Josiah’s class went on field trip this week to a nearby rodeo. I went along and I’m so glad I did. Josiah was not real impressed with the cattle roping or bull riding. Even the mutton busting did nothing for him. He was not interested in the hot dog lunch that was provided. He had little desire to walk around the place. Overall, I doubt Josiah would rank this as one of his top 10 days. That is, until he spotted the carnival rides.

Allow me to provide some background here. Josiah is not into rides. Never has been. Years ago, we took him to a nearby outdoor amusement park. He wasn’t happy. We boarded the train ride, thinking he might enjoy it. We were wrong. Josiah screamed and shrieked and bellowed so loudly I really thought I was going to have to jump off with him in my arms, midway through the ride.

Read more…

You’ve already learned of the birthday party Josiah attended recently.  I had only shared half of the story. There is more. After spending over an hour just sitting in the large bouncy house, Josiah was happy to be ushered out. It was time for pizza, cake and presents. Parents helped their little ones put on shoes and everyone made their way into the big party room.

By the time Josiah was ready to enter, all the children were seated at a long rectangular table. The only seat left was at the far end of the room, up against the wall, past many, many children. Josiah peeked in the room and decided he wasn’t interested. If he could talk, I clearly envision Josiah looking up at me, saying, “No thank you” and politely walking away.

Instead, he spun around and started to bolt out of the room.

Read more…

Josiah was home sick from school yesterday. He has been getting sick quite a bit lately. I can only guess this means it’s time to move. Here’s the logic behind that statement. When Josiah was born, we lived in Ohio. Every winter our poor boy had serious respiratory problems. It started when Josiah was just a couple of weeks old. He became ill and then dehydrated.

While in the hospital to get hydrated, he contracted RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a highly contagious infection in the lungs and breathing passages. He stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks. Chandler ended up joining him there. And thus began our frequent visits to the hospital.

Read more…

This marks the 100th blog post I’ve written thus far, about life with Josiah. I can’t imagine I’ve ever had so much to say about all of this, but quite obviously, I did. I can’t imagine my life without any of my children. Each one brings inexplicable joy and abundant blessings.

Years ago, if you would have asked me if I was up to the task of raising a child with challenges, I would have shouted NO as loudly as I could have from the roof tops. I’m glad I didn’t get to make that decision. I can’t imagine my life without Josiah.

Read more…

For some unknown reason Josiah has decided he no longer needs sleep. For some unknown reason, my body has not been in total agreement with Josiah’s recent decision. The first sentence on my last blog post said, Josiah slept GREAT last night. I think that was the last night he has slept well. Since then Josiah has been up til almost 2 am every night. Which means of course, either Rick or I are up til 2 am every night.

Last night I was determined to be in bed, sound asleep, by 9:30. I planned on making up for a few nights of sleep deprivation. Never happened. Josiah had such an exuberance of energy, much more energy than we have seen from him in a long time. He was bouncy and vocal and wild.

Read more…