Allergies and Almighty

Evie has never liked peanut butter. I introduced peanut butter and jelly to her a year ago and she refused it. Peanut butter crackers are spit out onto the floor when she detects their flavor. I didn't really think much about it until 3 weeks ago.

Evie, Eden, and the cousins spend Thursdays with Gigi. As we were leaving hat Thursday, my mom threw some haystacks that she had made in a bag to take home. I gave Evie a pinch off one to eat before getting into the car. When we got home she went into what I thought was a 2 year tantrum. It turned out to be an allergic reaction to the peanut that she ate in the haystack. I took her to the ER where they gave her an oral dose of prednisone. It was a scary night.

Today I took her to see the chiropractor Grady and his family have been seeing for years. He did odd testing for allergens and she tested positive for peanuts, peanut butter, gluten, and eggs. It is so interesting to me to look back on her short life and see how she has always rejected these foods. The doctor today said that usually you crave the foods in which you have allergens. But I heard that young chrildren get a burning sensation when they eat foods that cause reactions. We go back in two weeks to make sure the drios which were formulated are neutralizing her system.

And here is how the Almighty comes in. I am reading through my chronological Bible with the women at my church. I love it. I started doing this years ago. After finishing the story of Joseph and his exile to Egypt today my view of God grew a little. Maybe it grew a lot. God told Joseph early in life that his family would bow to him. God never revealed to him why they would bow or in which year they would look to Joseph in a way king's men look to a king. This story is my favorite in all the Bible! Here,in the first book of the Bible, is a prototype of Christ. It is a picture of what Jesus has done for me. The Scriptures in the Psalms point to the greatness, the power, the grandeur of the Lord. I used to see God seated on a throne as big as my dining room chair. Because of this story and a few other works in my life as of late, I'm beginning to imagine God's head as big as the earth. I'm thankful for this growth. In a weird way, I think it's a measure of how I am growing in my faith. Joseph's life was not controlled by the evil intent of his brothers nor out of the haughtiness in sharing his dreams prematurely with his brothers. Instead, God controlled every twist and turn in the life of Joseph to make His head seem as big as the earth itself...

"I Stuck Me!"

"I stuck me, mommy! I stuck me!" is what I hear come out of Evie's mouth 20 to 30 times a day. Her language is evolving and this sweet phrase means that either she is stuck or that she can't get something that she wants. Two weeks ago it was "I stuck" and today it is a funny and lovable "I stuck me".

My grandmother's chicken and dressing casserole, sweet corn bread, cool whip jello, and poppy seed salad was on our birthday menu today. We celebrated Poppy and Bebe's birthday's today at our house. All the cousins and siblings were here. The time was sweet and felt like an Easter celebration in lieu of a late January birthday bash.

The weather was a glorious 65 degrees. The past two days have spoiled us rotten and I think if it changes back to the freezing temperatures that we've experienced this winter, I'll be very sad! I have always loved warmer weather. Having young children makes me long for it all the more! Coats, hats, strollers, and the winter do not mix very well for me!

I tried to stick some chicken into Eden's mouth during lunch and she said, "na na na naaa..... no!" She shook her head and looked at me like I had tried to shove an aspirator up her nose! I was a proud mama! She gave me a clear no! I loved hearing it come out of her mouth. Another developmental milestone! I'm sure I will get weary of hearing the "no's" coming from her, but I'm very thankful that she is growing and learning so well! My sweet little EE!!

Who is this person?

Sometimes, when I'm thinking about having more children, I think about who will this person be or become? I think this about Evie and Eden often. I have a small glimpse of who Evie is. She is my strong-willed, funny, deep thinking, lovable soul. Eden is still mysterious to me. I see a "throw all caution to the wind" in her physical actions. Yes, she is accident prone. She loves to cuddle, grab a hand full of hair and suck her thumb! She gets super excited when she sees me and loves on me so well. I gladly welcome the cuddling.

I wonder who these little girls will become and if there is another baby for us in the future! My mom blessed me and my sister with a special blessing every night before we went to bed growing up. She put together a compilation of Scriptures when I was a baby. My sister, mom, and I would say it together in unison each night as we were tucked into bed. I now pray this blessing over my girls each night at bedtime:

You are obedient disciples taught unto the Lord. Great shall be your peace and undisturbed composure. As you are trained up in the way you should go, you shall grow old and not depart from it. You are blessed coming in and blessed going out and everything you set your to do will be blessed. You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. You are the head and not the tail. You are above and not below and nothing by any means shall ever harm you. Amen!

So cute

This morning Evie climbed in bed with me. She has been doing this lately and I'm liking the new routine! Grady gets her out of the crib and brings her to me. This is just another sign of her growing up. She wants to lay with me and hang out before Eden wakes up. When she awakes in her crib, we hear her from the monitor saying, "Mommy, Daddy, hurry up! Come here before Eden wakes up!" she knows as soon as her little sister awakes, it's go time and we head for downstairs.

This morning Evie saw that I had a new pair of pajamas on and said, "oh, wow! Mommy, so cute! Beautiful!" I love how Evie pays attention to the details.

Channing gave Evie a bracelet a month ago and it broke. I took Evs to Hobby Lobby today to get another bracelet kit. She was so excited and proud to get it! I'll have to post pictures of what she makes!

Don't eat the lip gloss!

"You can't have a cookie if you eat the lip gloss!"

What?!?!

Did I just say this to Evie? Yes, I did. And I actually stopped to think twice about what just came out of my mouth. Victoria's Secrets' Signature Vanilla Berry lip gloss is hidden in the medicine cabinet and she spotted it. I probably shouldn't let her, I know. She quickly discovered it's very berry taste and prefers to lick it off her lips and reapply. So, when she was requesting a cookie, I yelled out, "you can't have a cookie and the lip gloss!" Ridiculous moments in parenting!

Slow Cooker Curried Chickpeas and Chicken....

Except I forgot the curry and used tomato paste instead of sauce... oops!

I don't like to follow the recipe exactly when making a meal, and a lot of times I don't pay attention to the details in the ingredients list! This drives Grady crazy. He likes to follow the cooking instructions to a tee and gets annoyed with my lack of detail in cooking. I just realized, as I was pulling out the ingredients for this recipe, that I forgot to pick up the curry at Whole Foods. I was planning to run by Trader Joe's to get the curry, but didn't make it to TJ's for lack of energy (I had both girls with me). Instead of curry, the chicken is seasoned with garlic, poultry seasoning, liquid smoke (this may be disgusting!), and onion flakes! I did soak my chickpeas according to the recipe.

 I really hope it's a hit (as this week I am trying all new recipes)... Hmmm, I wonder if Grady will like! I'll find out in 5 hours:)

Deep Dark Chocolate

Deep Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake is what I'm baking right this moment. It was put together between holding Evie and Eden, a doctor's visit, a prescription drop-off, and lunch. The girls are sleeping soundly upstairs. I managed to throw the cake in the oven before I put them down for their naps. Aww! Chocolate for me in 7 minutes and 15 seconds!!!

Evie is amazing me with her sentences. She shouted from the back seat yesterday, "Let's do this thing, baby!". Grady and I were caught off guard and couldn't stop laughing.

Eden is walking almost as well as her big sister. She plows through the toys, Evie, and anything else in sight. She has no regard for her own safety, and much less for others. She's always been a wild baby, throwing herself backwards in her crib. She has a chipped front tooth as evidence to her bucking behavior. I was so sad when that happened, but it characterizes my little wild one!

Grady got the report back from the colonoscopy last Wednesday. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. At first, I felt like our world was imploding again. But, as the days have gone on, I feel an incredible amount of grace and hope. I am so hopeful that the Lord is using this to turn our course in the direction that He has for us. One of privilege and purpose. I'm thankful for the way He is carrying me through.. There is a sweetness to this stage of life. I have to stay focused on Him to taste it. And unfortunately, I don't always stay fixed where I need to be, but there is an ebb and flow to that sweetness that keeps me afloat and running back to taste more.

Eden's first birthday!

Eden's turns one today! Hip hip hooray! 

This is Eden's expression after I sang "Happy Birthday" to her this morning when she awoke! You can't see her black eye it in this picture, but last night Eden fell face forward in the bathtub. She now likes to stand in the bath. She cut her eye lid on a Dora bathtub toy. It bled. She cried. I panicked a little. Just a little battle scar to wrap up her first year of life!

We have a fun day planned! Traditional Cracker Barrel brunch with on of the parents, birthdays naps (for babies and me), and a fun birthday bash tonight with all the family.

Evie giving Eden a massage in the bathtub.

Eden's favorite way to just "hang" out in the bathtub these days.

Eden's first birthday party will be homemade chili for dinner and cake and ice cream. Grady's cousin is making the cake because my cakes have been disastrous lately.

Oh, shoot!

"Yay! Shoot! We did it!" Is what Evie said when I brought her "biggy blanket" to her yesterday morning. We were leaving the house and she requested her large blanket that Bebe made. Unfortunately, "shoot" is coming out of her mouth for everything right now and sometimes it sounds more like "s*#t". And that's not good. Grady and I are trying to wean her over to the phrase "oh, snap". I can only imagine what her Sunday School teachers think of us.

Ahh, expectations...

My mother tells me that I came home from my first day of Kindergarten devastated. I've been told that I cried and cried because I did not learn to read the first day. I ask myself this question when I think about that story:  who set me up for thinking that I'd learn to read? Maybe I took something my mom said out of context and imagined that I'd be reading chapter books by week one of Kindergarten? 

I wasn't prepared for what Grady said to me on Sunday afternoon. I noticed that he was acting mellow and I was afraid to ask why. After watching a movie, he told me that his stomach has been bothering him. I gasped and then turned my head. I did not want him to see the tears streaming from my eyes. I felt devastated by the words that came from his mouth. I try to balance myself between trusting the Lord to heal Grady and the reality that this world sucks and is a hot mess. I read over 1 Corinthians 12 a lot where Paul asked God to take the "thorn" from him. God told him that "his grace was sufficient for him" and "his power is made perfect in weakness". I find comfort in that. But I also hurt deeply for Grady knowing the agony he experiences with his stomach aches.

2011 was not suppose to feel like this. I had shelved last years' trials and had expected ease and a healed tummy for Grady. Now, on January 4th, he sits in his GI's office to hear what we do next. I have wanted to cry and cry like I did the first day I came home from Kindergarten. I expected that God had used the surgery to heal Grady. I'm not naive to think the surgery was it and that he wouldn't have other issues. But I wanted to believe that the surgery was God's way to end this awful disease. I know my faith is deeper than this and the Lord is doing things "behind the curtain" that we cannot see. I just don't want Grady to have to hurt, for me to watch him hurt, and for our girls to miss out on a "healthy" daddy.

Finding peace in His presence is the only thing I can do right now. Taking God at his Word, looking at what He has done through the difficulties we have battle this past year is what I'm holding onto. I keep hearing Him say to me, "let me set your expectations for Grady's health and just rest in My presence." This is where I find myself at the beginning of 2011.