A Beamin Keagan

On Tuesday when I picked Keagan up from school she insisted, as she often does, to flip all the kids cubbies around so that Miss Kacy wouldn't have to do it. That prompted Miss Kacy to give me such a sweet comment when she came back into the classroom. Keagan beamed as her teacher told me how she is just such a huge help in the classroom and always so sweet. Every mom would love to hear that and I had a little proud momma moment right there standin next to Gus, the class guinea pig!

But then that night, in response to my blog post about Riley, Keagan's other teacher Miss Leah sent me the most complimentary message about my darling Keags that just blew me away! She wrote...
"Hi Emily! I just want to tell you how impressed I am by Keagan. She is truly an amazing kid! I know y'all do not have the easiest of circumstances (to say the least!), and she could deservedly be "needy" or "bratty" because of it, but she is TOTALLY the opposite. I enjoy her so much. She is always the first to help in our class and probably the most responsible ... I imagine we could leave her in charge and they would do fine! Haha!! We just love her....I just wanted you to know you should be so proud of her .. and of yourself!! 😊 Take care!! ❤ Leah"

Wow! Besides feeling so blessed that Keagan has these two incredible teachers at school, I am so blessed to have this amazing 4 year old in my life! Keags, like all 4 year olds, has her moments. She can be stubborn and sassy with a flair for the dramatics. But she is an amazing little girl who is kind, thoughtful, funny and smart! How did I get so lucky to be her mom?

My kids truly teach me more then I teach them! Nightly I thank the Lord for entrusting me with these two amazing little girls! And it's even more wonderful to hear she is blessing other people's lives as well!

At dinner tonight with her raspberries


She's gettin good at that colorin! Must be the great teachers!


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Quite a Show!

There is never a dull moment around here! Especially when we add our crazy cousins into the mix! Kellie and Addie always help make for a good time. And these four hilarious girls didn't disappoint tonight!

Here is a little rendition of what just happens to be one of my very favorite songs!

The esteemed artists? The Veggie Tales. The masterpiece of a song? "I need to tell you somethin. I don't got a belly button!" Yes you read that correctly. My favorite line, "you may ask for a prosthetic, but this you must know. It would be covered by your shirt, but not your HMO!" Pure genius!

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She Called Me Mom

My little angel Riley is 4 years old. 4 and a half actually. As all her peers, including her twin sister, talk more then their parents may wish for sometimes, Riley speaks through her radiating eyes and beaming smile. But for years I have yearned to hear her say my name, to call me mom. I have sat in front of her hundreds of times and slowly over pronounced "momma" with dreams of her mimicking me. I think most mommy's take that little token for granted. I realize its a huge blessing when sweet Keagan whispers "mommy I love you" in my ear. At least most days I remember that.

But Riley faces so many challenges that come along with her long list of diagnosis. And being non verbal has so many battles on its own. It is the one that tugs at my heart the most. But thanks to incredible speech therapists and wonderful teachers at school, things are a changin around here!

Today my angel looked at me and did a perfect sign for mom!

She called my name!

My heart stopped.

This is so monumental and an overwhelming step for me. It's a hard sign to do for a little girl with twisted Cerebral Palsy hands. But her speech therapist saw it once in therapy this morning. And then my sweet girl worked so hard to do it once for me tonight as she laid in her crib looking up at me with that gorgeous smile. A picture I will never forget as long as I live. She called my name!

At school today she also said an "Mmmmm" which is exciting and a great step towards actually hearing her call me mom. An idea that excites me more then the idea of a quite, kid free luxury spa vacation. Although if I had the option to take both, I just might be in heaven!

Today was a great day! Keagan chastised me for not washing her clothes this morning, I got my recently washed car all dirty, I was late to pick up Riley and I deviated from my diet a little tonight. But my baby called me mom! Period, end of story. That will make my heart sing and put a smile on my face any day! I'm just so thankful it was today!


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I Spy

Hide and seek on a Sunday morning!


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Sweet Peas

Oh how I adore these little faces SO, SO much.











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Winter in Houston

This weekend it was gorgeous outside! 72 and sunny is my kind of weather! But the last couple of weeks it has actually been chilly in the great city of Houston! We have surprisingly gotten good use of our coats and cozy jammies. You know it's cold when I sleep with socks on and the fan off! But this is Texas, so we knew that wouldn't last long. Wow those three weeks were a long, hard winter!

At school, Keagans bunny class has been talking about winter. On Thursday they had a big winter storm warning in the classroom that resulted in lots of snowflakes! Good thing Keags was prepared with her hat and gloves!


And on Friday she made the cutest project in preschool history!


The accompanying card read..."My snowman's name is Riley. She is a girl. She lives in Utah where all the snow is. She likes to build a snowman or maybe swing. She drinks orange juice and eats pretzels."

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Sunday Night Heaven

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Definitely Top 5!

I had one of my top 5 most stressful mommy experiences this week! And let me just remind you that this mommy has been through some seriously stressful things! Number one is probably having 2 newborn micro preemie babies fighting for their lives while dealing with major drama of an unraveling marriage. But being told Riley needs a heart transplant and doing CPR on Riley on the side of the road are two very close seconds! Throw in way too many hospital stays and then this Wednesday afternoon rounds out the top 5!

Both girls have needed haircuts for quite some time. And unfortunately neither of them will even step foot in a Super Cuts or the cute Sweet & Sassy Salon, out of fear. So in the past I've always enlisted a full team of distractors while I cut wiggly Riley's hair and a team of cheerleaders to cut protesting Keag's hair. But for some ridiculous reason when I brought Riley home from school on Wednesday, I decided to just throw both girls in the tub and cut their hair...BY MYSELF!!

Not my best idea!

After I snuck in the first cut of Riley's hair, pure chaos insued! Riley was terrified of the big shinny scissors and did all she could to stay as far away from them as possible. I then tried to show Riley that Keagan was brave and that a little trim didn't hurt. But I under estimated Keagan's drama factor once again and she melted in tears saying "I want Sammie's hair! I want Sammie's hair!" which is my neice with very long hair. After a full 30 mins of craziness, hair covered the bathtub, more water was splashed out of the bath tub then in, I was soaking wet and sweaty, Keagan was in tears and I had poor Riley pinned between my legs as I tried to get her not to jerk her head with each cut. A hot mess that I am grateful no one else was there to witness!

Keags cut is decent but Ri Ri's is too short and a little jagged. Paul Mitchell would be horrified but thankfully my two girls are so stinkin cute that they can rock any of mommies disasters!












Okay it looks a LITTLE better in person and I've cleaned it up a little since then! But YIKES!


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KRAZY with a K for Keagan

Oh how I adore this girl and her big personality, her amazing dance moves and sweet voice! I had no idea this is what she was busy doing. She cracks me up!

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The Time Has Come

Today I wore all black. I'm in mourning. It's been a sad, sad time around here. You may wish to send your condolence cards, flowers aren't necessary.

Riley has finally stopped taking a nap.

I am devastated!

Yes I do realize she is almost four and a half. And yes I do realize her sister stopped taking naps long, long ago. But nap time was a glorious time full of relief, a little peace and sanity. Now all hope is lost.

When I put her in her crib (yes she's old and still in a crib- she wouldn't be safe in a bed) she just wants to play. When I urge her to lay down she flashes me a huge grin and shakes her head no.





And when I try to insist with a firm voice...


Oh sweet girl you don't have to go nigh night! Mommy doesn't need quiet down time to keep her sanity anyway. She's already crazy!

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My Goof Balls!

My kids are crazy. It's a total mystery where they get that!! Hmmmm...

Keagan has been a puppy for days. I am always asking her for kisses because she gives them out sparingly. But she gives out puppy kisses more generously. Too bad they are just slobbery, wet licks!

Riley had a tantrum at school the other day. Apparently her friend wouldn't let her snatch away a toy. Miss Krammer had to cuddle her for 15 minutes.

Several days ago Keags said she wanted to take me out for a date, in her car, while Riley was at school! Man am I lucky! Best date I've ever had!


Then after school today it was so beautiful, after 2 days of rain, that we played outside for almost 2 hours! .....The girls fighting, shocking!


She had to fix something under the hood. She looked like this and would say "hammer!" "Wrench!" "Screwdriver!"


Best action shot!


After school one day Riley layed on the kitchen floor and made snow angels for 10 minutes! And yes she was still wearing her coat. It's a battle to get her to let you take that thing off!


Keags talks in her sleep, ALOT! The other night she kept saying "I don't have enough stuff! I need more stuff in here! I don't have enough!" Great! She's even hoarding in her dreams now too!


Last night Gama Linda came over and Keagan was doing a whole lot of "sassy dancing" and shakin her booty. I think Gamas was just a little concerned where she's learning this stuff! That's another good question!

When Gamas was saying goodbye, Riley looked at me and waved goodbye as if she was going home with her. Can you blame her? Some days I want to escape this place too!

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What We Lack in Numbers, We Make Up in Heart!

Is there anything cuter then a kid in onsie, footie, fleece jammies? Yep! Twins in matching ones!


Its still chilly outside so today was full of cuddles. But thankfully the sun did come out for the first time this week. And that made for a beautiful Sunday.

This morning we painted and cuddled up to watch a movie. Miss Riley tried her best to vote for Cinderella, but since we have watched it for her 732 times, just in the last week, Smurfs it was.


Apparently this was a mommy with blue hair holding her baby with pink hair. She has such an abstract perspective! I'm so impressed!


Because it's a new year we changed to a 1pm-4pm church schedule and the girls moved from the Sunbeam to the CTR 4 class. Riley got the chance to say the prayer for the Junior Primary today and loved standing at the microphone with me as I spoke for her. And Keagan read a scripture. We picked something from "The Family: A Proclamation to The World" as it went with this months theme. She was so cute saying it! Then she happened to be the spot light child of the day! It was so fun to see her stand before everyone trying to hide her huge smile and pride!

Last night the girls and I had a memorable little experience in the car. If you know me at all, you know I love cheesy things. So I was all about Keagan's supper cheesy, 4 year old idea. Somehow while driving home I ended up with my left hand on the steering wheel and my right hand in the back seat holding BOTH of the girls hands together. Then Keags suggests we do one of those end of game rally cries that basketball teams do. You know, the "1...2....3....team" chants as your hands bounce together and then break out. But our chant went "1.....2.....3.....family!!" And then "1.....2.....3.....Kikuchi girls!!" We probably did it 15 times and the girls LOVED it! Riley was yelling too and we all had a cheesy, fun, memory makin moment! One that puts a smile on my face just typing about it.

I am so blessed to be a member of this little family of three! What we lack in numbers, we make up for in heart!!


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Feisty Riley

Lately Miss Riley has been a little feisty! She has been purposely provoking Keagan more, being more bossy and having more fake and dramatic meltdowns for attention and/or her way. So basically all the normal things little girls do, including her sister.

This is what happens when Riley helps me fold the laundry. The girl gets demanding! She has on a shirt, a jacket, a sweater, pants, a Snow White skirt and three pairs of socks!


This is what happens when she's on her horsey. It's head is soaking wet from all the kisses! And seriously how much do you LOVE the onsie, footie fleece jammies?


And this is what happens in close quarters with her sister. She's either trying to kiss her or hit her! And honestly I think Keagan would prefer the hits! I caught her in the act on this one.


I'm actually kinda concerned that she's bored just here at home with us. I was under the impression that I am supper entertaining! I know Keagan is! I'm not sure what could possibly be missing. Keagan thrives with some down time but Riley is so used to being supper busy with therapy and school. I really just think her schedule has been so thrown off and she is a little girl who likes routine, like her momma. Next week we will get back on our regular schedule and we will have to see how feisty she is then. Until then I better step up the entertainment around here and Keagan better watch her back!

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A New Year

2012 brought wonderful blessing and some challenges to be learned from. I (mostly) enjoyed both! Looking back I am amazed at how much my girls have learned and how big they have gotten! I'm thankful for the great memories we made in 2012, the lessons we learned and the amazing people we have in our lives to enjoy it all with!

Last night we celebrated 2012 with some great people in a fantastic way! We had the extra fun and delicious Raclette for dinner at the Blackhams house and then partied in their stocked and huge garage. Along with the Browns, the Blacks, the Bakers, the Mcquays and of course the Fosters, we played ping pong, air hockey, basketball, Cupping, Banana Grams, puzzles, ate from a buffet of snacks and treats and laughed. I was amazed that my girls made it til 9:45! We were just all having so much fun!






















Then tonight we celebrated 2013 at home with the Fosters and Nana. Nana cooked a traditional New Years dinner. We had pork to celebrate that we had a good previous year, black eyed peas for good luck, potatoes for health, greens for wealth in the new year, plus cornbread of course! I helped Kellie orchestrate a new year activity and we all filled out our highlights of 2012 and goals for 2013. They were as follows...

RILEY'S
Greatest lesson learned in 2012: how to take some steps
Hardest thing of the year: Hospitalizations
Favorite memory of 2012: Great Wolf Lodge
Loved most about 2012: school
Want to learn in 2013: to walk and talk
Get better at: walking and talking
Biggest Goal: walk and talk

KEAGAN'S
Greatest lesson learned in 2012: how to do a cartwheel
Hardest thing of the year: sharing
Favorite memory of 2012: Great Wolf Lodge and Yogi Bear
Loved most about 2012: getting so big!
Want to learn in 2013: how to write the whole alphabet
Get better at: gymnastics
Biggest goal: share with others. (This was actually the goal she came up with herself in Primary on Sunday!)

MOMMY'S
Greatest lesson learned in 2012: I can use my bad experiences to help others
Hardest thing of the year: Hospitalizations
Favorite memory of 2012: Riley saying "hi"!
Loved most about 2012: Watching my girls learn and grow so much!
Want to learn in 2013: how to be a runner
Get better at: being patient
Biggest goal: weight watchers!
Happy New Year! I have a feeling it's gonna be a good one!

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