Memories

Tomorrow morning I am going with my dad to meet with a neurologist to discuss his diagnosis, which is so difficult because as I sit there in this Drs. office, they will just be discussing a patient, while I will be discussing my father... not just any patient, but my AMAZING father. Most of those who read my blog are family members or very close friends, so as most of you know… I am the nurse, and I WANT to take care of my patient, but I feel a sense of helplessness, as my father is beyond the population I treat (meaning he is not a baby !) With the upcoming nerves of tomorrow, instead of discussing those,  I am choosing to share my earliest memory of my father, which are many, but I am choosing the one that is most relevant to Emilia today! One of my earliest memories of my father was when he would arrive home from work…. This was met by the shrieking of 3 little girls, and the subsequent hiding of 3 little girls! I was 3 years old, and not quite so great with hiding, so I would hide near one of my sisters, until I hear the words from his mouth… “ FEE! Fiii! FOoo! FUM! I SMELL THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISH-WOMAN…BE SHE LIVE OR BE SHE DEAD, I’LL GRIND HER BONES TO MAKE CORNBREAD, ROAR!” OK, so you all might think this is weird, and I have no idea where it came from, but it was a huge delight in my family to hear these words, and I could hardly stay put till my father found me… most times I would jump out to his loving arms…. And reveal where my sisters were hiding! I do have to mention here that my sister, Heather, had the weirdest hiding spot literally "perched" on the bottom clothes rack in my parents closet... weird, but I'll bet that's why her nickname is bird! Anyways, I also do same charade of "fee fii foo fumm" every day that I come home from work/school/grocery store or whatever to Emilia… hence my implying its relevance to her! J The only change I’ve made is that I say “Emilia Bug” instead of English woman… its all the same, though! She hides, and giggles, and we love the family tradition! I am so thankful I have so many amazing memories of my father that have spilled over into our daily lives!

Praying Boldly

Why is it that when crisis strikes those around us, we are so quick to pray boldly… for complete healing or for miracles, but when tragedy strikes home, we pray for God to help us through this difficult time… I think I am one of the guiltiest for doing this. Is it because I do not believe that God can heal or perform miracles? Absolutely not, quite the contrary… I have witnessed miracles. I have spent a wonderful 13 additional years with my best friend, 2^nd mom, and aunt long past from when we would have expected when she was diagnosed with leukemia 13 years ago. When we found out she would need to find a match for her bone marrow transplant, God provided a perfect stranger willing to do this, since none of our family was a match. Then when she became very ill after her transplant with overwhelming infection, and graft versus host disease, God performed his miracle seamlessly for all to see, and she was healed. She is here and cancer free, and has an amazing testimony of how God brought her through this journey. I have seen miracles in my job… 1 pound babies growing into little children, and while one might argue it is medical technology, I would have to disagree. It is nothing short of a miracle each time a baby is born healthy, perfectly formed. I have seen miracles. So if the problem is not lack of faith, then why this week have I defaulted into just asking God to help my family through our current situation rather than praying for nothing short of a miracle? Praying that my dad was misdiagnosed? Praying that his disease without a cure will not progress? Praying that he will remain just the way he is today, which is a wonderful father and loving papa. So today I began praying for a miracle, and if this is indeed the road that was chosen for my family, I pray for God’s guidance and strength and that he might prepare our hearts for his will… because this is much bigger than anything we could get through alone. Tonight I find strength in His words, “And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) I am thankful he has already paved the road for my family on this journey, so why be afraid?

lost photos!

So I found a memory card from my camera that I had yet to download... yes this means I have too many photo cards, but I take too many photos! here is my beautiful baby at 15 months with her sweet little cousin Hudson!

I remember trying to get a photo of them both looking at the camera, which was impossible, so instead we settled one for them both crying!

And then, I found these... what in the world goes on when I am not home? Emilia is wearing Chris's laptop backpack and a neon hat I have never seen!

At least they were having fun! HAHA!

Happy Fall!

No time to blog, but these are too beautiful not to share~ thanks Kay for the amazing photos (as usual)!

birthdays and birthdays!

This spring there were many birthdays...

We found baby bunnies in the back yard, so with gardening gloves, Emilia and I gave them daily snuggling, and left yummy treats for their mama! Then, guess who turned 4???

Yep, Myles turned 4!

While we all noticed there was quite the predominance of females at the party, I never pictured Emilia as the jealous type until now...

Well, since it wasn't her party I told her she had no right to cry!

but she did her share of pouting!

Mean while I snuggled with this sweet little Bella, and fed her anything she wanted, because that is what you do when you are best buddies!

This was Emilia's 1st time fishing!

And here's the birthday boy with his catch of the day, fishin' with his daddy, and his sweet little sister!

Emilia's catch of the day! She was even quick to hold the fish herself to throw it back in the water!

Time to feed the baby goats!!

Happy Birthday Myles!

May

May was such a busy, but great month. What made it great was finishing finals, but the sad event that occurred was that I can no longer refer to myself as being in my "20's," which makes me feel so much older. More on that later, though! So finals could have not gone better, and then came Mother's Day. When Chris asked me what I wanted to do, truthfully, the last thing I wanted to do was sit through a restaurant wait after church, so I voiced my opinion (I know... such an unusual occurrence), and got my wish of Chipotle at the park. It was so stinking cold that day, but I didn't care, I just really wanted to get my hands on Emilia's new fancy kite!!

Emilia and I both prefer these kind of bouquets to wake up to in the morning! Breakfast is served!

My first time ever flying a kite... Emilia was quite a good teacher!

So what do you do when you are feeling old and sorry for yourself? Eat all this chocolate covered fruit pictured above... check... clean out your closets (every thing feels better when your closets are clean!)... check... sign up for a half marathon... check!

After spending the day cleaning out closets we went out for a yummy dinner at our favorite place... Marina Grogg and Galley

The dessert was almost as sweet as the company!

For Mother's day I actually ordered my own gift... weird I know, but Natalie, a girl I had met, does the most amazing paintings, and was doing them to raise money for the March of Dimes walk, so I could not resist, and actually ended up walking at the MOD walk with her and her daughter, Brynn. So here is a picture of her taking a picture of Emilia to work from. Getting a toddler to hold still can be tricky... had I wanted a sucker in the painting, I have a feeling we would have had no problem, though!

When I was in high school, we actually had, on two different occasions, foreign exchange students living with our family. One of them, Petra, has since returned to her home country of Croatia, gotten married and had three beautiful girls, and became an amazing Christian and a missionary to all who meet her and hear her testimony. Her and her family return to the states every three years and I was so happy to be able to spend some time with them while they were here. Pictured above are her oldest and youngest, Mia and Emili. Dora is her middle one, but her and Emilia were playing and couldn't be bothered with holding still long enough to get a clear photo! :) I wish they lived closer, but am so proud of their dedication to serving the Lord in Croatia.

Last but not least, we spent much time getting the garden ready for this summers crop...

Emilia was quite the little helper in digging the trenches to walk in, and finding the worms for the tomato plants! We have enjoyed some yummy tomatoes, peppers and onions so far this year!

March and April are finally here!

So I know blog updating is long overdue, but it seems like there is never enough time in the day, and then so much time has passed that I think I will never catch up. Since school is starting next week, this is a fact that if I don't catch up now, then I never will, so as I speak, er... type, I am going through photos and will be updating where we have been lately... or at least what I have taken photos of! Emilia's first haircut was long overdue, so in March I took her for her first haircut ever, meaning she has never even had a trim up until this day, and has not since then either...

before

During... I was wondering how they would be able to get kids to hold still for this, but apparently a sucker and TV go a long way!

 

Hudson went with us to first show her how it was done since he is such a big boy and has done this many times!

The damage, okay maybe I am being dramatic... it was only about an inch!

The happy campers sporting their new styles!

My sister, Heather, wanted to run over to the kids store, Justice, afterward, and since they only sell older kiddos clothing, Hudson and Emilia kept me entertained.... needless to say neither one of them knew I was taping them since the camera was just "sitting" on my lap! I have no idea what song Hudson was singing to, but it was hilarious, and he seemed to know it well. Had Emilia not interrupted his impromptu concert, I think people would have been asking for autographs! Kids are so funny!

 So when Hudson's concert was over, Emilia seemed to have felt the music in a different way...

 

It is so hard to dance and play with toys at the same time!

  

 Then at the end of March we took Emilia to Disney on Ice with a few of her cousins. We surprised her that morning with the choice of outfits fit for a princess...

And her choice was of course Cinderella... no surprises there!

The little girls had a ball, and even Chris was a good sport about it! :)

All the excitement left her quite exhausted!

Emilia and I also discovered yet another reason why we LOVE Dean and Deluca...

They have the yummiest cupcakes that taste best when bought for no reason at all. They are almost too beautiful to eat, but we managed without much difficulty!

Then came the Longview Kite festival. I was sad I had to miss it because of work, but Chris and Emilia had a ball, and she even came home with her own real kite.

I love this picture of the two of them!

Finals were rough this spring, but I found that I could take Emilia to a coffee shop with a movie on my laptop and get more done than had I tried it at home. She likes to do anything that "big girls" do, but skipped the coffee for a hot chocolate!

Play dates got me through the stress, though... something about seeing the kiddos use their shoes to paddle through the storm and past the alligators made me think I could easily get through finals... after all, I had textbooks to help, and they were just using size 9 shoes! :) One a side note, Bella totally looks like she is screaming, "MAN OVERBOARD!" According to Emilia... "Baby Bella had her smiles on today!" And I have yet to see her without them on!

Easter morning we had an extra guest, and so we had twice the celebrations with the Easter baskets...

    

My sis, Melissa, had to work, and so Lily stayed the night with us so she could go to church on Easter morning!

They both looked so beautiful in their Easter dresses!

They all loved Aunt Tammy's Easter dinner, egg hunt and chocolate bunnies... especially the chocolate bunnies! :) 

Some funny pics.... Emilia and my Aunt Tammy have quite the funny relationship, and then there is little my little cousin, Andrew, who she thinks is very cool!

The weekend was also quite busy with Hannah's ballet, but a lot of fun!

 Ahhhh... then came more finals........ thank goodness for my little helper!

 

And then of course the celebration picnic in the park....

CHIPOTLE... our fav!!

Then came the March of Dimes walk in April...

I made Emilia her own special shirt...

Here's the front and back... quite fitting I thought! :)

I was really excited to be able to go this year since I no longer work every weekend. It was so amazing to see the little ones I have cared for all grown up like this one...

Emilia was being shy with this little guy, who was one of my NICU favorites, and I was amazed with how big he has gotten!

Even Darth showed up for the walk... to show his support and scare little kids I'm sure!

And my very FAVORITE NICU grad.... I have a right to be partial! :)

And after a long day... a much deserved nap...

Thank you everyone for your support... embarrassing photo to follow! :)