tiny triumphs. giant hope.: It takes a village

I can't believe it's just past 8am. It feels like it should be closer to 10.

The last week has been quite an adventure...although nothing really out of the ordinary with two kids.

I think we now own stock in Kleenex. Sleep is clearly residing somewhere other than our house. There's been a fair amount of crying out of the littlest Wingate - why, we don't know. Teeth, tummy, boredom - it's anyone's guess.

But we're hanging in there.

Freddie has his appetite back and has been asking for beef, rice and gravy. It's in the crock pot, so we at least will have food to eat today! It's been a little sparse around here as far as healthy meals.

We have decided that we are adopting our pastor's Winter/Spring Calendar for our family as well, so today is the last day of Winter. On his calendar Super Bowl Sunday is the last day of Winter. Tomorrow, being the first day of Spring!

We're in and loving it!!! No matter what weather comes our way after this, our hearts and our minds are in Spring mode.

Don't expect the cleaning though. That will stay on the typical calendar schedule. At least that's my story.

I've known this for some time, but it has become increasingly clear to me this week - it truly takes a village to raise a child. If you have multiple children I think you need multiple villages or a larger village for sure. Day to day seems so hard sometimes and if I had to do it alone, I'm pretty sure I would throw in the towel.

I'm not always as appreciative as I should be about the help though. Sometimes it seems like there is a revolving door at our house. Nurses, therapists, nurse managers, equipment reps, new nurse meet and greets - all who are just here to help, but sometimes it feels overwhelming. There are days that I just feel overwhelmed with other people in my house and I want them all out! Sounds rude, I know. But, it's honest.

I truly love them all, which is the funny part. They have become such a part of our lives that I don't know what we would do without them. I think it's inevitable to feel the way I feel sometimes though. It's like your house is not your own. I used to be the type of person who had to get "ready" before I tackled my day. Now, if I get my teeth brushed I'm doing good some days. So they see us in all forms....the good, the bad and most definitely some ugly.

And then there are days like yesterday when I feel like I wake up two hours behind. It's like I can't catch up to save my life, even though I'm not sure what I'm trying to catch up on. I'm tired, irritable, feeling very selfish and want to just get away from my life.

It's days like that when I realize how much I appreciate the "village". You know, the days when they aren't here.

Although it's been a crazy week, it's been good. Freddie's had a good week at school and spent some great time with his Ga Ga!! I've been able to accomplish some things that really help me feel like I'm making progress. Fred has made some progress as work on things that were somewhat plaguing him for a while. And Logan is slowly making progress. We also had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor this week and there is nothing alarming that he saw. That's progress.

Progress is good.

So we'll take that for now. I'll try and adjust my attitude, like I tell Freddie all the time. And we'll enjoy the last day of Winter.

Hopefully everyone will be feeling better next week and we can head back to church. We need that place, those people and God's presence. I absolutely love our church and it has nothing to do with the building. They are our family and we are so blessed by them.

Here are some recent pictures. They include a little of everything!

We haven't taken family photos in a while, so we have a few different combinations here, but I loved them all! We missed getting Fred and Logan in this round though....oops!

Me, Nana and my sweet sister Sheri