First National Tournament

It’s no secret that Joshua loves wrestling. He is totally devoted to the sport and is truly passionate about it. He’s also a good little wrestler. 

Joshua wrestled in a non-competitive recreational league when he was four and five, and started wrestling competitively just before he turned six last spring. It was a huge step up to go from a rec league to actually competing, but Joshua was up for the challenge and proved to be a great wrestler.

After just three months of competitive wrestling in the 2009 Freestyle/Greco season (last spring) and one month so far of competitive wrestling in the 2009 Folkstyle season (which we’re currently in the midst of), Joshua has already amassed an impressive collection of 19 medals and 4 trophies. He usually places first or second at state tournaments. He’s currently ranked #3 out of our entire state in his age division. (Rankings are based on points gathered through tournament wins and are totaled over the combination of the fall and spring seasons. Because Joshua only wrestled in the spring last year, he earned his points in half the time that everyone else did. He still managed to climb the ranks to #3!) At the Freestyle/Greco State Championships last April, Joshua took Gold in Greco along with the Outstanding Wrestler Award for his age group and took Bronze for Freestyle. That’s all pretty impressive for a six-year-old with just one season under his belt!

Joshua has done so well at state tournaments (Can I say it again? Ranked #3 in our state, the State Champion for Greco, and a bronze medalist for Freestyle!!) that we began to wonder how he’d do at national tournaments. We sat down with Josh and explained that state champion wrestlers would travel from all around the country to attend these national tournaments. The wrestlers would be tougher than he’d ever wrestled, the brackets would be larger than he’d even been in, he’d have more matches and harder matches than ever before. Of course, Joshua was eager to try.

Then, just one week before his first national tournament, Joshua got sick. He was violently sick, he lost 5 pounds, and he ended up in the hospital due to severe dehydration. Josh really wanted to wrestle at a local tournament just days later. We were hesitant because he’d been so sick, but finally agreed. Joshua won first place and brought home the gold medal, in spite of his very recent illness.

We were pretty sure that we’d keep him out of the national tournament though, because he was so weakened from being sick and because the competition would be so fierce. This national tournament would be particularly hard because Joshua would have to wrestle in the 7-8 year old group even though he was only six years old. Friends on his wrestling team told us that most boys his age who went were “two and done,” meaning that they lost their first two matches and were out.

Joshua insisted that he wanted to try anyway. He told us he knew he might not win or even place in the top six, but that would be okay with him. We explained how hard it would be, but it did not change his mind. “I like a challenge,” he kept insisting. We explained that they were awarding trophies for 1st-3rd and medals for 4th-6th, which meant that MOST kids would go home without anything at all and he might leave a tournament empty-handed for the first time ever. Josh said that was okay.

Finally, we agreed. After missing two straight weeks of practice (due to Thanksgiving and being sick) and after being so sick that he was hospitalized just a week earlier, Joshua entered his first national tournament. We were a little nervous for our boy.

I had a busy day on Friday as we prepared for the tournament. I cleaned, packed, ran errands, changed the oil in the van, had the tires changed, took Brenna to gymnastics, and then took all the kids to weigh ins. I took them by myself, in the dark, through an unfamiliar, winding mountain pass. We drove an hour away to the tournament venue for weigh ins and then drove home again.

The next morning, I was up at 5am. When Rick got home at 7am, we left. We made the hour drive again.

I expected this tournament to be big because it was a national event, but it was even larger than I’d imagined. The arena was huge. There were over 500 wrestlers there, and nearly 80 in Joshua’s age group. They’d come from 9 different states and most were state champs or placers in their home states.

We were there for 10 hours. It was a good thing that I was prepared to spend the day there- I had plenty of drinks, snacks, toys, coloring books, and so on.

Joshua was up against a tough kid right off the bat- the 8-year-old state champion from a neighboring state who ended up taking 1st place that night. Josh did well against such a strong competitor, but he still lost by a few points. Then Joshua surprised us by PINNING the rest of the kids in his bracket! The competition was so steep that we did not expect that. Josh was thrilled and so were we!

Joshua ended up wrestling in the finals for 3rd and 4th place. He wrestled the kid who’s ranked #1 in our state. Josh has pinned him several times in the past so we felt pretty confident that he could win and take home a 3rd place trophy. Unfortunately Josh was pretty tired by that point. His head was obviously not in the match. He didn’t look like he was really even trying and he seemed so out of it. He lost by just a few points.

Joshua was bitterly disappointed because he didn’t get a trophy. We told him it was okay to be sad, but to also remember how well he had done. He’d come to his first national tournament just a week after being sick, he was up against older kids with more experience, who were state champions themselves. We were told by several parents on our team to expect him to be “two and done” at this tournament because it was so, so competitive. And, in spite of all of that, Josh took fourth place!! We told him that we were proud of him and he should be proud of himself too.

Josh couldn’t be consoled by our words, but he did cheer up when he took his place on the stand and an enormous 4th place medal was placed around his neck.

We gave the team coach and his kids a ride home in our 12-passenger van. We went out to dinner as a family afterwards. It was a good day and we are so proud of our tough little guy!

  

A Diaper

Asher was stinky so I asked him to bring me a diaper. He grinned at me and ran off with that cute little bouncy run of his. I watched as he trotted over to a nearby garbage can, fished out two of Jacob’s old diapers, and brought them back to me. He placed a dirty diaper carefully in my hand and smiled at me. He did bring me a diaper… it just wasn’t the kind I wanted!

5 Weeks

Baby Jacob is five weeks old now, and yes, time continues to race by me at an incredible pace. Just for fun, I weighed and measured Jacob this morning. Our little guy has grown to 7.5 pounds and 21 inches long! Jacob is as sweet as ever. He continues to be delightfully easy and content. He’s a good sleeper, a good eater, and he rarely fusses. He takes our busy, active lifestyle in stride, he’s a pro at sleeping through the noise and taking naps “on the go.” Of course, Jake’s got his very own fan club- adoring siblings who are constantly ready to play with him, sing to him, kiss him, and cuddle him. He’s got the entire house wrapped securely around his very small pinkie and we are all so thankful for him!

Cute

As I was helping Braden get dressed this morning, he sighed with great satisfaction and said, “Today is such a cute day!”

I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it made me laugh!

Ramblings

We went to the mall yesterday evening. Rick and I wanted to find cell phone covers and car chargers. It was a nice family outing.

Braden was really tired that night. He’s three so he usually walks while we’re out and about, but he was so tired that I pulled out the umbrella stroller for him to ride in. So we had our giant double stroller and the umbrella stroller. I’ve often wondered when we’d need more stroller space than the double stroller could provide. This was the first time that I’ve used three stroller seats all at once, and it was the first time I had two older kids who could easily and reliably push the umbrella stroller for me. Even though we didn’t absolutely need the umbrella stroller too, it was still kind of fun because it’s a scenario I’ve imagined in the past.

While Rick shopped for cell phone gear, the kids and I browsed Gymboree just for fun. The girls, of course, were quite into it. They each found a winter hat that they loved and I was so tempted to buy them… not because we needed them, but because Maddie’s hat had brown trim that totally made her brown eyes pop and Brenna’s had blue trim that was exactly the color of her blue eyes. I didn’t buy them, but I still want to.

We bought the kids their matching Christmas pajamas next. We selected fuzzy fleece jammies with polar bears on them. I also found Jacob a size newborn fleece hat (that is still way, way too big on his itty bitty head) and we bought the older kids new slippers because theirs have gotten too small.

We snacked on cinnamon almonds and enjoyed our evening out. And we got all the cell phone stuff that we needed, which was the reason we went in the first place.

The mall closed at 9pm so we went across the street to Target. We’d promised our eager children that they could do a little Christmas shopping for each other there. The kids were so excited. We split up with them, helping them to each pick out a present for the sibling they were buying for. Brenna got Joshua a Star Wars toy, Josh got Brenna a Fur Real Friend, Maddie found Braden an orange magnadoodle, and Braden picked out a fancy tea set for Madalyn. Amazingly, all four presents were kept secret from the child they were purchased for. Our two youngest boys did not pick out gifts, but I will probably have the older four kids work together to pick out presents for Asher and Jacob soon.

We left Target just as it was closing. We went home, put the kids to bed, and Rick and I enjoyed watching a movie together (but then we both fell asleep during it).

Today was  fun, busy day. I actually got to SLEEP last night! Asher slept all night long and didn’t get up until 8am! And Jacob went longer than usual between nursing sessions. It was nice!

We finished our morning chores quickly and got started right in on school work. Rick is still working night shift so he was supposed to sleep all day. But he woke up before too long. He’d slept a lot the night before. And he wanted to exchange some of the things we’d bought for our cell phones the night before.

I love spending time with my husband every chance I get so I decided to go with him. The kids were busy with school so we brought their work along- the stuff they hadn’t finished already that morning. Thankfully, the older kids don’t seem to suffer from motion sickness! They worked on their assignments while we drove. There were some things that couldn’t be done in the car; those things we’d either finished already that morning anyway or just decided to save for later.

On the way to the mall, we stopped at Target again. Rick and the kids waited in the van while I dashed in and secretly bought a few Christmas presents. We’d seen a few toys at Target the night before- ones the kids really wanted that we knew would get harder to find over the coming weeks- so we decided to buy them while we had the chance. The kids knew I was buying presents, but didn’t know who they were for or what they were.

At the mall, Rick exchanged phone stuff and we went shopping for shoes for Joshua. At one point, we split up. Maddie wanted to go with Rick and then Brenna decided that she did too. I felt such a surge of joy as I watched the man I love so much holding hands and walking with our two beautiful daughters. I’ll never forget how cute the girls looked and how it warmed my heart to see them each holding onto one of their Daddy’s hands. Then I glanced down at the four sweet sons that were still with me and felt even more joyful as I looked at the four of them. How blessed Rick and I are to have each other as husband and wife and to also have two daughters and four sons together!

Our mall trip was brief. We headed home so that Rick could nap before work and Brenna could attend her 3pm gymnastics practice. Brenna went to gymnastics while the kids and I waited for her. I enjoy watching her practice; she is such a beautiful, talented little gymnast. Gymnastics ended at 5:10 and Joshua’s wresting practice started at 5:30. The kids and I waited again, for Joshua this time. They all had fun playing with their friends while we waited, and it was fun to watch Joshy wrestle and practice.

We got home about 7pm. As fast as I could, I put everyone into warm pajamas and fed everyone dinner. We left the house at 7:30 for Asher’s flu shot booster. He handled it really well and the other kids were so polite and well-behaved that the nurse gave them all suckers.

After we got home again, the kids helped me tidy up, we had family prayer, and then everyone went to bed (without too much talking).

It’s 10:15. The house is quiet, and it’s time for me to go to bed myself. I feel so thankful and so happy tonight. I am truly blessed. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank Heavenly Father for all I’ve been given! I have an amazing husband who is my very best friend and truly my soul mate. We are sealed together for all of eternity. Together we have six incredible, beautiful, sweet little children, with the promise of more to come. We have the gospel in our lives. We are busy and active and healthy. We have a suitable home and enough money for the things we need. I find complete fulfillment in my role as a mother. I trust my Heavenly Father completely and I feel so peaceful- both with where I am and where I am going. I’ve never been happier than I am now!

A Taste

Last night I heard something that I really never would have imagined I’d hear. I guess there are some things that even seven years of parenthood can’t prepare you for! This is the conversation that I overheard last night as we were out running errands in the van.

At the mall I bought some delicious cinnamon roasted almonds to share. I let Asher try a nibble and he apparently had some sticky residue left on his lips. After Ash was buckled into his carseat, Brenna kissed him and gasped in surprise, “Oh! He tastes like cinnamon!”

From her own seat, Maddie shrieked in delight, “Brenna, taste me next!”

Brenna surprised me when she quickly responded, “Well, I’m already buckled. I’ll taste you when we get to Target.”

Determined Wrestler

Joshua was extremely sick at the end of last week and over the weekend. He was hospitalized on Friday for severe dehydration and he lost 5 pounds total in just a few days.

Last night Joshua had a wrestling tournament. We knew he wasn’t contagious anymore, but we also knew how weak and depleted his little body was. We decided to keep him out of the tournament to give him a chance to rest and recover.

We sat Josh down and gently broke the news. Our die-hard wrestler burst into tears. He wasn’t throwing a fit and trying to get his way; these were the tears of a truly heartbroken little boy.

Joshua’s strong emotions made us reconsider. Rick and I talked again and we decided that Joshua’s health and safety were not on the line. The only issues had to do with his stamina and strength. Since he wasn’t in danger of getting hurt because of his recent illness, we decided to leave the choice up to him. We talked with Josh about everything his body had been through and how he was still weak and recovering. Then we left the chose of it up to him. Of course, he chose to wrestle anyway.

His first match was a little tough on him. It was obvious that he was physically weak and exhausted. After the match Joshua was even debating whether to continue in the tournament or just forfeit the rest of his matches because he was tired. But Josh really is a die-hard and before long he had decided that he wanted to wrestle one more match and see how he felt afterwards.

There are several really effective throws in wrestling and Joshua has mastered them. If he can lock a kid up, it’s pretty much guaranteed that he’ll throw and pin him. This year Rick has told Josh that he’s not allowed the throw because he wants Josh to practice and perfect other skills instead.

After seeing how tired Josh was during his first match, Rick gave him permission to throw. He told Josh to just go for the easy throws and pins. Matches would over more quickly and this would save his energy rather than depleting it.

This proved to be a great strategy. Josh threw and pinned the rest of the kids in his bracket. The matches were over quickly so had the energy to wrestle them all. There was one really mad dad who thought that Josh was cheating because he was using throws. Of course, we wouldn’t have allowed Josh to do anything illegal. This dad just didn’t know the rules (that throws and headlocks are perfectly legal) and was mad that his son got pinned.

Joshua, who was in the hospital on IV fluids just days before, wrestled six matches and took first place in this tournament.  We are proud of our determined little wrestler!

You can see how pale and scrawny Joshua has become during this illness, especially if you compare these pictures to the ones from a tournament several weeks ago. It’s frightening to watch a child lose weight so rapidly and it’s scary to compare the before and after pictures. Thankfully, Joshua is gradually gaining weight again now!

Here he is tonight, with his gold medal. He’s looking better every day!

Little Gymnast

We believe that when time and money are available, extracurricular activities do children a lot a good. We’d never force our kids to participate, but we work hard to provide them the encouragement and resources that they need in order to do so.

Last year I asked Maddie if there was any activity that she’d like to try, but she wasn’t too interested. (She did briefly try a dance class, but then didn’t want to go anymore.) Now that she’s a kindergartener and feeling braver, I’ve encouraged her to try another activity. She has tried two different cheerleading classes and a dance class and today was her first day of gymnastics class. I guess she is as indecisive as her mommy!

Madalyn loved gymnastics today. On the drive there, she kept saying, “This is the greatest day of my entire life!” She was so excited to run into the gym and line up with her class. She kept waving enthusiastically up at me during class and bouncing around with delight. She was somewhat distracted, which is typical of our imaginative little girl, but she focused well when it was her turn to participate. Her coach, who used to work with Brenna last spring, said Maddie did great and she was excited to have her.

Maddie will continue in gymnastics during the month of December. In January she’ll choose if she wants to continue with gymnastics, or go back to cheer or dance, or do nothing at all. At this point, she is thinking about either gymnastics or cheerleading… or dance class. Ha! Like I said, she’s a little indecisive. Last year she wanted to do nothing, this year she wants to do everything.

As a Mother

I found this quote on another blog and I really like it. Motherhood is the most enormous calling, but we are never alone in it.

“As a mother, my job is to take care of what is possible and trust Got with what is impossible.”

-Ruth Bell Graham

Time with Josh

Poor Josh. He’s been so sick for several days now and last night he hit an emotional wall. Our sweet little boy was so, so sad. I could tell that being so sick was taking its toll.

I put all three of the younger boys to bed, Rick took the girls grocery shopping, and Joshua stayed home with me. I told him he could do anything he wanted. He asked to play computer games and I agreed. But within minutes, Joshy shuffled into my bedroom. He looked upset. His chin quivered and his blue eyes were extra round.

“What’s wrong, sweet boy?” I gasped when I saw his face, the heartbreaking face that he always makes when he’s trying very hard not to cry. 

“I’m just kinda lonely,” Joshua whispered forlornly as tears spilled onto his pale cheeks.

I opened my arms to my sweet, sick little boy and pulled him into bed with me. My heart just broke for him, knowing how sick he’d been and how tired and drained and depressed he must feel as a result. Josh felt really cold in my arms so I held him closer and pulled the blankets around him. I asked him if there was anything that he felt like doing. Josh pointed to the game “In a Pickle” that had been left on Rick’s nightstand.

We played together and Joshua’s mood improved. I was glad that he was feeling happier and I was thankful to spend time with him. If I was spending time with Brenna or Maddie, they’d want to paint fingernails and fix hair. I was glad that I had a way- playing a game- to spend quality time with my son in a way that made him happy.

I watched Joshua as we played. His pale face looked way too thin. His sturdy hands, with the fingernails bitten down, were still a disturbing blue color. His entire body seemed thin and bony, even through his pajamas. It made me sad, driving home how sick he really had been and how sick he still was. But I was glad to see him smile.

Josh won our game. By then he was too tired to sit up anymore. He leaned against me, tucked cozily under a blanket, and we looked at toys online. Josh hasn’t had anything that he really wants for Christmas so it was good to look at some possibilities.

I could tell Joshua was getting sad again. He was feeling too tired and too sick to play games or even look at toys anymore. He didn’t want to watch a movie. There was nothing else to do and I could tell he was once again overwhelmed. It’s hard to be trapped inside a sick body. We turned on Bringing Up Polar Bear on Animal Planet. We snuggled together and fell asleep watching it.

When Rick got home, he had brought Joshua some Star Wars toys. Josh was excited about them. The two of them stayed up together and played with the new toys. Rick eventually put Josh to bed.

Today Joshua seems better. He hasn’t thrown up since last night. He’s playing computer games. His voice sounds more like himself when he talks. He’s keeping down popsicles, gatoraid, and chicken broth, all in very small amounts. He’s hoping to wrestle at his tournament tomorrow and the one on Saturday (we’ll see). He seems happier as well, and that reassures me. It’s been hard to see him so terribly sick, and it’s been hard to see him so sad as well. I’m glad he’s feeling better. I hope it continues.