Author name: hill

not lonesome.

do you ever wonder what it’s like to be alone?
yeah, me too.

i was talking to a friend yesterday 
who lamented that her only alone time 
was in the bathroom.
i wish i could say the same. 

i feel like the only time my children aren’t yakking my ears off
or hanging off of my every limb
is when it’s dinnertime.
then i can’t seem to get them to come to the table.

i hope that doesn’t have anything to do with my cooking. 
for just last night, i served tacos
(with fresh cilantro from our garden!)
and D would not eat his meat and sour cream filled tortilla.
that was, until he was allowed to dip it in ketchup.
gross.
he may never complain about my cooking again.

i am not a fan of ketchup at all 
(sorry if that offends you)
but i do remember while growing up 
that my cousins would put ketchup on everything.
and i mean everything.
that’s probably why i can’t even stand the smell of it.


i think my children are laughing at me in this photo.
laughing at my dream that i might someday get a photo 
with all three of my children
smiling and
looking at the camera.
don’t you think?


who am i kidding.
that is not going to happen anytime soon.


but he’ll smile for me.
if i beg him.
even though being in front of the camera 
makes him uncomfortable.


and this little man,
he loves it when i take his picture.
actually, it’s sometimes difficult to get a shot of him
when he is not smiling and looking at the camera.
unless, he is with his siblings.
then he never looks and smiles.
not when they do anyway.
i think they’ve formed some sort of pact.


in other news,
L has his first post-op later today.
i am interested in hearing what L 
has to say to the doc 
because he has fully investigated his own wounds. 
yuck.


the past two mornings, 
we have found L without a sock on his right foot 
and he has also now decided to remove the bandage on that foot.
again, i say yuck.


i’m looking forward
and not looking forward 
to the big reveal of his left foot today.
i accidentally saw some of it without a bandage 
when we were in the hospital and 
i think i will be forever scarred by that sighting. 
i don’t remember seeing much foot at all 
but lots and lots of stitches and blood.
i don’t think that L will be phased by any of this 
but i sure have been.

i’ll be sure to keep you posted.
you can count on that. 

fyi, these photos were taken before the operation.

1121. fluid thoughts
1122. a spontaneous visit 
from out of town friends
1123. a fun-packed
full to the brim weekend
(more on that soon)
1124. delicious food 
(even though D doesn’t think so)
1125. soul-stirring photos

grateful.

we have been reading this book a lot lately.


and giving lots of pretend kisses to mr. L’s piggies.
i’m afraid to touch his feet,
although he loves to grab a hold of them once his meds kick in. 
yucko.
i think i’m a good nurse and can handle a lot.
but blood and stitches?
not so much.
i’ll leave that to the doctors.
and K.
she asks to see L’s boo-boos all day long.

for the first time in a long time,
i am able to say that i’m grateful for our trials.
the trials we have endured
and the trials we are enduring. 
the trials that affect our minds and
the trials that leave us with stitches and dried blood.

this is because i know that God is working.
He is working in my life and 
He is growing me and 
He is changing me and 
doing what He does best.
He is showing off
(my sweet friend Katherine Wolf’s husband 
reminds us that God likes to do that).


Rejoice in the Lord always. 
I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds, 
because you know that 
the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work 
so that you may be mature and complete, 
not lacking anything. 
James 1:2-4

1116. trials
1117. wet sidewalk chalk in a bowl
1118. my sweet sis who designs things for me 
even on her lunch break
1119. what is to come
1120. children who don’t even 
open the front door for the fedex guy

home again, home again.



we’re home now
but here’s what 
the last couple of days have looked like. 



this was right before his physical
bright and early on tuesday morning.


getting a couple last looks at his piggies.


L, after his “happy juice.”
oh my goodness.
that stuff is crazy.
he was instantly 
so happy and 
so drowsy and 
so calm. 
it made the pass-off much, much easier 
for everyone.


while my parents were dutifully watching the bigs,
Auntie B and Uncle J joined us in the waiting room.
we ate mcdonald’s 
(which was located not near but in the hospital)
while sitting at a kids’ table.

amazingly enough, the wait did not seem that long. 
not that long at all.
even though it was long.
and it was even longer than we all 
(including the doctors) had thought. 
but God’s peace was pouring all over us
and He carried us through the long wait. 


the sweet little boy 
was quite upset when he came to
after the surgery. 
once the morphine kicked in,
and he got some hugs from B and me,
he calmed right down. 


i love how his pulse ox looks like a little heart here.


our room had a great view. 


And surely I am with you always, 
to the very end of the age.
Mathew 28:20b

1111. no complications during surgery
1112. no complications post-surgery
1113. incredible doctors
1114. love and care for L
1115. pain relievers

we’re doing great.

L’s surgery went really well yesterday. it was a bit longer than they thought it would take but he did great. he aspirated, slightly during the surgery which got us an automatic night’s stay in the hospital. so while B went home to get some real sleep, my primary job has been to stop L from pulling out his IV and from taking his pulse/ox off. fun times. we did both sleep for a luxurious hour and a half for which i’m grateful for. we are praying to be released super early this am so we can get some real rest at home. we know when his pain meds have thoroughly kicked in as his favorite thing to do then is to try to remove his bandages. no thank you very much. thank you for your prayers. we know that the Lord protected him from numerous complications and for that, we are even more grateful.
xoxo.

today is a big day.

we found this note this morning.


it was for L.
(i’ll post updates as soon as i have them.)


today also happens to be our 
eighth wedding anniversary!

our wedding was so long ago that
our wedding photographer actually used film.
can you even imagine?


who gets to hang out all day long
with their spouse
in the middle of the week
on their eighth wedding anniversary?
we do!


we were such babies.
oh, we were so young!


we are going to have one hot date at the hospital.
well, probably not.
but we did get to do that for our sixth anniversary
because that’s when i was on bed rest with L.


and the honeymoon?


oh, the honeymoon.
we got to go to st. barts in the french west indies.
i do hope that we will get to go back someday.


it was
absolutely,
positively
perfect.


i can’t imagine the last eight years
without the laughter and joy that B brings to my life.
he is the hardest working man i have ever known
and he loves his family to the ends of the earth.
i am surely blessed to have him as mine.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, 
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, 
gentleness and patience. Bear with each other 
and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. 
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues 
put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, 
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly 
as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,
and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs 
with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, 
whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17

1106. being married to B
1107. being a momma to three
1108. celebrating anniversaries
1109. quality time
1110. the joy of not knowing what is to come

the heart toe.


it was

and then it wasn’t

but now it is really going to happen.

some little friends of ours saw L’s toes when he was only a baby
and quickly said that he had a heart toe.
tomorrow, L’s little heart toe will be gone.

please pray that the surgery goes smoothly,
is without complications and
that our little man heals quickly.

1101. snuggling with a just-waking-up K
1102. post bath soft kiddos
1103. the leaves dancing on the branches in the wind
1104. kite flying
1105. rain in the am,
sunshine in the pm

Photobucket

if i knew you were comin’.

we celebrated babydoll’s birthday (again).
i swear, they say that once you have kids, time flies by
but i really think that once your kids have buddies that celebrate birthdays, 
that’s really when time flies.
it seems as though babydoll has a birthday every week.
that’s probably because she does. 


just think, if you celebrated your birthday with us, 
we could treat you as nicely as we treat babydoll.
on her birthday, nonetheless.


K served the finest treats.


here’s her recipe for babydoll’s birthday cupcakes
(straight from the mouth of the “cooker” as she calls herself):

raspberries, strawberries, ketchup, honey, pizza, honey, bread mix, ketchup, more honey, more ketchup, bread mix again, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate and that’s all.

okay, sounds easy enough.


i’ll leave you with a little version of this song that my Gram sings:

if i knew you were comin’ i’d’ve a baked a cake,
hired a hall, had a ball.
if i knew you were comin’ i’d’ve a baked a cake,
howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do.

well, i don’t know where you’ve come from.
and i don’t know where you’ve been.
but it really doesn’t matter
grab a plate and get your platter
and dig, dig, dig, right in.

if i knew you were coming i’d a baked a cake,
howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do.

Finally, brothers and sisters, 
whatever is true, 
whatever is noble, 
whatever is right, 
whatever is pure, 
whatever is lovely, 
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things
Philippians 4:8

1096. birthday parties
1097. a mid-week morning break
1098. photography help
1099. rediscovering a great lens
1100. B bbqing dinner

if i knew you were comin’.

we celebrated babydoll’s birthday (again).
i swear, they say that once you have kids, time flies by
but i really think that once your kids have buddies that celebrate birthdays, 
that’s really when time flies.
it seems as though babydoll has a birthday every week.
that’s probably because she does. 

just think, if you celebrated your birthday with us, 
we could treat you as nicely as we treat babydoll.
on her birthday, nonetheless.

K served the finest treats.

here’s her recipe for babydoll’s birthday cupcakes
(straight from the mouth of the “cooker” as she calls herself):

raspberries, strawberries, ketchup, honey, pizza, honey, bread mix, ketchup, more honey, more ketchup, bread mix again, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate, ketchup, chocolate and that’s all.

okay, sounds easy enough.

i’ll leave you with a little version of this song that my Gram sings:

if i knew you were comin’ i’d’ve a baked a cake,
hired a hall, had a ball.
if i knew you were comin’ i’d’ve a baked a cake,
howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do.

well, i don’t know where you’ve come from.
and i don’t know where you’ve been.
but it really doesn’t matter
grab a plate and get your platter
and dig, dig, dig, right in.

if i knew you were coming i’d a baked a cake,
howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do.

Finally, brothers and sisters, 
whatever is true, 
whatever is noble, 
whatever is right, 
whatever is pure, 
whatever is lovely, 
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things
Philippians 4:8

1096. birthday parties
1097. a mid-week morning break
1098. photography help
1099. rediscovering a great lens
1100. B bbqing dinner
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