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