What a year...

So...I noticed it has only been almost a year since my last post....and my what a year it has been!
Last November started out great!! We took a family vacation to Orlando. We took the kids to LegoLand and Seaworld..and it was fabulous. We really enjoyed ourselves. I guess God was preparing us for what was about to happen. November 23, 2011...my what a crazy day. Spent most of the day helping my parents get things ready for Thanksgiving. Bailee and Halee decided to spend the night with my parents so I could finish my grocery shopping. So I had plenty of time to get my house cleaned...laundry done...not sure at this point what I was preparing for...but felt the need to have everything done. Derrick was working out of town and would miss Thanksgiving Day...so I stayed up half the night getting everything finished. The next day the kids wanted to stay at my parents while I was cooking. I took our Ranger to them so they could ride since they were bored. By lunch time, the whole family rolled in and of course the kids hurried through lunch so they could rush back out to play. My parents have a pond a couple hundred yards behind their house, and they wanted to ride down to it, and turn around and come back. My gut instinct was no...mainly because I could mentally picture my brand new ranger sinking slowly in the pond....but since their older cousin was riding with them, I gave in. The next few hours are somewhat of a blur. I know that Bailee and Halee dropped my niece off at the house to use the restroom....halfway on their trip to the pond they realized they forgot to go back and get her....so they tried to turn around...I don't know what happened exactly...may never know...but in a frantic effort to get help...Bailee slid out from under the ranger and ran to the house for help. Our Black Friday shopping list was interrupted by the door flying open and Bailee standing there screaming "Halee...Ranger...Woods"...my heart literally sank to my stomach. I ran as fast as I could screaming her name until I turned a corner and saw that ranger on its side...when I could see all four wheels and didn't hear her...I knew I didn't want to see what was on the other side. My brother and I were the first ones to her and he lifted the ranger off of her (absolute adrenaline).... She was blue and not breathing....but my sister took over and by the time everyone got to her, shallow breaths were being made. After what seemed like hours, actually only about 20 minutes, she was loaded up and taken to meet a helicopter. After being flown to Dothan, she was then airlifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham. Derrick met me in Dothan and I believe that trip from Dothan to Birmingham was one of the longest. It would be complete silence for a long time, followed by praying, followed by sobbing, then silence again. Then to hear those doctors say time after time that your child probably isn't going to make it through the night....a parents worst nightmare. But with GOD's grace, she made it through. And so far 2012 has been a year of trips back and forth to Birmingham. All of this completely changed our life. I think that for those who weren't there...you don't realize how bad she was...but knowing what I know and seeing what I saw, then to see her now...she is a modern day miracle. And that has brought us to where we are today...living life to the fullest..trying to enjoy every moment. Love the people God gave you...he will need them back one day!

Friday night football...

Wonderful morning, even though I had to take the kids to school...yes, we missed the bus again...but for a good reason...we forgot to wear red and white to school today, so we had to have a last minute outfit change!  As I dropped Bailee and Halee off at school, they saw their big sister selling ribbons and tattoos...made me smile, all the little kids gathered around her, all giggles and smiles.  A little sad, knowing this will be the last football season for her, the last year all four of my kids will be students  at the same school. :(  And hard to believe that it has been 11 years since I was walking in her shoes!  Tonight will be her last "first" game...and Ethan's first game! So all in all we are pretty excited!!  Let's Go REBELS!!!

Monday...

For once, Monday was good to me!!  I woke up so excited to spend the day with my husband...the first day we had, just the two of us, since before school got out last year. So of course, Halee and Bailee were ill. Halee got on the bus, Bailee came back inside...headache and he just knew he was going to throw up...of course...just my luck! After no fever, taking some tylenol, and me begging him to just try it...I dropped him off at school on time.  8:33 am...I am standing in the office waiting to check him out! Still no fever, hasn't thrown up, just doesn't feel good. But somehow, less than an hour of being home, he was cured!  And he tagged along, as we did everything we had already planned for the day...and I have to admit, it was nice. Sure I would have loved to have spent the day with just Derrick...but it was nice, having just one kid with us...no fighting, no two kids trying to tell the same story a different way, at the same time.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE ALL 4 of my children, but sometimes it is so hard to enjoy them and their own unique qualities when they are all together, fighting over our attention.  And I guess it made me realize that I need to take that time more often, not necessarily at the expense of missing a day of school, but a date night, or a trip to get ice cream, just to catch up on them!  And I have to admit, for the first time in a long time, today he was a complete angel!  Of course, Halee was jealous...didn't understand why we didn't check her out of school too...and after her partial story of her day, and the whole story from her teacher...my little drama queen didn't feel good today, either!  So, I suppose I need to take some Halee time real soon, or I just might get another phone call from the nurse!

The start of something new...

  Most days in the Deal household are complete chaos. Derrick usually works 6-7 days a week, so sometimes I feel like a single parent. That in itself makes life very hectic...especially when everyone needs to be somewhere and there is only one of me. There is always two children in the house, somedays three, and occasionally we will have all four children here.  I would have never imagined that I would be the mother of four...most days it is fabulous! Especially since two of them are a bonus...I mean I didn't have go through hours of hard labor, or have even more stretch marks to get them in to this world.  By the time those two came in my life, I had already missed the diapers, bottles, potty training, carseats....so those two should have been a breeze...yeah right.  Instead I got the smart mouth, back talking, you aren't my mother when they were younger.  Now my two (that I brought into this world) are at that stage...smart mouth, back talking, you are my mother and I am still not gonna mind you...lol  And the oldest two are at the newest stage of my parenting career...the "they are growing up and I can't stop it" stage....where one of them drives more than I do, and I worry...boy do I worry.  Raising two teenagers, about the same age difference as my brother and I were, makes me appreciate my parents even more! And it also make me wonder how they didn't go insane after raising us. But most days are good...by good I do mean chaos...but they are good!  The day can be completely crazy, but one moment can turn it all around...somedays my princess and my dare devil can fight all (and I do mean all) day....get in the car and they are still fighting....so of course it is to turn the radio on (to "teenage" music, as Halee calls it) and I will glance in my rear view mirrow, and see her...smiling and singing every word...and all the bad from the day just disappears...and I think "Wow....she came from me...and she is perfect...everything I ever wanted my little girl to be..." And they all have that spark about them...something they do or say that makes you forget about what they just broke or how much money they said they had to have by tomorrow!  Bailee is quite the entertainer...from gymnastics, to jokes, to impersonations, and the occasional show tune...I expect to see him on tv one day...Ethan is the "did he really just say that" one of the bunch...an amazing athlete, and a huge help when he wants to be with the biggest heart, sometimes he says the most blonde things...and Derrick and I will just look at each other and die laughing....Audrey is the "she's already gone...." one....headstrong, knows what she wants and is determined to get it, went from the awkward red head, to one of the most beautiful young women I know....And Halee, my princess, she is so smart, and gorgeous and will help anyone and everyone that she can.  And of course, I wouldn't have them if it weren't for my amazing husband, my best friend....he is probably the most hardworking man I know. God has truly blessed me.
So I have decided to take on this new blogging experience, since I am sure you all want to hear about the crazy life of the Deal family....enjoy!