The New Bed and Crawling

A couple of weeks ago, Halle came to me and wanted to know why she was the only one who did not have a big girl bed in the house. Halle sleeps in a toddler bed and Grace in a twin. My heart sank. I felt so bad for her. She told me she wanted a big girl bed. I knew right then I was going to start looking for a bed for her. Tim and I tossed around the idea of bunk beds, and for many reasons decided they were not for us. So, the choices were a twin for Halle or a full for both of them to sleep in. I was leaning towards the twin for Halle, but after measuring everything in their room, the twin would fit, but it would look really awkward in there. To top it off we wouldn't have been able to leave the dresser in there. The room is really big, but with the way the door, window, and closet are placed there are not many options to work with. All that being said, we decided to go with the full bed. They have slept in a full bed before, and did really well with it. We figure if it doesn't work, that bed will eventually go in the spare room down stairs. Tim picked up the mattresses today, but the headboard and footboard are not in yet. Tonight is their first night in their bed together. I can tell Halle feels like a big girl. That makes me so happy! They are in there laughing and talking as I type this. It brings joy to my soul after a long day today!! Here are some pictures of them before we turned the lights off. And now, one of my big Halle girl!! So happy to be in her big girl bed!

I also wanted to add that Avery started crawling today. Today is my Mom's birthday. What a nice treat for my Mom. Avery showed off her new skill tonight for Mom as we celebrated her birthday. I know my Mom missed celebrating her birthday with her Mom today, but what an awesome remembrance of the Lord giving and taking away. Once again I am reminded of my Grandma through Avery Margaret!

Halle is 3!!

Halle turned 3 last Thursday. It was so fun to watch her and listen to her. She understood what was going on and was excited to have a birthday. She was so cute with all of it. For those of you who know Halle, she does not like to be the center of attention. She has gotten better with situations that have a lot of people involved or anything having to do with her. She handled this birthday very well. To top it all off, the poor girl was sick for her party. She still did good with it all! Halle is my sweet little girl who plays good alone and loves to laugh. She really is the ham in our family. I connect with her in a different way and love her for who she is. She often gets lost in the shuffle and I try to be aware of this happening . She really is content to not be made over. So opposite of our first-born! :)

To My Halle Girl,

You are 3!!! Wow - I remember when you were born just like it was yesterday. We were thrilled to find out you were a girl. We knew you and Gracie would be good friends and have tons of fun with each other. I love my sister and am thankful for her. I wanted a sister for Gracie, so you and her could share the same thing Lynn and I have. It is so fun to watch you and her together.

You were in the NICU after you were born and it broke my heart to see you in there. It was a very difficult thing to go through, but we were so happy and blessed to know you would be fine. You came home a week later.

You are my little girl and I love your personality and the way you love life. You are content to be alone and play alone. You sit back and take it all in. I love this about you. You love to laugh and you know how to make me laugh, but you really know how to make Avery laugh. It is so sweet to watch you play with her and make her laugh. You are a great big sister to her!

Daddy and I love you so much. Thank you for the joy and laughter you bring to this home. I thank God for you and pray that you will seek after Him and desire Him with your whole heart. I also pray Daddy and I can be the parents we are supposed to be.

I love you, Halle girl!

Cast and Pins

Yesterday I took Gracie to the Dr. to have her cast removed and have another x-ray. If the bone was healed, she was done with the cast and the pins would be removed. If it was not healed, she would have had another cast put on. I am not good with medical stuff...at all. I don't pass out, but I just can't handle it. My Dad came with me to be the strong one. I knew I couldn't hold her hand while he pulled long pins out of her bone. I Just couldn't be the strong one.

They took the old cast off and took her for an x-ray. The pins had started to work their way out of her arm already. Which made me not want to look at it!! After the Dr. looked at the x-ray he told us the good news - it was completely healed! Praise the Lord!!! He said it was one of the fastest healing he has ever seen! Gracie was very excited, but knew it was time for the pins to come out. My Dad held her hand and helped her through it while her weak-kneed mother sat in a chair! She cried some as they come out, but did really well. The Dr. asked her if he should pitch the pins or did she want to keep them? In my mind I am saying....keep them?????...for real??? What in the heck would we do with them? I then said to myself, surely she will say "pitch". Not so much. She wanted to keep them. The Dr. put them in a little bag and handed them to me. Dad and I looked at each other and laughed. What am I going to do with these, put them in her scrapbook???

Many people were praying for Grace's arm yesterday. Praying that it would be healed and that she would not have to have another cast put on. What an awesome thing it was to hear she was done and this part of our life was behind us. Grace was a trooper though it all, from start to finish. Grace is full of drama and Tim and I thought these last 6 weeks would have been a long 6 weeks. She surprised us and did really well with it and there wasn't much drama. I am shocked at how well it all went.

After the Dr.'s appointment I took Grace to Build-A-Bear. She has been saving her money to buy a dog that she had her eye on. She still needed to save some more money, but decided she had saved enough and thought she deserved it after all she went through. I told her where I was taking her and why. She was so excited. She walked right in to the store, went right over to the dogs and picked out her new friend.

Meet Francis.....

Without the cast.....

Catching up

It has been a busy last couple of weeks. After the broken arm, we had to call 911 for Halle (on Christmas Eve night)! She woke up with croup and after doing all you can do for croup, her lips were turning blue and she was struggling to breath. We went the the ER in the ambulance and left the ER at 3:00 on Christmas morning. Our Christmas plans had to change because not only were we exhausted, but she was contagious. In the end, our Christmas was as good as it could have been. Tim and I just don't remember much of it because we were in a fog and very tired!

Tim was off for 18 days and we all enjoyed him being home. We really didn't get much done or do much, but it was nice to just be together as a family. It was hard on Monday for all of us as he went back to work. This past weekend we went to Geneva to visit my Dad's side of the family. We had a really good time and the girls loved it. It was nice to see family and get caught up.

I came home from our weekend away to a very nice surprise. A friend of my Mom's wanted to bless us with some food and deep clean our house. She felt burdened for us and all we have gone through the last couple of weeks. While we were in Geneva she came over along with my Mom and a good friend of the family and they deep cleaned the house, cleaned the fridge, organized the pantry, cleaned the sheets, and had meals in the fridge/freezer. I just couldn't believe someone would want to bless me like that! On the way home from Geneva, I drove and Tim entertained the kids. I had a lot of time to think. I thought a lot about how dirty some things were in my house, how I felt behind, and how I was overwhelmed. What a blessing it was to walk in to this surprise! God reminded me that He loves me and blesses me when He knows I need it.

Broken arm and sickness

Yesterday was quite the day. Everything started out normal. Tim went to work and Mimi Jackson came and picked up Grace and Halle. On Wednesday's she takes Grace to school and Halle back to her house. It is a day I have with Avery and I am able to get "caught" up. Mimi was still at our house and Tim calls and says he isn't feeling well and is coming home. First clue that the day is going to be a long one! Mimi leaves and Tim gets home and falls asleep on the couch. I won't go into details of his sickness, but lets just say it was not a fun one and he was in bed or the bathroom for the rest of the day. Mimi calls me at 12:30 and says we have had a little accident. Papa and the girls were playing nativity scene and he was being the camel. The girls were riding on the camel and they both fell off. Grace landed on her elbow and is in a lot of pain and can't move it. We decided to let her sleep a bit and see how it felt when she woke up. She woke up and was still in pain. I met them at the urgent care right by our house. I had just put Avery down for her nap, so I left her sleeping with Tim on the couch. We got Grace to the Urgent care and they did x-rays. Sure enough it is broken. they put a splint on it and then put it in a sling. The referred us to an Orthopedic Dr. We go this morning to see where we go from here. I am praying she does not need surgery. To top of the day, Grace was supposed to sing at her preschool last night. She was determined to go. So I came home and got her ready, me ready and Avery ready. I left Tim in bed and headed to his parents. I got Halle ready over there and then had dinner. Grace was in some pain, but was going to sing! She knew family was coming to watch her and she was still excited. She did sing and she did a good job. She didn't smile much, but can you blame her? We stayed for cookies afterwards and she was a trooper. The nurse told me she had to sleep with me last night. I think Grace enjoyed that. We put
Daddy on the couch and Grace and I crawled in our bed (first changing our sheets not to get what Daddy had!). She slept pretty good last night considering. I didn't, but that is okay. I was just so happy she did! Tim is feeling much better this morning and we are praying Grace's appointment goes well today. When It rains it pours. I just kept telling myself - it could be worse. I knew Tim would get better and Grace's arm will heal. I didn't handle it the best all day, but tried hard to keep my focus. My prayer is now that our family won't get what Tim had and of course, for Grace's arm.

I tell you, I never knew being a mother could be so much fun! :) It is times like these I often wonder why God chose me to raise these little ones. I am then reminded He only gives us what we can handle. He knew I could handle yesterday. To be honest, I couldn't have done it without the Lord by my side!

Thankfulness

I know I am a day late, but I have an excuse. I had Thanksgiving at my house yesterday and was very busy. I was going to do this last night and fell asleep on the couch!

I have spent the last couple of days thinking about all I have to be thankful for. My list goes on and on and on. I feel bad even listing the things I am thankful for because there is so much I won't be able to mention. But, I will try and list the things that come to mind.

* My relationship with the Lord ~ I have been working through some things in my life this past year and have deepened my relationship with the Lord. I have found my need for Him is deep. I can't go through my day without Him. Trying to keep up with the kids, the house, the activities, the shopping, and so forth - I can't do it without Him. I also struggle with fear in my life. If I don't lean on Him to help me when I become fearful, I become a mess. I am so thankful He is there for me and cares for me!

* My husband~ I am SO thankful for Tim and the relationship we have. What a blessing he is to me. We are in this together and I am so thankful for that. He is involved with my life and all that I have going on. I love him so much and feel so blessed for the marriage we have.

* My church ~ After a long road of church stuff, we finally have found a home. We are settled and are very thankful for a solid Church with a solid staff. We love Pastor Kenny and the way he delivers the word of God. Grace and Halle are adjusted and like their classes. We are thankful for the opportunity to direct a small group. We are thankful for the couples that are in the class. God is good!

* My family ~ Both of our families are in town and it is such a blessing to us. They are a huge help to us and we are thankful that our kids know all of their grandparents really well.

* My friends ~ I have a couple friends who know me really well and who are there for me no matter what. They pray for me, encourage me, laugh with me, and cry with me. For this I am thankful. I don't have many deep friendships, but the ones I have, I cherish.

* My kids ~ I am thankful for the way they change me. It didn't take me long to realize that they pick up and everything! Good things and bad things! It makes me reevaluate the way I act and respond. For this I am thankful.

* People who have influenced me ~ On Wednesday night our Pastor encouraged us to thank God for the people who have helped us grow in our lives. It made me think of all the people who have influenced me. I thanked God for a long list of people - I am thankful for these people!

There is so much more to list, but time is short. I am not sure who all reads my blog, but I am thankful for the ones who have helped me grow, who love me, who encourage me, and who pray for me.

ER

So, do you think we have been to the ER a couple times too many???

I was making dinner and the girls were very busy playing in Avery's room. Grace came to me and asked for tape. I gave it to her not knowing what they were doing. I later went back to Avery's room, knocked on the door and entered after I was told to do so. Grace was taking care of "sick" Halle. An IV had to be administered and was properly done so.

The "nurse" then went over to her station to write everything down in the chart.

She then went back to cover the patient and check on her. She was such a good nurse! She even let Halle hold her baby!

Now back to the real world.....I had to take Grace to the ER in the middle of the night. She woke up and was struggling to breath and had a cough that sounded like a barking seal. I knew it was croup from the sound of it, but knew she needed help. They gave her medicine in the ER and we were sent home. She is much better and is now playing the part of the nurse and not that patient!!