Hair Creations

This is a page from Jentry's baby book. It is the only page that is not completed. I used to joke that I would probably be able to fill it in when she turned five. Little did I know that would be the reality of Jentry's hair.

Last week Jentry's step-mom took her to the salon for her first "official" hair cut. Their good friend, Lisa, got the privilege of the making the first few snips. She thought trimming up the ends a bit may help stimulate some new growth. Erica sent me these pictures and said, "There wasn't anything to save...it just kind of flew away." I completely understood as Jentry's hair is so fine. The photos made me smile, because I could see how special she felt.

Jentry's unique hair is the result of Ectodermal Dysplasia. Ectodermal Dysplasias are inherited disorders that involve defects in the hair, nails, sweat glands and teeth. When a person has a least two types of abnormal ectodermal features the individual is identified as being affected by ectodermal dysplasia. There are more than 150 different types of ED. Symptoms range from mild to severe. Only in rare cases does ectodermal dysplasia affect lifespan and very few types involve learning difficulties.

Fortunately for Jentry, her hair and nails are the only parts affected. Individuals affected by an ED syndrome frequently have abnormalities of the hair follicles. Scalp and body hair may be thin, sparse and very light in color, even though beard growth in affected males may be normal. The hair may grow very slowly or sporadically and it may be excessively fragile, curly, or even twisted. Fingernails and toenails may be thick, abnormally shaped, discolored, ridged, slow-growing, or brittle. The cuticles may be prone to infections.

All ectodermal dysplasias are heritable or genetic disorders, which means that they can be inherited or passed on to children. Jentry inherited the disorder from her father's side of the family. Her dad, grandmother, and several other relatives are also affected by ED. No one is really certain how many people are affected by ED worldwide. The latest estimate is that as many as seven of every 10,000 babies are born affected by an ectodermal dysplasia. Currently there is no cure.

This disorder is completely cosmetic for Jentry. Her appearance may be different from the "norm", but she is a completely healthy little girl. Majority of the time I forget she even looks different. To me it would seem strange for her to have long, flowing hair. When it comes to her self perception, I don't think she realizes that she looks different from her peers. This will most likely only last for a few more years, but I am hopeful that her strong personality will see her through the tears that I am sure will be shed from time to time. 

Every once and awhile she asks me when her hair will be long and I always respond, "I don't know honey. It may always be short because that is the way God wanted your hair to be." 

Jentry loves to play with her dolls' hair and even begs to brush mine. Of course I let her every chance I get. She is so proud of herself when she can get my hair up into a ponytail, which is not easy task as my hair is super thick. If only I could give Jentry just half of my hair.

I am not sure if it is due to her naturally short hair or if she would have been fascinated with hair anyway, but she is definitely into wearing things on her head.

I call them Jentry's Hair Creations. She really is quite imaginative! 

No matter what her hair decides to do, my hope is that Jentry has no doubt that she is loved no matter what. I am certain there will come a day when she is crying to me about something someone said or when she is mad at God for making her different. I pray that I can give her words of wisdom and someday she will be able to accept her irregularity with great confidence. 

Magnificent Men

Tomorrow is Father's Day and this year I helped with the addition of one more special man to the Father's Day club. This year is Nathan's first, official Father's Day in which he is to be celebrated. However if you asked him, he would tell you that he was already a father and has been to my daughter since the day they met. Jentry has a wonderful dad but has also been fortunate enough to have a fabulous step-father that has been there for her, provided for her, cared for her and loved her like his own. Nathan always wondered if it would be different with a child of his own and now he knows. It has been so fun to watch him interact with his very own son. He may still act like the tough guy, but I have no doubt that his love for Mason and Jentry is out of this world. I know this because you can see it in his smile.

If Nathan is anything like my father at parenting, our children will be taken care of in every way possible. For some reason, I have always felt like my dad was a bit superior to all of the other dad's out there. He is wise, handsome, talented, hard working, conservative, successful, patient, kind and always looking for a good time. All of my friends think Lee is just the best and everyone loves to watch him scoot his boots across the dance floor.  

As if I hadn't been blessed enough with the fabulous men in my life, I also gained the kindest father-in-law. John is quite different than my father but also an amazing father and grandfather. He is extremely patient, loving, selfless, thoughtful, humble, encouraging and artistic. He is so sweet with Mason and loves to hold him and sing to him. It is the sweetest sound you will ever hear. I think Mason has spent more hours in the arms of his grandpas than grandmas thus far. They are both a bit greedy when it comes to holding the baby.

I am so thankful for the magnificent men in my life and can not thank them enough for the love they have 

given to me and my family.

Welcome to Summer

Oh summer.....how I have missed you so. OK so it is not technically summer yet, which Jentry reminds me on a regular basis, however she is officially graduated from Kindergarten and school is out so to me it is SUMMER!

Jentry's last day of school was Thursday the 22nd and we left for Harlan County the following day. First we stopped to have lunch with John, Jan and two of John's sisters. Jentry had to show off her tractor driving skills while Nathan told us all about treating beans with their new and improved, state of the art, automated system!

Nathan and I were very impressed that neither of the kids made a peep the entire two hour trip. Jentry watched her Barbie movie while Mason slept. I wonder if we will ever be so lucky again?

We had a very relaxing weekend. My dad took Nathan fishing on the river and much to my surprise he caught more fish than Nathan. I have never known my dad to do any fishing at all but apparently to impressive his son-in-law he really went all out. My mother loves catfish so Nathan filleted their findings and we all enjoyed a yummy meal. It was much better than I expected and Jentry loved it!

Papa's desire to impress Nathan must have stopped at the river bank because he just sat back and watched Nathan do the work. Mason was very interested in Papa's old fishing stories.

Saturday night we met up with my good friend Lindsay and her family for dinner at Cunningham's Feed in Arapahoe. Then we took the kiddos to the Oxford Turkey Day's carnival. Cade and Jentry had a blast while Maddox and Mason tagged along in the strollers.

Jentry loves to spend time with Grandma and Papa and she especially likes to harass her Papa. This is Jentry playing a game on Papa's iPad while he is trying to take a nap. Lovely....she is just so sweet.

Sunday afternoon we headed down to the beach on the river. Jentry wanted to get in and I told her she could strip down to her underwear. She thought it was so much fun. She talked Grandma into going with her to hold her hand. I'm not so sure that was the best idea as Grandma fell on her butt on the way in. If only I had had my camera ready.  

We all enjoyed a wonderful evening watching the water roll by with our feet in the sand. Mom said, "Mark it on the calendar! A perfect day in Nebraska. No wind, perfect temp and no bugs!" Nathan got to do some more fishing, Jentry played in the sand and Mason took a snooze. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores over the campfire. It was a perfect day and I would love more of them.

Monday morning we went to the Memorial Day service at the Stamford Cemetery. I had not been there since I was in school and it brought back wonderful memories of my amazing family. Papa helped Jentry find one of the discarded gun shells and she cherished it just as my cousins and I did years ago.

Monday afternoon we dropped Jentry off at her dad's and said goodbye for two long weeks. It helps to know that she was going to Bible school with my mom and her cousins that week. She will also get to spend extra time with my parents and my sister's family which always make my heart smile.

In the meantime, I have work, Nathan and this adorable face to keep me busy.

Welcome to Summer!

Mother Nature's Day

Mother's Day started off wonderfully with a huge FIRST smile from Mason. He gave Nathan a big smile as he was getting him dressed for the day and then smiled again for Sissy and Mommy. Jentry showered me with all kinds of cards, pictures and presents that she had made all by herself. I could not have asked for better gifts.

After watching Jentry sing in church, I was treated to lunch out at the Legion. Then we visited Grandma Johnson in the home. To annoy Nathan, I insisted that we take a "four generations" picture. 

While we were chatting with Grandma a thunderstorm warning was issued for Sutton. The staff came around to close all of the windows and we decided we had better get going. The plan was to watch the movie Frozen and order Hunans for supper at John and Jan's. The sky was very dark as we drove the seven miles west. As I looked up the radar on my phone, it showed the storm popping up out of nowhere. We pulled in just before the rain hit. Nathan and John put the vehicles in the building. Next thing I knew, alarms were going off everywhere notifying us of a tornado warning. I really didn't think much of it as I have been in several tornado warnings throughout my life in Nebraska. Jan ordered everyone to head down to the storm room. We huddled together as the power went out. We could hear the rain, hail and wind but it wasn't long until the storm had passed and we were in the clear. The power remained out so John headed to Hastings for the food. He didn't get far before he met up with a State Trooper who was blocking off the road due to flooding. We were stuck and so we began to get creative with dinner.

Nathan grilled steaks on the grill in the rain.

Jan cooked up some potatoes in chicken broth on the gas stove with a flashlight. Jentry loved them and we laughed that a new recipe had been born.

Candle Light Mother's Day Dinner

Then we began to get word that the storm had caused some major damage to Sutton. We started seeing pictures on Facebook and worry started setting in. Nathan and John decided to drive into town and check on our house.

Big blue spruce uprooted in the front yard.

Porch swing down.

Neighbors' tress down in every direction.

Trellis down.

Branches down on South side of the house.

Branch down on power line on East side of the house.

More branches down on South side.

Fortunately, we did not have any damage to the house! Thank you Lord!

We were without power however and therefore had to stay at John and Jan's house for three nights. I am so thankful we had a warm place to go as it got quite chilly in our house. We were able to save most of our food by placing it all in the freezer and extra fridge in the garage. John brought in a generator to keep them running. Jan made some wonderful meals on the fly and entertained Jentry with all kinds of fun things. Stickers, crowns, finger puppets, dress up clothes, dolls, colors, books, bubbles....you name it. Jentry was in heaven! 

John helped by holding the baby a lot, which I think was a real chore for him. :)

I thought clean up would take days, but I was shocked at how many people came to help. Jentry had plenty to watch out the window and had a tons of questions. I have a feeling she will remember this storm for quite some time. When she walked into her room she said, "You're right mom, my room does kinda look like a tornado." Finally, she gets it!

Nathan hauling the big tree down the street with the tractor.

Line to the city dump...took an hour to unload.

The dump filled quickly so this is a second tree pile in the school's parking lot. If you look closely, you can see Jan standing in front.

They have classified the tornado as an EF3. We were very fortunate to have only lost a few trees. No one was injured in the storm, however a few families lost their homes and farm steads north of town. Several businesses on main street also had extensive damage. It was definitely a Mother's Day I will never forget.