Yesterday

Okay, if you read yesterday's post, you know it was my anniversary. I did not spend it with the love of my life, as he was.......yeah, you guessed it, out of town. Nothing new there. But, it was for a good cause! It seems we have gotten quite accustomed to three meals a day and a roof over our heads. So, we'd like him to keep his job!

Since I couldn't be with him, I ended up looking at our wedding photos. Boy we looked young...and it was only 15 years ago!! You don't realize just how much you have changed until you look at old pictures.

I scanned some of them in to share. This might only really be fun for the people that were in the photos. The rest of you are free to move on to more interesting blogs if you want to. I won't be offended. Really! But, if you do stick around there is a surprise at the bottom. I kept digging in my old pictures and I came up with an few old prom pictures! Can you say "dork".

This is a picture from 1992, the year we met and started dating. That is the skirt I was wearing the night we met. I know I'm a dork, because I know that! I'm an even bigger dork.....because I still have that skirt! Oh yes I do!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Lizzie was 4 1/2 that day and she was so tiny and blond! SO cute! After we walked down the aisle and got into places, she left hers, ran over to Paul and hugged his leg from behind. I didn't see it until I saw the video, but it would just melt your heart!

Joanne Rice (junior bridesmaid), Kim Taylor, Michelle Lotspeich (Prince), Me, Jennifer Fentress (my sister), Amy Shaw (Ryan-my sister), Stephanie Rice (junior bridesmaid)

My wedding party. Yes, I love purple and yes I made them wear those dresses. Sorry!

This is a picture of me with my junior bridesmaids, Stephanie and Joanne Rice. They were little girls that I babysat for everyday for several years. They are both married with children now! How is that possible?

The groomsmen. Mark Weatherford, (first note that he is standing one stair down from the other guys but is still just as tall! HE walked with my tiny junior bridesmaid, Joanne!) Curtis Ray, David Gour, Paul, Glen Stroud (his Dad), Bruce Root (his best friend and roommate from The Citadel), Mark Fentress (my brother-in-law) and my Daddy!

At the reception. SO YOUNG!

My parents! My example of a what marriage was all about.

Drum roll! My senior prom.......don't you love how my date wore a pink bow tie and cumberbund ??? Because it went with what I was wearing and I liked pink. Cool right? Say it was cool! I actually dated David for 9 months. Does he look a little young here? Yeah, he was freshman. I was 17, he was 14....maybe 15. Yikes!

And, if that wasn't dorky enough......we thought it would be cute to have our pictures made together... with our double date partners......my best friend, Michelle and her date, Steve. Lovely! We look like a singing quartet!

Her date's tie and cumberbund were peach to match her dress. Can we say a collective "Awwwww". LOL!

Ouch!

This is what I recently discovered when getting Claire up one morning. It is a sore on her ankle, obviously caused by one of her braces. She wears AFOs all day long so she can walk and a Dobbs brace at night to keep her feet from reverting back to their original club foot state. A Dobbs brace is essentially just a pair of AFOs attached with a bar between them. We had noticed a little redness around her ankle, but were unable to determine which brace was causing it. After seeing this Friday morning, we thought we pinned it down to the Dobbs brace. Well, that thing came from St. Louis, so that will be a wee bit inconvenient to have that orthotist look at it! We put a call into Dr. Dobb's staff to see what we should do. In the mean time, I let her sleep without if for a few days. I just couldn't stand the thought of her ankle getting worse. Sadly, she didn't seem to notice the sore at all, and did not complain about it. That is just a another indicator of how much nerve damage there is in that area and a reminder of how careful we have to be to keep an eye on her feet for her. What she did notice, was that we put her to bed without her brace! She did not like that at all! Talk about "creature of habit". She cried hard for ten minutes and off and on for another 30! But, once she got it all out, she managed to get over it. Thankfully, we found out that our local orthotist should be able to fix the issue and we got into to see him on Monday. He thinks he figured the problem out, but it will take a few days to be sure. While we wait for the sore to clear up, Claire's ankle needs a break and she can not wear her AFOs during the day. Did you hear that......yes, it was her heart shattering into a million bazillion pieces. No AFOs? That means no shoes and that means no walking! And, that translates to an unhappy child! And, a sad Mommy. Folks, she begs for her AFOs. "I wuv to walk, Mommy."

I am about to head over to the Wednesday Prayer Meetin' and we would love it if you would join us. Significant Source always has a good message for the day and you may need to hear it! I usually do. I know that the sore on Claire's ankle is a small issue, but I also know that it matters to her Heavenly Father anyway, so I ask that you please pray for quick healing so that Claire can get back in her AFOs and back on her feet....where she wants to be!

Picture This!

Enjoy that new family picture up there. It was hard to come by! I made the appointment for last Saturday, just in the nick of time. This was Lizzie's last week at school and soon she will be gone back to Lexington for the summer. I'm sure we'll see her some, but we don't know when or for how long. That's what happens when your kids grow up.

So, when Claire realized that she wasn't in the picture over the piano and wanted to know where she was, I decided we'd better do something about it. Before Lizzie took off for the summer. We talked about it for a week leading up to the big day. She wanted to be in the middle! In mommy's lap. She was very specific. She would smile. She showed me how. We practiced. And practiced! She woke up Saturday wanting to know when we were taking the picture! Language, it's amazing!

We went to the studio bright and early Saturday morning. And, by bright and early, I mean 11 o'clock, because that is bright and early for Lizzie! Claire played while we waited our turn. When the photographer was ready, we moved into the staging area and began to get situated. That was the minute that Claire chose to burst into tears for no apparent reason. Okay, so much for language development helping us out.

I got her calmed down, but I could see in her eyes that she was shutting down. Yvette knows what I'm saying here! But, the show must go on and I hoped she would snap out of it at some point. Hello, you wanted this picture, remember? So, she sat in my lap. Where she wanted to be. We were all posed and smiling, the camera was clicking away and then.........flop. She just flopped over in my arms like a rag doll. I pushed her back up. Flop. Again. I pushed her back up and............slide. She slid right off my leg! Good grief. I see you are laughing now. It wasn't funny then. Okay, maybe a little. But, she really had shut down. So, we decided to halt for a costume change. I don't know? Sometimes different clothes can make a girl happy. Maybe?

side trip- Claire thinks it is hilarious now when we talk about it. She will tell you how she acted like a rag doll, complete with the floppy head motions, and giggle about it. Almost as if she's proud of that moment.....hmmmmm.

At this point the photographer decided to pull out all the stops. He got his stuffed kitty and threw that around. She glared at him. Apparently not a fan of cat trauma play! Feather Boa? Nada. Funny faces? Yeah, right. But, then someone tossed a ball at her and that shattered the ice. We didn't get a true smile, but a hint....for a minute. Hey, we were on to something. Throw the ball, people! A few more times and it accidentally....hit her in the face! Oh no! Oh yes! We got a laugh! Who knew? So, we threw it at her head a few more times......gee, I hope the social worker isn't reading this. We got a few smiles....what more could we ask!




Please note the cupped hands. Yeah. She is not praying, as one friend thought. SHE IS WAITING TO CATCH THE BALL! Of course! After this, we chanced another family photo op and managed to get the one you see up there. She wasn't as crazy about the photographer throwing a ball at her head as she was when I threw it at her. What can I say? She's picky about who tosses things at her face!

*update: Lizzie pointed out that I failed to mention that part way through the 145 shots the photographer took of our family, Isabel decided it was no longer important for her to smile so much. So she didn't. And no one noticed. Until we looked at the pictures on the computer after the shoot. Too late to fix it. I guess we need an extra set of eyes next time....to make sure everybody remembers to smile! So, out of 145 I got one okay family shot and one of Claire. None of just the children or just the girls. Maybe next time*

Drop it!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." ~ Matthew 11:28-30

I have a very graceful friend. You know the kind. She always knows what to do in any situation. She's keen and perceptive. She handles everything with the wisdom of someone much older than she is. And, when she opens her mouth, you want to listen.....because you know she will say something witty or insightful. When I'm around her, I just want to listen. I guess I hope to glean something from her sensibility.

My friend just got some very bad news. True to form, she is handling it with the calm grace I'm accustomed to. She isn't quite ready to lay it all out for everyone. That is not to say that she is bottling it up. She will look to lean on her close friends and family when the time comes. When she is ready. But, I know she is already feeling the burden of this and I know that she would appreciate being lifted up in prayer right now.

The title of the sermon preached at our church a week ago was The Source of My Comfort. Our priest, Steve, was talking about worry and how it won't change things....and more importantly, what to do with your burdens and what the Bible says about it. When the Apostle Paul was in prison and writing to the church at Philippi he said, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 4:6-7

My hope, my prayer, is that my sweet friend will feel this "peace of God, which transcends all understanding." I want her to know this peace as she works out her feelings about this situation. I want her to know this peace as she accepts what is to come. As she prays for what she desires.
Do you have burdens? Everybody does. This friend is not the only one I'm thinking of today. My mother is still recovering from her broken back. My father is battling allergies and fatigue. My sister has a kidney stone. My son broke his arm. I spent the morning at the doctor's office with Isabel....she's sick again. Two of my nieces are struggling with .....well, life....from a teenage point of view....need I say more. And there are others. Some struggling with adoption worries, job worries, money worries. Think He doesn't care about your problems? You would be wrong. He cares.

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." ~1 Peter 5:7

Here is something interesting that Steve said: The Greek word for casting literally means "let it drop". Just drop it. Drop your worries at the feet of God. He wants you to. Let Him carry them for you.

Most of this was composed last night. This morning, before I shuffled off to the pediatrician with Isabel, I took the time to run over to Significant Source to see what SS had to say. As usual, she hit the nail on the head. If you have burdens you need help dropping, feel free to join us at the Wednesday Prayer Meetin'. Click the button. You can leave your own requests and pray for others too.

Guess where I was yesterday.

Go ahead. Guess! Hint? Okay. It begins with an E and ends with an R! We have twin boys, y'all. We knew this day would come. Our first trip to the ER with one of them....Noah, of course.

Apparently, when you try to ride a Rip Stick up a drive way, it might come out from under you......and you might land on your hand.....and you could break your arm..... just above the wrist....near the growth plate. Who knew?

Being very brave in the Triage office. He has a high threshold for pain or I wouldn't be taking pictures. He didn't even cry when he fell. He just told his brother to go get me. He was upset, when I got to him, but I spoke calmly and he relaxed. I took him in and sat him down and we inspected his arm. He could move all his fingers and his wrist, but it hurt. And it was swelling. I really didn't think it was broken though, because he didn't act like it hurt that much. When the Triage nurse asked him, "on a scale of 1 to 10 where is your pain?", he said at a 3. The nurse said, "no it isn't." He showed him a chart that had facial expressions on it to associate with the pain and he said, "okay, a 6". Like he was picking the one he liked best. He looked at me and gave me the, "Did I do it right?" expression!

Watching a movie while waiting for x-ray.

It's broken! So, for all you mom's out there-broken bones might not cause a lot of pain and don't stop boys from moving. Which leaves you with swelling as an indicator. I'm just sayin'. We got lucky.....an orthopedist was on duty in the ER today.

Noah got his cast and we went on our merry.....ummmm, not-so-merry, way. 4-6 weeks in a cast. At least he'll still have plenty of summer left when it comes off!