A week In The Life: Tuesday

Tuesday was a Full Day for us.

A quick breakfast.

Time To Go!  Anyone seen Claira's shoes??

Jubilee Organics Produce Coop

Home from Target

to grab a quick Lunch.

Then off to the Eye Doctor

A New Prescription for Nina

Perfect Vision for Abby

Emmalie is Slightly Farsighted.  She's excited about the possibility of glasses.  

Secretly I am, too.  She would look SOO cute!

Dr. Moffitt - "What's your name?"

Claira - "Claira Bokros!"

Dr. Moffitt - "OK Claira.  I just need you to tell me what pictures you see on the screen."

Claira - "A Puppy!!!"

Dr. Moffitt - "We are going to call that a telephone, OK?"

Claira - "Mommy, This is FUN!!"

Home for Naps

I got one, too :)!

Still waiting for that laundry soap......

Could it be????

Yea!!!

Putting Toilet Paper in the Bathrooms

Phonics

Cleaning Up My Mess

Trimming Bangs

Thinking about how to make peace with Mommy 

for breaking her favorite lipstick.

Helping Daddy Return Emails

Home From School

Playing Dollhouse

"Mommy, Can I hold her now?"

Silly Sisters

All I really need

is a song in my heart,

food in my belly

and LOOVVE in my family!

~Recorded by Raffi, Sung Whole Heartedly by Claira all day.

A week In The Life: Monday.....oh, Monday...

Just to warn you ahead of time this will not be the beautiful, poetic post of Sunday Morning.  It's Monday and I am documenting our real life for a week so here it is......Real Life.

My typical Monday involves changing and washing sheets and towels, dusting (when I can get to it) and general clean up from the weekend.  I try to fit a little school in there, but sometimes just getting back into the daily routine is enough to expect from everyone.
BUT...
I procrastinated and did not order my laundry soap.
SO....
On my big laundry day of the week I could do NO laundry.  This might seem like a good thing, but when you have a diaper leak and an accident on the floor before 7:45 am to add to the already overflowing hampers I can tell you IT IS NOT!

The breakfast conversation consisted of the usual arguing over who gets what spoon? Who gets what color bowl?  Can I be done (after one bite)?  Can I have more sugar in my oatmeal?  There were discussions about playing with friends today and it being Pastor Dale's birthday.  Emmalie wanted to know if he was turning 19? (He is not, but will think this is a wonderful complement.)
After breakfast the girls raced over to the blanket where Sadie~Ryan was contently playing.  Their arguing over who was going to "talk" to her quickly became yelling and pushing until she was screaming.



Thank you, Honey....but I think I'll have to have my coffee in a bit.

 I headed to my bedroom to put Sadie~Ryan down for a nap, happy to be closing the door and leaving the chaos in the Living Room.  This would end up being the first of many unsuccessful naps today.  She has learned to roll over, get up on all fours in a bear crawl and take out her paci.  She has decided that nap time is the best time to practice all of these skills!  Combine that with teething and that makes for a lot of crying and very little sleeping.

After Ryan and Roma left for work and chores were all done we set out to meet some friends at the park.

Followed by Lunch.

Claira's baby, Shelby~Butterfly, joined us today.

A nap for Claira and another attempted nap for Sadie~Ryan.

A little (very little) school for Abby and Emmalie.  We were interrupted by the UPS man delivering a much anticipated box from Sears!

An afternoon walk with Danis and Bella.

A quick Hello and Good-bye from Daddy.....Softball night!

Tostados and Cilantro Rice for Dinner.

And Finally..........bedtime.

A week In The Life: Sunday Morning

Emmalie comes down at 4 am.....for the second time.
She says she had a bad dream.
She crawls in beside me.
I try to snuggle her up, but she's all arms and legs.
She snores softly as she falls asleep.
I wake him and he lifts her gently and returns her to her bed, hoping she will sleep a little longer.
My now empty arms exchange one baby for another.
Sadie~Ryan is all smiles as I lift her from her crib, nestled in the corner of our room.
Her smile is contagious even though I am half asleep.

My early birds are up.
After she nurses Sadie~Ryan plays quietly in the bed between us.
Abby comes in with a kiss and a question, "Can I make my own breakfast?  A bagel with Peanut Butter and a Cutie?"
"Sure", I say.
She has already let the dog out.

Sadie~Ryan watches me from her bouncer, while I am in the shower.
It's not her favorite idea.
They peek in one at a time to say, "Good Morning Mama."
He sleeps through it all.
I let the warm water run over me,
Just a few more minutes where no one needs me.
I say a quick prayer for His mercies and blessings
and I step out to face the day.

He's up.
We hug quietly in the closet.
Stealing a few moments just to ourselves.
The morning is a flutter of braids and bows, socks and shoes.
He makes their breakfast
and I put on the finishing touches.
We are purposeful to be on time
after all - the Lord is waiting.

Claira and I sit together for breakfast.

She is concerned about Emmalie's bad dream.
"Was it about the Green Eyed Monster?," she asks.
Then she wants to know if her eyes are "gorgeous and adorable".

We arrive on time,
everyone to their classes.
No tears today.
We worship together,
side by side.
It is the highlight of my week.

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realise just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

He intertwines his fingers with mine and I know I am meant to be here,

in this moment

with him.

We are a cord of three 

and I am grateful the storms of life have made us stronger.  

A Week In The Life: Documenting TODAY

It occurred to me recently that today is TODAY. HERE. NOW. Once it passes it will NEVER be here again.

The realization of how quickly our lives are moving - how quickly our kids are growing - hits home to me nearly everyday.  Abby is old enough now that we feel comfortable with her sitting in the front seat for short trips in the car.  I will be honest, looking over at her sitting next to me in the car COMPLETELY FREAKS ME OUT!!  It's a milestone in my mind I never thought we would get to.

I stumbled upon this unique way of documenting our lives and all the little details that make up where our family is TODAY that will so easily leave me as time passes.  I am excited about this project and look forward to sharing the details of my everyday with you this week.

Have you met my miracle?

My pregnancy with Abby was uneventful, if you don’t count my insatiable cravings for Sonic Corn Dogs.  She was born the day before her due date on November 30, 2001.  She was a healthy size, very alert, and actually smiled upon entry into the world.  Our first few weeks together were much like any new parents with their first baby - unsure of EVERYTHING!  After getting breastfeeding figured out and learning the ropes of daily baby care we felt good about our progress as First Time Parents.  It was at about three weeks old that Abby began getting what seemed to be a little cold coming on.  We consulted our parenting books and our parents and started trying some home remedies.  After a few days she did not improve.  She became more and more congested and we became more worried.  I resorted to sleeping sitting up on the couch with Abby sleeping upright on my chest so she could breathe.  When we woke in the morning about 5:00 am we knew immediately that something was not right.  Abby was very pale and almost lifeless.  Over the next few hours things would quickly go from bad to worse as our tiny baby girl would begin a fight for her life.  

At our local ER they quickly noticed that the "soft spot" on top of her head was bulging.  A CT Scan showed her tiny brain covered in blood, creating a tremendous amount of pressure on her brian and thus her soft spot to bulge and her body to seize.  Abby was Life Flighted to Texas Children’s Hospital where we spent the next 2 weeks watching God perform one miracle after another.  The first miracle being that the surgery team awaiting her arrival by helicopter was not needed!  They were able to remove 90% of the blood from her brain with a tiny needle.  She would not need to have to undergo surgery!  Her body would be able to take care of the rest of the blood on it’s own.  From that point it was like starting all over.  She had to learn to breathe on her own again.  We had to learn to hold her again, given her fragile state and lots of tubes and monitors.  She had to learn to suck again from a bottle and then my breast.  As our checklist came closer to being completed, we looked to the doctors for answers about Abby’s future.  

They were never able to determine the cause of the bleed.  They did determine that the blood had been sitting on her brain for maybe up to a week, thus causing severe damage to the left side of her brain.  They had very few answers to give us, but the look in their eyes said it all.  She was paralyzed on her right side and would likely have a limited quality of life was all they would say.  We refused to “hear” any negativity, but trusting that “with God ALL things are possible.”

Contrary to what you might think the difficult part was not our time at the hospital, it was the weeks and months to follow.  Not only did Abby have the obvious physical delays she was also EXTREMELY sensitive to EVERYTHING.  She screamed all the time.  The dishwasher running would wake her up.  We could hardly take her out of the house.  The most difficult thing to handle was that she cried and cried to be held, but then cried more because our touch overwhelmed her.  We later found out she has Sensory Integration Disorder and in addition she suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder until she was about two.  

And so the journey began.....

We engrossed ourselves in learning everything we could about the brain.  We did all kinds of therapies to help her development and her sensory issues.  In addition to that I began supplementing my diet (so that she would receive it through my milk)  with high quality, all natural supplements specifically directed at the brain.  I read all the latest on brain health research and relied heavily on the testimony of a mother with a similar story to help me.  

During this time we were continuing to take Abby back to Texas Children’s for follow-ups.  We were given the same “look” and story at each appointment - “don’t get your hopes up” was the general idea.  And then everything changed.

After being on the supplements continuously for a month we had a follow up cat scan scheduled and an appointment with the Neurologist.  We will never forget the look in his eyes or the words he said that day as he entered the room holding her scan.   He was grinning from ear to ear as he said, “Whatever you are doing, keep it up.  I will not need to see her for anymore follow ups.”  

Fast forward eight years.  Abby is a happy, well-adjusted eight year old.  She has a natural athletic ability, an affinity for technology, and a true servant's heart.  She has regained most of the use the use of her right side, except a slight weakness in her leg and ankle.  She’s got an amazing smile, an incredible attitude in the face of challenges, and an understanding of God we cannot comprehend.

Hiking with American Heritage Girls

Her Amazing Smile

So Silly

I thank God everyday for letting me be a part of Abby's life and watching "her story" unfold.