7 Years Ago

Wow. Seven years ago at 8:36 pm William David Harrison came into this world 30 years and one week to the day at the same hospital I was born. After 13hours of labor it was decided to cut me open and take him. I was terrified. Mary helped me so much. She helped me understand that a C Section was not as scary as it sounded and I would be okay. She was right. William was such a good baby. He so lulled me into a false sense of how babies behave. Had he not been number one there may have not been any others. I guess that is why the Lord sent him first. He knew I needed an easy one first. Dan was born when I was when I was twelve and as everyone knows I had many others after that and helped care for some of them. I knew the mechanics. That was cake. What I was not prepared for was the amount of love I felt for this child. I loved him while he was in the womb and wanted him desperately but nothing could have prepared me for that feeling. This overwhelming wave of love was amazing. Like the one poem says to have a child is to have your heart walk around outside your body for the rest of your life. It has been such a privilege watching him grow up. He is such a sweet hearted child. Hopefully he will keep some of that growing up. OK. I am going to stop being mushy now so I can stop crying.
Take care,
Raye

William in the hospital

Blowing out his candles tonight

Birthday Merriment

Saturday we had William's 7th birthday party. He had a laser tag party at Let's Jump. They had so much fun. Even Jake and little Ethan played. Ethan turned three in October. It was hilarious. They all kind of stood in the middle and aimed at each other. Then they would run around. Even little Tanner and Myles played. Well they are not so little. If Ryan was here he would probably be considerably shorter even without his issues. They are big boys. Gracie of course was the lone girl. Poor Gracie. On Sunday we went to Mary's for the joint birthday party. We celebrated William, Katrina, Doug and myself. It was fun. Jake again did his whole rockin' out thing with the Rock Band instruments. He is crazy.
Take care,
Raye

William blowing out his candles

Jake channeling Kurt Cobain

Happy Birthday Ryan

Well today is Ryan's birthday. I can't believe he would have been four today. Man. I feel like I have lived a few lifetimes since those days. I find myself wondering sometimes what he would have looked like. Would his syndrome completely keep him from looking like Doug or myself. Would he have looked like William like Jake does. All these questions. And no answers. I am so very happy for the short time I had with him. Tonight we went to dinner to celebrate his birthday. Jake loves to do his cheers so we cheered Ryan and his birthday. William said we were celebrating Ryan's birthday at his party today. He was happy to share that with him. William can be so sweet sometime. If you get a minute say a little prayer for him and wish him a Happy Heavenly Birthday.
(((hugs)))
Raye

Bless His Poor Pea Pickin' Heart Pt 2

Ok. I do completely give up on my eldest child. On Sunday on our way back from Azle he was getting out of the truck and slipped off the running board. I am getting Jake out and all the sudden I hear a scream. I look over and ask Doug what happened. On his way down he hit his temple area on the metal loop that the car door latches. He screamed like a banshee of course. He was a little puny but came around. He is still a little swollen on that side. So. Yesterday I am sitting here at work going over some things with a coworker and my phone rings. It's the school nurse. William was hit in the head with a metal lunchbox. She said he was fine and just had a little goose egg. It was on the opposite side of his head from Sunday's debacle. I wouldn't be surprised to find CPS knocking on my door. I am now looking at bulk bubble wrap.

Raye

Azleland

Today we finally went out to visit Ryan. I honestly think it has been almost a year since we were there. Being there today really brought it out how much I want to move him. And Dad for that matter. I need to have a conversation with the caretaker. The ground is in such bad shape everything is sinking. He has only been there for just shy of four years and he is already starting to sink. At least they raised Dad's. The place is just so country bumpkin'. Ryan is right under a bush and power lines just on the other side of their maintenance area. I was taking pictures and I noticed and old Ford tailgate. All I could think is really?? I appreciate my family stepping in and helping in those days. I could not have gotten all that together without them. But I am just not happy with him under that bush. It just seems odd. But the important thing is he and Dad are in the same place. Now if I can just get my butt up there more. One really sweet thing was with Jake. I kissed my hand and then touched the marker. William saw me and did the same thing and then told Jake to do it as well. So Jake proceeds to bend over and kiss the marker directly. He is crazy. He understood we went to see Baby Ryan but he has no clue who Baby Ryan is at this point. I tell him he is his brother but I think he is still too young to get it. He will soon enough.
Take care,
Raye

William & Jake helping clean up the marker

The tail gate

The property next to Azleland

Crazy January Weather

On Friday I took the boys to the park after I picked them up. I knew colder weather was coming so I wanted to get them out. William wanted to take his skateboard to the park as a group of punk kids from the neighborhood hang out at the park and skate. Poor William. He was all suited up in protective gear and the other older boys didn't have a thing. With his record he needs to wear that gear 24x7. Jake was a wildman on the equipment. I wouldn't let him swing the whole time. I wanted him to run off some energy. He can climb on almost all the equipment. There is only one thing I won't let him do. He started to climb up the piece that I don't want him to do and he started calling for help. I went over and helped him off. With an exasperated tone he said "Thank you Mommy you save me.". It was really cute.

Bless His Poor Pea Pickin' Heart

Ok. I am just at wits end with my oldest son. I just don't get how this child can be so accident prone. And they are household accidents. When Doug picked him up yesterday he found that William had cut his face just below his eye with scissors. All I could say was "Really???". Apparently he was cutting tape and when the tape was cut he had some momentum and the scissors came back up towards him. I am just so happy that it didn't actually go in his eye. Let's see here. Since he was three he has broken his arm, had stitches in both eyes, closed his thumb in the car door and now this. What is actually kind of ironic is he has never hurt himself on the playing field. KNOCK ON WOOD. Maybe he is more aware of what he is doing when he plays sports and not so much in every day life. Hopefully Jake will not follow in his footsteps.
Have a great day!
Raye

Oh yeah. The spot on the outer corner of his eye is from Saturday when he hit himself in the eye with a stick he was playing with at the park.

Happy New Year's

How many posts on people's blog do you think have that title? Probably many. We had a great New Years. Katrina babysat with the boys for the first time completely on her own and she did a great job. We went over to the Amason's as usual for a little festivities. Today Courtney, Teri and myself went to Blue Mesa for New Year's brunch. That was nice. A girls lunch without kiddos. Yeah. Teri and I made a trip to Charming Charlie's and Swoozies. Swoozies had the cutest Christmas stuff on sale. We ended up at Mary's to spend a little time with the California crew before they head back home. Mike brought his Rock Band game with him from California. William really liked playing the drums. Jake picked up the mike and started dancing, playing the air guitar and pretending to sing. It was hilarious. All in all a great New Year's.

Take care,
Raye