Our Easter Day ...

We began our Easter Sunday morning with all of us listening to one of my favorite songs ever, "Arise, My Love". It totally makes me remember the importance of Easter and Jesus' victory over death and sin. This song gives me chills!


As we were getting ready to leave for church, I wanted to take some pics. Too bad the rain was pouring down and we couldn't get any pics outside in the yard :( We snapped a few on the front porch and called it good.

At this stage in the boys' lives, there is NO posing for pictures. I have tried everything I can think of to get them to smile and look at the camera at the same time. Ain't workin'. So, the boys had their waffles and milk and we snapped the best we could...

As Phil was getting Pax buckled into the car, I was grabbing the diaper bags. Phil turned around after he got Pax in his seat and saw Bennett standing in the neighbors yard. The yard was a.l.l.m.u.d.d.y!!! I mean it was completely FULL of MUD!! Phil yelled over to Bennett, "Bennett, come back here now! You're getting your clothes all messed up!" When he said that, Bennett started running back to our driveway, splashing mud all the way back. The back of his pants were COVERED in mud. Dang it! I had no other khaki pants for him, so we just wiped it off. What can you do??!

It's so sad that the whole day was rainy. I would have loved to get a family pic of all of us together. Guess we'll have to PhotoShop Phil in this one...

After church, we went to my Aunt's house and had Easter lunch. Delish! To keep the boys calm for a few minutes, my sister let them watch Veggie Tales on her phone. It's amazing what an episode of Veggie Tales can do to get them to sit completely still!!

Look at this cute pic!!! My mom had no idea that I had bought the boys these shirts. She bought Connor the same shirt, but the blue one. So weird!!

Later this evening, Gram came over to our house to bring the boys their Easter baskets.
The candy was a hit!!

The day ended on a bad note when Phil had to take Bennett to the Urgent Care. :( He got a bad coughing attack during the day and could just not quit. After a quick visit to our friend who was working at Urgent Care, she diagnosed him with Bronchitis. Poor guy!! Hopefully these meds will kick in and he can shake this awful cough.

Happy Birthday to my little 3 year old!

Just 3 short years ago today, here was the scene....

We welcomed our precious, Samuel Bennett Goodson, into the world. He was SO long awaited and we were oh, so thankful to finally have him here in our arms!! I couldn't believe he was ours and that I was a mom. What a surreal moment and one I will never, ever forget. I was seriously in awe.

We both fell in love with him at first sight!

Then, he turned 1 and I couldn't believe a year had flown by. Wow!
But, that was nothing compared to the year he turned 2. Man, how did 2 years pass and how was he so big?!??!

And now our little man is turning 3. He's the most precious and sweet boy. He loves his brother and he LOVES cars. He loves to watch Sesame Street and his most recent obsession is Mary Poppins. He seriously is in love with that movie!! Phil and I love that he knows so many songs and sings them in his bed while he's going to sleep and when he wakes up. He has also started really loving his friends. All the time he says, "I want to go play with ______. He/she's my friend."

God blessed us with our sweet son... He really did. Bennett's name means "blessing"! He's amazing, just like every parent thinks their kid is. The things that come out of his mouth are truly hilarious these days. He loves his family, his grandparents especially, and a close second are his aunts. He's SO excited for his birthday. He has asked specifically for cupcakes with sprinkles and he can't WAIT to blow out his candles.

Happy Birthday, Bennett! Your Mommy and Daddy love you SO much!

An Unexpected Evening....

Tuesday night began as a normal evening for us. We had just finished eating dinner and Phil and I were cleaning up the kitchen. Connor had come over to hang out while my mom was at a banquet. Bennett did something naughty, so he was put in time out.

All of a sudden, we heard a BANG, then a BAD scream. BAD! Phil ran back to the time out chair thinking Bennett had pulled something down on him. It wasn't Bennett, so Phil ran to Pax's room. The next thing I hear is "Katie, it's bad! It's bad! It's bad!!" (When Phil says something like that, you know it's bad. He's the most calm, cool and collected person I know.) I came running down the hall and Phil was carrying Pax to the kitchen. Pax was screaming. I got a look at his face and all I saw was blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

The closet door in Pax's room had come off track the other day (it's an accordion style double closet door.) All we can tell is that Pax pulled on the door and it had fallen over on him and the corner had gashed his forehead. I'm telling you, that door is heavy.

When he set him on the kitchen counter, I truly thought his eye had been gashed out because there was so much blood I couldn't see his eye. Phil thought the side of his face was gashed because there was so much blood dripping all down the left side of his face. He told me to get the kids in the car so we could go to the ER.

Let me just say, I panicked. Yep, I did. I kept running in circles not knowing what to do or grab. I finally got the kids in the car and as we were pulling out of the driveway, my mom came speeding down our street, grabbed Connor and Bennett to take them inside, then off Phil, Pax and I went to the Urgent Care.

My sister, Anna, met us there. By the time we had gotten there, Phil had wiped off his face enough for us to see that the gash was on his forehead and was probably 1/2 in - 1 in. long. But it was very deep.

Long story short, we were called back pretty quick so the doctor could assess the situation. After seeing that he didn't have any neurological problems, just needed some stitches, we sat for a while. We waited an hour just to get the numbing gel put on his wound, then it had to sit 30 minutes to numb before we could get stitches. (Here's little guy while we were waiting. He was so good! My sis blew up a plastic glove and that kept him occupied for a while!)

If you have never had your kid get stitches, I'm not gonna candy coat it, it's awful! Poor little guy had to be held down while he was screaming so the doctor could sew him up. It was NOT fun. Actually, the irrigation part was worse than the stitches. Yikes!

I have to say, I was pretty calm as they were putting the stitches in. I held Pax's hand and talked to him. Not that he heard anything I said from all the screaming, but I was glad my stomach could handle watching the doctor stitch him up.

And here's the beautiful final product after being sewed up. Look at his pretty face all messed up with "blue whiskers", as the doctor called it. Man, I hope that scar isn't too bad! Overall, Pax was a brave boy. He just hated to be held down. Once it was over, we let him eat his first sucker while we drove home :)

A big thank you to my sister, Anna, for staying with us the whole time at the clinic. She's so good and I feel so much better when she's there during a "medical" situation since she's a nurse. Also, thank you, Mom and Dad, for staying with Bennett! We ended up getting back home after 10:00pm. My parents cleaned up all the blood off the floor and closet door. They're amazing.

That accident could have been a lot worse, so I'm very grateful to God for watching out for my Paxey.

When the Weather Man says there's an 80% chance it's going to rain.....

..... it still might not.

Huh????

Remember this post announcing we were having a girl??? The doctor gave us an 80% chance we were having a girl, so there was only a 20% chance he was wrong.

20% is not that big of a chance, right???

Well, the next time you hear the weather guy say there's a 20% chance for showers....... BRING AN UMBRELLA!!!!!!!!

WE'RE HAVING A B-O-Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phil and I went back to the doctor last Tuesday. This appointment was the big 20 week ultrasound where they take you to the BIG ultrasound room and take all the major measurements and check all over to make sure everything's ok. More than anything, I was just praying that everything would be ok during the appointment and we would just see a healthy baby. I never really thought (well, maybe deep down, since I'm the world's most "not-wanting-to-believe-anything-til-it-happens" person) the doctor would come back and say "oh, I got it wrong and you're having a boy!"

Well, sure enough, we were sitting there when the baby came up on the screen. Within seconds I hear from Phil, "uh-oh." Panic went through my mind for a second, thinking "what in the world is the matter???" Then, after a few seconds, I saw the "uh-oh" he was referring to. It was floating on the screen, plain as day. Right there. Yep, it was a cute little boy. I asked the ultrasound lady, "it's a boy, isn't it??" She said, "oh yes, it sure is."

I have to admit, for literally 2 seconds I got a lump in my throat and the tears almost came to my eyes. I would love to have a girl. I love the relationship I have with my mom, and I'd love to have a daughter.

Then, I talked to myself in my head and said, "what the heck are you doing, Katie??? You see a perfectly healthy, heart beating, tiny baby on that screen! There is NO way you can be upset about this!" And, the little voice talking to me was right. After those 2 seconds passed, I was fine! I just had to get used to the idea. This baby was a boy the whole time that the doctor had told us it was a girl, so nothing had changed. The doctor had just seen it wrong. So, immediately Phil and I had to switch gears in our minds.

We are very, very blessed to be pregnant with this little baby BOY! We will be having 3 boys. We will be having 3 sons. I'm letting that sink in as I type this. Wow. Wow. I'm trying to picture my life with 3 teenage sons! Ha!

I asked Bennett the other day what we should name our baby boy (by the way, we've had to tell the boys they're not having a sister anymore, that it's a boy. I'm sure they think we're crazy! ha!) Bennett's big thing right now is to say "one more time!!!" if he wants you to do something again. Like if you're singing a song, tickling him, watching a cartoon, he'll say "one more time!!!" So, after I asked him, "what should we name the new little baby boy in Mommy's tummy?", he says, "One-more-time-Pax!" I said, "you want to name the new baby, Pax?" He said, "Yeah!!"

I asked him at another time, "Bennett, what do you think about having another little baby brother?!?!" He said to me, "I'm gonna have anudder friend!!" That about made me cry. How sweet! These boys are going to grow up playing with each other, sharing rooms, clothes, toys, and being so close in age. This is going to be so exciting to watch unfold.

I'm thankful to God who knows the bigger picture and who is in control. He has known since before I was born exactly what our family was going to look like.

Reflecting ...

This day, April 6, is a difficult day for me. This exact day one year ago is when we lost our 4th baby, Baby Taylor.

The loss of a child at any stage is so hard. It's difficult to put it into words the emotions involved unless you have experienced it yourself. Especially after attaching yourself to your baby growing inside you through seeing and hearing his heartbeat and pictures on ultrasound several times, it's amazing the bond that is built so early. You immediately, instantly begin picturing THIS baby in your family, how many years apart he would be from your other kids/cousins in the family, when this baby would be born, and your heart builds a strong connection to the life growing inside your body. Also, the love you feel for someone whom you've never held in your arms, never seen in person develops the first day you know he's growing in your tummy. Then, when that precious life is gone, it leaves the feelings of deep sadness, loneliness, frustration, emptiness and... SADNESS...

And it's often a road you have to walk alone (since no one else ever saw, held, connected to that baby, only you had since he was growing in your body). Some close people around you may be sad for a little while and grieve the loss of that baby with you, then are able to move on. It's often very hard because people don't understand how hard it is at every milestone... the due date that passes, the first anniversary that comes, the other babies around that were due at the same time...

But, when all is said and done, I'm grateful for my God, who I know understands deeply the pain of losing a child. He has helped me use these losses I have experienced to grow stronger in my relationship to Him and to truly seek Him in my saddest times. I am also able to relate to and reach out to other women who experience the loss of a baby. Like one of my favorite people in the world, Beth Moore (I wish I knew her personally! ha!), says, "God never wastes your pain."