Blessings

A couple of weeks ago, Abbey and I went to see Mandisa and Laura Story. Let me say- Mandisa can rock it! I love Laura Story!!! She sings a song called "Blessings," and it totally makes me think of those days when our struggles are so much.
My favorite words are : "cause what if our blessings come through raindrops, what if our healing comes through tears, what if a 1000 sleepless nights are what it takes to knows your near."
This song just speaks to me lately, I love it!

Kids:
Avry got glasses last week, she looks so cute! The eye dr. told us that her eyes looked very evident of her prematurity at birth. She has some issues that have risen over the past few months that we will be working on. He feels like the glasses will help strengthen her eyes! Blessing!

Coen is just going right along with life. He is a very smart 3 year old and has been calling me his "princess" That makes momma's heart so happy!

Evie is just Evie. We are trucking right along with all her therapist and her ECI provider. We see a Developmental Pediatrician on Thursday morning to hopefully get some sort of diagnosis- which will help us proceed in proper placement when she turns 3. She continues to amaze me every single day. She loves her babies and LOVES books! I am so sure she is going to be a great reader someday. She again is a fabulous blessing to us.

Then there is this amazing man that I call my husband. He is the greatest thing ever! He takes on so much responsibility with the kids and especially our therapists. I love him sooo much!

Evie

I don't really know where to start, but I need to probably let some feelings out and alot of people are asking about Evie.

When our sweet baby was about 9 months old we started noticing she wasn't doing things a normal 9 month old would do developmentally. We pushed it off thinking she was a 3rd baby and we had spoiled her. By about 14 months, she wasn't walking and flags started raising. When she was 16 months, she walked-but her gait was very odd. At about 17 months, I took her in for a well child check up and our sweet Doctor was talking to me about her development. I opened up for the first time and expressed some concerns about her development. My biggest concern being that she said nothing....not even ma-ma or da-da. After talking to Dr. Carter and our speech therapist at school, Greg and I decided to go to a private therapy center and get her checked out.

Intitial speech testing showed Evie had the speech of a 3- 6 month old. I thought that was heart breaking. Little did we know the next few months would only bring more emotion. Around Christmas (18-19 months old) we expressed concerns that Evie had some sensory issues. She rocks, hates her hands being touched, hates shoes and had begun to develop a huge fear of public places. Very quickly she qualified for Occupational therapy at the same center.

Our finances have not been able to support the very large bill that private therapy was creating, so after much prayer we headed for ECI. Greg and I have been nothing but blessed with amazing therapists, and again God put his hand on us with ECI.

Tuesday of last week, Evie had a few more tests done. Greg and I had decided that we wanted to continue private speech therapy but have ECI do occupational therapy and watch her overall development. They will also help us transition into programs when she turns 3.

Evie qualified for the ECI program being between 50-60% disabled in various areas. She will be actually recieving more therapy through them- and they are going to oversee her care. The initial suggestion for transition into the public school program will be for Evie to go into a Special needs classroom when she turns 3.....if we ever get a diagnosis from a doctor (another huge battle)!!!

We do not have any idea what Evie's diagnosis will be. Some suggest some sort of Autism spectrum disorder, some a sensory processing disorder along with a speech problem. Only God knows.

So, here we are. Never in my life would I have dreamed that this baby, that I was not supposed to get pregnant with- would be such an enormous blessing. We have a child with special needs. God chose us to be her parents. He has faith that we will be the best thing for her. We are honored, scared, blessed and a whole host of other emotions.

Greg and I need prayers for understanding and wisdom. Evie's grandparents, aunts and brother and sister need prayers for understanding as well. We have to learn how to parent a child with very random needs in an unfriendly world.

Tonight, we are grateful that Evie signed "cry" while her brother threw a fit- she is a beautiful blessing and she overflows our hearts with love!!!!

Anxiety

Here I am, treading through the worst anxiety I have ever had in my life. I think it all started on Wednesday, when the realization of going to Lubbock this weekend hit me. I started thinking about how much we left behind, how much we gave up and how much I miss what I had. I miss my house terribly, I miss Ms. Crystal and Ms. Kelly our babysitters, I miss Jerrid and Amy, I miss Green lawn and one of the things I miss the most is Superkids. Then it hit me that perhaps we will never find a house here. What if that never happens? I have issues with moving it appears, perhaps because between the time I was 7 and 12 we moved 6 times. My parents packed us up and left our house behind when I was 7. The economy was bad then too. It took them the better part of 5 years to get us back together- I feel like that is happening to my family, we are so displaced and it is really getting to me.
I know that Greg and I picking up our family and moving was the best thing we could do for our marriage-which was struggling, and getting out from our HUGE mortgage payment and getting better paying jobs was right for our family as well.
My parents have been a lifesaver this weekend. Yesterday I sat and talked to my mom for about 2 hours and I think it really helped me. The symptoms are still here. My skin is crawling, my heart races and my muscles are achy. I will get through it.
For the better part of 5 years, I have taken zoloft for depression. It is time for a change-hopefully tomorrow my dr. will be able to switch my medicine and give me some relief. Man, I have had alot going on in my life. New jobs, new town, new routines, new baby, new church....someday life will be normal again and I have faith that the good lord will pull me through.

thoughts

I know I have a ton to catch up on, I don't know if I have even blogged about Evie's birth-or that we moved-or that Avry started pre-school.....for that matter I know I haven't blogged about Avry's 4th birthday or Coen's second birthday (which the cake is still pending). I do know that I am so richly blessed to be right here in Dumas TX.
This might turn into a vent, I am emotionally exhausted......
Alot of the reasoning to move home for us came with the fact that we needed to be closer to family, my momma especially. Yesterday, my mom turned 57. Yesterday I was so thankful that God gave me another day with her. Today, I am equally thankful. 2 weeks ago Saturday mom got very ill, she was septic, her gallbladder was "fried", her kidneys pretty much stopped working, she had a hospital born infection AND perhaps even another heart attack. We brought her home Saturday, the day before she turned 57. 42 years of my mom's 57 have been spent being diabetic. 42 years, I can't even begin to grasp how long that is....... Today, she is home, she is physically doing very well, but she isn't the same momma I had before. I know that she will regain her strenght and be back to being my momma, right?
God's timing is so perfect, today, I am sitting in my parents living room (because we are cool and live with them ;) ), I would not have been able to take myself back to Lubbock this time.....I have left before, I have gone home before......but I couldn't have done it again. Our journey here is perfect, we are blessed-in the hardest time I have ever faced, we are blessed.
I am equally blessed to have friends who are ICU nurses, a sister and brother in law who are ICU nurses....these people have answered endless questions for me. I am blessed that I have a couple of friends who have had to deal with a parents illness. I am blessed that my husband is here with me holding me tight through all of this.
Hug your parents, hug your siblings, don't go to be angry---all those things....DO THEM.....you don't know what tomorrow will bring.
Through all the rough weeks we have had......we have moved, we are settled, we still own a house in Lubbock (that needs to sell), we both love our jobs.....I am so blessed!

What's up???????

I have no pictures.....does that make me a bad mom? :)

Ok, I have pictures, but we dont' have a computer......does that make me nuts? (YES!!!)

Recap of the last 12 months.......

Abbey got married
I got pregnant
Coen got really sick and had a hospital stay
Coen got tubes and his adnoids out
My papa passed away
My granny passed away
Abbey got pregnant
Coen had a couple of asthma attacks
Christmas---Hallelujah 2 weeks off!!!!
Evie graced us with her presence on March 11, 2010 after a perfect, normal, full term pregnancy

Got a teaching job in Dumas.....wait.....what was that??????

That is where we are now, I took a teaching job in Dumas 2 weeks ago, we threw our house on the market and we are moving. Life is absolutely crazy!!! We are moving, changing jobs, packing our house, driving back and forth between here and there......and waiting on our nephew Bray to be born!!!

I have always wanted to be a teacher, it is finally happening! FINALLY! Lubbock has been good to us for the past 10 years, but it is time for a change. We are going to be closer to family (to help with our 3 very small children), be making better money, having a little more time together as a husband and wife (not just mommy and daddy) and most of all--get back to a small town life and enjoy raising our kids in a small town!

Greg and I are very excited about our move, as are the kids. Who knows? Maybe with summer's off I might blog more :)

Oh the Journey!

I still don't have pictures, because we still don't own a computer! :)

We are counting down the days until baby Evie arrives. 23 at most! What an eventful 9 months this has been. You know back on July 13th when this journey began, I sure wouldn't have expected this to be such a, well, journey.

When we found out we were pregnant again, while I was still adjusting to life as a working mother of 2, I was so in shock. WOW! What was happening? Was this a joke? NOPE! Here we are 9 full months later, big and pregnant with a precious baby girl, Evelyn Grace.

So, in early August, my best friend from college Margaret, let me know she was pregnant too. You see, Margaret and her husband had been trying to get pregnant since before Avry was born. What a special plan God had for us to have babies together-in his time, not ours. If all works out, we will have 2 baby girls 14 days apart. Evie and Grace.

In late August my Pa-Pa passed away, which was a huge deal. Pretty unexpected and it definitly brought back alot of memories of my Mamaw, who passed away 14 yrs previous. I am a firm believer that the Lord gives as he takes away. Here we were just finding out we were having another baby, as we had just had this horrible loss.

Around Christmas, my Granny got very ill. After a 3 week stay in Hospice (by the way, Hospice is a wonderful place), she went to be with the Lord and back with my Pa a week before Christmas. Christmas Eve, my sister, announced that she was pregnant as well. Again, the Lord gave to us as he took away another precious person from our lives.

So, here we are 23 days away from having our precious baby girl. It has been an overwhelming journey, but we are all 4 ready to jump in with both feet and welcome this baby girl into our family! We feel richly blessed to have been able to have 3 children in our short 5 year marriage.

Come on EVIE we are ready to meet you!!!!!

update on kids and life!

I haven't blogged in a while, we have been so very busy!

Avry is doing ballet, school and then of course still going to Crystal's. Coen is just going to Crystal's of course. He is flourishing into such a beautiful little man. I am thankful each and everyday that God gave him to me. I am of course thankful for Avry too. They keep us very busy and we love every minute of it.

Coen's newest thing is immitating sister. He wants to be with her everywhere she goes and be copying every move she makes. He tries to copy her words now and says "belly button, ball, burp (i know gross), momma, daddy, grana, dog". He is also signing alot now-more, please, thank-you and drink are his favorites. We catch him doing other signs here and there too. As always, he has the sweetest personality and is still very attached to momma!

Avry is just really excited about the new baby sister coming. She talks to her in my belly (and can get her to move), gives her kisses and is working on figuring out where she will sleep in her room. Of course, Avry says she will share a bed with her-but since Avry doesn't even sleep in her own bed herself, poor sister will be all alone. We are also very into Ballet and Taylor Swift-thanks to Jadan! She is developing quiet a little imagination and is always coming up with new stories.

Mom and Dad are just going and going and going. I can't imagine life with 3 kids, but feel so blessed to have them. Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching and we definitly have alot to be thankful for this year. Good jobs, good friends and family, health and 3 fabulous kids!

I will post more with pics later, I don't have a computer at home at the moment.