We received so many wonderful responses to my last post - thank you SO MUCH for being such a wonderful source of support to our family! We are so blessed to have so many faithful friends and family praying for us. :-) But I do want to make one thing clear. Lest you think we sit around dwelling on the uncertainty and unknowns, I assure you we DO NOT. Yes, the fear is always there, lingering at the back of our minds. But we make our very best efforts to push it away (and most of the time, we're successful, thankfully!) If nothing else, we want to make sure we've soaked in every moment we've been given with our kids, really, truly, living life. Case in point - we just got back from an awesome, and by awesome, I do mean AWESOME, amazing and exhausting, weekend with my parents.
(sadly for us, this is Bodie's newest expression when you ask him to smile for pics...though I suppose it is better than his old standby, to dissolve into a torrential downpour of tears and throw a screaming fit)
Does this look like a kid who doesn't live life? 
Yeah, I didn't think so either. ;-)
My dad took them both for rides in the golf cart. I just love the look they're exchanging here.
And we got to meet one of our other favorite heart warriors, Ella at the local Strawberry Festival! I'm not sure which I love more...
Bodie's look of utter excitement (he is OBSESSED with Ella!)
(hey look - his favorite expression again)...
or her response to him. Clearly, she's thinking "this kid again? For real?!?"
The highlight of the trip for the kids by far was jumping in the bouncers at the Festival.
Sierra, as always zipped around and over them like it was her job. She does so great on these things! She's a pretty coordinated kid, fairly astounding considering the contributors to her gene pool.
Bodie blew us away. Sierra wanted to go on this bouncer, which we knew Bodie wouldn't be able to climb up. It's huge, right? I mean, the almost 4-year girl in front of him had a hard time with it.
Well, we let Bodie go in anyway, figuring he'd play down near the bottom with the fake palm trees and stuff. Which he did...for a bit. But then he headed for that ladder. My dad and I were watching him (they didn't let adults go in, so he was completely on his own), thinking "there is NO way this kid is going to make it up that thing. It takes SO much upper body strength." We watched him, waiting for him to give up and fall back down. But wouldn't you know it, this little stubborn kid, with his whole half a heart, methodically and slowly climbed up every rung and step of that ladder. It was kinda like watching him rock climb. He'd reposition himself on every step and look for the next step or rung, and reach for it, pulling himself up a little further. Until he finally made it to the top.
It took him almost the entire 5 minutes he was allotted in the bouncer (and luckily there were 2 ladders, so the other kids could go up the other side and didn't have to wait behind him), but let me tell you, he couldn't have possibly been prouder of himself to come whizzing down the other side. I don't know that I've ever been prouder, either, to be completely honest. The kid continues to amaze me daily with his strength and determination. (Oh, and you KNOW I'm printing out pictures of this to take to his Physical Therapist next week, in light of the recent report that showed him to be testing at 18 months for gross motor skills! Ha!)
Those of you who know our political leanings won't be surprised that, when given the choice to pick one toy at the Festival, they both picked "shoot guns, daddy!"
Thank you so much to my parents for hosting us for another awesome weekend! We love you Gigi and Popo and can't wait to do it again!!!
I was just coming over here to tell you I loved your last post and I read a lot of people who linked to it, so it has obviously resonated with others as it did me . . . praying for you guys!!
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