So much change! For those of you who don’t know me well, I don’t handle change gracefully.  And lots of change all at once? I’m a total stress-pot.  And I’m stressing now.  Between school, my part-time work conducting home studies, the home renovation, all of Little A’s appointments, and staying on top of my new business I feel like I am being pulled in too many directions.  Knowing that everyone feels like this sometimes does nothing to ease my feelings of guilt and concern about whether I am making the best choices for my family and my daughter.

Our home renovation is well under way~ the granite guys are here today, removing our old countertops and installing new ones in the kitchen.  Other guys are staining the built-in bookcases in the living room, and painting the cabinets above and below the wet bar.  It’s a flurry of activity, and it’s making me crazy. All of our stuff from the kitchen and pantry is now in boxes cluttering our living room, laundry room,  and The Stone Room…it’s chaotic and messy and is bringing out a little OCD in me that I never knew existed.  I long for quiet and tidiness, to have everything back in its rightful place thereby restoring tranquility throughout our home.

I have also been reminding myself that we are lucky to have a home…the neighbors directly behind us (we share a fence) do not.  Two weeks ago they had a fire that originated in the garage…three hours later their house was engulfed in smoke and no longer inhabitable.  The people in our neighborhood banded together and began coordinating a relief effort for the family: donations of clothing, food, gift cards and money began pouring in.  I’ve always liked this neighborhood, but after seeing how our neighbors joined together to help a family in need,  I love it.

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I called the GI dietician at Children’s Plano that works with Little A a couple of weeks ago.  I told her how much Addi has been eating, in addition to her feeds, and she agreed to drop from four daily feeds through the g-tube to two feeds.  For the past two weeks, Little A has only been getting 335 mLs of formula through her g-tube instead of 650 mLs.  She’s been consistently taking in anywhere from 550 to 700 calories by mouth, and between 210 mLs and 300mLs of liquid (her favorite is V-8 juice).  Her feeding therapist says that Little A seems to be weaning herself off of the g-tube, which is fantastic!

Speaking of Little A: she has been anti-participatory (is that a phrase?!) during Little Gym the past couple of times we’ve attended.  Not sure if it is because she hadn’t been there in two weeks, or because she just isn’t interested in learning new skills.  She prefers to spin in circles in time to the music and scoot away from my attempts to encourage her participation.  I am torn between letting her do her own thing and forcing her to try new stuff. She’s only three years old (in 17 days), and I have to remind myself that she learns differently from other kids and that she’ll do things when she’s ready to do them.  Not comparing her to other “typical” kids is something I struggle with, and it shames me to admit it.

I met with a family yesterday who has restored my belief that people are generally good and want to do the right thing.  The parents have two children of their own, and have been caring for two children belonging to another family member for the past three years.  They are hoping to house the other four siblings of the two children currently placed with them, which is the reason I was in their home.

This family is renovating their 1700 square foot home to accommodate the addition of more kids: they enlarged the existing bathroom, added two closets, knocked out a wall between the living room and kitchen to add better sight lines, put in a kitchen pantry to make more counter space, and are adding a second bathroom… All because they want to keep six siblings together.  I worried that they would struggle with eight kids (I would!), but in talking with the neighbors I realized that this family truly has a Village helping them.  I think they’ll be fine 🙂

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I almost forgot the biggest change of all! I joined a fabulous team of women–go Team Believe!–as a consultant with Rodan+Fields!!! I started using the skincare products nine weeks ago and began noticing visible changes in my skin within seven weeks. I can’t sell a product I don’t believe in, and these products are wonderful.  My crows feet? Almost invisible.  The dark spots from sun damage? Fading away.  My skin is soft, smooth, and looks AMAZING! I’ve only worn makeup twice in eight weeks.

I launched my business on February 22nd, and my mom was my first client:-) This is HUGE because my mom hasn’t used anything besides Bare Minerals skincare and makeup since the 1990’s, and also because I was an independent sales representative for Silpada jewelry for six years and she never bought a single thing from me! I hope she will love the R+F products as much as I do.  (If you are interested in learning more about Rodan + Fields products or business opportunity, leave me a comment below.)

Stay tuned for updates on the home renovation, Addison’s school evaluation, and Rodan+Fields products~~~~