2012….The Year of Janie!

Our family welcomed 2012 with the great anticipation of meeting Janie. She has given us way more than we ever imagined and then some. This year has been full of highs and lows, accomplishments and set backs, fear and courage, love and forgiveness………..most of all it has been a year of learning to trust God in all things. I always have to remind myself that He is never surprised by outcomes…….that would only be us. I am surprised just as much by the good as I am by the bad……..

I have to say His best gift to us late in the year has been Janie’s ability to potty train for urine. When I went out of town in early December she let her control guard down and I came home to a potty trained child. She has accidents here and there but not much. This is such a huge answer to prayer!!! She will have her kidney ultrasound in February which I’m confident will be good since she has not had any infections. Next she will have urodynamic testing which we are very hopeful will show that her bladder is functioning correctly now. As far as bowel control we will have to wait until she is a little more mature to handle eating patterns ect. All in all we are so very thankful for her health and how well she is doing. She is such a little firecracker!! She makes us laugh all the time!

We are ending our year with lots of doctors appointments for some of us and er visits for others so life is normal:), flu, ovarian cyst are a few on the list….all fixable. I’m a little over this school break and ready to get back on some sort of schedule, but who am I fooling…..I think that would be me.

I have not even thought about goals for the year other than trying to survive young kids as I turn 50 haha!! Everyone says it keeps you younger and I say, it better, cause I’m not getting any younger! I am thankful to start this year with all the adjustments of a new child behind us. Janie and Madeline are doing so great together now. Last summer I feared I would never say that. They are very protective of each other and can about kill each other all the time:). Hank and I can see clearly now how each of them needed the other for different reasons, they are both better for having the other. For that I am most thankful. Two years ago on New Years Eve God moved my heart towards this special child. My first thought was “yeah right, don’t you know how old I am” , the next thought was” this is not about you, it is about Madeline”……..now I can understand and see some of what God has been up to…..I look forward to seeing the rest even if I am a tired old Mom!

I leave you with this picture on New Years Eve because this is just who we are……we are a family that LOVES a good laugh despite anything that may be going on in our lives….