Simply Me | Amy Scott's Thoughts

Owen is Three! October 9, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:21 pm

I had a long and lovely blog written about my fantastic three year old and then my computer glitched and I lost it all. I almost cried. Nothing like pouring your heart into a piece capturing your growing boy at this moment in time and then having it disappear into nothing. It’s a very defeating feeling. While I am game to try again, this post might be shorter than the first. This might be in your favor since you didn’t want to spend hours of your day reading a novel about Owen.

Owen’s birthday was Saturday. We spent the morning visiting a model train show at the fairgrounds. It was more of a swap meet for train parts than a train show. They had about three tracks with trains running. It didn’t matter to Owen that it was small. He had a blast watching those three trains. A part of the train show was free admission to the Lewis County Historical Museum. The museum is in an old train station and the whole backroom is set up with a model train track that travels through Lewis County. It was a super cool set up and really completed the model train morning. The best part was a freight train went right by while we were there and Owen ran outside out and excitedly watched it. After all the model train fun, we went to lunch at Peking House and Owen had fried rice. It was the perfect Owen outing. Owen came home from our adventures and went down for a nap because even birthday boys need naps. When he got up, Jeremy and Owen went into town to get pizza. The birthday boy promptly asked for a piece of brownie cake when he was finished with his pizza. We sang happy birthday and Owen got to blow out the candle (twice because he loves it so much). This kid loves and appreciates chocolate. The brownie quickly disappeared and we were on to presents. Owen got a set of Christmas storybooks and a railroad crossing for his wooden railway. The rest of the evening was spent taking a very messy bubble bath thanks to Daddy and then playing with trains until bedtime.

Owen loves all things trains. We drive over the train tracks in Napavine on the way to church. Owen calls this “train way.” We go the train way a lot. He loves books about trains and loves to watch videos of trains on YouTube (I die of boredom). He is also into trucks and construction. He loves things that move and go. Right now, he is blissfully happy to have a bunch of new toys to play with. He was blessed with many awesome birthday presents. We have amazing friends and family who have loved on him well (Graham too). When Owen isn’t playing (with trains), he likes to color and play with Play Doh. We love to read together. He is enjoying his Phonics Readers from Usborne and his Bible. His favorite Bible story is the story of the two builders where one man builds a house on the sand and the other builds on the rock. We sing the same song I sang as a kid and do all the motions. He likes singing about how the house on the sand goes splat. Owen loves to sing these days. He joined us for worship this morning at church and attempted to sing along even though he didn’t know the words. He later told me that they were singing to us at church and I got to explain that the singing was called worship and that we were all singing to God to say thank you and honor him. I love moments like this and I am excited for many more as he continues to grow. These God moments are my favorite!

Owen loves his stuffed animal, Lamby. He is Owen’s security blanket and best buddy. Our household is in a big Daniel Tiger phase right now. We love the songs and I’m contemplating having Owen be Daniel Tiger for Halloween, but the jury is still out there. Owen is growing out of the terrible twos and I have high hopes that three will be an improvement in attitude. Owen now says “I love you” throughout the day. It melts my heart. I tell him that I love him often and it’s so special to hear him say it now. He gives kisses on the cheek upon request. He is fairly good at saying please and thank you. He also knows to say excuse me when he burps. I’m praying those manners continue to stick as he grows up. If you ask him what his favorite color is he will most likely say green. His favorite food is rice. He loves chocolate milk. He is goofy and creative and says the best things. I could listen to him talk for hours. He now comments on when things are fun. The other day he told Jeremy, “I love eating food with you, Daddy.” Anything that takes place in the past is yesterday – could have been yesterday, last week or a month ago. I’m loving the fact that he is potty trained. He is even dry through the night. The transition to a big boy bed as been amazingly smooth. He stays in bed and doesn’t get up until Jeremy or I come into the room and tell him it’s okay. I am so grateful for that! He has grown up so much this year!

His well check isn’t until November so I don’t have any official stats on him yet. I can tell you that he has been consistently weighing in at 29lbs for some time. I love that he didn’t break 30lbs by age 3. Little lightweight. He is now wearing 4T shirts and 3T (with the waistband cinched up tight). He would prefer to wear pajamas more than anything else. I have taught him well! I love that he still loves footie pajamas. They are his top choice.

There a million small things that make Owen so amazing. I could go on forever about how wonderful he is. He can be strong-willed and zany, but he is equally sweet and kind. I am so glad that God gave him to Jeremy and I. Owen has changed my world and I now can’t imagine my life without him. He is a miracle. I love watching him grow and become himself more and more each day. He is truly a fantastic kid and I am blessed to be his mom! This season of his childhood is the best. I love it!

PS… I don’t think this retry was any shorter than the first! So sorry. I tried. Sort of. Maybe not. The end.

Baby Owen

1 year old!

2 years old!

Good morning birthday boy! Someone special is officially 3!

At the model train show

The model train room at the Historical Museum

Little Train Lover

A leaf!

A quick spin with the bubble mower

Yummy pizza

Make a wish!

Love that smile!

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Pumpkins, Teddy Bears and the Big Haircut October 7, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 5:42 pm

We had a bit of fun yesterday. We drove down south to go to a pumpkin patch. My sister-in-law invited us to join her moms’ group. Owen and I joined them last year and we had a fantastic time. I was excited to go again. Owen loved spending time with his cousin, Nolan. When I asked Owen what he liked most about the pumpkin patch, his response was seeing Nolan. We got to go on a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch where we picked two pumpkins. Then we went through the hay maze, visited the petting zoo and climbed the straw pyramid. It was a wonderful fall outing. I love pumpkins. Jeremy joked that a pumpkin patch is my ideal garden and I totally agree. The more pumpkins the better in my book! It was fun to have Graham experience the pumpkin patch as well. He did a decent job walking around in shoes (something new to him since he usually roams around bare foot). October is my favorite month of the year and activities like this are the reason why.

After getting some lunch, we took off for the mall. My aunt had given the boys gift cards to Build-A-Bear for their birthdays. While Build-A-Bear isn’t something I would normally spend the money on, I was excited for them to have this experience. Owen really enjoyed it even though he was super tired. Owen picked out a bear for himself and for Graham. He helped the employee fill the bears by stepping on the pedal. He gave his bear a good brush before we got them all dressed up. Owen’s bear got a full Seahawks jersey outfit with helmet included. Graham’s bear got a Sehawks hoodie. A part of the process is naming the bears and printing their birth certificates. Jeremy named Owen’s bear “Blitz” and Graham’s bear “Graham Bear.” Owen walked away proudly carrying the signature Build-A-Bear box. Both boys took long naps with their bears on the ride home from the big day.

Today was a milestone day for Graham. He got his first haircut. I’m lazy and cheap so I hold off on the first haircut until the first birthday. Plus, this is the only time of life where crazy baby hair is cute and makes sense. Owen did really well for his first haircut, so I was hopeful for Graham. However, Graham hated it. It cried and couldn’t be distracted. This could be his first and last salon cut… At least for a while. Part of me thinks we’ll give it another try and see if the results change. If not, then it’s buzz cuts at home like his brother!

My boys are getting bigger and growing up. Tomorrow is Owen’s 3rd birthday!!! I can’t believe it! We have a fun outing to a model train show planned for him. He knows that is his birthday activity and he tells anyone who listen that is going to the model train show. He might never want to leave. My next post will be all about my big 3 year old and his special day. Exciting times!

Fun with the bubble mower

When big brother is away, little brother can play with all the toys!

Apparently this is how Owen visits Papa in the hospital. He just moves on in. Glad that Papa’s knee surgery went well and that he is home recovering now.

Pumpkin Patch

Build-A-Bear

A happy, quiet ride home!

Before

After – He was a total crank. No smiles.

Something for the memory box

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Birthday Party Weekend with a Health & Home Update October 4, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:41 pm

My last post ended with Jeremy’s upcoming appointment with our family doctor. At that appointment, Jeremy asked to get a referral to a new cardiologist. We wanted to get a second opinion since his first cardiologist couldn’t explain the chest pain Jeremy was having and didn’t seem too concerned with figuring it out. To our surprise, we had an appointment with the new cardiologist in just a few days of asking for the referral.

Friday was a busy day. We found out on Thursday that we would be having our appraisal on Friday. I’m glad we had a little more notice this time. Last time they told us on the day of which wasn’t my favorite thing. We already had plans to be gone on Friday morning to go shopping for the boys’ birthday parties so it worked out well for the appraisal to happen at that time. We thought he would be gone by noon and we arrived home at 12:15pm hoping to put the boys’ down for a nap, but the appraiser was still there! We went and dropped food off at Jeremy’s parent’s house and came back home. The appraiser was still there. Then we ran into Napavine to get lunch and arrived back home at 1:15pm. Thankfully, he was gone at that point, but it threw off our nap plans.

Jeremy’s parents spent Friday afternoon with the boys so we could go down to Vancouver for Jeremy’s second opinion appointment. The doctor was saw was young. He is only a year older than me. He listened to Jeremy’s story and symptoms. He agreed to do an echocardiogram. Jeremy had one a few years ago, but those can be subjective, so the doctor wants to look over one with his own eyes. He is also thinking of doing a CT scan on Jeremy’s chest to see something might be causing the feeling Jeremy has. He is also concerned about Jeremy’s heart rhythm and suggested maybe a long term implanted heart monitor instead of the 30 days monitor that Jeremy is currently wearing (he is almost finished with his 30 days and can mail it back this weekend). While Jeremy wasn’t jazzed about the implanted heart monitor idea, we are thankful for another set of eyes looking things over. October will more tests and follow up appointments. His medical appointments will most likely continue into November, but we are hoping that Jeremy can go back to work at that point (after our two weeks in Kirkland for counseling).

More appointments & a new doctor for the health update, we’ve had our appraisal and are awaiting the results for the home update. Now for the fun stuff! This weekend we celebrated the boys’ upcoming birthdays. October is full of birthdays in our family, so we wanted to do a combined party for Owen & Graham. I also wanted to do it early in the month so it wouldn’t conflict with other birthdays. It was fun to celebrate our almost 3 year old and almost 1 year old. Graham wasn’t too interested in opening presents. Owen assumed all the presents were for him which is kind of true. These boys share everything at this point. No toy is off limits to either of them. The boys got tons of new toys. Our days have been spent playing, playing, playing. Graham loved the frosting on his birthday cupcake, but didn’t get too into the cake part. Owen loved his Thomas cake and Thomas themed party. For one of the parties, we played pin the funnel on Thomas and gave out Thomas tattoos. I love themed parties!

This Saturday is Owen’s actual birthday. We will attend a model train show at our local fairgrounds and go to lunch at Owen’s favorite Chinese restaurant for fried rice. I will make brownies with frosting for his birthday cake. Owen loves to blow out birthday candles so he’ll get another chance at that. He’ll also get a few birthday presents from Jeremy and I. It should be a really fun day.

Now we wait to hear back on the results of our appraisal. I’m praying for better numbers than last time. Once we have the appraisal officially behind us, we should be closing in 7-10 business days. Jeremy & his dad cleared out the 3 rooms we will be moving into. My father-in-law, Bill, has knee surgery tomorrow. I feel bad that we will be moving into his house when he is recovering. Hopefully our crazy family doesn’t slow down his recovery process. However, I have been holding a very tentative view of moving. Ideally our new closing date will be around Friday, October 28^th and possibly moving the weekend of the 22^nd. Obviously nothing is set in stone at this moment. I will admit that I’m not quite sure how all the dates will pan out with counseling out of the area, more doctors’ appointments, moving and closing. Things might pile on top of each other bit… I know that God is in control of all these dates and details. I don’t need to know right now. I just need to focus on today and what is immediately ahead of me. The rest will come in time.

Even in this strange season, I have so much to be thankful for. I am blessed by our family and friends who showed up and loved on our boys this weekend. I am thankful for all the time we’ve gotten to spend as a family of four. I’ve loved having Jeremy home and so have the boys. They have no clue what is going on with Jeremy’s health so all they see is the positive of having their dad around all the time. Jeremy and I have always been a great team. We worked together well professionally and now that translates into parenting together. Some women have told me they could never work with their spouse, that they need that time apart during the day. I, however, can spend almost every waking minute with Jeremy and never grow tired of him. I love him so much. I love our life together. That is why figuring out his health is so important to me. I want him to be healthy so our family has decades upon decades with him. He means so much to me and the boys. We couldn’t ask for a better husband and father. While this medical leave and time away from work hasn’t been an easy one for our family, I am grateful for the time we’ve spent together. I will look back on this season and know that we faced it together as a family, full of love, full of hope. There is so much good in the midst of the hard. God is in all of it and we are thankful.

This kid is too cute!

Making hot dogs and smores on the burn pile at the property

Party shopping

The birthday boys

3&1

Party #1

Party #2

Hitting Toy’R’Us for the birthday balloon and a car seat upgrade for Graham

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Some Things Take Time September 25, 2016

Filed under: Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:04 pm

There are no quick fixes in my life right now. Things are taking time. I am starting to feel a little desperate for normal but I know that isn’t going to happen. Not for a while and not in the way I really crave at the moment.

Yesterday was our next planned moving date. A moving date that didn’t pan out (again). Friday will be another closing date that didn’t happen. It all feels so weird. We are living in a house that I could move out of in a few hours notice. We are ready to go. I guess the good thing about all these delays in selling our house is I am officially ready to go. I want to move on. I’m not as sad as I once was. I have disconnected more with Moonlit Lane and I am ready for what’s next. Maybe having our new property cleared might have something to do with that. I can see where my new home will go. We met with Adair this week and picked out all the features and upgrades we want in our new home. I can see the new goal and I am ready to move forward and make it happen.

Our closing date is still TBD. Our appraisal should be done by October 13th, if not sooner. Then we will have 7-10 business days after the appraisal to close. Instead of the middle of the month, it looks like we will move closer to the end of the month. However, I hold all that very tentative. I’ve become a bit of a skeptic.

Another upside of not moving until later in October is we will still be living on Moonlit Lane for Graham’s first birthday (however, his actual birthday will most likely be spent in Kirkland and not at home). I like the idea of Graham spending his whole first year of life here. I don’t know why it means something to me, but it does. I also love that Graham learned into walk in this house. It feels right to me. This is the baby house. The house where we brought our babies home, where we had nurseries and baby first milestones. I look at the plans for our next house and I see our “kid” house and our “teenager” house. I have loved our baby phase, but I am also very excited for the next phases.

Another thing that is taking more time in our life is Jeremy’s medical leave. It has now been extended to the end of October. MRI (the ministry counseling group) wants to do two intensive weeks with us and their first opening is the last two week of October. So now we will come back after period of time. Right now, our focus remains getting Jeremy’s health back to 100%. We are also doing a lot of evaluating and praying. We need God’s direction in our lives as we decide how the future will look for our family. We are hopeful that MRI will be a good opportunity for us to grow and help set us up for success in the future. Jeremy has another doctor’s appointment tomorrow to talk about his chest pain and see if a second opinion would be available. October holds great promise towards healing.

I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind another month in this strange state. I know that this season has purpose. It’s a surprisingly active season as we work towards Jeremy’s health. The month of October will be full. Our boys will have their 3rd & 1st birthdays. We have two parties next weekend to celebrate them. We will hopefully have movement with our house. We will have two very crazy weeks as we figure out how to spend a large chunk of our time in Kirkland meeting with MRI. I know this next month one will be a big for us. Our world has turned upside and it has the potential to keep spinning. We are trusting God to make our path straight as we follow him. I love how God gives you what you need in the moment. The other day the verse of the day on my Bible app was Proverbs 19:20-21, “Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” I couldn’t believe how perfectly this sums up life right now. On a sillier note, on a whim, I clicked on those Facebook links to show me my life quote. The quote it gave me was “There is no reason to look back, when there is so much good in front of you.” Okay, I can be a dweller. I have spent a great deal of time dwelling on the last the month and all that has transpired. There have been lots of questions, doubts and a fair amount of fear. But I am learning to live with the questions. I learning to give my doubts and fear to God. I don’t want to be paralyzed by past. I press forward because I believe there are good days ahead of us. I have great hope in where we will be on the other side of this. The hard part is I can’t race through this season. I can’t instantly acquire the healing we need in this moment, but I believe it is a head of us. I believe there is good in front of us and I want to walk to towards it. God will be with us every step. Even if things take time.

Snug as a bug in a rug

Helping Daddy peel apples

One of many stops by the property to check on clearing

What childhood is made of!

Stopping by Grandpa’s work for a hot dog and ice cream!

Having fun at Adair!

Another visit to the property

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Graham Update – 11 months! September 19, 2016

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 12:28 pm

11 months old!

After today, I will only have one more monthly update left for Graham. Here we are at 11 months! Almost a whole year! Graham has surprised me in so many ways. He is certainly a different kid than Owen. It’s a joy to watch my boys become their own people. I love to watch their personalities unfold. I study my kiddos and learn new things about them daily. Graham is at the fun transition stage where he is a baby, but also a toddler.

The biggest Graham update is he is officially a walker! He can walk great distances around the house. He prefers to walk instead of crawl. The only catch is he hasn’t learned to stand up by himself yet. He needs to pull himself up into something to get to walking position. If he falls down in the middle of the room, he crawls over to a piece of furniture and starts again. I never expected Graham to walk at 10.5 months old. He is a small little guy, but that doesn’t seem to slow him down. We are getting used to life with our little walker! He has even attempted to run a few times. Slow down, kid!

With his birthday just around the corner, I’ve been getting questions about what Graham would like as presents. This has been a tough question. He has more than enough hand-me-down clothes from Owen. Graham also plays with the same toys as Owen. I guess a good suggestion for Graham would be anything that Owen likes. We supervise the toys with smaller wheels closely, but Graham has no interest in baby toys. The bane of Owen’s existence is the fact that Graham wants to play with the wooden railway trains. Graham is like baby Godzilla and he terrorizes the track and Owen. I’m looking forward to the day where they can play trains together and I don’t have to worry about Graham trying to taking everything apart. I realize that day is probably a good year away… But I can dream.

Graham loves to play peekaboo. He is the cutest thing and is usually the one to initiate the game. His smile is the sweetest and his giggles are adorable. Graham is also more inclined to sit in your lap and snuggle than I remember Owen being. Graham still has a bit of Mommy clingy-ness. While that can be frustrating, I also remember that he is toddling now and soon he’ll be even more independent. This season of having a baby who wants to be held or sit in my lap is a short one the grand scheme of life. I want to be enjoy these moments. The poor kid gets endless kisses from me and I sniff his little head often.

We are at the stage where Graham’s hair is getting long enough that strangers aren’t sure if he is boy or a girl. I have a thing about saving the first haircut for the 1st birthday. It’s partially because I am cheap and lazy, but also because he can only have “baby” hair for long. A year seems like a good right of passage for a hair cut. His birthday party is in a few weeks and I want him to have baby hair for those pictures. We have family photos in the middle of October and I want him to have a hair cut for those pictures. We will have a 13 day window for the first hair cut to happen.

Graham doesn’t say too many words yet. At least not ones that we recognize. He says mostly things that start with D and he is obsessed with saying “Dad.” When I get Graham up in the morning, the first thing he says is “dad” and he looks around the room repeating that word. He wants his dad right off the bat in the mornings. Not Mom. We have worked with him to say “Mama” but he isn’t interested. Of course, he baby chatters. I am keeping an ear open to see if that chatter will turn into a vocabulary soon.

Another exciting update is Graham’s willingness to try most any food now. He never got into the pureed baby food but seems to be a much bigger fan of finger foods. He still doesn’t eat a ton of solid foods. He more interested in sampling things than chowing down, but he is trying things and that is a great development for us. This is a fun stage to see the reactions to different foods.

We love our super sweet little man. He brings so much joy to our lives. It’s hard to believe that we are the 11 month mark with the big birthday milestone right around the corner. I love the discovery at this age. These are some of my favorite days. Graham is such a treasure and I am thankful everyday that is a part of our zany family. Especially given the stress of the last month, I am so thankful for all the smiles, kisses, hugs and love he brings into our lives. We have been blessed!

Playing with a compass and wearing his hand-me-down Canada shirt from Owen’s visit to Victoria. I love all the memories that are attached to this shirt.

Playing Peekaboo

Just chilling

Happy walker!

Selfies with Mommy

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A Week of Meetings September 16, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 5:00 pm

This week has been full of meetings. On Sunday, we got to meet our newest nephew, Colton. He slept through most of the experience which is fine by me. A sleeping baby is a happy baby in my book. He was super cuddly and won our hearts instantly. Owen was the sweetest when it was his turn to hold the baby. He gave him kisses on the top of his head and it melted my heart.

Tuesday, Jeremy and the boys went up to the property with my parents to meet with the man who would be clearing the land and the lady that will be designing the septic. After that, they all went down to the courthouse to put the land officially in our name. We now own 6 acres of property! That is certainly something to celebrate! My parents have been so generous to us. We are excited for this next season of life. Clearing has begun and we can start to envision where our houses will go and what the future will look like. I’m thrilled to see progress being made. The only once piece of news that I haven’t mentioned is our closing on current house has pushed back to the middle of October. Appraisers in our area are super slammed and we can’t get an appraisal in time for our closing date at the end of September. This means our moving date is again TBD. I’m not loving that, but I am grateful that the we are still under contract even if things are moving slowly.

Wednesday was Jeremy’s treadmill. Since this wasn’t his first rodeo with a treadmill, I expected the results to be much the same as before. And they were. The doctor wasn’t too concerned by what he saw. He thinks the meds are working and that is good enough. Unfortunately, the doctor doesn’t have a good explanation for the discomfort Jeremy feels in his chest (he feels it even with the meds). We are seriously considering getting a second opinion to make sure that nothing has been overlooked.

Thursday we drove up to Kirkland to meet with a ministry resource group. We believe that stress is a key factor in the incident that Jeremy had at the end of August. His heart issues combined with stress have created the situation we are in now. The hope is this ministry group will be able to help give Jeremy the skills to deal with the stress in his life. Truthfully, most of stress in our lives comes from ministry, but when you are pastors there are very few people you can be open and honest with about work related stress. Our prayer is that this organization will add another level to Jeremy’s healing. The one downside to this group is they prefer to meet in an intensive week of 4 full days of meeting (usually two weeks of Monday-Thursday, so most likely 8 days total). Since the group is located at a distance and Graham is still nursing, this will make it tricky for me to accompany Jeremy. We will call the scheduler on Monday and talk through what our options are. Right now with a young family, I can’t do the intensive week. We will see what other options we can come up with.

This week has had so many ups and downs for me. Meeting Colton was a high point, for sure. Now that Jeremy has been on his meds for two weeks, he is driving again, which I really appreciate. I hate driving so I’m glad that he is healthy enough to be back behind the wheel. While, I didn’t want Jeremy’s treadmill to show something horribly wrong, I also don’t feel like we got sufficient answers from Jeremy’s current cardiologist. And the ministry group… While I am grateful for this opportunity to work with them, it’s been stressful for me as I try to figure out how we will blend their preferences with our current season of life. At times I find myself mentally chanting “lean not on our own understanding” over and over again. It’s in my nature to figure things out and make sure all the pieces fall into place. However, right now I feel like a lot of things are still up in the air and I need to live that. God is in control. When I trust him, he will make our way straight. It’s a relief to know that I am not responsible for figuring this all out. I’m doing the best I can to do the right thing and that has to be good enough. I know that God will honor our diligence as move forward.

Our Usborne box arrived with all these books! Birthdays and Christmas are going to be good this year!

Meeting Colton

Owen loves his new bed and a new books!

Looking at bugs

Exploring the property and checking out the clearing

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Day By Day September 10, 2016

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:46 am

Hmm… I’m not even sure where to start. I have written, deleted and rewritten about 5 sentences… Thing are okay. The week has been slow but full. Tuesday was the start of our MOPS year with our registration social. The boys and I spent Tuesday evening at my mom’s house catching up on a show that I have recording there. Wednesday, I had a coffee date with a friend and church in the evening. It was lot of fun to connect with my new class of girls. Thursday, I had lunch with a friend and then Jeremy and I went up to Olympia to get him hooked up to his heart monitor. Yesterday, we got the oil changed in the van and had dinner with Jeremy’s parents. I’m grateful that we have had a balance of getting out for small, non-stressful things and still having a lot of down time at home to be chill.

I want to take a moment to say thank you to my friends and family who have been here for Jeremy and I right now. Talking about one’s “tribe” is a thing right now (the people in your life who are your people). My people don’t all live in the area, but I have had so much love and support from my friends and family. I appreciate them checking in with me and letting me be super honest about how things are going and how I am feeling. This last week especially has been more emotional for me.

Thursday, Jeremy got his heart monitor on. It’s three wires stuck to him with sticky pads. They connect to a pager that hooks on to him with a belt clip. The pager unit transmits the data to a cell phone that they provide and the cell phone sends the data to Jeremy’s doctor. The pager unit flashes green when it’s on and flashes blue when it’s sending data. We’ve seen the blue light a few times so we know it’s working. Jeremy will see his doctor on Wednesday for a treadmill. We are curious to see if he mentions any of the data that has been sent to that point.

I’m still driving Jeremy around for the time being. Tuesday will be two weeks on the meds and he should be as adjusted to them as possible at that point. I think I’ll keep driving until Wednesday though. I want get through the treadmill before I let him go back to being our family driver. He is probably fine to drive now, but I am paranoid. Especially when it comes to having the boys in the van… Jeremy’s meds are working and helping. He is still experiencing chest pain and discomfort. He is isn’t 100% and we want answers as to how to get him back to his normal self. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Now on to just general family news! Graham is walking more and more each day. He is going farther and farther. Jeremy is his walking coach. He cheers Graham on and gives him lots of walking practice. It’s crazy to see our little baby walking around. He is so small and yet such a big boy. He acts like a little boy too. I know I’m biased, but Graham is smart and perceptive. He keeps up with Owen surprisingly well.

Our big change for Owen happened on Thursday. Jeremy and I stopped by Toys’R’Us to pick up a special treat for Owen. He looked at about 4 different toys before deciding to buy a Thomas bedding set instead. We had been debating for a while to take the rail off of Owen’s crib and make it a big boy bed. Owen will be 3 in less than a month and it seemed like as good as time as any to make the transition. With Jeremy being home more in September, we thought it might be a good time since we could both be available to help if the transition was rough. However, Owen has been his normal self and we’ve had almost no issues with the change. The first night he got up once to use the bathroom, but other than that, he has stayed in bed. His crib was the last really “baby” thing about Owen. He really is a big boy now.

We are thankful for this season with our family. It’s an odd one. It feels strange and weird, but there is so much blessing in it as well. We are trusting God. He has our answers. We are hoping for more clarity, but we know that we are okay right here, right in this moment. We are loved. Our Savior has us in his hands. We are safe. I’m doing my best to win the mental battle with fear. I want to live in the moment. I’m taking things one day at a time. We’ll see what each day holds and keep the rest of the days tentative. We are open. We are intentional. We are being careful. It’s an unusual season, but feel God guiding us and providing for us. We will make it through. We are not alone.

Love September walks

We have had a ton of deer in the yard lately

Pumpkin scones are my favorite! So glad they are back!

I’m addicted to pumpkins!

Graham wanted to watch Downton Abbey. Good choice, son!

Top left is Baby Graham snuggling with Daddy. Apparently Daddy still has the touch!

Owen meets the big boy bed!

All my Scentsy warmers are packed, so I broke down and bought a candle. I need fall scents in my life.

Apple picking

Blue Friday

This trio makes my heart happy!

Making a Graham-proof train table!

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Taking A Break September 3, 2016

Filed under: Bible,Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:23 am

This last week has taken an unexpected turn for our family. On Monday, the buyer of our house wanted to see it again. Jeremy and I were driving the truck and the van down to the church. We were going to drop off the truck and go run some errands together in the van. When Jeremy arrived at the church a few minutes behind me, he was shaken up. He had gotten dizzy while driving and drove off the road. Thankfully, there was no damage to him, his truck or the yard he drove into. Over the last couple of years, Jeremy has seen a cardiologist. He has an irregular heartbeat and recently he has been struggling with his blood pressure and a racing pulse. He has pushed through so much. He kept on going and living life and doing it all and holding it together. Until Monday… We realize that things could have been a lot worse (I have to stop myself from thinking through all the things that could have happened. It’s too scary). His condition is serious and we need more answers than the ones we’ve been given. Jeremy went back on a beta-blocker that has regulated his heart well this week. Because it takes a week or so for the body to adjust to this medication, I have been driving Jeremy around just to be safe. Jeremy will also wear an event monitor for a month so the doctor can more closely record what is going with his heart and how often it happens. Getting this event monitor has been a challenge. We thought we would get one yesterday, but now it looks like it will be next Thursday. I am disappointed. Waiting has been hard for me. I feel sorry for my hubby, that he will have to be wired up for a month, but at the same time, I hope it brings more clarity and a plan for moving forward.

The other big piece of this medical puzzle is that Jeremy will be taking at least 30 days off from work to get his health back in order. Our lead pastor graciously offered this time to Jeremy. It was strange to accept such an offer, but at the same time, we have high hopes that taking a layer of stress off of Jeremy’s life will help. Our lives revolve around our family and Bethel Church. It will be very odd to have a month away from ministry. I am thankful for this opportunity and the chance to make Jeremy’s health our top priority. I also know that we have a great team at Bethel Church. We have fantastic leaders and teachers who will make this period of time a success. I am thankful and grateful to those who are covering for us. We are truly blessed.

We’ve spent a bit of time getting things in a good place for our absence. This week, I went into the church and put up my class bulletin board. This Wednesday will be the first week with my new class. My mom plans on covering the class while our family is away, but I plan on going down for the first class so I can introduce myself and get the year started off. September is full of so many traditions, things I always do to get the ball rolling. I love this time and it means a lot to me. I am grateful for a chance to start things off.

We’ve had a very quiet week. There has been lots of resting. Jeremy is doing a great job of laying low. The boys are also getting over colds. We’ve made the most of nap time and early bedtimes. I’m not sure what the next month looks like. Our life is very day to day right now. This afternoon we will go to my in-laws for dinner. I’m sure the boys will enjoy getting out and seeing Nana & Papa. They have been out of town taking care of our family over the mountains while the newest little Scott arrived! This week I became an auntie again to my new nephew, Colton. I am bummed that I haven’t gotten to snuggle him yet, but I have gone shopping for him so that helped my feelings. Anyway, back to small plans, our apple trees are full of apples that ready to be picked. I think we will pick a few apples and maybe make an apple pie. Jeremy went from going full throttle to snail speed. It’s been a weird switch, but we are believing this will make a difference for the future.

Oh, random Graham update, he taking steps daily and often. He isn’t “walking” per say but he can take about 3-4 steps before grabbing onto something. His preferred method of travel is walking while holding furniture. He only crawls as a last resort. He is up and moving. It’s not long with practice like this that he will be officially walking. Crazy kid. He is only 10 months old!!!!

Please be praying for our family. We have high hopes. We are believing that none of this caught God by surprise. He is in all of it. I keep thinking of Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” The hardest part for me is to not lean on my own understanding. In a season where I would like more answers, it’s hard to not try to fill in the blanks myself. I’m obviously not a doctor, so my mind goes down many paths wondering what is happening, what will happen, what could happen… But my understand of this situation is limited and it won’t get me anywhere productive. I am trusting that God is leading our family. He will make our path straight. I don’t have to figure this out. God’s got it handled. I just need to trust. And right now, that means taking things one day at a time and living intentionally slow and restful. It’s counter-intuitive, but I’m praying that it will bring life and health to Jeremy (and our family).

Trying to keep Graham from destroying the train tracks

Thankful for dark mornings, clouds and rain. I love this time of year!

Little models!

The bulletin board is ready for another fun year full of memories!

Quiet nights at home = Family Feud on the big screen.

This was my candy corn bowl. Graham is enjoying the leftover essence.

When you want to go outside but don’t want to change out of your pajamas…

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What Day Is It? August 27, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 11:53 am

It’s been a strange week. All three of my boys have been under the weather at various times. Jeremy has been working in the evenings and I had to miss church on Wednesday night, plus Jeremy is working all weekend as well. My normal markers for where we are in the week are all gone. We’ve managed to stay occupied, but we’ve also had a far amount of resting and laying low. Jeremy’s been trying to be good about resting when he is home. Graham had a cold that he has now passed on to Owen. I have a bug bite on my leg that makes my whole leg ache. We seem to have our fair share of ailments these days. Tuesday, I got to have a phone date with my lovely friend, Maggie. An hour on the phone with a good friend is a breath of fresh air and we really need for my sanity! Wednesday, we got to run errands with Jeremy. Thursday, we went down to visit my sister. We played in the park, got lunch and spent some time at her house in the AC. Thursday night, Jeremy took Owen to work with him for some Daddy time. Owen really appreciated it! He keeps telling me that he got to go to summer camp.Yesterday, Jeremy switched from summer camp mode into kid zone mode. He is it Chehalis Garlic Fest this weekend running inflatables for the kids. I could go into detail about all the drama we’ve had a night and the lack of sleep I am getting, but I figure that is sad story that I’ve told one too many times on this blog. Just a say little prayer for Owen. The last two nights he has woken up in the middle of the night very unhappy. The first night after two hours of trying to get him back to sleep, we finally let him sleep in our bed. Last night we brought a nightlight in and that seemed to help. Not quite sure what’s up, but I don’t like the idea of being up with both Owen and Graham in the middle of the night. One sleepless kiddo is enough… So that is the update. Here are some pictures from our adventures this week.

Owen requested to wear matching jammies with Graham. I’m a big fan of matching!

Graham did not approve of Jeremy’s decision to leave him to go shower.

Exploring the Rainer City Park with Auntie! We will be visiting here again!

Auntie is passing on her love of video games to the next generation.

Having a little fun at Graham’s expense

Up with Graham while Jeremy and Owen sleep in after a rough night. Because I was tired, I let Graham watch TV in my lap so I could sit like a blob. Parenting at it’s finest!

Since I’ve been dreaming of fall and I had a can of pumpkin I needed to use, I decided to make pumpkin pancakes yesterday! Yum!

Chowing down on rice at Grandpa & Grandma’s last night!

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Not So Healthy August 22, 2016

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 9:01 pm

My post from yesterday was actually written on Saturday and scheduled to post on Sunday. I had ended my last entry by saying that I was thankful for healthy and happy boys. As it turns out, they aren’t quite as healthy as I thought. Sunday turned into a sick day at our house. Jeremy called me saying that the new meds he had started taking for his heart were making him dizzy and he needed to come home. It was great to get a call saying that he was dizzy and driving. Awesome. I spent the next 15 minutes wondering if he was going to end up in a ditch on the side of the road… Owen woke up sounding hoarse. Graham woke up with snot and developed a random rash that came and went quickly (thankfully). Jeremy spent the whole day laying down and the boys just kind of play around him and enjoyed his presence. Not the Sunday I had planned.

The last week has been full of lots of things that wouldn’t headline their own blog post, but have definitely kept me busy. We’ve had a couple of cooler days. I have been able to bake (which is just as good as therapy). I’ve been loving doing laundry during the day and not worrying about how hot it is to run the dishwasher. I’ve been in party planning mode of the boys birthday parties. I ordered their supplies online yesterday and I have their birthday invites ready to throw in the mail next week.

I’ve also been planning for the fall with my Wednesday night class at church. Today I purchased the supplies for my bulletin board. I also ordered new curriculum and crafts. I am now set for the new school year. I have two weeks left with my current class, but those two weeks will be spent visiting our youth ministry and preparing for them the transition. Last Wednesday, we did ice cream sundaes and took down all the artwork that decorated our room throughout the year. We passed around pieces of paper and signed them like yearbooks. I love getting one last chance to tell them how much they matter to me and Jesus. I almost cry every year as I tell them how I loved teaching them and that our friendship doesn’t end when they leave the classroom. These girls mean so much me. Most of them have been regulars for the last two years. We’ve gotten close. Every year it’s hard to see another class move up. But the size of the classroom I teach in won’t let me keep all of my students forever (I’d be tempted to if I could).

In the midst of home showings, getting an offer on the house and major illnesses, I threw an Usborne book party last week. It was a major success! I got WAY more hostess rewards than I had expected. I got the boys books for their birthdays, books for Christmas, book just for fun. The topics range from dinosaurs to bugs to space to trains to machines. I got Christmas stories, a phonics reader set and wipe clean learning books for preschool. I am so excited to add these books to our home library. They are a great quality and educational. Such a blessing. Since Usborne has had a boom in popularity recently, it takes a while for their books to ship. Being patient is hard!!! I can’t wait for the amazing box to arrive!

A lot of my life is out of my control (okay, almost all of it). There are a lot of things that weigh on me and worry me. I have to keep reminding myself that worry doesn’t change anything. I find myself clinging to the goodness in ordinary moments. Folding laundry, using the oven, baking, watching my kiddos play, making snacks, making meals. These things keep me grounded. They keep me centered on reality. I often feel like my life should be a fairy tale. When I tell my story, it should be nothing short of perfection, as if angels sing in hallowed voices in the background. But life is not a fairy tale. We’ve certainly had our share of concerns and discouragements and uncertainties. I like security and in a lot of ways, my security has been shaken over the last year. While I might not be sure of a lot of things, I am sure of Jesus and I am sure of the blessings in this moment. My current blessing is that Owen has stopped screaming. He gets real dramatic at bedtime. The toddler phase of one more drink, one more hug, where is my toy, turn my heater on, I have to go pee… It’s real folks. And Owen screams about it every night for about 20-30 minutes. Jeremy has evening commitments all this week which means I have a week of bedtimes all by myself. It’s hard. But now both my boys are sleeping and since my hubby is away, I am having some personal time to blog. When I’m done here, I will hop on to Shutterfly.com and put on my family historian hat. I’ve been working on the boys’ photo books for this last year. I find that if I work on them slowly a month or two at a time, the project isn’t a big deal. These are good moments. Looking through happy pictures of my kids is a wonderful thing when I am feeling tired and worn out and cranky (because I was up three times with Graham and once with Owen last night). Oh sleep… I miss you!

The end of the summer is a hard time to catch everyone. Missing a few of our regulars (and April). Wrapping up another awesome year with the 5th/6th grade girls at church.

What a joy it was to use the oven to make frozen pizza! Family dinner time is a blessing especially with piles of trains on the table and trucks on the floor!