What we'll do for those pearly whites...

Today, my warm-up activity for my sophomores was to write about their first memory. We are reading short stories about different societies and their norms, and this opener was supposed to lead into discussing how we decide what "normal" is. So many of my students' first memories were of something tragic--like being wounded--or something magical--like Barney coming to their third Birthday party. After yesterday's debacle, I am afraid that when asked this question as a sophomore, Addison would describe her first trip to the dentist.

Don't let this pretty smile fool you...
[Photo credit: Aaron Yung Photography]

It. was. awful.

Worse than tubes.

We had been talking to her for awhile to her about going to the dentist and about getting her teeth cleaned and how Mommy and Daddy and Savannah go to the dentist and how big girls get to go to the dentist. Addison is someone who needs to process things. She likes to ask questions and feel comfortable with something before it is thrust upon her.

The night before we went, as I was tucking her in, she said to me, "Mom, are you going to leave me at the dentist? Will you hold my hand the whole time? Mom, I am going to try not to cry, but if they turn the lights off, I probably will. But I am going to try real hard." I reassured her, and said goodnight.

When we walked into the office, she was ready to go. As she saw other children go back, she looked at me and told me she was going to go all by herself. She even tried to go back before she was called.

As soon as she heard her name called, however, she clung to me for dear life, and I went back with her.

It started off well enough. Though her fingernails were digging into my arms, she was fairly compliant with the hygienist until she wanted to get her back teeth. Patrick and I have noticed and been a little concerned about some dark spots on her teeth, and though she is just shy of three, we wanted to make sure she didn't have a mouth full of cavities.

Once she was done, she was done, and there was no rationalizing or negotiating with her. She locked her jaw and clenched her teeth, but still managed to scream at the top of her lungs. In the end, her physical strength, strength of will, and fiestiness resulted in all hands on deck. It took three people holding her down to get a good look in her mouth.

Luckily, she has no cavities. It is a different bacteria that just sticks to her teeth. The dentist says that during her next growth spurt as her body composition changes, the stains will probably go away. Never heard of that.

When we left, I hugged her and told her that next time wouldn't be so scary. She asked me if it was okay to be afraid. Bless her. I hugged her again and said yes.

She was quiet the whole way home, but as soon as she walked in the door, she ran to her daddy, gave him a big toothy grin, and exclaimed, "Look at my princess teeth!"

After all that, I told him he could take her next time.

We gave our sweet girl some extra love and reassurance last night.

Today, my warm-up activity for my sophomores was to write about their first memory. We are reading short stories about different societies and their norms, and this opener was supposed to lead into discussing how we decide what "normal" is. So many of my students' first memories were of something tragic--like being wounded--or something magical--like Barney coming to their third Birthday party. After yesterday's debacle, I am afraid that when asked this question as a sophomore, Addison would describe her first trip to the dentist.

Don't let this pretty smile fool you...
[Photo credit: Aaron Yung Photography]

It. was. awful.

Worse than tubes.

We had been talking to her for awhile to her about going to the dentist and about getting her teeth cleaned and how Mommy and Daddy and Savannah go to the dentist and how big girls get to go to the dentist. Addison is someone who needs to process things. She likes to ask questions and feel comfortable with something before it is thrust upon her.

The night before we went, as I was tucking her in, she said to me, "Mom, are you going to leave me at the dentist? Will you hold my hand the whole time? Mom, I am going to try not to cry, but if they turn the lights off, I probably will. But I am going to try real hard." I reassured her, and said goodnight.

When we walked into the office, she was ready to go. As she saw other children go back, she looked at me and told me she was going to go all by herself. She even tried to go back before she was called.

As soon as she heard her name called, however, she clung to me for dear life, and I went back with her.

It started off well enough. Though her fingernails were digging into my arms, she was fairly compliant with the hygienist until she wanted to get her back teeth. Patrick and I have noticed and been a little concerned about some dark spots on her teeth, and though she is just shy of three, we wanted to make sure she didn't have a mouth full of cavities.

Once she was done, she was done, and there was no rationalizing or negotiating with her. She locked her jaw and clenched her teeth, but still managed to scream at the top of her lungs. In the end, her physical strength, strength of will, and fiestiness resulted in all hands on deck. It took three people holding her down to get a good look in her mouth.

Luckily, she has no cavities. It is a different bacteria that just sticks to her teeth. The dentist says that during her next growth spurt as her body composition changes, the stains will probably go away. Never heard of that.

When we left, I hugged her and told her that next time wouldn't be so scary. She asked me if it was okay to be afraid. Bless her. I hugged her again and said yes.

She was quiet the whole way home, but as soon as she walked in the door, she ran to her daddy, gave him a big toothy grin, and exclaimed, "Look at my princess teeth!"

After all that, I told him he could take her next time.

We gave our sweet girl some extra love and reassurance last night.

The rest of summer

When we got back from our vacation, the rest of summer just FLEW by. On the Monday we got back, Patrick started his new job. He is back into building and is so happy. This is an opportunity we have been praying for for so long, and God is blessing our family through it already. Isn't this house he just finished so beautiful? It is in Nashville's Sylvan Park Historic District. Preview more at www.aspen-construction.net
We got to visit with the rest of our cousins, some of our most special friends, and had some swim parties.

We went to visit Amy, Eli, and Caroline, and meet new baby Camp, but sweet boy was sleeping during out failed photo session. These kiddos sure have fun!
We took another trip to the zoo and found the flamingos again!


We have gotten more settled in at Otter Creek since we began visiting there since April, and Addison is loving her Bible class.

Then, before we knew it, we were starting back to school. This year, Ansley got a new lunch box since she can now eat some foods! Yay, Ansley!
We were sad to see summer go, but FALL is our favorite! Come on, cooler weather, football, birthdays, and anniversaries!

When we got back from our vacation, the rest of summer just FLEW by. On the Monday we got back, Patrick started his new job. He is back into building and is so happy. This is an opportunity we have been praying for for so long, and God is blessing our family through it already. Isn't this house he just finished so beautiful? It is in Nashville's Sylvan Park Historic District. Preview more at www.aspen-construction.net
We got to visit with the rest of our cousins, some of our most special friends, and had some swim parties.

We went to visit Amy, Eli, and Caroline, and meet new baby Camp, but sweet boy was sleeping during out failed photo session. These kiddos sure have fun!
We took another trip to the zoo and found the flamingos again!


We have gotten more settled in at Otter Creek since we began visiting there since April, and Addison is loving her Bible class.

Then, before we knew it, we were starting back to school. This year, Ansley got a new lunch box since she can now eat some foods! Yay, Ansley!
We were sad to see summer go, but FALL is our favorite! Come on, cooler weather, football, birthdays, and anniversaries!

The Craft for Coffee Lovers

I love to sew, but this summer it was more of a favorite past time, unfortunately. I have had material and patterns to make the girls matching dresses since last summer, and they are still in my craft closet. Oh well.

With all the new babies in our friends and families' lives, I have enjoyed making burp cloths and bibs, but that was about it... Until I finally tried my hand at this:
I have 3 coffee-loving friends who had spring/summer birthdays, and so I made these coffee cozys as part of their gifts. Cute, aren't they!?! I used this tutorial, and it is very basic. It was my first time sewing on batting which is a little tricky, and the rubber band part was a little tricky too, but the pattern was very straightforward. I loved the way they turned out, and I think my friends did too!

I love to sew, but this summer it was more of a favorite past time, unfortunately. I have had material and patterns to make the girls matching dresses since last summer, and they are still in my craft closet. Oh well.

With all the new babies in our friends and families' lives, I have enjoyed making burp cloths and bibs, but that was about it... Until I finally tried my hand at this:
I have 3 coffee-loving friends who had spring/summer birthdays, and so I made these coffee cozys as part of their gifts. Cute, aren't they!?! I used this tutorial, and it is very basic. It was my first time sewing on batting which is a little tricky, and the rubber band part was a little tricky too, but the pattern was very straightforward. I loved the way they turned out, and I think my friends did too!

Favorite Summer Meal

We have a new favorite meal at the Crawford house, and I owe my friend Reid for this one:

Lime Butter Tilapia
Sweet Potato Fries
Zucchini Sticks

Salivate on this:
The first step in creating this deliciousness was making the lime butter. To do that, combine

• 4 T butter (I use this:)
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 T cilantro, chopped
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

It'll look something like this:

Then you use 1 T of the mix per tilapia filet.
Cook in skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side.
Then put another little dollop (1t) on your cooked fish. All of this=heavenly!

I paired it with homemade sweet potato fries. I just peeled the potato, cut into fry-sized pieces, and salted, peppered, and doused with olive oil. I baked them at 450 for 25 minutes and flipped them about halfway into it.
Then I made zucchini sticks by slicing each zucchini into 8 pieces. I doused them with olive oil, shook panko crumbs over them, and salted and peppered them. I cooked them with the potatoes at the same temp for the same length of time.
Patrick liked it so much he asked if we could have it again the next night. So we did. Hope you try it and like it as much as we did!

We have a new favorite meal at the Crawford house, and I owe my friend Reid for this one:

Lime Butter Tilapia
Sweet Potato Fries
Zucchini Sticks

Salivate on this:
The first step in creating this deliciousness was making the lime butter. To do that, combine

• 4 T butter (I use this:)
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 T cilantro, chopped
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

It'll look something like this:

Then you use 1 T of the mix per tilapia filet.
Cook in skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side.
Then put another little dollop (1t) on your cooked fish. All of this=heavenly!

I paired it with homemade sweet potato fries. I just peeled the potato, cut into fry-sized pieces, and salted, peppered, and doused with olive oil. I baked them at 450 for 25 minutes and flipped them about halfway into it.
Then I made zucchini sticks by slicing each zucchini into 8 pieces. I doused them with olive oil, shook panko crumbs over them, and salted and peppered them. I cooked them with the potatoes at the same temp for the same length of time.
Patrick liked it so much he asked if we could have it again the next night. So we did. Hope you try it and like it as much as we did!

I love it when we're CRUISING together!

Can't believe my sweet baby is getting so big. She is crawling, pulling up, and CRUISING!

(I am so behind on posts because after we got the MAC update, our camera software hasn't synced to upload pictures. These poor quality pics are from my phone, but I needed to document something for my little girl.)
Ansley's favorite toys are her pull up alphabet soup table, any ball she can sneak away from her sister, and she has recently discovered her Little People and the play kitchen.

Her babbles have picked up a bit. She is saying bye-bye, ball, and something that is working towards "bottle." She nods and says, "oh," and she still "ma-ma's" and "da-da's" indiscriminately.
She is becoming more interested in her stories, and her favorites this month have been Brown Bear, Elmo's So Big book, and Peek-a-boo Elmo.
I love this picture of Ansley. It was on our first day of school, and she's wearing her Jackson Hole shirt that says "Making Friends." Patrick said that was the perfect shirt for my daughter. I want to get her started off right, you know?!? I also love it because of her "poot" face and her new lunch box. The perfect back-to-school gift, but especially significant for sweet Ans because it indicates that she can EAT!

This month we have added many foods to Ansley's "CAN eat list." She gets nourishment and nutrition from the following:

• sweet potatoes
• bananas
• apples
• peas
• green beans
• squash (The first kind that I made her was summer squash and the texture was pretty coarse--she gagged and vomited each bite. This time I tried butternut squash, and she loves it. I love the fact that just one of these gourds made 16 servings for her.)
• me on my dairy free diet (4 times a day)

Just before she turned 9 months old, and after she had hive reactions to carrots and pears, we were referred to an allergist. Her doctor tested her for 47 things. No exaggeration. Her poor back was covered in markings and pricks, and she showed reactions to both milk proteins (casein and whey) and eggs (both the yolk and the whites). Surprisingly, she did not react to soy, rice, or wheat, and her doctor said that she definitely could have outgrown them by then... I have not had the courage to retry any of the things that she reacted to initially; instead, I have just wanted to add to the list of can's. Interestingly, Patrick was allergic to both milk and eggs until he was around 4 years old. Anyway, we try meats this week, so please keep thinking of her.

We did have a super-scary allergy-related moment this month. Addison's sippy cup spilled 2 drops of milk on Ansley's ear. By the time I had stripped her down to dunk her in the bathtub, she had hives all over her shoulders and down her back. It was 5:01, so my phone call to the pediatrician was forwarded to the Vanderbilt triage nurse. Thankfully she walked me through how to treat Ansley. Thankfully the benadryl worked, and I did not have to administer the epi-pen... Scary what 2 drops on her skin can do, and I am afraid of what 2 drops ingested would do. We are truly considering (at our allergist's suggestion) transitioning Addison to soy milk and removing goldfish snacks from our pantry. With Ansley's mobility and curiosity and the innocent swapping of sippy cups, we do not want to take any chances.

Ansley is a funny baby, and she really likes to make people laugh. She also is testing us--she loves to laugh at us when we tell her "no."

She got a good report at the doctor--she weighs just under 17 pounds which puts her in the 20th% for weight, measures 28 inches long falling around the 50th%, and has a large...brain :)... in the 90th%.

We couldn't love this little girl more.

Can't believe my sweet baby is getting so big. She is crawling, pulling up, and CRUISING!

(I am so behind on posts because after we got the MAC update, our camera software hasn't synced to upload pictures. These poor quality pics are from my phone, but I needed to document something for my little girl.)
Ansley's favorite toys are her pull up alphabet soup table, any ball she can sneak away from her sister, and she has recently discovered her Little People and the play kitchen.

Her babbles have picked up a bit. She is saying bye-bye, ball, and something that is working towards "bottle." She nods and says, "oh," and she still "ma-ma's" and "da-da's" indiscriminately.
She is becoming more interested in her stories, and her favorites this month have been Brown Bear, Elmo's So Big book, and Peek-a-boo Elmo.
I love this picture of Ansley. It was on our first day of school, and she's wearing her Jackson Hole shirt that says "Making Friends." Patrick said that was the perfect shirt for my daughter. I want to get her started off right, you know?!? I also love it because of her "poot" face and her new lunch box. The perfect back-to-school gift, but especially significant for sweet Ans because it indicates that she can EAT!

This month we have added many foods to Ansley's "CAN eat list." She gets nourishment and nutrition from the following:

• sweet potatoes
• bananas
• apples
• peas
• green beans
• squash (The first kind that I made her was summer squash and the texture was pretty coarse--she gagged and vomited each bite. This time I tried butternut squash, and she loves it. I love the fact that just one of these gourds made 16 servings for her.)
• me on my dairy free diet (4 times a day)

Just before she turned 9 months old, and after she had hive reactions to carrots and pears, we were referred to an allergist. Her doctor tested her for 47 things. No exaggeration. Her poor back was covered in markings and pricks, and she showed reactions to both milk proteins (casein and whey) and eggs (both the yolk and the whites). Surprisingly, she did not react to soy, rice, or wheat, and her doctor said that she definitely could have outgrown them by then... I have not had the courage to retry any of the things that she reacted to initially; instead, I have just wanted to add to the list of can's. Interestingly, Patrick was allergic to both milk and eggs until he was around 4 years old. Anyway, we try meats this week, so please keep thinking of her.

We did have a super-scary allergy-related moment this month. Addison's sippy cup spilled 2 drops of milk on Ansley's ear. By the time I had stripped her down to dunk her in the bathtub, she had hives all over her shoulders and down her back. It was 5:01, so my phone call to the pediatrician was forwarded to the Vanderbilt triage nurse. Thankfully she walked me through how to treat Ansley. Thankfully the benadryl worked, and I did not have to administer the epi-pen... Scary what 2 drops on her skin can do, and I am afraid of what 2 drops ingested would do. We are truly considering (at our allergist's suggestion) transitioning Addison to soy milk and removing goldfish snacks from our pantry. With Ansley's mobility and curiosity and the innocent swapping of sippy cups, we do not want to take any chances.

Ansley is a funny baby, and she really likes to make people laugh. She also is testing us--she loves to laugh at us when we tell her "no."

She got a good report at the doctor--she weighs just under 17 pounds which puts her in the 20th% for weight, measures 28 inches long falling around the 50th%, and has a large...brain :)... in the 90th%.

We couldn't love this little girl more.

Right on Time...

[via Tumblr.]

When I read these words, I can't help but just take a deep breath and say to myself, "Ok, Kristy. Stop over thinking. God's got this."

I am a perfectionist, and it makes me be not-so-gentle with myself. Sometimes instead of living in the now, I worry about if what I'm doing in the now isn't what I'm supposed to be doing in the now... Am I wasting precious time that I won't get back chasing the wind? Am I giving everything that I have of myself to people and things that need my time right now?

It is a never-ending vicious cycle if I let paralyze me.

Thankfully, the Lord is gentle with me.

He knows that while we all have just one shot at this life on earth, that every path for our greater good is just leading us to a closer walk with him.

And, and this is the tough one for me, HIS timing is perfect. Perfect. Without flaw. Unblemished. Unquestionable.

Even when I feel like my prayers are going unanswered, even when I feel like doors keep closing, even when I fear that I am missing something meant for me to see, God's ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine, and I rest there. Confused, I rest.

But I keep asking and seeking and knocking, and the right door will open at the right time in the right place that God has prepared.

RIGHT. ON. TIME.

In the meantime, I take joy in the journey and thank the Lord for His new mercies, His blessings, and the peace in being His.

Acts 17:26-27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

[via Tumblr.]

When I read these words, I can't help but just take a deep breath and say to myself, "Ok, Kristy. Stop over thinking. God's got this."

I am a perfectionist, and it makes me be not-so-gentle with myself. Sometimes instead of living in the now, I worry about if what I'm doing in the now isn't what I'm supposed to be doing in the now... Am I wasting precious time that I won't get back chasing the wind? Am I giving everything that I have of myself to people and things that need my time right now?

It is a never-ending vicious cycle if I let paralyze me.

Thankfully, the Lord is gentle with me.

He knows that while we all have just one shot at this life on earth, that every path for our greater good is just leading us to a closer walk with him.

And, and this is the tough one for me, HIS timing is perfect. Perfect. Without flaw. Unblemished. Unquestionable.

Even when I feel like my prayers are going unanswered, even when I feel like doors keep closing, even when I fear that I am missing something meant for me to see, God's ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine, and I rest there. Confused, I rest.

But I keep asking and seeking and knocking, and the right door will open at the right time in the right place that God has prepared.

RIGHT. ON. TIME.

In the meantime, I take joy in the journey and thank the Lord for His new mercies, His blessings, and the peace in being His.

Acts 17:26-27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.