Unstoppable....

A year ago, around this time....The Little Apple was approaching her 1st Birthday. I was a concerned parent, as The Little Apple was getting further and further delayed. She still wasn't crawling. Not only was she not crawling, she wasn't even interested in trying. She could roll over, but wasn't interested in using that skill to move anywhere. All she did was sit up with her little basket of toys, and was perfectly content with staying in that space. She couldn't transition from sitting down to her belly, nor from laying down to sitting.

But what a difference a year makes. With the help of fantastic therapist from the Early Steps program here, she is well on her way. She receives physical therapy, occupational therapy, and sees a special instructor who comes to work with her with some of her cognitive and fine motor development.

Climbing a step of stairs at the playground might seem like an easy task to parents with 2 year olds that are developmentally on track...for my Little Apple, this has been a long and hard uphill climb. And she is succeeding. I was thrilled to see her take off on her own at the playground today, and get TO THE TOP of the stairs unassisted. This is big. Heck, she finally succeeded in climbing onto the couch by herself just last week.

She still has a long ways to go to catch up with other little ones her age. Her low muscle tone in her legs does not allow her to go down the stairs yet. Or ride one of those riding toys. Or run across the crazy bad uneven sidewalks in Louisiana without falling.

But she is proving herself to be a determined and unstoppable little girl. I wonder where she will be this time next year?

January 16, 1999

Even after 11 years, that day remains the happiest day of my life.

I'm not going to lie and say that every single day has been easy. There have been times when I've wanted to just throw in the towel. We have struggled and we have endured. We've seen the "for better and for worse", the "for rich and for poor", the "in sickness and in health", and have not been immune to the "good times and bad times."

But I have seen what has happened in the past 11 years something that no one else can see....not only did God grant me the desires of my heart on that icy January afternoon, but I was granted the one person in this world that would cause me to grow the most. I was given my best friend, to walk arm in arm with, side by side, as long as we both should live. And I love him more than he will ever know.

Life lessons from a toddler...

All a girl really needs in life is her security blanket and her best friend.

Then, she's ready to conquer the world.




Or...... at least the front yard.

Christmas Came to our house.....

Christmas was and extraordinarily busy time around our house. Hence, the lack of posts. Here are a few picture updates.

There was LOTS of painting and decorating. The Little Apple gave little ornaments to all of her therapists and baskets of goodies.
There was a family-wide gingerbread house building party. Some did more eating than building. The Little Apple even participated.....standing up in a chair at the table, of course.


There was popcorn and cranberry stringing. The Middle and Big Apples decorated a tree outside for the birds and squirrels outside to enjoy. The critters munched the goodies faster than the girls could make them!!
There was lots of letter writing to Santa, of course. And cookies and hot cocoa left out for the famous big guy....on our plate that we keep especially for the guy.

This year, and elf came to stay. This is Rosey. She comes and spies on the kids during the day, and reports back to Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice. Every morning Rosie finds a new hiding spots. The Apples have enjoyed looking for Rosey every morning. On Christmas Day, Rosey was found praying next to the manger containing Baby Jesus. A perfect reminder of whose birthday we are really celebrating.
Yummmmy, gingerbread man baking.

And a birthday cake for Jesus, of course. We decided that this year, Jesus wanted Angel Cake. This little plastic nativity seen here is one of my most prized possessions. My sister and I spent our own dollars that we had when we were very little to purchase the pieces for my Mamaw. She kept these as treasures at her house....she never put them away, left them out all year long. They have been played with for many hours by many children. Mary is missing her hands, and the paint is worn off in many places, but the love is still the same.


And, our Christmas Tree. And of course there is a big story to go with it this year. Our Christmas is NEVER this big. NEVER NEVER NEVER. Usually, the girls get 3 gifts a piece. After all, Jesus only got 3 presents for his birthday.....and he was the King! This year, after all of the Christmas shopping had been done, the UPS man pulled up to our house. He knocks on the door and asks me to sign his little doohicky thing. I was confused, because I hadn't ordered anything online and wasn't expecting anything at all.

The UPS guy brought 3 MASSIVE boxes to the door. I opened them and found present after beautiful present addressed to the kids. The mail lady came shortly later, with a big gift card addressed to me and Eben, to purchase our Christmas dinner. The next day, 3 more large boxes, and another gift card came. And the following day, one more box arrived. After a little investigation, we found out that our family was submitted to the Soldier's Angels program and that we had been adopted. This was totally unexpected and made us feel very very humbled and appreciated. This has inspired us to to be more generous in our own giving at Christmas.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and got to spend it with people that they love. We certainly did.