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Overall...

I'm SO EXCITED!

On the 11th of this month I am going for a visit with my primary care doctor to be referred to a plastic surgeon so I can FINALLY have my breast reduction!!! I'm not looking forward to the operation itself or the recovery time following the operation BUT, I am VERY eager to be done with the back spasms and assorted pains that lugging around GG cups causes.

In OTHER news:

Dad is still doing chemo to fight cancer. All things considered, he is holding up fairly well for a guy who was supposed to be (at least according to the doctors) long gone by now. Unfortunately, the cancer HAS jumped to a new organ system, which brings us to a grand total of three. It started as colorectal, metastasized to his liver & has now migrated to a lung. On the bright side: The tumors all seem to be responding to the chemo and shrinking a bit so, even though it has spread to a new organ, it is still feasible to treat the cancer as a chronic illness instead of a fatal one! We continue to hope for the best and live each day thankful for every moment God chooses to give us as a family.

The kids are hitting Summer FULL SWING! Auron graduated kindergarten, Xander is almost fully potty trained and Drayden has hit his "terrible two's" early and is driving what little sanity was left in this house screaming as it bails out the back window! Samantha has been fighting off a nasty infection around her feeding tube for the past month but I think we have almost won that battle. Seizures are a whole different story. I can't seem to convince Samantha's neurologist that aggressively treating her seizures, even with an increased risk of side effects, would be well worth it if she gains even a marginal improvement in her quality of life. In his defense, Samantha has only been his patient for about 6 months and he is still getting to know us. I have to give him props for being open to discussion and happily letting me be an active participant in Sam's care and for being reasonable when it comes to his willingness to ask for consults with doctors out of state who specialize in treating neurological issues in people with Angelman Syndrome. Any doctor who DOESN'T think he is God gets MAJOR bonus points in my book!

I'm still happily growing the relationship with my long lost sister and only wish she lived closer so we could have more bonding time face to face. Funds are tight, as they always tend to be when you have a family of six to feed and clothe, but I feel very blessed and fortunate because I know there are SO many without any income at all right now.

Overall, life is good!

Overall, we are wonderfully BLESSED and THANKFUL for the gifts GOD provides!

Walking For Samantha...

Update and request for help...

It was recently brought to my attention that I have fallen WAY behind on my blogging since my hubby returned from Iraq. In my defense, we DID have 15 very long months to make up for. Still, I have neglected my poor blog and must fill the world in on life in general around here.

(If I remember correctly we were supposed to have a colony on the moon by now, right?)

We moved to Fort Gordon at the end of October and at the beginning of November our R&R baby Drayden Tobias was born. He weighed in at a whopping 7 pounds 11 ounces and has been a very healthy boy!

My Beautiful Daughter Samantha is still in Texas with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa is still fighting Cancer and Samantha helps him remember exactly WHY he has been fighting so hard for the past three years. They inspire each other and Samantha has been doing quite well with Grandpa to cheer her on but unfortunately, she is getting bigger every day.

Samantha is very social and loves to be around people. She loves going to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights and she loves going to the drive in movies with Grandma. When she was still small enough for me to handle on my own she loved going shopping with me. She goes to therapy once a week and makes the 20 hour round trip to see her doctors in Houston once every three to six months. It is SO hard to get her anywhere because she does not have a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Anyone who has ever researched the price of wheelchair vans will tell you that they are insanely expensive. They average between $20,000 and $60,000.

My parents were recently given the opportunity to buy a used wheelchair van for the astonishingly low price of $4,500. None of us can afford it but we also know the chances of ever running across a deal this good again are slim to none. It is an older model van but it has lower mileage than the vehicle they have now and the wheelchair lift is in perfect working order. So if anyone reading this would like to help Samantha with a BIG quality of life issue AND help her stay with her family for MUCH longer (instead of having to go into a "home" because we can't get her out of the house), please click the donate button on the sidebar to your right and give whatever you can.

I promise to keep everyone updated on our fundraising progress and (I hope) post photos of Samantha with the van once we find a way to buy it. For now I will post a video of Samantha at therapy so you can all see how big she is getting. Thank you in advance for any help you can give my beautiful girl!

Happy Father's Day...

I love you Daddy! Thank you for always being there and loving me... even the times it drove both of us nuts!

Missing My Miracle, My Angel, My Sam...

Attention All Photographers!!!!

Attention All Photographers

(especially if you live in or close to a military town) check this out!!!

I can not express in words the impact that your time could have on a military family.

Quick update...

saying goodbye at the end of R&R

My cousin Julie is officially a "MRS." now! Congrats to her and her Handsome new hubby Jeff! Yay for wedding bells!

My cousin Rachael, who's son Carrick I requested prayer for awhile back, has her beautiful and healthy boy home with her where he belongs now! Thanks so much for your prayers!

My husband was home for R&R in February and tomorrow marks the start of month 12 for this deployment. We are on the downhill slide now! YAY!

OH... and in November we will be adding an R&R souvenir to the family!

Yup... He is strutting around with his chest all puffed out... SO PROUD he "knocked me up" over R&R. Yay, for babies! (Last one for us though, four is a good round number.)

Feeling a little emotional tonight...

Link of the day (things EVERY woman should know)...

Start spreading the word: Abort73 Graphics / Abort73 Shirts

The Good, The Bad & The Future...

So, today is my birthday and in two days I fly back to North Carolina. I am both happy and sad. I am looking forward to being in my own space again (and WAY happy that I will have my good bed back soon). Darrell gets 18 days of R&R shortly after the boys and I get back home and I am ecstatic about being in my husband's arms again! I'm looking forward to restoring the routine that helps the boys behavior so much, but has been impossible to keep during our visit to Texas.

I am NOT looking forward to leaving my daughter behind again. I know that being here with my Mom & Dad is truly in her best interest right now. I know that the same routine the boys thrive under in North Carolina would not work as well for Samantha. I know that my parents do a brilliant job of caring for her and creating an environment where she has grown and flourished. I know that she has reached SO MANY developmental milestones since she moved in with them, and I am certain she would not have reached them as quickly as she has, had it not been for the encouragement, love and support that she receives here. (Not just from my parents and grandparents, but from our entire church family and close friends.)

Even knowing that I am doing the best thing I can for her right now, it breaks my heart for her to be away from us. Her brothers love her and enjoy playing with her more than I could have ever dreamed they would, and they miss her almost as much as I do when she isn't with us. I think that it wouldn't hurt so much to leave her here if I thought I could meet her needs as well or better than they do here... But that is the kicker. KNOWING that I am not able to meet my beautiful girl's needs (and that someone else can) kills me inside. And I am so afraid of the day when she will get too big for any of us to properly meet her needs... at least right now she is with people who love her and will protect her from the bad and ugly things in this world. I pray that God takes us all home long before I have to put my daughter's care into the hands of strangers.

Bring Him Home Santa

Hoping you all have a very blessed Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

My Beautiful Kiddos...

My Beautiful Kiddos all in one place again!

Just as it should be (if life were perfect and Darrell was home).

Samantha's operation has been postponed (insurance complications) so PLEASE keep her in your prayers. We need to have her VNS replaced before the battery completely dies so that her seizures do not come blaring back at full throttle. Her brain is no longer used to that level of seizure activity and a sudden return to it could prove fatal very quickly. We hope that we can get everything worked out and rescheduled for next week (the same time Dad has to be there for his Cancer check up).

So please just pray that everything goes well and the timing works out!

Crazy Mommies and babies in wells...

I'm sure I looked like a complete irrational idiot to my new neighbors today.

Anyone who knows me is accustomed to the fact that I border on neurotic when it comes to the safety of my children.

For this reason Auron knows that he is NEVER to be out of my sight line while he plays outside.

Kids get snatched and step off curbs and fall into drainage systems way too fast and easy for me to be comfortable with the idea of one of my kids wandering the neighborhood unattended.

I took Auron outside to play earlier today and noticed that our new neighbors who just moved in across the courtyard were outside. Two boys older than Auron and one younger. I walked across the courtyard to introduce myself while Auron made friends with the new kids. The boys were playing nicely close to the end of one of the buildings while the moms chatted.

I looked away for what had to have been less than five seconds and when I looked back up to check on Auron...

He was gone.

I immediately jumped up (still holding Xander on my hip) and started calling for Auron and running towards the last place he had been. I called for him eight different times while frantically walking around two buildings.

He didn't answer once.

By the time I found him (perfectly safe and not missing any limbs) I was so worked up I could hardly speak.

I did not excuse myself.

I did not say "goodbye, nice to meet you" to the new neighbor.

I grabbed Auron by the arm and walked as fast as his little legs would allow us to back inside our house while telling him in a near hysterical pitch that

"you know you are NEVER EVER TO GO WHERE MOMMY CAN'T SEE YOU!!!!".

Once we got inside the house and I could put Xander down I quickly dissolved into tears.

I told Auron how badly he had scared me and that it would be so easy for someone to take him or hurt him if he wanders off like that.

We live on post and for the most part I know that it is highly unlikely that anyone would take him or purposely hurt him here. The thing I was most worried about are the huge drainage areas that are everywhere here where a toddler could very easily fall into the open sides and be gone in a matter of seconds.

I lived about 30 miles from where baby Jessica fell into a well (for any of you who remember that story) and that ordeal stuck with me all these years.

I was so afraid today that I just held him and cried because I was so thankful I found him safe.

Beautiful...

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!...

I wish I had known what a sweet and wonderful blessing Xander was going to be when I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant with him.

I was so freaked out about the details (how were we going to afford another baby) that I was in denial about the pregnancy almost up to the day I gave birth.

I remember very vividly calling one of my best girlfriends crying: "I just realized I'm going to have a baby in 3 weeks! I'm not ready to have another baby!!!"

Her quite logical answer: "Well, Melissa, you don't have much of an option at this point."

My beautiful surprise turned a whole year old today.

It blows my mind how fast the past year has gone by.

My handsome Xander is growing up, and now I'm not so sure I'm ready for that...

Happy Birthday Xander Elias!

Mommy loves you and is SO thankful that you came to be a part of our family!

God Rocks!...

At this point I get to talk to my husband over the Internet once a week, IF the Internet is working properly on his end. Xander will be a year old in just a few days and I have been neurotic about ALWAYS having my camera ready so I could catch his first independent steps when they happen. I probably have an hour and a half of video where Xander is just standing in place grinning at me before he decides he would rather crawl. Darrell has missed SO much with Xander I was determined to AT LEAST catch his first steps so I could send the video to my hubby to see.

Last night I was on a video call with Darrell (our once a week one), and never in a million years did I think (or even hope) Xander would take his first steps WHILE his Daddy was watching live over the web cam,

BUT HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!

Less than five minutes after he got to be a part of Xander's first steps, Darrell's Internet completely crashed. If Xander had walked five minutes earlier or five minutes later Darrell would have missed it. The timing could not have been more perfect! No WAY that was just "luck"... It was totally a God thing!

Anyway, it made me all sorts of happy and I just wanted to share!

GOD ROCKS!!!!!

My beautiful girl is getting SO BIG!...

Be Still...