There is absolutely no way I’d make it through the trial we’re having right now without my incredible support system, which is first and foremost God, Adam, my family, and my incredible friends. I thought I was okay and could handle the panic attacks, anxiety, and depression I was experiencing. I would get through it eventually. I had to. I had a family to be strong for and a daughter that needed me. Once I finally surrendered and admitted I couldn’t do this in my own strength and asked for help, that’s when the goodness came flooding in . God finally revealed to me (or I finally opened my eyes) to all the goodness He was providing me with all along. I knew it was there, but I couldn’t feel it or see it just yet, but it was there all right! I will share all of that goodness throughout some of this post, starting with some of my best friends. They showed up to go to lunch with me and to go on daily walks with me until they knew I was okay. Texting me and sending me supportive messages. Just simply being there and letting me cry!
Now on to something lighter…
The kids celebrated the 100th day of school! Can you spot Shep??
Brooks with his famous pose!
Not sure how many more seasons of basketball we’ll do, but I love how it keeps them active in the winter! Brooks ended the season with a few baskets (I think that’s what you call points in basketball)!
Shep, being one of the tallest on his team, played the position (whatever that is?) where he got most of the rebounds . He wasn’t the shooter (or whatever it’s called), so he didn’t get any baskets this season, but he was still a little baller for his team!
His team got first place (I think, lol)!
This little gymnast finally got her picture on the wall in the lobby!
She did awesome at her second meet, improving her overall score! She had a hiccup on bars and vault, but she improved a ton on floor and beam!
Her team won first place again!
Brooks has turned into quite the little bookworm and I absolutely love it!!!!!
FINALLY made it to a Mommy/Son dance for the first time ever this year! We met at a friend’s house to eat pizza beforehand!
Handsome boys!
Pretty Mamas!
Love these two boys so much and needed this night with just them more than I realized!
Classic “caterpillar” and “break dance” battle!
Brooks was probably one of the oldest kids there. There weren’t many 5th graders in attendance, but that didn’t stop him from having the best night! Him and Shep were dancing machines!
They wanted to dance with friends, but also wanted me right there next to them the whole night!
❤️❤️
Brooks would not let me get off the dance floor, and as exhausted as I was I had so much fun dancing with my boys!
You can never get a “normal” pic when Shep’s around, lol
Boys and their dancing skills crack me up!
I now present you with the “many faces of Shep” after he stole my phone…
You’re welcome!
😂
Gosh I love this goofball so much!
BIG boys, whom I’m thankful are NOT too cool for school!
Best friends!
I don’t know if Brooks could sense my sadness or if God used him to put a smile on my face, but I will NEVER ever forget this night! I NEEDED this time away, and this special time with just my boys, to forget all of my worries, if only for a moment, and just dance! Another example of God’s goodness!
Back to reality…
Shep got into a fight with a pole at recess, and the pole won!
Thank goodness he only needed some glue and some sterry strips! You’d think I’d be used to this kids injuries by now, smh!
So grateful for these baseball moms and my GALentines! My social butterfly self hasn’t felt very social lately. I’m forcing myself to keep showing up though. Sometimes it’s brutal and sometimes I’m glad I went. This was a night that brought me the little bit of joy God knew I needed!
I sent out an SOS text to several friends to let them know what was going on with Ellis and to ask for prayers. I felt like I was being a fraud. I was exhausted from putting on a fake facade, but also knew I wasn’t fooling anyone. I wanted people to know the truth. We were going through a tough trial and I was not okay. My “favorite Wilmeth Mamas” were some of those friends I texted, and God used them to show me goodness and to reassure me that I was not alone! The devil tried to convince me that I didn’t have any true friends and that no one was there for me, but the devil is a liar!!!
Love our traditional GALentines lunch on Valentines Day!
These ladies cried with and for me during our lunch and brought me lots of comfort.
I wasn’t able to make it to the Christmas Party for the kids. I let my depression win that day, but with God’s strength, I made it to the Valentines Party!
I can’t believe it was the last Valentine’s Party I’d get to attend with this handsome boy 😭
So thankful I still have 3 more years of parties with this goofball!
The 3 musketeers!
My beautiful girl with all the confidence in the world! Gosh I love her!
Besties!
It’s Daddy/Daughter dance dress shopping day! One of my most favorite days of the year, but this year was a little more special than all the others. It was an impromptu day that wasn’t planned, and a day both of us so desperately needed.
It was a Monday morning. Mondays are usually hard in our house, because none of us sleep good on Sundays. Adam likes to call them our “Sundays Scaries” which is a more fun way of saying we get anxious about the week ahead. Ellis woke up with a tummy ache. I told her to go back to sleep and I’d make her a doctors appointment. After I returned from bringing the boys to school she was awake and said she actually felt fine, she just didn’t want to go to school. Mondays are busy for me, I have bible study and tennis practice, but my heart broke a little for her. She needed a mental health day and so did I. She didn’t know this, but I had actually planned on letting her skip the following day to take her dress shopping. She’s been begging me for a skip day and Tuesday was wide open. What was one day earlier? There was nothing too important I couldn’t cancel for her! God had His hand in that whole day!
When I texted my bible study to let them know I wouldn’t be there, I have no idea what prompted me to also ask them if any of them had any good recs for wigs? Wigs were heavy on my heart and something I wasn’t having a lot of success with researching on my own. I immediately got 3 reply’s with suggestions. I had to do a quick grocery pick up and on my way I decided to call the first wig place on the list my friend from bible study suggested. And guess what?? Someone actually picked up the phone! The sweet owner said she didn’t have a lot of kid wigs in stock, but to come in and we could try some stuff on, AND she had an opening at 1pm that day! Oh that is exactly what my soul needed!
First we went to the mall and Ellis found the sweetest dress at the first place we went to. She also picked out the perfect shoes to go with, that I tried to convince her out of, but so glad she stood her ground. I love her style and how decisive and strong willed she is!
After dress shopping we went to the most beautiful wig salon and had so much fun trying on wigs! Ellis tried on several different colors, lengths, and styles, until we figured out what she liked. We went with a cheaper, synthetic wig, just in case she didn’t like wearing it. $400 as apposed to thousands of dollars for a wig with real hair. It had to be ordered though, but would come just in time, right before the Daddy/Daughter dance. That wig shop gave us so much peace and hope! Afterward, Ellis somehow convinced me to take her back to the mall to get a build-a-bear so she could always remember her special skip day with Mommy!
How could I say no to that beautiful smile!
Later that week Shep had his Living Museum where he researched and wrote a speech about Babe Ruth!
He blew me away and did such a good job on his speech!
I can’t believe this was our last Living Museum Day. Such a fun day for the kids! Brooks was Sam Houston and Ellis was Sally Ride when they were in second grade. Last firsts are so hard!
That morning Shep got to do the announcements for the school and Nancy was subbing, so she took this pic for me!
And now it’s time for the Daddy/Daughter dance! Doesn’t Ellis just look so beautiful!! I tried to get her to choose these cute white platform sandles, but she insisted on these pink sparkly boots, and man am I so glad she insisted! They suit her perfectly!
Earlier that day we picked up Ellis’ beautiful new wig! I think she looks just as beautiful with or without it!
Her handsome Daddy was waiting for her grand entrance at the bottom of the stairs!
I always love this part!
Right after I took this picture, Ellis leaned into me and started crying. She quietly told me she hated the wig. She sat down on the bottom step and threw the wig across the room, and said she wasn’t going to wear it and she wanted her real hair back. Both Adam and I’s hearts completely broke into two, but then something seriously amazing happened. She got up off the step, went and grabbed her baseball cap and said, “come on, let’s go Daddy.” My heart was so broken that I couldn’t see the beauty of what happened until the next day. God was still working on me that day, but now I see His hand and love in every single part of this story!
We went to Grace’s house to take pics before the dance. I’m just so dang proud of this brave girl! I wrote a facebook post about this night and Ellis’ condition that I want to share, because it captures exactly how I feel perfectly…
Trichotillomania aka trich or TTM, a word I wish I never had to learn. Jesus is my greatest teacher though, and I trust Him with my whole being. “Trich” is a body-focused repetitive behavior disorder, usually associated with OCD/anxiety, where you have this uncontrollable urge to pull your body hairs (eyebrows, eyelashes, scalp hair, etc.). With Ellis’ permission I’m sharing that our worlds flipped upside down one Saturday morning when we discovered she suffered with this condition. She’s not sick, it doesn’t hurt her, half the time she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it, and no she can’t (at this time) control it, but most of all she’s still her. The same old Ellis. The stubborn spitfire with the strongest personality that God gave to her on purpose. I admire her courage and strength and wish I cared so much less about what other people thought, just like her. She put on her blessed baseball cap with her dress and kick butt pink sparkly boots and had the best time at the Daddy/Daughter dance just like she has every other year with her AMAZING daddy and INCREDIBLE friends 
! I know everyone has their struggles, hers is just more visible on the outside, but she knows “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than [she] can stand.” ( 1 Corinthians 10:13), and He has a purpose and plan for her life far greater than our own understanding. Through it all GOD IS SO GOOD! Please just remember to ALWAYS be kind, you never know what someone may be struggling with 
.
I mean how can you deny God being there with us that night, just look at that beautiful sunset he painted for us!
The moms and boys got to hang out while the dads and daughters were at the dance!
Poor Ellis had to have a dance off with her 43 year old daddy who still thinks he can break dance, lol
Silly Girls!
These two have been the most amazing, non-judgmental and supportive friends to Ellis 💕
It’s only a matter of time until he won’t be able to hold her and dance anymore 🥺
I’m so glad Ellis didn’t let the wig mishap ruin her night and she was still able to have a great time at the dance were her daddy and best friends! God is SO good!
God also provided me with 4 of the MOST incredible sisters, but especially this one! Jeanne rearranged her schedule, asked her boss if she could work remotely, left her son two days after he had surgery to remove his wisdom teeth, packed up her entire kitchen and made the looooooong drive by herself to McKinney, just so I wouldn’t have to be by myself for 4 nights while Adam was out of town. She has spent so much time researching trichotillomania for us, even finding us an expert therapist out of New York. Most of all though she’s listened to me cry uncontrollably on countless occasions and brought me hope after each and every phone call. I know the Lord used her to comfort me, and I’m SO glad she was obedient to Him!
Ellis wanted to spoil Jeanne with gifts while she was here, but she’s pretty impossible to buy gifts for, lol. We settled on these organic face masks that I know she hated, but was still a good sport for Ellis!
Love this girly girl, that’s into ALL things skin care right now at just 9 years old, lol
Ellis adores her Aunt Jeanne and they definitely have a very special bond ❤️
All the kids LOVE Aunt Jeanne and were sad to see her go, especially me! I seriously don’t think I could’ve survived those 4 days without her. Beyond grateful for her selflessness and how she showed up for me when I needed her most! This picture makes my heart smile SO big!
On to more blessings….
Shep got the Medal of Perseverance at his school this month. He has dyslexia and adhd so he has to work a little harder than most, but he never gives up and is always determined to do his best! So proud of that kid!
Brooks went to a pre-teen conference at our church all by himself! I love how much he loves the Lord and is always down for everything! He’s such an easy go with the flow kiddo! I know watching Ellis struggle hasn’t been easy for the boys. Their hearts break for her too, but it’s been so beautiful to see how empathetic and gentle they are with her. God is refining all of this through this trial and I know we’re all going to come out of this so much stronger and more faithful!
The last and probably greatest blessing of all, are Ellis’ beautiful friends! They treat her exactly the same but also give her grace when she needs it!
I will leave you with this heart warming scene I walked into the other day… We had a children’s book about trichotillomania sitting out on the coffee table, and Ellis’ friend picked it up and started looking through it and reading it aloud. The other girls then gathered around her and listened to her read the rest of the story 💕. God is undeniably at work here!
Those crazy Dimmick's 
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