Happy Belated Birthday to my Wonderful Daughter!

Ok so I have had this post started for quite sometime now and was waiting on my sis-in-law to upload the pics from the party, but she's been busy and so have I so I'm just gonna go ahead and post this without the pics and maybe we can get them up soon.


Well over a month later I finally have time to post about Kensley's birthday. Last year she didn't even know that she had had a birthday. Once she was alert and able to start remembering things, it took a lot of work to get her to remember that she was six now. I had decided a a few years ago that I was only going to give my kids the big birthday parties until they were five and then after that they could just have a couple of friends over to stay the night, but since Kensley didn't get to have a party at all last year I decided we would just go all out this year. She loves cheerleading so what's better than having an Alabama cheerleading party. Dustin has a cousin that was a cheerleader for Wallace State so we invited her to come and teach the girls some cheers and the boys played football. Kylee made her an awesome cake. She got many gifts and had a great time.

Kensley has always been a loving kid. She is smart and loves to learn and is very inqusitive. She likes Justin Bieber, coloring and drawing, playing her DS and playing text twist on the computer. She loves to being with her friends. Her greatest desire is to ride a bike and I believe the Lord will grant her with that.

She can brighten my day. And just the other day I came home from work and it hadn't been such a good day and she came up to love on me and I told her just that. That she always made my day better. She still runs to the door to meet me when I get home. Always loves to see any of us when we have been gone any period of time. She loves going to spend the night with friends, but loves just as much coming home. I can't imagine life without her, she is our sunshine! I love you Kensley and hope you have many more birthdays!

Thanksgiving....

hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. First of all I will say I'm thankful for the Lord and all he has done for us and I'm thankful for my family, they mean so much to mean and I don't know what I would do without them. Thankful that we have a place to lay our heads at night, a roof above our head and food on the table and good place to work. What more could we ask for. He is so gracious to us and to Him I am thankful.

We started out the morning with my mom and dad coming down early and helped me put up my village. We then cooked and went to Suzie's house for dinner. And as a tradition after we eat, we drag out all the sales papers and begin to plan out our shopping. This year was a little different though, we decided to shop all night. Dustin loves to go just as much as I do, but he wasn't to keen on going all night so he opted to stay home. Me, Marty and Kylee braved the rain and the crowds and headed to Wal-Mart around 10. People already had buggy fulls, so we grabbed a buggy and started shopping. People were going crazy over stuff. Marty even witnessed a fight over DS games, nothing is that important to me. I ended up going to check out and got checked out somewhere around 1 I guess. Loaded my car up and headed back inside to sit with Marty as she waited in line for one of the hot items going on sale at 5. We sat and talked and talked and made new friends and even played a game while waiting. We got what they waited for and stood in line again to check out and then headed off to Huntsville. We stopped by Shoe Carnival and then headed to Madison Square Mall. Got a few good deals and then went to Catos for our last stop. I got my kids a few items but not a lot. I still have lots of shopping to do. We got home a little before noon, so we shopped almost 14 hours. I think that is the first time I have ever stayed up that long without sleep. Came back to Suzie's and watched the game, I might have dozed off for about 30-40 min. Dustin's grandmother got sick so we went up there for awhile and came home and fed the kids and then I went to bed around 8. Finished up some decorating this weekend and did some much needed cleaning to the house. Will post pics of all my trees a little later.

Part 3 of reflecting back.....

Progress was being made in therapy at the hospital and when it was time for us to be discharged they were having her put pressure on her legs and trying to walk with lots of assistance. We were so ready to come home, but on the other hand hated to leave because she was getting so much help everyday. We were being discharged on Nov. 18th. Kensley had to do a half a day of therapy, so it ended up being over in the afternoon before we got to leave. Justin, Joe David and Scott came to help up pack all of our stuff and drive us home. The family had planned a Welcome Home party for us and when we pulled in the driveway we were greeted by a multitude of friends and family holding signs to welcome us home. As I sit here typing this I just get so overwhelmed at the love that was shown to us. Channel 19 was also there to capture it all for us. Everyone came inside to see Kensley and at that time she still could not even hold herself up, so it took some trial and error to figure out how to adjust to things at home, but we managed.

We began to take her to therapy at Huntsville Hospital and the group of therapist that we received were great. I was able to take a leave of absence from work and stay with her for the next 3 months. I remember going to Christmas program practice and us standing her up to walk with our assistance, but others there were just amazed at the progress. We went home that night and she started kicking her left leg, we were beside ourselves and started calling whoever would listen to tell them. Time rocked on and she begin using a walker, it was hard to keep her left hand on it correctly, but didn't seem to bother her she would just keep trying. Throughout this whole process she has been anointed several times and with each time has made some great improvements. It wasn't long after Christmas that she started taking her first steps for the second time in her life. I was work and Dustin sent me some pictures of her walking down the hall. And here she is doing just that.


We've had some obstacles to overcome, but the Lord has always been there to see us through. Which brings us to where we are today. Kensley is back in school full time and making all A's, she does pretty much anything she wants to do with some limitations. I think I'm probably some of her hold back, but the momma in me starts coming out and I get a little over protective sometimes. I'm always so afraid of her falling and hurting herself that a lot of times I won't let her do certain things, but I'm trying to work on that. :)

A couple of weeks ago we went to therapy and they were trying to work with her left hand and it was so tight that they couldn't even keep it open, they were having to force it open. We went to church on Sunday night and her Uncle Paul anointed her hand. We went back to therapy the next week and she was just so much better. The therapist was just amazed, so I told her what had happened over the weekend. Kensley was able to put her weight on her left hand and prop herself up and then she was able to crawl with both hands. And also a couple of months ago they put her on a bike, that is her greatest desire right now is to be able to ride a bike. Well they had to tie her left hand and foot to the bike for them to stay on, well this past week they put her back on it and didn't have to use anything to help her keep her hand and foot on there, I was amazed myself and trying to text Dustin while all of this was going on. We are so thankful that the Lord has brought her this far and look for Him to bring her the rest of the way.

In my first post I mentioned that I had thought about asking Dustin to pull over in the rain, but didn't realize that the Lord had a plan. I have since thought if I would have asked him to pull over until it cleared up some, we could've no doubt still had the wreck and all the people that stopped and helped us would've already passed. My point is there was a nurse driving behind us that stopped to help and had we stopped and let her go by us, who would've been there to help Kensley? I know the Lord put her there and I wish I knew who she was so that I could thank her personally, but we haven't been able to find out. There was this one guy that helped in the accident and he came to visit us in B'ham. We can never repay all those who stopped to help us that day, who sacrificed what they were doing to help us. I felt so helpless that day, and we had no one there with us, but God sent us some angels to help my family that day and I'm forever indebted to Him. Thanks to everyone that said a prayer for us and helped us in our time of need, I just hope that I can give back when it's my time to help someone else. We love each and everyone of you!

Part 2 of reflecting back.....

Ok one correction I need to make from the prev. post is that we called from Okaloosa Hospital and not Pensacola, which is where we ended up. And I did start part two over the weekend but just didn't get it finished, so here goes.

It had been arranged for us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House while we were in Florida. I think it is a great place set up for families, but it just wasn't working for us. Some of the rules were that you had certain chores that you had to do everyday within the household and at that point in time it was all we could do to even walk and all we wanted to do was get up in the mornings and go to the hospital and stay til time to go to bed that night, we didn't want to have to worry about was our chores done or not. We did stay there the first night, and I remember that the three of us just sat and cried together. A few of the sisters from our church had went and gotten us some clothes and toiletries to get us by a couple of days. We didn't have anything with us, it was all still in the car. My mom and Sis. Karen Willmon went with me the next day to help me get the room cleaned and the chores done so that we could check out. We were then set up at a hotel nearby and the staff there was great to us. They even kept so many rooms set aside just for visitors to stay in when they came to visit.

The only way that we could stay with Kensley at night was if we didn't go to sleep. There is some sort of rule that if the patient is on a ventilator that the person staying can't go to sleep in case something went wrong they didn't need to be trying to work around you. So because Dustin needed my help getting ready in the mornings we would just go to the hotel each night and go back early in the mornings and stay til visiting time was up that night. But once Kensley was off the ventilator she got moved to a new room and I was able to stay at night. Me and my mom took turns staying the nights. We were told that when patients with brain injuries starting yawning that it meant the swelling was going down. We were watching for that every minute of the day. It was now time to be moved to Birmingham where she would go through rehab. There were two ladies that transported us. And on the ride up there the lady in the back with Kensley told me that she had been yawning. I knew then that things were looking up. When we arrived at B'ham, we were once again joined by family and friends. We were greeted by Dr. Law and the news that we had gotten from him wasn't what we wanted to hear, but his training is to let us know what the future might hold for us and not to get our hopes up for something that might not happen because it is a waiting game with brain injury pts. Not even doctors know what the outcome is going to be because all pts are different. But at that point in time the news was just gut wrenching, but now I look back and see where he was coming from. From that day forward she began to improve, it was hard to go to therapy with her, they would push her to her limits and it was just hard seeing her in pain, but we knew that was what was going to get her to where she is today. The therapist were great, everytime we have an appt back in B'ham we go and visit them. They were such a big part in her recovery and we want them to see how far she has come.

We were in B'ham a couple of days and Kensley's 6th b-day was here, but she was still unconscious and never even knew that she had a b-day. Gifts and cards began to pour in and it was just one of the highlights or our days to open up the cards and read the encouragement that everyone was sending us. As she was winged off of her medicine she began to wake up, she still couldn't talk, but she had full use of the right side and would give us hugs. On October 30th of last year, several had came to visit including Joe David, Drea and Kaylee. They had stayed for awhile and then left because the weather was about to get bad. Konnor was there and he began to try and play with Kensley and she started smiling. It was so amazing, we called and gave Drea 'em the news and if the weather hadn't been bad I believe they would have turned around and came back. But here is a pic of her first smile in the hospital.



Progress was being made each day, there was a patient being discharged and we were offered their room because it was a little bigger and they knew we always had a lot of visitors and could use it. The staff at the hospital was so good to us and never complained with how many visitors that we had. I think they liked it too because we kept them fed quite often. :) Kensley kept pulling out her feeding tube and you can't really blame her for it, who wants a tube stuck up their nose? We were finally able to convince them that we thought we could get enough food down her to where she didn't need and they give us that chance. Once the feeding tube was out she began to talk. I remember staying the night and I was getting ready to go to the hotel and shower and get Dustin and she told me bye. I got to the hotel and told Dustin and he didn't believe me. Before we could get back she had started talking more and more and they called and told us to hurry and get there. We were amazed, she was saying all kinds of stuff, her poor little voice was just very faint, you had to listen real close to hear what she was saying, but it didn't matter, she was talking. Her short term memory still wasn't there, but believe me when I say that isn't the issue now. She can just about tell you anything you want to know and if you are around her any length of time she will ask you when you b-day is and how old you are and she will be able to tell you the next time she sees you, just amazing. She didn't know why she was in the hospital and she couldn't even remember our Disney trip. She was so funny, she would flirt with any boy that walked in the room and loved playing with all the kids that came in.

Kensley's left eye would stay shut all the time, but we were told that over time that should heal and it has, her pupil is still dialated, but she can see fine out of it. You can tell when she gets tired that the left eye gets a little droopy. She had to go to the eye doctor in Birminham a couple of weeks ago and he said that at this point they would consider putting a patch over her good eye so that she could strengthen the bad one, but she was doing so well that he didn't think anything needed to be done. PTL!

I hate to make this a novel, but I won't to write as much as I can remember down so that I have it to look back at when my memory starts to fail me. :) I guess I'm going to have to make a part 3 cause I'm not finished and don't want to put so much in one post that no one wants to read it, so I will finish up with the next post soon.

Reflecting back part 1......

On October 7, 2009 our lives changed. I still remember the day so clearly. We were driving down the road in pouring down rain and I had considered telling Dustin to pull over, but little did I know that wasn't meant and you'll see why a little later in the post. Next thing I knew we were laying upside down in the car and I couldn't find my kids, I hope no one ever has to experience that, and I couldn't keep my husband conscience. I didn't care who was around me or who heard me, I was calling out to the Lord to please spare my husband because he was lost and to please help my kids. I remember looking up at one point and seeing Dustin's phone laying there and I grabbed it and was gonna call someone but just hesitated because I didn't want them to panic on the phone with me cause I myself was already in a panic. They wouldn't tell me anything about the kids other than Konnor was ok and they were working on Kensley, but I had no idea of the extent of it. Apparently I was up against the culvert so no one could get over to that side of the car and at first they didn't even know I was in there and I was trying to scream and tell them, but it was hard to holler, I just didn't have the breath, but thank the Lord someone heard me. I helped them unbuckle Dustin so they could pull him out. Then they were able to get me out. The pain was so unbearable, it hurt to breathe or move.

I was asking for my kids, but they kept telling me that I had to go to the hospital and that they were being taken care of. They put me and Dustin in the same ambulance together and about the only thing I remember of the ride was thinking if I can just go off to sleep cause it hurt so bad to breathe. I remember holding Dustin's hand on the way and telling him I love you. We had no concept of the time frame that all of this was going on. They took Dustin to the same hospital that the kids were at and I was left by myself. The weather had gotten bad so they just decided that they would just transport me by ambulance, which was at least an hour away. I was still on the back board and still had a neck brace around me and it was all so uncomfortable.

We went through numerous x-rays and scans, but all came back good. Thank you Lord! Once we arrived at the ER at the same hospital as the kids Dustin was given a phone to call someone. He got a hold of his mom and dad, but they were so upset that she passed the phone over to Bro. Steve Mahathey, I remember talking to him briefly. At that point me and Dustin were in separate rooms but we could see each other through the window. Sis. Mindy Holman and Sis. Heather Riggins came to stay with me in the ER and the Lord came by and I'm so thankful for that. Holly and Heather were also vacationing at the beach and were able to get to my kids and stay with them. Uncle Leonard was with Dustin. They moved us to rooms and I was able to get me a shower with some help from Sis. Jenny Harkins, bless her heart, but at that point I didn't care. I had mud madded all up in my hair and all over me. They didn't allow me to go see Dustin, it was over in the morning by this time and I just had to go to my room cause both of us were sharing with other pts. Friends and family started pouring in, the support was so overwhelming. I never would have dreamed all of those people would come to see us, but they did and I don't know what we would have done without them there.

We rested for a couple of hours and the next morning they wheeled Konnor up to see us. It was such a great feeling to see him there and doing well, just a little sore. I remember just hugging him and crying. They came in and discharged me so I went over to sit with Dustin until they discharged him. I didn't want to go alone to see Kensley, we really had no idea how bad she was, most of it had been kept from us. Once Dustin was discharged we immediately went to see Kens. I can still remember the first time we saw her, it was just heartbreaking seeing her lay there with all of her hair cut off and tubes running everywhere. She was just lifeless and I was just helpless. All we could do was wait. We then headed to Konnor's room to visit and soon after he was discharged. There are so many details that I feel sometimes I could write a book. To go back a little, Konnor had some cuts that were pretty bad and they thought he might have to get some stitches, and he heard them talking about it and began to pray that he wouldn't have to and the nurse came back and said he didn't. The Lord hears their prayers and I'm so thankful he knew to pray about it. I want my kids to know that the Lord can give them whatever they need.

Here is a pic of how Kens started out. This picture doesn't do justice of how she really looked. I go back to those days so many times and am so thankful that he carried us. And I do mean he carried us, I look back and think we were upset and didn't know what to do, but I find myself struggling more over it now than I did then and I know it was the prayers and the prescence of the family and the Children of God that helped us through each day. We only went one day out of the whole eight weeks that we didn't have any visitors. What a blessing to know that we have such great family in the Lord.



I'm going to make this part 1 of my post and finish it up maybe tomorrow or before the week is up.

Ok so I'm a little late to getting around to this, but I have been out of blog world for the past couple of days, so here goes:


Fall Questions...

1. Do you like Starbucks? no, I just think it smells really good :)

2. How do you decorate and prepare for Fall? I normally don't do a lot of fall decorating, I love the colors, but just have never really gotten anything much to decorate with, but now Christmas is another story.

3. Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities? never went to college

4. What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory? Boots and sweaters

5. What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? I have absolutely no clue. I never remember what I dressed as. I know I went. I'm old people. Give me a break!

6. Do you like Halloween/Horror movies? No not really, most of them are so gorry that they don't even seem real, but on the other hand some are too real that I just can't watch them.

7. What is your favorite Fall activity? I love going to the Smokies this time of year and letting the kids carve pumpkins and the family gatherings.

8. What is your favorite Fall recipe? soups

Quick questions...

1. What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing? I have no clue!
2. What will you miss most about Summer? not having to bundle everyone up before you leave to go somewhere.
3. When do you start your holiday shopping? usually not til the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping maybe I can go ahead and start looking for some things now.
4. Favorite exercise/activity? Shopping....lol....I like this Marty so I think I will copy her answer!
5. Best book you've read lately? not read lately, but all time favorite book is The Notebook
6. Do you make your bed every day? Not everyday, but I have started trying to do better about it
7. If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose? definitely the chef!
8. Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall? Hmmm....let's see Greys Anatomy, Private Practice and The Good Wife are at the top of my list.

I am thankful.....

.....going right along with everyone else's post today!

I'm thankful for my husband, who is also my very best friend.

I'm thankful for my kids who always brighten my day!

I'm thankful for my job, I have great co-workers to work with and great benefits.

I'm thankful for my home and that we have cars to drive and food to eat.

I'm thankful that the Lord spared all of our lives, things could have been so different.

I'm thankful of how far the Lord has brought Kensley and for what He is going to do for her in the future.

I'm thankful for my parents, they are always there when I call them and always willing to help me.

I'm thankful for my in laws, they are such wonderful people.

I'm thankful for my brother, he can be a pest sometimes, but I love him. And I'm thankful for all of my brother and sister in laws.

I'm thankful for my friends, they are always there to help when I need them or when I need a shoulder to cry on.

I'm thankful for my church, I couldn't ask for a better place to go.

And most of all I'm thankful for my salvation, I couldn't do anything without the Lord's help. I feel so small compared to most, but I want to do my little part.

Lastly, I want to share a picture of Kensley, she lost her front tooth yesterday at school while eating lunch, she looks so different with it gone now.