My Angel

It is very often that I call K. "angel" or "my angel." I do it so often that she believes she is a true angel sent to us from God. Who's going to argue with that? I can't say enough just how blessed I am to be K.'s mom. It is such a gift.

Recently she has become more aware of her cleft lip and palate, but only because other children (usually older children) have asked her about her scars (which truly are very minimal). In my explanations to her I tell her she was born with a broken lip that was shaped like a heart and that God gave us very special doctors to repair her lip to help her to eat, drink and speak more easily. She is completely satisfied with my response, which is the complete truth, and is so proud of her cleft. We tell her it only makes her more special.

At the end of her kindergarten school year, she met an adult at her school who was also born with cleft. She came home that day to tell me that she had met another special angel from God and she worked at her school. And added, "Can you believe it?" I was pretty close to tears.

This year she'll most likely have to deal with a lot more questions as she'll begin seeing an orthodontist soon and another surgery will be scheduled in the not-so-distant future (possibly within the next couple of years depending on growth, etc.) She has lost several "baby teeth" and her permanent teeth are arriving in all sorts of crazy directions.

I hope her confidence in herself only grows and that she'll be able to answer those tough questions like the angel she is. I couldn't be happier that she is proud of such a minor thing (her scars) that makes her different and that she is accepting of everyone and the things that make us all different. I wish more people could be just like her, including myself.

First Grade

Our sweet girl is now in first grade. The first day of school was Aug. 6, which, in my opinion, is way too early. She had a great day and is so excited about what this year will bring. She is also very, very happy with her teacher, who was also my third grade teacher at a different school just a mere 23 years ago. I survived the day emotionally, but I'll admit - it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had to fight very hard to hold back the tears. I can't stand that she is growing up so fast. P. starts preschool in Sept. He is more than ready to go. In fact, he tells me he wants to just go on to kindergarten. When that happens, be prepared - I'm going to be an emotional wreck!

Here's our girl on her first day:

At the beach with the Armstrongs

In mid-July we took a nine-day trip to Florida. We spent the first four days in Seacreast by ourselves and spent the last five in Okaloosa Island with Mimi, Poppy, Aunt Les, Trey and Syd. We had so much fun and I have lots of pictures to prove it. The highlights included: getting caught in a storm on Seacrest Beach and having to wait for our "tram" (aka golf cart) in the pouring rain - it really was fun for all of us; watching the kids play in the fountains outside our condo; K. and P. perfecting their wave riding skills; Syd telling me to "c'mon, get in water, Brani!"; playing Rook and dominoes every night with Les and Trey; hunting for sand crabs with Poppy and the kids and their flashlights on the beach at night; taking the children out for their first putt putt golf game; and attempting the perfect beach photo of the entire family (see previous post).