Sweet Hailey

Once again, I am asking for your prayers for sweet Hailey.  She has had a tough past week and her family received more heart breaking news yesterday.  With the regrowth of the tumor, she was to return to Jacksonville, Florida for the special proton beam radiation.  This is not the norm with an AT/RT relapse, however her body's response to previous treatments convinced her doctor that it was worth another treatment although she wasn't sure of the effectiveness or end results.  Hailey has beat the odds and the doctors believe in her fight; they weren't giving up on her just yet.

Last weekend her vomiting became more frequent and she became dehydrated.  They hospitalized her over the weekend and she is still there as her digestive system isn't working correctly.  They (the doctors) were still planning to send her to Jacksonville, although Shauna wasn't so sure it was the right thing.  Before sending her they needed a recent MRI so they performed one yesterday.  The results they received were so sad and unexpected.

The MRI revealed significant growth in the initial tumor, in addition to new growths.  Jacksonville is "off" and the plan to move forward is unclear at this time.  Her last posting indicated they were waiting to hear from her doctor. 

It isn't good.

And it is sad.

She indicated that she could see the light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel. 

Our hearts are breaking for them.

Will you please pray for them?

And if you know others who will pray, will you please pass this along?

I will keep you updated.

You can visit Hailey at her CaringBridge Site.  I would like for you to notice the numbers of visitors. :) So many are loving them and praying for them...

Here is a sweet picture of her right before her last surgery.

Isn't she a doll?

The Pumpkin Patch

It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Evansville today and a perfect day to visit the pumpkin patch!

Lawson's class from his school was going and they invited us to meet them there, wasn't that nice? 

I was excited for him to see his friends and teachers again!

We visited Goebel Farms and it was such a treat for these little people.  There were pumpkins, gourds, squash, mums, corn, corn stalks, straw, and more fruits that I'd never heard of. 

It was a really nice place!

Below are pictures of a few of his little friends...

Here is Mr. Oliver

And Lincoln...

This is one of my favorites of the day... there were a few tractors there and you can guess who found them first!  I don't think the others even noticed them until we got there.

Here he and Sophia are hanging on the tractor wheel!

A quick shot of the three of us!

Lawson and Conner

Lawson on a BIG pumpkin!

The wagons were a big hit!

And so was the slide!

I couldn't believe how brave they were - including Lawson!

It was three levels up and then down!  I believe Lawson was the only one who went down on his tummy!  His comment: "That was fun, mommy!"

And lastly... I'm pretty sure that this three-wheeler was to be OFF-LIMITS.  However, once Lawson spotted it, it was all I could do to keep him away from it.  Finally, after about five minutes, I looked around, saw no one, so I quickly popped him up on there. 

A little bit of rebel in mom = priceless smile! :) 

Since having kids, I more and more find myself asking the question, "what's the big deal?"  That's what I thought today... it's sitting right here... kids are everywhere... there is no key, and I am right here... if someone comes over, I will take him off! 

It was worth the smile!

Wordless... but not on Wednesday

Twinkies sportin' their PJs

Well, I've never dressed Lawson and Emmitt alike, and I honestly don't plan to do so... BUT when I saw these sport pajamas for Lawson, and then noticed they were also in Emmitt's size, I decided they both needed a pair!

Tonight was the first night they've worn them, and they looked cute!  Lawson was very excited because they have balls all over them, but he continued to tell me "Lawson is a big boy" the entire time I was dressing him.  I think he was concerned that he and Emmitt, (who is a baby according to Lawson), had the same PJs... he wanted to be sure that I knew he wasn't a baby like Emmitt although they were wearing the same thing.

Good-night little Twinkies!

Our house

More prayers were answered...

We listed our house on August 24, and it sold on September 24!  1 month!

That was one item checked off of the "Moving to Columbia list".  This is our second house to sell and it was such a stressful time... I had forgotten about all of the little pieces of the "house sold puzzle" that had to be put together before a sigh of relief could be taken.  Last week was full of home inspections and we should know the results of those tomorrow.  Although we feel great about everything, you never know.  We are hopeful that there will be no setbacks.  We will continue to trust.

The next check on the list was made last weekend... we traveled, with both boys in tow, over to Columbia.  Five hours from Evansville.  We left around 5:30 in the evening (with the hopes of them sleeping - Lawson fell asleep around 11 P.M.) and we arrived around midnight, but we survived.  Traveling with children can be challenging, but those moments must be easily forgotten because we continue to do it! :)  Anyway, the next morning we were to meet with our AWESOME realtor.  He is a grandpa and we just love him; he has treated us like we were his own children (his daughters are around our age).  We had our house-hunting-list made and we were ready to go.  The boys did well and so did we.  We left on Saturday afternoon being the owners of a new house!!!  We are very excited! 

And now the wait is on...  It is new with a full unfinished basement.  We purchased the home with the completion of the basement.  The builder is in the process of doing so right now, and we will not close until November 12.  Our current house closes on October 29 so we are going to have about two weeks of limbo-living.  They will move us out on October 26th and 27th, and we will come to Martin once our house is empty.  We will live with Russ' parents during that two week period.  We will return to Columbia on November 11 to prepare for our closure and then they will move us in the 15th of November... can't come soon enough!

I am looking forward to the "calm", but am trying to enjoy this "crazy/busy" time as excitement is certainly within.  Things have been out of sorts since Russ began his new job and since I began my stay-home career, which by the way, is going great!  I fully expect things to move full-speed ahead until after the first of the year... maybe the calm will arrive with the coming of the new year.  We shall see.

So, things are moving... Paul, our awesome realtor, called Russ today.  He had been over to check on the construction and wanted to give us an update.  Isn't that nice?  I am just so thankful for his goodness.

God has guided this process and we trust that He will continue to do so.  Russ and I are so thankful for the answered prayers; our cup runneth over.

Peek-a-Boo!

Emmitt has a new game!

This seems a little early to me, but he covers his face, kicks his legs, and waits for you to uncover his face and surprise him with "Peek-a-Boo!"

He is such a sweety-pie!

Windy day + Kite = FUN!

About two weeks ago, we had a very windy day here in Evansville... 

Lawson received this Elmo kite from Aunt Glenda for his birthday, and it was a great day for kite-flying!

He had so much fun... it's too bad you have to have wind to fly a kite!

Please know that the kite-"flying" moments of the hour we were outside were far and few between.
I am thankful for the "sport mode" on my camera or I wouldn't have captured these exciting high-flying moments.

It was a fun morning!

We will certainly be ordering more "wind" in the spring... these cute little reusable kites are loads of fun!