Red Flags

He's not talking.

He has a very talkative older sister.
Boys talk later than girls.
Sometimes he'll repeat and talk with Sesame Street.


He's not responding to me.

He's just 2. 2 year olds are stubborn.
Maybe he can't hear me. Schedule another hearing test.


He's lining up his action figures in precise ways and gets REALLY upset when you move one.

He's just playing.
He's protective of his toys. He has to be with two sisters ready to steal them.


"On August 15th, the BSRC published a paper in Pediatrics which reexamined the recurrence rate of autism in high risk families. It found that in families with one or more children on the autism spectrum, the chances that a baby sibling will develop autism are around 1 in 5, more than double previous estimates of 1 in 10 to 1 in 30. The rate was much higher among younger brothers (1 in 4) than among younger sisters (1 in 9). In families with more than one older child on the spectrum, 1 in 3 infants eventually developed autism. The severity of the older sibling's autism did not affect the risk to younger brothers or sisters, nor did other family attributes such as parental age, ethnicity, or birth order."
 - Autism Speaks


...higher in younger brothers?


Bottom Line:  It's time to cry, pray and make some appointments. 

Mama Loves Fun Accessories

Familial Follies

• We've had a wave of stomach virus descend upon the house. It seemed to skitter over the adults and Sophie, backslap Gideon a little and then hug Milly like a swaddle blanket. Oy, the diapers that child has produced! It seems to be waning. Meanwhile, I just hold my breath when she wants to cuddle.

• Sophie's potty training is pretty much the same. She still poops in her panties and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way until we can communicate a little better. She will go potty in other places and can tell people when she needs to go. Today, as we were all getting a little bit of fresh air, I noticed her coming up our long driveway out of the corner of my eye. I was watching Milly to make sure she didn't eat weeds. I looked up and there was my beautiful big girl...with her pants and panties around her ankles asking to go inside to the potty. We may need to work on proper timing.

• Gideon can't seem to decide if he wants to take naps or not. I know he still needs a little nap each day because he turns into a werewolf at 5:45 if he doesn't have one. I never know what will happen when I put him down. Will he meekly lay down and gently fall asleep only to be awaked by me in an hour when he nestles his sweaty little head on my shoulder? Will he swing his Donald Duck doll around his head while caterwauling and jumping on the crib like a trampoline for an hour? NO ONE KNOWS.

• We have new musical tastes. Sophie loves dancing to Ricky Martin. Milly sing-screeches and dances to Ozzy Osborne. Gideon sits quietly and rocks his head while smiling whenever Beck plays. My kids are cool.

Finding My Peace

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me

God formed me. He knows me better than anyone else on this earth. He alone will meet all of my needs. He alone will love me perfectly. I will find peace, satisfaction and will never be lonely as long as I stay close to Him.




My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

Wherever I go and no matter what I do, God will love me unconditionally. He will never turn his back on me. If I feel distance from Him then it is because I have turned from Him.




When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin

I will be bruised. I will be thrown. I will be hurt. Sometime it will be life. Some of these things will be my own fault. Whatever I have done and whatever I will do is already forgiven. Satan lies. I am still important. I am still His child. There is no reason to give up on God because He will never give up on me.

One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased by His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

My life, my soul, was paid for at an incredibly high cost. Something that I cannot even begin to fathom. It is eternal. It can never be changed. From the time I accepted that gift at 10 years old, my fate was sealed.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I am
The King of glory and of grace

My Savior, my Father, My King is perfect. I am not and can never hope to be. Yet He still wants me. He yearns to be near me and for me to follow Him.

Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

I am ugly and covered in sin. I am human. Yet, when God looks at me, He sees nothing but the purity of the sacrifice made in my stead. It must be a choice. He can still see the real me. He created the real me. He chooses to see the sacrifice instead and pardon my sins. Then He can be free to hold me close.

How can I deny this? How can I look at humans to meet my needs when I have a perfect God who is not just able but willing and eager to love me more than I can expect?


Lyrics - Before The Throne of God by Sojourn

Love and Respect

"So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband."
Ephesians 5:33 CEV 

My church, Lake Pointe, has been doing a new message series called Fixing Your Marriage. The first message was given by Steve Stroope and was centered around this verse. He called the message "The Foundation of Love and Respect".

That Sunday, I had gone to church with Sophie and left Ben at home with a sick Milly and an iffy Gideon. I sat alone in the service listening to Steve talk about how women and men need different things on which to feel "sturdy" in their marriage. He likened it to how we as humans can go for 3 days without food but only 3 days without water.


In marriage, a woman's water is love and a man's water is respect.


This hit me hard and made me listen very close. I knew that men and women were different. Heck, I learned that lesson back in elementary school when the boy I liked acted like a jerk to me and expected me to figure it out that it meant that he liked me back! (Boys are WEIRD.) I just thought that once we hit a certain age that everyone needed love. It's true that we all need love but men feel loved in a different way. They need to know that they are respected. They feel this way in their jobs, by their children and especially by their wives.


Disrespect from a wife can crush a man. Did you know that we hold that kind of power?


Unfortunately, I had no idea how to speak that language. I know my husband's Love Language but how does that translate into respecting him? Is it the same? Is it made of actions or is it done with words? If broken does it take years to repair or can I apologize and fix it with immediate action?


It made me nervous. This is the foundation we're talking about here. I live in a tiny rental house with horrible foundation problems that affect EVERY SINGLE THING in the house. The doors don't close correctly, the plumbing is wonky, the tile gets more crooked every day, the paint is cracked, and so on. When I think about this in regards to my marriage then I get very concerned.


So I went to God. We're still talking it over and rolling out some new programs. There seems to be good feedback. I'm grateful for that message.


How do you show respect to your husband? Does he know what he needs? Can you ask him? Are you showing it now?

My Delicate Little Flowers

We got a present in the mail yesterday. My MIL had made a framed cross-stitch for Milly just as she had done for Sophie years ago.  Both are beautifully done. My MIL is extremely talented.

Sophie's has her first name in English and in Greek. The verse is 1 Timothy 3:15 and was chosen because "Sophia" means "wisdom" in Greek. Her name is surrounded by cherry blossoms because her middle name is Sakura, the Japanese cherry blossom tree.

We named Milly "Millicent Mei" because we wanted the girls to have somewhat similar name meanings. "Millicent" means "brave strength" in Old French. "Mei" means "the youngest of sisters" and "beautiful" in Japanese. What we had neglected to notice was that there was a blossom hidden in our littlest girl's name, too.

First, I love that my MIL chose one of my favorite verses for Milly. Proverbs 31 is perfect for her because it references that strength that her first name means but it also tells about her smile. My MIL even put a sun on the picture. Ben and I have said time and time again that Milly's smiles are like sunshine in the darkest of night. Second was the flower. Mailed with this beautiful picture were printouts explaining the flower.

Apparently, when the sakura trees are sleeping, the plum trees are blooming. Japanese plum trees are called "Mei".

So these are my sweet flowers. My Sophia Sakura and my Millicent Mei. They blossom at different times so our lives are always filled with beautiful blooms.

Oy

I'm tired and I have a headache. Enjoy this lazy picture post!

Gideon practicing his accounting skills.

While I was doing laundry, Gideon demanded to wear his Daddy's shirt.

"You've got a friend and a breakfast buddy in me!"

Such a lady.

Watching ARCA racing intently with Daddy.

She's hiding. You can't see her.

Milly likes Abby Cadabby.