Since I can't seem to find a way to export my entries here to Blogger, I am copying and pasting them from my very first to my very last! please head over to "8 Years of Growth" to re-enjoy all my former posts...then catch up on what I'm doing now over at "The Heart of Ruth"! I hope to see you there! drop me a line, follower me on Twitter or Like me on Facebook!

ttfn!

~Maria

Nothing would make me happier than to know that all the people who view my entries here, enjoy them (or not) or just "stalk" me but never leave comments here would take the time to head over to http://www.theheartofruth.blogspot.com and continue their stalking,enjoying (or not) and maybe even leave a little comment or 2 from time to time!

Yet another season of change has blown thru our home, thankfully almost completely uneventfully: my little girl Caia, my baby has moved into her own bed.

 All of my children have co-slept with us. Sierra was one of the hardest. She had to go thru a literal process- by that I mean it started from our bed to her crib next to the bed, to one wall of the crib down so she could roll from bed to crib and back again at will.After that came the fun of moving it about 2 inches at a time from week to week til she was in the next room. Brianna couldn't wait to have her own bed- she literally would either climb outta her crib and fall on her face every morning or shake the crib so violently that it finally broke. Johnny by far was the worst. He did not take the eviction well at all- especially since it was almost simultaneous with me weaning him, my new part time job and being newly pregnant with Caia. Yeah, so after a week of his blood curdling screams that lasted hours on end, (i kid you not) I spent EVERY SINGLE NIGHT of my 42 week pregnancy sleeping on his floor by his bed like Lassie- some nights holding his tight little fist.

But Caia, she is a tough little cookie but by far the easiest transition we've ever had. She loves her bed, a little too much maybe. She thought it was an awesome new toy the whole evening til bedtime. Then for an hour after bed she thought it was hilarious, this new game of crawl- outta- bed-mommy- puts- me- back. It wasn't until i realized my sitting by her bed somehow made it a game  did it become not so fun for her. I'd now put her in bed and go sit on my bed. When she went to join me it was a sweet,"It's bedtime my love", hug n kiss and tuck her in. Hubby kept count how many times this had to take place for her to get it. By 4 she was no longer laughing.By 7 she was full on screaming in protest. By 10 she would crawl out, look warily at me- waiting for me to cave (rarely do i ever cave). By 11 she sat up ready to crawl out again, then decided just to lay down and was out within minutes. She did wake up a few more times before 5 am, but the screaming was a minimum.

By the 2nd night, the only tears flowing in heartache were my own. I couldn't believe she had taken to the bed so quickly. Tonite it was as if she has always had her own bed and i'm the one to be horribly lonely every other week. See when my hubby goes to work at night i used to snuggle with Caia. Now i have no one and nothing- the dog won't even stay in my room long enough to snuggle,lol. I know she is only 7 feet away but i may not be able to have anymore children due to always having c-sections and now being diabetic. i don't know what God has in store for me...but in the case that she is mylast baby, this precious time of nursing and cuddling in bed and smelling her sweet milky baby breath is quickly coming to a close- like Winter melting into Spring. I am going from having 2 kids and a baby and a toddler to somehow 3 big kids and a little kid! I am grateful that God has allowed my children to come so far and grow this much...and I pray they continue to do so, but that doesnt make it any less difficult.

It seems like since last year so many seasons in my life have changed...it becomes hard sometimes. Going from what I thought was a healthy person to a diabetic rocked my world. Now i see I am healthier now than I ever was thanks to the diabetes forcing my fat butt out of the house and into the gym, where (at -42lbs) it is becoming a sculpted and steadily shrinking tush,lol.  The house that I have loathed for 4 years here in WV now has a room I love- the bathroom,lol- thanks to a $120 redecorating job from Walmart.I'd give anything to get rid of the nasty clawfoot tub this place came with and get a brand new one...but my tub phobia is the topic of another blog for another day,lol. Until we can afford one, I suppose I will just continue to shower in my socks :). This June I will be 30. I am not traumatized by this number, nor the fine lines around my eyes or even the sparse white hairs sprouting throughout my very dark brown hairs. I refuse to ever color my hair and I fully plan on embracing my aging self with grace and beauty. But it doesn't make the death of my "youth" any less bittersweet, especially with my 7 yearold begging me daily to get her ears pierced and giving weekly coutdowns to her Sweet 16. I would say everything is just changing too much and too fast but that would be a lie. Solomon had it right when he said there is nothing new under the sun. Things go on as they always have, people respond to the same situations in the same ways they always have and always will. But somehow, it all feels new and different to me; maybe because this is my first go at the world and my first experience living in it. I've only been in exsistence 29 years, give or take 9 months,lol. That's not really a whole lot of time to fully grasp the immensity of life,seasons of change and eternity.

But I guess it's as good a place to start as any. Hopefully I will have discovered my purpose and fulfilled my destiny by 33, like Jesus. †