Praise Be to God...

Psalm 66:1-20 

Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." "Selah" Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot-- come, let us rejoice in him.  He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations-- let not the rebellious rise up against him. "Selah"  Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;  he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.  For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.  You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.  I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you--  vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.  I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. "Selah" Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.  I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.  If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;  but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

Mr. Bryce is now 4 months old! I literally feel like I blink, and he's changing and doing something new. Oh my goodness! he's still the sweetest baby ever! I adore his happy smile and laid back nature. He's making more and more sounds, and he really gets those chunky legs moving when he gets excited! He's learned to hold on to me when he's falling asleep, so he knows when I try to put him down. He grabs at my face, laughs loudly, and "talks" all the time. He's also still very ticklish, especially on his little chest. We've seen Bryce roll over only one time, but he can completely push himself off the floor on his tummy. He also holds his head, both arms, and both legs up off the floor like he's a flying Superman. I've begun to introduce fruits and vegetables, but we've only tried bananas and carrots so far. He seems to really enjoy them both! Bryce looked perfect at his recent check-up, and he weighed 16 pounds and 8 ounces! He's back to the 50% in most everything.  He ran a little fever and was fussy after his shots, but that's about what he was like the last time around. He recently had his first ear infection, and it was the first time he's ever screamed through the night and been inconsolable. He usually just wakes up and moves around when he's hungry in the night, so we knew he must be in pain. The antibiotic hurt his tummy, but the ear drops worked. He slept fine once we began giving him those. A few days prior to the ear infection, Avery and Daddy both had a bad stomach virus, but thankfully, it skipped over Bryce-man. I thought I was in the clear too, but it caught up to me a full 7 days later on Mother's Day! I felt okay that day (just a little under the weather), but that night it was awful. I was not a happy camper (ESP since it came during MCT2 week), and Jake was out of town. Fortunately, I have an awesome mom who took care of my kiddos and me! She ended up getting a version of it too, so Jake had to cut his recruiting trip short and return home. Several things were going wrong, and it was a few weeks that I thought would never end! I couldn't wait for our last day of school to get here, so the summer break could begin!!

at the doctor with Daddy...

Playing is hard work. 

"Sleeping Beau"

Carrots are yummy! 

He loves being outside...just like his big sister. 

Mother's Day, 2013

From Avery...apparently I have orange eyes, black hair, and look pretty in dresses, lol. I love gifts from kids! 

From Bryce...sweet hand print ;) 

I made Avery and Cooper and little horsey I saw on Pinterest out of a pool noodle! It was fun and cute for a $1 craft/toy! 

Things settled down though, and we had a fun little trip to State for a baseball game. Amanda from Batson called to see if Avery could be "kid captain" at the MSU vs SC Friday night game. Avery was introduced along with another sweet girl named Emma on the field, and they showed us on the jumbotron. We met Coach Cohen (who Jake already knew and has spent time with), sat in the dugout, and

 had great seats in right field. Avery had a blast! It was a good game, even though State lost (won series though). A nice man let her play with a cow bell, and she got crazy with it. She said, "Daddy, we need more cow bell!"  Bryce was really good too, but he pooped through his clothes while Jake was holding him behind home plate in the stands, and it got everywhere! Jake walked back holding him at arms length and looked like he spilled mustard everywhere (gross, I know, but funny too :). It was great to represent Batson and have an opportunity like that. I know it made Avery feel special which makes me smile. I recently had her IEP and Medicaid meetings, and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and worried about things. We continue to keep her on primary insurance, but Medicaid covers all the extra costs of her care. Without it, well let's just say I don't want to think about what it would be like without it. I recently had a good friend whose child was dropped, and it makes me so upset. If you have ever been in shoes like ours (or worse as in this case), you know how mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing it is to take care of things while maintaining some normalcy in day to day life. In my mind, when you are tax paying citizens with full time jobs and primary insurance (or a stay at home mom caring for your child with a husband that works) and a child with serious medical concerns, Medicaid should be a given. Sadly, my views aren't always realistic. Thanks to my knack for thorough paper work, my phone interview only lasted a little over an hour! I had to go through every aspect of Avery, her diagnoses, and what could or couldn't be "wrong" with her. The following day, I had her IEP meeting for speech, and we decided in writing to have her re-evaluated in the fall for other concerns. The main goal is to catch Avery up, so she will be ready for school when the time comes (which is not too far away). I am still planning on either putting her in Kindergarten at 6, or keeping her in K for two years. The next few years are critical, but I feel certain she will do great! My mom gave me a good piece of advice and told me to look at how far Avery has come in the last several months. It is so true because she's made a great amount of progress with her speech and lots of other things. This teacher in me wants so badly to know that she knows all that she's "supposed" to know at her age, but the mom (and special teacher) in me keeps remembering how unique and different every child really is and is ashamed of ever doubting her. Avery always seems to come around, and she always seems to know a lot more than she lets on. While she may not "get stuff" quite yet, it's understandable after all she's been through for her to be a little behind. While I worry about her knowing what other kids her age know, I forget that most of them have no comprehension of all the things Avery knows! She is something else! Her favorite things to say right now are, "uh-uh," "no, I not," and "I need/want that." She sings all the time now even though I'm the only one who is ever sure of what song she's belting out! "This Little Light of Mine," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Happy Birthday to Me," and  "You are my Sunshine" are just a few of her favorites. She is very excited because she is going to begin dance this summer with a week long camp! She now wants to be a "ballina!" Avery's 4th birthday is in 2 weeks, and I'm in shock!She has several appointments coming up, but I'm praying that she is still doing as well as she appears to be. She will unfortunately need to have her tubes replaced, which I'm guessing will occur this summer. We are also getting a closer look at her vision after her speech and daycare teachers were concerned at how Avery puts her face right up to papers. I'm not sure if it's the misalignment of her eyes or what, so we are getting her looked at sooner than her scheduled, yearly check-up. I truly hope her reflux will be gone by September, so there won't be any procedures/surgery going on there. It would also be nice to get her off of the prophylactic antibiotic she's been on the last 4 years.The girl is so much like her daddy it is crazy! She loves to pick and play and get into everything! She still could pass for a female version of Dennis the Menace! She's picked up lots of not so nice habits from daycare which I hope to begin to break this summer! I have to keep in mind that what is cute at 3, will not be very cute at 12. :) You can bet she will always keep us on our toes! On the other hand, Avery is a great big sister, and she has big moments of complete sweetness. Her smile lights up the day, and her laugh is still as contagious as ever! 

"Our Kids Got Game!" Go State!

Our last day of school before SUMMER TIME! 

Notes from A-A's teachers...Avery and Bryce gave their teachers cross bracelets (made by Miss Kristen) for their end of the year gifts. 

Summer is finally here and I'm so excited about spending time with Jake, Avery and Bryce! It's still so weird to me that I have (count 'em) two kids! 

Kid # 1 

Kid #2

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez! 

"Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!"

God has been so faithful in answering prayers and being there for me and my family. I'm ashamed that I ever worry or doubt anything at all! We've been so richly blessed, and when I tell you that God has made a way EVERY time with EVERY thing in EVERY situation, I am not exaggerating the least bit. It's so important to remember the works of His hands. We sang that in church Sunday, and I looked up to see a guy that just graduated from high school who had miraculously survived a brain tumor and extensive surgeries. He was standing there, praising God and remembering...that is the work of His hands! He has done so much with so many people around me...countless situations and some I'm sure I didn't even notice. He is always good and always there. What seems so big to me, is nothing in His hands. He tells me not to worry or get too far ahead of myself all the time, and lots of times I listen.  He answers my prayers according to His will, so I will trust Him with my life (which takes work and practice daily). Worrying is a joke really. It does absolutely nothing for absolutely no one. More importantly, how selfish is it to worry when there are so many others out there in situations that are way worse than those we are in??? Choose to trust and practice ridding life or worry and anxiety...that is what I must do!