Our Blessed Home

I have attempted for three days, unsuccessfully, to post a video of our home to share. I was not able to get the video to upload so here are a few photos. The apartment is very well lit and spacious. Due to the angle of the unit, I do not get direct sunlight, which is a good thing here in Phoenix, but it is enough illumination to satisfy me.

We have two balconies. One off the kids one and the other which can be accessed from my bedroom or the living room. The balcony is very spacious and will serve as a great play area for NyCee when it cools down in a few weeks.

I know that people are going to think to themselves, "Why didn't she pick up the toys and things before publishing these pictures?" I have two small kids so toys in the floor is a part of my daily life. We clean up the toys before bath time in the evening. Otherwise, I would be picking up toys all day long.






I love the fact that NyCee is getting the stability that she needs. For a two year old, she has had quite the tumultuous year with all the moving and other drama. She is so comfortable in our new home that she removed her dress in the living room and ran around with her little booty showing, singing, "Shake your booty. Shake your booty" when my friend was over the other night. She also exclaims, "Mommy we are at the new house" whenever we pull up to the apartment.

I must admit that I treated myself to a naked stroll the other night. After putting the kids to bed, I walked to the kitchen in my birthday suit, placed the trash in the garbage receptacle, threw up my hands and shouted, "Hallelujah Jesus!" After living with people for nearly a year and believing God for my own home in the place I want to live, be glad I didn't run around the apartment complex in my birthday suit shouting praises to God!

Sign Language

For some unknown reason my child has decided to forego verbal responses. Instead of, "Yes Ma'am or No Ma'am, she nods or shakes her head. I have no idea where that comes from but my personal favorite has become the shrug of the shoulders when I ask where something is.

I have no idea where this has come from but we need to do a 180 and go back to normal.

Let the cycle continue....

As a little girl, my father had a job where he left for work in the wee hours of the morning. Almost instinctively, as his foot touched the first step to head down stairs to leave for work, my sisters and I would one by one leave our rooms and climb into bed with my mother. My children are no different.

Both start out in their own beds but Ty wakes up and then I just end up laying him next to me and before daylight breaks, NyCee climbs out of her bed and comes into my room. I know some people think that I should be stricter and make them sleep in their own beds and to a degree I agree. During nap time, they sleep in their own room. And even when bed time commences. But I don't want to look back one day and wonder if I hugged them enough while they were small. Or be such a stickler about order that I don't allow my kids to sleep in the bed with me. I am the only person they have in this world to depend on and if they seek comfort sleeping with me while they are in the toddler and infancy stage, then so be it.

Of course, it is a king-sized bed and in theory we should all fit comfortably. But for what ever reason, they both try to snuggle up right next to me and I end up sleeping on the very edge of the bed.

Their Own Room

This is the first night that both of my little blessings were able to sleep in their own beds in their own room. Tyler's crib was assembled and ready to go but NyCee's bed needed a mattress which I purchased today. After baths and kisses, both children were sleeping peacefully by 8:00p. They seem to be really comfortable in their room. I put the baby monitor in my room so that I can hear Tyler if he wakes up in the middle of the night. Although, he has been sleeping a lot longer lately.

Their room has plenty of space for NyCee to play; yet, she opens the toy box and takes out whatever she wants to play with at the moment, and brings them into the living room with me. I don't mind. I am just glad that she is comfort and we are settled into our new, yet, temporary home. The next move will be into our new house.

Just Us

Well, all the furniture is in place and things are finally coming together in our new home. This is the first night the kids and I are here alone. Lewis left this morning and arrived safely in Atlanta.

The kids were awesome in the car during the long drive. The bulk of the driving was done at night to make it easier on them but both were real troopers. And despite the fact that I put a pull-up on NyCee during the few hours of daytime driving, she did not have any accidents. Of course mommy was smart enough to not load up her on apple juice either. She had a DVD player, books, crayons, dolls, and other things to entertain her. Ty just looked out of the window and smiled and laughed when he wasn't sleeping. All in all, the trip was smooth.

Once everything is in place and all cleaned up, I will publish pictures of our new home. My friend reminded me once again how awesome God is. I told her that I had to find places to put everything because I have so much stuff. She replied, "A few months ago you didn't have a pot to piss in or your own window to throw it out of. Now, you have more than enough." I concurred. My God is an awesome God who truly is more than enough.

2nd Stop-- Las Cruces, NM

The second stop is Las Cruces, NM. Thankfully, we are not subjected to the sewage smell and yellow water. We are however, plagued with flies.

Tomorrow, home to Phoenix.

1st Stop-Monroe, LA

Monroe, LA where the water runs yellow out of the faucets and the air is filled with the stinch of raw sweage. So much so, that I checked Ty's diaper thinking he pooped while sitting on my lap. Welcome to the bottom of the Mississippi River.

On the road again.....

Going Home

Our furnishings arrived today and the car is all packed. We are ready to go home to Phoenix, AZ. That's right. We are going home.

The past year has been interesting to say the least. For the past 6 weeks, we have lived with my cousin Phebe in Georgia and NyCee has really developed and become independent. Thanks in part to a lot of things Phebe put in place to help her become that way. For example, a step stool in the bathroom so that she can wash her hands after going to the potty. (A very simple idea but one that I would not have thought of.)

Being in Atlanta, I was able to see friends and really take some time to pray about the direction for my life. My life, is in Phoenix. That is what is in my heart and that is my home. After speaking with Lewis about it, he agreed to help me drive home. So on Monday, he and I loaded all the furnishings onto the trailer and tonight we are headed west. He will stay for a week to help me get settled then he will return to his home in Atlanta.

After I made the decision to return to Phoenix, my cousin Phebe was offered a job by her former boss. That is really awesome as Phebe misses teaching. Plus, she will be teaching under the direction of her mentor. So the Thompsons and the Ashford-Jacksons are headed west. Phebe has to stay in Atlanta for about another month to tie up loose ends but we will be waiting for her in the valley of the sun.

We will do most of the driving at night to make it easier on Lewis and the children. NyCee has a new fascination with stopping in a potty every where we go. Lewis likes to drive for hours straight without stopping so I figure if we complete the bulk of the driving at night, both he and the children will be fine.

When I initially agreed to come to Atlanta to live with Phebe, I didn't understand why. Now I know this was a necessary part of my journey. I had loose ends to tie up so that I can move forward with my life.

Let the next chapter begin......

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Please pray for my cousin Cari. She just battled and survived breast cancer and now she is being attacked again with what the doctors have reported could be a brain tumor.

Matthew 18:19-21 (New King James Version)
New King James Version (NKJV)


19 “Again I say[a] to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Compliments

Over the past two days I have received several compliments. The compliments are not about my size (which I have gotten back down to my pre-children size), or my outfits, or my hair, or any other physical characteristic. It has been about my personality.

I know you are thinking, "What is the big deal with that?" Well, if you truly know me then unfortunately you know that I didn't always have the best personality. On any given day and for any given reason, I would just be a rude funk bucket. Well, no more. I find myself speaking to people everywhere I go, asking how they are doing and being an all around jovial individual.

The greatest compliment came Saturday while I was at the eye doctor's office. The technician told me that I was so happy and she wished that she could be like me. I was really touched by that compliment. I told her that I mediate on the words of Bishop Eddie Long, "Your yesterday didn't kill you so it couldn't have been that bad. Because you are still here today, you are more than a conqueror." Those words summarize my life over the past two years.

I look at things as the glass being 1/2 full as oppose to 1/2 empty. I am enjoying the emotionally healthy person that I have become.

Visit

NyCee and Tyler spent the afternoon with Lewis and their twin sisters, Imani and Nia. After visiting with their grandmother and aunt, they returned to the house and played dress up. The girls really embraced NyCee and was very patient with her. There were a couple of incidents where NyCee decided to hit them (I don't know where that came from) but other than that, they had a pleasant afternoon.

And today, I decided to let NyCee go out in her big girl panties. Normally, she only wore the panties in the house. Whenever we ventured out, especially on long trips, I would switch and put on a pull-up just in case. But I decided to take away the cushion of the just in case, and she did not have any accidents. (Of course, I made this decision and then sent her with Lewis for the afternoon.) She made it the entire day in one pair of panties. Well, that's not quite accurate as there was the poop incident. But she was at the house so clean up was easy. (We are still working on telling mommy before she poops not after.)

Quite the Character

My daughter never ceases to amaze me. Just when I think she can not get any funnier, she does. I have noticed lately that her personality is developing a little more each day. Which I guess is a good thing. But it's the manifestation of it that cracks me up. For example, earlier today I called her name a couple of times as I was trying to get her to come to where I was. She exclaimed, "I am coming Mommy. Good Gravy." As if to say, "Look lady, I heard you!"


Even disciplining her, to a degree, is comical. She knows when she has done something wrong because before I can even explain why she is being disciplined, she exclaims, "Yes Ma'am." Immediately I think, "Yes Ma'am what? You don't even know what I am about to say!"

She is also really good with Tyler. She plays with him and trys to get him to laugh. Her laugh is so boisterous and jovial that it really lights up the room. She is a joy to have. I am very blessed to have her as a daughter.

Pop Goes the Children

Ty popped up first around 1100p. He was hungry. Understandably so as he refused to drink his night time bottle. I do not understand why he will drink out of a bottle several times during the day and scream his head off rather than drink out of it at night. I prefer to give him a bottle before bedtime because the formula is thicker than breast milk and keeps him fuller longer. The longer the fuller, the longer the uninterrupted evenings for mommy.

NyCee popped up around 100a. She wanted a glass of water. I asked if she had to potty, she said, "No" but wanted to lay on my lap to go back to sleep. 10-15 minutes later, she was sleeping.

Of course, if I were not working on my graduate project neither child would wake up during the wee hours of the morning. Oh well, what can one do? So far tonight, only 2 pages of the 7 needed to stay on track are completed. Back to the project I go.....

Update:
200a-- NyCee pops up again.

336a--guess who's up now? That's it. I am done for the night.

Quality Time

I woke up this morning about 4:00a with the intention of working on my project while my children slept. I must have 30 pages of the paper completed by Wednesday of next week. So I decided instead of attempting to eat the entire elephant in one sitting, it would be easier if I write about 5 or 6 pages a night. Generally, I will lay down with the kids at 800p and wake up about 1100p to work on the paper while it's quiet.

But guess who decided that she wanted to wake up also. Yes, Ms. NyCee. She sat straight up in the bed and exclaimed, "Mommy, wake from my nap." I said, "No. It's time to go back to sleep." She just sat there and looked at me strange as if to say, "you are awake." I laid down next to her and read a few bible verses, we went to the potty (after she told me she had to go), and we had a cup of water. But to no avail, those little eyes did not close.

Then after about 15-20 minutes of dealing with her, guess who decided he wanted to wake up and smile at the world. Yup, Mr. Tyler. So needless to say, at 500a when they both finally went back to sleep, I was sleepy and no pages of my paper were written last night.