"Happier Days"....

"Sunday, Monday Happy Days,
Tuesday, Wednesday Happy Days,
Thursday, Friday Happy Days,
Saturday, what a day"!

Okay, so that was alittle cheezy, but happier days have come to the Joye household. While we still have several more weeks before the cast comes off, I feel as if I have finally figured out how to manage a 3 year old in a cast and a newborn, and all of the unique challenges this particular combination presents.  Now sure as the world I say that, tomorrow will be a hard day. That's what happened the night before EB fell. I was having a conversation with my neighbor across the street and she was asking how it was going adjusting to 2 children etc....  I told her it wasn't really as hard as I thought it was going to be because EB was so independent and was able to do most everything for himself in the house except dress himself and prepare his food. Less than 24 hours later, he was completely dependent on me in a major way!   But, God's grace has been, IS, and continues to be sufficient for our every need. Not just some of our needs, but every single one of them - and for the times when I just don't think I can put one foot in front of the other. His grace is ENOUGH. I just need to get out of the way.

Enjoy some pictures of my happy, smiling, and content children. "Contentment" has been a word that I have prayed many times over the past few weeks for both of my children and myself. God has been gracious to teach us what this truly means, as we wade through the choppy waters of various trials that have come upon our dear family in recent months.

Ellison Anne 9 weeks old

After a week of being very anxious and fearful to even attempt to stand on his leg, Elijah Brooks finally decided that he wanted to try to swing. He went to a birthday party over the weekend for a sweet friend of his, and he watched the children swinging very intently - watching their every move from sitting in my lap.  I asked him several times if he wanted to try to swing, and he very politely told me that he did not want to, but he might in a few minutes.  Well, after several times of me asking (was trying to help him), he said, "Mommy, stop asking me. I don't want to swing"!  Okay, I got the point. He has ALOT of his mommy in him! After thinking about this incident and trying to figure out why he snapped at me, I realized that he really did want to swing, but he was fearful that he might fall or not be able to do it in front of the other children.  Several days later, in the privacy of his own backyard, he decided on his own that he wanted to try. He was thrilled beyond words that he was able to do it, and now every day, we are out swinging.  He told me today, "Mommy, I am feeling brave and confident"!

It does my heart so much good to see this smile again.

I wish I had a picture of me at age 3 to compare this with.  His face/expression is a carbon copy of me!

My beautiful girl "flying" with Daddy!

Thanks to a shorter cast, he can get back to doing what he truly loves - riding the John Deere lawnmower at his great-grandparents house. Very much like the swinging incident, I have been asking him if he was ready to try this again. Each time I asked, I got the same answer, "No, I don't think so" (which is very unlike him - he usually runs out to the work shed to jump on it).  But, he was feeling brave this week and decided he wanted to try it again with his Bebe. Each day, I am seeing more and more of my sweet boy emerge from the frustrated cocoon he has been trapped in.