A Busy Weekend

This weekend is very relaxing which is nice because last weekend was super busy...

*Mason had his last soccer game and party...

Mason and Jack David

*Mason learned to ride his bike! FINALLY...not because he is slow, but because we live on a busy street and haven't taken the time to stop making excuses and teach him!!! Sad, I know! Once we finally taught him he learned in less than an hour!

Little Speedster

*Mother's Day, of course...

Kendall had to have a silly one!

*But by far the highlight of our weekend was a TEA PARTY!!! My "Best Friend from High School, Jill" as she has affectionately been named, not only invited us to her daughter's 4th birthday party, she asked me to help decorate for it! That has meant so much to me! And here is why...

(bare with me...this is another long, detailed story that I want documented for Mason)

In the post "The Way God Works" I mentioned I have had one surprising experience "cheered" on by God. Really I think there have been two. Jill, really is so much more than my "friend from high school." We figured out we really have known each other and gone to school together since kindergarten. I really remember our friendship beginning in 3rd grade. We were inseparable from 3rd grade through high school. She lived two streets behind me and we did everything together. Then we went to college and things changed. We had different friends, different lives, and boyfriends. A wedge grew between us and our friendship quickly became one of congeniality. Sometimes it wasn't even that...sometimes we were downright rude to each other. Our relationship changed so much that we weren't in each other's weddings. Although we did both go to the others. We both went to visit when the other had a baby and we were nice to each other, but no one would have ever guessed that this girl had been my very best year for 10 years. I don't think either of us thought much about the "loss" of each other. We never took time to go to lunch or really be friends. I think we thought it was just what happened when you went off to college and life changed.

Then Mason got sick. He was 5 weeks old. And he woke up with 102 fever. As a new mom, I thought he was dying. And the doctors didn't really help convince me otherwise. We took him to the urgent care center where they ran a blood test, a urinalysis, a chest x-ray and a spinal tap. All his tests came back "negative" except his blood test which wasn't showing what it should. So the doctor informed me that they were going to start him on an IV and send him to the Children's Hospital. In my state of shock, I said, "How am I going to get him to the hospital with an IV in his arm?" The doctor said, "Oh honey, the ambulance, is on its way." So, while we waited for the ambulance I sang "You Are My Sunshine" in the ear of my precious newborn while 4 strangers raced to see who would be the first to get an IV started in one of his limbs. And I thought about what it would be like if he was only ours for 5 short weeks.

The ambulance came, they strapped his tiny body to a stretcher and told me I had to sit in the front. (Ryan was driving our car and making the necessary phone calls.) As we walked out the doors to the ambulance bay, a mom and her child were standing outside waiting their turn to be seen by the doctor. She grabbed my hand and said, "Can I pray for you?" I was in total shock at this point and mumbled, "sure." She said "What is his name?" I said, "Mason." She prayed a sweet prayer of healing for Mason and peace for me. And I got in the ambulance. As we were driving away for a split second I thought that maybe I knew that girl...then I let it go.

We arrived at the hospital where a team of doctors were waiting at the doors for us. That should be a comforting thing...not so much. It is terrifying. I thought, there must be something really wrong if they are waiting for us. They take Mason into the ER and immediately began "working" on him. A lady came over to me, put her arm around me, introduced herself and said, "I am the Family Life Advocate. I am here for you. Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like a coke, some coffee?" I (rudely...remember I am in shock) say, "I need you to tell me if my son is going to die." She says, "Oh honey, you are in a good place, with good doctors, they are doing the very best for your son." (Notice the absence of the word NO!) My response was as nicely as I could, "Then I don't need you." In my mind, she was like having the chaplain in the room and I did not want that. Anyway, after the doctors had him hooked up to monitors and antibiotics and whatever else he was hooked up to and he was sleeping (which was what he did through most of this fiasco), Ryan made me pull myself together and go talk to my family. While I was in the family room, the phone rang. My sister-in-law answered the phone. She looked at me puzzled and said, "Its Jill." "Jill who?" Jill ____" she said. Remember, Jill and I haven't spoken in several months other than the congenial visit when we had our babies. When I said hello, the first thing Jill said was, "Is Mason okay?" I said, "How did you know?" She said, "That was Julie ___ from high school that prayed for you. She called Jodi (Julie's cousin and another friend of ours from high school) and said I think your friend's baby is sick, does she have a baby named Mason? Jodi called me to check. I called the hospital to track you down. Is he okay?"

From that moment on we have been great friends again...and even better our girls are friends!! Jill and her mom were two of a few people that were constant encouragement to me while we were in school especially the first two years while we were far from any family. I have laughed and said that I am sure God could have thought of a much better and less stressful way to bring us back together other than making Mason sick, but I am so grateful for the gift of friendship that the experience has given not only me and Jill but also Kendall and Ella!

By the way...they never figured out what was wrong with Mason. They kept him 3 days and then declared it a "virus." A very stressful virus!

A few pictures of our girly Tea Party...

Each little girl had a hat to decorate with flowers, a purse,

gloves and a feather boa.

(Kendall has loved her hat! Great idea, Jill)

Thanks Jill for letting me help! I loved every

little girly pink part of it!