Our little midge

So, Easton's well visit this month did not go as well as I had planned in my head...the thing is, he hasn't had a well visit in almost 9 months...he had one really late for his 2 year and then it took 3 months past his 3 year to get in for this one...The kid is always got something going! :) But, thankfully, he has been doing good and we made it to the well visit.

His doctor was so excited that he is currently off of most of his allergy medication and all of his breathing treatment medication, as well as his steroids for his ulcers. She was very encouraged that he was doing so well AND unmedicated! Hey--chalk another one up for Jesus Christ, man! We went through the whole physical and he is really developing well in all areas, mentally, developmentally--weight gain (which is AMAZING, considering what he cannot eat and that the things he does eat contain next to nothing!!)...but then we got to the area of height.

Last year, he was in the 1st percentile. This year, he is not. He is not on the chart at all. Dr. Munda was very concerned about the fact that he did not make any progress and seemed to "fall off the chart". She brought up monitoring it for another six months or so and then maybe needing to look into growth hormones. This sounds really scary to Jason and I. We are just praying right now and seeking God's guidance in what to do. We know that in the next 6 months, God can grow Easton to the 100%th percentile--no problem...We also know that this may not be His plan for Easton. With or without the growth hormones. I sure don't want to get in the way of God's plan--and make things more complicated than they need to be...but I also want my baby to be happy and for his life to not be difficult for undue reasons...things are hard enough in today's world...

So, we continue to rely on God. He has never pointed us in the wrong direction before!

Finally, some hair...

All these years, we have waited for Elle's hair to grow...she has struggled with her peers as kids said that she looked like a boy, but was always given the most wonderful compliments from older people. People would stop us in the most random places and tell her what a great haircut she had. I was always so shocked...because we had never cut her hair like that--who would do that to a beautiful little girl? But, she wore that hair with such a smile and a wonderful presence! I think I thought she must have gotten over all of her issues and just grown to love her hair the way it was, until the day we put her hair in pigtails. I don't think she quit smiling all day! Everyday now, she mentions how much she loves her hair now...I mean, it is only a little longer, but she will comment on it blowing in the wind, being able to put the sides up, etc. She said the other night before I put her in bed, "Mom, now I really look like a little girl." My heart ached for her that she has been so worried about that--or at least had to think about that.

She is such a beautiful child--inside and out! Now, with just a little more hair! :)

Done with Sippy's!

We are finally done with sippy's in our house! Easton is three years old and we have been battling for a long time to get rid of the sippy's in the car or that last night night sippy...and finally we have accomplished it! I am so proud of Easton and what a little trooper he has been through the whole ordeal. He will ocassionally still ask for a sippy, but once we remind him that he is a big boy now, he appears okay with it.

For the past two years, Easton will only drink Rice milk and in the past six months he added iced tea. We were so excited that day because, if you haven't noticed--not many restaurants serve Rice milk... So, if he ran out of drink while we were out somewhere--we were out of luck. He would not drink water--he would just cry.

Today--he began to drink grape juice. God is good--all the time!!

Elle's struggle

It has been such a wonderful experience to watch Elle these past few months as she is geniunely going through a huge spiritual warfare. A few months ago, she told Jason and I that she was ready to walk down to the front of the church because she was tired of being scared and wanted to let people know that she was a Christian. I was so super excited about it, but when the time came for her to walk down at the end of worship, she wouldn't budge. She said that she just couldn't do it. After that Sunday, we were out of town for two weeks...The first week back, she begged me as we were walking into church if we could just go ahead and go home. Of course, we didn't, but at that moment, I couldn't figure out what was going on. Once we were in the service and worship began, I looked down and she was balling. I asked her what was wrong and she couldn't even talk. She finally said that she could feel God pushing on her. I almost fell over. I told her that she should really listen and think before saying, "no" to Lord. Elle has spent the past few months studying Job and Jonah, and as many other books as she can about the devil. She said that she feels like God is pushing on her and she is scared to say no, but she feels like something is telling her to say no. It really is amazing to watch! I have been prayerful about how to stay out of God's way, but to encourage Elle in this. This morning when I was reading and praying, I really felt like the Spirit was encouraging me to share with Elle how Jason and I came together as a couple. When Jason was 26 years old, he walked down to the front of our little church and professed his faith. I knew him at the time, but not well. I was moved to tears for reasons that I could not explain at the time...Two nights later we went on our first date and the rest is history.
I told Elle that story this morning. I was telling her that I know she is a lot like her daddy. But that her daddy missed a lot of time in a relationship with Christ and he would hate for that to happen to her. She said that she already has a relationship with Christ--she just is too scared to go in front of the church. But, I reminded of her of how much Daddy getting up that day meant to me--and what a witness it was to me and I was already a Christian. That I not only rejoiced that he was joining into my family--but that it reminded me of the wonderful love and draw of Jesus Christ that I was not plugged into at that very moment.
I don't know why I felt like she needed to hear this story and I encouraged her to talk to Jason more about his experiences in church and why it had taken him so long.