Autumn Dance

I was just going through some books on the shelf, and came across a book that I don't know if I have ever opened. It's an old book called, Mothering by Heart, Celebrating the Moments that Last Forever by Robin Jones Gunn. I think it is a consignment store book from my dad. I opened immediately to the middle, and saw a picture of a little girl with Down Syndrome. (This book is not about DS) My eyes are misty, and I want to share what I read:


"She stood a short distance from her guardian at the park this afternoon, her distinctive features revealing that although her body blossomed into young adulthood, her mind would always remain a child's. My children ran and jumped and sifted sand through perfect, coordinated fingers. Caught up in fighting over a shovel, they didn't notice when the wind changed. But she did. A wild autumn wind spinning the leaves into amber flurries.

I called to my boisterous son and jostled my daughter. Time to go. Mom still has lots to do today. My rosy-cheeked boy stood still, watching with wide-eyed fascination the gyrating dance of the Down syndrome girl as she scooped up leaves and showered herself with a twirling rain of autumn jubilation.

With each twist and hop she sang deep, earthy grunts-a canticle of praise meant only for the One whose breath causes the leaves to tremble from the trees.

Hurry up. Let's go. Seat belts on? I start the car. In the rearview mirror I study her one more time through misty eyes. And then the tears come. Not tears of pity for her. The tears are for me. For I am too busy to dance in the autumn leaves and far too sophisticated to publicly shout praises to my Creator.

I am whole and intelligent and normal, and so I weep because I will never know the severe mercy that frees such a child and bids her come and dance in the autumn leaves."

Sassafrass

"Lord, as I hold her in my arms and kiss her tiny fingers
I wonder if anyone in all the world
Has ever been as happy as I am now.
She's like a tiny poem
SHORT but beautiful-
And several years from now she'll be a story.
Lord, I'm trusting you to write the plot.
Then at last she'll be a book-length novel
Translated into many languages.
I am confident of this, Lord
For You are both Author and Publisher."
-Ruth Harms Calkin


Read that yesterday, and it was almost if I had written it myself.

There is nothing on the agenda today, and I love that. The "no agenda" days have been happening more often lately. In the recent past, days like this bothered me, and I felt super bored. Now, I cherish them. :) Today, I plan to not leave the house, make some hairbows, make some food to store in the freezer for Annabelle, and hang out with my little girl. She keeps me busy.

Little girl is 19 months and only has 2 teeth grown in fully. NOW, she has about 2 or 3 coming in at once that I can see and feel. I think this is making her a little more sassy lately. Sassy and grumpy. Makes it difficult sometimes to know when to discipline for behavior or to comfort and have major compassion on her. It's like she wants to say to me, "Gosh, mom, growing is a tough job. Give me a little break." And, most likely I will give a hug rather than a little flick on the cheek. ;)

It's been a while since pictures. So, I finally got around to it:


Playing in the rain.

Passed out on Aunt Rachel's shoulder. This was adorable. We braved a rainy day to go to the Christmas parade in our town. It's tradition. Rain and cold won't keep people from their traditions here! :)

Girlfriend "helped" me decorate for Christmas. Santa hat lasted about 3 seconds.

Just cute.

SERIOUSLY entertains herself in this mirror!


Playing in a box.


On a walk with daddy!


THIS picture is from April at my sister's wedding. I crack up every time I look at it. She looks hilarious. I had put little spongy rollers in her hair, and when I took them out, I did not get what I was hoping for. Ha. It looks like she was as surprised as I was. We made it work.


HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

LOVE this month!!!

So excited that it's December! I love that commercial where the parents leave their daughter's house Thanksgiving night and as soon as she closes the door, it's CHRISTMAS in her house! This season is so cozy. And merry and bright.

The weather here has been behaving, too, and feeling cool as it is supposed to this time of year. We decorated on Sunday, with what little and thrown together Christmas decor we have. :) Annabelle has enjoyed the tree, and has ripped a few ornaments off, but that was to be expected.

This week we have not had ANY ECI appointments, which is sorta weird for a whole week. It's been a chill, and somewhat lazy week. I don't think I left the house at all on Monday, and I really didn't mind. Annabelle is a good sport to whatever the day usually holds, so I am SO thankful for that. She had an ENT appointment yesterday, just to check out her hearing and whatever. Just a protocol, not because we were concerned. She did great. I felt bad having to hold her head and hands down when she got her ears cleaned out, and she was pretty upset with me for doing it. But, we made it, and I am thankful for a healthy girl. SO THANKFUL!

Annabelle is often at my feet all day. I think I have said that before. Today, as I was baking some yummy cookies, she was at my feet and was super curious about the loud mixer. So, i held her while I mixed a little and just talked about what I was doing. (I CAN NOT wait till she can bake with me) She quickly grabbed the bowl of dry ingredients, and knocked it all over the floor. Flour is not super fun to clean up, but she thought it was exciting. :)

We have to watch her all the time, because she likes to be in EVERYTHING. She is still not walking independently, but will certainly get herself quickly to wherever she wants to be. She grabs things from other rooms, and drags them all the way across the house, leaving me wondering how it got there. Today, we were sitting on the couch with daddy. Some change fell out of his pocket, and we didn't think anything of it because we were too distracted playing with her. :) Later, after forgetting about it, we walked out of the room, and only moments later I heard her making a different kind of noise. So, I walked in to see her with change in her hand and teary, red eyes, and she was sort of coughing. Naturally, I freaked a little and did the good ole finger sweep of the mouth, craig patted her back, and nothing came up. She was fine, but was upset with US sticking our fingers in her mouth and messing with her. SO, therefore, she may or may not have swallowed a dime. Looks like mom will be on the lookout in a future diaper. Hopefully she didnt but we just weren't sure. She is fine, of course, and we got our money back. ;)

Hope you are all having a great week! I am off to eat the delicious Greek food that Craig walked in with! :)

Want to SHOP.

I am sitting here trying to fight the temptaion to go see what kinds of Early Bird deals I can get in to. Some stores are still advertising great deals today, and I am so curious!! Shopping on Black Friday is not actually fun to me, unless you go super duper early and get things that are actual deals. By the afternoon, I was finding that most things were just as much as they normally are, so it wasn't worth the lines. Last year, I scored a $50 sewing machine, but this year found nothing I wanted, and surely don't need.

Thanksgiving this year was awesome. We were able to see lots of family that we don't normally see, and that is always nice. I love my family! And I am SUPER THANKFUL.

:)

Honest

"O taste and see that the Lord is GOOD." -Psalm 34:8
I have tasted and see that the Lord is GOOD. Without Him, none of what I HAVE or experience would satisfy or bring me peace. And peace and contentment I often crave.





It bugs me so much when someone says something SO RUDE and inappropriate, and says, "Well, I'm just being honest." I do believe there is a time and place for honesty, I do. Sometimes it is so good. But, there is also a time to hold your tongue. Mostly, I am talking about someone talking about someone else. In my case today, I shared some simple honesty about recent frustrations, not about a person at all. Just life. To my husband, who is the MOST understanding and genuinely compassionate person I know. He gets me I think. God knew what He was doing when he matched us together.

I am frustrated over the simplest of things, like, not having a place to put Annabelle's toys and THINGS, or a play room. Goodnight, that's silly. It's one of those things you don't want to say out loud, because you are truly and wholeheartedly GRATEFUL for what you have, but you may sound so ungrateful. Here's a little more honesty: I also would love to go shopping. And buy cute fall outfits. I would like to FEEL settled in a home.( I have not felt settled in this home since we moved her over a year and half ago) I hate how unorganized I feel. I want fake nails. I felt really chubby today. I want a bigger house. I don't FEEL like being nice to a someone who was SO AWFUL to me. I love TV. I am a sucker for America's Next Top Model and that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader show. I like wine and beer. I am super excited about Breaking Dawn. There, SIMPLE honesty.




ANYWAY, I have major baby fever. There it is again. Honesty. I do. I have for a while. A friend of mine had her baby this week. Another (many others) are pregnant. Whew. It scares me to have another baby, or to get pregnant, but another one of those things I KNOW will be a blessing and a gift.


Welp, Have a great weekend. I am sorry there are no pictures. It requires me downloading and uploading and waiting, and I wasn't in the mood tonight. I love that girl. I love her tagging along at my feet all day. ;)

Oh, and I love Pinterest!

Pink Petal White.

Pink Petal White is the color I chose today for Annabelle's almost finished piece of furniture. I have come home a few times this week with primer and paint stuck under my nails and on my arm hairs. It's coming together.

With an 18 month old, it is hard to find time to do all the things you want to do. I was feeling like a failure as a wife, homemaker, and momma this week. I looked at my TO DO list, and had to really prioritize it. I LOVE having Annabelle at my feet all day, I really do. I understand that she is my first priority when I am at home. BUT, gosh, there is so much I want to get done. ;) For some reason, I thought that the older they get, the less demanding they might be of attention. I don't know why I really thought that. But, it seems that little sweetie has gotten more demanding of momma, especially this week. She has been feeling icky, and every time she is a little cranky I wonder if it is teeth. She still has only 2 little bottom teeth, so I am on the lookout.

She had 2 ECI appointments this week. It makes me so proud when both our O.T. and the Developmental Specialist think Annabelle is and looks amazing. She has made so much progress in the last just 2 or 3 weeks it seems. I have to brag on her. She for sure knows the signs for: Eat, music, milk and pray. (and she may or may not have done the sign for "beautiful" the other day.) Our goal was to have 5 signs by the time she was 2! :) She also is 'trying' to say words like: Pray, Dadda, Pops, Duck, Dog, Bye Bye. We basically celebrate ANYTHING that sounds or looks like a word. She also drank some milk out of a sippy cup today. Big step. :) She is communicating and super duper responsive to so much more than she was just a month ago. I am so proud. She also wants to walk SO bad. She uses that little walker and just cruises all over. She can also waddle holding onto just one hand instead of two. Thanks for letting me brag for a minute. Now I'll boast with videos. :)

So, when Nana was here, she was teaching Annabelle some animal sounds. When it came to "Bunny", Nana wiggled her nose, and somehow Annabelle mimicked that as a little growl. SO ADORABLE. So, she has been doing that ever since. It's awesome.


ANNNNDDDDDD......Wagon time with silly daddy....

"

Nana also was able to give Annabelle her first little trim. It was pretty adorable, and Daddy was doing his best to entertain to keep little one still. Clearly, we only trimmed a little bit. But, it was probably still at least an inch or two. With the length of her hair, it is hard to tell.

11/1/11

HAPPY NOVEMBER!!!

I've lately been obsessed with THIS site. It's a before and after blog, mostly of furniture. I have been searching and searching Craigslist for the perfect piece of furniture for Annabelle's room. So, I found just what I wanted on Craigslist for 20 bucks! I have ideas for it, because obviously $20 for a piece of furniture needs renovation. :) I can't wait to post my own before and after pictures. It may take a while, and really I hope it works the way I hope. :)

So, Craig and I decided to try this diet we heard about. I gotta tell you, I wasn't motivated enough to commit, and I lasted till after breakfast. Craig followed the rules totally for 2 days, and was starving and tired. Diets are silly. I'll just do my best to help us eat better. :) If Craig wouldn't buy Halloween candy with NO intention of us turning the porch light on to pass it out, then maybe my evening munchies would be better, but I do love those mini snickers and twix! :)