Beautifully painful

We've had some big transitions around here lately. We took our little man to see a pediatric eye specialist because we'd noticed that his eyes would occasionally cross.

I'm so glad we took him in, because the doctor told us to try putting a patch over Fletcher's left eye for 3-4 hours a day so that his weaker right eye had a chance to get stronger. Hopefully the patch will fix the problem, otherwise he may have to have surgery (but I'm choosing not to think about that yet.)

Also, Fletcher now has to wear glasses full time. He's doing pretty good with keeping them on, it's only occasionally that he tries to pull them off. I think he enjoys seeing more clearly.

I'm so grateful that Fletcher is doing so well and that he's an overall healthy kid, but it's funny what a mother's heart mourns. I long for my child to be unfamiliar with suffering -- any suffering -- even far-sightedness!  The reality of this fallen world hits so hard in those dear places, and my heart can't help but grieve for this little bump in the road at his tender age.

He does look pretty cute in his glasses though!

I had a wonderful talk with a friend about how even though I don't want my boy to suffer, I also don't want to wish a challenge-free life on him. I have come to know God deeper through my many valleys, and above all I want Fletcher to know God intimately.

It's so difficult to know that my son has to bleed and stumble through valleys of his own. I can't protect him from this world, but I CAN pray that his struggles are fruitful -- that they would cause him to seek our Heavenly Father and delve deeper into the depths of His everlasting love.

God give my baby eyes to see... not my face, but yours.

Family Day

Greg has been up against some writing deadlines so he's been spending a lot of time at the library focusing on getting his scripts completed. On Saturday we had a much needed family day and visited the LA Arboretum.

Greg planned our outing and he decided that we should kick off our adventure with a visit to Sonic for lunch! It's a little bit of a drive, but it was well worth it. That sweet, sweet cherry limeade was so refreshing on a hot day. We sat at a big table outside under an umbrella and Fletcher watched all the servers roll by on skates and sampled bits of my grilled cheese sandwich.

At the arboretum, we saw wild peacocks strutting around like they owned the place and plenty of gorgeous trees and plants. The roads were paved, so it was easy to push Fletcher's stroller around, but Greg also carried him in the bjorn so that we could navigate the little dirt paths down to the lake.

One family brought a bag of cheerios to feed to the fish and there was a feeding frenzy when giant fish, turtles, ducks and geese all came out to fight for a bite. It was really fun to point things out to Fletcher, and in spite of it being a hot day he did pretty good while we explored.

Family photo

On the way home, our little guy fell fast asleep in his car seat so Greg and I pulled over and bought some gatorades for our drive home. It was really nice to be able to talk and drive and just spend quality time together.

Life moves at such a fast pace these days, it's so nice to take the time to just be together and enjoy being a family. I'm so glad that Greg is game for adventures like that.