Daily Living with Grace

It is hard to come up with a title for this particular post, because it is somewhat different from most posts. But here we are, seven years to the day, the day we learned something wasn't quite right about our Kaydence Grace. The day this life-altering journey began. Though doctors didn't really think she would ever take her first breath, she is still here working hard at living. Some days, I admit, are really hard, and others are so amazing I cannot even stand it. It's those amazing days that get me through all of the hard ones. I feel really blessed because she wasn't supposed to be here. We had picked out that grave site. We tried to prepare ourselves. And then she pulled through. I'll also admit that so many days I wonder just how long we have together. Will she have that long life? Will she not? If she doesn't, how will I pick up the pieces of my heart? But this week, THIS week, President George H.W. Bush died, and guess what? I caught a glimpse of a ma...

Kaydence lost her very first tooth this Monday. None of you will understand my eternally grateful heart for this phenomenon. I've been watching her permanent tooth rising up behind her baby tooth for quite a few weeks and that darn baby tooth just would not loosen up. That is because the tooth that should have loosened it was behind it. The dentist said she would pull it, but Kaydence needed medical clearance to be sedated. Then she got sick and the cough has finally went away almost a month later. So no tooth was ever pulled. I've worked to wiggle her tooth at mealtimes and check it often. On Saturday I realized that it was super wiggly. I had Abigail come hold her hands and had Wade hold her head so I could really look at that tooth. Low and behold, I knew it was about to come out, but it was still hanging on pretty hard. I asked my friend if she might come pull it, but then I decided it might be a little too soon. Sunday it was miraculously still in her head. By Monday morni...

So my last post focused on Wade, though the whole point of this blog began with one certain little girl name Kaydence. She's tiny, but her personality is large. She laughs at me most of the time, and I'm not talking about when I'm trying to entertain her. Whooo! She can light a fire in me faster than my other kids. It is with her that I have to do the whole "if you find yourself becoming too angry with your child, go to another room and calm down" thing. "But oh my goodness Wendy, she is too sweet to ignite the dynamite that is your anger." Let me tell you now, no child can be so sweet one minute and so completely opposite the next. When she is ready to snuggle, man I am allllll about it. When she is not, I really have to work to control my brain. Kaydence Grace apparently reads the Bible because she has well-adopted the be hot or cold and never lukewarm stance. She will laugh at you in happiness and then her alter ego comes on out in the blink of and ...

I'm just a mom, sitting here, with a keyboard and a screen, asking my brain to shut down enough to get some sleep. Yet I can't get my brain to do that. The night before the first day of school has always been one of those late-night-can't-turn-it-off moments for me, but I think it may be worse now as a mother than it was when I was a teacher. I now realize that tomorrow morning, I'll be packing up a 7th grader, a 3rd grader and a 1st grader for school. While many pieces of my life aren't exactly what I expected, well, I just quit expecting anymore. While I am sinisterly contemplating driving up in a mask in my minivan to pick up my kids from school, I find myself getting misty-eyed thinking back to May as Super K walked down the aisle and across the stage to graduate Kindergarten. It might've been one of the highlights of my motherhood thus far. But tomorrow, yes TOMORROW, she is considered a first grader and is moving to a classroom on the big hall. I know sh...

My husband and I rarely do date nights. This is mostly because life is hectic and we are too cheap to hire a babysitter and go out. Yes, I admitted it. We are too cheap to go out anymore. However this last Saturday, we went out. To the cemetery. To look at burial plots. For us. We met with the kind Mrs. Gresham, who oversees the goings on of the city cemetery. My father in law joined us because he knew a little more family history about the relatives who are already deceased - I mean, you want to know who you might be buried next to! Yes, this is our reality. We plan as much as we can to prepare for the unexpected. I'm sure God laughs at us, but we don't want to leave a mess behind when He calls us home. We have three kids and the youngest is special needs, or differently abled, or whatever politically correct word you think you need to use. The painfully obvious point of our reality is that we will always need to plan for our precious Kaydence to have care in place should so...

It was past nine o'clock on a school night. Triple overtime was beginning. Two minutes to decide their fate in the world of basketball. Parents and siblings were all cheering. Super K of course was pretty excited as she is Wade's biggest fan .At the end of the two minutes, with five of the six sixth grade boys on the court, they fell by one basket. Their time in a Little Dribblers league was over. Forever. Tears flowed from those boys because they play with their whole heart as a team. They were amazing to watch. This week has been a real challenge in the Neyland household. Wade has been in his final National Little Dribblers Tournament and the county livestock show is happening. Thankfully, the tournament was within a daily driving distance. As a matter of fact, I told Wade on our way home from the loss that win or lose, I really enjoyed spending the day with him. He missed all of his events at the livestock show, while his dad and little sister stayed there so she could sho...

Today was the perfect spring day. The weather warmed up. The clouds cleared away leaving sunshine to warm your skin while the green grass feels cool beneath your toes. That is what I hope the day is like when I pass from this earth to be in the presence of my Heavenly Father, much like one of my very best friends did today. Life can be so cruel in that so many days it is just full of the best times, and then at the end you are left fighting the struggles of age. Yet so many blessing happen at all points of life, and the final victory is in that eternal life as a believer in Christ. I have known for a while now, that my grandma's life on earth was drawing to an end and for many days I have spent remembering so many great days spent with her. Her house was my absolute favorite place to be and it was easy to be there because we lived just across the pasture. She was my neighbor and I took full advantage of it. I can only slightly remember one incident when I was small that I was not...

Today I realized that I haven't posted anything since before Christmas. I guess that Christmas away from the family, was, at that time, just a little sad to write about. Then we got super busy coming home. Since we've been home, life hasn't been too easy, but it is looking better right now. Christmas in Baltimore was slightly surreal. It was me, my mom, and Kaydence. Normally on Christmas Eve, I dress my girls in matching clothes, dress my men in new clothes, and actually work to fix myself up a little, then we all head to church for the candlelight service. At the service, I sing Oh Holy Night, we ring our bells, light the candles, worship God, and afterward we load up and head to Fairfield, where we have always had Christmas at Grandma's house. This year wasn't just different for my little family; it was different for the whole extended family. This year, Kaydence and I got up Christmas Eve morning and walked over to Barnes and Noble Bookstore, where we got Star...