Today is the last day of March and I think we can safely say that with the end of March comes the official end to the flood/rebuild/move-in saga!!!  Yay!!!  It’s so good to have our house back and Rudy has had fun the past couple of days rediscovering “his space” and toys that were packed away for three months.  🙂  We had a bit of a delay with the carpet installation a couple of weeks ago.  As a result, it didn’t get installed until last week which put us in the middle of Holy Week.  We were able to get the furniture unpacked right away but that was about it…the family’s schedule was full through Easter so the goal shifted to empty the POD this week…just in time for Gma Jo’s arrival next Monday!

The rebuild delays were frustrating toward the end but it’s certainly wonderful to have a fresh, new half a house at the start of spring (the ultimate in spring cleaning!)…just in time, too, as life ramps up  with all the end of the school year activities just around the corner.

March also included some pretty precious “life moments” for Rudy and the family…particularly surrounding Easter.  Here’s a little recap:

The beginning of March was big for Max as he turned 17 years old AND started the spring Lacrosse season at DP!  Hello Spring!!!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Max playing LAX!

The final step in the rebuild process inspired Olivia’s creativity!  😉

Olivia’s “Floor Art” before the carpet installation.

New carpet smell…Yay for new carpet!!

Between the SBRM recovery program graduation and Easter, we’ve had a lot to celebrate with our friends at the Rescue Mission this month and Rudy was happy to be in the middle of it all…

The SBRM hosted it’s annual Easter Feast for the homeless on the Thursday of Holy Week…Rudy started out as a greeter with me but quickly found a spot in the middle of the courtyard where great fun was to be had…and where there is never a shortage of attention to be harnessed!

photo credit: Dale Weber

A blessed time with some very special friends…

After the Rescue Mission feast, we stopped at church for a Maundy Thursday tradition that includes a symbolic foot-washing activity.  Olivia sat Rudy down and quietly explained to him how and why we were doing it.  Eager to do what we were doing, Rudy quickly joined in and helped wash all our feet!!!

This week is spring break for Max, Olivia and Rudy but Rudy is flying solo here at home with me and Rolf because Max and Olivia went to Mexico with their youth group to work on a building project and help at an orphanage.  ‘So excited for them but we miss them TONS!

Max and Livy off to Mexico!

Max lending a helping hand in Ensenada

It has been an active month for Rudy.  He ends most days with his head hitting the pillow hard in anticipation of good sleep.  Many nights he doesn’t even make it to the bed…

Play hard.  Live hard.  Sleep hard.  That’s how Rudy rolls and we’re so thankful for the special experiences he so joyfully embraced this month.  This month also included quite a few medical appointments & consultations which serve to reinforce how truly special all the “life stuff” is!!!  Ever so grateful,

The rebuild after our New Year’s Day flood continues to make progress…it’s actually moving along at a decent pace (thanks to Rolf’s woodworking skills) but projects like these always take longer than is convenient and I’m starting to experience crazy cabin fever requiring me to actively practice patience…I’m more than ready to unpack the POD and get our house put back together again.

I celebrated my 50th on February 27th and the bday fun lasted all weekend long.  Thanks to Rolf and the big kids, there was a nice balance of family, friends & surprises which made turning fifty pretty awesome!!  I have much to be thankful for at this stage in my life and it just doesn’t seem right to begrudge the aging process so I’m embracing the big 5-0 and praying for patience in that process as well.  😉

With that said, I’m kind of surprised by my delayed reaction to having a child a little later in life.  When Rudy was born, I wasn’t bugged by the fact that I was an older mom…in fact, once I got over the shock of being pregnant again, I welcomed the challenge.  Now, all of a sudden, I’m taken back a bit…in a season where so many of my friends are watching their kids get married and they’re becoming grandparents for the first time, it feels foreign to be 50 and still have a 7 year old.  I know it’s not that big of deal because, more & more, women are having babies in their 40s but there aren’t too many in my circle and I guess it just feels like being an older mom adds an additional spotlight to this milestone bday in particular.  🙂  Not a bad thing…just a unique piece of my puzzle to process.

We ended the weekend by attending a Global Leadership Connection Ceremony to support Max and fellow juniors selected from SB area high schools.  It was quite inspiring and I was glad to end my birthday weekend on such an encouraging, hopeful note.

Rudy had his annual physical last week.  It was an encouraging visit where Rudy’s general health is concerned.  Rudy’s weight gain in the last 6 months bumped him up to the 25% percentile for his age and his height remains in the 10% percentile.  Dr. Abbott was impressed by Rudy’s developmental progress (especially evident to him in his speech) and the healthy winter Rudy has had so far.  We do need to follow up with the urologist again, however, because of a pesky undescended testicle.  Although the urologist hasn’t felt it necessary to address it in past visits, Dr. Abbott wants it checked out again and corrected at some point.  We see Dr. Harake for a cardiology check up on Friday…not expecting any change there.  It’s a full week with various appointments, Max’s 17th birthday on Thursday and a SBRM graduation on Saturday.  Life is filling up again as we approach the official start to spring!!!  Woo Hoo…Welcome Spring!!!!!!