Turn Up The Music!

Turn up the Music! I love the song by this title done by Point of Grace! It captures the essence of how I want to live! The chorus says, "Turn up the music, turn it up loud. Take a few chances, Let it all out!, You won't regret it, Lookin' back from where you have been, cause it's not who you knew, and it's not what you did, it's how you live!
The 2nd verse says, " Kiss all your children, Dance with your wife, tell your husband you love him, every night."
Isn't that just so simple and so easy! As Nike says, "Just do it!"
I am so blessed with a wonderful man and friend as my husband that I get to tell that I love him every night! Bill is the son of a wonderful Godly father, Irv Skaar. Irv was always teased by relatives that he had 4 "perfect kids!" Irv was always raving about his children and how perfect they each are. Well, it's true and I have the privilege and blessing of being married to perfect kid #1! I'll always remember how Bill made me laugh until I cried on a date to Red Lobster back in our Baylor/Waco days! He was telling me the cutest story about a resident named "Roy" who lived at the quarter house in Mexia, Texas where Bill was a weekend house parent. This helped Bill earn extra money for college. Bill tells how "Roy" would talk and dream of one day kissing a beautiful lady "right on the lips!" It's so funny and sweet to hear Bill tell it. "Roy" was an older resident with mental retardation and he had not yet had his first kiss with a lady. So sweet. I also remember so well walking across Baylor campus and it was almost as if God spoke audibly, in reply to my petition, asking God if perhaps Bill might be "the one" for me and God said "yes, my child, this is he. This is the man I have for you to spend the rest of your life with". Bill was the first guy I dated that I felt truly at ease around and loved unconditionally. He always was good at making me laugh and still is! I had written out a list of everything I wanted in a potential mate and he absolutely met everything I had written down! I still have that list in my wedding book. I am so blessed to be married to my best friend and lover. I am so proud of him and I love watching him minister. I also love being by his side at church, in hospital rooms, and wherever the ministry takes us, together. God is so good!
I am also very blessed to have an amazing daughter, Melissa Nicole! We had been married over 4 years and decided to start our family. It took over 8 months of trying to get pregnant that first time and we were so excited! I was working as a speech therapist and had to go on bed rest at 7 months due to pre-eclampsia. My blood pressure started spiking and my kidneys were having a hard time. Delivery of the baby is the only cure or pre-eclampsia. I was good and stayed in bed and carried her to term! She was so tiny! 4 pounds and 11 ounces when we took her home! She was practically bald until about 2 and then her fabulous hair came in and wow! My mom always called Melissa's hair, "God's abundance!" She was and is truly beautiful with big brown eyes and was so tiny but so articulate at such an early age, people were amazed wherever we took her! Here was this tiny baby girl walking and talking and displaying this gorgeous mane of hair! She looked much younger than she was, due to her tiny size, and she walked very early. Melissa is amazingly smart, if I might brag on her, and yet very kind and sensitive to others. I'll never forget one day as a poor preacher's wife in Brookshire, Texas, we were struggling to make ends meet and I was staying home with my toddler, money was tight. Our checking account had somehow gotten overdrawn and I was scared. I sat down and cried, overwhelmed and trying to figure out how this happened and what to do. I was thinking that Melissa was busy playing and wouldn't notice but I was wrong. She came near, climbed in my lap, wiped my tears, hugged me, and said, "don't cry mommy, it'll be ok!" Her sweet little smile, hug, and tender fingers wiping my tears was all the reassurance I needed and she was so right! It was all gonna be more than ok! Neither Melissa or I had a sister so I think that is why we are best friends and always were! Yes, I did fill the parent role when needed but we have always enjoyed the blessings of being "friends". She is beautiful inside and out and she is so much like her daddy! They are both "right" and they can both crunch the most complex numbers in their heads so easy! They both remember what they have heard! They are both great speakers and singers. They are both musical and amazing at math, history, words, trivia, debate, watching sports, golf, and leading the pack when we have a big or small group navigating a week at Disney World! I love Melissa so much and I couldn't imagine how I would have enough love for another child! (but I did!) I have to be careful to not just follow her around when she's here to visit now! I just want to soak up every second of her presence when she's here! I am now the only female in the house, since she married and moved to Houston. I miss her but I am glad she is now married to her best friend and has a great job.
4 years after we had Melissa we wanted one more child and it was easier and faster to get pregnant the 2nd time. Melissa was excited and Bill and I were as well! One more little Skaar on the way! We hoped for a boy but just healthy was fine, boy or girl. It was such an easy pregnancy this time, no blood pressure problems or kidney issues at all! Night and Day different! I worked out diligently and tried to get in top physical shape before getting pregnant the 2nd time and it helped for sure. I didn't have to have a c-section this time, like I had with Melissa! It was so different! I'll never forget my precious daddy sitting right by my side in Labor and Delivery the entire time! I didn't know until later that Mom and Daddy were so sorry they didn't come right away when I had all the trouble with my pregnancy and delivery with Melissa that they came a week before Brad's due date. They were right there with me to be sure I did ok having a v-bac. I didn't realize the risk of hemorrhage but Daddy did and he told me later he was going to scrub in if I ended up having to go into surgery. Thank the Lord, I didn't! 11 hours of mild labor and then ta da! A 7 pound 3 ounce baby boy! I'll never forget, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl until he came and as soon as Dr. Cohen said, "It's a boy!" Bill looked at me and mouthed the words, "Thank you!!" So sweet! Brad was such an easy and good baby just like Melissa had been. My mom said I was so lucky to have had 2 babies that were so good! Bradley is an amazing young man. He was so cute and fun as a little boy and Melissa and I LOVED, absolutely loved, to hear him get tickled and laugh when he was little! As a little guy he had the most delightful and contagious laugh! He loved balls, hats, and playing outside! I really enjoyed sitting out on our driveway in Livingston and watching he and Bill play baseball as Bill would pitch to him and when he got a hit he'd run all three bases, then home and immediately say, "again, daddy, again!" Now Brad is a very handsome and kind young man who is fun to talk to and he still makes us laugh, often. Brad as a very quick wit and a sharp sense of humor. He is very intuitive of others feelings and perceptions. Brad is very tech savvy and is pursuing a career in the film industry. He is very creative and artistic and he helped me learn how to use my i-phone and how to sell stuff on e-bay! I love my son and it's fun being his mom!
The first verse of the song I referred to says, "have what you want but want what you have". I so have what I want, and want what I have!! Thank you God! I am so blessed, more than I ever dreamed!
Let's "Turn Up The Music, take a few chances, use the good dishes, wear your red dress, make a big mess and make lots of wishes!"