and is made who knows where from who knows what) to try and stop his itch to no avail.  When it gets to that point you have to do what you have to do to get relief and if that means scratching, then by all means...please do!
They see me punish him for whiny behaviour when I know that he is not feeling well and has stomach cramps from the diarrhea.  What they do not know is that I have taken him to more specialists than I can count and subjected him to multitudes of tests that have led us to believe that this is as good as it gets and he is going to have to learn to live with it.  As harsh as it may sound, he has to learn to live with this and I refuse to teach him that it is okay to be rude and disrespectful to others when he feels bad because unfortunately he is going to continue to have bad days and he will have to learn to function through them.
I really could not care less what people think of me. And if I am honest I will have to say that I am not concerned about what people think of Jonah either.  I have learned that I can not control what others think or do.  What I can control is how I view Jonah and the picture of him that I present to the world.

When I look at Jonah, I see determination, joy, and excitement.  I see energy just bursting at the seams.  I see spunkiness and a "can do" attitude.  I see eagerness and fearlessness.  I see a helping spirit.  Most of all, when I look at Jonah, I see the little thief who has stolen my heart.
I pray that as he matures, he sees those same things in himself and that he is never defined by anything except for who he truly is.

Wordless Wednesday

Embarrassment

I have been embarrassed many times in my life...mostly from my own doing. It had gotten to the point that I was so used to embarrassing things happening to me that I really didn't even get embarrassed anymore.

Then I had children.

To start off with, I worked this morning while Joe stayed home with the boys. Joe did not know how to wash the cloth diapers (isn't that convenient) so when I got home from work, I had to put them in paper diapers while we went to Wal-Mart. The kids are used to cloth now and do not wear paper except for emergencies. I say all of this because the only way I can explain what transpired today was that Jonah was wearing a different diaper and did not like the way it felt.

We were waiting in line to check out in (a very crowded) Wal-Mart with Jonah and Micah sitting in the cart when Jonah very loudly proclaimed..."I JUST PEEED!"

Me: Shhhhh! I will change you as soon as we get back to the car.
Jonah: MOMMA, I JUST PEEED!
Me: Shhhh!
Jonah: I SAID THAT I JUST PEEED!
Me: I know Jonah, lets try to be quiet and I will go change you.
Jonah: CHANGE ME NOW. I JUST PEEED!
Me: I can't change you now, we are in the middle of the check out line.
Jonah: CHANGE ME NOOOOWWWWW!!!!
Me: I can't.
Jonah: IT IS TOO TIGHT! I JUST PEED! CHANGE ME NOW!
(He now has his shorts down and is pulling at his diaper)
Me: Jonah sit down, your diaper is not too tight.
Jonah: MY PEE PEE IS GROWIN AND IT IS TOOOOO TIGHT!

Where did that come from? I was tempted to crawl under the candy rack. I can't begin to tell you the looks that I was getting. Of course as soon as I got him away from the crowds he forgot all about his diaper and was content to just sit in the cart with Micah.

It has been a LONG time since I have been that embarrassed. My dad says that a parent's goal should be to live long enough to embarrass their kids as much as their kids embarrass them. I think I am going to have to live a very long time to embarrass Jonah as much as he embarrassed me today. Then again, letting his first girlfriend (when the time comes) read this post just may do the trick.

Good News

Good news, good news, good news, good news!!!
Jonah's Dr. called this morning to say that all of the tests they did came back in the normal range. I am not sure what the next step will be but at least we have ruled out some big bad things and that is great news!
Since the last colonoscopy, his tummy issues have seemed very minor, so now if we can just get his skin under control we will be all set. Wouldn't it be great if it all just cleared up and we did not even have to have a next step to figure out? I keep hoping and praying that one day we will get there.