Bendel Manor: April 2013

April 23, 2013

a conscious shift...

photo credit: Deborah C. Turner Photography

I have put a lot of thought into this, and I pray that you hear my heart- not just my words.

As you may or may not know, I attended an amazing conference back in October. It was life-giving, and personal-boundary-pushing, and soul-scrubbing. I loved it, I miss it, and I was forever changed by it.
To be honest, I'm still a little broken from it.
The things my soul heard, and my heart felt are still with me. And they changed the way I view things.

This blog, for instance. It has become a source of guilt, and stress. Not the feel good, inspirational, medium I had hoped for.

I'm a wife, and a mom, and I work outside the home. That's my reality. A reality that some times makes it difficult to post daily. So I post infrequently, and then I feel bad, and my mind thinks of at least 5 things that I could post. And I think to myself: "self, you should sit down and write these things, and schedule them for next week. Bam! One week worth of posts in one day, done." And sometimes, I do that. And other times Olivia has a melt down, or the dog won't stop barking, or the car breaks down and I'm not feeling very good, or inspirational. And really, who wants to read about that mess?

There are some big changes that will be happening in our home soon. And I'm feeling like this time of transition needs to seep into other areas of my life. (I've been doing a lot of thinking and feeling and talking to myself lately.)
My goals for this blog have changed. I have some exciting plans, all of which I want to share- but I feel like I need a fresh start.

So I'm working on a new space for us to meet.

I've been praying that the Lord would lead me in the right direction, and give me the words that need to be "said." I probably won't be posting on here, until our new spot is ready. I want it to be happy, and life-breathed, and filled to the brim with His goodness. I have a tentative goal for when I hope to have it ready for you. And when it is I'll let you know.

Until then, thank you for loving me well since I started this sweet little blog. Many of you have seen me through some pretty difficult times, and I have found some beautiful friendships in this blogging community.
See you soon, sweet girl.

April 3, 2013

Olivia: 3 year well visit

For the most part Olivia's 3 yr. well child visit went well.
Until this past year, Olivia had always been so healthy that these appointments were pretty much just for immunizations. I didn't really have any lingering questions.

This year, I went in with a list.
She's been having a hard time coping with her anger, and has taken to hitting herself.
She often complains of an upset tummy and being congested.
She was diagnosed since her last well visit.
She doesn't eat well. And by well, I mean at all.
and She's been having night terrors.

We have a great PA at out pediatrician's office and April quickly cut through my list of concerns. She was a little concerned about the behavioral issues we'd been having so we have a follow-up appointment next week to discuss some things as a family. She also put Olivia on zyrtec to manage what is likely seasonal allergies. I'm not usually a throw-medicine-at-it kind of mom, but Olivia is doing much better since we started the zyrtec.

Olivia has always been a teeny little nugget, and hovered around the 5-10th percentiles. She even fell off the chart one time. This year she made a pretty big leap and is ranking much higher.

Olivia: age 3
Well Child Visit, March 26, 2013

Height: 3' 1" (45th percentile, a 40% increase)
Weight: 30lb. 2oz. (40th percentile, a 35% increase)

April 2, 2013

a bendel easter 2013

I love Easter.
It's tied with Christmas for my favorite holiday.

We had a busy, but stress free holiday. Olivia woke up around 9 and opened her Easter basket.
She loved everything, but her favorites were the Paula Deen "My First Cookbook" and her new apron. (She has fallen in love with cooking shows lately. She is always asking to "watch the yady cook." Her favorites are Pioneer Woman, Trisha Yearwood and Paula Deen. She's a southern girl through and through!)

We didn't want to feel rushed, and since momma had the day off we decided to go to the late service at church. It was an awesome service. Lots of testimonies and worship. Olivia is really loving the children's ministry at our church. She decided a few months ago that she didn't want to go to the nursery anymore, that she wanted to attend children's church. We were proud of her, because giving up snacks and play kitchens for a real "service" is a big deal for an almost 3 year old. We talked to her and made sure she knew what she was committing to, and she made it perfectly clear where she wanted to be! She is about 2 years younger then the next youngest children, but I've been told she does a great job listening and participating. So proud of her.

After church, my mother-in-law and I hosted a family lunch. For the most part we just fixed the staples. Ham, hashbrown casserole, green beans, deviled eggs, and sweet tea. But we did try a new recipe for dessert, sharing that recipe later this week!

We were super lucky to have a dear family friend come by to take pictures of Olivia. We'd been having a hard time finding a good time to get together for Olivia's 3 year pictures, so Easter it was! Deborah got some amazing shots, and Olivia had a blast! We did a version of 'trash the dress.' You may remember that Olivia was a flower girl in my sister's wedding in June 2011- well, that darn dress still fit; so we put it on her, she donned her rain boots and hit the rain puddles!

We spent about 2 hours with Deborah soaking up the last few minutes of sunlight. After the camera and props were packed away we loaded Olivia up in the car for one last Easter celebration. We ran over to our "bonus parents" house. We are so blessed by their love for us and Olivia. I have no idea how we're going to explain to her one day that they are not actually related to her. She adores her Grandma and Pops! They had a huge basket for her and an indoor egg hunt. The picture above is her fanning herself, wearing the princess gear from her basket.

We hope your Easter was as blessed as ours was, and that amid all the eggs and candies- you never loose sight of the real reason we celebrate. He is risen, friends, risen indeed!

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