18 Years Ago Today...

18 years ago today...

• I was two weeks overdue with TE.
• I had a grilled cheese sandwich and one oreo for lunch.
• I went to Kmart with a friend.
• My water broke right there in Kmart.
• We went to the hospital, unsure of what this new adventure would hold.
  
• The Blues were in the play-offs.
• My OB/GYN had play-off tickets.
• A C-section was necessary.
• The doctor asked us to wait until after the game. (I was not making any progress anyway.)
• At 11:56 pm, I gave birth to the most beautiful 9 lb., 13 oz. baby boy.

Today...

• My biggest boy is all grown up. YIKES!

• The girls decorated.

• He opened gifts.

• We ate at Longhorn.
• We ate cake.

• I took lots of pictures at the wrong moment.

TE, I love you so much. You make me proud. You are a calming presence and a good brother. You have so much talent and I look forward to seeing what God does with your life. Happy 18th birthday!

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Making Cupcake Feel Safer

On the same day that I had the inspiration about Jesus being bigger and stronger than Mr. Bad Guy, I also had another inspiration to help Cupcake feel safer.

I finally got around to carrying out my plan.

Earlier this week, I called our local police station. I spoke with an officer there and explained our situation. I asked if Cupcake and I could come in and talk to an officer about how they keep kids safe in our town. They were happy to help us out. :-)

So, Wednesday, we took a little field trip. Officer John greeted Cupcake and took us into a little room. He explained that it's the job of the Police to keep kids safe. He told her how someone is always out driving around looking for bad guys, especially at night. There are always several officers on duty. Her grade school has two officers that regularly patrol the grounds. He knew our street because he often comes into our neighborhood. Our suburb has 55 police officers and 20 police cars, all to protect the citizens.

At that point, he showed her the handcuffs. Once they catch a bad guy, he is not going to escape. He told her that the back seat of a police car does not have handles, so once the bad guy is in the car, he is not getting out until they let him out. He told her about the special procedures when they bring criminals in to ensure they do not get away. I was surprised that she did not ask him about his gun. She often talks about shooting the bad guys.

Officer John also told Cupcake that our city does not have very many bad guys at all. :-)

After that, he brought a patrol car around and let her climb in. :-D




Overall, I think it was helpful for her to know that there are other strong grown-ups out there looking out for her safety.

It should be noted that it took us a long time to get to the point where this was therapeutic for her. When she came home, she was terrified of the police. She would have sooner jumped off a bridge than to climb into a police car. We spent months and months teaching her that police in America are good guys and can be trusted.

Is there anything you have done to make your child feel safe? Please share.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Rookies

Yep. We're rookies. And our faces look like this...



We took TE down to Missouri University of Science and Technology this weekend for PRO (Preview, Registration, and Orientation). They gave us these buttons to wear because he's our first one to fly the nest, so we're rookies.

Actually, our faces were much more relaxed than this. It was truly enjoyable, and even though we have mixed feelings about letting go of our firstborn, we definitely feel that this is where God wants him to be next year.

It was a long, crazy day today, but I think we covered all the bases. He's got a good schedule. He knows where he wants to live. We've got the meal plan picked. We know when the first bill is due.

We did realize today that this is the beginning of paying for college for the next 17 years (minus 1)!!! Ugh!

Anyway, things have been WAY too busy at our house and I have much to blog about, but just can't find the time. I'll try to squeeze some posts in late at night or early in the mornings soon.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Hey Mr. Bad Guy...

Mr. Bad Guy is back. He is really never far from our minds, but he's been front and center over the last few weeks.

One day, in therapy, Cupcake relived some of her early trauma.

In therapy, we play whatever is on Cupcake's mind. I was the mama. She was the sister. Our therapist was another sister. The bad guy came. We stopped him. We called the police. They took him away forever. Then there was another bad guy. We took care of him. Then another. And another. And another.

This happens at least once a month.

Our therapist said that she was a textbook case of hyper-vigilance. She never feels safe. Even if we eliminate the bad guys, she lives in fear.

It is very disheartening to not be able to make your child feel safe.

...sigh...

Then, I had an inspiration. Literally.

I got down on my knees and I told her that I knew just the Person who was stronger than any bad guy in the whole world. He loved her more than anything. No bad guy can escape and get away with it. He never lets His guard down and He lives at our house.

Her eyes got big and she said, "Daddy?"

No. Daddy's strong, but This Guy is stronger than even Daddy.

"Jesus!?!"

Yes, Baby.

So that evening, we put out the warning signs on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.






Notice, on the last picture, Cupcake made Jesus shiny white and with a crown.

The King of Kings will win! :-D

My baby felt safe that night. :-)

When I pray with her at bedtime, I try to remember to invite Jesus to watch over and protect my daughter all through the night and always.

We are doing many things to help her feel that the world is a safe place. I will continue to share what works for us (or at least what we've tried.)

Blessings to you,
Mamita