It's okay Mom

I took Faith to school yesterday morning and walked her to class, which is what we do every morning. Her teacher has asked the parents to really encourage the children to walk to class on their own. It's a work in progress. Just before we got to the door, she stopped and looked at me with her hand on her hip, "Mommy, I'm big now."

I thought to myself....Yes, I know that you are big now, but it seems like you were a tiny infant in my arms just last night.

I agreed with her and proceeded to walk to her classroom and she stopped me, "Mommy I need to walk by myself to class, I'm big."

....oh, you're just saying that because you know that's what we're working towards, you really aren't ready for that yet.

I told her it was a great idea, but I was thinking she would disagree and we would take those last three steps to her classroom. She had a different plan. She walked me back to the door that seperates the foyer and the hallway. I guess you could call it the "middle ground" between the students and the parents. The line between infancy and childhood, another symbol of your child gaining the independence that you so longed for them to have as a baby, but that you

really weren't ever ready to let them have.

As I stood there at the door, watching her walk up that big empty hallway all by herself, it kind of hit me that she really is a child now, she's not a toddler anymore. When did that change? Sounds rather silly, I'm sure. I know she's been growing up, but I saw her as a child for the first time today, not a baby, not a toddler...but a child.

Of course, she'll always be my precious little baby, but those days are gone.

She stopped about halfway to her classroom and looked back at me. She turned and walked in my direction.

....she's changed her mind, sigh of relief, she really tried, she wanted to do it today.....it's okay, tell her good job and maybe she'll try again tomorrow....

As she sighs and stops about two feet from where I am standing...

"It's okay Mom, go to work now, I'll be fine."

"Ok. I'm going to work. I love you."

"I love you too Mama, bye"

I turn and walk away, but sneek a peek at her as she is just turning into the doorway of her classroom.

There she goes with her pink backpack and popple hanging out of the pocket......

that's my little girl......that's my little girl growing up.

Sir Bryce

Well, this is my nephew, Bryce. I really don't know why, but I just got the biggest gut wrenching laugh out of this picture. It's amazing how a child can take something as simple as toilet paper and make an adult cry from laughing so hard. Children have magical powers, they really do :)

Faith got her first Progress Report today....

.....I am very proud of her!!

Visiting Sam & Susie

We drove up to Nixa this Saturday to spend the weekend with Sam and his girlfriend, Susie. They just recently moved to a beautiful home in Nixa, which is only about an hour and a half from where we reside, so we get to see them pretty often. Faith just adores Susie and I'm afraid that she follows her around like puppy dog....but, it's really cute. I do wonder if Susie would rather her privacy from time to time, but she and Faith hang out like best friends when they're together and Susie seems to have a lot of fun as well. Faith tends to really cling to women who are eccentric and fun, and Susie is right up her alley. I'll give you a little history on Susie's introduction to my family.....at first she was Sister Susie, we really aren't sure why Faith called her this.....then when that phase wore off, she became Uncle Susie, which was Faith's way of relating her to Uncle Sam.....and now, after several months, she's been calling her Aunt Susie. I think this is much more fitting :) Anyway, we spent the weekend just visiting and watching movies and bowling :) Faith's high score was an 87 and I think she may have beat me and Susie both a time or two :) She had two strikes and two spares in one game, which is much more than I can say for myself. Anyway, we had a really great time this weekend and were very thankful for Sam and Susie's hospitality....Susie even went out and bought Faith her own shampoo for the bath....she's a very thoughtful woman.....and I was very thankful for it, because I had forgotten to bring Faith's with us! (Mommy brain is what I like to call that, you remember every thing to dress the child down to the underwear, but when you get there, you are missing shampoo and toothpaste! Never fails!) Anyway, I was very thankful that Susie thought of it. So, here are some pictures from the weekend. Thanks Sam and Susie for allowing us to invade your home for the weekend....we had a great time! :)

Allergies & Asthma

Faith had an appointment today with an allergy and asthma specialist. They did some tests on her and were able to narrow her allergy down drastically. Out of 50 allergens she was tested for, she only had a reaction to one of them!! This particular allergen is from plantain leaves. These are perrenial and die out in the winter, but grow back in mid spring. Unfortunately, this is something we can't keep Faith away from, especially living out in the country, so she will stay on her allergy meds for now. She was also officially diagnosed with asthma today. The good news is that it isn't allergy related asthma, so her doctor is confident that she will outgrow it in 5 to 10 years. He prescribed her an emergency inhaler for when it is needed. She will stay on her three current medications and add only this inhaler when needed. I was able to talk him out of putting her on a daily inhaler, because she is already on singulair and I felt that double medicating was too much. We will follow up with the doctor next month and he will evaluate her again. We are hoping that he can take her off of some of her medication at that time. He made a good point today after we stressed our concern of her being on so many medications. He said just think of it like this..."Everything you are giving her is for her nose and lungs and it will never effect her feet. It won't keep her from doing anything or going anywhere, it will just make breathing easier for now." So, I guess we're okay with this and we'll always do what is best for her health, but we're really praying that he'll be able to cut out some of the medication next month. Anyway, we feel great about the things we found out today. On a great note....we were very very proud of Faith today. The tests consisted of 50 very light pricks on the back 8 needles in the arm and she handled it all like a PRO! I couldn't have been more proud of her, she was such a big girl today!!

We had a great weekend visiting Sam & Susie and I'll post about it soon, I need to get my big girl into bed for the night, she's very tired.

Noah's Ark

She finally got it!! The rainbow is a reminder of God's promise to never flood the entire earth again. I am so proud of her! It just proves how easily a child can learn God's words if you just teach it to them....and I'll admit that I learn a lot during the process as well! Jack got Faith a KIDZ Bible on cd for the car and we've been listening to it every day, it's amazing to see how quickly she picks up the stories. We've really been enjoying the cd...thanks Jack. Anyway, here is a video of Faith talking about Noah's Ark and also some pictures of her artwork on the concrete.

This is her submarine.

Our Labor Day Weekend

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. It seems like those three day weekends are just as busy as the two day-ers!! Faith stayed the night with Tillie on Friday. We also had cousins over this weekend. Tillie stayed with us on Saturday night and Hannah stayed with us on Sunday night. We also had a tiny green “visitor” who got away. I hope he found his way out of the house. We had lots of fun with the girls, it’s so much fun to watch them growing up together!

We had a barbeque at Mom and Dad’s house and for the first time in a long time my Dad relaxed and we cooked for him. I hope he enjoyed the food. Dad was feeling a little better on Sunday, so it was a great day for all of us! I was able to get some much needed yard work done on Monday. When I look at the yard, I can finally see it coming together. Last year I didn’t even have grass, so it’s come a long way. I still have a lot of work ahead of me! The first picture is the house last year in the fall and the second is now.
We also met Jack and Wanda in Houston to eat on Monday and then go bowling. It was Faith’s first bowling experience and she got an 85! We had a lot of fun, we always appreciate it when family will meet us somewhere so we can visit…even if it’s just for a couple of hours.

That was our weekend in a nutshell.

Dad

Some of you know that my Dad has not been doing well. He has been in and out of the emergency room since Tuesday. His blood pressure has been high and he's been very sick. He is unable to stand or walk on his own. He is having a hard time seeing, because the room is spinning constantly and is pretty much on bed rest until further notice. For those of you who know Dad, you know that he doesn't go to the hospital, so we knew something was serious when he asked Mom to take him to the hospital. I posted about my Dad recently for his 57th birthday, so you know how much he means to me. I have never had to deal with the thought of losing one of my parents before. Sure, they've been sick, but I've never actually thought I might lose them, so it's been a long 6 days. The doctors have said a lot of different things, it could be something he'll live with for the rest of his life, it's something that could go away, but could also recur and it could correct itself. Mom took him to the ER in Springfield at 1 am this morning again. The doctors there have offered some relief to him through medication, so he more comfortable today. He was able to eat something and drink a little bit this morning and was even talking some, which hasn't happened much since this all started. I'm hoping he will be able to drink more, so he can stop getting dehydrated... even the liquids have been making him nauseous. He will have to see an ENT specialist to see what to do from here. The doctors in Springfield told Mom that he has vertigo and some type of vestibular disorder, which as far as we know can be corrected at some point. That's really all we know right now. I'm praying that this combination of medications will keep him comfortable and out of the ER for a while, so that Dad and Mom both can get some good rest. Please keep Dad in your prayers, and Mom as well, they've both been through a lot this week.