Christmas 2008

"How deep the Father's Love." This is the title and the first line of one of my favorite songs. Of course, the Father in the song is God the Father, but I can't help thinking about my own position as a father and wonder "how deep this father's love?" Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and this year was another great one. Emma Claire was a blast. She had her few days of fussiness after a long drive and a lot of crowded houses, but I can hardly blame her for that. She loved opening presents, getting presents, handing out presents, and playing with other people's presents. It was a lot of fun to watch. The best story from Christmas 08, however, is not about presents. It's about Ashley and Emma Claire by the Christmas tree. Ashley was showing Emma Claire the ornaments on the tree and she pointed at Santa Clause. Emma Claire had no clue who Santa was, but when Ashley pointed at Jesus EC knew exactly who He was. Now, we're not the boycott Santa type (though it is way overdone in many families), but what a blessing that Emma Claire knows already what Christmas is really about. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas gift; I've gotta say I really love my girls! "How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure. That He would give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure." And may we always make Him our treasure.

 Emma Claire was an angel in the church's Christmas Program.

 We're headed to MS!!

 Comments:

comment by GG on 01/08/2009

Emma Claire: I am sooo thankful to know that your Mommy & Daddy love you so much that they make sure you're learning what the REAL reason is for the Christmas Season.

Terrible Two's

Terrible Twos. That is all I need to say. Do any of you have any good suggestions?

My little red head has gotten even more firery and defiant. I have already begun to reread "Don't Make Me Count to Three" again. The last few days have been tough and I feel that I am quickly losing my patience with her. Please pray for Wisdom for Benjamin and I as we face this new challenge.

**A great concept from the book I am reading says that if you only deal with the outward symptoms of bad behavior then you will teach your children to be manipulators. We want to teach her that her behavior should be the overflow of goodness and love that comes from her heart because of the love God has shown us.


Comments:

comment by Rachael Davis on 12/24/2008

My sweet Ashley, Let me encourage you to "not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up." (Galatians 6:9) You & Benjamin are doing a wonderful job...seeking the Lord and wise counsel, and praying for that sweet girl. The harvest will come - you're just in that time of hard work, sowing the seeds that will reap great rewards in Emma Claire's life. In our house, we call it "sweat equity." The ONLY advice I can give you (besides to keep reading Ginger Plowman) is to be consistent, consistent, consistent, even when you're sick to death of it. I'm praying for you, my friend!

Random December Photos

Sweet North Carolina Christmas

This morning we were able to do Emma Claire's Christmas Presents. I'm not sure who was more excited; me or her. Benjamin and I had fallen asleep on the couch so we woke up about 2 in the morning and started getting busy putting her gifts together. Benjamin had to climb up in the attic to the get the gifts while trying to be very quiet not to wake her. I was so excited after getting them all laid out that I could not hardly go to sleep. I could already see the excitement on her face when she woke up the next morning to see her gifts.

The next morning we had to be somewhere at 10:00 but that wouldn't be a problem because Emma Claire ALWAYS gets up between 7 & 7:30. And of course we don't use an alarm clock because she is a wonderful one! Needless to say we had to go wake her up at 9:00. Who would have thought. She must not have been as excited as I was. Benjamin woke her up and she gathered all of her babies in her hands before heading to the living room to find Mommy. It didn't take but a second for her to spot her new toys. She dropped off the babies to mommy and took off. Joy filled my heart as I watched her big smile on her face as she picked up each toy and handed it to her daddy. I will always be so grateful to Bay Leaf Baptist Church for making this Christmas so special for us.

Comments:


comment by RaRa on 12/24/2008

Sweet. Just the first of MANY! After 25 years, I still get excited to watch ALL kids get excited! Merry Christmas Emma Claire and to your mommy and daddy. I love you all.

Praise the Lord

Praise the Lord! The nurse called and said that all of Emma Claire's test came back fine and unless she had more trouble she didn't have to go back.  Thank you, Lord, for being so gracious.


Comments:

comment by RaRa on 12/24/2008

Amen and Amen!

Reward Jar

I have been wanting to implement some type of rewards system with Emma Claire for a while but I wasn't sure how to go about it.  I thought about making some type of chart that she could put stickers on or put x's on when she obeyed or helped Mommy around the house.  She is a great little helper and even cleans up on her own sometimes without being asked. I wanted her to be rewarded for all of her positive behaviors. I got the idea of the Rewards Jar from a classroom at preschool who do something similar to this idea.  Today I spent time decorating it and making something special for Emma Claire. We made the jar very colorful and even put her name on it and we purchased small glitter pom-pom balls at Wal-Mart to fill the jar with. The idea is that every time she obeys, does  a good deed, shares, potties, etc. that she gets to put pom-poms in her jar.  For example, today while I was making the jar Emma Claire went to the potty and did a shew-shew in it.  After we celebrated she got to put 3 pom-poms in her jar.  Once the jar is full she gets to do or get something really special.  Something like going to Chucky Cheese, going to the park, or buying a small toy at wal-mart.  I think this will be very beneficial to her.  We will never take the pom-poms out for disobedience because we don't want this to replace disciplining her.  It is strictly for her to be rewarded for all of her good behavior. Let me know what you think. Pros and Cons.

Comments:


comment by RaRa on 01/11/2009

YOU DID IT!! I knew you could. You are such a big help to Mommy and Daddy and are learning to obey when you are told. Thank you for being so sweet. I love you!

comment by GG on 12/05/2008

Great Idea! Just remember that Grandparents get to reward her regardless of how she behaves since she's always "perfect" in our eyes!! :)

comment by Kayla Essary on 12/05/2008

I do this in my classroom, but with fishes! My third graders love it!

comment by RaRa on 12/05/2008

Great Idea. This will be a really good visual tool for her to feel good about her accomplishments. Keep us posted on how full it gets with a picture every now and then. I know she will work hard to obey and be pleasing in the eyes of God AND her parents. She is just that kind of girl! Love it!

Emma Claire's Test at WakeMed Hospital

I am going to try and go step by step through our day today for our family. I know some of you will not want to read all of this but our family wanted to be here so bad to go with us to the hospital for Emma Claire's test so I am going to try and make them feel apart as best as I can. Please excuse my story telling skills because I am definatly no writer.


We woke Emma Claire up this morning about ten after seven to get ready to go to WakeMed Hospital for her ultrasound test on her kidneys and bladder. She was in such a good mood and just ready to go somewhere in the van but she didn't know where. Our appointment was schedule for 9:00 am and registration at 8:30 so we left our house at about 7:40 anticipating on hitting traffic. We arrived at the hospital at about 8:15 and unloaded the van in the parking garage. Emma Claire got out of the van and was so patient for Mommy to fix her hair and get bundled up in a coat. As we were riding down the elevator she wouldn't have it any other way than to hold one of mommy's hands and one of daddy's. We entered the hospital and registered atthe front desk and then headed to register 3 to sign the paperwork. As we walked to up to the desk Emma Claire gave a big bellied "HI!" to the nurse at the station and I sat down to fill out papers. As I was sitting at the desk Emma Claire and her Daddy were running around playing Peek-a-Boo in all the cubicles having a wonderful time. The nurse then called her over because she needed to give Emma Claire her bracelet. Emma Claire was soooo excited. She kept saying "Brac-et, Brac-et!". The nurse had put a little cute sticker on there for her and of course she did her best to get it off. We finally convinced her to keep it under her shirt so nobody would get it. From there the nurse directed us to the Radiology Department to wait for our test. Again as we walked into the room Emma Claire gave that receptionist a big bellied "HI!". She laughed and told us to take a seat and they would call our name when they were ready. That morning I had packed Emma Claire a bag of goodies to entertain her while we were there so she sat and read her book "Peek-a-Boo Animals". We weren't in the waiting room five minutes and they called us back for our test. As we were leaving Emma Claire yelled "BYE! BYE! BYE!" to everyone in the room and as we were walking off I could hear everyone laughing at her. I just love how social she is! There we met our nurse, Brittany. She was sooo good with Emma Claire. She took her time and did her best to make things as comfortable as she could for her. Brittany took us to the back and into the room where she would do our test. They had the lights down in the room and as we were walking in Emma Claire said, "SSSHHHH, Seepin". She was telling us to be quiet because she thought someone was sleeping in the room. Brittany had us lay Emma Claire up on the table but as soon as we did she started screaming. I think because of the Cath they did on her last week she is scard for life. She just knew they were going to do something to hurt her. After a few minutes of reassuring from Mommy and Daddy, I climbed up onto the table to let her sit in my lap. Brittany checked her kidneys first so Emma Claire had to face me. She was crying and Benjamin was trying his best behind me trying to calm her down. We asked Emma Claire if she wanted a sucker, "K", but it didn't help she just kept on crying. After she was done checking her back we turned her around for Brittany to check her bladder. As soon as we turned her around Emma Claire said, "All Done, Thank You". She thought she was done. Then we went right back to the screaming when Brittany put the gel on her tummy. Thankfully it didn't take but just a second and we were done with the whole test. Emma Claire again said "All Done, Thank You" and got down. Then miraculously she was perfectly fine. We stood there and talk to the tech for a minute about the testing and Emma Claire found a 'pi-poe' and laid on the floor. Brittany told us that to her the test looked fine but we would have to wait to hear from the doctor and it may not be until Monday. So, we gathered up our things to head home. On the way out, Mommy in one hand and Daddy in the other, Emma Claire was all smiles. She was finally all done and it was only 9:11 am. I think it was the quickest anyone had been to the hospital for any testing; it had to be. From there Daddy took us to eat breakfast at MiMi's Cafe to celebrate our good news (which you will have to find out later, & no I'm not pregnant) and then to the mall for Emma Claire to play as a reward for her job well-done today.

We could not have asked for the day to go any better. Thank everyone so much for all of your prayers and support. Emma Claire is getting back to herself more and more everyday. We love you All!

Comments:


comment by Poppa & GG on 12/05/2008

Emma Claire: Poppa & GG prayed for you and are sooo thankful that God hears and answers our prayers. He LOVES you even more than we do so it has to be a WHOLE BUNCH!!!!! We're sooo proud of you and what a "brave girl" you are. We're also very proud of your Mommy and Daddy who love you and take such good care of you.

comment by RaRa on 12/04/2008

Great Job Ashley! Bless her heart and much love to you and Benjamin. I know how your hearts must have been aching through this whole experience, I know mine has been. I am praying with anticipation that the days ahead will show much improvement and some sense of normalcy will return to your lives. She is a trooper! "Baby Okay!"

A Week In The Doctor's Office

Last Monday Emma Claire woke up screaming every time she pottied or was about to go potty. I called the Dr. and they got her in right away. Since it had something to do with her pottying they needed to me to get a urine sample from her. After to much time had gone by in the bathroom trying to potty they decided to do a Catheter on her. It was awful!! Emma Claire was screaming, I was crying, RaRa was crying and the nurses were trying theirbest to hold her still. The test came back positive for a Urinary Tract Infection so they put on her on antibiotics and sent off for more testing. Of course the antibiotics tore her little tummy up. We ended up back in the doctors office on Monday of this week because she had gone 17 hours without wetting a diaper because she had lost so many fluids and had begun throwing up. They weren't concerned with her being dehydrated because her lips were still moist but they were concerned that her test had come back growing bacteria. With her being under 2 years old it throws up red flags that they need to check out were the bacteria is coming from. They had us give another urine sample and are sending us this Thursday morning to Wake Med Hospital to have an ultrasound done on her tummy. If all goes well with that test then we are done unless she has another infection. If something comes up funny then they will do another test by inserting dye into her. I feel like everything will turn out fine because she never ran a high fever with the infection. She would just cry and say "Mommy, Medicine. Medicine, Mommy!" She was letting me know that she was hurting and she needed something to fix it. I am so proud that she can talk now and we were able to catch this early. Please pray for her on Thursday. The test is simple, but the hardest part for her will be to set still. We know that all things are in God's hands.

Comments:


comment by Melissa Parnell on 12/04/2008

ashley,

i'm so sorry to hear about little Emma Claire. We are praying for her!

comment by Emily on 12/04/2008

Will be praying for Emma Claire. Keep my updated and let me know what the doc says.