Here's to New Friendships

Nearly every morning I wake up with a song in my head.  Sometimes it is a random song that I wonder how in the heck it got in there.  You know like a song from the '80s or some Miley Cyrus song.  Lately, the song "One Thing Remains" has been in my head a lot.  Here's the link if you want to listen to it.  It may just be stuck in your head all day too but, what a great song to sing.  One Thing Remains  I think this is God's gentle reminder in my ear that He is always with me, even in the lowest of lows. 

We are coming off a successful pajama weekend.  I love pajama weekends and we haven't had one in a very long time.  We stayed in our pajamas, did lots of crafts, played games, watched movies, watched football and basketball, ate some yummy food and snuggled.  That my friends, is a perfect weekend to me.  Only thing that would have made it more perfect is if Matt would have been home to join us.

The girls had their fall dance recital last Sunday.  It was held at the Urbandale High School Performing Arts Center on a big stage.  It was a great day and the girls did awesome!  There were five different classes there performing and they all came together at the end for a tap finale.  There is never a dry eye in the place when recital time comes around.  What a blessing it is to be a part of a program that reaches out to kids who normally would not have the chance to take dance class.  Some kiddos are in wheelchairs and need full assistance and others are out there performing on their own.  Everyone performing has a huge smile on their face and the hearts of those of us watching are blessed beyond measure.  We are thankful for Ballet Des Moines: Dance Without Limits and the awesome volunteers who have made a difference in the lives of our family and many others.   Below is a picture of the finale rehearsal.  L&L are in the blue and purple tutus (on the left side) that were graciously made by a volunteer.

Last week I made a phone call that I probably should have made a couple of years ago to Childserve to see about getting the girls involved in a respite program.  They have different programs on weekends where kids can go and spend time with other kids with special health needs.  Come to find out, they have one called "Just for Girls" that sounds perfect.  It has become clear to us that the girls need some social interaction with others outside of school and our home.  Being the super overprotective mother that I am, this is a huge step for me. But, is one that definitely needs to be taken to allow the girls to experience time away from home and spent with others.  I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my kids.  Surprise....surprise.  But in my defense, we have worked really hard to keep our girls safe and too many times to count over the last 12 years, we could have lost one or both of them to a seizure.  I know they will go there and have a great time and they will be well taken care of.  I am excited for them to hopefully form some new friendships and get to experience some new things in life.  A friend of mine said to me one day, "aren't you glad they have each other to go through this with?"  I can't imagine either of them going it alone.  At least they have one friend who is always by their side.  They do get on each others nerves sometimes. But, when they wake up in the morning the first thing they do is roll over to see if the other one is there and if she is not, the first question is "where is she?"  And when one is having a seizure, the other is right there by her side "helping" and the worried look is evident on her face.  It really stinks that they both have to endure the hardships that they do but, I am so thankful that they have each other. 

As the kids grow up, I am forced to loosen up the apron strings.... Time to get rid of the double knotted apron and enjoy watching them grow more independent before my eyes.  I am scared and excited all at the same time. 

Procrastination and Other Words

It seems my goal today is to do everything possible to not exercise.  I've pretty much thought of every excuse.  I need to clean the house.  I need to make some phone calls.  I need to pin a few things on Pinterest.  I need to play Candy Crush.  I need to go pick the girls up from school.  Ugh...the laundry. I need to fold those three baskets of mismatched socks.  Okay, I am just kidding about that last one.  Please tell me I am not the only one with basket(s) of unmatched socks. Please.  So here I sit at the computer (again) with the Natalie Grant Pandora channel playing some really good tunes.  I have my tennis shoes on at least...  I absolutely love the song "Your Great Name."  While listening to Pandora a while back, I heard this song in acoustic and fell in love even more.  If you haven't heard it before, click below.  There's something about unplugged and raw acoustic versions of songs.  I like them. 

Your Great Name (Acoustic)

We are plugging along.  Kinda like Dory.  Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming.  I do have to share a thankful blessing with you.  I am thankful for our respite providers who come into our house and watch the girls for us.  The girls absolutely adore them and almost daily ask who is coming over to play with them.  They are disappointed when I tell them nobody is coming.  I don't take it personally.  What kid doesn't like babysitters?  We usually use our respite time to go to the big kids' events and sometimes we even go out on dates. We love knowing that we can go places and know that our girls are being well taken care of at home.  Respite...a blessing for all of us. 

I have shared with you before how Lauren has a word that she uses when she gets angry and we have deemed it her naughty word.  It is "baby."  She has another word that she uses at times which we are still trying to figure out where it came from.  It is "wean-oh."  She has a hard time putting the "r" sound at the end of words so I will let you figure that one out...  You never know when wean-oh will come out of her mouth.  Luckily, it doesn't come out in public often. We have told her that it isn't an appropriate word and she shouldn't say it.  She doesn't know what it means.  We started saying  "schnitzel" when she says it and then she just laughs.  She has said it a couple of times at therapy at Childserve.  The therapists look at me like, "did she just say what I think she said?"  I just nod my head.  The other day we were at the drive-thru at Wendy's and just as the guy was taking my money, this little voice in the backseat says, "WEAN-OH!"  I just smiled and drove away.  Oh Lauren...you always keep us entertained.

Lindsey's word(s) aren't naughty or inappropriate, thank goodness.  Her cute words are, "I have a better good idea."   When she thinks of something or gives her opinion, she has a better good idea.  She has been saying it for years and we just can't bring ourselves to correct it.  You know how kids say the cutest things and you know you should probably encourage them to say it correctly but you just can't.  When Delaney was a toddler she called Cheerios "teebios."  They are still Teebios in this house. 

Hopefully one of these days Lauren will have a better good idea and stop saying wean-oh.       

Debby Downer Has Left the Building

After my last blog entry was deemed "scathing", I feel bad if it was misinterpreted by anyone; especially those I love dearly.  My main point was about the stigma we women put on ourselves about thinking we have to be "perfect" and fit into the mold of the perfect mom, perfect wife and perfect female specimen.  We think we have to act and look like we have it all together or people will think less of us.  But you know what, nobody is perfect.  When Matt and I received our Genetics 101 lesson when we signed up for the genetic testing for Lauren last month, we learned that every single one of us has on average 7-10 bad genes.  Yep, we are all defective.  So when you see the perfect specimen of a man or a woman walking down the street, know they just might have a few more defective genes than you.  How is that for a little bit of encouragement!?  As far as my tirade about disruptive children...having kids with emotional/behavioral issues is by far the hardest thing for me to deal with personally.  It takes a toll on the whole family and opens up a whole new world for us.  My emotions are very raw as I know I can't control it and neither can my little girls.  As a mom, you want nothing more than to be able to help your children.  It's painful to watch them unravel at the seams and be so helpless. 

Now I move forward in a different direction as I choose to focus on the positives, not the negatives.  As Sweet Brown says, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gLMSf4afzo.

October has come and gone...didn't it just start?  I always see people posting 30 days of thankful on Facebook for the month of November.  I think that is such a good idea to stop and reflect on what you are thankful for.  We should do it everyday, you know.  I will probably not take part on the FB thing as I know I wouldn't follow through for the whole month.  Not because I don't have 30 days of things to be thankful for, just because I have a hard time following through with things I start sometimes.  You know like when you go to the doctor and get an antibiotic and are supposed to take it for 14 days.  Then by day 9 or 10 you stop taking it because you feel better?  Yep, that's me...  I will do my best every day this month to stop and reflect on one thing I am thankful for.  Care to join me?