Easter Sunday

"They" predicted rain for Easter Morning. As the week progressed "they" kept changing, and changing and changing...and sure enough we awoke on Easter AM to beautiful sunny blue skies and warm weather. I was so thrilled - a perfect day to celebrate the risen Christ!

Okay - I have to admit - I was also thrilled that my girls could wear their cute little Easter dresses and sandels without having to bundle them up. (It still is sometimes all about me! lol)

After a glorious Easter service where God was glorified again and again we traveled north to a friend's house for Easter dinner. Kathy is the mother of one of my dearest friends - Julie. For the past 20+ years I have been welcomed in their homes and lives for numerous holiday and personal celebrations. For many of those years I spent those celebrations chasing and playing with one or all of my four godchildren. That day there was a little bit of payback occuring as I got to sit and chat with the adults while my godchildren entertained my little ones!

My girls love to be outside. They kept the kids busy going in and out of the doors - Lizzie only tried to walk through the deck screen once. :) Quick learner.

  

They had an egg hunt for the kids. Bekah LOVED it. She has a good eye and found many more than she was supposed to so we snuck some into Lizzie's basket so it was fair. She didn't mind as long as she could keep looking.

"Grandma Kathy" bought them each Easter baskets. Bekah's was a brown puppy dog; Lizzie's was a hippo. What was so funny was that Bekah's "security" is a brown puppy she calls "Favorite Puppy" and Lizzie's nighttime friend is a Hippo - how's that for perfect!

Rebekah was a bit overwhelmed when we first got there because there were many face she didn't know - many of those people she was meeting for the first time. She spent the first half hour on Daddy's lap and then once she realized some of the other kids were watching Aladdin  she started poking her head out. Lizzie, on the other hand, is not shy at all. She just would walk around and around saying "hi" to all and sitting on any lap that would let her. Once Bekah warmed up though she was fine to be away from us for periods of time. Her favorite time - after the egg hunt, of course - was telling Carly what to draw in chalk. (In case you couldn't tell in the last pic that is our family! Bekah, of course, is covering up the pic of Lizzie!)

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

Palm Sunday

One of my favorite parts about Palm Sunday (besides the reason we celebrate) is seeing the children walk down the aisles at church waving their palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!" There is something so innocent and precious about it that I just am drawn in. I remember being pregnant with Rebekah and thinking someday my child will be doing that -- and this past Palm Sunday - she did! :) It was so great to walk with her up the aisle - both of us waving our palm branches and saying "Hosanna!" The children stayed up front as the choir sang - waving their branches.

She seemed to really enjoy it at first, however, as it went on I could see her start to "shut down". She starts to get overwhelmed after a while. I have talked to her food therapist about this who is also an Occupational Therapist. She believes that Rebekah's sensory processing abilities are more limited then an average child. I don't fully understand it myself but we are learning. From what I understand most of us have a certain level that we can get to without being annoyed. Then there is an area above that that allows us to tolerate above that for a certain amount of time. Rebekah's "time" is limited at that level. So one thing they work with her on is supposed to help her extend this time. We have seen some improvement over the time we have been working with her. 

As you can see by the second picture after a while she "shut down". She enjoys the noise and movements and people for a while and then it just gets to be a bit too much for her. She does well at taking a "time out" for herself. We have noticed that when she starts to get overwhelmed she will remove herself and go do a quiet activity by herself for a while. In this type of situation that really isn't a option so after sitting down for a while she got up and came and sat on my lap but did stay in the sanctuary and watch until the song was finished and then walked out with the other children. 

 It certainly has been a lesson in patience for Les and I. So thankful we have each other to depend on as well as friends, family and of course, the Lord. Some days are filled with prayers!!! :)

Hope you all are well!

Funny Girl!

Today Rebekah was crying and I asked her "Why are you crying?"

She was silent for a minute then looked up at me and said "I'm not crying...my eyes are watering."

Twice today I looked over and found Lizzie sitting in the middle of the dining room table. Yesterday she couldn't get up on the chair. Why are they growing so fast???