From the Inside Out

These lyrics were just heavy on my heart so I wanted to share them! I'm actually enjoying some time to pray and praise while both girls are unexpectedly taking simultaneous naps! This is my cry right now, literally:

"A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Chorus 2x
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out"

Eleri update

After three days of antihistamine and a steroid each night, Eleri seems to be doing better. Her "spots" are pretty faded now although a few do pop up each day, but do not spread like they were doing. She has been pretty fussy the last few days and only wanting Momma, a task that I'm so okay with, but that means a neglected big girl and a neglected home. I stayed up late last night cleaning after the girls went to bed, just to be up all morning with Eleri. I thought that I would stop caffeine, but no such luck, it really makes a difference in my ability to function without sleep. Well, I'm not sure I function well, but I function. In the mean time, Eleri is pulling up so well that we had to lower her crib mattress after Eric went to get her from nap and realized she could easily tumble out! So here is a picture!

Eleri is 7 months

Today, Eleri is 7 months old! She is doing quite a lot! Last week, Eleri started pulling up and she has not stopped since. She loves to play on the trampoline by pulling up on it or sitting next to it and patting it and even has tried crawling over it! Anything and everything, including Daddy's head, has made for good resistance to get to her feet. Mali and Eleri are also beginning to be able to play together. Last week, Mali was playing with her Polly Pockets and Eleri kept "attacking" the Polly Pockets. I'm wondering how many Polly Pocket accessories this little girl will put in her mouth. It has been sweet to watch them play together. Eleri continues to adore her big sister and wants to be where Mali is. Eleri is also crawling all over the place and does not stay put for long. Eleri is still so sweet and happy,even despite her latest little sickness. We have had some issues at night and I woke up Friday morning ready to begin letting her cry it out at night, but then discovered her spots, so maybe in 2 weeks when she is better I will return to that. Honestly, I have been so tired that I just end up feeding her. I think Thursday night/morning she ate six times... ridiculous on both our parts! I know she doesn't need to eat during the night but it is an easy solution for this sleep deprived mommy, but the time has come to get tough. Eleri still is growling and making many people laugh! She has started babbling too and it is so sweet to hear! Eleri also survived her first week of football without any problem. She did great last night at the varsity game. We did get new toys down from the attic as Eleri has moved past simple entertainment. I can't believe she is slowly slipping away from the baby stage! She is still as sweet as can be and has blessed our lives tremendously. I'm so thankful for this sweet girl.
I couldn't get Eleri to hold still for pictures, so this is her at 7 months. Eleri weighed 16.73lbs at her appointment yesterday.

The parents

So this family actually has parents that do things too!:) Just kidding, we aren't nearly as exciting but here is an update on us! Eric passed his science teaching certification test this month. I'm really proud of him. He has worked and worked to pass this test. So now he is certified to teach PE (what he is currently teaching), health and science. Eric is also working on his master's in administration to one day become a principal! Football has also started and Eric's teams have gotten off to a great start. 1-0 with a score of 44-22 for the freshman black team and 56-0 for Amarillo High. We are so proud of him!
I'm still working about 7 hours a week. I've picked up a few clients from New Hope again after a six month "maternity leave". I feel like God has opened the doors for these clients and I'm being very selective. I'm not accepting any insurance right now so that I don't have to worry about that mess, private pay only. I'm seeing those clients on the weekends with "forces" Eric to spend time with the girls (those are his words by the way). I'm also still seeing my one client in his home. God has blessed me tremendously through this family and I feel like I'm able to help them and minister to them. One of those blessings, is that we are working on social skills training and Mali is having play dates. So two of the seven hours I work each week, Mali is with me! Hasn't God blessed me???
I think that is it for us!!!:)

Miss Sensitive

Last night, Eleri had a rough night. This morning after her breakfast "peaches", I noticed she had bug bites on her. I called our nurse and she said to bring her in. At the time, I was worried I had made it sound worse than it was, but by our 11:30 appointment I was glad that I had taken her in. Here are pictures of it. She has angioedema multiplias. Some how she came into contact with a foreign substance, but we don't know what. Typically these hives are seen with a virus or allergic reaction to medication, none of which she has had. She has had nothing new at all. The only possiblity was something I mopped with on our wood floor yesterday. Who knows, but the treatment is the same. She will be on an antibiotic and steroid for 2 weeks. Poor poor girl!

Mali's first week of school

Mali seems to have had a great first week of 5 year old preschool, although she some how turned 15 between drop off and pick up on Tuesday. I asked her about her day and her responses where the following "I'm too tired to talk. I'm too thirsty to talk. Mom, can you please not talk to me." So, my initial reaction was "okay fine" (hey don't judge me I'm working on very little sleep and impulses aren't as guarded) but then thought again and actually replied "well I'm here when you want to talk about it." I do know that they are learning to write their names in lower case letters because I got quite the lecture when I wrote her name in all caps! Mali has been super cute with other things though. She has been really engaging in pretend play. Mali did tell me that she has a new name "Penny" and that I need to call her that! Another cute phrase from her was "I wish there was a girl football team". Mali also started a worship ballet class at Paramount called Doxa. She gets to be in there with her friend Hallie and really enjoys it! Afternoon preschool seems to be working out great for us so far. Eleri is napping in the morning for a good 1 hour to 1.5 hours and Mali and I have been getting in some good quality time. I know that God worked this out. It has been so fun to get ready with Mali, read to her and play with her all while Eleri naps. Mali has been exhausted after this week though and has had some whiney-ness and behavior problems, but she will adjust!

Pulling up?? Already??

I'm thinking that Eleri was soooo bored without big sister around today that she had nothing better to do than PULL UP! I was busy trying to get a shot of her sitting up since she technically isn't doing this (because she is on the go) and look what she did instead? I was so impressed. I had to move the trampoline into her room because I was having horrible visions of her hitting her head on the wood floor!

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