Sorry

Today I was making small talk with a repair man at work. He had been there before when I've had the boys at work with me and was asking me a little about them. When I told him a little more about David, he replied with "I'm so sorry."  I replied back with "Please don't be sorry for us."

I truly don't want people to feel sorry for us.  While I didn't ask for a special needs child, this child was chosen for Michael & I to raise and love. I am absolutely NOT sorry that we had him at all. When I was pregnant with David, I had so many dreams. Those dreams didn't come true, but I have so many other dreams now.  Dreams of acceptance. Dreams of awareness. Dreams of loving all needs.

Occasionally I feel sorry for the things that we can't do. I feel badly for Kyle because there are things that we have had to skip out on because of accessibility issues. Or David having a bad day.  I wish I could change the way I feel, but I'm human and go through human emotions just like everyone else. And while I feel sorry for certain things, I do not feel sorry for who we are. Because we are us.

 

 I am lucky enough to be able to love my special needs child along with a much more typically developing child with his own struggles with ADHD.  Some days are really tough. Most days are really good. And some days are just in between. For both the boys.

The journey we're on has so many days that are unpredicted still. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next.

You don't have to feel sorry for us. But I will always accept & appreciate prayers for us & these two kids.

Favorite Eight

This post will be a little different than my usual birthday post. Now that Kyle is 8 (yes 8!), I have the impression that a super mushy birthday blog post wasn't in order this year. Will it get a LITTLE mushy? Yup. But hopefully not the "Mom, you've embarrassed me terribly and I can't show my face around those who have read this" mushy.

So I've decided to compose a list of my 8 favorite things about my youngest child in honor of his 8th birthday.


1.  His heart. He loves unconditionally. He would probably still love me if I had posted a sappy blog about him turning older.

2.  His adoration towards animals. Maybe that goes along with the heart business, but I think someone who has such a love for animals shows such a great character.

3.  His eyes (and those lashes!). I swear that boy's eyes turned brown within hours after being born. They are so different from David's. Michael has brown eyes as well, but I think Kyle's may be even darker. And his lashes make ladies super jealous.

4.  His adventurousness. He is not afraid to try anything new. Four-wheeling, tree climbing, bike tricks.  You name it, he's willing to try it if he thinks it's something "cool". (Let me just note for the record, that he & I have completely different definitions of "cool". Some of the things he's willing to try freaks me out as a parent!)

5.  His love for the outdoors. He hates being stuck inside all winter. It's definitely not good for Kyle's ADHD side. Thank goodness we're seeing much nicer weather here lately! He's been out playing every single night since it's been warmer!

6.  His laugh. From day one, Kyle was a child you had to work to get a smile or a giggle from. So when he laughs, it's pretty darn genuine.

7.  His blankie. LOL. Don't tell him I wrote that. But I got the "blankie" for my baby shower for him, and he is still very much attached to that thing. Not sure when that will go away.

Aaaaannnnnnddddddd best for last!

8.  His love for his brother. This probably goes with #1, but this is a special bond. Most people don't see it, because when we're out doing other things with other people, Kyle has other things to do. When we're home, he really knows the things David likes & dislikes and has learned to read him as well as Michael & I. It's something that I don't think will ever be broken even as Kyle grows older & his interests change.


All in all, I'm excited about Kyle turning another year older. He always gives me a lot of firsts as a mom. But I don't think I'm near as excited as he is about turning 8!

After reading this Kyle wanted to add a list of his eight favorite things:

1.  Family

2.  Old fashioned cars

3.  Star Wars/Lego Star Wars

4.  Marvel/Lego Marvel

5.  Eating

6.  Vacation-South Carolina

7.  Briley (Grandpa & Grandma's puppy)

8.  School