Mothering ALL my kids!

So I just saw a post from a mom whom I started following who has a special needs son.  Same thing as Brecken and about the same severity.  Her son is 9 now so I really like reading what she is going through as a mom and how he is doing being that Brecken seems to be on the same track.  While I agree with some stuff she says there are certain things I do disagree with.  Today she had written an article about how mothering is the most important thing for a special needs child.  Yep...I agree....however the article was so focused on her special needs son there was no mention of her daughter.  I often do this too when I get on a role about how hard it is to mother a special needs kiddo.  I love my son so much and I hope he knows how much I adore him and yes taking him to all his doctors, therapies and such is a lot.  I never imagined I would be doing this once I had a family of my own.  My life literally revolves around Brecken more then any of my other kids because of his needs.  I often catch myself hearing other moms talk about how hard their day is with all they have to do and think "try throwing a couple therapies on top of that" or "yeah in the middle of helping one kid with homework I am rushing my son into a warm bath because he is having painful spasms in his legs".  I try not to do this because I understand how hard being a mom is period.

As of now yes my boys take more of my time but my girls are definitely taking more of my mental sanity.  Haha.   So personally I think mothering is the most important job no matter what.  For all 4 of my kids.  I try and get to where they all have something in their lives.  Taylor is in gymnastics so that she has something that is for her and no one else.  We try and take her out on dates so she does not have to be surrounded with "Brecken" on everything.  She enjoys his therapies and helping me with him but we have had her comment on "why does Brecken have to have Cerebral Palsy".  She never says it in a mean way or anything like that but she sees other families and knows that they do not have to do a lot of the stuff we have to.

I KNOW God gave me her as my first child for a reason.  She is an amazing big sister and a huge help to me.  Especially since we live the military life and my husband will be gone for days to months to years at a time.  I know she does the same exact thing I do too though.  She looks at other family's and wonders how it would be if we could be more "normal".  Although being 6 she does not realize that all family's have their challenges. 

Bailey on the other hand is my kiddo who knows something is up with Brecken but she is not quite sure what it is.  She pushes him around and tells him to keep up which is awesome because it does push him.  I have a feeling she is going to be the one who pushes him the hardest and be in his face when he gets older telling him to get up and try harder when he wants to quit.  She is a crazy stubborn girl who loves her big brother and will want to see him do his best no matter what.

Jayce already pushes Brecken.  Brecken sees him and gets that he is his big brother and I see him wanting to be the best big brother he can for him which in turn makes Brecken push harder.

So all in all YES parenting a special needs child is important however not forgetting that there are other ones looking to you to be the mom you need to be is just as important.  Making time for my other son and my girls is just as important to me as being the strong mama Breck needs.

I love my kids and yes they ALL drive me nuts sometimes but they are ALL worth it every single day!  Every night when I go to bed I always think my worst days with my kids is 1,000 times better then the best days I had without them.  Being a mom is hard and no joke but it is a job only the amazing and strong can handle and I say if you still have the same number of kids at the end of the day that you started the day with...you are super mom!! 

34 weeks, First Day of School and the Beach:)

 So here is my 34 week picture.  Bailey is not happy at all.  Lol.  I am actually 35 weeks now but falling behind on getting pictures up.  Sorry. I know you all want to see me in my fantasticness.  Anyways Jayce is huge and I am done.  I want him out.  Lol.  I am sore and tired and just done.

 This last week was Taylors first week of 1st grade!!  She likes it so far and her teacher seems nice!  We thought it was Breckens first day too but apparently that is today.  All the parents showed up for his class so they apparently did not inform us all that we all still had another week of summer.  So today will be his first day of school:)

 This weekend we went to the beach. One of the benefits of living by the water is it takes us 2 minutes to get to the beach.  Bailey chased birds the entire time.  I sat and looked like a beached whale.  All in a days work:)

So we have 4 more weeks until this son makes his appearance.  Things are getting busy again because of school and such.  I am done with my summer semester and did really well actually!  I am thinking I am going to take the fall off but we shall see.  3 more weeks until Doug has a month off and 4 more weeks until my mom is out here to help.  I am ready!!!  Bring on kiddo #4!!

Daughters:)

So I am sure you have all heard that song by John Mayer called "Daughters".  I hear it on my Pandora a lot and I LOVE this song.  I just really feel he explains a girl becoming a woman so well.  Here is a verse that gets me

Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will live like you do
Girls become lovers
Who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters too

When I sit and think of the words and where I was in life as a daughter.  Then becoming a wife and lover.  Then having a life inside of me and becoming a mother.  Wow do we really go through changes or what.  My heart changed so much during each stage too!  The most amazing thing is knowing I get to be there to watch my daughters grow.  To see them play around and be kids now and then watch them fall in love and become that woman that stands beside her husband.  Then to get the news that they are carrying a life inside them and knowing their whole world is going to change for the better.  I pray my girls have a daughter.  Not for the same reason that most moms say "I hope you have a girl just like you" but for the fact that knowing how much I changed at each stage of life and being able to be apart of my daughters lives and knowing how unique a mother daughter relationship is.  I am so happy to have my girls and love that I will have this relationship to hold on to with each one!!

May!!!

May is a BUSY month for our family.  First there is Mothers Day.  Then my Taylor turns 6 on the 15th.  I turn 29 on the 17th and my mom is turning the big 50 on the 19th.  Plus Doug and I started dating May 24th which will put us at 12 years together this month!  So here is an update on most things.

Doug is finally back from a couple TDYs and is not supposed to leave for a while.  This is good for me because I am now starting to get uncomfortable doing some things around the house like giving kids a bath and some of the cleaning.

Taylor only has a couple more weeks left of school and is really doing great!  I cannot believe how big she is getting and there are days I stare at her thinking "Gees....when did she become such a beautiful and loving child and how on earth did she learn all this from being around me all the time?".  She is still in dance class and loving it.  She really is good at it too!  I am not a dancer at all but she definitely has talent from somewhere.  She also has found a great friend out here whom we have pay dates with at least once a week and see at church.  I am SO grateful she has someone who is as great a kid as she is and has a passion for Jesus like Taylor does:)

Brecken is doing great!  He is up to 5 therapies a week now and really progressing.  I can see it the most in his physical therapy.  His speech is going great too!  He is still signing most of the time but he seems more willing to try vocalizing.  He still uses his speech machine at school and the teachers and volunteer parents are always telling me how crazy it is that he knows how to use it so well!  He is really loving school and he will be doing summer school.  The kids are so great to him and help him all the time!  I saw a little girl help him up the stairs the other day and I just feel blessed that so many other families have taught their kids to be such great kids!  His occupational therapy is going well but they did have to up his time doing it.  He was not progressing like they want to see which is great that they are so on top of things in seeing where he needs more help!  He is being seen in June by a specialist to make sure he is all on track:)

Bailey is doing awesome!  I love this age!  She is zooming around the house and learning to talk and getting so crazy!  She dances all the time!  She is a CUDDLER big time!  The other 2 kids were daddys kids but Bailey definitely is a mommy's girl:)  People say she is the one kid who looks exactly like me so obviously she is super cute:)

I am doing GREAT!  I am 20 weeks pregnant with another boy!  Jayce Christian Levy.  We are really excited to add another boy to the mix.  Brecken is WAY excited.  I am getting big fast but I am still feeling pretty good.  I am feeling him kick and he is starting to kick where I feel it on the outside.  Taylor keeps asking when she can feel him but she has not yet.  I am just feeling blessed that everything is going well and life is back on track for now.

5 weeks!!

My baby girl is five weeks old today. We had her one month check up last week and she is doing great!! She is 10 pounds already!! My other kids did not hit 10 pounds until 3 months old so she is a chunk. She is 21 inches. She is cooing and ooooing and aaaaaing. She has started smiling and she can now focus on our faces. She still eats all the time at night and during the day. We are going to try to attempt to put her in her crib in her room soon. She is just the sweetest little baby girl! I am so in love with her. Doug loves when she makes the Cherrios face. A lot of you probably know what I am talking about. When they open their eyes real big and make their mouth into an O like they are whistling. Well so far I am just loving snuggling another little Levy.