My Darling Keagan

Lately I have been overcome with emotion because of how well my Riley is doing! It just amazes me how far she has come and all the challenges she has conquered!

But I am also so incredibly proud of my darling Keagan! She is such a smart, funny, strong, helpful and beautiful little girl! I feel so blessed she is mine and that I have such a tender little relationship with her! I am also thankful Riley has her for the greatest twin sister, cheerleader, teacher and challenger she could ask for!

Keags got this note sent home from school the other day...

"Keagan is such a great friend and is super helpful during clean up time! She is such a joy! We absolutely love having her in our class! Miss Harding & Mrs Reeves"

Oh how I adore my Keags and can't wait to see what amazing triumphs are in store for her!

Rollin Riley!

Yesterday it was soccer, and today Riley started gymnastics!

Bannons Gymnastics (where Keagan takes) just started offering a special needs class on Saturday. Riley was so excited! She ended up being the only one in the class today, so she got a private. Miss Amy, the coach is excited to learn how to coach some special kids so Miss McGown from school helped her a lot. How incredibly blessed are we to have Riley's teacher from school love her enough to volunteer to spend extra time with her?! She was such a big help and made it even more fun for Riley! We are so thankful for her! And I'm so thankful that Riley has this fun opportunity! Not to mention that again, I'm so grateful she is able to do it! The miracles and blessings just keep pourin in!

Because the gym was almost empty, Keagan and Addie also got to have some fun. But I think I had the best time of all just watching my girls!

Miracles on the Soccer Field

Tonight was our first day of soccer! And BOTH my precious girls are on the team! Less then three short months ago Riley was in a wheelchair! And tonight she played soccer right along her sister!!!! I want to shout it from the roof tops! God is good!! Prayers are answered!! And miracles happen!!





We are on Team Tiger. It's a cute little team of 10 of our friends from our Ward (church congregation) that my friend Emily put together. It's not an official league, we just all chipped in money for jerseys and Emily and her husband coach for a half hour and then they play a game against each other for an half hour. For the needs of both my girls, it's perfect!

Just several days ago, Keags kept saying she wasn't going to play because "soccer is for boys!" And she's going through a little "I don't like boys" stage. But a quick trip to Academy to buy purple soccer shorts and a pink soccer ball fixed that problem really fast! Last night both girls slept in their soccer shorts and they could not have been more excited! Now Keagan claims REAL soccer players wear bows and play with pink soccer balls!

I am continually so inspired and amazed by my two beautiful girls! I was just so thrilled tonight to see them BOTH out there playing! After playing hard, they are both worn out. But I lay here just beaming on cloud nine! I'm ecstatic that they both got the chance to play on that field tonight showing the whole world just what a Kikuchi girl can do when she sets her mind to it and has the Lord as her partner! They are unstoppable!

It was definitely an evening I'll never forget!

Go, Go, Go

Out of the house at 9 and we were nonstop til we got home at 6:30. I had a tight schedule written out and we were able to fit all the errands, meetings, appointments, etc that had to be done today. It was a go, go, go kinda day.

The craziness was highlighted by a great Annual ARD meeting with 7 members of Team Riley to establish her goals for the year. I was nervous but it went great! Maybe it helped that I brought gourmet cupcakes and that Riley really gets to work with and be loved by some incredible women at school!

And then this darling girl (who sat so nicely through her sisters meeting) had gymnastics! She was so excited it was gymnastics day that she woke up at 7 and immediately put on her leo!

Families Are Forever!

Every Monday night the three of us in our little family, and sometimes Nana, have a family night. More specifically it's called Family Home Evening (FHE). All us crazy Mormons do it. Tonight the girls and I did this...





We went to visit Pakkas (my dad's) grave. Something I don't often do because six years later it is still SO hard.

But today I talked to the girls about how much Pakka loves us, how hard he worked for us, how funny he is and how much he misses us. We talked like we often do, about where Pakka is, that he brought them to me and that he is waiting for us when it is our turn to go to heaven.

Most importantly I told the girls how thankful I am that FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! I explained that our loving Heavenly Father created a way for us to live together as a family for eternity. How thankful I am for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, for the power of the priesthood and for Temples here on this earth that make that possible!

Oh how much I miss my incredible dad! As he would say, I miss him with "every fiber of my being." But I have no doubt that I will see him again! How unbelievably thankful I am that I have the opportunity to live with him again, the rest of my family, and these two precious girls!


Oh and PS...I just know my crazy dad has fire ants all over his grave just so we won't stay there too long and wallow in our sadness! Sounds just like him! It's like he is there saying "leave and go spoil my grand kids!"

Splendid Little Sunday

It was a rough one folks! Here's a quick play by play...

I was ready for church and just needed to feed the girls lunch. And then.....the garbage disposal EXPLODED all! over! me!

There was pancakes, eggs, oranges and milk all over my face, the counter, the floor, the shutters and even in my hair!! If I could have caught that on video I for sure would be a happy millionaire thanks to Americas Funniest Videos! Or at least a You Tube star by now.

Before I started to freak out I realized both girls were wide eyed and watching to see how I would handle this. So I shrugged and began to clean up what appeared to be vomit everywhere! But in the process I bumped a glass and it dropped to the floor and shattered into a billion pieces! So the glass and puke took awhile to clean up before I could take a shower and get redressed for church. All while my girlies barely even noticed and were annoyed that the vacuum was so loud.

We were late for church but when I was finally getting the girls dressed I laughed so hard I cried. I have the girls wear little cartwheel shorts under their dresses. As Keags was pulling hers on she says to herself "I gotta get my spanx on." Haha! That brightened my whole afternoon! Leave it to a one liner from the Keags to solve my problems and almost redeem the day. Well that and a nice hot shower!

Bed Time

I hate that I turn into the most impatient mom ever at bed time! With every "I need a drink" or "I need to go potty" I get more and more frustrated. And then those two crazy kids fall asleep and look like total angels. And I absolutely hate that I got frustrated with angels!

So goes the cycle of being a mom. Uggggg.

Slowin Down

Now that our weeks are so busy, it's great to slow down on a Sunday morning and have time for the three of us to just play for hours. Shhhh. Don't tell Nana we were playing in her windows. Riley wouldn't squeeze herself back out for almost a full half an hour!

Freaky Friday

This is how our day started out...




With a couple of crazy goof balls runnin the show! As always.

Well actually my day started out 4 .5 hours earlier when I woke up at 1:45 AM and no matter what I tried I couldn't go back to sleep! So pretty much this Friday the 13th started out crazy and stayed that way all the long day!

Riley and I spent half the day at TCH. Not to my surprise she refused to sit in her wheelchair. So today marked her first time actually walking through these very familiar halls. In the waiting room she walked up and down this little ramp for a full 30 minutes and drew in the whole room with her proud smile!


She had to have some lab work done first. She is getting so much better at it, but I'm not! It still stinks! And then we had a Neurology appointment with the wonderful Dr Clark. He takes his time, answers all my questions, is great at celebrating Riley's achievements and sincerely cares despite being a very busy head of neurology at a prestigious hospital.

Riley's neuro check up was pretty good but then he says "so have you had her scoliosis officially diagnosed yet?" Ummmmm. Say what?!? So now we have an appointment to see Orthopedics. Fantastic! Lets just add another specialist to our long list. But please let's not add any more challenges for this sweet girl!! If I just ignore it then will the possibly new diagnosis, the symptoms, the treatment plan and visit schedule just go away? Please say yes! Cause I'm not sure I can add another issue!

And the stress mounts.

And speaking of new diagnosis, we got a crazy one today! Sialorrhea. That's a real thing! It sounds similar to diarrhea and saliva because its the medical term for excessive drooling! We have alot of diagnosis but that's got to be the craziest! We are gonna try those ear patches you wear on a cruise for motion sickness to see if they help the drool, otherwise known as "Riley juice."


After we finally left the hospital I fed Riley lunch and took her to school. Only to be further frustrated on an already stressful day. I happened to meet a new member of Riley's team, one of her therapists at school. Unfortunately it really didn't go well. It is extremely difficult to rub me the wrong way as I generally get along with almost anyone. But when you just met my sweet girl you are not suddenly an expert on all things Riley. So please don't tell me I'm doing things wrong!! I'm not clear yet on what I need to do about that situation but I can't think of a scenario where I'm not going to have to ruffle some feathers to get what's best for my baby. So be it.

And the stress mounts.

After stewing over all the events of the day and making phone calls to Miss M and TCH to schedule new appointments, we ended up actually having a great dinner and night at Sa's. However on the way home Riley was screaming at Keagan and I. She was really, really telling us something as she looked back and forth between her sister and I. It was fantastic that she could use her voice like that! And I was thrilled she was talking so much. But it absolutely broke my heart. I can't even express how deeply I wish I could understand all that my baby has to say!

And the stress mounts.

It was a freaky Friday. One leaving me exhausted, physically and emotionally. I just don't know how much more my sweet Riley can take. Actually lets be honest, she is the strong one that will face any challenge head on and conquer it! It's me that I'm worried about. I don't know how much longer I can watch as more and more challenges are thrown at my girl! Maybe I'll be a little tougher once I get some sleep. I sure hope so!

A Whole New World

Being able to walk has really opened up a whole new world to my Riley girl! Now when I get her out of the car she is immediately squirming to get down and walk. And it is such a battle to get her in a wheelchair if we are walking longer distances. But I really can't blame her! The world must look so different to her now, and she's ready to explore it.

She loves to walk by the fridge and push the lever to make the water come out. She knows she's not supposed to, but she likes being able to be naughty like this! Her favorite thing to do now is "run" with her sister. Its such a cute quickened stomp that isn't nearly as fast as Keagans regular walk. But it makes me so happy that they both get such a kick out of being able to do something so simple together! FINALLY!

This morning after therapy she was trying to run away from me in the parking lot so she didn't have to get in the car. Of course she did it all while giggling! And this afternoon she walked in and out of the playroom to bring me fake food as a waitress over and over.


I'm still not used to her being a walker yet so she takes my breath away several times a day. She falls alot less now but she has horrible bruises on her knees and one on her hiney that make me so sad. I guess they are just battle wounds from the fight of her life! At least it's a fight she is definitely winning!

Keagan is also moving right along as my babies get closer to the big five! Last night she insisted upon loading the dishwasher all by herself and today in the car she BURPED a song for me! I mean seriously! What more could I ask for? Makes my heart swell!

Somersaults, Cartwheels and Beams, Oh My!

Today was Keagans first day of gymnastics! She's only been asking me about it for a year. She is taking at Bannons with 6 other cute little girls in her class including Holland from school and Rachel and Zaliah from church. There also happens to be a homeschool class at the same time so a whole bunch of our friends from church are there too. Sure makes the waiting room a lot more fun!

But I just had a blast watching Keagan go! After all the flipping and twisting she does at home everyday, Im not at all surprised that she loved it! And by the end of the class she was already doing a perfect cartwheel from square to square! This is gonna be fun!

Workin Hard!

Keagan had homework this weekend. Very crucial and challenging Pre School homework. She had to bring 5 small things to school that represented her to tell her class about just who Keagan is. With some direction (she wanted to bring her favorite jammies) she picked 5 things that represent her well. A baby picture of her and Riley to explain she is a twin, a drawing she made of all her cousins to explain how much she loves her family, the book titled "Good Night Hawaii" to explain she was born in Hawaii, her harmonica to explain she loves music and dancing and finally, a plastic piece of chicken, her favorite food. That pretty much sums that cute little girl right up!


Riley has been working hard too lately! We are back up to a full therapy schedule. That means 6 hours a week in the mornings before speech. Two physical therapies, two occupational, a speech and a feeding therapy. That is one busy girl! Her favorite OT Miss Joan was mentioning today that alot of her kids have to be motivated often to work. But Riley faces every challenge head on and is one of her hardest workers! I am so proud of her for that attitude and for how far that has gotten her in progressing so much!

Feelin Fall

I'm so ready for cooler weather! This happens to me every September. I'm ready to break out the long sleeves and the heat index is still 105!

Today we made pumpkin muffins to take to friends. Maybe if we pretend it is fall then it might come sooner!

That's My Jam!

Keagan cracks me up SO much! Tonight we were pulling out of a friends driveway and the ice cream truck was driving by. She rolled down her window to listen to the music and said "that's my JAM!!" What a goof!