Wednesday...

So we made to the children's hospital by 8:30 a.m.! That was a feat in and of itself especially since we had to fight morning rush hour traffic. It brought back memories as I haven't done that in a long time. I ended up fixing the girls hair in the parking garage because I had to wake them up and put them in the car. Dr. said that Paige will need to wear her air cast for another 3 weeks and it should be on her foot pretty much full-time except for bathing and sleeping. They also want her to do some physical therapy so we will start that next week.

We did a bunch of other stuff while in the "big city" and I bought my first two pair of Birkenstocks. A locally-owned shoe store was having a good sale and so I indulged. I felt completely guilty. Why do we do that as mom's? When we finally get something new to wear we feel guilty? Paige asked me why she wasn't getting new shoes when we were leaving...just reminded me that it is normally them getting new shoes instead of mom and dad. Boy have times changed! I remember shopping pretty much every weekend for new work clothes and shoes! Ha! Heather and Mom were so proud that I have finally joined them in the "birkenstock fan club" - I made them proud!

Just a few side notes - I was talking to my sister yesterday morning while she was in the drive thru at Starbucks. Once the "barista" gave her the drink I heard Ethan in the background say "French fry please!" I died laughing! Heather said that any drive thru they go to he always thinks he is going to get french fries. Too funny!

Paige told me tonight that she really wants a little brother and I told her to start praying for one. :)

Today we went to an organic market and the lady at the checkout register had black and bright red hair. Both of the girls were astonished and told her that they really loved her black and red hair. Landri said it like three times until I finally put my hand over her mouth and quietly asked her to please stop commenting on the woman's hair. :)

Coley is 30!

That's right! Coley is the big 3-0 officially! We celebrated with our small group on Thursday night with cheesecake and then all day on Friday. He started his new journey into his 30's by sleeping in late and then taking his family to Sea World for the day, but not before stopping off at Starbucks to get a kick start.
We spent all day at Sea World and had an awesome day. The weather was great - cloudy and mid-70s. No long lines standing next to sweaty teenagers or feeling the asphalt melt under your feet! No meltdowns from the girls! We had an opportunity to feed the sea lions which was so neat because they talked to us and flapped their "flippers" for more food. I visited every bathroom in the park with Landri as well. That happens to be my favorite part! HA!;) Paige just loves the killer whale show. I of course got emotional thinking back to our first trip to Sea World shortly after we were married. We didn't have a clue what it was like to be a "family" and the joy of having children or dragging them through a amusement park all day. Coley about fell off of his seat watching some guy (who was sitting in the splash zone) be completely surprised that water came shooting at him. It was hilarious - Coley said that it would have won the $10,000 prize on America's Funniest Home Videos.

We left Sea World and went to eat at our favorite river restaurant with their out-of-this-world spinach dip. It was too funny - we sat down and ordered our food and Paige looked at us and said "I want to pray!" So we all bowed our heads and prayed with her. Coley asked her why she was so eager to pray, she replied "I'm really hungry and I want to eat when our food gets here."
It was priceless! Coley had a sweet day!
A few more priceless things that have occurred in the last few days:
Saturday, we got to church and Paige walked in and yelled to our pastor's daughter, Ella,"Did you know my daddy is 30?"(with lots of emphasis on the 30) and Ella replied "Really 30?"

Landri proceeded to take a dump in the men's bathroom at church. We were getting ready to leave and I could not find the child. I was calling out for her everywhere and getting a little mommy panicked when I heard a small voice say, "i'm in here", from the men's bathroom. My only guess is that the women's bathroom light had already been turned off and she saw that the men's was still on and so she went on in. Only Landri...

Sunday night, we were reading the girls a short devotional and it was talking about salvation. Afterward, Paige looked up at me and said "the other day during nap time, I asked God to forgive me for disobeying and told him I was sorry." I was so thrilled - we got to talk a little more about sin and believing in Jesus. She is right there, so close, in her understanding! It is so encouraging as a parent and that Coley and I were both there to hear her say that.

It has rained here for two days straight! Crazy type of rain, but it has been great. We take Paige back to the dr. tomorrow for her foot. She hasn't seen much progress and I am anxious to hear what might be the problem.

Just life at the Elkins'

Its a chilly morning here - but no worries it will be up to around 81 degrees later. Me and the girls hope to plant some flowers and work in the garden. Coley is so excited because tonight is the premiere of Deadliest Catch. By far one of his most favorite TV shows. I thought that would be an awesome opportunity to go have coffee with some friends- while he is totally engrossed in crab fishing. Tomorrow night is our (me and coley's) TV night together, Ha! Ha! We watch UFC's Ultimate Fighter together. I know its crazy, but I'm hooked. I am absolutely sure that the UFC's target audience is the stay-at-home mom. :) But after all - when you've been at home with the kiddos all day - sometimes knowing how to do an armbar does come in handy!

I was thinking this morning about how much I treasure our Mondays at home. I sort of protect that day to be our day of rest and recovery after the weekend. Usually by Monday my home looks like a disaster zone and I am left wondering around the kitchen scratching my head as to what to feed my family for the week. I also love Mondays because I take that opportunity to bake and get some stuff in the freezer. Yesterday I made pumpkin cranberry pecan granola, granola bars and zucchini muffins. Its been different this week because we are back to adjusting our meals to include non-dairy items for Landri.

Do you have any good homemade snack ideas? This month's issue of Parents magazine has a bunch of ideas that are healthy and easy. Enjoy your Tuesday! Happy Spring!

Easter

I love Easter! This week I have been focusing of the riches of our salvation and praising God that he is allowing me to walk on such an incredible journey with him. The verse I have included in my blog title has encouraged me, spurred me on and reminded me that God is unwilling for me to stay the way I am - he wants me to keep my heart focused on him.

We were so excited to be a part of the Easter celebration with our new church plant. What an opportunity! We had an egg hunt on Saturday and a worship-full morning. We were all pretty worn out, but God kept filling us back up! Isn't he good to do that? Sorry I don't have more to say - my brain is pretty blank at this point, but I wanted to post a pic of the girls and Coley at the egg hunt.

Medical Updates -Paige & Landri

It has certainly been a busy week around here and we haven't even really got started with all the Easter weekend festivities. I am already worn out as I am still fighting sinus stuff, but excited about celebrating Easter. Our new church has a weekend of worship-full activities planned.

Paige had her cast removed yesterday and did awesome. Coley brought some ear muffs to help with the noise of the cast saw which was a great idea! Go DAD!!! They did x-rays and dr. said that it wasn't completely healed. She will be wearing an air cast for the next 3 weeks. Dr. told us no running, jumping, etc. Paige has complained that it still hurts and if she is still having pain over the next 10 days they want us back in to take more x-rays. I promised her that when her cast was removed she could have a pedicure. So today I took the girls to get a full-on pedicure with lots of bubbles and pink toe polish. They love them. This could be a very bad thing to get started. ;)

We took Landri to the dr. today because the child has horrendous breath and a runny nose. Turns out that the bad breath is caused by an allergic reaction to milk plus she has a bad sinus infection. In 2007 they diagnosed her with being allergic to milk and corn, however stated that we could start introducing it in her diet again after a year. So we did and she has been on milk products for about 4 months. Her tongue has a white bumpy appearance which is causing the horrible breath and is a reaction to the milk. So we are back to no milk products and limited corn products. The no-milk diet is pretty easy to adjust to, its just getting my mind around it again and my pantry re-stocked with those types of foods.

The dr. seemed irritated at me for re-introducing these foods, however I went by his instructions and she wasn't having any of the same symptoms as before. My feelings were a little hurt when I left his office and I felt bad because Landri's little body has been trying to fight off food allergens that we are giving her. Another lesson learned in parenthood.

Mom/Wife Vacation?

I have been so hungry to get away, have some alone time...just me, by myself. Just wondering if anyone else does this once per year, per quarter, per month (just joking)?

Thinking about scheduling a couple of days to be by myself to read, sleep, pray, study God's word, rejuvenate? I think that I might be a better mom and wife afterwards. What do you think?

What to do when Mom Craters...

Ha! No really...seriously...I always wondered what would happen when I finally cratered. Well it happened! I've been fighting double ear infections and apparently a pretty serious sinus infection for about 20 days now and it took me down this week.

We had a great weekend with family and spent Saturday at SeaWorld. The wind blew about 100 miles per hour and it was cold - so that pretty much did me in since I was already not well. By Saturday night I was down for the count. Sunday I went in early to set-up for church and spent the rest of the day in bed - and yes - my family was all here - which I felt terrible about - however I could barely function. My mom ended up staying through Tuesday morning so that I could have time to go to the dr. (HUGE BLESSING!) He put me on another round of high-powered anti-biotics. I went home with her on Tuesday and received some much needed rest and rejuvenation. I am still not over it, however I can manage the daily activities of our lives...pretty much...I ordered pizza for dinner. Does not cooking count?

I had time at my parents to rest, read my Bible, pray, think (who has time to do that, really?), sleep in and get in a good mom and dad fix. So God was sufficient this week to provide for all my needs-ones I didn't even know I had.

It usually happens this way...I completely wear myself out and then end up sick...keep pushing until I have to go on a mandatory "mom vacation". My good friend did remind me that it probably didn't have much to do with the fact that I've been up past midnight blogging and reading...hmmm...should rest be a priority?? (Thanks Melinda D. for keeping me grounded).