What's Missing?

You may be strolling around this blog for the first time and thinking...something doesn't look right here. What's missing? Pictures. I used to put pics of my kids on the blog...almost all mom bloggers do. I don't know though...something lately just has made me feel like I want to get their pics off the internet and keep them off. So if you didn't get the amazing blessing of seeing my adorable angel girls...sorry! I just feel like a more responsible parent keeping their pics off the net. What do you think?

Living With Special Needs

Wow, it has been so very long since I did a post, I know.  Crazy busy times and life. I just checked my comments and got one that sincerely touched my heart. It was the post on mental retardation. The anonymous commenter said this:

i am new to your blog, and this post really hit home for me. i have a 13 month old daughter with a duplicate on chromosome 8p23.1. she has hypotonia and will also have mental retardation. i am totally NOT where you are at emotionally and psychologically. in fact, i am in a very bad, sad place and i am angry at God. i have been a christian for as long as i can remember, and well, i feel sad all the time. i have not been able to rejoice in who she is and how far she has come. i just mourn in what she isn't doing and how sad i am that i don't have a typical daughter.


we found out about her duplicate only 6 months ago, so i know i need to give myself time. but man, it is so hard. thank you for your post. it is encouraging to think about mr in a different way and to know that as a mom, you can still have joy and happiness. you seem so... normal. :) thank you! i am going to follow your blog closely. 

I have to say, I totally understand where you are. It did take longer than six months to get to acceptance and renewed faith in God. I can't say how long it took exactly, but I did get there and you can too. If my post in any way encouraged you in your walk in life then I'm just thrilled! No one expects to have a special needs child. You get pregnant and you have all these dreams and plans for a normally developing child. When things aren't right it's easy to say, why me? Why my child? Some people may think finding cliche sayings and standing firm on faith is just a way we Christians deal with things. But I seriously believe with all my heart that God trusted me with Anna because he highly values me and my ability to raise her. It's quite a compliment. I don't have answers as to why it happened to her. Her duplication is de novo....meaning not passed down from either parent and no apparent source it came from. Just a fluke so to speak. your daughters may be as well.


You may get LOADS of advice from people, but if you ever have questions from someone else who's going through the same thing...I'm here for you. If I started now this post could get super long. But I will say as far as mental retardation, it's not so scary. When you can come to a place where you forgive God and put your faith and trust in Him again (Yes, I had to do that too. I'm not sure I was angry with Him..I guess I was, but it was more that I just didn't understand WHY He allowed it to happen, so I still had to forgive God as weird as that sounds.) you can start to exercise that faith for your daughter and see the amazing things we have seen. Anna understands in some ways she is different, but it doesn't really seem to bother her. Maybe because we don't act like it bothers us or like it's a big deal. We are...."normal"...to a degree. We have a special needs child and that means there are things we can't always do that people with normally developing kids do...but we still have loads of fun and lots of love. Anna melted my heart the other night. She says, "I think" before her sentences a lot like "I think I'm hungry", or "I think I want to watch Jonah". So she said to me, "Mom, I think I love you so much.". What a sweetie. Also, she pronounces "mom" as "nom".


There are lots of challenges still, but I have come to a place in my life that I don't live it focused on the special needs. We focus on the Lord and having the best life possible...and oh yeah my child also has special needs so I need to make some adjustments at times. Life is so much more fulfilling that way. It really is. God bless you and your family, and please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns you'd like to discuss.

Casting Down Imaginations

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Cor 10:3-5 (KJV)

There are times I'm quite a thinker. I can pass hours of  time just being a daydreamer. But sometimes the things I daydream about might not honor God. In typical girl fashion I might think of who the next person I may date will be (and I've already committed a year to not dating after my divorce is final so I shouldn't even be thinking about that anyway!), and then who I'll marry....and things that will happen when we're married. Women tend to be such romance lovers, and I think that's okay, but while I've made this commitment to God, I think He wants to be my "Romeo", and help me keep myself pure in thought word and deed.

My sister read me the scripture above today when I told her I'd been letting my thoughts run away with me lately. Couldn't be any clearer, could it? God does expect us to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Okay God, I'm gonna need your help, and this scripture, but no more miss daydreamer. At  least not about the particular things I was daydreaming about:) 

Another Day For Joy and Tears

Today was an amazing day. Even as recent as our last meeting at Anna's school a few weeks ago, Anna wasn't writing her name. We were talking about how she could use stamps to stamp out her name, but her occupational therapist was saying how she got stuck on writing the "n".


When the girls came in today we were watching television and relaxing and I had placed my notebook that I write my dreams on on the counter. I walked by it a little later and this is what I saw:

I stopped in my tracks and said, "Anna....did you write your name?" I mean, I don't know who else could have written it but I was just astonished. She smiled and said yes, and I asked her to write it again while I watched her:

I wish I had videoed it. She never understands why I cry but she knows it's good. :) My baby can write her name.

2 Piece Robinson Cutting Boards from Frigidaire

I was recently given the opportunity to try out kitchen products from Frigidaire in exchange for an honest review. I actually chose two things, but today I'm just going to tell you about one of them. I found it interesting when I was contacted because I had no clue that Frigidare even offered kitchen cooking tools and other products, but I was really excited to try them. I love to cook and therefore want every kitchen gadget known to man. One thing that is super handy to have around though is cutting boards. 

I chose the cutting boards because I'm always needing a cutting board. This handy two piece set comes with one sized 16" and one sized 12", both which tuck away in my kitchen drawer ready for me to pull out and use when I need them. I love the sizes and I love that there are two of them so if I've used one and hadn't washed it right away, I have another one I can pull out quickly and use when I need it.

Both ends of the cutting board are reinforced with non skid/ non-slip grips for safety, and they come in red, yellow, purple, green, orange, and blue so you can color coordinate with your kitchen. I love mine and find them really useful. PLUS, right now they are on sale for half price! You can get this set for under $10.
So if you need some cutting boards, I would highly recommend them. 

I also got a square baking stone...so look for an upcoming review on it, and go check out Frigidare to see what other cool kitchen tools they offer.