I don't want to forget....

Have you ever asked God why He allows things to happen? If I'm honest, I have many times throughout the past year of EK's diagnosis of autism. Sometimes it doesn't seem fair. I think it's human nature to want things to go our way, for life to be easy and comfortable. When it doesn't, we tend to get upset or maybe that's just me. It's also easy for me to get very absorbed in my own trials. To have a pity party on how difficult my life is and to think that I'm the only one hurting. That's a bad place to be and one I remind myself not to stay. There are others around me who are suffering. It may not be a similar situation, but their life is not how they planned it to be either. As Christians, isn't God's plan what we strive for? The trials, the struggles, the pain that we suffer in this life teach us to trust in God's plan for our lives and hopefully move us more toward holiness. I know the Lord has refined me into His image this past year. ...

Several months ago, a sixth grader from our church volunteered to come over Thursday afternoons and play with the girls. I wasn't sure how it'd go. EK is rather possessive of her territory and doesn't always like visitors to come. But I also knew we needed to push the boundaries a little. The first time she came, EK hardly fussed. I was shocked! There's something about Emily that EK loves! She's very sweet to my girls. She plays whatever games AC comes up with....Elefun, Goodnight Moon, train (a game AC came up with). I love that I have some time to start dinner, clean up the kitchen, or start a load of laundry. Keith came home early on Thursday and Emily was here. He couldn't believe how happy EK was. Several times, EK went over to sit by Emily and AC. I got a picture of them reading books. :) I'm thankful that Emily is willing to give up her free time and love on my girls. ******************************************* At preschool on Fridays, EK sees her 4th...

We have some silly girls in this house! Here are a couple pictures from Monday. I got this great picture of EK by playing "peek-a-boo" with her. Sweet smile! This is the precious face I saw when I got AC after her nap. AC only gets her pacifiers when she's in bed. I thought this was pretty funny! I can't remember what made EK so happy...maybe we were playing "peek-a-boo" again? I promise she is happy here. There was a squeal of delight while I got this picture. :)

The girls got the slide for Christmas. AC plays on it ALL the time, especially when new people come over and are willing to watch her. :) I've shown EK many times how to climb up the steps, bring her feet in front, and slide. She can do it when I help her. A couple days ago, she came up with her own way of going down the slide. I think it works...and she enjoys it! ;) It may not be way other kids go down the slide, but I'm proud of her for using it for it appropriately!

EK still isn't talking. She has been making some sounds lately, kind of what a baby does before they talk. But even these "sounds" don't represent an item and she won't imitate a sound we make that I've heard her say, like "ba" or "fa". At random times, she might say a real word (like when she said "block" at school last week) but we won't hear it again for a LONG time. It really makes you wonder what is going on in her brain! We had a private speech evaluation done on Tuesday. It's not because we don't think her preschool teacher or ABA therapist aren't doing their job. I know her teacher and therapist are doing everything they can to encourage EK to talk. I guess we just wanted to see if someone else had an idea on how to get the words to come out again. Nothing much happened at the speech eval. besides the speech therapist asking me questions about what EK can/can't do. EK did rather well, anxiety-wise. One ...

The weather guys said we were going to get some snow, but I didn't believe it until Keith looked out the window this morning. There was at least 3 inches on the ground and it's been snowing ever since. (I think it started around 3am this morning.) It is so pretty out and it's just snow...no ice underneath (like we usually have in Texas.) EK did have school this morning. The roads weren't bad. AC and I ran a couple errands and still had some time to come home and play before picking EK up at 11am. AC was so excited to see snow again. This is the 4th time we've had snow this winter!!! I've lived here 10 1/2 years and I've never seen this much. The school district already announced they'll be closed tomorrow. It's supposed to drop below freezing tonight so the roads will be pretty nasty tomorrow. At least Fridays are Keith's day off! :) It'll be a fun day to stay home as a family! Please ignore AC's crazy hair below. Look at how the sn...

I realized that the last several posts have included NO pictures. I guess I just haven't been getting the camera out as much. Last night, AC found some swimsuits and decided she wanted to wear them. Then she told me she was going to the beach and asked if I wanted to go too. Love the way that girl thinks. The beach sounds like a great idea on a cold February day! :) Of course, AC posed for a picture!

Ok, so I finished my first book of 2010. :) This book is a mom's look at heart-oriented discipline. If you've read "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Ted Tripp, this book is similar to that. It's a little different though since it's written from a mother's viewpoint. I don't know about you, but I need a book like this right now. I'm in the middle of raising a 2 year old that is going on 10. There's a lot of whining and arguing going on in this house when she doesn't get her way! Ginger Plowman breaks the book into 3 parts: Reaching the Heart of your Child, How to Give a Biblical Reproof, and The Biblical Use of the Rod. Here are a few excerpts that really stuck with me: **In order for us to reach the heart of our children we must realize that there is far more to parenting than getting our children to act right. **The whole purpose of discipline is to teach children the Word of God, how they have violated that Word, and how to change. Ch...

I don't do New Year's Resolutions anymore. I used to, but realized I never stuck with them. Never got to the end of a year and completed the things I had said I would back on January 1st. Instead, I decided that I would set a goal to read one book a month. That might make some of you smile...one book? Just one?? Well, I'm not much of a reader anymore. It's not the first thing I do to relax, even though I know it's probably a much better way to spend my "free time". Last year, when we thought that EK had autism, I read like CRAZY!! I wanted to read what other moms did. I wanted to know about why doctors think some interventions help. I wanted to try and understand what had happened to my baby girl. I think it helped me grieve. I realized I wasn't alone in this journey...that other parents/children had been down this road already. Some of the books I read gave me hope. There are stories about some kids who recover to the point of losing their diagnosis. ...

Raising toddlers and preschoolers is hard. I feel like I never get enough sleep anymore. The girls are a blessing, but this stage is just a lot of work. There have been a couple things this week that have made me smile though. Tuesday night, my younger brother stopped by for a few minutes. He ended up staying for dinner. While we were eating at the table, EK starting yelling and I worried that she was going to have a meltdown. I looked at her and told her she was ok. When Keith and Steven looked at her too, she started laughing. She did this several more times in an attempt to get everyone's attention. She was also giggling the whole time Steven was here. AC asked Uncle Steven, "So what are you doing Steven?" She tries so hard to be an adult. My girls love their Uncle Steven. The next day, EK's therapist came for her ABA session. We had just gotten home from a lunch playdate and I hadn't put AC down for her nap yet. I mentioned that my brother had come over the ev...