Hello to Hensley's Birthday Month!

It's March! Wait, What?!!! It's March???

Wasn't it just Christmas???

This year is chugging right along! 

This is probably one of the busiest times of the year for us. So much going on with school and family and birthday prep. 

Here's our month all wrapped up!

We started off the month with Spirit Week at school! The first day was wacky tacky day! Hensley loves wearing loud colors so he loved this day.

Unfortunately this was the only day we were able to participate because Hensley contracted the terrible stomach flu. 

After about 3 days and many, many hours of vomiting and intense stomach pains he started to finally feel better!

The dogs were pretty happy for a few days of rest and couch snuggles!

Andy was working a lot and Hensley and I made sure we kept busy........we spent many of the beautiful afternoons at the park!

I spent one day, while Hensley was in school, in my office totally rearranging and cleaning out. I keep so many of Hensley's papers and school work that I knew I had to weed some of it out and keep on the really special things. I realized that keeping it all makes it really hard to go back and look at the items that really mean the most. I came upon this...I had never even seen it from 1st grade! I am so, so happy to see that he remembers some of our little sayings.

Then...smack dab in the middle of the month.....this happened.

I did a whole blog post on this terrible event.

It changed how the rest of our month went for sure. And the next several months in fact. 

It was a stressful time and we all handled it differently. 

We were so blessed to have so much love and support around us!!!

Fast forward to when life sort of started to level out......

St. Patrick's day!!! Hensley is OBSESSED with pugs. When we saw this shirt online at target I knew he had to have it to celebrate this day!

I wasn't able to be at school on this day to celebrate which was hard but Andy had a ton of doctor appointments. His sweet teacher and friends at school made sure he had a great time and even snapped this picture for me :) His little red eyes remind me how little sleep we were all getting. 

I have to brag for a moment. The 6 days leading up this picture were far from easy. This little dude has been so kind, helpful and understanding. We are so proud of his report card he brought home this week. Awesome grades as always. He has been there to help me and his daddy out whenever needed! We know that through this whole ordeal that as long as we stay positive, continue to keep our faith strong and stay tough as a family unit things will only get better!

 Through out the past week while Andy was injured it was tough on little Hensley. Daddy's his best friend and his play partner. We are so lucky to have so many little friends who love him and are happy to take daddy's place for a while.

These two are so different. One lays in the shade one lays in the sun.

Last year Hensley made his bird house at school. We brought it home, hung it next to the feeder and hoped for eggs......nothing! We noticed 2 birds going in and out during the March and discovered a nest.....now a few weeks later we have discovered 5 little eggs. Hensley is over the Moon excited!

I will go ahead and assign March 2017 as one of the toughest, most stressful months ever for our family. Hensley made it so much easier. He showed us just how understanding and helpful he could be. He showed us how strong our family can be. I love his little face!

During all of the chaos we prayed a lot. Driving to CVS one evening I looked up and saw this. All this beauty right in front of me and I was reminded, "This too shall pass."

With everything going on we couldn't let it overshadow a very important event this month! Hensley was turning 8!! He was so excited for his birthday and he had told us he wanted a roller skating party for his big day! Plans were made, invites sent out and the party was still on. 

Andy and I had been so thankful for Hensley with everything going on this month and we wanted to really let him know how much he was loved! The night before he turned 8 we decorated his room, wrapped gifts and tried to make it as special as possible!

You only turn 8 once. Can't wait to see his face in the morning. The fact that he slept through the light on and us filling his room with balloons was pretty impressive! 😂🎉🎊🎈🎈

Each year on the eve of his birthday I sneak and snap a little photo of his sweet sleeping face. Each year he looks a little older, has a few more freckles and a few less teeth! He is the funniest kid I know. He loves with his whole heart and is still a sensitive little guy. His fears overtake him some days but he's growing by leaps and bounds both physically and emotionally. He's become quite independent here lately and a lot more comfortable being away from us. He loves pugs, tacos and his friends more then anything. He continues to amazes us in all subjects in school and there isn't one physical thing he has ever tried that he couldn't do perfectly. Basketball is big right now and so is every app and video game. He loves an adventure and is a total homebody at the same time. I can never thank God enough for allowing me the honor of being his Mommy. I asked him the other night if he was going to start calling me "Mom" now that he was 8. He let me know really quick that I was "Mommy" and always would be. As grown and big as he seems he is still my sweet little baby deep down and our close bond is something that is most treasured to me. Happy 8th birthday sweet boy. You are loved beyond measure. Keep reaching for the sky and your sure to land among stars!

I'll do a separate post about his actual birthday since this one was lengthy. We did a lot to celebrate with our little guy since this month had been so stressful. It was a really fun end to a very trying month.