Marriage Advice for my kiddos

Marriage is giving of yourself tirelessly down paths you’d never imagine to travel. Through sickness and pain, poverty and loss, it’s carrying the weight of another. It’s being the smile they see in the morning, and the body they hold close at night. It’s pure love. It’s standing together in the face of adversity. It’s riding alongside each other in a battle that threatens to tear down your marriage and seeks to grab hold of your faith. It’s strength under pressure.
~TimeWarpWife

I read this in my devotional a few days ago and wanted to make sure to blog it for our family journal. It is great wisdom my sweet kiddos. Don't ever forget it or take it for granted.
You don't always have to agree on every small thing but as long as you are on  the same page for your big picture you can make it through those battles.
Love,
Mom

Love them with all my mama heart

These were supposed to be their homecoming outfits.....we turned them into 4th of July fun! These kiddos are so much fun....

My girls

The making of a picture

Trying to get all 4 kiddos looking good in 1 picture is quite a feat! I appreciate what photographers go through and why I like to photograph nature more than people.

This is the best one I got.....

The out takes......

Baby snuggles

She doesn't want to nap so we are making some memories.....

Redneck babysitter

Ever been so desperate for a shower that you use the baby tub to keep the baby entertained while you soap up? Yeah that was me today!

New hair-do

I can't believe my sweet Kymber Roo has enough hair to sport a side pony tail! I also cannot believe that she looks like a big kid not a toddler now!

Welcome home: part 1

Little did we know that our trip to the airport was going to be our official homecoming instead of R&R. I'm glad that the kids talked me into letting them get dressed up for the occasion.

These are the pictures from my phone with more to come from our good camera.

Rolling along

Guess who rolled over for the first time yesterday?

Ben's view: Bell's palsy 2

Another update for those that have been asking.....

Ben is doing better. His speech is less slurred, he has a little movement in his face, and he can slightly close his eye. He is on his second round of steroids and anti-virals. The lymes test was negative. So no antibiotics at this time. He has referrals to an ENT & an audiologist upon arrival back to California.

He still has hearing sensitivity to loud noises.

Mostly the physician was hopeful with the improvements that he has made so far.  

We appreciate all the messages, love, and prayers. I will try to update again as he progresses!

5 months old

Kenzie was 5 months old yesterday. Our sweet girl appears to be teething. Lots of drool and stuffing anything and everything into her mouth! She has almost mastered rolling over and she is scooting around.

She is wearing her anchors away outfit in these pictures yesterday in honor of Uncle Daniel leaving for his next deployment.

Ben's view: Bell's Palsy

I've put off writing this post for several reasons.....

1. Ben's not quite the shareholic that I am on social media.

2. We weren't sure what this would mean for his return to Afghanistan.

A week ago today, we went out on a double date with Ben's little brother, Daniel, and his wife. During our date, Ben began to complain of his lips and right cheek feeling "numb." I immediately thought he might be allergic to something but we finished our date with no other problems besides the "numbness." 

We got up on Sunday morning and Ben asked me if his eye looked funny. His right eye was indeed swollen and bulging a bit. We were then speculating on a bite of some kind. Ben began to have difficulty eating and drinking on the right side of his mouth. We went to church. By the end of church, Ben had a significant right side facial droop, slurring of his speech, right sided hearing sensitivity, and his right eye would not close at all.

We traveled to the ER at this time. I was concerned it was either a stroke or Bell's palsy.

Thankfully, it was Bell's palsy and we had family in town. Ben's mom and aunt took the kids home so I could be there with him. Daniel and Tina stayed there at the hospital with us. A huge thank-you to the Perry family who also stopped to see if I needed them to take the kiddos.

They immediately diagnosed him with Bell's Palsy. On visits to the doctor after the ER, they ran a blood test to check for Lymes Disease. (Sometimes thought to be a cause of Bell's palsy.)

What is Bell's palsy? Well it's a virus that is not uncommon but there is no known cause for it. 

It is the paralysis of (usually one side) the cranial nerve that controls the face. It typically resolves 3 weeks to a few months after the initial onset.

The ER doc suggested stress may have played a factor but again we have no idea what brought it on. That brings us to a week out from his initial symptoms.

Ben has been treated with prednisone (a steroid) which is the only medicine that has proven to help with symptom improvement. He is also on anti-virals which are standardly given but have not been proven to provide any relief. (Better safe than sorry!!) 

The biggest treatment right now has been his eye drops and a thick gel that he uses at night. His eye will not close on it's own. He has to manually close it or tape it down. Obviously he is being extremely careful with it so he doesn't damage his eye/eyesight. The eye doesn't bulge as much but still will not close. It is light sensitive and obviously irritated from the inability to blink and rehydrate on it's own.

It is hard sometimes to understand exactly what Ben is saying but hopefully that will improve as well!

It appears that Ben will not be returning to Afghanistan. It is hard to be excited to have him home for good under the circumstances but I am beyond grateful that he was here in the US when it happened and for the medical care he has received so far.

We appreciate your prayers for continued healing and I will try to update as he progresses.

So grateful for this man. Even though he is uncomfortable and obviously has some eating/drinking deficits, he has kept his sense of humor through it all. I am sure at some point it will make sense why this happened but for now I am glad that he can laugh despite the circumstances.

4 months

Kenzie pie, or KJ, or baby girl was 4 months old on June 15th!

Wine for Two

Wine of the week for the next 2 weeks and for 2 glasses too!!

End of kindergarten!

So we started the year thinking Isaac was in transitional kindergarten. I am thrilled to say even though it was a regular kindergarten class, Isaac seemed to hold his own. He has grown and learned so much this year. I also discovered he has Ben's penmanship. We are working on that!

End of year root beer float social. Isaac really enjoyed Mrs. Warman and Mrs. Casey!

This makes me teary eyed! He's not allowed to be this grown up already!

End of 2nd grade

Kendall completed 2nd grade at Mary Fay Pendleton on May 29, 2014. My sweet, oldest girl did great changing schools from North Carolina and excelled at math this year! As it is a base school, she has said several "see you soons" to friends she made this year. Amazing to see her get into chapter books and she loves to read to her brother! We are so proud of you Kendall bug!!

She received bulldog of the month for May too!

I have a summer birthday so I understood when she asked for me to bring a birthday treat in the last week of school!

Of course little sister liked help h out!!

What an outstanding young lady you are becoming Bug!!