It’s not even been a week since Seth’s first trip to the dentist and he came home this morning from a specialist with two baby root canals and crowns, as well as fillings. How do you prepare a four year old for silver teeth? Last night he told me “Mama, I don’t want silver teeth, I want gold teeth!”. He never complained about his teeth hurting him, but I have noticed that he’s had his fingers in his mouth more than usual. I feel like a bad mother. A failure. At least when it comes to Seth’s teeth. His big brother has been going to the dentist for two years and has only had one “sticky spot”! With the same routine that worked for Jerome, poor little Seth gets a mouthful of tooth decay. I should have noticed. But I didn’t. I’ve been crying about it for days and I wasn’t sure I could watch it, so I’m grateful to Peter for taking half a day off work to take him in. Seth came home very, very drowsy, but saying he had a good time! He has needed to stay on Motrin, but otherwise he’s doing great! Better than his mother, for sure.
Some of Seth’s words from the past month or so:
“Mama, if the sun goes down under our dirt, it’ll explode our trees!”
“I’m not wasting time, Mama, I’m eating time!”
“We’re blinking with fireworks!” “Hey, I see lightning in there!” “The fire keeps burning under the ground!” (Comments he shouted during Peter’s fireworks display in GA at the end of last year.)
Seth saw a picture of an unborn baby and told me, “Look! it’s a mommy sitting by the fire!”.
“I’m going to draw America. Now I’m going to draw Blue Ridge. See, it is blue. I’m drawing the blue. And some sparkles on the ocean.”
I had shown the boys pictures of when I was in Russia with my family quite a few weeks ago and recently Seth asked me, “Mama, where’s the sea that got black?”
I’ve recently enjoyed playing Pandora radio stations. Seth asked me the other day “Mama, what’s that song called? Is it called ‘I Don’t Know’?”
Here’s a note Seth dictated for me to write in a card he drew for Mema:
“Dear Mema,
This card is for you and the card has letters in there for you, and our trash barrels are empty. And you have to fly over. And the cards have to be loaded with letters. And Jerome’s doing his math and Mommy is writing to your letters and your letters are going to be like C. And Raven is sitting out in our yard. And on front of the card is the ocean and on the back of the card is the ocean too. And there’s the dirt under the sea. And the flowers are dying. And Jerome is doing his math and Audrey is playing outside but she’s going inside because it’s boring outside for her, and Mommy is writing down this. And the teapot is going to get ready for it to make tea and the tea cups are staying inside. And the yogurt is going to be ready to be eaten. And Raven is staying inside and she’s lying down. And anything more. And I love her and miss her.
Love, Seth”
And some photos of the boys from January:
I just got home last night from a trip to Atlanta to bury my grandmother. I’m glad I went. So glad. I’m proud of how well the family is handling everything, and how beautifully they respect and remember our Memama.
Most of my family I had not seen in years, some of them just a couple weeks ago when we visited…but it was good, so good to see them all.
Of course Mama asked for family portraits before the funeral service and everyone graciously complied. Here is my family:
My love to you all.
My Memama went to be with her Savior early this morning.
I did not really know how much and how deeply I loved her until I had to say good bye for the last time.And how grateful I am for that precious last time.
She was everything to me a grandmother should be. Her life was a beautiful history and a fabric of passions. She loved so many things and everything with beauty was appreciated by her. She was smart and beautiful and had a class all her own. I can’t introduce you to her in words here, but know that I love her and feel her loss deeply.
Before I publish this and go to bed, I want to acknowledge my sister Regina and her immeasurable sacrifice and gift to our grandmother. During the last few months of Memama’s life Regina lived with her and cared for her every need 24/7 often sleeping at most 4 hours per night. She was the reason Memama could live her last days in her own beloved house. Regina served with such great love and joy and gentleness! I feel as if her service to our grandmother was in a way a gift to me, too, as I could not have done what she was free to do. If you remember my precious sister in these next few weeks, please pray with me that God would give her rest, healing, and His comfort.
Also my mother, as she has lost her dearest mother today.
Just last night I was talking with my friend Kathy about how fun it is when birthdays are drawn out and celebrations last a whole week…but I think it’s especially fun now that we’re grown up.
Well, it’s still Christmas in our house today! I let the boys have a new little teaset I had saved from their Christmas pile for just such a day. The boys have a bit of a cold and it’s a windy, blustery day. Mom had recommended that we pick some eucalyptus leaves from our trees and brew them in some mint tea for the boy’s sinuses. We braved the wind and got some tender leaves and enjoyed the treatment with a bright colored tea set for about an hour.
Then Abby called and asked if she could stop by and bring me something. It was my Christmas present! I had forgotten all about it by now and was as surprised as if it had been Christmas morning. Abby and Anna bought me a Shootsac lens bag for my photography! It’s so beautiful and feels very nice with my extra lenses in it that I can hardly wait for my next wedding! Anna and Abby, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here’s my new Shootsac, designed by Jessica Claire:
