The Race

Erik and I won't be at the race tomorrow. We have had some child care issues. I am so disappointed. Thank you ALL for your support for St. Jude. And thank you most of all for your LOVE of Lucy. I am blessed by you all and will be cheering you on from home! Go Lucy Go!!!

MRI Results

Praise God! Praise God! Clean scans. We were told that they actually saw improvements in some areas they were watching. There was a build up of fluid that may need to be addressed but our sweet baby remains cancer FREE!!!

Tomorrow Is A Big Day

Lucy and I spent 8 hours at St. Jude today. She had a wonderful day...amazing all the doctors and therapists along the way. She really has come so far in the past 2 years.

Tomorrow she has a full MRI (brain and spine). It will last about 2.5 hours total. To clear up any confusion, what she had before Thanksgiving was an emergency 2 minute head CT to rule out a shunt problem when she was so tired. We thank you in advance for your prayers tomorrow.

Tonight is the dreaded "night before scans." In the past you might have found one of us knee deep in a bottle of Xanax (joke). But tonight was different. After two long years we are learning to breathe. Tonight it was no TV, no iPads or iPods. Just us. A family.

God has carried us this far, we have faith He will continue to do so.

Marathon Bib Information and More

THEY ARE HERE!!!

If you are local, you are welcome to pick up your race bib at Patriot Bank located on the square in Covington from 8-4 on Thursday the 29th and 8-4 on Friday the 30th.  Please bring $4 cash.

Don't forget that you can also get your bib Saturday morning at 6:45 am.  Meet in front of the Forum and we will try to grab a team picture.  Remember, anyone can wear an honor bib.  You don't have to be registered for Team Lucy!
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Oh, and I stink at this parenting thing sometimes!  The no bottle situation didn't last very long.  Oh, well.  We will try again another day.

Unscripted

I had a totally different post planned for tonight, but I'm changing courses.  Tonight I just want to say that I am thankful.  So VERY thankful for my life.  Yeah, we have hard days and life isn't always easy around here, but my cup runneth over tonight.  My children are full of the Christmas spirit and it appears to be quite contagious.

As if our life isn't exciting enough, we've decided to spice things up a little.  Jack got a big boy bed this weekend.  It's a huge move for me.  He's my last baby and seeing that crib come down was very emotional. It was such a stark reminder that that season of my life is over.  While I'm sure that I don't want to travel down that road again it was hard really accepting the fact that it was over.  Poor Jack.  I think I've held him and kissed him more since the bed came down than I have his whole life.  Oh!  I love that kid.

We are also taking his bottle away.  I know, he's 2.  Don't judge.  We do things our own speed around here.  Wish us luck!  I'm also starting a 24 day weight loss challenge this Friday.  I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.  Yesterday I went to the Dr. and weighed.  I was NOT happy.  I've got a buddy to do this with so our plan is to keep each other accountable.  I'll keep you posted!

Here's a super sweet story.  When Jack went for his post-op and allergist check ups yesterday, I encouraged him to wait and let the ladies leave elevator before he ran out.  If I do nothing else in my baby boy's life I will teach him how to be courteous and use good manners.  As we were walking towards the main entrance he ran past the elderly ladies in front of me, almost knocking one of them down.  I was absolutely mortified and began apologizing incessantly.  We continued to speak as we made our way to the door and low and behold..if that baby boy wasn't running to get to the door so he could hold it open.  It was the most precious thing I have ever seen.  I was so proud and everyone around stopped to watch.  Now, if I can only teach him to not kill the ladies in the process of being a gentleman!

We are expecting someone very special to visit tonight.  A certain little girl is expecting a very big payout!

That is, if we could ever get these crazies to bed!

p.s.-  Lucy's scans are Friday.  We'd appreciate all the prayers you can offer.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Nothing ushers in the Christmas season more than putting up the family Christmas tree.  My mind seems to turn more towards Christ this time of year and it is my goal to make that the case with out whole household.  Yes, we are doing the Elf this year and yes we "believe" in Santa clause.  But, most of all we BELIEVE in God and his only son Jesus.

I hope that this Christmas season will be filled with the hope and peace that only Christ can give.

Here is a little history about the Christmas tree that I found online tonight:

 About the year 1500, Martin Luther, inspired by a snow covered fir tree, brought a small tree indoors and decorated it with candles in honor of Christ’s birth. By the 18^th century, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree was well established in France, Germany, and Austria. Thus, the Christmas tree represents the original Tree of Paradise, the burning bush which spoke to Moses, the branch of Jesse from which Jesus was born, the life-giving tree of the cross of Christ, and the tree which St. John the Apostle saw in the Book of Revelations whose leaves have medicine for the people and which yields fruit each month for the healing of the nations. Because it is green year-round, the evergreen tree represents hope. Its needles and its narrow crest point upward, turning our thoughts to heaven. Because the tree is cut down and then erected again, it is a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. 

****Found HERE****

St. Jude Marathon Information

If you are running or walking in the St. Jude Marathon events and would like to wear something in honor of Lucy ---even if you are not signed up to be on Team Lucy--- then this information is for you.

My friends Nicole and Laura have ordered honor bibs and all you have to do is bring $4.00 cash and meet us in front of the forum at 6:45 am.  They have 100, so first come first serve.  We will also take a picture  right at 7:00.  The 5k starts at 7:15, so there is not a lot of wiggle room.  Please be on time.

Help spread the word if you don't mind!

Fun Friday-Thanksgiving Celebrations

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?  Well, we spend lots and lots of time with our family.  In years past we would eat lunch at my parents then hop in the car for a 5.5 hour drive across the state to visit Erik's family.  The past two years have been different, though.  Lucy just hasn't been up to traveling.  It's really been sad for many reasons, but we mainly just miss his family so much.  Since his sisters are spread across the East coast, we seldom get to see them.  Missing an entire holiday only makes its harder.

This year, we just spent the day with my family and came home for a Thanksgiving dinner of deep fried chicken and left over sides with our best friends the Williams.  It was a lovely way to end a special day.  Maybe that will be a new tradition; 2 years in a row so far!

But what I really love about our new holiday tradition is serving dinner to families at LeBonheur.  You can't ask for a more meaningful way to spend your holiday than this.

So, what do you do to celebrate?  I'd love to know.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

I did it.  I put the camera down and enjoyed Thanksgiving this year.  These are the only two pictures I have to show for it, but they are absolutely perfect!  Happy Thanksgiving a day late from our home to yours!

A Special Dinner

Tonight we are feeding the 7th floor, and hopefully many more, thanks to the generous donations of so many of you.  I am honored to be a part of such a wonderful organization and I look forward to the things we are going to do in the future.  There are so many families in need of emotional, spiritual and financial help.  I know we can't be everything to everyone, but if we can alleviate just one moment's burden it is all worth it.

There are so many ways you become involved.  I hope you will make the Go Lucy Go Foundation part of your life.  Pray for us, volunteer with us or donate to us.  With your help we can continue to make a difference in the lives of families who are devastated by the diagnosis of brain cancer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What Happens?

What happens when you take 4 beautiful children to see Santa Claus and forget to put the memory card in your camera?  You miss out on the priceless moments of 4 children seeing Santa Claus.  Ugh.  How frustrating.  Since the kiddos were out of school this week my mom and I decided to meet up with my sister and niece and had pictures made with Santa.  Jack did awesome; Maddie not so much.  If only I had the pictures to prove it....

Here is the picture I took of the picture I bought.  What a loser I am sometimes!

We had such a nice day today.  No one was in a hurry, no one had an agenda.  It was really, really nice.  Every now and then you just need one of these days.  I figure I don't have much more time with Ella and her "believing" so we took advantage of a group picture this year.

Lucy is doing great this week.  She is still battling fatigue, but overall she is dramatically improved from last week.  Erik and I are doing a lot of soul searching, trying to figure out the best thing for Lucy when it comes to school and PT.  She has GOT to get back into school full time.  I know she needs the PT, but school has to become a priority.  If not, we are going to get ourselves into a mess.  These decisions are so hard because you feel like you can't make the perfect decision.  You can look at her little eyes in the picture below and see that she is tired.  Bless her heart.

We have been decorating and getting ready for Christmas.  The girls have their Christmas lists ready and I'm almost completely done shopping.  I told you I was working on that procrastination issue.  I even have most of the house decorated for Christmas already.  Here are two of the trees I got done this past weekend.

We are into the Christmas spirit full swing at our house.  I have brought Erik with us, kicking and screaming, but the rest of us are greeting Christmas with reckless abandon.  We have so much to celebrate and so much to be thankful for this year.  Praise God for our lives right now.  Life isn't easy, but wow!  Look how far we have come.

Fun Friday and a Little Catch Up

Our Friday scare at St. Jude threw me for a loop.  It was a bit much for me to bounce back.  Hope you understand.  Here's our Fun Friday catch up.

What Are You Thankful For?  Actually, correct grammar would read "For What Are you Thankful?"  But that's a little too formal for this Fun Friday.  Here is what's making me thankful tonight.

Lucy helping my Dad open his birthday presents.

Ella kneading bread dough for teddy bear bread.

Jack discovering foam stickers with Grandma.

My mom loving on my niece, Maddie.

My baby sister on her 32nd birthday.

The salt dough ornaments that the kids made and decorated this week.  These will soon be hanging on my tree.

Silly, but the time I was able to carve out of our crazy life to make puffy paint for Ella.  She was the happiest little girl in the world!

What are you thankful for?  I'd love to know..