Today was the day. The day I've not been looking forward to. The day I had to go back to work and leave my favorite little boy at home. :( As much as I want to be negative and complain,complain, complain, I'm not going to! Instead, I'm going to focus on the positive and think about the pretty exciting summer our family was blessed to enjoy!
Last summer Cason was brand new so we pretty much locked ourselves in the house and didn't go anywhere. This summer was a different story! With Cason being a year old, there was so much more we could do to enjoy our time at home together and there were lots of things he got to experience for the first time.
We
kicked off the summer season with a super fun mustache bash to celebrate our
little man’s first birthday. We were joined by many family and friends to
celebrate the blessing that Cason is to us and the joy he brings to all of our lives. It’s so
hard to believe he’s one already! I’m
not really sure where the past year went! As sad as it is that my baby is
growing up so quickly, it’s also really fun to watch him grow and change and
learn new things. He constantly amazes me with his huge personality, gifted
little brain, and all the cute that just oozes from his very being. (I’m not
biased or anything!)
We spent the month of June preparing to move into our very
first home. After many hurdles, frustrations, setbacks, and a lot of prayers, we
finally closed on June 30th. We started moving right away and it
took us about four days to get everything out of the old house and into the new
one. There’s no way we could have done it without the selfless help of several
friends and family members who worked tirelessly to help us complete this
endeavor. For the record, I don’t ever want to move again!!!
One week after closing on our house, we headed off to Athens.
I had to go up to UGA to get my AP Language certification and I couldn’t stand
the thought of leaving my two guys for an entire week, so O’Neal (being the
awesome husband and daddy that he is) took a week’s vacation and he and Cason
went with me. Even though I was in class every day, it was so great being up
there with my two guys. We got to see each other at lunch and on some of my
breaks. When I was finished with class we spent the evenings walking campus and
downtown Athens. Cason loved being outside so much, he would cry every time we
went back into the hotel room! And O'Neal and Cason enjoyed hanging out together while I was in class.
The week after we got back from
Athens, Cason had his appointment with the pediatric GI specialist. Since he was
about nine months old he has been unable to tolerate foods with weird textures
or chunks. His pediatrician said it could be a GI issue, or it could be a
sensitivity to textures. She referred us to the GI specialist to rule out any
GI problems he could have before we look at food therapy for a texture
sensitivity. The visit didn’t give us any definite answers like we had hoped,
but thankfully, was not as traumatic or scary as I was afraid it would be. The
doctor basically took a history and asked me a bunch of questions and concluded
that it could be reflux, or it could be two other things: asthma he will grow
out of or Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE). Basically, his case is kind of puzzling. For
now they are taking the least invasive route and treating him for reflux. He’s
on medicine that we will try for two months. We have a follow up in September
and will then determine if the medicine is helping. If not, then it’s on to
some testing to see what they can find. We’re praying it’s just as simple as
reflux and that it can be controlled with medicine and he will grow out of it
quickly and soon be able to eat normally.
This last week Mom and Dad told
me they were heading to Florida for a few days to visit some family. So Cason
and I decided to squeeze in one last little road trip while we could and we
crashed Mom and Dad’s mini vacay. But they promised they didn’t mind! J We had fun seeing some
family and just spending time together. We really missed Daddy while we were
gone, though!
I’ve also gotten in a few
crafting projects this summer like this cool wreath for our front door,
these little books of cards (birthday, special occasions, meaningful notes, etc.) for each member of the family,
and this pretty sweet growth chart to track how much our little man is growing.
I also worked hard to de-clutter and organize as we
moved into our new home. We even had a garage sale to dump our extra stuff! I’ve
had lots of fun getting us settled and starting to decorate the house to help make it a
home. The blinds finally got installed yesterday and that's made a big difference. It doesn't really feel like home when you're using bed sheets for blinds! We still have plenty to do to really be "settled," but such is the life of a home owner, right?!
Other than that I've spent time doing one of the most important things and that's snuggling and playing with this sweet boy...
Before I headed back to work this morning, the Lord dumped a pretty poignant devotion in my inbox. It reminded me that God sees me and He knows my heart. I just have to remember to trust Him and His timing and know that He has a plan for me and that I have a purpose to fulfill where He has placed me right now. It's my prayer that as I daily enter the mission field that is my classroom, my students will see Jesus in me. And of course, I'll be remembering that His grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in my weakness.
