Dentist

I took the kids to their first ever dentist appointment today.  We are way behind.  Peter is nearly 5 and most kids have gone already (multiple times).  I scheduled one last summer and then decided that we were just taking the liberty to put the dentist on the back burner.  So today they both went together.  I love it for some weird reason that they were going for the first time together.  They are my little duo & enjoy each other.  I was also a little nervous (especially for Peter's exam), knowing that we have waited a while.  

They sat side by side.  Lily just laid there and held her mouth open (and held a little elephant... so sweet).  And she was done.  How cute is she.

For some reason, Peter's hygienist looked in his mouth and then walked away.  I don't really know why (I don't think it was his mouth..haha) but it just meant he had to sit still longer (and added to my anxiety).  But a book did the trick.  She came back and he got cleaned.  Then she said that she'd like to take X-rays.  He bravely went in with her and let her take them like a champ.  But as he was getting them, my anxiety level crept up.  Why did they order them for him but not her?  Because he's older?  Because she saw suspicious areas?  I was preparing myself for cavities or worse... something that would tell us that there is just something wrong with his teeth and how they develop, something funky, some unknown cause.  I know I'm half crazy.  But I just thought it could be par for the course.  I prepared myself that we'll just do this.  Whatever it is, its not what we were planning, but we'll walk through it.  We'll get through it.  I texted Mike with my nervousness.  And we waited for the dentist.  And waited. 

Finally, he came and so nonchalantly said "His X-rays look fine."  He checked his teeth.  "No cavities."  They look fine.  And that was that.  WOOHOO!!!!  It was so relieving, so wonderful.  It carried me on a high for hours.  How silly is that.  But its the joy, the relief after anxiety.  The normal in things that aren't always normal.  (Don't get me wrong, things are great lately.  We've had a lot of normal and I love normal.)

How handsome is he!!

after-dinner entertainment

 
Mike got a bluetooth keyboard for the iPad. 
Lily helped him test it out and found the letters to spell our names.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

I loaded the kids up and we headed to meet Maw.  

As we drove there, I was having sweaty eye attacks as I looked forward to the weekend and thought about all of the goodness mixed in.  The kids were going to have an amazing long weekend away with Maw and Paw and we were headed away with some of our dearest friends and family in Christ for the weekend.

 the view from the bridge on Friday eve as we got close...

 On Saturday, we had a girls day.  Holly found some great deals on furniture at our favorite consignment shop.  We had Maw's truck packed out.  Holly had to squuueze behind the seat.  And it gave her the giggles.

 Mike opened oysters for us and we had bacon-wrapped oysters with dinner.

 Sunday held tubing, tubing, and more tubing.

Holly and me...  

Holly set the bar high, then everyone had to try and keep up.

I've heard that she even did a hand stand while tubing alone!
It was too rough to ski or we would've had to break those out. ;)

 Tubing with my man.

 and more stunts ;)

(I was Holly and Mike's stunt prop.)

 Holly goes vertical but then recovers!

 Brian before he stands...  We called this the "crouching crab" stance.

 Mike and the clouds both look amazing!

 Then we did jumping pics off the dock.  

This one takes the award for "Picture of the Weekend"

 Part of the group... minus Holly and Susaniel.

 Wipe out pic of Joe!

 Elliott got knocked to second place this year for tubing skills.  Holly was there.  ;)

 Holly and I getting artistic.  Can you see me?

We had a great weekend of fun in the sun and relaxing with friends.  A BIG thanks to my parents for both watching our kids AND supplying a river house to get away to.  Do they come any better?

Taking Care of Babies

I love the way Lily looks at her babies.  She's being so sweet with Holly here.

 And then Audrey.... helping her sleep, playing with Holly's "tootsies" and giving kisses.  On the mid-left, she has her arms crossed.  That's what she does when she's going somewhere... she'll put the baby to sleep then walk away and cross her arms.  Sometimes she'll say she is going to "KG's" (our small group leader), where Kathy often tells her we are while they are babysitting.  Or she'll walk into Pete's room and say she's at the "sore" (store).

 Then time to get some cooking done!!

Last night Lily wanted "two ponies", like Holly (see above).  But Mike thought they should be called "Pigs"... Pigs or Ponies... we couldn't decide.  She is SO cute... so glad to have her back under my roof.

Pictures

....that haven't yet made it to the blog but I wanted to be on here..

We went to a little concert at church last weekend with our friends and neighbors.  

Lily liked sitting with the "big girls",

 The B kids came over for a couple hours one evening.

 Mike is showing them a bird app that he just put on the iPad and info on it about the woodpeckers in our backyard.  Our latest entertainment is to go play the woodpecker call on the iPad and watch the woodpeckers come out of their hole and look around for another bird.

The kids were impressed.

 Hmmmm... and I wonder why the CD player doesn't work and where Pete's socks have gone...

 Lily trying out the ear of brown bunny.  

Jump!

Fun pics from earlier this week... 

I like to think this is another added benefit from being a therapy kid.  If you all want to jump to your heart's content, go for it!  Maybe I would've been that way anyway but I can hardly remember before then... I guess b/c its how we learned to JUMP!

 

 SNAP!

Its a rough life over here ;)  And I love it.

No Idea

In my 6 years of being a nurse, I never had any idea of the anxiety that existed on the other side. 
Today we had an appt with a pediatric neurologist.  He's one we'd only ever seen as an inpatient.  After his regular neuro appt in Jan, she referred us to get a second opinion on his sleep studies.  We were thrilled b/c that meant we got to see the highly-sought-after Dr. L.  So we saw him today.

I am always super anxious about these appointments.  Not as nervous as I was earlier on this journey, but there will always be some anxiety mixed in.  Mostly, for me, it comes from believing that its all so dependent on my "report" and my observations.  Today on the way there, as it came down to the wire, it finally came to me in my anxiety, that I am given no choice but to trust in the sovereignty of God.  To trust that He covers all of the areas that I have no idea about.  And finally, that brings such rest and peace.  

The appointment went really well.  I didn't expect to come away with much new information, just some confirmation on what we already know.  I sorta felt selfish in taking this doctor's time to have some of my emotional needs met.  But I'm also a mom and I want what's best for my kid.  And I want lots of doctors' input on that, to make sure we have all our bases covered.  He was reassuring that we don't need to be alarmed about any of the concerns we had taken to discuss.  

And we got to, once again, discuss the great thing it is that his seizures ARE controlled on ONE medication.  (I sorta tremble to write that b/c as much as time has taken some of my anxiety of that not being true, I am always aware that anything is possible.)  Its almost been one full year since we've seen any seizure activity.  I am forever grateful.  We continue to pray that would be true.  And tremble at the thought of it not being true.

All he had to say on other fronts was reassuring as well, specifically about the differences in boys and girls.  I for some reason sorta thought I had a clue about boys having grown up with brothers.  Turns out, it all stumps me on a daily basis.  I'm constantly praying for more understanding and wisdom in parenting a boy.  Well, parenting in general.

A bonus today is that a sweet friend kept Lily for me.  So Peter and I had lunch together afterwards at Chick-Fil-A.

 Cheers for chicken and waffle fries!!

We are doing the Apostle's Creed at church.  On Sunday, we talked about God being the Creator, "Maker of Heaven and Earth."  We read these verses.  Peace came over my hectic body at the hearing of God's Word.  

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:11-17

Thank you, Creator, for this boy!  

{pictures are my Picasa version of Instagram :)}

Summer Break, Day 1

I really want to be intentional this summer and set some goals for things we'd like to accomplish.

Letters are on our list (writing them, phonetic sounds).  And mixing in other good skills as we learn...

So we did a little "school" this morning.  I am always ambitious about this stuff for about 3-4 days and then I lose momentum or get frustrated or something along those lines.  I've divided up the letters over 12 weeks this summer.  Hopefully, that will help me stick to it.  We'll see.

And hopefully more structure will help us to reign in the wildness that is sometimes happening in our house ;)

Today we did the letter "Bb"

He colored the pictures that start with a B in Blue.  Then wrote B's... some traced, lower ones on his own.

Then we rolled out the play doh.  Some OT with a little speech mixed in... 

'roLL it' instead of 'row it'.