3 Month Hiatus

There really hasn't been a huge reason for not blogging. Just lack of time or patience I guess. Plus we put all of our photos onto Guy's computer and I just don't get on that much. I am a little sad to not have documented things during Austin's first year. He turns 1 next weekend. There is so much to say and think about! His birthday is also the same day that my mom's journey began. Lots of memories that will resurface over these next few weeks and months. But for the sake of saving memories, here is what has happened these last few months.


December: we had lots of family fun and Christmas parties. Guy has 2 weeks off during Christmas so we spent a lot of time at home! Guy is a really good cook and he made most of our meals during his off-time. I bought him a cook book for Christmas and it's still working to our advantage!

January: this is the month of birthdays. Guy, Braylen and I all celebrate our birthdays in January. Which leaves us full of bday outings, parties, cavities from cake and ice cream and lots of extra naps from exhaustion. Guy and I go to Beninhana's for our free bday dinners and this year Braylen came with us. He was so polite to the chef and to the other guests at our table. He even got to pick out a Benihana birthday mug. It's quite ugly but he loves it.

We also went to New Orleans to celebrate Guy's grandmothers birthday. She turned 90. No big deal. Mommy I is the sweetest, most southern little lady and we love going down to visit her. She had a cocktail, sit down dinner at this fancy restaurant called Ralph's at the Park. Super fun. I always love an excuse to exchange my comfy clothes for a pretty dress. Braylen got to ride the street cars so he was pleased.

Once the Meiman's returned home from Charlotte (for good!), we celebrated Christmas with my family. It was fun to have an extended Christmas weekend!

The last weekend of January we spent with friends at Great Wolf Lodge for the annual YL retreat. So fun. Great worship, great time with friends and our kids. I ruined Braylen's chances of riding a big waterslide last year, when I "accidentally" took him down a huge one. He will NOT go down one again. Which is a bummer because Guy and I love them. Actually, thanks Ben and Maria for watching our kids so we can go down the greatest waterslide ever! #kidsatheart

February: to continue our birthday events, we were sooo busy in January that we had Braylen's bday party in February. Our nonstop need to plan parties and have fun, has gotten a little out of hand. We had the brilliant idea of using the YL inflatables to celebrate his 5 year milestone. Although it was so fun to see all of the crazy kids jumping and playing, it was super overwhelming and stressful to plan it outside our house. I'm not sure why I thought it would be easy. I'm surprised that Guy didn't launch a blow up through the window. We had the party at Master Provisions and invited lots of family and friends from Kid's Academy. Despite a snow storm from that morning, lots of friends still showed up! We served Gumbo, taco soup and chili with crackers, fruit, and veggies. Of course we had a Batman cake and birthday cookies. We also had a little hot chocolate "bar." If you ever have a winter party (which if you celebrate Christmas, you do!), you have to serve this hot chocolate. It is so good and was such a great drink to serve during a snow storm.

Valentine's day came and went, but the boys had matching clothes and looked cute.

Austin had his final physical therapy appointment in February too. He started seeing his therapist in July 2012! I'm so excited to have seen all of the progress he has made.

March: guess what we're celebrating in March? That's right. Another birthday. But hopefully I'll have another post for that special day. And then another post with how to lose all of these extra "birthday/cake/ice cream/party pounds" that I've accumulated these last few months.

What's a post without pictures?! Thanks for checking in our family.

Snow angels and sledding at grammy's and poppy's!

Braylen's BFF Kaleb

This kid loves his pacifier! 

Apparently, so do I.

Thankful.

So funny! 

Batman birthday!

So blessed. As much as I would like to have a "no presents bday party" the kids love seeing their friend open their special gift. So sweet. 

If you do want to ever buy my oldest a gift, please just give him fancy clothes. He loves to dress up.

Sam Davis couldn't wait to cut the cake. haha!

Austin got a little present too that day. 

Valentine's day buddies. 

Braylen had the flu this week but losing his tooth was a major highlight. 

My sweet boy. Blue eyes for days.

Austin at PT. His last visit!

Braylen's friends!

Happy almost spring! 

Halloween!

This year for Halloween, we knew that Austin would be wearing his little blue helmet and we wanted to find a costume that would go along with it. Someone suggested that he dress up like Captain America! Yes! I tried looking for a vinyl letter "A" to go on his helmet but I couldn't find one and then we just ran out of time. I think he still looked adorable.

Braylen wanted to be Batman this year. He was so cute with this costume. Every time he wears it, it's like he poses like a super hero. These poses were completely unplanned which make them 100 times more awesome. There are truly no words for how great this picture is. 

We went trick or treating a few times before Halloween and loaded up on candy. Halloween day was freezing! So we ended up at First Church for their fall festival. It was pretty fun for Braylen. 

It's so fun to be with the boys all dressed up. Braylen kept asking what I was going to be for Halloween. I just told him a mommy. He told me that I should be cat woman. Maybe next year buddy. 

Washington Park

This was from the summer but there are so many cute pictures not to post! This past July, the Meiman's came to visit us for a whole week! It was the perfect week! Not only did we spend lots of time catching up but mom had her "off week" from chemo so she was feeling great. We celebrated Kaleb's first birthday, went swimming, went to a wedding and had lots of cousin time. One evening we all went out to dinner to Buckhead's on the river and then drove over to Washington Park. It was so much fun. It is such a beautiful park! Perfect scenery, easy to get to, and lots of fun things for the kids to do. The boys LOVED the fountain. Austin will love it next year.

It always takes Braylen a little bit of time to warm up to certain situations. He's very careful to get "involved" until he becomes a little familiar with his surroundings. Kaleb on the other hand, jumped right in. I'm pretty sure that this night was one of the greatest times of his life. :)

Team Linda & Best Day Ever

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.There are so many great things to report! So thanks for coming back and checking it.

2 months ago we participated in the Cincinnati Ovarian Cancer Awareness Run/Walk 5K. We created a team in support of mom (Team Linda) and we were so thrilled to have over 75 friends and family participate in this race with us. Seriously. 75 people came out! People we knew and loved, and new friends that we had never met before. One of my mom's clients and friends donated our Team Linda tshirts and all the money we raised selling them went towards my mom's medical bills. We raised around $800 for her bills. We are so thankful for that day. My main goal for this race was to get as many people as possible to join our team, so that on the day of the race, my parents could look around and see some of the people who have been loving and praying for them. It was a very special day. Right after the race, I had made reservations at Sky Galley restaurant for anyone that was able to stick around and eat with us. We had about 25 close friends and family members eat with us.

The day before the race, mom received a phone call from one of her nurses in the cancer center. They knew she had a special day planned and they wanted to let her know that her scan came back clear. My family knew going into the race that things were looking pretty great for mom. That definitely made our day even more wonderful.

On September 17th, we received the official news that my mom is CANCER FREE!!!! We are so overjoyed by this news and so thankful to our Great Physician that he has allowed her to overcome this disease. We were all packed into the little check-up room when Dr. Shellhaus came in with the nurse. He said that her scan couldn't have looked better. It came back clear and the cancer is gone. Wow. He said a few other things and then he left. I was like, okay. That's it? I asked the nurse if this means she is actually cancer free and she said yes! Yes it does. Praise God. The 4 of us (mom, dad, Jess and I- Austin was there too but he was asleep) all stepped outside the cancer center and hugged and cried. What a journey. 

**I love this picture of Braylen running to the finish line. He actually believed that he won the race.** 

Thank you to everyone who participated with Team Linda. Thank you to those who sacrificed their time, money, made dinner, sent letters, emails, donated tshirts, etc. You have all played a huge role not only in the healing of my mom's cancer but also in her state of sadness and anger throughout this experience. When she was feeling bitter or sad, you would send her a note in the mail saying that you were thinking and praying for her. When she was sick and couldn't find anything to eat, you gave her Graeter's and brought her cherry icee's (that's for you dad!). When she was cold, you  made her lovely blankets and brought her warm socks. When she was too sick to be outside, you brought her beautiful flowers. When she was restless, you would be praying to our Heavenly Father to heal her body and heart. THANK YOU! God used you in my parents lives and we will all be forever changed by your servant hearts. 

Today is the final day of mom's chemo treatment. After this treatment, she will begin another treatment that is similar to chemo but not as hard on her body. This will be another precaution/prevention tool and she will be on this medicine for about a year. As of now, her insurance company has denied the request of using this particular medicine, but her doctor will continue to submit the request until it is approved.

The journey is not over.

There are still hoops to juggle.

There are still things to process.

But one thing we know is God is present, constant and the creator of all things. Even cancer. John Piper says in his article "Don't Waste Your Cancer," that you will waste your cancer if you do not believe that cancer is designed for you by God. He says, "What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it."

That is equally comforting and hard to hear at the same time. I choose to trust because the opposite is choosing to believe that God would be out to destroy. I know that's not true. If you have time, go here and read the rest of John's article. It will greatly change your perspective of cancer.

Thanks for reading! I hope to start updating more often.