Growing. Fasting.

If you've been around the blog for a while, you'll have read about some of my past.  I've got a history of severe depression and an eating disorder.  I don't shy away from my past and I don't shy away from my present either.  The depression has never really released it's grasp of my mind but the eating disorder is nothing more than a shadow that only shows up when the light is at just the right angle. Thankfully, that doesn't happen often.
Our church home, Exodus, is currently looking for a larger space.  We've been truly blessed by new members and we're continuing to grow every week it seems.  We are looking for a larger space so we can accommodate the numbers and continue to grow.  Our leaders have asked us to choose a day to fast and pray about our space and our future in the sweet town of Belmont.  We've really grown in the community and with the community here.  We know we can expect big things from our Big God.

Fasting is something that I've never been able to do with a pure heart.  There was always an alterior motive.  Fasting was just an excuse not to eat.  A "legitimate" excuse not to eat.  I had long grown tired of making excuses not to eat, so occasionally I would tell people I was fasting and there were no more questions asked.  Shame on me.  Shame on the disease. It's so different now.  My heart is far from pure, it's constantly covered in sin, but my intentions are.  No more do I look forward to a day of fasting so I can have a day of rest from making up excuses.  Now, I look forward to it because it's going to be a day of intentionality.  A day where my body and mind cry out to my Big God, knowing that he is sufficient to sustain me.  I am so thankful for days like this when I can look back and see how sufficient God's grace has been for me.  

 

It must be hard...

It must be hard being three.
A lot of moments of being misunderstood.  A lot of screaming.  A lot of crying.  A lot of changing your mind.  A lot of uncertainty.  A lot of certainty.  A lot of others not understanding that certainty.  A lot of giggles.  A lot of hugs.  A lot of kisses.  A lot of trying to change clothes.  A lot of sleeping with half of your clothes on.  A lot of new discoveries.  A lot of accidents.  A lot of boo-boos.  A lot of saying I'm sorry.  A lot of time outs.  A lot of baby doll strolling.  A lot of singing.  A lot of yelling.  A lot of squealing.  A lot of high heels.  A lot of pretending to be a mommy.  A lot of learning.  A lot of bathtub splashes.  A lot of running around like spiderman.  A lot of picking out clothes.  A lot of reading.  A lot of calling your sister "friend". A lot of "I love you, Mommy".  A lot of "I love you, Daddy".
It must be hard being three but oh, how glorious it must be at the same time.

Local Celebrity.

My dad underwent quadruple bypass surgery in December.  He has recovered amazingly well and was even released early.  He has been back to playing racquetball a few times a week and is steadily working up to beating one of his friends and competitors, "Dr. Doom", aka Michael White.

Charlotte today interviewed him and the amazing doctor that performed his procedure.  Check out my dad here!

Kyra's animal sounds. Plus a Bobo and a bye bye.

We sometimes have a lot of fun on the way home from school.  Yesterday was one of those days! This was at one of the longer (like four minute) stop lights we get stopped at on the way home.  Kyra is working on her animal sounds but also people's names.  She loves saying "Bobo" and it was even one of her first words...What can we say, those Bobos are pretty great people!  Enjoy!

Teagan says the pledge.

This video was from a little over two months ago. I was in the middle of doing laundry and all of a sudden I hear "for liberty and justice for all". I grabbed the flip cam and went in the bathroom (which is RIGHT NEXT to the laundry area) to quiz Teagan. I asked her to say it for me again, and clear as day, she recited the entire Pledge of Allegiance at 34 months.

Dearest girls.

My dearest girls,
I am going to get frustrated sometimes. I will never be the perfect mother.  Sometimes I will be less than mediocre.  I will huff and puff after the forth time of going up the stairs to cover you up or pick up your paci from the floor.  I will take a deep breath in the middle of a tantrum, yours, and walk away for a minute.  I will snap at you in frustration and grumble at your disobedience.  I will sigh and occassionally roll my eyes when you throw a tantrum because you don't want to get dressed or have your diaper changed.  I will accidentally grab your arm too tight as you pull away while I am trying to talk reason to you.  I will sometimes cry on the way home because you don't want to tell me about your day.  I will feel like I need a mommy time out and go upstairs for a bathroom break that lasts more than 10 minutes as soon as we get home and your daddy takes over.

However, I will love on you and tuck you in after I've had my moment on the way up the stairs.  I will pick up your paci and laugh while giving it back to you.  I will take a breath in the middle of a tantrum and walk away for a minute.  I will kneel down to eye level and tell you in a calm voice why taking something from your sister is not okay even if you think "she was finished with it".  I will give you options after you decide you don't want to wear the original outfit you picked out.  I will tickle you and ask you where your body parts are while I try to get your squirmy butt dressed.  I will loosen my grip, get down to eye level and apologize for squeezing too hard, then take your hand and suggest we try it again.  I will ask you several times on the way home how your day was knowing that you might have been in the middle of a thought the other times I asked.  I will sometimes take a mommy time out because I want to come back down ready and refreshed and ready to play with you.

I love you girls so very much.  I am going to make mistakes but I promise I will try to get my head back on straight quickly and remedy those mistakes.  You are both blessings to me and my life and I cannot imagine my life with out you.  Parenting is a constant learning curve.  Marriage and being a mommy is the only thing that has ever gotten hard that I have not quit on.  You two have made me better. I thank you for that.

Forever and Always,

Mommy

 

A little sunshine, pigtails, and a little dance.

Sharing some love on Valentine's Day.

If you go to my sweet friend's blog, Miskabelle, you'll see my button and on my blog you'll see their button.  We met when I won a random entry for a gift card for their Etsy shop and it was instant connection.  We don't get to chat very much but when we do find the time in our schedules to connect there are definitely some rainbows in the sky and birds singing on the branches! I just love these two ladies!

I thought for Valentine's Day that I would show their store some love.  I wanted to share some of the goodies I've spied recently!  Feel free to beat me to the purchase button, as long as you promise to share!

Oh the things she says...

I don't remember to write the funny things Teagan says down all the time but I try to catch them every once and a while. Here are some of her latest jewels...


"Belle is a mommy because if she has high heels and a big wedding dress then she must be a mommy. Like you are, mommy!"

"I have spinning pink sparkly shoes."
Mommy- why?
"Because I have on a little dress!"

"I like cold weather because it kills the germs and viruses- Josh
"And dragons! I don't like dragons!" -Teagan

"Cars don't have toes so they can't dance."

Fairy land.

Josh found a super fun FREE, hello, FREE activity for us to do with the girls this weekend.  It involved...fairies!
We were able to go to our local Latta Plantation for their fifth annual Fairy House Festival.  We had a blast.  The weather was beautiful.  We got there early so we had the run of the place for a while, which is what we will do next year as well.  Kyra fell asleep on the way there so Teagan and I got out and surveyed the grounds.

We took in a story told by Cinderella's fairy godmother, and Teagan was able to pick up some fairy dust.

Then we decided to make a fairy headband, something Kyra would not have enjoyed quite yet at her age. 

Then, Kyra woke up, and we walked around some more and ate a bite of lunch. 

Then, Teagan built a fairy house and we headed to the car. 

Put us in the 2%-5% category.

High fevers are scary for parents.  High fevers that just won't go away are even more scary for parents. High fevers that cause those nightmarish febrile seizures are the most scary.
Around two to five percent of children will experience at least one febrile seizure in their early years.  Kyra Mae is now in that two to five percent.
On Thursday evening Kyra was running a fever bordering on 104 and that 104 was only so because we were alternating Motrin and Tylenol.  The doctor was aware and told us to continue and if it continued over a few hours then to bring her in or take her to the ER.  We toughed it out a little because  I really thought, and still think, the fever was due to her contracting the viral infection Teagan had the day before (more on that one later) and it just needed to run its course.  That evening while I was rocking my sweet baby in my arms in the rocking chair in her room she started twitching.  Twitching like I've never felt or seen before.  Her eyes were rolling back in her head.  She was moaning.  All of these signs didn't seem out of the ordinary to me at first because they were similar to how a sick baby might act while she's tired.  Maybe not everybody's sick baby acts that way but Kyra was born into a family of "twitchers".  When I'm tired or I am finally starting to fall asleep I start twitching.  Kyra has always moaned when she is in the process of sleeping. And her eyes rolling back and crossing were not that much out of the ordinary anyway because she was so sleepy.  The next morning febrile seizures came to mind and so I looked them up just to make sure....I called the nurse on call and my fears were confirmed.  The scariest part was that she had had three in a matter of hours.
Honestly, I got more anxious after than during.  Kyra was, well I'm not sure lucky is the word but I'll use it anyway, lucky enough to have them at night, in my arms, while she was almost asleep.  We didn't have to worry about her falling down, I was holding her so she wasn't flailing where she could hurt herself, and they didn't last very long.  I called the doctor the next morning to run what happened by a professional and they said just to monitor.  As long as her fever was going down (and it was) and she had no more then there was really nothing they would do.
It seems like these nightmares are more common than before.  In the last two years I have heard more about them than ever before.  Before then I would never had known anything about them.
Just as a general FYI I found a great cheat sheet for febrile seizures that I wanted to share with you all.  I got it from the Kids Health website.

Above the couch. Bringing the room together.

I do not love my house.  Neither does Josh.  We were young when we bought the house and jumped the gun.  Now we're stuck with it.  However, we are learning to make it work and love it a little at a time.  The recent project that we took on was a sign above our couch.  We have a strangely long and skinny living room and we're always trying to figure out how to make it more aesthetically pleasing to our eyes and the eyes of our guests.  I got this idea off of my Instagram feed (you can follow me at RiciReid) and ran with it.

What we did:

Went to our local Habitat for Humanities Restore and scouted out a used shudder door.
Brought it home and cleaned it up.
Teagan and Josh took the hardware off.
I painted the letter and hot glued it on.
Josh and I hung it.
Walah! New above the couch eye candy for $15!