Our Cowgirl!!

Emily's "New" Room

Emily has the re-decorator bug. There's no secret where she got it. Growing up, I don't think I knew my mom to leave the furniture in our living room in the same place for longer than 3 months. Emily keeps saying "I want to make my room new." For a while, that just meant putting her trash can in a different place, or moving her clothes hamper. Then, that wasn't satisfying her, so she started putting books in her window sill as pictures. Well, I'm sure you know how long THOSE stayed up there. Emily also likes to open her blinds to see outside, and that made the new "artwork" come tumbling down. Sometimes on Savannah's head.

So, mommy asked herself....how can we make a "new" room the cheapest way possible. Cheap? you say. How uncaring am I? How dare I squash the inner designer in my child. Well, because I know in two months (or maybe sooner) she's going to want to change it again. So, I found some flowers that matched her curtains and bought some cheap frames. I let her color the flowers and voila! art. We found some pink sheer curtains (that were in our old house) that she thought would look good behind her bed, and Sarah let me borrow a pole to hang them on. So, we have a new room for approximately $10. Here's Emily showing off her curtains and art.

Ahhhhhh!!!

What time of day do you give a huge sigh of relief? You know, like, "Ahhhh...my favorite time of day." Is it first thing in the morning? If so, stop reading my blog. ha ha Is it last thing as you crawl into bed? I have several.....is it possible to have several favorites?

Number 1 happens between 7:30 am and 8:30 am. When I walk to the coffee pot and see my Starbucks coffee just waiting to be poured into my favorite Starbucks mug. See a theme?? I love love love my first cup of coffee in the morning.

Number 2 is between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm. When I'm closing the door to the girls' rooms at bedtime. I love my girls, and they bring so much joy to my day, but there is something about knowing they are in bed for the night and that I have a couple hours with Brian before he has to get ready for work that makes me go, "Ahhhh"

Number 3 comes pretty soon after number 2...around 10:30. I love that time of night when I'm laying in my bed (I have a very compfortable bed) and having my quiet time for the day. That time when the house is quiet because both girls have been sleeping for hours and Brian has just left for work. It's time for me to read my Bible and pray and see what the Lord has to show me.

So, can I have several favorites? SURE!!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!!

Tired Baby

Since Savannah has gotten her toddler bed, she frequently gets out of bed after I put her there and plays and then I can watch her on my TV baby monitor and see that she's back in bed. Well, tonight, I kept watching, but she never got in bed.....it was quiet, but she wasn't in there. I figured she had fallen asleep somewhere.....here's what I found:

She's Not Mine

Ok. Last post about Savannah's eczema for a while.

I had to share what I've learned. I go through these phases with Savannah's skin. I do what I can for a while, and then sometimes I go kinda postal...like I did here. Then, sometimes, I'm reminded of what the Bible says in Psalm 127:3. Children are an heritage of the Lord. I've always known that verse, but not until recently did I look up the word Heritage. It means property. Our children are the Lord's property. They aren't ours....we just have them on loan.

As I said the other day, I was scouring the Internet looking for something to help. When Brian got up, I told him I had to go to Wal-Mart to get some stuff for Savannah's skin. So, I went and got new soap, new lotion, Vitamin E oil, and a humidity gauge. Brian said, "Jenn, you get so crazy!" To which I (not so nicely) replied, "I have to do SOMETHING! Look at her!"


So, the other day, I was praying after having my quiet time, and as usual, I was crying, and begging the Lord to heal my Savannah. I was saying, "Lord, I've tried this and this and this and this, and it's not working!!" It's almost like I had a still small voice (not audible....I'm not going all crazy on you) say, "STOP, let ME heal her."


WHAT?? Stop?? I can't stop. I can't stop the special soap, and the 3 different lotions, and the steroids, and the vitamin E, and the itchy medicine, and the Singulair, and the fish oil. The thought of that terrified me.


Then, I remembered. She isn't mine. She is HIS child. His daughter. What makes me think that I love her more than He does? I was reminded of this through a VERY good friend's post. She is His, and He CAN heal her.


Did I stop everything? No. I feel like the Lord gave me permission to use the necessary stuff on her. But, I stopped going "all crazy" as Brian put it. I went back to the basics. Her lotion that I know has worked in the past, and her medicine that makes her more comfortable. Is she healed? No, I don't think so. But, she hasn't worn gloves in 2 days, and she is in regular clothes today....and we aren't even going anywhere!

A Blessing

As a proud mama, I have to share.

The Shines have been our friends for over 4 years. They were in Goldsboro with us, and I remember the day when Sarah called and told me they were also moving to Wichita Falls. There aren't words to describe my thankfulness. Sarah and I are close, and our kids are close (except for a brief period when Emily and Bradey hated each other ha ha ). We spend a lot of time together. Ok, so when the new Sunday School quarter started, and I found out that Miss Sarah was going to be Emily's teacher, I gave her the "She is your teacher and you have to be good for her" talk. Emily is usually pretty respectful, but I didn't want her to think she had special "privilege" in the class because she spends so much time with her outside church.

This past Sunday, as I always do, I asked Sarah, "Was Emily good?" She said that she was, but that she didn't get a big prize because she wouldn't stop talking when she wasn't supposed to be talking. She said that she was over zealous and wanting to answer questions for other people, etc. etc. So, today, as Sarah and I were chatting, she mentioned to me that Emily had come to her after Sunday School and said, "Miss Sarah, I'm sorry for talking so much in Sunday School. I will try to do better next week." and gave her a hug.

Sarah thought I had sent her to apologize......but I didn't.....and neither had daddy. She did it on her own free will. Yay for the Holy Spirit leading. She often asks me, after doing something wrong, "Can I forgive God?" (she doesn't quite get the terminology right), and I say, "No, but you can ask Him to forgive you!" She always does...wherever she is, and with true tenderness of heart.

Thank you, Lord, for being ever present in the heart of your child.

First Glove-less Day

Today, Savannah went all day (including church) without her gloves on. I took them off this morning for her to eat breakfast. I put them back on right after she ate, and she promptly took them off. Her hands didn't seem to be as red as they usually are, so I decided to wait it out, and see what happened. I left her gloves off ALL day (except for nap...I'm not that stupid), and didn't put them on for church tonight. Right before prayer time started, I happened to think, "Oh no, I didn't tell the nursery workers that her gloves were in her diaper bag if she needed them." I had visions of her hands bleeding again (it was HOT in that nursery). So, I went up there, and she was fine! Her arms were a little red, but again, it was so hot. AND, the wonderful nursery workers said they were watching to make sure she didn't scratch.
I don't want this blog to turn into "Savannah's day to day battle with eczema", but I had to share what a wonderful day it was after my last post. I think that so many people read my blog and fervently started to pray for us. Thank you....please keep praying.
"Lord, I have stopped many times today and thanked You for the good day you gave us. Please continue to heal her with Your Power"
In the day to day battle with her skin, it get frustrating and very tiring. However, as an old, wise man once said, "Tomorrow is a new day." :) I love you, Daddy.

MY Heartache

So, I spent all morning on the Internet. I wasn't IM-ing, or checking e-mail or Facebook-ing. I was scouring the world wide web for something new about eczema. That is laughable since I have dealt with eczema on my girls for about 5 1/2 years now. However, it's been a while since I've researched it. And, since new research is being done all the time about everything ELSE, I was holding out for something new. Did I find something? No.

I chuckled when I read "a simple routine of moisturizing will clear up eczema in a matter of days!" I rolled my eyes when I read, "This product will clear up your eczema in 14 days or less." I stared in wonder when I read that red clover, shark cartilage, Crisco, Primrose Oil, Vitamins A, B, and E plus thousands of others are supposed to be good for eczema. Where does one GET shark cartilage?

Last night, I cried as I stared at my TV monitor and watched my baby scratch for more than 2 hours in her sleep. I put 2 different kinds of lotion on her twice, gave her 2 doses of Atarax (a tranquilizer given to sedate people before surgery), and prayed and prayed and prayed. And, I admit asked, "Why?" Is there a point to my child suffering like this? What am I supposed to be learning? Is there any way that God could transfer all her eczema to ME...I could handle it better.

I do everything I can to not have to take my daughter out in public. Why? Because I have to put her in clothes. It's 104 degrees outside, and the only clothes that keep her from clawing herself to death is footy pajamas. She wears gloves 24/7. You can't wear footy pj's and gloves outside when it's 104 degrees.

I can name 10 families off the top of my head that have "normal" children. Why can't my child be normal?

Ok, let me pause hear and say this. I read several blogs about children who are suffering. They have severe health problems, and one family even lost their sweet baby girl because of birth abnormalities. Am I comparing myself to them? No. Will they be offended and think, "Are you kidding me? You're complaining because your daughter has skin problems?" Maybe. Do I apologize and say, "I know my situation isn't as bad as yours."? NO!

I don't apologize for the pain I feel. I don't apologize for wondering why my baby has to bleed and suffer. I don't apologize....but I pray. I pray and ask God to help me find something to relieve her suffering. I pray and ask God to help ME not to ask why, but to trust Him. I pray every day that He will give me mercy and heal my precious baby.

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to the two amazing fathers in my life. No...I only have one father, but Brian is another father in my life.


I grew up a daddy's girl, and had a wonderful, kind, caring father who ruled with an iron hand. ha ha ha Ok, sorry that was laughable even for me. Daddy, you taught me so many things, and even though some of them, I didn't catch on to until years later, I got them eventually. Thank you for always pointing me to Christ.




Brian, you are so wonderful with our girls. I'm glad that they have you to look to as role models for husbands. Thank you for the compassion and love you show our girls. I love you!!

Our Big Girl!!!

Last night was the night to move Savannah to a big girl bed. Granted, it's a toddler bed, but this is just the first phase. By September, I hope to have the girls together in Emily's room in bunk beds. Anyway...both of my girls were my crib babies. They wouldn't sleep in pack-n-plays, they wouldn't sleep in other people's cribs (Savannah has been known to be better at that), and they definitely wouldn't sleep in my bed or my arms. They always wanted a crib, and they always wanted a dark room to themselves when they were sleeping. This makes traveling very difficult. I have always been envious of other people whose kids could fall asleep anywhere.

Well, this summer, we are going to the beach. As wonderful as he is, I didn't think Brian would be too thrilled with tearing down her crib, and taking it with us. So, my objective is to get Savannah used to sleeping in a regular bed by then. So, no better time to start than the present. Now mind you; Emily, being the first child, went to a toddler bed at age 2, and she fell right asleep, never got out of bed, and slept all night, no problems. Savannah has always seems to be slightly more complicated than Emily so I was a little nervous. We've tried the toddler bed before, but it didn't go so well. This time, we made a big deal about it, and it went beautifully. The pacifiers kept falling out (with no crib bumper to stop them), but other than that, she slept all night, and until 8:00 this morning!!

Vannah saying bye to her crib.

She got new Dora sheets and blankets. Yes, we put her mobile on the toddler bed. She has to have her music. We'll work on that before she turns 16.

Emily and Vannah trying out the new bed

Here we GO!

And she's IN!

Soooo Tired

We had such a good day today. This morning, my friend, Tracy brought her two girls, Emma and Kara, over to slip 'n slide. The girls had more fun playing with the hoses than actually slipping 'n sliding, but it was so fun to get to chat with Tracy. And enjoy her incredible grape salad...stuff. Mmmm.

Then, about 2 hours after they left, we loaded up and went to the pool with Sarah, her boys and her mom. She taught Emily how to swim (with a life jacket, mind you) and that's a HUGE step as Emily is normally scared of the water. Within 10 minutes, she was begging to go down the big water slide and saying, "Mommy, let GO, I can DO it!" THANK YOU SARAH!!! Granny sat with Savannah in the baby pool so I could go down the slide with Emily. Thanks, Granny, for confiscating a rubber ducky for Vannah to play with.

We got home, and they were WIPED out...I'm giving them some mindless TV time before bed. Yay early bed time!!!

Available for Hire

For only $30 an hour, these two can be your helpers! Must be local.

You're Part of the Military When......

....you can't WAIT for your friend's mom to come so you can have a "mom" hug. Sarah's mom came into church Sunday morning, and I almost knocked her over trying to get a hug. The same thing happens when Liesl's (our pastor's wife) mom comes. There is something about a hug from a mom that is just different than a hug from a friend.

....your 5 year old, with tears in her voice, says, "I'll bet Hunter has new friends and isn't my friend anymore." It's sad that at such a young age, military brats have to experience the pain of leaving friends.

....you rejoice with exceeding joy when your best friend's husband makes it home from Iraq safely, and you can't stop praying and thinking about another friend's husband that hasn't come home yet.

....you can't go on leave because the Air Force needs to have a pointless inspection.. Ok, not my problem, but I'm sorry for Shannon.....sorry Shannon!

....you have to wait 4-6 months to find out if your husband passed a rank test. Grr. I hate waiting!

....you know that at any time the orders could come for your husband to go to Korea for a year. So, you wait....not IF it happens, but when.

I guess that's all I have to say about it at the time. I am SO thankful for my husband's steady job in a time where the economy is failing. I am thankful for the medical coverage that we have. No, it doesn't always provide us the best of Doctors (sometimes not even real ones, huh, Shannon?), but in the past 3 years, our family has had almost $50,000 (at least) in medical bills, and we haven't paid 1 cent. Well, we paid $60, but we were reimbursed.

So, is it hard? Sometimes. I don't compare myself to the army wives, or marine wives. They have it a lot harder. But, we are all a special "breed".

My Preschool Graduate

OK, so even my FRIENDS (hmph) have laughed at me for making a big deal out of this, but I like having celebrations. Emily is done with Pre-K. She will be starting K-5 in the fall, and that is big girl school. SO, we had to have a party. :) Complete with cupcakes (decorated by my good friend, Merita) and presents. She was SO excited to have a day for her, and we are SO proud of her. She did such a good job in school...only earning 2 blue checks (on a scale of Good to bad...green, blue, yellow, red) all year long. Congratulations Emily!!
Emily and her teacher, Mrs. Simons

The cupcakes say "Happy Graduation"
For some reason, Vannah wanted to sit in her high chair. The rash on her face is from her pacifiers.
Ok, I don't keep my house THAT cold...I have no idea what this was about.

From the Mouths of Babes

So, today, I was having Emily help me with some housework, and talked to her about earning an allowance. Brian and I have talked about it for a while, and think it would be good to teach her about saving her money, and being a good steward of what the Lord gives her. So, from the allowance, we moved to tithe and offerings. OK, she's 5, but still, they have to learn sometime. I remember being very young and giving my tithe from what I had "earned" into the offering plate. That has stuck with me into adult-hood, and now, tithing isn't something I even consider to be an option. So, I told her that everything we have belongs to God, and we have been commanded to give back a portion of what He has given us (by the way, try doing that without using the words, "You have to give this much" to your child). My TV focused child says, "Is the TV God's?" I say, yes, the TV is God's and He could take it away if He so chose. She then asks how would God do that? So, laughingly, I say, "Well, He could make a rock fall from the sky to crush it if He wanted to." OK, fast forward about TEN minutes, and we are back to tithing. I say, "God has told us in the Bible that we have the responsibility to give back to Him a portion of what He has given to us." Then, my little girl looks up at me with those big brown eyes and says:
"If I don't, will He send a big rock to fall on my head and crush me??"

Ok, let's start over.

Our Tiny Tracker

This past Sunday was the awards ceremony for our church's children's program. It's called Truth Trackers. Savannah and I were still in the hospital, but thankfully Liesl called and reminded me, and Sarah was willing to pick up Emily's uniform, and pick up Emily from the hospital and take her. Emily is in the youngest group (3-5 year old's) and it's called the Tiny Trackers. They "Track down the Truth". She learned 30 Bible verses over the course of the year, and was VERY proud of her medal. I am proud that she is learning God's Word, and thankful for her wonderful teachers! Thank you Ms. Liesl and Ms. Faith!! It's not easy putting up with anywhere from 13-18 kids every Wednesday! You guys are the best, and have been truly blessed with a gift. Thanks to Tim and Sarah Shine who stepped in and taught ALL the kids sometimes. You guys are a blessing.

Emily's Allergy Tests

I went to Lawton last week to get the results of Emily's allergy tests. I've been waiting to post about it because I was waiting on her food allergy test results.
Basically....she is allergic to everything outside. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. The only tree she is NOT allergic to is a Mountain Cedar. Hmmm. I don't think there are any of those in Texas. She is allergic to every grass and every weed.
On the inside, she is allergic to house dust, but NOT dust mites...weird. She is allergic to some mold. She is very allergic to cats (sorry Einstein) and very VERY allergic to dogs. That, we kind of figured. She is NOT allergic to cockroaches. Whew.
The food came back on Monday. They left a message on our machine and said, "You need to call us. Emily's food allergy results came back and she tested positive for all 6 categories." My first thought was, 6 categories? Really? I was expecting something more extensive than that for $60. My second thought was oh man.....this is going to be hard to take her off of foods. So, I call them. On a scale of 0-6, with 6 being the worst you can have, she is a borderline 1 for Corn, Soybeans and Milk, and a 1 for Wheat, Egg Whites and Peanuts. Seriously? I paid $60 for that?? Well, really I didn't....Tricare ended up paying for it. But that's not the point.
So, now, we wait for her pediatrician to say what to do. Allergy shots are an option, but they take more than a year to work, and if you've had good results, let me know because no one I've talked to thinks it's worth it.
We didn't throw the cat out with the trash. The specialist gave us some ideas of how to control the air better in the house. We have air purifiers in the girls' rooms and in the living room. A good Hepa vacuum and new air filters for the AC. Hopefully between all this, she can live a little more comfortably in the house.
So, that was that. I was spending a lot of time stressing about getting the house rid of pet dander and dust when Savannah went into the hospital. Now, I'm back to trying to live in a cleaner house....it's always something.

The Long Story

OK. Last Thursday, I was happily working with Sarah trying to get my new toy put together. I just got a new vacuum cleaner. I was in the midst of figuring out what was best for Emily's allergies. Man, that's a whole 'nother story. That's a near future post. Anyway, Sarah and I were in awe at my new vacuum and how well it worked, when Savannah started vomiting. Thankfully, not on my carpet. And thankfully while my good friend Sarah was here to help clean everything up. THANK YOU SARAAAHHH :) She threw up so much, and continued to do so for the next 12 hours.....all night....every hour...sometimes twice an hour. Anyway, I called the nurse's advice line, and they said that she could probably wait until morning to take her to the Dr. Brian came home from work around 5 am and I got to sleep for about an hour. I called on base, and got her an appt. with her pediatrician. I take her in, and he says she probably has Rotavirus (she was exposed to it from Ian....poor babies), but that she looked hydrated. Ok, mind you, she hasn't had a wet diaper in 14 hours, and when she SCREAMS because he seems to need to see her throat through her EAR (I'm not bitter) there are no tears. However, he says, and I quote, "See how when you pull out her pacifier, that it's slobbery?? She's hydrated. As long as her tongue is wet, she's ok." OK, so I take her home, and give her 1 Tablespoon of Gatorade every 15 minutes like he tells me to. She cries for more, but the "DOCTOR" says no.

OK, so all night Friday night and Saturday, she becomes an expert at sticking out her tongue at my request and sure enough, it's always wet. She starts running a fever, and my mommy instincts tell me something isn't right. Still no wet diapers, still no tears. VERY listless. So, I call the nurse's line, again. They say she needs to go to the Emergency room. I needed no further instruction. I told Brian we were going. Emily was on her way out the door to a birthday party,(THANKS FLOR!!), so Brian was able to go with me....grumbling because he thought she was fine. We go to the ER, where she perks up, of course. Why do kids DO that??? I kept telling her "Lay your head down...look sick!!" ha ha She thought it was funny. So, after about 3 hours, SEVERAL attempts at getting blood and starting an IV (which they couldn't do because she was so dehydrated), they decide to admit her. So, in the ambulance, over to the pediatric ward we go.

We were sent to Room 607 which is only funny because it's the same room that Ian was in just 4 days earlier! Yay for purple walls.

She was sent to the procedure room to get the IV started by pediatric nurses and they had a hard time, but got it in her hand on the first stick. As they were searching for a good vein, they commented on how dehydrated she was. As they said that, I took out her pacifier, and she was pretty drooly. I said, "They why is her tongue wet?" They said that that was just from her pacifier and the tongue wasn't a good judge on it. You had to look at the back of her throat and keep an eye on the wet diapers and tears. HEELLLLOOOO!!!!! I wanted to call her pediatrician and give him a piece of my mind, but whatever, she was there, and she was getting help.

So, we were admitted Saturday night, and for the first 12 hours, she just laid listlessly, drifting in and out of sleep. When she wasn't sleeping, she just laid quietly, blinking her eyes. The second day, she was bouncing around like a pogo stick. That's the day I got all the pictures from. She wanted to eat, but was on a clear liquid diet. Monday morning, they came in and said she could go home when she could eat normal food. Then, 2 hours later, they changed and said that she could just go home. The nurse thought that was crazy. Anyway....many hours later, and so much information that only about 6 people in this world would understand (you know who you are, Sarah, Shannon, Tracy, Mom, Dad and Brian) we stayed until she had eaten a piece of toast and a small container of yogurt. I wasn't completely comfortable with where she was at when they sent us home, but they were, so I left. No one had to tell me twice that I was going to get to sleep in my own bed tonight.

So, we're home, she is doing better. She is very happy to be home. She is still sick, but hydrated, and I hope I can keep her that way. Brian was amazing through it all. He didn't have to work, and the house was even clean when I got home. My "girls" came to see me in the hospital...bringing me coffee, snacks, books, and even switching Bible's for me b/c Brian hadn't brought "MY" Bible. :) I love you guys. My parents sent beautiful flowers and nice bear for their sweetie pie. I was able to convince mom that she didn't need to fly out immediately. They put up with many "Hang on...I'm getting another call" 's, thanks...I love you both and appreciate the many hours of prayer I'm sure you sent up for us.

Mostly, I praise the Lord that we had an incredible team of nurses who cared so much. Who needs a Dr that speaks English (where ARE all the American Dr's, anyway?) when you have great nurses? I thank HIM that they were able to get the IV in her hand on the first try. I thank HIM for my friends and family that saw us through this. I thank HIM for my perfect baby girl that I love so much.

I TOLD you it was long. Here are some pics from her stay.....This was from the perky day. I didn't really want to remember the really sick Savannah. I'll write a picture description here so you know what they are without the spacing getting messed up.

#1. Savannah sitting in her bed. It's mainly to show the IV setup. It was on a padded little board and wrapped a LOT. She never really messed with it, thankfully. It only annoyed her when she would go to rub her eyes in her sleep and bonk herself in the eye.

#2. This is one of our many walks down the halls with our IV pole. OH!! The red medal hanging around her neck is from the Children's Miracle Network. They came to my room and asked if I would mind being interviewed for the CMN telethon that was going on locally. I reluctantly said sure and only 15 seconds beforehand, found out it was going to be LIVE!!! Brian and Emily got to watch from the lobby. When asked if I looked like a dork, he said, "You looked tired." Huh! Wonder why!?!?

#3. This is Emily and Savannah playing "Throw the paci down and watch Sissy pick it up."

#4. Savannah chilling in the chair watching TV

#1

#2

#3

#4

We're Home!

I have plenty of pictures and a long story to go with everything, but I am too tired tonight for that. But, for those who check my blog regularly and want an update....Savannah was released from the hospital this evening around 5:15. I'm not sure she's ready to come home, but after 3 days in the place, I was ready to come home. Pray that we don't have to go back anytime soon!! Thanks everyone for your prayers and help carting Emily around and phone calls. I'll post pictures and the long story later.