Locks of Love

This past Saturday, Brenna finally decided to go through with her BIG haircut! We have been talking about donating her hair to Locks of Love for some time now. The last 4-5 times we went to get it done, she chickened out. One of her fears was that no one would recognize her. Brenna's long locks have been part of what has made her Brenna. I reminded her that everyone would notice if she cut off all of her hair. She was still not convinced. But I think after suffering through me brushing her hair and being in tears from the pain she has had to endure from those brushings, she finally cried "uncle".

So Saturday, Brenna and I loaded up in the car and headed to the mall. Normally I don't try to spend a lot of money on haircuts. Brenna usually just needs a trim and Avery's style is not included in my skill level of Cosmetology. But this day was special. After making some phone calls I found out that Snip-It's (Hair salon for kids) participated in the Locks of Love program and would make sure we got the length right and they take care of shipping the hair to Locks of Love. Brenna had a very lovely stylist named Rhonda. Rhonda ended up getting TWO ponytails out of Brenna's thick hair. That was very exciting and made Brenna feel really good about her decision.

I have to say, after the ponytails were cut and Rhonda laid them on the counter while she completed Brenna's haircut, I could not help but think that I was like a body part laying there. It is not my goal to be gross or morbid here, but I could not get that thought out of my head. Brenna's hair was such a part of her and now it was detached and laying there on the counter. Weird, I know.
I promised Brenna that I would not post her final picture until after our Family Reunion this weekend. You just have to wait. Did she keep it long or go even shorter? Is it straight or curly? Check back next Sunday to find out!

In The Clear?

I thought after all of the chaos of the last few weeks, things would clear up and not be so hectic. They did clear up...for a little while.

Brenna enjoyed her Girl Scout Daisy Tea Party. The girls rotated around stations of having their nails and hair done, making a craft, and a snack and even earning one of their petals. After the rotations were done, they sat down for their Tea. Everyone enjoyed some pink lemonade, tea sandwiches and cookies all served on Rose Depression Glass. During their tea they discussed using their manners while at the table and phone etiquette. I think the best part for the girls was being served by the Brownies.

This lovely storm greeted us on our way home from visiting my Dad in Montgomery. Not long after this picture was taken, we were showered with marble-sized hail. It was very loud and scared the kids worse than going through one of those gas station car washes. We were fortunate not to have had any damage.

On some much nicer days, the kids and I enjoyed some time outside. Lily was eating her snack and coloring with some sidewalk chalk. Avery and Brenna shredded some leaves in the back tire of Brenna's bike. Brenna actually came up with the idea when her bike was stuck with the back tire off of the ground. I never understood the point, but it sure did keep the kids busy for a while.

We were also able to sneak in a quick trip to Galveston. We stopped in to eat at our favorite new place to eat called The Spot. It's right on the seawall, the prices are good and so is the food. The island is coming back to life slowly, but surely. They have replaced a good part of the beach along the seawall and many places have reopened. There is still a lot of work to be done. Some of the same piles we saw in December were still there in March. I admire the spirit of those who are rebuilding and will stay on the island to insure the island will return to the way it was before Ike.

We began our planning for Easter and had every one's clothes ready, the eggs and baskets were ready to go and then came Good Friday. I began having some pain in a tooth that had cracked and broken over a year ago. I never had the tooth looked at because the break was not horrible and I was not in any pain, until Good Friday. By mid afternoon, I was in severe pain. The dentist's office closed at 2:00 and the on-call doctor would not go anything for me. We went to the Good Friday service at church and then let the kids go hunt eggs with some friends. I was able to bum some pain medication from my dear friend and waited until Monday to see the dentist. After seeing the dentist, I learned that all of my pain was due to an infection in my tooth that would require a root canal, but not before the infection was cured. The soonest I could get my root canal was one week later. I spent the week on the couch with pain medication. I told several people I would gladly endure labor again if it meant I did not have this pain in my tooth.

This last Tuesday I had my first root canal. Not fun, but no more pain! This Sunday, we will finally have the Easter celebration with our family that we missed. In the clear? I don't know. We'll see for how long!

One step forward, two steps back.

Saturday is my cousin Jessica's baby shower. It's her first baby and she's had a really rough go of it. Nothing has been easy, but the end is drawing near for her to meet her precious gift from God. Her very dear friend planned the shower for her and asked me to make her cake. I was so excited to participate since I was not able to throw the shower myself.

Then there was last night. Brenna woke up in the middle of the night fighting to breathe. It was an easy diagnosis, croup. I've had experience with croup with Cooper at age 3. It was very scary for him since he was so little. The best thing about an older child having croup is their ability to calm down and not make the situation worse by panicking or crying. I was able to give Brenna some Motrin for her fever and some water and she was able to sleep the rest of the night rather well.

She didn't sound much better this morning, so we went to the doctor. To my shock and disbelief, she also has bronchitis and possibly pneumonia! I've never seen any of my babies get this sick so quickly. She went to school yesterday and really didn't start feeling bad until dinner time.

After a day of running around in the rain and cold from the doctor, to get an x-ray, prescriptions, and Cooper from school. We are finally in our warm home.

I'm sad that I'll miss my cousin's baby shower and I'll miss seeing my Grandmother and Aunts. I'm sad that my baby girl is so sick. I'm sad that I won't be able to make the cake I promised. However, I'm so happy that my family understands my situation and would never get upset with me for not coming. I'm happy that God has provided the provisions to care for Brenna and the resources to make her fell better.

My blog update may take a little longer that I had planned, but it will get there, eventually.

Life Interrupted

You know you need to post on your blog when you husband sends you and e-mail from work telling you how much he misses checking in on it from time to time. My last post, as you can see, was in the middle of December. Since my last post, the following events have transpired:

Christmas
Lily's mom attempted to remove her from our home
Several extra activities
Computer Meltdowns
Illness
and basic uneventful, non-documented nothingness.

With all of that said, one of my duties today is to start blogging again. I will post yet another "summary" post of events over the last few months and hopefully not wait another 3 months before I post again.

Stay tuned!