October

October is one of my favorite months of the year and always has been! The leaves start to turn colors, the air gets crisp, the windows are open more..and there are pumpkins, bright colors, and beautiful sunshine that fill my days.  I feel we always make more trips to the farmer's market, decorate the house for fall, and just enjoy being outside in NC!  We attend State football games, visit the pumpkin patch, finish up soccer games for the boys, the State Fair comes to town...just a ton of FUN family events! And on TOP of that list is Brayden's Birthday! Our first born son turns FIVE this month, actually in 9 days! I can't believe it and my eyes swell up with tears of joy every time I think of it.  Save those emotions for another post (if I post again anytime soon). 

Tonight I just redid our kitchen calendar and this month as I look at our calendar I feel a range of emotions.  All that happy stuff is there but along with it this year comes some heavy stuff as well.

On our calendar for this month...

* we have a visit from the CDSA for Colton.  Actually this will take place tomorrow morning.
* I go back to Duke for another assessment of my elbow and am pretty sure they are going to say I need outpatient surgery again this month.
* I am getting another Dexascan done again for the first time in years and then meet with my endocrinologist again to make a plan for my health.
* Colton goes back to Duke and we meet with an orthopedist for the first time and he will get more xrays.

But besides all the medical stuff we have going on this month...my brother-in-law is packing his bags and moving to South Korea for 3 years on October 21st.  We are excited for his new adventure and know we will get to see him from time to time, but also with the excitement comes lots of sadness.  I honestly haven't even begun to process how this will affect our family.  I know our boys will miss Uncle Jeremy a ton and so will Daniel.  I will miss having him over for dinner, feeding him, and chatting about life.  

Part of me just wants time to SLOW down because I am afraid I will miss out on taking in every moment of these joyful and emotional memories we will make this month.  I want to be in the moment and savor it all so I don't look back and wonder where the month went. 

Lord...help me to live in the moments this month.  Help me to not worry about tomorrow but just enjoy the moments you give me each day.  Help me to savor the times with family, friends, and our boys! Help us to begin to process Jeremy moving across the world and I pray you watch over him as he moves.   Lord help me give all our doctor appointments over to you, knowing you already know the outcome of each and every one of them.  Lord I pray you watch over Colton as he begins to move and enjoy all he is learning.