Reflections on the end of year

I've been meaning to get back to blogging for some time...I've decided to start a new one because I'm not the same person who last blogged...if that makes any sense. Life has changed me. God has changed me. My children have vastly changed me. 2013 was a year of great changes for our family. We spent the first part of the year trying to figure out what was making our sweet E-boy so sick. I tried everything. Poo cultures at the hospital, visits to an allergist, taking him off of gluten...it finally got so bad with the puking, eczema, and diarrhea that I called a naturopath in tears for help. I remember mentioning to my friends that my kids are making me crunchier. Before kids, I never would've even thought about going the non medical route, but love for my kids made me willing to try anything...We ended up putting E-boy on a strict elimination diet to find the source of his sickness. Try making a birthday cake for a sweet boy turning 2 with none of the usual ingredients! But we got to the bottom of it. E-boy can't have peanuts, wheat, dairy or eggs. I'm so thankful to know what the answers are... Spring came, and with it, our decision to relocate our family to San Antonio, Texas. We had felt for some time that our time in Colorado was drawing to a close. We visited Texas at spring break, and took a leap by signing a lease on a rental house. Then we had to come home, and let everyone know...that was the difficult part. And packing and purging, of course. All while the kids finished their school years, and kept with the routine. As soon as school was out, the moving truck rolled, and we put our house on the market. Did I mention that through all of this I was pregnant with number 4? Unpacking with 3 littles is bad enough, but being huge while doing it was even crazier. I was fortunate to find a fantastic midwife to help assist in home birth of my sweet girl. And an even bigger blessing, my friend S came from Colorado to be there for the birth! Not being able to ask her to my birth was one of the saddest things about leaving Colorado, but I got to have her anyway. God heard my prayer, and gave me the desires of my heart...awesome! The birth was my smoothest I think. Maybe it was because I felt the most supported of any of my births. All 3 of the other littles saw their baby sister come into this world. How amazing is that?! I never imagined that I'd have one kid, let alone 4, but now that my beautiful Miss W is here, I can't imagine it any other way. In the midst of all of this, we started going to a new church. Went back to a Vineyard after being in different kind of church in Colorado. The first Sunday during worship, I cried and cried. I knew Colorado had been a dry period for me spiritually, but I didn't realize how dry until I had a dose of the Holy Spirit again. So. Incredibly. Thankful. Fall came, and with it the start of school. My first baby L started kindergarten. Wow. He loved it, but it was a hard day for mommy. Can't believe we've reached this point already. He loves it, and is doing quite well. IslandGirl started her second year at preschool, and is just now starting to blossom. I'm so happy for her! I'm also enjoying my time with E-boy and Miss W while the others are off at school. And we are packing again. We're moving to a house we bought that's just a few miles away. It will require new schools for the kids again, but they seem to take everything in stride. Plus we're putting in a pool. Yahoo! I think I'm almost as excited as the kids. And I'm looking forward to being able to swim for exercise too. As I sit here listening to my 4 incredible blessings sleep, I am so thankful. I'm looking forward to. New year of getting settled, and enjoying my family. Can't wait to see what's in store. Happy 2014!!!!