Drat :)

Well. This is it. Owen is officially sick for the first time. Ever. I know, he is only 7 months old but I figured we were on a good role. Oh well. And P.S. it is no fun at all.
It is currently 3:40 in the morning and I cannot sleep. Owen is. But I cannot. I have actually been awake now for over an hour. A simple (but oh so icky) cough from the cute room down the hall is what did it. The worrisome mother in me cannot allow my brain to relax, so I am out in the living room waiting for sleep to come. I am sure that Owen has just developed some sort of cough and the 'independent' mom in me just thinks we could 'ride it out', but Dr. Shah will be getting a call from me in the morning.
Owen sounds like he is going to cough up a lung, a sweet little 7 month old lung. And his breathing is so gurgled...you know what I mean? Makes me want to clear my own throat every time in a feeble attempt to clear his! :) And for the first time a truly think he has a bit of a fever. Don't worry, I took his temperature & it's okay, but I think it's lying.
It all started last week when he was just being down right cranky. I don't know how these things typically go, but I knew something was up. He just wasn't being himself and naps weren't fixing anything.....naps weren't even happening! :) Straight up refusal from the little guy, & we tried everything. And if you know Owen at all, you know that he LOVES his naps....especially those in his very own crib. Usually justs lets out a contented sigh when I lay him down, rolls over, & passes out. No crying at all.
Well, Thursday morning (Thanksgiving) we ventured up to the Botts family cabin and instantly Nana declared that she thought he was teething. Of course! That explained everything....or did it? He was drooling like a mad man, and was being fussy, and was chewing (or at least trying to chew) on EVERYTHING! But then BAM this darn cough settled in this weekend without much of a warning. It had us all fooled with the 'teething' bit. I don't know.....do coughing and teething go hand in hand? I am such a rookie! File that one away to ask Dr. Shah in the morning! Or could he be teething & sick at the same time? Oh wouldn't that be just a kick-in-the-pants! :) Oh well....gotta love that kid.....and I do.....TONS. That's why I am still up at 3:50am.

A change from the norm

When I began this blog I thought I would only post about my journey through parenthood with our first little baby. I have been hesitant to post anything other than the simple happenings with Owen and myself. However I am beginning to realize that this journey through life is so different now as I look into the world through 'mom' eyes. So, this post is a bit of a change from the norm. This summer & fall has been an amazing time of growth in my faith as I have witnessed God doing miracles in the lives of some of our friends....actual miracles.....the kind that you cannot just 'circumstance' away. I have begun to wonder what God can do in our lives as He has also reawakened a thought between Mike and I. I truly believe that God has put Mike and I together for a purpose.

To put it simply, my heart breaks at the thought of children without mothers around the world & here at home. It all began last Sunday morning when I was feeding Owen (selfishly a bit upset that he woke up so early to nurse). I looked down at him feeding so peacefully and suddenly my mind flashed to picture Owen, my dear boy Owen, alone in an orphanage. I pictured him alone in a crib without being able to eat when he wanted to and being cuddled when he was upset. The reality is that some children live this life, alone, unloved, in an orphanage. I was grateful at how easily I was able to meet his needs and physically make him feel loved & at peace. The thought brought me to tears and drove me to prayer. How sad those children must be. All I could do was cry, pray, and ask for God's help. Since then the Lord has been placing 'signs' in my life that are remarkable. He is making it VERY obvious. Daily I am reminded of His guidance for us. Some day I will post all the 'signs'-you would be amazed! What a good God we serve.

There is a beautiful song we sing sometimes at church that scares the pants off of me. It has a line in it that says "break my heart for what breaks yours...". That is my prayer most of the time, but oh how it hurts when you begin to see the world that the Lord sees and your heart begins to break ever so slightly as the Lord's would break.

It is so easy to become comfortable in our easy American life that we forget that others exist out there beyond our safe borders. If you have never witnessed true poverty in a 3rd world country, you may not know how blessed we truly are simply because we are 'American'. I think we are blessed in order to bless others, not to just simply reside in our 'blessing'. I was listening to the radio this morning and heard a stunning fact that made me feel ill and caused me to start sobbing at the wheel. 143 million children are orphaned around the world, 143 MILLION, 143,000,000. God has been taking Mike and I on a journey of faith and trust in discovering what 'we can do'. I am a strong believer in the fact that God calls us to a life of 'doing'. Even if what we can do is simple and may not change the world, we still must do what we can and we ALL can do something. Mike & I can no longer sit back and watch as the world hurts. We will do something. Rick Warren once said, "You may not be able to change the whole world, but you can change the world for one."

Now, I know that my blog is not followed my many, and I like it that way. If you do happen to stumble across this post, will you please remember Mike, Owen, & I in your prayers as we begin a journey of faith. Also, I hope that you will be encouraged to do what you can. God is a good God! Sorry for the ramblings of my heart, but it needed to come out!

P.S. Owen is now 6 and a half months old. At his last dr.s appointment he was almost 21 pounds and was about 30 inches long! Healthy and happy to boot! :) He is on the verge of beginning to crawl but cannot figure out how to go forward.....so backwards it is! Owen is eating a TON and wants to eat more! He is a kick in the pants and we are loving every minute of it! (even when he wakes up to eat too early in the morning) :)

Lobsters have teeth

So, I debated all October what kind of Halloween we were going to celebrate with Owen. It is not my favorite holiday at all....truth be told, I don't like it. I like Fall...picking apples, picking pumpkins, the cooler weather but not the ghosts, goblins, and all things spooky. I am sure that is going to change soon once Owen begins to realize all the fun Halloween holds, not to mention all the candy! I resisted getting a costume for him all season because 1. he wouldn't care or remember having a costume, 2. we weren't going to take him trick or treating & 3. my dad was here to spend time with Owen so we just planned on staying at home which meant no one would see him and know I hadn't bought him a costume! Well, I caved at the last minute. I didn't want to look back at this and feel like the rotten mother I was being because I didn't celebrate Owen's first Halloween plus I wanted the pictures.....I ended up picking up an adorable lobster costume at a consignment sale downtown Halloween morning. What a cute little lobster he was. :)

And to top it all off, Halloween morning we were greeted by 2 little teeth in Owen's sweet little mouth! He had been working on popping them out all week and out they came on Halloween. Too bad he couldn't enjoy using his teeth on any of that candy!

P.S. Sorry! You will just have to turn your head.....I don't know how to turn the picture! :)