Blink Of An Eye...part 1

This post was written in March...but never posted. As I sat to write a Back-to-School, Welcome-to-Fall update, I realized I had not ever published this one! So here is some old news about how we spent the first few months of 2016! New news to be posted soon!

March has roared in like a lion here in Oregon...a wet, soggy, gray, dreary lion! Today, however, the sun is shining, the green is abundant (although this could be because it's St. Patrick's Day...), and spring is on the horizon. Finally. The Goodrich 4 are beyond ready!

Somehow February flew by, in our household it was full of sick kiddos and lazy days, with a sprinkle of Valentine's Day love and Doug's birthday. Valentine's Day began with a fever for Gracie, which was the beginning of a week-long cough & cold that hit her, Joel, and Doug, who had a very low-key birthday the following Sunday since he was beginning his cold cycle and the kids were at the end of theirs. Valentine's Day, sadly, ended with the passing of Doug's mother's husband, "Grandpa Terry" to the kids. He had battled cancer for a long time and we knew the end was here, and are thankful he's at peace now with the Lord and his earthly suffering has ended. It was a new experience for the children, saying goodbye to him a couple days before, learning about cremation, praying over his ashes as we laid him in his final resting place. You never quite know when your children will face losing someone close to them, and how much they will comprehend, but we just followed their lead as they processed everything, and let them be involved as much/little as they were comfortable with. Once more we find ourselves thankful to have Doug at home, as February found him being a daytime nurse to the kids, and he was able to be with his mom as needed to help her take care of things. I have flexibility with my workday, but it sure is nice to know that if a kid needs to stay home sick from school, dad is there to be with them and I can go about my work day!

March started off with Gracie's highly anticipated IV sedation dental appointment to get her teeth taken care of. She was incredibly brave about facing this unknown situation! She ended up having 8 baby teeth pulled...yes, that is a lot, but it's what needed to be done so her adult teeth can grow in healthy and strong. They were angled, and were not pushing the baby teeth up and out, so they were not going to get loose and come out on their own. Waking up from the sedation and with a numb mouth was scary for our anxious girl, but she did so well staying calm, letting mom and dad take care of her, and resting for the rest of the day. It was a struggle to get her to drink liquids the first 48 hours, let alone eat any soft foods, but she started perking up after a couple of days and within a week post-appointment was fully back to herself. Minus 8 teeth, but $20 richer from the tooth fairy!

Just as we were getting back to "routine", Joel picked up his first stomach bug at school. Ugh. Fortunately it was of the 24 hour variety, and nobody else in the house got it. This week has been fairly "normal" with the exception of adjusting to Daylight Savings and the loss of an hour of precious sleep! We're looking forward to Spring Break next week, and though the rain is back in the forecast, it will be nice to have some down time. Hopefully the kids stay healthy and are able to get in some play time with friends, along with some family fun we're planning. A viewing of 'Zootopia' and bowling are at the top of the list!

As up and down, but honestly mostly down, as the last month and a half have been, I continue to be grateful for so many things, most of all my unwavering faith. I continue to get through each day, powering through with grit and grace!