Musings of a Monster Mommy

 "Be strong and of a good courage; 
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; 
for the Lord thy God is 
with thee wherever you go." 
--Joshua 1:9 

Well, you've done it again people! You've prayed for us and supported us yet again. You certainly prayed all of our (when I say "our" I mean "my") worry away and we feel confident that we're making the best decision for Joshua. You've been very encouraging and it means so much to us.


We had our meeting with Option 2 yesterday evening. (We'll call her T.) It went wonderfully! She is very friendly and welcoming. Josh was a little shy at first and didn't want Dave to put him down. But after a few minutes of our tour and talking with her, he felt comfortable enough to get down and play. She kept offering for him to come play and he finally did! Her son, M, was there and he and J played together while the adults talked. It was very sweet and J loved the Buzz Lightyear M had. ;) T is licensed with the state and county and is very organized. There's a sign in sheet, one whole room dedicated as the "classroom" with table and chairs. There are several stations set up all around the room. There's a play kitchen, a few shopping carts full of play food, a large rack of books, one wall is a shelf full of educational toys (shape sorters, color puzzles, etc.) and everything was clean and well maintained. She has a closet FULL of other toys (very neatly organized in bins and tubs) to be traded out every week or so so that the children don't get bored with the same 'ol toys. Each child has a bin in the closet with a change of clothes and there's a photo of each child on the wall. She has their birth dates on the wall as well. It's adorable. Each child has a little cot to take naps on and T washes the bedding each Friday. They're low to the ground, which I was glad of, so IF Josh falls off he won't have far to fall. ;) (He just started sleeping in a big boy bed and still rolls all over his bed while asleep) The children eat breakfast, lunch and snack in the kitchen. They wash their hands a lot and take lots of potty breaks. The back yard is HUGE! and very nice. There are 6 or 7 climbing things: a castle, a boat, a 6 in 1 slide thing, a tee-pee! We were really impressed with everything and with T. 


Josh was impressed too. He didn't want to leave and blew kisses to T and M. I asked if he liked it and he said yes. Then he asked his Daddy "yike?" Daddy said yes too. :) I asked him this morning if he wanted to go back and play with Mrs T soon. He said yes. :)


David and I have prayed about this decision and talked about it and prayed about it and talked some more. We've crunched the numbers and are determined to make it work financially. We really believe that this place is the best place for Josh. It will be so good for him and he will learn so much (not that he wouldn't somewhere else...he's a very bright child). I think it will be good for him to be around the other children. They're all a little older than he is and while I worry about him being behind them in coordination and comprehension, I know that he does many things kids his age don't do. He comprehends much more than he should at his age and is very eager to help and pitch in. I really believe he can hang with the 3 year olds. He'll be 2 in 4 months (which reminds me I have a party to start planning!!) and I'll feel a little better about him being there then. He just seems so little to me still. :)


We're thinking he will start at his new school on Monday, the 31st. We have some money issues to work out but I think this coming Monday would be the best time with our pay schedules, and it being the beginning of a new month, etc. So please continue to pray that the money works itself out. I'm trusting that it will.


Everything else is going well. The potty training is still going well as is the toddler bed sleeping. He has gotten out of bed once during the night but I think was afraid to come into our room because it was dark and got right back into his bed just as David was going to check on him. He has a play-date with Miss SKW Thursday. He's looking forward to that as it's been a few weeks since they've seen each other. I just hope Lindsey can keep them from kissing all day! ;)


We're having dinner with friends twice this week! It really does my heart good to be with our friends. We don't have family close by and it's hard for us. We're BIG on family in the White/Hand/Hall/Haynes/McBride house. We're blessed with wonderful friends here in Greenville and love spending time with them. They really are our family away from family. 

**UPDATE**

We thought we had the money issue worked out. We, with our feeble human minds. We, with our anxious, mistrusting hearts. We shouldn't have been thinking at all. HE had it worked out. HE, with His all-knowing mind. HE, with His loving, perfect plan. HE, with His willingness to provide for His beloved. I'm going to be completely honest about this because to leave anything out would diminish what the Lord has done (yet again!). 

We have a very dear friend who offered to borrow us the money we need to get Josh started at his new school. Honestly, we really had no choice as we wouldn't be able to get the money any other way than to borrow it from someone. Not only were we going to be short this month on a large bill and have to "borrow" from next month's budget, we're visiting family in VA to celebrate Christmas (late or early?!) with them and will need more gas money than budgeted for, David is taking a business trip for 4 days to WV and must pay for his meals while gone. He will be reimbursed but we were pretty sure his best option was to take a loaf of bread and some peanut butter! Yes, we thought we had it all figured out. It was all taken care of. Then...then the Lord moved. There's a bonus program in place at David's place of employment. It was laid out LAST YEAR. Just a few minutes ago, he texted me and told me that the bonus plan will appear in this week's check. I, of course, didn't remember anything about it. He refreshed my memory and told me that the minimum amount he will be receiving as a bonus is $500.00!!! I know, right?! I was amazed. I shouldn't have been. I've seen God move before. My child is here because God moved. (Or because He got sick of me asking for a baby. "Fine, lady! Take this one!" HAHA!) We've seen God move so many times. Why am I surprised every time? Shouldn't I trust Him by now? Shouldn't I trust by now that He'll be there for me, for us? There I was being all human and praying that we would just be able to find the start-up money for the school and He decided to look past it and love and provide for all the things we needed. THANK YOU, LORD! Even if the bonus isn't more than the minimum (would it be prideful to trust that it will be?), just the $500 will cover the big payment we need to make, re-pay our precious friend, pay for gas money to VA AND take care of Dave's meals on his trip. Hallelujah! 

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

—Isaiah 26:3-4