Thank You Judy!

I’m so sad and excited for Brecken today. Today is Brecken’s last day at Judy’s, and I did surprisingly well. I thought I might cry, and I started to for a minute, and then I got it together, and so far so good. We hadn’t planned to make this transition until this upcoming summer, but about 2 months ago, Parker’s “school” approached Chris about an opening they had, and if Brecken wanted it, we could take it. At first, I immediately said “no”..we were doing just fine, and I wasn’t ready to make that change just yet…Case closed! I mentioned it to my mom on our way to drop the girls off, and she suggested that “maybe Brecken is ready for “school” and she would probably really take off in that environment, and that I should consider it further”…well that was enough to put my stomach in knots for a few days! After much discussion with the school, and trying to put Brecken’s needs in front of my desires to keep everything as is, we made the decision to take the spot. Parker is very excited for Brecken to join her at “school”! Brecken will be in Miss Sara’s class, and they are all so excited to have Brecken join them. We stopped by and introduced Brecken to everyone last Monday, and I think she’ll do really well. So today is Brecken’s last day of being loved on by Judy, and playing with her friends Lila, and Ellie, and the little ones Easton and Evan! Judy, thank you so much for all that you have done for Brecken. We are so thankful for finding you, and you will always have a special place in our hearts as you were a big part of Brecken’s first 2 years of her life, and we are so grateful for your loving care! Keep in touch with us, and we hope you’ll follow us on our Blog! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you….. and now I think I’m going to go shed a few tears..

Lila, Brecken, Ellie

Last Weekend

Last weekend was a busy one for this Howell family!  On Friday night we had an extra guest as cousin Evan came to stay the night!  The girls were so excited to have Evan stay over, they talked about it all week.  Here they all are watching Frosty The Snowman that was featured on tv that night and eating their cookies!

Then Saturday morning rolled around, and our 1st round of Christmas celebrations started.  We headed over to grandma's house and celebrated Jesus' birthday with Uncle Brian, Aunt Emily, Lydia and Hannah!  The girls LOVED singing "Happy Birthday Jesus" over and over and over again!  It was pretty cute!  It is always fun to spend time with family, and I absolutly love that the girls play so well together!  A few pictures from this fun day is below!

Christmas Time

You wouldn't know it was Christmas time if you came over to our house this season. I just don't have it in me this year..not because I'm not excited for Christmas, it's just that our house has been in disaster mode for the last few months. We're in the middle of updating our kitchen and dining room a bit. The floor is gone, wallpaper removed, and new paint has been painted on the walls. We've finally got it put a bit back together, but the floors still need to be installed, and my guess it's not going to happen before the end of the year. We've just got too much going on. We didn't have room for a tree, and so now that we do, I'm not going to do it for just 2 weeks. I figured this was the last year I could possibly get away with it:) Last night, to help get us in the spirit of Christmas was Parker's very first Christmas program at school, and it was so much fun to watch her on stage singing all the Christmas favorites. I loved watching all the kids singing "Jingle Bells" as it was clearly their favorite!! Santa came at the end of the program, and I finally got the girls picture taken with Santa. The evening was fun, and Parker enjoyed having Grandma and Papa in the audience. Brecken loved the music, and was so good during the program too. They both got balloons to take home, and she wouldn't let go of it, and would have slept with her balloon if I would have let her. I've included a few photos from last night, and Brecken this morning with her balloon!

The Nutcracker

On Sunday afternoon, Nana, and I took Parker to see the Nutcracker. Neither of us had been in years, and thought it would be a fun opportunity to introduce Parker to it. She was very excited, she didn't take a nap, she just lay in bed waiting for me to come and get her to tell her it was time to go. When I got into her bedroom, she was ready to go with shoes on and all..(we had taken the shoes off before naptime) Too funny! Anyway, after arriving, we sat and waited, and then it started...after about 5 minutes in, she asked if we could go home....she sat on my lap the entire time, and by the time the 2nd half started, she said again, much louder, "can we go home"...the second half went by much slower, as she was clearly not very interested, and kept talking, and trying to get into my purse...when it was all over, she said that she enjoyed it, but I honestly think it was about an hour too long for her....and I think I've decided I don't like ballets. Nothing against this performance, I think they did great, I personally didn't care for it..We asked her if she would like to go back, and she shook her head, yes, then no...So I don't really know if she liked it or not. We'll probably wait a few years before thinking about taking Brecken!

Shopping!

One of my favorite things to do is shop. My husband’s favorite pastime includes hunting and fishing..I don’t have a hobby per se, but I love to shop..not necessarily to buy anything, but looking around is fun for me too. This year has been different, in that I haven’t had the luxury of just getting out of the house while the girls are napping to just look around by myself. When the holidays arrived, I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel to not be able to just get out and do my Christmas shopping. Last year, I went out over several weekends while the kids napped and got it all done reasonably early..This year has proven to be a bit more difficult…one, two, and three weekends went by, where I would have LOVED to get out and get started. Chris and I had some really fun opportunities over the upcoming weekend, and we’ve had to bail on them in my desperate attempt to get started on Christmas shopping..The other thing I found interesting what that I had NO IDEA what was out there that my girls might like, I might like or others for that matter, since I don’t get to get out and just shop. Chris and I skipped out on the KU game this week due to the weather, and instead took the time to start our Christmas shopping!! I was thrilled to finally get a chance to do this, as I was really starting to get nervous as we are starting the Christmas celebration next weekend! After the first stop, I was ready for the next store, and Chris was already tired:)  Too bad for him, cause we headed to 3 more stores, and got it 99% done. What a good feeling that was, and it was nice to have his input this year on ideas for the girls and other kiddos on our list. Not having that decision completely on me was great. It’s almost been a year of no driving, and I can honestly say that it has gone by so fast, and doesn’t seem possible that we’ve come this far. Adjusting to this change has been easier than I anticipated and I can only attribute that to my faith in God and his plan for me!

Thanksgiving Feast

Parker's school today held a Thanksgiving Feast for parents to attend. They sang songs for us, said the Johnny Appleseed prayer, and then joined us for lunch. The kids helped make the muffins, and snack mix, and then for show and share this month, we've been taking cans of vegetables and other things for the soup they made. It was so fun to see Parker up on stage, and all the kids did a great job! Have a great Thanksgiving Week.

Silly Girls

I had to laugh last night at both my girls for different reasons. After work I needed to get a little shopping done, to get started on my Christmas list. Chris needed me to take Parker with me, so she tagged along, and had fun shopping with mommy and nana! We were looking around, and she spotted a glitzy belt, that she kept telling nana, that she really really wanted..she asked if it was her size and wouldn't let it go! Nana is a sucker for glitz too, and when Parker wanted it, she got it! She was so excited about it, she wanted to wear it right away, which meant for the whole night last night with her sweat suit and then today with jeans! Parker is my "tom girl" who likes a little glitz!

Brecken LOVES to put on shoes, anyone's shoes...Parker's..mommy's...and daddy's! She's been known to get into Chris boots several times, and I was able to capture it last night. She had taken off her dress at dinner, so this is it, tights, t-shirt and boots!

My girls make me chuckle often!

No Boys Allowed!!

Friday morning came, and when I went in to get Parker out of bed, I wanted her to be excited about spending the weekend at home together while Chris headed out for the 1st hunting trip of the year. I gave her a big hug and told her to tell daddy to have a fun weekend, and that we were having a girls only weekend, no boys allowed! She got a kick out of it and told daddy “no boys allowed”! He laughed and told us, that there were “no girls allowed” where he was going so we were even! Since I knew we would mostly be home bound, I decided we would make cookies to have fun, and get out for a few errands, and get Parker’s hair cut. The cookies were a hit, both girls loved helping and they turned out great! It ended up being a 3 day affair, as we made them Friday night, baked them on Saturday and frosted them on Sunday! It was a perfect way to kill an hour or so with each process! The girls dressed up in their play clothes too and all in all it was a fun weekend. Daddy made it home early for a surprise since his weekend got rained out, so by lunchtime on Sunday our girls only, no boys allowed weekend was over!

Guess what Brecken Can Do

My two year old Brecken has surprised us a bit this week. Casually I asked her if she wanted to use the potty before bath time on Sunday night, and she excitedly said yes...and she went! We all gave her a few high fives, and she was pretty proud of herself! Everyday this week, she's gone to the bathroom on the potty at least once with much success! This isn't something I'm trying to do, but wanted to introduce it to her, thinking she wouldn't have much of an interest, but I was wrong! I took pictures, but decided it was inappropriate to post, since she was stark naked, getting ready to take her bath...It's a cute photo though...you'll have to trust me!

Happy Halloween...

Princess Parker and Brecken the Ballerina

Ok, so its a few days late, but I wanted to share a few photos of the girls from the weekend. Parker had a busy week last week, getting plenty of use in her Halloween costume. She was able to wear it to dance class on Tuesday, then for school parties on Thursday and Friday, and then of course Saturday for trick or treating! Daddy and the girls carved pumpkins on Thursday night and then on Halloween we went to the annual Davis party for chili, outdoor fun, trick or treating, and then capped the evening off with the Charlie Brown Halloween movie! The kids and adults had a great time. Yesterday the awesome weather continued and the girls had fun playing in the leaves outside with daddy. Have a great week.

The girls with their pumpkins

The kids watching the Charlie Brown Halloween at the Party

All of the kids at the party...there were a lot!

Parker and Brecken enjoying the leaves!

Who's Who?

Last night I took some time to get Brecken's baby book organized. This has been looming over my head for months, and I wanted to get all of the sticky notes out of my purse where I had written the dates of when she rolled over, said "dada" details of her first birthday and the gifts she recieved when she came home from the hospital. I'm so thankful I thought to even write those things down, even though they were on a sticky note. It made it so much easier to remember and put it to paper. I made a list of the photos I need to find and started digging for a few of those I knew I had on hand already. In my search of photos, I came across a few that my mom had given me of myself as a little girl...I knew Brecken had a resemblance to me on occasion, but I thought this was too funny! Take a look at me at Brecken's age, and then the photo of her on her birthday! I guess she is my daughter!

Ironically enough, as I look at this photo, I am standing next to a chair at my grandmothers house, that I now have in my living room..

Pumpkin Patch Party

This past weekend Brecken's birthday celebration continued with her birthday party at the pumpkin patch! Right before Brecken was born, we took Parker to a fun pumpkin patch, and immediately thought what a fun idea for a birthday party. We decided this would be the year. Our family came together to help us celebrate her. We all picked out the perfect pumpkins, enjoyed cupcakes, rode on trains, climbed on hay bales, slid down slides, played in a pile of corn kernels,

and wore ourselves out! It was an awesome day. The birthday celebration is officially over...My baby isn't a baby anymore...she's now a little girl...but still my baby:)

My Baby's Two

It's hard to believe two years ago today, Brecken was born! The time has gone by so fast. We had her two year old well baby check up yesterday and everything looks great! She's still only 23 pounds but the Dr. isn't concerned at all. She may be little but she has a big attitude and is so fun. We sang happy birthday to her this morning, and let her open her gift from us. She LOVED it, and so far is having a great day. We plan to take her out for dinner tonight, and then we'll celebrate on Saturday with family at the pumpkin patch!

Brecken opening her birthday gift

Brecken and Parker playing with her new doll house!

Tell My Mom Hi

Parker is too funny in my opinion. Over the last few weeks a co-worker of mine stops by my office to tell me that Parker wanted him to tell me hi! How cute is that?! Cash’s dad drops him off much later than I drop off Parker, and when they arrive, she’s been known to beeline it to him and say “hey Cash’s dad…will you see my mom at work today?” He often replies with a yes, and then she says “will you tell my mom hi?” She’s even gone as far as yelling from across the room, Hey, Cash’s Dad….almost every day she does this now. I love how her mind has processed this and figured out that she can deliver messages to me at work. Just today, Cash’s dad told me that now almost ALL the kids are now asking for him to tell their mom or dad hi…..their parents don’t work here…but we’re not gonna tell them that:)

Look At Me

Brecken is our little girl who I think may cause us some serious trouble someday. She seems to have an orneryness to her. She loves to say “hey mama” and I turn to look at her and she flashes a huge grin on her face and that’s it! This leads me to believe that this is how she thinks she is going to get by in life…with her huge smile, it all makes it better! She is too funny, and I love that about her. She always seems to be happy and laughing and pretty easy going. In the last few weeks she’s discovered that she can roll her tongue and loves doing this! Parker has discovered she cannot. She’s the only one in the family that can’t. Isn’t it funny how genetics work.

Tunnel Vision

I thought I would do a post today about tunnel vision. I had a follow up appointment today that went fine. At this point we are done with the drama of new news and are back to maintaining the central vision that I have left. We have determined that I am “legally blind” and have received our letter stating such. It’s weird to think of myself as legally blind, because not much has changed regarding my vision from 8 months ago, it’s just that we’ve done the tests and that’s what it says. The thing about RP is that it is SO gradual that you don’t even notice when it’s gone…which is essentially what happened to me. For years I knew this was a possibility, but it never occurred to me that this day would be here now. To me, my vision seems that it has been this way for years…I don’t remember at all what it is like to see anything on the side of my head..this is my normal and it’s interesting to think that I once saw things differently. I went online to see if I could find a visual of what it looks like to see from my perspective, and this is what I found.

Kinda scary huh...To look at it this way, I even think to myself WOW...I obviously over compensate I think so that I get the whole picture...but do I really?? I don't know. For those that are around me often will know that something isn't right...I'll ask, "where is Brecken" only to hear that she's right at my feet, or next to me..I always feel silly that I even asked, but it is what it is! Hopefully everyone will have a better understanding of what RP does and why it is that I can see what is right in front of me well, and why I have been declared "legally blind".