Family Tree

So two of my sisters recently shared this song, said it made them think of our family. I finally listened to it and I agree. We don't all spend Christmas Eve at home anymore and there is no choosing of the tree. We adult children have our own and the decorations on each can vary widely. These days the ornaments don't last very long on mine before little hands remove them. Mom has her tree, too. Some years it's beautiful and fancy, some years it's covered with homemade ornaments and memories. This IS the best time of year. Not only because I get to spend time with my family but also because for many of us we share a Savior. And that makes the celebrations that much sweeter.

Family Tree by Dave Barnes (you can listen to it here)

Family car we barely fit
Christmas time had come again
Bundled up to fight the freeze
Picking out the family tree

We decorate with clumsy hands
And hope that Santa
Comes again
And the morning wake to see
Gifts beneath the family tree

And I don't know where I'm going
But I do know who I'll be
'Cause memories and names like these all hang
On us the family tree

We're older now
We all have changed
But we all have at the same old things
We'll spend the night with memories
Gathered round the family tree

And I don't where I'm going
But I do know who I'll be
'Cause memories and names like these all hang
On us

We're so much more than blood
We're more than names
We're bound by bonds that only God sustains

But, this time of year
We gather here
And I always know I'm home

There are voices now
Where silence was
The subtle signs of growing up
Where one is born another leaves
Branches on the family tree

Is it naptime yet?

It's late. I walk down the hall to my room. Bedtime, my favorite part of the day. I crawl into bed and sink way down under the covers because it's about 10 degrees colder in my room than in the rest of the house. Graham turns out the lights, I heave a huge sigh because finally I can sleep. Time to renew after a long day. I close my eyes....

And Silas starts to cry.

I groan, wait a minute to see if he's serious and pull myself out of bed to feed him. Then again two hours later, and two hours after that, and two hours after that (if I'm lucky)... until finally it's morning and everyone is up.

This is every night for the past year. I'm exhausted and don't think my husband gets it. 'Cause he sleeps right through it all. He does have to wake up pretty early but he's getting a minimum of 5 hours uninterrupted sleep.

A while back I started to ween Silas and try to train him to self-soothe back to sleep. Then about a month ago he had a check-up and the Dr. was concerned about his weight. He had dropped from the 50th percentile in weight to the 7th %. I felt like not feeding him when he woke up was not an option. When we took him back for a weight check right before Thanksgiving he had actually lost more weight and this REALLY concerned the doctor. She wanted him on Pedia-Sure for extra calories. I hoped this might make him sleep better but no. She sent him to Cooks for a battery of test. Most of the results came back normal in a day or two and Dr. Shaw expressed interest in referring him to a GI specialist and then an endocrinologist (in case it was something the basic tests missed).

My mommy diagnosis: He's been walking for the past 3 months. He eats constantly. His metabolism has to be good and he's burning LOTS of calories. The kid does NOT sit still. He's almost exclusively nursing again so I know he's getting the 'good stuff' but this is DRAINING what little energy I do have.

He has his one year check up tomorrow and we'll discuss it then. I pray I'll be bold to really tell her I don't think anything is wrong... I just want to figure out how to get him to sleep at night.

or how to work in a nap everyday.

Needing a second cup of coffee

And here we are again. I've fallen way behind on updating my blog. Almost three months since my last post. And the reason why... in a picture...



My handsome Si-burger has become an attention hoarder :) I don't seem to mind too much. His first birthday is just a few weeks away. I can't believe it. Look for a gushy post then.

It's finally starting to get cold (sort of). I've decorated my tree, hung the stockings, and for once I'm just about done with shopping and it's not Christmas Eve ;) I LOVE the Holidays. Yesterday I caught a few minutes of a show featuring the town of North Pole, Alaska. There it is Christmas all year, and for a brief moment I thought "Hey, I could live there". But who am I kidding. Even as I type this I am huddled under my covers, hoodie and fuzzy 'stay-at-home' socks on, sipping my pumpkin spice latte. I'd freeze there. A dear childhood friend leaves soon with her family to be missionaries in Poland. Brrrr.

Maybe this is why I don't post every day. I can think of things all the time to blog about but when I actually make time to do it all cohesive thought flees my body and we get the 'Ramble Post'. Sorry about that. I'll try better next time. But for now I leave you. The boy's awake and I'm needing a second cup of coffee.