Just followed a trail of clipped curls down the hallway to a locked door. When Gracie finally opened the door - she had hidden the scissors and explained that she only cut her own hair because the dogs wouldn't let her cut theirs.
Thankfully, curly hair is forgiving.

Me: Gracie, what was all that yelling for?
G: I jes pushed Bubba, an' he muscled with me, an' my back hurts now.
Me: You wrestled?
G: Yeah. Muscled.

***completely different incident****

Me: Jonah, what was all that yelling for?
J: Gracie really didn't like the choices I gave her.
#whenloveandlogicparentinggoeswrong

I continue to see little mercies morning by morning since the accident...

Michael and I have a renewed perspective about spending time with the kids. Jonah wants to play Legos with Daddy? Okay! Gracie needs another bedtime song? I'm on it! They want to make cookies? Let's do it! So grateful for our time together and rejoicing in it.

Gracie has had anxiety about doctors offices since she was a baby. We needed a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician this morning, and I knew it could potentially be a disaster after last Friday. When we were getting dressed, she asked where we were going. I said, "to see Mr. Naidoo". I didn't even mention he was a doctor. In the parking lot she caught on, and began crying, "no doctors! Nooooo!" The mercies were in the actual visit with the doctor. He was wonderful. Not overbearing at all, so sooo gentle in his approach, and right-on with all his small talk. He won her over completely. When we left, she mentioned how much she liked "that doctor".

Baby Evlyn seems to be completely unaffected by all of this. I have not even had a single contraction through all the stress. She continues to move on a predictable schedule - easing my mind daily.

Jonah has been helpful, cheerful, and was excited about returning to school. All answered prayers, as he was so close to the accident and we were concerned about emotional trauma.

As Michael and I have replayed the events in our minds, and struggled to cope, we have felt our friend's and family's prayers for peace. We have been easily reminding ourselves of how good God is, and how obvious of a miracle this is.

The days since the accident have been blessed. We realize more and more what an absolute miracle it is that Gracie is okay.

There is NO point of impact on her body - even though (our neighbor says) Gracie went flying like a ragdoll close to 30 feet down the alley.

She shows no signs of emotional trauma - aside from extra caution in roadway/parking lot situations (she immediately grabs Michael's hand). And she had some anxiety Friday night when we got home from the hospital, about Michael leaving to talk to the neighbors. When she heard the back door shut and knew he was going to cross the alley, she wailed, "oh noooooo! Daddy will get hit by a car!" Of course, we assured her that NObody will be hit by a car, because we will all be extra careful around roads.

The doctors warned us of how sore she would be Saturday and Sunday and sent us home with a narcotic laced super-Tylenol. However, Gracie has been sleeping well with simple Motrin, and her only complaints of soreness have been as she RUNS or PLAYS around the house. Her back, near her tailbone, has been sore (though there's no bruising), and her jaw is hurting enough that she hasn't eaten solid foods yet. (A major bummer, since she was really excited for Chickfila nuggets on the way home from the hospital.)

As long as she's eaten enough and not too tired, she's been cheerfully milking the attention. The EMT's gave her a purple stuffed bear, Daddy got her a pink stuffed poodle, Aunt Angie brought over a princess puzzle and other little goodies, and her cousins sent a little castle with stickers - so she's pretty sure she can have whatever she wants. In fact, on Sunday morning she asked for a baby zebra for her birthday. *Ahem*

This picture was taken at the ER last Friday, March 16, 2012 -

This is how Michael described the day...

I am usually a private person and don’t like to spill my thoughts on the www for the world to see (no offense for those that do). However, I have felt compelled to post because of the miracle that God performed yesterday for my baby girl, Gracie.

As I was working out in the garage yesterday, our neighbors behind our alley opened their garage door. They have a boy Jonah’s age and a little girl one year younger than Gracie, our kids play together often.

Gracie, in her excitement, dashed across the alley to see her friends, when a car coming down the alley hit her and propelled her 30ft down the alley way.

I did not see the car hit her since I was working but heard our neighbor's screams. My heart dropped as I am familiar with this type of scream from an accident that took a friend of mine while I was in high school. For a split second I thought the car had run over her and I was already preparing for the worst… my baby girl would be gone. As I approached the car, I looked down the alley and saw her sitting up in the middle of the alley 30ft away crying and bleeding.

I ran to her and immediately started looking for injuries and tried to take it all in, but my baby girl is ALIVE, miracle #1!! I looked her over and saw no head injury, miracle #2; no broken bones or body parts that looked out of place, miracle #3. I decided (in looking back, maybe poor judgment) to scoop her up out of the alley and move her to safety.

The next question was, are there any internal injuries? We rushed her to the Children’s ER, about 15mins down the road. They immediately put her in a neck brace and began to run test to make sure no internal bleeding or injuries had incurred. She passed the initial test of no serious external injuries but still was not sure about internal. As a result, they wanted to transport her to the downtown Children’s Hospital since they have trauma surgeons there on call.

By the time she arrived via ambulance to the Dallas hospital, the test results run by the Frisco Hospital had confirmed no internal bleeding or other injures to note, miracle #4. They held us there for another 3hrs to confirm that Gracie had no concussion or other side effect that possibly had not surfaced. At 5pm they gave us the all clear sign and Gracie was released from the hospital.

At the end of the day, Gracie has several bruises and some road rash on her knee and chin that will probably leave a permanent scar. My hope is that as she grows older, these scars will not be a point of insecurity for her but will give her security in the fact that GOD was watching over her that day and her life was saved.

I share this story as a testament to the miracles GOD performed yesterday.

Thank you, Father, for saving my baby girl.

Jonah needs some new shoes. Friday night was a good night to go looking, so he and I decided to make a date of it.

Before we left, I told him I'd need to move Daddy's car out of the way, so we could get out of the garage. He ran to Michael's car, draped himself over the hood, and gave me his best cool face. I ran to get the camera ;)

It's been tricky to get good pictures of the kids lately. Jonah hides, Gracie just makes silly faces.

That's why I love these recent photos Michael snapped. Genuine Gracie :)

Dear Jonah and Gracie,

We learned several months ago that we are going to have a new baby. You have both been letting the idea grow on you, gradually getting used to it.

Your new cousin, baby Sebastian, has been breaking you into the thought of having a baby around, and I think you're both starting to feel excited.

Last month we found out the baby in Mama's tummy is a GIRL. Evlyn Faith.

Gracie, you were with us when we found out! You put your hands on your face and squealed, "a SISTER?! Yaaaaay!"

Jonah, you were spending the day with Meemaw and Papaw, and when you were told over the phone, you said, "ah nutz." I know you were rooting for a brother, but you quickly realized that this would mean more uninterrupted "guy time" for you and Daddy, and that you might not have to share your room. I have no doubt that you are going to be a big help with this new baby, and teach Gracie how to be a great big sister.

Over the weeks, Baby Evlyn has been growing and moving more. For a while, I was asking Gracie if she wanted to feel the baby kick. Well, apparently kicking is a mean thing, because Gracie got pretty bitter at the baby for kicking her all the time. I decided to change my wording to, "the baby is moving" or the "baby is awake", and all was well ;)

In fact, the other night, as I was singing and praying with Gracie before bed, I told her how much Baby Evlyn already loves her. She leaned over and kissed my belly and said, "love you Baby Evlyn. Have good sleep."

Jonah has decided that hugging me is an "Evlyn sandwich" and says so every time he gives me a big squeeze.

You guys are going to be so fun and helpful with this new baby, and I can't wait for her to get to know you better. She is going to love you mostest!

Love,
Mama

This little man has changed a lot in the last year. I love him to pieces.

A couple of weeks ago, Cousin Joseph was baptized. We were excited to be there as witnesses - and decided to stay for the sermon. The minister happen to mention hell during the sermon. Jonah didn't seem to be listening at all, but you know what they say about little ears...

He asked about it that evening. One thing led to another, and we happened into a discussion about asking Jesus into his heart. He gave us a lips-together grin with a sparkle in his eyes, and then quickly mumbled, "dearJesuspleasecomeintomyheart. THERE! I said it", and off he ran to do something else. It was like fire insurance, I guess.

I asked him about it later that night. I said, if he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart we could pray together and talk about it some more. He then INSISTED that he had already done it. A few other times that week, when asked - he answered the same. In his little heart, he believes it has been done. He may or may not be to the age of accountability, but we'll continue to encourage him!

The next day - just being Jonah:
Me: So you really think you asked Jesus into your heart, huh?
Jonah: Yes!
Me: If you're having trouble with your self-control at school, you can pray for help. The Holy Spirit can give you good ideas and help you.
Jonah: I think my Holy Spirit goes to sleep during the day. It just wakes up at night.

Last Thursday was a GORgeous day. Gracie and I joined the Rowdy Girl gang for a picnic at the Dallas Arboretum. The tulips and hyacinths were out of control.