Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

I was thinking about writing Clara’s birth story when I realized I should start with the boys’ stories first.  The thought of going back to each of their births excites me.  I was terrible at keeping baby books, so I hope I can do each of them justice.  They are so special and unique, and I never, not for one second, want any of my children to feel left out or less adored than another.  For whatever reason, God has trusted Michael and I with 4 amazing lives.  If I ponder that thought too long, I can easily become overwhelmed with the responsibility that goes along with that, as well as, with the gratitude that I have.  There are so many things that we take for granted just getting through each day’s busyness.  We so often overlook the amazingness of our daily lives.

Anyway, before I delve into the stories of motherhood, I thought it only right to begin with our family story.  That story did not begin when we became parents, but when God united us together as husband and wife.  So for now, I will start with the story of us!

It is so hard to believe that our story began almost 19 years ago.  One of my best friends had been dating Michael’s best friends for a couple of years.  They often spoke of “Mike”, but I was distracted with my own interests (and a guy 2 years younger than me was not part of those interests..lol!).  Finally, in April of my junior year of high school, Michael and I began dating. After several months, I remember telling my friend that I wish I had met Michael later.  I really believed I could marry him, but felt that we met way too early.  I didn’t think there was any way we could last since we started out so young.  As many high school relationships go, we would break up and get back together.  This would continue for the first couple of years.  One night during one of those break ups, I prayed:  Please God, if this is not meant to be, help me see that so that we can move on. I was so tired of the back and forth.  Well, obviously, that prayer was answered, because here we sit, 14 years of marriage and 4 kids later.  Who would of thunk it?? Marriage is not always easy, as you all know, but the one thing that saves us (in addition to God's grace) is communication.  I know that is so cliché, but it is so true.  I never hesitate to tell Michael exactly how I feel.  He is my best friend who understands my fits and truth be told, is probably much more forgiving of my fits than I am of his.  Is he perfect….uhhh, NO!  But then again, neither am I (shhh, don’t tell him I said that).  Thus far, we have survived high school, college, my dad’s death, our wedding, having children, grad school, and many basketball seasons!  We've had many great times, and some pretty rotten times, but all in all, we’ve done it together!

Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. Mark 10:9

So, there it is.  A super brief summary of us!  It was only 6 months after we were married that we found out we were pregnant.  A little sooner than anticipated (we were both still in college), but I will pick up with that story in the next post when I tell Cole’s birth story.  My eyes are watering up just thinking about going back to that time in our lives!  God is good!

Better to have loved and lost...

...than to have never loved at all. OK, maybe that's a little dramatic, but that's how I'm feeling...and no, not about Michael, but about friendships.

Some very good friends of ours are moving. My initial reaction was maybe I should just stop making friends.  This stinks!  It hurts!  Then, of course, I realize how important my friends are.  I can look back over my entire life, and it is defined by friends at various stages.  Not just acquaintances, but really good friends. The kind of friend that you truly rejoice with in the happy times and truly ache with when they hurt. You know, the kind of friend that you would defend against anyone.  The kind that you know you can call when you need something, anything at anytime and hope that they know they could do the same.  The kind of friend that you can be yourself with, not worrying if you don't have it all together all of the time and not worrying that if you disagree about something, they are going to think less of you.

Anyway, my point is that life goes through different changes and stages and sometimes that means friends move away or we move away.  As much as it hurts, I wouldn't change the friendships that I have had.  They have taught me how to love and care for people.  They have taught me things about myself, and they allow me to grow as a person, a friend, a mom, and a wife.


So, I choose to continue making friends and building relationships.  Only God knows how long each season will last, but I would rather love my friends and risk the pain of change, rather than build walls and miss out on the deep bonds of friendship.

Besides, with texting, blogs, tweeting, and even facebook (which I am strongly considering for you, Vanessa), friendships can thrive regardless of geography!!

Let the fun begin!

Well, Clara will be 4 months on Friday, so the introduction to solids has begun...and what fun it was. She did pretty good considering it was her very first experience with a spoon. Hopefully her little tummy will do just as well in a little while. This is one milestone in a line of many. First smiling socially (not just from gas), cooing (which is very important to a mama who does speech therapy for a living), and now rice cereal. She's already growing so fast, and I know from the boys that if I blink twice, she'll be big. Though I look forward to days of shopping and getting pedicures-too cliché?- I really want to enjoy her while she is sweet and snugly!

Are you taking time to enjoy the now? Or, like so many, are you focusing on the past or future instead?

I figured out how to post pics!



Cole (12)

Carter (9)

Cooper (4)

Clara (3 mo.)

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So, I didn't do so well...

So, I just read my last post (from September 2010!!!). Well, obviously I didn't do such a great job with blogging. I've decided to try again. Much has happened since that last post. Cole no longer takes tae kwon do, he is now in 7th grade and played his first year of football. He liked it, so it looks like he has found his sport. Carter just finished Upward basketball and will VERY soon begin AAU ball which runs through the end of summer...told you basketball was year-round! Cooper, thankfully did potty train (see previous post). He is now 4 and thinks he is ready to join this crazy world of sports. We'll see..not sure I'm quite ready to add him into the loop just yet.

There has been one more MAJOR change since my last post a year and a half ago. On November 9, 2011, we added some pink to our world. Much to our delight, we have had a beautiful little girl, Clara. She is so sweet (especially since she now sleeps all night)! The boys adore her and I know the feelings will be mutual as she grows up. I can't tell you what a blessing each of our kiddos are to us. It is amazing to watch the sibling relationship develop and I can't wait to see what that will look like with Clara and her brothers.

Ok, so I will add some pictures. Hopefully it won't take a year and a half.