Sunday (a year ago).

A year ago today, I wrote this post on our family blog:

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This morning finds Watts and myself holed up with a stomach bug. No church for us, and also no papa for the morning.  Poor little Watts is miserable with a high fever and diarrhea and has been laying lethargic in our arms for the past 24 hours. It is so sad but also has a twinge of sweetness because we haven't had this much cuddle time with him since he was little bitty.

Little Piper has, so far, escaped this bug and is as chipper and busy as ever. In desperation this morning, I set up stations throughout the house (a puzzle station, a book reading station, playdough station, playmobile station, etc.) in hopes that she would play for a few minutes by herself.

I lay on the couch as I watch her move with excitement from station to station. She chats to me as she moves, "Mama, you play with me?" "Here, Mama, you pick a sticker!" "Mama, I come play by you." She is so deeply relational and seems to want to engage with all of the world with someone else. If she makes a beautiful picture, she can't not share it. If she is playing with water, she wants me to taste her "soup". She wants to share her ice cream, her stories, her books, everything.

While this is a huge struggle most days because Piper never ever wants to spend any time doing anything by herself, I also love it about her and can identify with her too. My sweet relational little girl, how I love you!

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We know now, of course, that it was no stomach bug. Later that night we made our first ER trip (and were sent home). Little did we know how our world was about to come crashing down and how close we were to losing Watts that Memorial Day weekend of 2013.

Today, one year later, we are watching  cartoons in the early morning hours as Michael heads to church to get ready for the service. Yesterday we had a yard sale and chatted with neighbors and drank too much coffee.  Watts stayed in the periphery playing with yard toys as we sold random junk (finally unpacked from remaining moving boxes). In the afternoon we had a spur-of-the-moment visit from my family for dinner and a birthday celebration for my brother. It was all a full day and all very normal. We are unbelievably thankful for normal.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.