'Tis the Season
Hello. It's been a while! Our little family has been busy and I wish it could say it was all good, but in all honesty its been a hard season. The beauty of a hard season, however, is that you get these little glimmering gems stuck right in the middle that help you through and let you appreciate what you have even in the midst of trials.
To give a full and complete update would take a while, so I will condense and then promise to fill in the blanks later.
To start off our holiday season we welcomed little Ariel Grace into our family (by far the most amazing thing that happened) on November 29th. The unfortunate and unexpected part of that story is that I had to have a C-section after hours (more like days) of labor. It wasn't the way that I hoped she would enter the world, but she and I were both healthy and that's what mattered in the end. Unfortunately this meant that I was now recovering from surgery and hours of labor simultaneously and that was challenging. Little Miss also decided to come two weeks early, so we were just barely ready and I could have used the extra time. Either way, she is here and healthy and happy and we are thrilled!
Because she came early, we still had to finish up Christmas shopping and wrapping and preparing for guests as Patrick's family came a joined us. We had a pleasant Christmas day, however the days surrounding Christmas were a bit difficult due to Mint's challenging behaviors. His case is moving forward like a snail and the longer it goes, the longer he feels insecure and unsure which results in behaviors that are hard to manage. We are putting one foot in front of the other and making it through. We have good days and bad days and are increasingly grateful for the good ones.
Right before Christmas my dad had to have heart valve replacement surgery. We knew it needed to happen, but were a bit surprised it needed to happen so quickly. There were some complications with: *medical talk* blah blah blah, which kept him in the hospital for a while and has made his recovery a bit slower than normal which was a major bummer. However, the surgery went well and in the long term, he will benefit greatly from the new valve.
During this season our whole family also got nuked by the colds/flus going around. Patrick was so so so sick during Christmas and then a bit later Mint got the stomach bug and gave it to Ariel and Patrick. I somehow stayed healthy (thank goodness) but spent that time taking care of all the sickies. We are now all healthy, however my mom is trying to recover from a nasty cold/flu currently while helping my dad recover. Needless to say, we've had a rough go this season, but it has made the good things that happened feel so amazing.
Here is the synopsis of our little gems:
-Ariel Grace
-I (Morgan) stayed healthy
-Christmas Day was really fun and Mint enjoyed his presents
-Elf on the Shelf (Murphy) was a big hit!
-We traded our Camry for a Sienna (mini-van) and our payment only went up $5!
-Mint's case moving forward (slowly, but still forward)
-Dad's new valve is working properly
-All my wonderful friends who brought me meals for the entire month of December
Overall, even though there were many challenges in this season, there were so many gifts and although I hope to have a couple easy months headed my way (you know, just to balance it all out) I am always blown away by God's faithfulness to take care of me and carry me through the most difficult times of my life.
I hope 2017 brings wonderful things. These are a few of the things I plan on writing in this coming year:
-My birth story (for all you birth story addicts, you know who you are)
-My perspective now that I have parental rights over one of my kids
-Updates on Mint's case
and more.
Thanks for
-praying
-loving
-caring for
our family as we grow and find our path through this crazy life.
Till Next Time,
Morgan
