I don't want to forget....

Keith gets Fridays off since he works on Sundays. We usually do "family" things and/or anything I need him to help me with. This morning EK had an appointment with her doctor in Grapevine. We started seeing him in April. He ran several labs on her soon after we saw him and has helped us get her on some needed vitamins/supplements. He's a huge believer in the GFCF diet (gluten/casein free). After we got her bloodwork back, we found that she is highly allergic to gluten, casein (milk protein) and eggs. Today we went to see him to get our first round of allergy shots. It's very small doses of the things she's allergic to and should help her tolerate them in the future. Wouldn't it be great if she can eat pizza again?? :) We dropped AC off with Miss Lee, Deanna, and Hannah. AC was quite excited to get loved on! EK did SO well at the doctor visit. Last month she cried/screamed from the moment we walked into the office. This morning she didn't start crying until...

These pictures were taken the last time we saw our friends, the Andersons. We were in MS to visit Keith's parents and for Keith to preach a revival at his dad's church. One afternoon we drove to Starkville, home to Mississippi State University, where Keith went to college. The Andersons went to MSU too. EK had a great time playing with their girls at the Bulldog Deli. :) That was May 2008. (Total sidenote...does EK look autistic to you in these pictures?) The Andersons, Waldrops, and Summerhills are all coming in town for our Summer Bible Conference. These guys are Keith's closest friends. They are all in ministry, which adds another level to their friendship. I sure wish they lived closer so they could have "guy" nights. It would do Keith some good to relax. I wouldn't mind some "girl" nights with their wives too. :) The Andersons came into town yesterday so we were able to have them over for dinner tonight. EK did pretty well. Of course there were ...

Those of you on Facebook have already seen these pictures, but for those of you who haven't, let me share! :) I know I won't be able to do matching dresses forever, but every season I buy one or two. These dresses are from PaPaw and Grandma. A sweet friend of mine made matching hairbows but I haven't figured out a way to get EK to keep them in. Perhaps I'll get another picture in the near future with the bows. :)

Some of you may wonder what we do all day. Our summer isn't as busy as the spring was but each week fills up quickly. Right now, EK goes to preschool Monday-Thursday from 8:30-11:30am. The main point of summer school is to keep the kids in the routine of going to school. She's not receiving any speech or occupational therapy. I'm thankful for the ladies that are working with her right now, but I know EK will enjoy being back in a strict routine once preschool starts August 24th. I think I mentioned before that her main teacher this fall is a godly woman who I've known for many years through our church. I'm VERY excited that the Lord has orchestrated it for EK to be with Ms. Sharla. I've heard she's phenominal!! I also found out last week that one of EK's teachers from Park Glen is moving to EK's school and will be with EK. YEAH!!! I think that having Ms. Colleen there will help EK's transition to her new school go much smoother. :) On Monday, Tue...

We got invited to Ms. Colleen's house to go swimming. One of EK's other teachers was there too, Ms. Beth. And EK's good friend Maddie was there! She was a little confused at first, but ended up having a BLAST once she realized Mommy wasn't leaving! I wish I had pictures to post. Thought about taking my camera, but thought it was more important to keep my babies safe. ;) EK and AC really enjoyed swimming. We've only gone swimming in the kiddie pool this summer, if that even counts as swimming. We sure missed Ms. Tammie being there. It would've made the party complete! On another happy note, Keith is done with his 2 weeks of classes for his DMin. He even got out before lunch today! It was a nice surprise to come home from Ms. Colleen's to see Daddy's car in the driveway! :) I WILL take pictures from our next reunion! (Hint, hint Ms. Colleen)

AC turned 22 months a couple days ago (ok, it's more like a week ago). I CANNOT believe she will be 2 years old in less than 2 months. My baby!!! Anyway, she is at such a fun age right now...very independent, talking up a storm, and just making me laugh! Here are some recent funny moments: -While driving down a rather bumpy road, AC shouts from the backseat, "Be careful, Mommy! Be cafeful!" (I am NOT a horrible driver by the way.) -When she leaves a room she has to say bye to everything: "bye blocks, bye baby, bye book...." It can take a few minutes. ;) -She has an interest in the potty right now. I'm not trying to push her but when she wants to try, I'm all for it. She is SO proud of herself when she goes. "Look mama! Look!" Today she sat and got a whole teaspoon in the potty. (I didn't measure it, but it was not much at all). She was still very proud and came running to tell me. -She's rather bossy. I'm afraid she gets that from h...

We got to see Keith's brother and family yesterday. They went to CO for vacation and stayed in Fort Worth a night before heading home to Houston. We don't get to see them often enough. My girls LOVE their cousins!! AC had a blast playing with them and EK warmed up to them too after a little bit. AC really had fun with Aunt Laura. We miss them (and Grandma and PaPaw) and hope to see them before too long! I didn't get any pictures from this visit, but here are some from previous visits! :) B and T meeting EK for the first time (Feb. 2006) B, EK and T (July 2007) T holding AC for the first time (Nov. 2007) B and T and EK (Nov. 2007) T and EK (August 2008)

EK had the whole week off last week from preschool. I wasn't sure how this week would go since it's almost like starting over in her mind. Yesterday morning we were getting ready and I asked if she wanted to go to preschool. She replied, "Ms. Beth, Ms. Beth". Awww...that made me happy and sad at the same time. Ms. Beth was one of her preschool teachers during the spring. I was so excited that she remembered her (as I'm sure Ms. Beth would be) but was sad that she wasn't going to see her. I know EK was sad too when she got to summer preschool and realized she wasn't going to see her favorite teachers. (Not that her summer teachers aren't nice...EK had a special bond with Ms. Beth, Ms. Tammie, and Ms. Colleen..my how we miss them!) However, she has done REALLY good at preschool both yesterday and today. She worked on her fine motor skills like stringing beads and putting pegs in the pegboard. She's talking up a storm too!! Her ABA therapist filled in...

Sounds like something a kid would say, right? If I'm honest with myself, I've been thinking it a lot lately. It's not fair that EK has autism. Why her? Why can't she be normal? It's not fair that our life as a family has changed. We can't go out to restaurants anymore b/c EK freaks out and starts screaming (plus she can't eat much since we're gluten/dairy/egg free). I can't take her on errands b/c of the same reason. Parenting an almost 3 1/2 year old should be fun, even adding in the strong will that surfaces more and more at this age. I feel like something has been taken from me. But then I think of my dear friends who have trials that are much more difficult that mine. Friends that have lost children through miscarriage or disease. Friends that have experienced a lot of pain from divorce that wasn't their choice. Friends that are going through tough times financially right now. This life is hard, isn't it? We live in a fallen world and eve...

Here are the girls in their patriotic outfits. (the shirt does have blue and red) AC likes to have real keys when she's pretending she's going somewhere. That's what's in her hands. We saw fireworks in Southlake last night. I should rephrase that to say that Keith and I saw fireworks. The girls fell asleep before 9pm while driving around and the show didn't start until around 9:30. They slept the whole time and we were able to put them in bed when we got home. :) It's been 5 years since we've seen fireworks around the 4th. Today we're not doing much. Keith had to pack up his office because they are finally moving to the new office space. I'm so excited for the new church addition to be used. The church staff will be in one space again instead of 3 different areas. We got everything packed in a little over an hour with the girls. It's amazing what a little Elmo on the computer will let parents get done. :)