More Blessings

A few more things I am thankful for today:

• A God who loves and forgives and who also humbles me when I need to be humbled and lifts me up when I need to be lifted.
• A Savior who gave up his life for me so that I can scream "I'm debt free!!!" (From my sin that is. Jesus is letting me pay my own student loans.)
• I am thankful for EVERY person who has shown the love of God to us during our trials of the the past year. I pray that God blesses each and every one of them.
• My Friends. Old and new. Every person I have crossed paths with has been a blessing in my life in one way or another or taught me a valuable lesson.
• Even though my Nanny is gone from this life and I miss her very much and regret not spending more time with her, I am thankful that I know where she is! I have peace of mind that I will get to see her again one day!
• I am thankful that I don't have to worry about where the money is going to come from when we get a big medical bill.
• Today my mother in law took us all out to FIVE GUYS burgers and fries for dinner!! I am thankful for that. :)
• On the way back, we took a wrong turn and ended up taking the scenic route. I am so thankful for that because I got to witness some of God's most beautiful handiwork during one of the most colorful times of year.
• Also on the way back, from the back seat I got to watch my one year old hold up his hands in the air and play patty-cake, and listen to my babies laugh at each other.
• My husband used part of his day today to come to preschool and we painted pumpkins together. (And I must say, he's quite creative!) Then he stayed and helped Izzy paint her ghost shirt because I had to go to a doctor's appointment.
• I got to cuddle and read stories with my daughter before bed and then got Eskimo kisses AND Butterfly kisses before I left her room. :)

More blessings to look forward to tomorrow!!

Counting My Blessings

Yesterday we were sitting at the dinner table and Isabelle said something so very simple but yet so profound that I wanted to document it. After we said our prayer, Isabelle, out of the blue, says, "Mommy, God doesn't want us to be mad at Him. He just wants us to be happy at Him." I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that yesterday. Over and over again God has used this child he gave me to teach me so many lessons.

I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. We have made a lot of changes recently (all of them good things) and the weekend before last my Grandmother passed away. I have just been having a hard time adjusting to all the changes that are happening all at once. I needed a mental break, so Ben offered to take Isabelle to the clinic this week for her treatment. Yesterday my wonderful husband used the day to work from home and spent part of the day baking chocolate chip cookies with her, so they could take them to the star clinic today and hand them out. It got her excited about going. This morning when she acted nervous about going, he pretended to be the cookie monster and again got her excited about going. She had been doing really great about not crying when we go to the clinic and since we have moved and made so many changes all at once she had sort of "regressed" a little so to speak and was having a hard time with treatments again. Well, today, the report is that she did AWESOME! She was so excited to go in and hand out the cookies, and there was absolutely no crying during or after treatment. Even when she woke up from anesthesia she was in a great mood and layed still for 30 minutes like she is supposed to.

Jeb and I went back to the old house today to finish up some last minute cleaning and it should be ready to go on the market within a week or so. My wonderful Mommy put aside the things that she needed to do today and came over to help.

My mother in law has rearranged her entire life and made room for us in her home, offered to cook dinner one night a week, and has been such a blessing to our children.

I have a family who loves me unconditionally and is there to lift me up when I can't lift myself.

I am so very blessed and today I just wanted to count my blessings for the whole world to see.

This is the verse of the day on the blog today and my prayer for the day:
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12)

And here is another one I am committing to memory:
"In everything GIVE THANKS; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (I Th. 5:18)

Happy Birthday Jeb Alexander!

Today is my baby boy's first birthday!! This year went by especially fast, and had many challenges and trials, both big and small. Having him as part of our family was not one of them though. In times of trial, he has brought so much JOY to our family. God knew exactly what he was doing when he gave us this precious boy. His first name means "beloved friend" and his middle name means "protector of mankind". I think they are both very fitting.



Here are a few pictures just to show how much joy he has brought to our family over the past year.

First night in the hospital:

All dressed up for church:
First time eating carrots:

See how sweet and happy he is? He has always been that way. Always bringing smiles and giggles even at times when it was hard to find them.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. I won't go into all the details, but because of that (and the fact that we are all sick right now), we decided to just play it low-key for Jeb's actual birthday and we'll do something with my family next weekend.

Daddy baked a cake last night, I did the icing, and Isabelle helped with the sprinkles.

He was a little more careful than Isabelle was with her first birthday cake, but just as messy and had just as much fun.

"Are you sure this is okay?"

Izzy was being the big sister and showing him how to play with his new toys. :)

We had a really good, relaxing day.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy. How I love watching you grow.

Back Among the Living

So I have been on a three month hiatus from blogland, but I am back among the living again, and thought I would catch up on posting some pictures from our life over the last 6 months. First, let me give you a little update on Isabelle. She is doing great right now. We have finally begun the maintenance phase of chemo, which means we only have to go to the clinic once a month!! It has been a MUCH needed change of pace and it feels like life is sort of getting back to "normal" now, if there is such a thing. Her personality has definitely come back strong (sometimes stronger than we would like! Ha!) and she is enjoying having a more normal routine and bossing her little brother around. She does have to take an oral chemo at home everyday now, but we have figured out that we can hide in a peanut butter sandwich and she doesn't know the difference. So glad we finally figured that out because it was quite a battle getting her to take medicine everyday. Anyway, on to the pictures. These are all pictures from winter that I haven't posted yet. Next post I will work on Spring.

First time for her to go out to eat after diagnosis. Ben's mom was keeping Jeb overnight for us the night before treatment, so we decided to take Isabelle out for a treat. I was a little OCD about wiping things with sanitizer and not letting her touch anything, but it was great to be out of the house.

Enjoying some chocolate cake for dessert.




She LOVES playing dress up now. This day she had put on a pair of my heels and I had to get a picture. She also loves this dollhouse. This was her "big sister" present that we got for her right before Jeb was born, and then for Christmas, Mimi bought her a bunch of furniture to fill it up.

Eating a giant apple that Mimi gave her.

One night, we decided to go "camping" in the house. We made a tent in our bedroom out of a sheet, and got out the flashlight. We had fun, but it only lasted about 10 minutes.

Bathtime for my two babies:

Another thing Isabelle has really been into lately is blocks. This was taken during a phase when she was obsessed with these blocks.

She was also obsessed with her Little Einsteins. We couldn't go anywhere without them.

Playing in the snow.

This one was back when Jeb first started sitting in the excersaucer. Notice the blanket stuffed around him.

After enjoying some yummy spaghetti. (one of her favorites)

Ben's birthday: Izzy helped me make him a chocolate cake from scratch.

Smiley Baby

Here are a few pics of her playing at the clinic.

This is Miss Jill, the child life specialist. We love her. She is the one that tries to make things fun for the kids and explain things to them on their level, helps distract them during treatment, etc. She also plans fun activities like the Christmas party and the pool party they had recently.

Hanging out at Bubblecake after treatment.

Playing dress up again: One day around the time we were having all that snow, Izzy was playing dress up and decided she needed some fairy wings. Well, I know that you can get them at the Dollar Tree, but I was not about to drag my two kids out in the snow just for a pair of fairy wings, so we attempted to make some.

I took two coat hangers and bent them to make the shape of a wing, then taped them together in the middle. I took two old knee-high stockings and stretched them around the hangers, then used some ribbon I had laying around to make the straps. Isabelle colored the wings with markers. They didn't hold up very long, but she enjoyed them while they lasted, and they were free.

This last one is a picture of "Isabelle's Dreamsicle", the cupcake that Bubblecake Bake Shop named after Isabelle and sent us $1 for every cupcake sold. Isn't that so cool? How many people can say they've had a cupcake named after them?

More to come later this week. Hopefully my blogging hiatus has ended. :)

For the Love of Isabelle

On March 13th, 2010, a fundraiser was held called "For the Love of Isabelle". Family, friends, and some people who don't even know us spent months planning this wonderful event on Isabelle's behalf. With our heads still spinning from her diagnosis, they jumped in and gave sacrificially of their time and resources to make this happen for her. It was overwhelmingly touching and beautiful to see so many people come together out of the love in their hearts.

We did not see it, but someone took a picture of this amazing rainbow on their way to the event that day. I thought it was very fitting.

The fundraiser was a spaghetti dinner with entertainment and a silent auction. I cannot even describe to you what kind of work and thought must have gone into planning every detail of the night. Everything went beautifully and I think everyone who attended was very encouraged. I know I was! We prayed so hard and were so thankful that Isabelle was feeling well enough to be there for her "party". She probably had no idea what was going on, but she thought it was so cool!

Nannee and Izzy:

Dessert table: all donated by different individuals and bakeries.

The silent auction area and some people making their bids:

We were amazed and so touched at all the beautiful items that were donated.

The Roanoke Moose Lodge DONATED the use of thier space! We were so touched by that as well! They even had some of thier staff on hand to help out!

It really was the perfect size and layout for it.

Some of the ladies who were serving dinner:

Some of the people filing in:

Getting plates ready to serve:

Getting drinks ready:

Pictures of some of the items and baskets donated:

Boys bike donated by Wal-Mart in Salem:

Coca-cola themed basket:

Game night and landscaping baskets:

Movie night basket:

Deluxe Scrabble set:

Up close pictures of some of the desserts:

Cake made by a sweet lady that I go to church with:

Mmmmm, dinner. The spaghetti was all donated by ladies from various churches.

Over 400 people showed up!! It was amazing!!

People lined up to get spaghetti:

The bluegrass band also donated to use of their time. They were awesome!

Isabelle's cousin Molly at the dinner:

Tony Vines, a Christian musician, who also donated the use of his time. He was the closing entertainment.

A local caricature artist also donated the use of her time and set out a jar for people to make donations to Isabelle.

My sister Susy and Jamie Hatfield took tickets at the door.

The guest of honor enjoying some spaghetti:

Ben getting up to thank everyone who had a part in the evening.

A picture of all the decorations before everyone got there. Most of the decorations were donated by Captain Party. They donated all of thier leftover Valentine's Day stuff.

I think there was some concern before hand that we might run out of spaghetti, but the individuals planning this event prayed that night that God would divide the spaghetti as He did the loaves and the fishes and boy did He ever! There were 12 pans leftover! Some of them were sold to people to take home, some were given to one of the churches for a dinner they were having the next day and some were given to the Rescue Mission. It is so amazing to me what God can do when His people work together! We were so encouraged at all the people who showed up to support Isabelle. As my husband said, some of them we knew and loved, and some of them we loved, but didn't know. It was truly and overwhelming night that will be forever engrained in my memory. We felt so LOVED! That is the only way I know how to put it! I have never felt so loved before!! God is soooooo good! And He was definitely glorified that night!

John 13:35-By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.

Here is a link to see a newspaper article that was written about the dinner the day before:
http://jamiehardhat.blogspot.com/2010/03/so-salem-community-news-from-salem.html