Kaitlyn's New Teeth

Just a quick little note written for myself when I someday go back and attempt to scrapbook ;) A couple weeks ago, Kaitlyn opened her little mouth and I noticed that she "suddenly" had one two year molar all the way in! Oops!! If she hadn't bit me all of those times when I used to check for teeth, I might have been a little more aware of these recent happenings in her life ;)

I imagine her new little tooth broke the gum when she was about 23 months. That was her bottom right molar. Her bottom left followed quickly after and broke through right at 24 months. We're still watching for those top two, no sign of them yet... no visible sign anyway. I'm still a little scared to go feeling around in there- she has the jaw strength of an alligator! ;p

Road Trip Tips

If you haven't noticed, we drive to Texas OFTEN. I feel like I have the packing and road trip itself down to a science so I thought I'd share some of our strategy.
When I pack, I still fit all of our clothes (all four of us) in one suitcase. I usually pack about 7 days worth of "normal" clothes and then a dress/ nicer outfit for each Sunday. I don't usually roll the clothes (although you can fit a little more in the suitcase if you do).  We have built up almost a full supply of bathroom products at my parents' house so I only pack a few things here and there as far as toiletries go. And that's it. The van winds up full of stuff to bring home that's not sold here and vice versa on the return but that's the only luggage we take.
As far as the time in the car goes, we have started leaving super early. We get completely ready the night before and pack the van then just transfer the girls to their seats and drive while they are still sleeping :) Actually, they always wake up but go back to sleep quickly.
I pack a lunchbox full of drinks for the girls (I should include drinks for us but for some reason I forget to plan ahead for that part). I also pack a bag of snacks. I joke that it becomes an all you can eat cruise line buffet for them. They really don't mind the drive and pretty much never complain about it. I think at least some of that is due to the fact that they pig out on Fig Newtons, Teddy Grahams, Nilla Wafers, and any other snacks I include all in the same day with little restriction. That never happens on a normal day so it's just fun.  Before Kaitlyn could manage a ziploc on her own, I used those handy little snack trap cups (Munchkin sells a version now too) that way if she dropped it, it didn't spill all over the place. I even put veggies in there once when Addison was a baby, hehe.  While the snacking is virtually unlimited, the drinks are rationed quite conservatively until we are approaching a planned stop. One handy little gadget we have discovered is the Sprout Spout.

They come in a package of 3 main rings with a couple adapters so that you can covert pretty much any juice or water bottle into a sippy cup. I usually pack our own drinks but just bring these for backup. I imagine they would be especially great for air travel where you are so much more limited on the amount of stuff you can bring with you! The best time to let your kids have a drink is approximately 20-30 minutes before you plan to stop for lunch. That gives it just enough time to make it to their bladder before you take them potty ;)
Speaking of stops, we only stop twice on our 11 hour trip. If we leave around 3 or 4, we plan to stop for breakfast and lunch. This last trip, Gordon had us leave at 1am!!! Insane ;) I will admit, though, that it was nice getting here (to "Texas") at lunch time! We almost always plan our stops around Chick-fil-A's.

Not only do we like Chick-fil-A... who doesn't??... but you can depend on the fact that they are in a nice, safe area. This is especially important in Louisiana. Before I learned the Chick-fil-A trick, I accidentally stopped at some very questionable spots by myself- not good! Also, when I do happen to be traveling without Gordon, I can depend on excellent customer service at Chick-fil-A. Having someone come offer to take my tray to the table or bring me an extra napkin or a refill makes a HUGE difference on such a long day! The clientele is also much nicer... nothing like sitting next to a creepy looking guy when you KNOW that it is obvious you are traveling alone with two small girls.
Other than that, the girls get to watch a movie or two depending on how much car time they are awake for and I bring a bag of toys and books. I try to pick out some books that they haven't looked at as much lately and that have good pictures. I bring 5-10 of those and our road trip toys. For the toys, I highly recommend the travel version of the Aqua Doodle.

We have one for each of the girls and they love them. I love that it is a quiet activity that doesn't involve me and that it uses their imagination.  We also have a Leap Frog abc toy that they never play with except on road trips. It's just not interesting enough when we are home but it breaks up the monotony a little for them on a road trip. I also bring a toy phone and set of keys for each of them.  They are allowed to each bring their special animal and their "special blanket that Nanny made" and that's IT.
Well folks, I think that's about it :) Did I miss anything?

**Oh, edited to add, I only bring water for myself since I get Dr Pepper when we eat but Gordon appreciates it when I pack an energy drink, sunflower seeds, and gum for him ;)

Welcome October!

I don't know about you but we are loving this wonderful October weather! It's so nice to be able to open the windows or at least let the girls play outside (and them stay for longer than 30 seconds). 

Addison has been picking out her own clothes and she and I have both been enjoying the opportunity to wear our sweatshirts again.

And it's way more fun to play outside now!

Not so natural smile...

Much more natural expression ;)

Playing with the "buttons" on her "spaceship"

Oh, that hair ;)

They both love to swing!

Such sweet sisters...most of the time.

Adding some "extra buttons" for her "spaceship"

The first week or so of October was great and I know the rest of it will be even better! I hope yours has been the same :)

New Friendships

We adore our church and it has allowed us new opportunities to reach out to people we never would have otherwise met. I have made friends with a couple different Iraqi ladies who are both so different but both so precious. I'm praying that the Lord will use me to bring His light to them and their families. Pray with me that I would be faithful to these wonderful ladies and to His work He has for me :)
I'll leave you with this picture since no post is complete without one... isn't he the cutest little thing?!?

Picture taken by Addison, I was actually pretty excited she wanted to use my camera that morning because I knew she would take some of this little guy :) 

Ponderings

*warning: full of rambling* ;)

All this time I've been trying to catch up on my blog, I've been pondering many things. It has been a difficult month and yet such a joyous one at the same time.  I have fallen in love with our new church family at All Nations. I LOVE being back in a church that truly is family. I think churches like this one are hard to come by and are just so very valuable to the soul. This is what church is supposed to be.  I love that we can dive in with everything we have and no one thinks twice, we are just completely welcomed to come alongside them in everything they we are doing. LOVE.

Back in July... man how time flies!!!... I had the privilege of bringing my now friend, Maysam, and her three kids to our kids' camp at church one Thursday. Maysam and her family are Muslim and are refugees  from Iraq. Their story is quite incredible and I have every bit of faith that God is going to use it for His glory! I can not wait for the day when they come to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!  I am learning soo much about people like them and it has really overwhelmed my heart, mind, and soul.  How badly they need the grace and love of Jesus Christ!! 

Just a few weeks later, Gordon called me out of the blue to tell me that a critical fill position was open in Corpus Christi. For those of you who might not know, CC is home for us and is where most of our family lives.  What an opportunity, and yet, I felt so incredibly torn. How could we leave here when it seems like we are just getting started in the amazing opportunities at All Nations?? I felt so sad to leave our friends here 9 months early.  It was a very long two weeks of uncertainty (it didn't pan out this time but we will still be moving this coming June).  

Then, two weeks ago, my generous friends here graciously met up with me for a blanket making party to help send blankets to Ethiopia with Apryl at Not Quite Done who happens to be my friend Danica's sister :)  We are seriously blessed with some great friends here who jump at the opportunity to help out. Proud and thankful doesn't begin to describe my love for them.

The following Monday, I had the opportunity to take another now friend to the doctor. I really had no idea what I was in for. I just thought I was playing taxi cab for the morning, but boy did God have more in mind!!  Suffice it to say God has put the mission field in our backyard here in Mobile! 

I know those all seem a little random but God has used these things to really pound out some things in my heart these past few weeks.  The needs of the people in this world are simply overwhelming, as is the prosperity in America.  We have so much and yet most of the world has nearly nothing. Why are we ok with that? Because they're not American?!? That is absurd. Where is that in the Bible?  It is frightening just how much Satan has infiltrated the American church. Seriously.  With the world wide orphan crisis, the insane number of refugees across the world, the tragic famine/drought in Africa, the seemingly back to back natural disasters, where is the church? Sure, there are some truly reaching out but they are few. Where is the church?  

As the church, what can we do? How on earth can we possibly make a difference in such a time as this? How can I spend $2 on a package of cookies that we certainly don't need when that $2 could feed a family for a week in some third world country? How does that not even occur to me when I'm at the store? 

Where is the balance ...or should we even strive for balance? There are so many things that I want to do and so many organizations that I want to help support but when have we done "enough"?  Sure, there is only so much we can do, but how is it ok that we spend even just $8 a month for Netflix when people are dying because they can't afford food or clean water? How can we justify such luxuries when we could be spending that money to save someone's life and have the opportunity to share Christ with them?

Now, please know that I'm not really looking for answers from you, I'm just trying to work it out in my heart and before the throne of God, blogging is just a good way to organize my thoughts. I truly believe this is something we should all struggle with. The struggle should never go away.  I know that God does not call us to solve these problems by ourselves but how can we claim to follow Him and strive after a heart like His if we don't even want to solve these problems? I mean the true kind of want, not the casual "yeah, yeah I'll drop a 20 in the plate if I don't have to listen to your rant anymore" kind.

Scriptures to Ponder:

Mark 14:7 "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me."  Jesus still comes first!

Matthew 25:31-46 Which side will you be on in eternity?? Really read and ponder this! v40"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

As I've been mulling over all of this, I've really been crying out to God in frustration and in my feelings of inadequacy (to effect real change).  The other day when I was returning to this same place in my thoughts before God, He brought the parable of the lost sheep to mind. Here it is in case you need a refresher: 

Matthew 18:12-14

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

What he told me that day was to not be overwhelmed by the big picture but to do everything I possibly can for the one that He's put in front of me. I still think, though, that we need to pray that He will give us humility, discernment, and a soft heart to recognize the ones we should reach and what we can do to help. Where are we indulging too much on ourselves?  If the sacrifices that God accepts are "a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart" (Ps 51:17) shouldn't we be a little more torn about all this?

Grammy's Visit

Ok, I lied, I mean I didn't intend to but I'm not finished catching up yet!! I forgot I hadn't posted about Tammy coming to visit! Boy was I behind. It was a great week with lots of relaxing, yummy food, and some great shopping! haha. No really, we found some great deals while she was here ;) Here are some pictures... I apologize for the insane number of them... I'll catch up eventually!

I was so proud of Addison for doing this! She has really been breaking out of her self-imposed box lately!

Tire Swing (sorry for the funny angle, I had the ride the opposite side to keep it balanced)

Kaitlyn had a good ole time swinging with Grammy ;)

And must never be left out of anything Addison does ;)

Checking out her sticker decorating... stickers courtesy of Grammy :)

Addison LOVES to play cards and drink "hot chocwit." She remembered we did this last time Grammy visited so we had to do it again.

She thinks she's hot stuff. (Partly because it's a secret and we don't talk about it until after K is in bed)

More fun at a different park

Yay for pictures with Mommy ;)

Excuse those chipmunk cheeks the girls have ;)

I just love him :)

They had a blast at the wading pool!

We love it when Grammy comes to visit! 

Kaitlyn's First Visit to the Dentist

Ok, last catch-up post!! 

**warning, not for the weak stomached** LOL

Just after vacation, the girls had their first dentist appointment together :) This was Kaitlyn's first time ever and only Addison's second time. Up until a week or two before the appointment, Kaitlyn LOVED brushing her teeth so I figured, why not take her? It's free, good for her, will establish a positive outlook on the dentist, and she'll think she's big like Addison. Win, win right?  Then she started protesting (strongly, of course) every time I tried to brush her teeth.... great. I started to get a little nervous but still thought it would be fine and if they couldn't do much I didn't really care ;)

We got to the office that morning and the girls went to go play while I filled out the loonng new patient sheet for K.  Meanwhile, Kaitlyn comes to me and announces she has to go potty. Inconvenient as it was, I couldn't ignore it so we rushed to the bathroom. In my rush, I whipped off Kaitlyn's diaper to put her on the potty only to then notice that I had just dropped a huge poop onto the floor GROSS!!! Not only that, but I did not bring the diaper bag in because, well because I didn't want another thing to carry and I'd usually rather just risk it ;)  Anyways, so it was a little crazy. I cleaned her and the floor up, put her pants back on and we went out to the car to get a diaper.  Up until this point she was as happy as can be....

When we started to head back inside she started FREAKING OUT. Seriously, like that crazy kid you see and automatically assume his parents must not spank. haha.  She apparently thought we were finished because we had gone back out to the car and she was just angry and confused that I was trying to get us back inside.  All this time I had still not even finished the stupid lovely paperwork.  It was one of those times where I felt like everyone in the waiting room probably just assumed I was a dumb teenage mom ;) I couldn't give in to her and reinforce her terrible behavior so she just remained angry at me for a while (even through my attempts to distract her). And she is very vocal when she's angry... and it was a quiet waiting room. Oy.  When I finally got the paperwork done and took it up to the receptionist, she offered Kaitlyn a stuffed animal. haha. I don't know who she felt more sorry for, me or K. hehe. It didn't really help all that much but it did make me like the office even more just for the attempt!

Somewhere in there Kaitlyn eventually calmed down at least a little for which I was exceedingly thankful. When they called us back, she flipped her switch back to cutest thing ever and was the most compliant angel you've ever seen. That child wears me out but I was sure glad she decided to cooperate for the appointment!! Even her hygienist kept commenting on how cooperative and well behaved she was... if she only knew ;)  Both the girls did GREAT and I was super proud of both of them!

Now, if any of you are still here, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Checking out the mirror to give her approval

She did really good, just had a hard time keeping her mouth open. Don't we all?

Addison did great too! She had her back to me and Kaitlyn the whole time but she was just fine.

Cheesin'

She thought the tigers were pretty cool

Great job girls!

Letting the dentist look at her teeth for the very first time :)

Vacation!!! Part 9 (Visit with the Allens)

It just so happened to work out that we got to stop and visit with the Allen family on our way back to Alabama. This was such a blessing for more than one reason. Quite possibly the most important reason being that Mrs Allen recently put her faith in Jesus as her Savior!! What a blessing indeed :) 

Also, Trey and Erin are leaving for Uganda in January and will be there 2 years before we get to see them again. We have a limited number of opportunities left so we are trying to make the most of them.

Mrs Allen was watching Jaxon (Trey's nephew) when we got there and the girls were excited to have a friend to play with! Jax and Kaitlyn couldn't wait for swimsuits and just jumped into the pool :)

Addison and Jax are super close in age so they had a fun time hanging out

And Kaitlyn just had fun playing with the toys :)

After dinner we walked down to the fountains they had at the shopping center and let the kids expend some energy. They had a great time!

It, not so surprisingly, took Addison a while to warm up to the idea of getting her clothes wet though ;)

Unfortunately this is the only picture I took that had either Trey or Erin in it :(  It cracked me up that Kaitlyn fell asleep like that though!

Thankfully we will see them again in October and hopefully get some pictures of us together this time!

Vacation!!! Part 8 (The Frio!!!!)

We spent the last week or so of vacation at the Frio River. It was tons of fun! We used to go every year when I was a kid but it got a little sporadic as I got older and Gordon and I had only been once together which means this was only the second trip in 10 years! Crazy! The river was waaayy down this year due to a SEVERE drought in Texas but we still had fun. We went with a big group of our great friends unofficially adopted extended family and had a blast. Here are just a sprinkling of my favorite pictures from the trip:

I know its blurry but I still love this one ;)

I can't believe they are 10!!! Seriously??

First big girl ponytail!

Wiped out

I love these guys!

Me and Gail :)

Love this one of Addison and Papa

Love this one of Kaitlyn with Nanny and Papa!

And this one :)

I promise we both had bathing suits on, I just took my straps off to work on correcting my tan lines :)

I had fun jumping off the rock with the boys :)

Love my little family!

Love this pic of all of us!!! 

Me and Mika. Mika is one of those friends that I can go long periods of time without seeing but pick right back up where we left off :) Hopefully the long periods of time part will go away when we move home!

 All in all we simply had a GREAT week!!