Day #200 & #201 - Personal Inspiration & the twins

Personal Inspiration - I received some very simple personal inspiration for myself during church today. This is rare for me. I am usually not as open to receiving those whisperings, I think. But for whatever reason, today I was listening. I am grateful for those promptings and feel hopeful that I can make little changes in my life to improve myself.

The Twins - I love Mariah and Mckenna like my own nieces. They are beautiful, smart and sweet. They are always very willing to help me with babysitting whenever I call. My children love it when they come - mostly because they are willing to play make believe with them. :)

Day #199 - Life-long friends

Joel and I went on a date with good friends Kelly and Kye today. We appreciate their friendship and their good examples. I'm looking forward to another visit soon!

Day #198 - Things could be worse

Sometimes I just have to be grateful that things aren't worse! Joseph tripped and fell face first into the driveway this morning. He could have knocked his teeth out or got a concussion, instead he just scraped his face badly. Poor guy. We got him a popsicle really quick to help him feel better.

This post combined with my post showing Joseph sleeping on top of the laundry really make me look bad. :)

Day #197 - Good Weather

Eryn turned 7 years old today. Her birthday party plans have been in the works for a few weeks, but we were afraid that the weather wouldn't cooperate. She and I would check the weather every day to see what the forecast was. It was a little frustrating because one day it would look like the weather was going to be perfect, then the next day rain would be on the schedule. It went back and forth like every other day. Thankfully the weather turned out PERFECT! We had a great backyard party with cousins and friends. The pony was a highlight for everyone.

Day #196 - Emily

Emily went to a lot of trouble to help me today. She spent the entire day working on making Eryn's birthday cake. I did not have the energy to do it this year, so she did us the AMAZING favor of making this AWESOME cake. Thank you Emily!

Day #195 - Extra time with Uncle Rob

Jake, Joel, Rob and Liana (All of the siblings in Joel's family)

Joel's brother, Rob stopped in Utah today on his way to the Middle East for a new assignment in the Air Force. We were excited to be able to spend some time with him. We were only going to have him for six hours, but as it turns out, his trip has been delayed and he is staying with us for a few days. We will take whatever amount of time we can get.

Day #194 - Battery Replaced

My car died today. Thank you Joel for getting the car moving again and the battery replaced.

Day #193 - Modesty

In church today, we had a special lesson for the Young Women and Relief Society on modesty. During the lesson I couldn't help but feel a great amount of gratitude for the fact that modesty is taught in our church. It might seem unimportant and old fashioned to teach modesty to women in this day and age. But I feel that it is wonderful that we talk about our bodies and how we present ourselves. It's great that we talk about the beauty of the spirit and inner beauty as opposed to worldly outer beauty. I hope that my own daughters will be modest in the way that they dress and in the way that they present themselves. This is something important to me.

Day #192 - JOEL

Joel is my same age again today. :) His birthday gave us a great excuse to go out on a date and have some fun. We did a double feature at the movies and let the babysitters put the kids to bed (loved that). I am so grateful for the opportunity to have a date and spend time together. Joel is a wonderful father, husband and person. I love him and am thankful for his major involvement in the raising of our family.

Day #191 - Aunt Kristie

Aunt Kristie retired today from teaching high school for 30+ years. We had the opportunity to celebrate with her tonight at a party in her honor. I am so grateful for her good influence in my life. She has been a major source of kindness, support and love to me. I am happy for her to have this chance to rest and spend time with her grandchildren and children!

Day #190 - Mia

We had Mia (one of Joel's closest associates at work) over for dinner tonight on her way to meetings in Provo. The kids were excited to see her and enjoyed having her here. She has always shown great interest in and kindness to our family. I appreciate her and have enjoyed our association.

Day #189 - Teachers

Anna and Eryn have both had fantastic teachers this year. Both girls have grown so much. Anna's teacher Mrs. Kelly was so clued into what children her age love and enjoy. She encouraged, pushed and taught them in fun and exciting ways. Eryn's teacher, Mrs. Cooke showed an amazing amount of consistency and order. She also commanded respect from her students with such a quiet voice and presence. She cared so much for each child's individual needs and personal growth. We loved her! Mrs. Strong was also a sweet and consistent upport for Eryn. She walked her to the health room bathroom every day at 11am so that Eryn could do her catheter during school. Looks like Eryn is going to be more independent next year and won't need Mrs. Strong. So we're grateful that Eryn will be more independent, but also grateful for Mrs. Strong's support to get her to this place.

Day #188 - Home UTI Test

I did not know that a home UTI test existed! I am so excited. A fellow Spina Bifida mom told me about these. She bypasses a doctor visit when she suspects a urinary tract infection with her daughter. In fact, she just calls her doctor when the test looks positive and the doctor calls in the order to the lab. All she does then is drops the urine sample off! Awesome. Anna was having symptoms of a UTI, so we tried out this process with her and it worked perfectly! This is useful for us because both Lily and Eryn are very susceptible to UTI's (don't ask me why Anna had one). I am going to stock up on these home tests!

Day #187 - Indoor Pool

The weather refuses to warm up over here! Memorial Day would have been nice to spend swimming outdoors. But since it was so cold, I am grateful we still had the opportunity to swim indoors.

Day #186 - Extended Family

We got the chance to spend time with some extended family on my dad's side today. We love Aunt Taffy and Uncle Steve and their family so much! We also got to see Aunt Susie and Uncle Steve, which was nice. We do not see them often enough. If only my kids weren't so restless, we could have spent a little more time there. :)

Day #185 - Lily's new tricks

Lily is doing a few new things these days. I am very excited for her and enjoying watching her progress. She has never voluntarily moved her hips or her pelvis until about a month ago. The first time she shook her hips from side to side was in the bath. I had to video it and send it to Joel right away. He couldn't believe it and watched it like six times in a row. Needless to say, we were both excited. Since then she will move her hips from side to side or lift her pelvis up on command. She is so amazing! I had heard about kids with spina bifida that do this. As they grow and get stronger, certain muscles "wake up." In my opinion, those muscles were weaker and less coordinated than her upper body muscles. Once the upper muscles were really strong and developed, these muscles had the support and opportunity to work. Hip/pelvic action will really come in handy when we try to get Lily braced up for walking with a walker and/or canes.

Day #184 - Clinic

Lily has been sick for quite some time. She has mostly had cold symptoms, but they have gotten worse and worse. I took her to the doctor last week and he prescribed amoxacilin for a mild ear infection. But the past few days she has been complaining that her arms hurt and her fingers hurt and her ears and her head. It worried me enough to call the nurse practitioner over the Spina Bifida Clinic. She was so great to talk me through the possibilities and help me to decide what to do. We ended up going into clinic today to see Neurosurgery. We also saw the pediatrician, the nutritionist, the occupational therapist and the nurse. It was very comforting to talk through everything with them and to get a little bit of peace of mind.

Day #183 - Jojo's Teacher

Joseph's teacher Mrs. Laurie has been a so loving and wonderful this year. Joseph has grown so much under her influence.

Day #182 - Shriners

Lily and I were at Shriners again today. She was fitted for new foot braces. Her old ones were not really doing the job at all. Her feet are turning in again and not just the foot, but the ankle on one foot. So, we are a little concerned. The new braces we picked up today have two parts. One part that helps set the foot and ankle in proper position. Then that piece goes into the bigger brace. It should work much better. I am so grateful for the new person we worked with at Shriners these last two visits. He was so friendly and knowledgeable and I really felt a great level of trust with him.