Their Father's Eyes

I used to sing a song with my Mom called Father's Eyes by Amy Grant. Since Jack was little I've sung the chorus to that song to him, and now to Cal, while praying it's words over them.

He's got his Father's eyes, his father's eyes...

Eyes that find the good in things

When good is not around

Eyes that find a source of help

When help cannot be found

Eyes full compassion

Seeing every pain

Knowing what you're going through

And feeling it the same.

Just like his Father's eyes

Tonight Jack asked me to rock him in Calvin's room. Calvin was already asleep so I said we had to be super quite. We snuck in and he curled up and I sang quietly and prayed for my boys while he fell asleep in my arms. He doesn't do that much anymore! It was such a blessed moment in that quite room with my two sleeping babies.

It was nice to know Aaron was in the other room listening. It won't be too long before his presence will be missing in this scenario. I know a few things to be sure right now in a time in my life when uncertainty seems to be looming in the shadow of Aaron's upcoming deployment.

1. I am blessed beyond measure with two strong, smart boys that are more resilient than I can fully imagine.

2. I have a husband who has his Father's eyes and has passed them on to his boys! I see him in their eyes every day.

3. God has given me peace that we will overcome this year.

Oh D'are's the moon Mommy!

This morning I watched my husband throw a green duffel bag over his shoulder and walk though an airport terminal. I listened as my two year old called out "Bye Bye Daddy!" and then turned to ask me, "Daddy's working?"

Wow... I'm proud and in love tonight with an amazing man and a little boy that will grow up next to that amazing man. A man set to serve his country, but oh so more importantly his Lord. I have striven to teach my son how to be a man of integrity and to have the strength of kings and be honorable and respectful.

Jackson is very enamored by the moon and stars lately. He intently hunts them down any time we are outside and the sun begins to fade. He even catches the moon in the day time sky from time to time and gets so excited. I love hearing him say, "Oh D'are's the moon Mommy! It's over d'are, it's over d'are! One, two stars, Mommy!"

I am so blessed that all he has to do is look at his father to find the example that he'll need to reach for the stars and moon that I pray over him every night!

Two things that made me smile yesterday...

i seem to have been counting my days one smile at a time this past week. each one brings a little more healing. jackson makes it easier... his nap was pretty long yesterday and this is what i saw when i snuck in to check on him. it can't get much cuter than this... poor tigger is a bit smushed. don't ask me how he got so big (jack, not tigger)... it happens overnight. he wakes a new kid every morning!

we bought a hanging plant a little while back that i've been working hard to keep alive in the texas heat. i was sad because all the flowers were pretty much dead, but all of the sudden there seem to be new buds all over it and when i took it down to water it yesterday this is what i found. something about this gave me a tinie tiny bit of hope that i've been needing lately.

Gammie's Backyard!

At Christmas Aaron's Grandmother told us that she would like to be called Gammie by the new great-grand babies. I thought it was the cutest thing ever and am trying to get it to stick!!

On Saturday we spent pretty much the whole afternoon in Gammie's backyard! The boys had a blast!! I took so many pictures that I don't quite know how to post them all... I think a few slide shows might be easier than making you all scroll through the mass of photos that I uncontollably shot! Hey if you were hanging out with these two cuties you couldn't help but fill up your card either...

Jackson

Cousins!! - Jackson and Axton

Fun With Nana, Gramps and MiMi

Playing With Mommy and Daddy

The Boy Lucas and Today's Experiments With Food!

My wonderful nephew Lucas turned 8 on Monday!! 8 holy moley!!! Lucas is such a great, talented, caring kido!

He loves to
write songs and
draw and
play video games and
climb things and
loves animals

...he made his entire class Valentines from scratch this year... that's the kind of kid he is! Creative juices ooze from him as does thoughtfulness for others. I love all of my nephews so much.

Here's Lucas when he was about 1!
Here's our little man now!
Well, yesterday Lucas called me on the way to school for a special favor! I have gotten so excited since then! His party in on Saturday and he has chosen a Dog theme... can Indee come, I'm wondering?

Lucas needs some dog biscuits for his party. So I made some shortbread dog bones! It was fun creating them and experimenting with colors and stuff... they look REAL!! I'm excited!

Jack also experimented with food today! Pureed green beans, brown rice and turkey dinner from a jar... turkey dinner from a jar just sounds so wrong! Here are the results of his endeavors!

For Your Viewing Entertainment... Again

I think my sons adorable... so sue me! I like to show him off!!

These are some recent videos that I find amazingly wonderful!

I really never thought I'd be one of those gushy moms that braged on her kids NON-STOP! But you are what you are!





I love how he finally gives up and just eats it in the end!! Ha!

Oh and for you Lost fans... this is Jack's "Sawyer" look! What a hottie... Jack, not Sawyer... no, not the Jack on Lost... my Jack... but they're ok too!

Apple Sauce!!

Check out Jack's new moves! I'm pretty impressed!




There's always a better way!

Craniosynostosis Graduation Day!

For those of you that may be new readers to our blog I thought I'd do a quick recap on our son's adventures over the past 6 months! In August Jackson had a limited cranial vault... in shorter easier to understand terms, almost 50% of his skull was removed!

Jack at 3 mos old...
Jack at 10 mos. old...We found out a few months prior to his surgery that one of Jackson's sutures in his head had prematurely fused shut...Craniosynostosis. Pretty freaky! After trying for Jackson for about 8 years and finally getting our miracle, this was a pretty surreal revelation for us, and pretty scary one too. The only answer for him was surgery and so we set forth down our crazy Cranio journey...
What an adventure... there is nothing harder than handing your 4 month old over to a team of surgeons so that they can make a hole in his head on purpose! But we did and they loved and took care of him and they are our heroes!

Our Little Hero...
Our Little Hero's Hero...
This is Dr. Genecov, Jack's Pediatric Plastic SurgeonAlong the road we have had the honor and joy to join other families on their cranio roller coaster rides. Feel free to peruse the blog to read some of their stories and see more picks of all of Jack's Cranio Buds! Craniosynostosis effects about one in every 2000 babies. Many come to Medical City Dallas, as this is where two of the best surgeons in the world are located.




The type of surgery that Jackson had was a somewhat less invasive procedure than what we cold have chosen, but left him with a bit of an uncertain growing period. Frist, a good portion of this skull was removed and second, his head had to learn a new way to grow... so Jackson was fitted for a cranial band (or helmet).




It's been a good 5 months now since I've seen my baby's head for more than about an hour a day. But yesterday Jackson received his offical discharge! He is Helmet Free!!! His head is beautifully round (a little bumpy, but who's isn't). I feel like he's had his first Graduation Day!! I have no doubt that our journey with craniosynostosis will never be completely over... if anything we'll be able to share our expereinces with others, but for now we celebrate!!

What a great God we have! He has brought our family and my little man through so much!! Keep praying for him as he grows. In some ways the real test starts now. His little noggin' is on its own from here on out. And pray for me too that I don't try to hard to catch him every time he falls! I know it's impossible for him to never hit his head, but wow it's scary now to have a toddler with such an expensive head!

Jack's Last Cranial Scan (for a good long while anyway!)...
Graduation Day Pics!!