She Loves Being a Farmer!

Thankful Thursday: Helper & Homemade

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for my little helper. Mckenna LOVES to help. Today alone she helped me vacuum, dust, do laundry and fold laundry. It is so sweet to watch her eagerly help me with tasks. It's even cuter to hear her say "ELPER" after I say, "Mckenna, can you be mommy's big helper?" I know there will come a time in the very near future that she will hate chores (as much as I do), but for now, I am really thankful for her willingness and excitement to help.

I'm thankful for girl scout cookie season ending...not because I don't want anymore cookies, but because girl scout cookie season for me is like holiday season for everyone else. I don't gain weight over the holidays, but you better believe I am carrying a couple cookie pounds around. So I am a little thankful that they aren't selling the cookies anymore to save me from myself. HA!

I'm thankful for a helpful hubby. Ronnie does so much around the house and with Mckenna. Every day my life is so much easier with the amount of work he does around here for our family. I am SO blessed to have him in my life.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for homemade meals. Mandi has been on fire in the kitchen lately and its made my stomach and mouth very, very happy. Hoping the trend continues ;)

I'm thankful for perfect walking weather. Mandi, Mckenna and I have been trying to get out for more walks to enjoy more time as a family and to take in the weather. It's the perfect blend of crisp, sunny and windless. 

I'm thankful for Mckenna's stage in life. She's at that stage where she will try to say any word that you ask her to say and it is sooooo cute. I could probably throw words out to her all day and never get tired of it...although I think she would after about 26 seconds.

So, what are you thankful for today?

My Mom's Strength

I get asked often about my mom by readers of this blog. Questions like "how did she feel about you having CF?", "was she strict?", and most common, "what was her secret to being such a good (CF) mom?". Well, her response to yesterday's blog pretty much sums up everything you need to know about my mom. She sent me a very sweet email that makes it very clear where her strength came from to parent a child...especially a child with CF...born in 1980...not exactly the "heyday" for CFers.

Thanks, Ronnie, for your kind words and loving me. You made me cry. I never felt like I was the best mom (you do have your stories!), I sure made plenty of mistakes, but I did TRY to do my best. I put your health in the hands of God then as I do today. Doesn't mean that I didn't take CF seriously, that treatments and medications weren't of the utmost importance, or that I stopped praying everyday for you...but God has a plan and I accept His plan and by the grace of God...go WE. And look what a fantastic man, husband and father you've become. I am a proud Mama...and Grandma!! 

I can tell you this, the apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree.

Love you Mom.

There was never a doubt.

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 33rd birthday. Like all other birthdays that I've had, I made much less of a stink about it then some of those around me.

I got many kind phone calls, texts, emails and Facebook comments that I appreciated and certainly lit up my day. It was also some of those comments that inspired this blog:

"Every birthday for us is a good one"
"Wow, 33!! Bet you never saw that coming!"
"Cherish all of your birthdays because none of them are guaranteed"

and on, and on and on....

Now, let me be clear. The people that left/said these obviously meant nothing negative nor do I think they were doing a bad thing. Many of us have been trained over the years to throw-out CF specific phrases at such a time (none of the above would have been said if I didn't have CF). I get it. And, I still very much appreciate them thinking of me on my "special day". It's just that if I'm being honest, those type of comments don't sit well with me, not because they're bad, but because they are so counter to the way I think and the way I was raised to think.

I never had a doubt that I would see 33. Neither did my mom. It was never talked about like some "pie in the sky" idea that I would grow old, graduate from college, have a career and raise a family. At least it was never talked about as a hopefully or if kind of a thing from my parents. It was always talked about in the context of when.

My mom made it clear. I would celebrate a lot of birthdays. Not because I was special. Not because she was so good at parenting. Not because my CF wasn't going to be tough. No, it was because CF was  tough and a tough disease requires a tougher reaction to it. She taught me that my reaction would be one of self-confidence through a belief in treatments, a life of exercise/activity and a faith in God.

She knew it wouldn't be easy. She knew I would make mistakes. She knew CF would never take a day off. However, the thing she said to me more than anything else was that she knew I would be okay.

That confidence came through nothing else but knowing she had done a great job in instilling the values that are still with me today: Personal responsibility, never quit attitude, embrace my failures to propel me to successes, do for others and family first.

And so I ask myself, what if my life hadn't turned out the way it has so far? Would I blame my mom for having such a will do or can do outlook? I certainly don't think so. I've also spoken to many others about this and they feel the same way. In fact, the peeps that I talk to who have an issue with their parents are the ones who had parents raise them in the opposite manner. The parents who held them back. The parents who insisted on raising a 25 year-old child because "they knew better". The parents who didn't make treatments and health a priority. The parents who told their kids about all of the things Cystic Fibrosis would stop them from doing.

I know I've talked about my mom a lot on this little old blog, but that's because she played such a pivotal role in who I am today. I think about life the way she raised me to think about life. My attitude towards CF is her attitude towards CF. She helped make me into the man that my wife fell in love with. She's given me some of the tools that I hope will assist me in being a great father. It's because of her that I've not only seen 33, but that I've lived the last 33 years and will live another 33 more.

I'm here because of the people who love me. Not in spite of Cystic Fibrosis.

Tantrums and Giggles

Mckenna is creeping up on the terrible twos. Over the last couple months she has started in on the tantrums and being opinionated. I am not naive enough to assume this is the worst it will get, so that is why I say we are just creeping up on the terrible twos. I will say, as of now, she does a good job recovering from a tantrum. She has learned pretty fast that when she throws herself to the ground, she gets ignored, and then she just feels a little silly. Occasionally I can even give her a little glance like she's being totally silly, and she will start to laugh. So thankfully her tantrums come and go quickly.

The one blessing about the tantrums starting is that it's just another sign that she's becoming her own person, with her own likes and dislikes. That may be a strange way to look at tantrums, but it's true. It goes along with her increased personality, her goofiness, her verbal skills (this girls talks as much as her momma, which if you know me...that's A LOT). So I'll take the tantrums if it means I get to see more of my little girl coming out. The top tantrum causing events:

- End of bath time - I don't really blame her. If you've ever gotten out of a bath, shower, or pool in AZ, you know it's COLD. She usually throws a bit of a fit, until she's dry and snuggled in her daddy's arms to go get her PJs on.

- Anything to do with her car seat - Sometimes she doesn't want to get in her car seat, sometimes she doesn't want to get out. Most the time she throws a total fit while in her car seat. I'm hoping that when she is no longer rear-facing she will like her car seat better, but who knows. If one of us holds her hand she's usually content, but obviously we can't exactly hold her hands the whole ride, every ride.

- Time to come inside - Mckenna LOVES to play outside. She isn't thrilled when the dog goes out to go potty and she can't go. Or when she's been playing outside and it's time to come inside. She usually melts into a puddle next to the door until she realizes she's not going to get to go outside as a result of her fit and moves on to something else.

- Diaper time - As we have mentioned, Mckenna in mid-potty training, so her diaper comes off quite a bit. She's still too small for pull ups, so it has to come all the way off and then get put back on. Well she is not a fan of the process. She will occasionally very sweetly sit down when you tell her to sit down so she can get her diaper on, but usually you watch her little naked tushy go running, usually with a huge smile on her face. But all fun and games are over (in her mind) when you wrestle her to the ground and force her to stay there until her diaper is on.

So anyways, at least all those little tantrums just mean she's growing up and becoming a little lady with her own little personality. And one thing I love about her little personality is that she is happy, playful, and goofy. I love playing with her and being goofy and playful with her. So I'll take the tantrums if it means I get to experience her personality. Here's my favorite part of our days together...me being silly and making a fool of myself for a laugh: