Happy 7 Months Tripp

Dear Tripp,

Today you are 7 months old my little man.  And honestly, it feels like you should be about 4 years old by now!!  These past 7 months have been a real fight for you, but my man you sure have fought like a little soldier.  You have been an example for so many people out there.... even all over the country!!  There are so many people who admire you and your strength... and you are just a little boy!!  Imagine the things that God has planned for you.  If you have tackled all of these obstacles so far, just think of all that God will have to give to you in exchange.  I know you don't know it yet, but God has GREAT plans for you.  He is a loving and healing God and He would not let you go through all of this pain without a HUGE reward, I just know it.

I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of you.  Every time I look into your eyes, I just want to cry.  I wish more than anything that I could take all of this away from you, but I know that I would not be strong enough to handle it all... that is why God picked you.  You are the strongest person I know and you are only 7 months old.  You can make it through anything.  You have taken this disease and have fought 110% the whole way through.  From having blisters, to cutting 10 teeth, to having a G-tube, to not being able to breathe, to having a trach and still having a hard time breathing with all the secretions, and now having to have all your teeth pulled out!..... I could go on forever.  I love you, Tripp.  And I know I tell you that 100 billion times a day, but that's still not enough.  Please know that I love you and that I would give anything in the world... ANYTHING.... so that you could have a normal life, pain-free life.  You are everything to me and I totally forgot what my life was like without you in it... and I don't want to remember, because YOU are the reason that I wake up every morning.  YOU are my reason for everything now.  YOU are my life.  Please don't ever forget how much I LOVE YOU.  Keep fighting, my man.

Love, Mommy

My head says lesson plan, my heart says blog. Toughie.

Gah. I just can't bring myself to sit down and type out the next week's worth of lesson plans. Even though there are a mere 5 days left until the highly anticipated Christmas Break, I just can't do it. Instead, I'm wanting to plan for what I will do with fourteen days off. FOURTEEN DAYS. My Ugg-ed out feet break into the Charlie Brown shuffle at the thought.


Also, the Christmas Spirit took hold of me last night, and now my brain is just a big mushy mess of tinsel, glitter, and good cheer for young and old. Becks has completely undecorated the lower half of our tree, and shattered an ornament or two, {cheap, Dollar Tree ornaments at least} but I don't care because it's Christmas and cuteness trumps naughty at Christmastime on occasion.


Apparently, blogging trumps lesson planning too. If I were as smart as Becks looks wearing his Papa's glasses, I'd get off of here right now and start planning something related to The Polar Express, which is our weekly reading selection. Instead I will just keep right on blogging. I think wearing the glasses scared him. So serious.

The weekend was low key. Besides attending our church's musical (in which my momma sang), we went to Target (for diapers only; it was boring), watched football, and ate lasagna at Nana M's house. We also helped decorate their tree. And that's it until tomorrow. G'night.

My husband can never take a normal photo.

Post for Mom.

I want to take the time to say thank you to my wonderful, beautiful Mother.   I honestly could not have asked for a better Mom or a better "Grammy" for Tripp. My mom has been there for me 110% of the time... anything I need, whether its groceries, a helping hand, someone to vacuum my house, or rock Tripp, or help with his bath, cook for Randy and I, pick up prescriptions.... you name it, she does it. What a wonderful woman she is. I honestly do not know if I would have the strength to make it through the day if it weren't for my Mom. She keeps me sane, even if she's just over at my house and we aren't saying anything... I just know she's there. And if she isn't here, we are texting back and forth and she's making sure everything is going okay. She can even tell over a text message if I'm having a bad day. My Mom has always put her kids first and herself last. And since Tripp has been born, that has certainly not changed a bit. She worries about what's best for us and what we need. Sometimes I have to make her think about herself. You know, maybe that's what Moms are supposed to do... but not all Moms would drop everything to help their child.  I'm so lucky.

Mom, I am so lucky to have you and I thank God for you and Daddy everyday. I am a better person because of you. And sometimes, I can get through the day because of you. You inspire me to be a better person. You amaze me each and everyday with your strength. I am a good Mommy to Tripp because of you. Thank you. Thank you for loving me, for helping me, and for being there for me whenever I need you. You and Dad have shaped me into the person I am today and I will forever be grateful to you for that. You, Dad, Britt, and Jason are the best family I could ever ask for.  I love you all so much!

And Britt, I haven't neglected you... my sis has been here to help at the drop of a hat.  My sister and my very best friend, thank you for being such a great Nanny to Tripp and such a great support to me.  How anyone could make it through what we are going through without such wonderful people in our lives... I do not know.  I have the best family in the world.

 I love you, I love you, I love you!!!

Lesson learned.

I know that whoever coined the phrase Lord, have mercy definitely had children. Because I said this phrase under my breath for the hour and a half that we subjected Becks to the Christmas musical at church last night. Armed with a baggieful of Lucky Charms and a sippy of juice, I figured we'd make it through with ease. Our kid likes music, so this should have been cake. Nope, not at all.

He was in my lap. And then he wanted down. He was in my lap. And then he wanted down.

He was in his daddy's lap. And then he wanted down.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Repeatedly. At about a 12 second interval.

I kept glancing at the programme, thinking only four more songs until intermission...only three more songs until intermission...PLEASE GET HERE INTERMISSION. Despite the constant movement, he was surprisingly quiet until the last three songs of the entire production. Then he wanted to loudly pop his paci in and out of his mouth saying BAH! every time. {That's what he calls a paci.} Then he'd giggle. Also loudly. So I took him to the foyer and we finished the musical from the flatscreen out there where I let out an exasperated, non-whisper Lord, have mercy!

Patience was invented for parenthood.

PS. My little sister, Aubrea, turned 21 over Thanksgiving break and then I got sick and forgot to mention it. Happy Birthday, Aubbers! Love you :) This is me and her after our delish dinner at Bonefish. We are modeling her signature picture pose. Similar to the Tori-tilt, no?

Correction...

The blog today was not my Christmas card blog!! I guess I shouldn't have named it Christmas card!! Haha! I'm gonna try and get some more cutesy pictures of my little man! I just didn't want you guys to think that that was it!! Sorry!!!

Christmas cards...

SO... I had a few great ideas for Christmas cards. You know, dressing my little man up and taking all kinds of cute pictures. Well, I've been trying to take the pictures now for about 3-4 weeks and it has yet to work out. I wanted to take a family picture outside. We even got him a cute little polo and some jeans (which he NEVER usually would wear.) But every time we plan to take pictures, it never works out. Either it's raining, it's Randy's late night and it's already dark, or Tripp just finished his 2 hour bath and dressing change and he is completely pooped out and I would get child services called on me if I tried to put him in long sleeves and jeans. SO, I think I decided that I am just going to do an "online" blog Christmas card, if that's okay with everyone. I'll just put a few pictures that I took of him and maybe if we get a chance to do our "family portrait" I can post that one, too. I just think it's too late for me to try and print a million cards. We have so much family and so many friends that I want to send them to, that I really don't know if I have time to get them out now... and I would be scared I would forget someone and then I would feel horrible. I am really sad about it though because it's Tripp's first Christmas and I really wanted to send out cards... if you know ME, i've wanted a little family and to be able to send out family Christmas cards for about 10 years now!! haha... BUT like everything else, I think it's best I do it this way. That way everyone who reads the blog will get a Christmas card!! I don't even have time to eat lunch during the day, so I doubt I'll get a chance to address all those cards!!

Anyway, Tripp had a REALLY good night last night. I only had to get up 2 times before 5 AM... that is AWESOME. I can totally live with that. After 5, he started with all his "morning yuckiness." But I really feel rested this morning. Hopefully my energy will last through the day and I can get something done today. Maybe I'll even cook dinner, haha. But lately, I've just been feeling so stiff. Everything on my body hurts, from my head to my feet. I just need to start SOME kind of exercise. It's really hard to find the time to do that when there is NO kind of schedule going on in this house!! I told my mom yesterday that I wanted to try and get out of the house and maybe drive to Ponchatoula (my hometown, where my parents live) but then I came to my senses. I really just don't think we're ready. As much as I want to, there is really no safe place for me to pull over if I would have to suction him. It's pretty much all interstate... and it's a BRIDGE interstate, so it's not safe for me to be pulling over and getting out. AND, not to mention the fact that things are kind of starting to get better and I don't THINK he has a cold right now (his nose has been a little more runny, so I hope he's not catching another one) so I don't want to take him out in the cold and around people and risk him getting anything. That would be kind of silly on my part. SO we will just stay home, no biggie. I was thinking last night in the shower... you know, some people don't even have hot water to take a shower. Thank God that I have hot water to be able to enjoy my shower. And thank God we even have a house to have to sit in all day! Not everyone has that you know. I'm just really starting to realize that I have a WHOLE lot to be thankful for. And I know if Tripp could talk he would probably be like, yeah mom, what do I have to be thankful for with all these sores??? But it's true. I'm thankful I HAVE him. Blisters and ALL!! I wouldn't trade him for anything else in the world. I think you guys know that by now!! Ha.

Tripp's dental surgery is still scheduled for December 31st. We will probably be going to see the dentist next week.. and the ENT (gotta fit them all in one day!) So we will find out if everything is still a go, which I'm sure it is because his mouth has only changed for the worse. The only thing that makes me nervous is if the teeth come out and he is still getting sores. But we will just have to see. I know the sores right now are definitely 100% from his teeth. So hopefully it will help something. If not, we will just deal with it like always!!

Nana came over to help on Wednesday. It's always nice to have the extra help and the adult company most of all!! Maybe I should give you a family tree for all of you who don't really know, it may be confusing!! We have a big ole' family!!

Grammy- my mom

Papa- my dad

Nanny- my sister (Tripp's godmother)

Uncle Jason- my brother

MeMe- Randy's mom

Paw Paw Carey- Randy's step-dad

Uncle Ryan- Randy's brother

Paw Paw Moose- Randy's dad

Nana- Randy's step-mom

Aunt Becca- Randy's sister

Aunt Nay Nay- Randy's sister

Okay, so that's just so you can have an idea of who I'm talking about when I use the names Tripp uses!! I know, we've got a LOT of LOVE!! Isn't it great?? And that's just immediate family. You should see the rest!!! We are SOME lucky!! Family and friends... WOW, we are really blessed. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wonder why God sent Tripp to Randy and I. And I always tell myself that it's because we have the physical and moral support that to get through this and to take care of this baby. Thank all of YOU for the moral support!!

Smiles!!!

Sitting up like a big boy!

Okay, don't call child services,... he really did like it, though it may not look like it.

Every child needs to play in a box, don't you think?

This is the box all of his supplies come in.... I get two boxes this size a month!!

My Tiny Elf...

"Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led - but it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of FAITH, not of understanding and reason- a life of knowing Him who calls us to go."

-Oswald Chambers

Cheerio, mate!

It is downright frigid here. My toes were cold all the way to school this morning, though that is largely due to the fact that it was snowy and I opted not to wear socks with my flats. The reason that I did not wear socks is mostly because I don't think it looks cute and that I couldn't locate a pair of black socks if my life depended on it since I haven't been caught up on laundry in weeks.

The laundry issue here is out of control. I am really thinking about hitting up Target after Becks gets up from his nap so that I could just wear a brand new top to work tomorrow rather than actually do a load of laundry. That is very selfish and the logic is completely irrational, I know, but it makes complete sense to me since I wouldn't have to produce clean clothes by the morning. And a Diet Coke and popcorn from the snackbar sounds pretty good right now.

Moving on...

I finally addressed all 4000 or so of my Christmas cards, which I plan to mail en route to Tarjay. Actually, there are 61 cards which equals around $26 in postage. Oy. I ended up opting to self-address rather than print from my Excel spreadsheet when I found I was having a decent handwriting day yesterday. Which is crucial if you're going to sit and pen out 61 addresses. Some people have bad hair days - I have bad handwriting days. Is that completely bizarre? Probably so, but I couldn't bear to mail out something with my family name on it with sloppy penmenship. It's a sickness.

In other news, I'm so sad that The Hills and The City are over for the season. Though I have found that Jersey Shores and Teen Mom will tide me over with enough drama until they resume sometime in 2010. Pathetic? Yes, maybe. But I need some entertainment when Beckham is sleeping from time to time and now I have Schnooks and The Situations to keep me laughing with their self-proclaiming guido-osity (ha!) and unbelievable egos. And I'll keep rooting for Maci and Ryan to make it and for Farrah to, um, get over herself. Caitlin is my favorite, if you wanted to know. Make me feel better and admit that you, too, are tuning in...

Lastly, I cannot seem to get through Eclipse in the Twilight saga. I'm a hundred or so pages through it and basically read a page or two before I fall asleep because I just want Bella and Edward to get married. For many people, this was a favorite. Have I just not reached the good part of the plot yet? What's the deal?