Happy Father's Day

I am the father

My child was born with a heart defect

Its "my job" to be strong 

And tell my wife things will be fine

And pray that I'm not wrong.

And still the bills need to get paid

And things need to be done

And it's so hard just sitting here

"I want to hold my child"!

I lean down as I watch her breathe

"Keep fighting", is my plea

"I thought I'd teach you to be brave

"But Hope, you have taught me".

I hear the beeping of all those machines

They're helping my child to live
I wish that I could take her place

Man, what I would not give!

To have the faith and strength I need

to hold back all my tears

to say I know she'll be okay

despite all of my fears.

I'd only fall down in defeat

when no one is around

I'd be the rock she surely needs

I'd stand on solid ground.

A daddy says," come to my arms

and I'll chase those monster's away"

This daddy's heart cries out to God

and says, "please let her stay".

A daddy needs to cry sometimes

and God must see right through

that " tough daddy exterior"

for He's a daddy too.

~Stephanie Husted

Happy 3rd Birthday Paul!!!

My little man is three today.  I can't believe how fast he has grown.  I want to share my birth story with all of you, because it is amusing and if I don't write it down here...I will probably forget (do moms actually ever forget giving birth to any of their kids?)

Paul was the fastest and easiest labor and delivery...he really wanted to see the world.  I wonder if that is a sign of things to come.  It was 7:15 in the morning and I was typing up an email to a co-worker...trying to resolve a problem (which is basically what I do all day).  We had Destiny because it was summer break...she and Jerry were still sleeping (ahhh...the good old days when everyone slept past 7).  In the middle of the email, I started feeling funny and ran to the bathroom.  I had seafood the night before and thought maybe it didn't agree with my pregnant stomach.  Well...Paul basically dropped really far.  My contractions were coming and wouldn't stop.  I woke up Destiny and got Jerry dressed.  My husband was already gone to work, so Destiny got to help me rush to the hospital.  I called my husband on the way to the hospital at 8:17...yes, I checked later that night.  We live in the country, but the hospital is only 15 minutes away...of course I have to take bumpy roads with railroad tracks...UGHHH.  By the time I got to the hospital I was in full blown labor.  I had a contraction at the car and then one by the time I got to the door.  A really nice nurse rushed to get me a wheelchair.  She wheeled me to the desk and they told her to take me to the ER.  I asked her as nice as I could to get me to labor and delivery...I really didn't want to have a baby in the ER.  I got to L&D and the nurses were nice enough to watch the kids for a little while.  They took me to triage and I told them it would be a few minutes and I needed the doctor.  I think they believed me because four of them were running around getting a room ready for me.  I got to the room and told them to get the doctor to hurry up because he was coming out.  My doctor arrived seconds later (in her shorts and a t-shirt) just in time to catch Paul.  I am sure she was not happy to have her outfit ruined, but there was no way I was going to 'NOT PUSH'.  Why would anyone ever suggest that?  It is total craziness.

Paul is my only baby Jerry did not get to see born.  He is also the only one where I was not induced.  Destiny met him long before Jerry and it was a day I will probably never forget.

21 Months...Already

Hope could spend the day in the swing.

Wow...Hope is already 21 months old.  Time really does go by so fast. Not much is happening in our lives...just graduation and birthday parties, so this will be a short post with cute pictures.

Beautiful girls...Destiny and Hope!

Yes...she can even suck her fingers while she goes down the slide...amazing!

It Has Been That Long

Hope and the boys like their lunch outside on their very own picnic table.

I can't believe I have not posted since May 21st...I think that is the longest I have gone without posting.  It has definitely been because life has been going really good and we are really busy.  This is the season of parties and we are trying to get to as many as physically possible.  I always feel bad when we have too many things going on because we always miss something.  We have decided to limit our time and only attend one party a day on the weekends...my husband would like to limit it to one party per weekend, but that is not likely to happen anytime soon.

Even Destiny got to help with the garden...she tilled it every time she came over.  We are making a country girl out of her for sure!

The rain finally paused long enough for us to get the garden planted.  We have corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers (red and yellow) lettuce, melons, and strawberries.  We only planted the stuff that we plan to eat or share with friends and family.  We had originally planned our garden to be 35x65, but because of the rain we had to buy plants instead of seeding everything.  So, our garden is now 30x50...which is still super huge to me.  I am thinking I will be freezing as much as possible and sharing with everyone we know.

Sprinkler fun for everyone!

The kids are loving the time we can spend outside.  I think they would be out there from 7 in the morning until 9 at night if I would let them.  We are letting the chickens and our tame peacock out to roam and the kids get to search for eggs every day.  So far the chickens are really good about laying them in the coop.

Paul is my little animal lover.  So far this summer I have found the following in my house...toads, a snake (YUCK), a turtle, and tons of worms.  They do know they are supposed to keep them outside!

That's about all for now.  I have to get the kids ready for a graduation party today and then we have to run to Toys-R-Us to get some birthday presents for up-coming parties...including my little man, Paul.