8 Weeks and counting ...

I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of my friends that have called/texted/messaged me after my last blog post.  I'm not going to lie, I have at times felt very alone out here on the other side of the country and I have missed what I have almost come to think of as my "former" friends.  It was really nice to reconnect a little bit; sad that it was because I was at my breaking point, but it showed me that when you really need your people, they're there for you.

Bodega Bay

That being said, little man seems to have turned a small corner.  While still not able to be put down a whole heck of a lot without fussing, he isn't fussing every waking second any more.  We've had about 3 days in the last 2 weeks that have been wine drinking inducing, but for the most part I've started to see a happier baby.  We've taken day trips to Mt. Diablo, Yosemite, and Bodega Bay.  Yosemite was the final road trip in casts, yay!

He never cried whenever they sawed the casts off

Last Monday, he came out of the plaster and into the  "boots and bar", referred to as "bnb".  That has come with it's own set of challenges, including stressing every second of the day whether or not his heel is "down" in the shoe.  He had a tendon surgery where they cut the Achilles to gain more flexibility in the ankle.  The final set of casts held his foot in more of an upright position for 3 weeks, and the bnb is supposed to maintain both that flexibility and the turned out foot position.  The feet are now fully corrected, the bnb just maintains that correction.  If they're constantly falling off his feet, or his heel isn't down, he can lose it and relapse, making more casting necessary.  Some kids even have to undergo another tendon surgery.  I do NOT want to have to go through all that!  The happiest part of his day is the hour where he has naked legs.  Tonight, he was getting a little fussy and we got him naked and he was HAPPY baby.  Makes it so tempting to not "comply with treatment", but that's just asking for a relapse, so we follow the protocol.

Fully corrected feet

It's been a challenging road so far, but no one ever promised raising children is easy.  In fact, raising kids is pretty damn hard, I don't care who you are.  Each one has their own sets of challenges, and we're dealing with ours.  There are some SUPER exciting things coming up for us soon, God has been working on us!  With every challenge comes equal blessings, and I'll be excited to share more on that soon.  Please keep praying for us; we have a checkup at Shriner's on Monday; please pray his correction is holding and that his boots get broken in enough that they're not constantly sliding off his feet.  The bar is a little heavy, but we chose this over the Ponsetti bar b/c the Ponsetti bar has zero movement whatsoever and I've read so much about kids that just REALLY don't tolerate it well at all.  His Dobbs bar is spring loaded and has enough independent movement that he can bend one leg at the time.  The downfall is the weight of it wants to pull off the boots.  Of course, we're fighting with fat, soft little baby feet and new, stiff, slippery boots.  His poor little ankles have deep red grooves when he gets his rest hour, but by the time we put them back on that's gone.  Good I suppose?  Only 4 more years to be concerned about it.  Oh well, like I said, we'll focus on the blessings ... :)

Day 1 of bnb

Getting in a routine

NOT reflecting back on 2013 ...

Yep.  It's Yosemite!

Beautiful blue bird

Reflecting pool

Beautiful little church inside the park

No deer in the road this time, thank goodness!

I love my beautiful family!

Me taking a pic of the SIL taking a pic of me!

I could live in this small town :)

Low water levels :(

I absolutely, 148% LOVE California :)

Loved this view so much, made hubby pull over so I could take a pic!

On the way to Yosemite

My little man's growing up so fast!

I'm about to be brutally honest ... I hate New Year's.  Yep, I never stay awake until midnight, I hate to look back on the previous year, and I despise "New Year Resolutions".  I do not/will never eat collard greens, and black eyed peas are my least favorite peas on the planet.  To me, it's just a new day.  When I started this blog, my plan was to live EVERY day like it's the first day of the rest of my life.  When I wake up each morning, the days behind me are just that, BEHIND me.

The last few years have been tough for me.  I would venture to say that 100% of my problems in life are money related.  I contemplate ALL the time picking up a 2nd job to boost the income, but then that will suck every single ounce of enjoyment out of life.  We're still struggling pretty hard right now because it took us SO long to find jobs, and what we make right now barely covers our outgoing, there's just nothing left over to bolster us back up.  It's depressing, to be honest.  But, I work hard to not let that bother me.  I trust that God will help us; even when I really can't afford to do so, I drop a $20 in the offering plate every Sunday.  I've paid for other people's meals in the drive-thru line, and if I have a few dollars in my wallet, I will drop them in a sign holder's bucket on the side of the road.  I haven't bought myself NEW clothes in about 6 years.  All my "smaller" clothes, I purchased from Goodwill.  Heck, my SIL had to buy my son new clothes, he's been sorely lacking in that department because Goodwill hasn't had a good selection in his size.  My only "new" indulgence has been my running shoes I purchased from the running store.  Not looking for sympathy, just stating facts.  I'm constantly optimistic about what may come about, but I pretty much always have a small feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach every single day thinking about upcoming bills, bills I'm late on, groceries I have to buy, gas I have to put in the tank ... THAT is my wish for 2014, that I can be current and UTD on everything in my life, I can look at my bank account without feeling that sinking feeling of dread in my gut, and I can provide for my family without relying on outside help.

ANYWAY, WAY too much information, I'll probably delete this later, but it feels good to get it off my chest and release it to the atmosphere.

Had the BEST time with the SIL at Yosemite and Lake Tahoe.  It makes me a little sad that both venues are so low on snow this year, but it was great to be able to negotiate without having to worry about needing tire chains.  My teaching outside all those years helped teach me how to layer, so I was WARM and snuggly :)  We had no plans to ski this year; after seeing the prices of everything, I see it will cost us right at $500 for all 3 of us to ski one day.  YIKES!  Good thing I planned for that for next year anyway :)  At least I know now!  Going to leave y'all with some pics of our trip to Yosemite.  I have no "resolutions" to set, I'm simply resolving to let each day be on par, or better than the last.  When I feel discouraged, I pray.  When I feel particularly broke, I give.  I shop smart and don't apologize for it.  I have complete and utter faith that the $$ situation will improve, because that is something I CAN control.  I'll do what I have to do, even if that means waiting tables from 7-11 every night.  Hard work never killed anyone, and if there's one thing I know how to do, it's work hard.