Daily Living with Grace

Just KIDDING! There is NO easy mommin' around here! As a matter of fact, I think I am not one of the best there is at all. This is not a request for reassurance either. I just like to keep it real. Maybe my title would be best with "Mommin' Made Real." What's real today? Well this week we headed on into some busy days followed with horrible naptime schedules. Monday was just a "let's just figure out how to be at home again" kind of day, complete with some visits from amazing friends. Tuesday, we loaded up early and got Wade off to Huntsville for a little extra baseball help. I'll come back to that later. All of the kids had dental appointments. Two out of three just loathe brushing their teeth and the third reacts to tooth brushing as if I had stuck hell fire into her mouth. The dentist is a great gal, but we have a lot of work to do on our end. Enter naptime. This week, Kaydence has been her normal self, which actually means that she is just...

So we decided to round out our trip by touring Washington, D.C., and it was a great decision. Kaydence has actually tolerated traveling much better than we expected. One of our close friends who lives in D.C., recommended a Bed and Breakfast near her neighborhood for us to stay in. What a fantastic decision! First of all, this place is what I would consider "super swanky." It is a row house with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths with a kitchen that is straight off of HGTV. We have been able to spread out, do laundry, and live a normal lifestyle. We learned how to use Uber and also UberEATS. Honestly, if I had had the chance to come to D.C. before husband and kids, I could have easily stayed. Ordering Chinese takeout was just too fabulous for me. Haha! Our first day we toured Arlington National Cemetery. Tommy and I have been there multiple times, but never with our own kids. Let me say, learning to be a parent toting a handicapped child is hard and frustrating lesson. Kaydence is just...

Today was our appointment at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. All I can say is WOW! What an amazing place! But before we get to the details of that appointment, I would like to first share some of the journey here to Baltimore. We left out on Saturday morning. We stopped in Memphis, Tennessee, and took the kids to Beale Street. While there we ate at the most Memphis kind of place...The Pig. What is better than pulled pork in Memphis? In this bar-diner atmosphere blaring the Blues, I figured we were really in for it as Kaydence Grace is not a fan of loud places. Turns out the kid likes the Blues. Hard core, did not even plug her ears, likes the Blues kid! I can work with this. We made sure to ride in a cheesy horse-drawn Cinderella carriage for Abigail. Abigail's Memphis observation: Why does everyone in the city want money? Homelessness and begging has been a little hard to explain to our small-town kids. Sunday we traveled on to Knoxville, home of the Tennessee Vols. It is also ...

First of all, I made a note to myself after talking with some friends, that I am going to blog more now. Why now? Where have I been all this time? When I went back to teaching, it kind of wiped out my energy and thinking ability! That has all changed now as I am staying home again.Why did we make the decision for me to stay home again? God just opens doors and shuts them, and this time He told me to shut the teaching door and focus on my family. So that is what I am doing. This next weekend, we will embark on a new adventure with Kaydence Grace. After seeing some amazing things from a fellow CMV mother about her daughter's intensive therapy program, I decided to ask questions. She told me how wonderful a job the Kennedy Krieger Institute had done with her daughter. I figured what did we have to lose in taking Kaydence across the country for therapy? Nothing. We have nothing to lose (except funds, but hey, we will pay them to someone regardless!) The clinic decided that the best p...