we measure in JOY
That's right ladies and gentleman, one year! Since the 4 month hiatus we took from our blog, we celebrated Jonah's first birthday back in July. It was a day- really, a weekend- filled with love and laughter, memories and stories, and of course, a few tears. We were surrounded by family and friends, old ones as well as new ones. It could not have been more perfect! Jonah was kind of going through a "mommy and daddy" phase where he was happy to be a part of any social situation as long as it is from the safety of our arms or lap. So, he took in most of the party from one of his favorite observation posts and took a break to play inside with the other kids when he needed to cool off in the a/c.
Along with this post being loooong overdue, we owe our families, friends, and neighbors a joyful yet humbled THANK YOU. Thank you for your unwavering love and support! Thank you for commemorating Jonah's first year with us...each and everyone of you made Jonah's birthday so special. And, Thank you for all of your generous donations toward the Pediatric Surgical Heart Unit and the Ronald McDonald House at Hope. We personally feel such deep gratitude for the assembly of angels surrounding our family- YOU and our medical team are those angels!!!
we measure in LAUGHTER
Don't get me wrong...we have had our fair share of tears through this past year, but the parts we remember the most, that we treasure the most, are those moments filled with laughter. The worry-free-not-a-care-in-the-world kind of laughter. We can never forget that Jonah only has half of a heart, but we can choose not to dwell in the "what-if's" of that fact. Trust me, I AM NOT GOOD AT THIS. But thankfully, I have a husband who is. He is so good at keeping me grounded, but most importantly, keeping me laughing. And it seems Jonah has acquired Rob's sense of humor. He has really become quite the goofball. At least everything he does seems to make us laugh:) Jonah loves to chase Sasha and watch her play. He goes around calling everything "da-da" in his sing song-y kind of way. Then, he points to something you just told him not to touch 5 minutes ago and says "no-no". He "moos". He "barks". He dances. If you cough, he pretends to cough. And lately, as he is always babbling to himself "wow-wow-wow". Peek-a-boo on the changing table is a favorite since he is usually "reading a book" and that is what ends up covering his face. Jonah climbs on absolutely anything that presents to him even the slightest of challenges. He of course loves to get the most exaggerated and dramatic reaction out of you that his little jokes possibly can so Rob and I get pretty silly ourselves. It's true what they say, laughter really is the best medicine. What's not so funny is that Jonah spent pretty much the better part of September and October waking up in the middle of the night with this blood-curdling cry and sometimes not wanting to go back down for hours! We had his ears checked out since he once did this for a short time when he had a double ear infection. But, ears looked good. So with each day passing and his normal daytime self not really changing, the only thing we could chalk it up to was teething. It's pretty much miserable for all of us however. Little sleep means little ability to deal with normal child behaviors in a calm and rational way. However, his sleep has been a bit more consistent now and he has one more bottom tooth up and 4 top ones coming down, at once...slowly but surely.
we measure in LOVE
What can I say? At the end of every day, we love this kid more and more. We have hit rough patches here and there...but who doesn't, right? Like-it seems impossible to be loving at 3:00 in the morning for the 3rd night in a row when we are both working the next day. But love is the only thing that can get us through the kind of year we all have had. Our foundation is built on love. The support system surrounding us embraces us in love. It really is the simplest thing we can do and the most basic thing God asks of us. Rob reminds me in my weakest moments of all the good things that have come throughout this year, all of our abundant blessings. It overwhelms me. On the flip side of loving despite the tough times, the light hearted times have been genuine gifts. In the beginning of October, we went to the family picnic hosted by Hope Children's Hospital where Jonah receives all of his outstanding cardiac care. We love, love, love his doctors and nurses and everything that hospital does for children like Jonah. Don't get me going on how much I love Dr. Ilbawi :) We love the families we have met along the way who teach us and strengthen us. We love the opportunities Rob and I have to spend time together "just like the old days". We recently celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and spent a wonderful weekend together in New York City with some dear friends. And, just because we love music and it is a big part of our day-to-day lives and is always playing in the house or car...we pretty much are obsessed with the Avett Brothers. A great band that I don't really know how to best describe. At the end of September, Rob and I went to their concert with my sister-Allison, her husband-Jeff, and my brother-Brian. All equally obsessed fans :-)
525,600 minutes
One year. Since our last post, I hope to have recapped the months of this year we have missed talking with you. Why does a year broken down in to minutes seem like there is enough time to savor all of the joy, laughter, and love we experience in this life like tomorrow will never come? Why do our busy days steal these simple things? Time is a tricky little devil. The actual reality is that time just goes by too fast. After such a crazy year, we won't try to describe how it feels to us but instead defer to the lyrics from another favorite song...by the Avett Brothers:)
Folk always told me that my heart would grow
The older the man, yeah, the stronger the stone
Am I losing my mind?
Am I growing backwards with time?
Some say with age that a purpose comes clear
I see the opposite happening here
Are we losing the fight?
Are we growing backwards with time?
I was young and love was fun
Now it's so serious
Now all the fun has equal pain
There's something wrong with this
For all I know there's more I don't
Oh the little I have learned
For every year of knowledge gained
Is a negative year I've earned
Folk always told me that my heart would grow
The older the man, yeah, the stronger the stone
Am I losing my mind?
Hmmmm?
We are so very sorry we have been absent bloggers. We have lots more to share with you and will be back soon!
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