Reflections on How We've Changed and What's Important

So I just spent the last while looking back over my old blog posts through out the past 2 years and seeing how much has happened/changed in our lives. I was just thinking that a little over 2 years ago we were buying our house, starting the remodel, and I was very pregnant with Elijah. Fast forward a little over 2 years and here is a little bit of how different our family looks:

Elijah is born
Major remodel of our house is basically done
We now own a dog
We've driven 4 children in an SUV to Washington State and back in 3 weeks
We've gone from one kid in kindergarten to now one in 2nd, one in kindergarten, and another in early preschool
My bow business has more than doubled in size
We went through a miscarriage and are now expecting again
My best friend has come to visit twice and we have gone to see her once
We learned about bats and successfully concurred them!
I've gone form anti-cooking to now gardening and canning
And....we are about to be a family of 7! WOW!

I am just simply amazed at how quickly our lives change. It doesn't seem like that much is changing, it's just when you look back you can't believe how far you've come in such a short time. I'm overjoyed at where we are in our lives. Yes we've had some pretty tough life lessons this year but we wouldn't be where we are today if we hadn't of gone through them. And as my sweet sister-in-law Miss Emily says, I'll look back next year and realize not only how much stronger Nathan and I's relationship is (which I can see already) but also how much stronger of a person I am. As I look back now I think well I guess I have changed this year. I don't know if I would call it stronger, I just see it as really realizing what is important in life. I see so much drama around me and I think really? Is it worth it? I hear 15 year olds acting like their life is about to end from some drama at school that day and I think...what major life event have you witnessed in your short 15 years? Have you lost a parent? Has your house burned down? What could possibly be that bad. I see things going on around me and all that wonderful drama on Facebook and I think really? How much of what seems soooo life ending to so many people today, will they even remember occurred 10 years from now? I guess I just changed my faded glasses of the past for more clear ones and see things a bit different now. I guess I just think that life is way to short to sweat all this drama. We aren't promised tomorrow and we have no clue how quickly our seemingly perfect lives can fall apart. I don't mean that in a dooms day attitude, I just mean that we should be thankful and feel blessed for the happiness we have because something ACTUALLY major could happen tomorrow. Then we will sit here looking back at just how petty and simple our drama from the previous day seems. I don't know, I guess that this past year has had me ask 2 questions when problems or drama arise.....1. Is this something that is worth all this emotion (will it change the path of my family or greatly affect one of it's members). More importantly perhaps 2. Is this an eternal issue (will this outcome of this event change either my faith, someone else's faith, or possibly lead or pull away someone from to or from Christ?) It kinda changes your whole outlook on life and everything in it. I don't think it's made me a glass half empty or morbid kinda person. I just think it's made me look twice at what really matters in my life, my faith, my husband and children (in that order), my extended family, and my close friends. I praise God for these things which He has blessed me with and I also praise God for allowing the rough times to show me how important the actual important things are in my life. God is able to take a hard time we go through and use it not only for His glory but also to sculpt us into the vessel He has planned for our lives.

I know DEEP, but it was what was on my heart so I thought I'd share it in hopes of encouraging someone else.

January Already Come and Gone!

So January has already come and gone. It amazes me how quickly time can go by when you are chasing 4 little ones and drained from carrying your 5th. A large majority of the month was spent at home with at least one of the 6 of us sick. It seems as soon as we would get the last person over a virus, someone would start a new one. We had a horrid battle with the stomach flu this past month which had out whole family out for a week! I am so ready for Spring when I can open up all the windows and get all these nasty germs out of our house!

In the midst of all these viruses going through our house we also had an ER visit with Caroline. the girls woke us up very early one morning saying Caroline was shaking and they couldn't get her to talk to them. It looked like Caroline had had another seizure. She's had 3 previous ones but they have all been during some sore of illness and she's had a high fever of over 104 degree. This time there was no illness and a very low fever, but after the seizure she did not regain her language abilities. Anyone who knows Caroline knows she is definitely not lacking for words! So after a nerve racking ER visit, many failed attempts to get a blood sample (poor thing), and seeing 2 doctors they diagnosed it as another seizure resulting form a fever? Everything that led up to it just did not feel right so we were glad that at our follow up visit with our family doctor he suggested that we see a pediatric neurologist just to be sure. Caroline and I went up to Medina to meet a doctor form Children's Hospital. He was such a nice guy and answered all of our questions. He said the previous 3 seizures were fever seizures, but this one looked different. He said he believed this 4th one was an epileptic seizure and he ordered an EEG. He said that her reflexes and such looked great and he thinks the EEG will be fine. He also said that this doesn't mean epilepsy but even if it ended up to be, 75% of all kids grow out of it? I've never heard that before. So we left feeling better that we had our questions answered, but now having a whole new batch of questions. So we go in about a month for her EEG and we'll see the doctor again then. Until we just pray God will protect our Carebear and that there will be some answers when she goes for the EEG.

Miss Caroline also turned 4 this month! That doesn't seem possible! I still think Maddelyn should be just 4 and learning her letters and colors! WOW! Caroline celebrated the day by having her friend form across the street, Isabelle, come rollerskating with us. that was an adventure! Having 4 totally non-skaters and only 2 adults kept us busy. Maddelyn ended up being able to skate around slowly by herself. Emma and Isabelle did an okay job of skating around the room by holding onto the wall. Caroline pretty much gave up after about 30 minutes. She seemed to be having fun, just done with the whole skating idea. On her actual birthday she went out for her Daddy-Caroline Birthday Girl Breakfast and ate up the attention! We also had a family celebration that night with her favorite diner of tacos, decorating the dining room, and opening her gifts. It's hard to believe that out Sweet Little Caroline is no longer my peanut but turning into a little girl! She still is just such a sweetheart and always saying out of the blue "I love you Mom", " Your Beautiful", "I like your shirt", or simply giving hugs and kisses.