Daily Living with Grace

I realize it's been forever since I've written here, but life is so busy! I felt the urge to write this, because, let's be honest, there is no way Facebook will let me post a status this long. Kaydence turns 3 in a matter of minutes. She will probably be 3 years old by the time I get through writing this post. Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with her and feeling like I wanted to just wake up from a bad dream. Today, she is turning into a sweet little girl. Where do I even start? I guess I'll start with a word of thanksgiving that God has blessed me with such a treasure. I still don't understand why He would choose me to care for a child like Kaydence Grace. I'm really unworthy of any blessings, yet He chose me for her and her for me. She melts me every single day. You see, I'm still the same sinner I was when I started this blog. I'm not perfect, but He washes away my sins anyway. I'm so thankful. The sins chang...

Some of you might find this hard to believe, but there is never a dull moment in our house. Rarely do my children nap at the same time. Meals are full of gagging (and I'm not a bad cook...just picky eaters). My kids even talk in their sleep. All of them. So life presents many challenges on a daily basis. This morning I had to restrain Abigail, who stayed home from preschool because she has had fever. Being the daddy's girl that she has become, she insisted on being near him all day. ALL day. He had to go out to his car for a major conference call and when she finally figured out where he had gone, she tried to sneak past me and out the door to him. When I caught her, one would have thought I was carrying a chainsaw in a horror film. She screamed, kicked, hollered, cried. I might even upset her more than seeing Ronald McDonald. All I could do was hold her and speak calmly. But through the fit, I was just glad she can throw one. Wade discovered today that accidents happen. He ...

I know. It's been a while since I've blogged. Turns out being a stay-at-home mommy is waaaaaay busier than I ever imagined! And right now, this tired momma should be asleep, but I can hardly sleep because I am so excited that it is officially Kaydence Grace's first birthday! All together now: Woooo Hooo!!!!! A year ago, Kaydence's pediatrician looked at her and said to himself, "IF this child makes it, we are gonna have LOTS of problems." He told me that himself at her first checkup after her hospital discharge. He followed with, "But she looks SO GOOD!" He has said that each visit since. We've only had a couple of runny noses and a cough but have otherwise been so healthy. I call that a blessing. I also call it a miracle. She is a miracle. I held her extra long tonight rocking her and thinking back to her birth day. Talk about a life-altering day. It was more life-altering than the day Wade was born. It was the day that being a mommy got very ...

So it's been nearly 2 months since my last entry on this blog. For some reason, I was able to get to my dishes done and all of my other stuff done early. Hmmmmm....Maybe it's because I have now established a routine bedtime for my kids? Well, at least I am trying to anyway. Kaydence Grace is 9 months now. NINE MONTHS! How does time pass so quickly? Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day of the sonogram that started all of this. I am so thankful that Cheryl had the knowledge and wisdom in her profession to catch that something was amiss about that sonogram. Others might have missed it or dismissed it and where would we be had that happened? I will never, ever, ever, ever forget laying there and thinking, "So this is what it feels like to be one of those women. One of those women who go to the doctor and their whole world turns upside down." You know that many women go to the doctor expecting things to be fine, and then all of a sudden, their dreams of the healthy ba...

The title of this post probably makes you think of college days - but no college stories here! So there hasn't been a ton of change in this family lately. Kaydence is still a little over 12 pounds. She is working to sit up, but we haven't quite reached that point yet. I was super excited last week that during her OT session, she grabbed a hold of her new little toys and put them right to her mouth. That is a big deal for her! We work each day to touch our toes, to do our sit ups, and to stretch our muscles. She also keeps rolling over on her side. I know she is going to figure out that she can roll over completely without being in a fit of rage. This past week during OT, we also got a Bumbo seat. It has been both a blessing and a curse. Abigail, developing into her middle child self, has decided that it is okay for her to pick up Kaydence and put her in the little seat. The first day she did this I was in the bathroom putting on my makeup and listening to Kaydence fuss a litt...

First of all, I am trying to type on this phone again, so if you notice errors that is why! Getting to a computer is a challenge these days. So yesterday I was sitting here at the house, fighting illness, and kind of moping around. I was criticizing for the millionth time our choice in a homebuilder and sulking just a tiny bit because every year Women of Faith rolls around and every year I don't know about it until it's too late. And every year a friend will say, "You will have to come with us next year! I didn't think to ask you." Now I am not saying this for an invite next year, because I don't make time to do things with friends. It's my own fault. I haven't had many friends that I go do things with in a while now. It's hard to do that when you slave for a job and have kids. So, I've never been to a Women of Faith conference and yesterday I decided to look it up online. I thought,"What can any of the speakers there do for my journey af...

Yep. I'm still here and ready to update you on Kaydence Grace. How did I find the time? Why, by waiting on my ride to pick us up from an appointment, of course! Today we visited our infectious disease specialist. He liked Kaydence's progress. She is getting much better holding up her head. Her liver and spleen have reduced in size thank the Lord! He is concerned about low muscle tone. He suggested we have Physical Therapy once a week in addition to our Occupational Therapy. She is going to walk, talk, run and play...it's just going to take a little longer, but hey, we will take it! Kaydence also had an eye screening today. You'd have been impressed with her answers and ability to read tiny letters. Nah. Just kidding. To check her vision the poster ninja held up a series of poster boards with different sizes and colors of lines. She would hold one up, put it down, spin it all around like some nun-chucks and hold it up again! Kaydence did better than other babies of her...