The little bird

Yesterday afternoon, when I was outside watering my flowers, I kept hearing this really loud chirping. In each corner of our porch, we have bird nests (2 total) that have been there for about 4 years, and every year we get at least 2 families of birds per nest, so I assumed that's where the chirping was coming from. Then I realized that it was coming from the flower bed, and that a baby bird had either fallen or tried to fly. He was chirping so loud. And I of course had to go get the whole family. And Noah loved it!!! And Derrick tried to rescue it and put it back in the nest, but the bird jumped out of his hands back onto the ground. I felt so bad for the little guy. He did kind of look a little sickly, but they may all look like that, I'm not sure. Underneath his wings were yucky and bleedy looking. And after the bird jumped out of Derrick's hands into the grass, the little bird just sat there. I watched it and watched it. It quit chirping and everything. I guess it was tired. I thought it was gonna die right there, but then Noah said a prayer for that bird, and it started walking across the grass, and trying to flap it's wings. That reminded me that God can really do all things!!! He saw that bird right where it was at, and heard the prayer that went up for it. So a big lesson re-learned here. Much later, after I came in, I saw the momma bird trying to help her baby. It was so pitiful. Then, this morning, I went outside to find the little bird by the landscape stones, and just barely doing some labored breathing. It is still alive. There are a few ants circling around though. I just wish I knew what to do for the little bird. Either way, I am so thankful that God continues to show me things, and remind me of His love and His power. He is such a Mighty God. He helped that little bird, and He can and will help me in my times of need. I watched that bird last night for around 30 minutes, just me and the bird, and so many thoughts were going through my head. I am hoping to go outside in a few minutes and do either a rescue from the ants, or even see that baby bird take flight. Who knows what God has in store for it?!?!?

Starting to stress a little.....

Our niece is getting married on Saturday. I am so excited for her. I am also honored that she asked me to be the "official photographer".....but the more I play around with my camera trying to take "professional shots" the more I realize that, as thankful as I am for my camera, I am only taking snapshots with it!!! The lighting in her church is really wierd and I am afraid that the pictures just won't turn out. Or what if the batteries go dead as she is coming down the aisle?!?!?!? This is scary. Derrick keeps reassuring me that I take good pictures, too many, but good ones. A photographer friend of mine once told me that as long as you love taking pictures and you are passionate about it, it doesn't matter what kind of camera you have. Hopefully she's right!

The other thing is she wants Derrick and Noah to wear pink. That's the color of her wedding, but Derrick and Noah are not in her wedding, so I am not sure why they should match. Either way, I went all over Malbis, Spanish Fort, and Fairhope in search of pink dress shirts and/or ties for my boys. Turns out, we are not millionares and cannot pay $25 for a shirt and another $20 for a tie!!! I did find Noah the full four piece outfit (shirt, tie, vest, and pants) for $7 at TJ Maxx. And it's even Van Heusen brand!!! I never could find anything for Derrick. I feel like I let him down. I know he didn't want me spending a bunch of money on it, but he did mention it would be nice to have a new shirt to wear on Father's Day, but he didn't have to. That's when I really started feeling bad. Noah and I had a very fun day shopping though. He was such a good boy as we went in and out of stores, looking at "Daddy shirts", such a good boy.

Even if we didn't find the shirt/tie (again we found them, just not at a reasonable price), and even if I did let Derrick down, I am just so thankful for the opportunity to hop in the truck, and spend an entire day going places with my boy!!! We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, which is a rare occurance, and while I was finishing eating and watching Noah play with the other kids, I was literally in tears because that is when the spirit of thankfulness came over me.....thankfulness to God, and thankfulness to my hard-working husband. He was off working in this heat today, reading hundreds of meters, having millions of numbers going through his head, and I was sitting in nice, cool Chick-Fil-A, where they bring you your food and refill your drinks so you don't have to get up!!! This makes me proud, happy, thankful, and sad all at the same time. I wouldn't trade my day with Noah for anything in this world, but again, I wish I could've accompolish said mission.

I love my husband, I love my Noah, and I love my God!!!

Very disappointed....

This morning I had a very rude awakening at the library program. I took Noah and my niece and nephew and we were excited about a happy time. They had a story teller who stuck with the theme of "Be creative", and she was very nice. However, she gave the kids a couple of ideas for a story they were gonna all write together as a group, and they picked one about aliens and ufos. Now, I know this sounds silly to a lot of people, but we are very particular with Noah and what he watches and hears, and aliens are a no-no to us. I know it's just part of make believe, and I know that outer space is real. However, I don't like the idea of such a controversial subject being introduced to such a wide range of kids. When she started telling the story, Noah and I just got up and walked outside until they were done. I found out that by doing this we are "weird". And it's not just about it being scary, although from what the other kids said, they cut the alien's head off and all that, but I just don't believe in aliens, and I don't want Noah going along with a story that promotes them. There are lots of other things we don't let him watch (Cartoon Network, FairlyOdd Parents, Spider-man, just to name a few) because my husband and I just do not agree with some of these shows and what they are teaching kids. I just cannot picture Jesus liking this story or these t.v. shows, and while I am not sure about this, I don't want to be held accountable for letting my child watch and listen to and see whatever he wants. I think that children pick up not necessarily bad habits or do bad things, but they pick up the wrong ideas about stuff. We do the Easter Bunny and Santa, not stressed a lot, but we do them, BUT, my child can tell you about King Jesus on the cross and about Baby Jesus in a manger. I am not one of these religious types who will push my beliefs on anyone, God sent His Son not to condemn the world....., and it's not about religion, it's about a relationship. And I don't feel I should feel like an outcast for caring about what my child is introduced to. And, everytime I think about this, I remember that Jesus was an outcast first. Hopefully, anyone who is reading this did not get their toes stepped on, but this is one place where I can say my feelings. I didn't tell any of the library workers or the lady telling the story that I was opposed to what they were doing, after all, I was the different one, but here, I get to actually say what I wanted to say to them!!!!! I believe that's called a flesh attack!!!! Hahaha! Next week they are having puppets, Noah LOVES puppet shows, and hopefully they will not be dragons, monsters, witches, aliens, or fairies!!!!!!

A few fun times...

Yesterday and today have been two of the nicest, funnest, and yet relaxing days I have had in a while. I had absolutely nothing to do!!!
Friday, Noah and I went to my brother and sister-n-law's house. They have a little boy named Anthony, and they were also babysitting my niece Felicity. Noah was so happy to play with his cousins. We had hotdogs from the grill, just played in the yard, and relaxed. Then, we got the bright idea to walk to Burris from their house (only 2 blocks!) and get some ice cream, cobbler, and cheesecake!!! No, wait....I wanted to look at fruit and veggies! Hahahaha! It was a nice fun time. I got corn on the cob, bananas, apples, and cantoloupe. Biggest cantoloupe I've ever seen. The apples are gone, the corn has been eaten too, and there are 2 bananas left! Still lots of cantoloupe left!!!
Then we came home, and I worked some more in my flower beds. I love to work on those...that's a good thing as it's a never ending job!!! And Derrick and Noah came out and we just piddled around in the yard. Then we came in and ate, then it was back outside for good fellowship with the neighbors. They have a little girl who is Noah's age, so that's always fun. They rode bikes while we all visited.
Then this morning, we went to the dump!!! That's a family outing we take a few times a year and we take our branches and debris and any junk we may have picked up along the way. It doesn't sound to glamourous, but we always enjoy it! Then we went to the beach this afternoon. That's where the real fun comes in. I never really liked the beach too much, but watching Noah play in the sand and the waves makes it worth a trip!
So far, we have had just a great weekend. Oh yeah, and I haven't had coffee since Thursday morning!!! Some people smoke a cigarette after each meal, I drink a cup of coffee after each meal, but I really have been wanting to cut back. It really is harder than it sounds when you are used to 3-4 cups a day. And I have the oversized mugs!
Overall, a nice time. And it's so nice to have a blog to be able to document, but also just to say stuff I wanna say. I should've thought of this years ago! I am looking forward to church in the morning. I just feel like something good is about to happen!!!!

There's power in prayer!

So, not to sound like a whiney-baby, I went to sleep last night with a horrible headache...and I woke up today with it. I just went about my business, cleaned the bathroom floor and baseboards, dusted the living room a little, pulled weeds in two flower beds, did a little laundry, made chicken and rice for supper, and took care of Noah. The whole time my head was pounding. I took some Tylenol twice today....which apparently I was just wasting my time. Finally, when Derrick came home, we had dinner and I told him I just had to lay down for a minute...I literally couldn't see straight. I did not want to lay down, or face the fact that I do not have a big "S" plastered on my chest and I don't wear a cape, but I really had to.

Noah came to my bedside and said, " Mommy, what's wrong?" I told him that my head was hurting. He then said, " It's o.k. mom, I'll say a prayer!!!" and he laid his little hand on my head and said, "In Jesus name, Amen." Then he told me, "It's o.k. mom."

I laid there about 20 more minutes, just to be sure, but then I got up and I feel fine. Of course.

It's like Noah remembered all the times that he has been sick, and I have sat at his bedside. What a role reversal!!! This event made me proud, but at the same time, a little sad. I thought I was the mom, and he was the kid I was taking care of!!! So let me take up some space on my blog to honor my boy....who has the faith to move mountains!!! These pictures are from March, when Noah and I were working in the yard....they are some of my favorite pictures.

Let the words of my mouth,

and the meditation of my heart,

be acceptable in thy sight,

O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer!

A different kind of day...

Today, I was reminded that Noah is still a work-in-progress, and I was reminded of how far he has come...developmental delay or not. I have been taking Noah to the library every Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. for story time. He has been the only kid there every week. He usually walks in, waits on the carpet for Ms. Cindy to come with the books to read, then waits at the table for Mrs. Runae and the arts and crafts time, then he pretty much has free reign of the library. Today was the kick-off for the summer reading program. When he walked in and saw the other kids there, and got his routine messed up, he just threw himself in the floor and started screaming. It was a brief reminder of how he used to be all the time!!! I took him outside and tried to reason with him, but the change of structure and routine for him was just to much. As much as he talks now ( a year-and-a-half ago he was totally non-verbal) he still is tormented by anxiety and communicating. He has been doing so good lately too, but today was different. Then he went into total baby mode: sitting in my lap, sucking his fingers, etc. Finally, he came around and things got better, but it's still so difficult for me to remember that he is different than the others. I still in my heart long for the day when he is standing in a huge church, filled with people, t.v. cameras rolling, and my boy says , " LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!!!"

He is going to have an awesome testimony. I stand on God's word that Noah is healed. That no weapon formed against him will prosper. That God has not given Noah a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a SOUND MIND.

He's come farther than the doctor thought he would anyway. The doctor thought Noah either had Austism or Aspergers and needed to be check by a neurologist. The doctor did not think Noah would ever talk, make friends, etc. Through God's divine will, I found out about the preschool program he goes to, and Noah can talk, sing, has friends, say his ABC's, read his ABC's (not words, just identify letters), write his name, he knows his colors, numbers, shapes, has all his motor skills...he can ride a bike, play ball, and swim...and so many other things. Before, Noah would not make eye contact with people, he would stay by himself in a room full of kids, he would not respond always when people spoke to him. I would say HE IS HEALED!!!

After we survived the library ordeal, my mom called and said she was having her car fixed, did we want to come pick her up and have lunch. And we did. It was so nice to sit down just me and my mom (Noah was playing...we were at Chick-fil-A) and just eat and talk. She normally works during the week, but her boss wasn't feeling good, so they got off early. We had a good time. Noah then fell asleep on the ride home, and is napping now. Hopefully, he will wake up better than before.

I have a few things to do around the house before getting ready for church tonight...I'm glad I prepared my lesson already...and yes, we have church on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays. So, I guess that's all I know!!!