The post no mother wants to write

It has been 15 days, so I think it's time.  Not that I'm counting the hours or anything.  I'd like to think I haven't written here because of time, but I don't know if that's it.

My sweet, sweet Kate.  She turned one on April 7th, and we celebrated by the creek.  Throwing rocks and making flower headbands seemed like the perfect celebration.  We sang "Happy Birthday" at least 62 times that day and rejoiced that God chose us for her!  Yet, even in the midst of the celebration, our Cakie wasn't right.

Having 3 children with Down Syndrome proves to keep me keenly aware of specific health changes.  I make mental notes and google way too much.  But, I feel like when it came to Kate, God was whispering.  

She had been cranky for several weeks.  The exercises we did daily to improve her physical strength never used to bother her.  She now cried through every one until I eventually stopped doing them altogether.  She had a few unexplained low grade fevers.  Petechiae began showing up several months ago, but I thought it was just something that happened to her.  Then there was the bruising.  And God whispered.

Happy 1st Birthday, precious girl!!

I woke Monday morning and immediately called the pediatrician to schedule blood work.  I told them what I thought it was and prayed with every part of me that I was wrong.  I wanted to be overreacting.  By 2:00 that afternoon, we were being told to take her to the ER.  I could tell by the attending doctor's face that he knew.  He told us the oncologist was on his way.

April 22, 2013.  Kate was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  

We did not go home that night.  Instead, she was admitted to the cancer center where we spent the next week.

This is what leukemia did to my precious girl.  Notice the petechiae.  The bruise under her eye was caused by her low platelet count.  She had a tiny, faint red spot under her eye when she went to bed Sunday night.  When she woke Monday morning, it looked like this.  

On Wednesday, April 24, Kate underwent surgery to place a broviac (central line) in her chest.  This is how her chemo is administered and how blood is taken (Praise the LORD!!).  During surgery, she also had a bone marrow aspiration as well as a spinal tap.  Leukemia tends to hide out in the spinal fluid, so chemo was administered directly into her spinal fluid while she was asleep.  Beginning Wednesday afternoon, Kate began her first continuous 96 hour round of chemotherapy.  HUGE PRAISES that she proved to everyone just how strong she is!!  There were 2 days that she didn't seem to be quite herself, but otherwise, she was happy, laughing and eating like our Cakie does.

Kate's broviac line

In two short weeks, we have learned more about cancer treatment, blood counts and caring for broviac lines that we ever wanted to know.  We have become part of a club I never wanted to be a member of, but forget about me.  MY DAUGHTER NEVER WANTED TO BE PART OF THIS CLUB!! 

 Regardless, she is our daughter.  She is our daughter.  She is our daughter!!!!  We love her just as much today as we did before April 22.  We will fight this battle alongside her and PRAISE HIM each step of the way.  What a glorious day it will be when we are able to SHOUT that Kate is healed!!

Taken after surgery on Wednesday.  They kind of love each other alot.:)

She has a long 6 months of treatment ahead of her.  We know there will be many dark days- days that she feels terrible and I wonder why in the world God wants to use her in such a way.  But we also see the resilience in her.  She is already feeling better and stronger than she did before chemo.  We believe with every part of us that it is already working to rid her precious body of those nasty leukemia cells.

We have heard stories of Kate literally changing lives.  I won't go into details because some of them are very personal for people, but I stand amazed at how God is using her precious life and testimony to bring others back to Him, open hearts to adoption and educate some about the perfection in all of us.

Complete churches all over the country are lifting up her name daily.  She has people praying for her in other countries- Israel and Spain are two I know of.  Our family and friends have quite literally become Christ's hands and feet to our family over the past 2 weeks.  We have been showered with love, prayers, food, help, childcare, gifts....thank you!!

Love Letters for Kate

Once again, we have reason to hold a Love Letters Campaign.  Please, join us in literally covering her hospital room with letters of encouragement, pictures, Bible verses, etc.  To learn more about what Love Letters for Kate is, read details about Celia's campaign here.  To see pictures of the Letters in the hospital go here.  If you wish to participate, please send an email to nogreatergiftmom@yahoo.com.

Put together by one incredible big sister and playing continuously in Kate's hospital room

And if you'd like to follow Kate's journey with more frequent updates, my sister started a Facebook page for her specifically for prayer requests and daily updates.  You can join here.

And finally, THANK YOU for joining us as we pray complete healing over our girl!  We firmly believe that our Heavenly Father has MIGHTY plans for Kate and this journey will just prove what's in store.

So many of you have become friends of mine.  Who knew my simple blog would help foster friendships that mean so much to me.  Thank you for walking alongside us through it all.

In Him,
E

Sunday morning worship via the internet while finishing chemo at the hospital!!:)

Absent but SO Present

****THIS IS A POST FROM LAST YEAR (THUS THE REASON EVERYONE IS SO MUCH YOUNGER AND THERE IS NO CAKIE), BUT I WAS RECEIVING SO MANY STRANGE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ON IT THAT I DELETED THE ORIGINAL AND AM REPOSTING HERE.****

My treasures!  I am one blessed momma!

Several months ago we studied Nehemiah.  The focus of one particular lesson was Nehemiah 6:3.  Our pastor spoke at great length about this passage and shed new light on the passage for me.  Since that lesson, Nehemiah 6:3 has become the verse I wake and drift to sleep repeating.

I used to blog alot.  I would pour my heart out onto these pages.  I do miss it.  I miss being able to read back through the pages that contain many memories that would have faded away without my writings. I miss the friendships that I made because of and through the blog.  But because of my verse, Nehemiah 6:3, things have changed.

 ³ so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”


And so, I have been absent.  But I am SO present.  I am present in my marriage.  I am present in my children's lives.  And am present and seeking the things God holds sacred.

For, I am doing great work and I cannot come down!


My great work is my marriage.  My great works are my children.  And my great works are the things Christ holds sacred.

So, if I have not emailed you back or returned your phone call, please forgive me.
I am doing great work.

 If I do not write on these pages more often, please forgive me.
I am doing great work.

Tonight am sharing some pictures of what life has looked like over the past month or so.  

Cousin love!

We are blessed to have extended family that likes to get together.

And family that likes to play together.

Look at these 2 guys!  My hubby is in the white shirt and his brother in the red.  Just before this picture was taken, they survived a near collision and run in with a tree while chasing a soccer ball.  In the photo they are both trying to recover.:)  Why are they still so incredibly competitive?!?!

And he was sad because the cows were gone.:(  Poor guy.

My tiny, beautiful treasure!

One of my favorite pictures of my guys.  LOVE!!

For a couple of weeks we were sick.  I mean SICK!!  This is a picture after the healing began.  

Did I mention we were SICK!!!!!

One of the perks of living in the country- Redneck Slip-n-Slide!!  YeeHaw!

Several weeks ago we were blessed with some free tickets to a Braves game.  We love the Braves!

Two of my favorite ladies at the game.

The group of kiddos we took to the game.  Since the tickets were all free, we splurged and rented a 15 passenger van.  FUN!!  I dream of owning one now!

And yes, we left a certain sweet, innocent, quiet, still (NOT!) 2 year old home with Mimi.  I think he (and we) was much happier there.

Okay, do you notice something wrong with this picture?

And this one?  TAKEN THE SAME DAY!!!

So, while I focus on "doing great work" I praise HIM for the incredible blessings He has entrusted into my care.  Thank you, Lord.

In Him,

E

Proof of God's Provisions

I'm not sure whether it's my lack of faith or something different, but I am always amazed when the Lord provides so obviously.  I don't know why.  We have stories upon stories of His provisions throughout the years.  Even the small desires and luxuries of my heart.  

We have been searching and praying for a new mini crib for Kate.  Before we brought her home, a dear friend of mine gave us a mini crib.  We have been using it for Celia, so we found Kate now needed one.  I had never even heard of a mini crib before my friend gave us her daughter's, but they look like full size cribs only on a smaller scale.  Evidently, they are hard to find used in our area.:)

The 3 littles share a room.  A small room, but a room plenty big for the 3 of them since all they do in there is sleep. All toys are in the Big Room.  Let me say here that I have moved past the "every tiny detail in their room must make a decorator happy."  Charlie's crib is light wood in color.  Celia's mini crib is white.  I really didn't want a crib that was a different color than light wood or white.  White was my preference because the girls were going to be side by side.  So a white mini crib was what I prayed for.  I didn't care if it was the same style.  I just hoped that it would be white.  

I had been searching on Craigslist for over a month without being able to find one until a couple of weeks ago.  And......it was the exact style of Celia's!  And.......it was white!  And......it was in our city!  The owners were only asking $100 for the crib, new mattress, 7 crib sheets, a mobile and dust ruffle.  I would be happy with the crib for $100- everything else would be a bonus.  I emailed the owner with no response for 7 days.  On the 7th day, she emailed me to tell me the previous buyer had backed out.  Woohoo!!  Now, mind you, this was smack dab in the midst of Celia being VERY sick.  I asked hubby to go look at the crib and make a decision without me.  I trust him.  

About an hour and 1/2 later, he was back home with a new crib in the back.  He began to tell me about the sweet couple who sold him the crib.  Somehow, the topic of adoption came up.  They asked many questions about our family and adoption while loading the crib.  While hubby finished getting everything situated, the couple walked back to their garage.  A few moments later they returned with $50.  They wanted us to have it.  They had been touched by our story and wanted to be a part of it....God's story!!  So, not only did the Lord provide the exact crib (and mattress and all the extras!) I had hoped for for Kate, but He did so for $50.  And we were able to share His story of miracles, adoption, faithfulness and love!!

A picture of my girls' cribs.  I am waiting on Kate's bumper pad to arrive before we move her.

The second story I want to share actually began a couple of weeks ago.  Hubby, the littles and I had stepped out of the church service after worship to watch the message on the big screen in the atrium (and allow the other worshippers to listen in peace:).  It's not unusual for passersby to stop when they see our monster stroller full of super cute kiddos.  On this Sunday, a sweet lady stopped to ask if we needed diapers.  What?!!  YES!!!  She asked about our family and said she volunteers every other week so would bring some diapers in a couple of weeks.  We were so blessed to find these waiting for us when we made our way to our usual spot last week.  She did stop by to visit for a few moments during the service, and I was able to hug her neck.

Now, we don't go to a small church.  No.  Our church is big...as in Andy Stanley is our pastor big, so we don't know too many people there.  For someone to not only notice us but to take time to speak to us, show interest in our family and then to provide a very real need....it's the love of Christ!

We are SO grateful for all the Lord provides!! Truly the body of Christ at work!!

In Him,

E

The Big Room

The Big Room is where we live.  When we began renovating this house, we climbed up in the garage attic one day to clean out a few things.  I mentioned to my husband how much I loved the ceiling lines up there and "hey, why don't we just take the ceiling out and raise the entire ceiling of the garage?!?!".:)   I have always been one to swear that I wouldn't close in my garage.  Always.  I don't know what I had against it, but when you are faced with moving a large family into a smaller home....well, your perspective begins to change.  So, we raised the ceiling and hubby installed this awesome tongue and groove.  We added 2 double windows and voila!! 

Our "Big Room" as it's lovingly called by all.  I don't know why we started calling it that- probably because we already have a family room and I needed a name for it so I could tell Charlie where to go.:)  We spend many of our waking hours here if the weather proves to be less than desirable.  It houses the girls' desks and all books and homeschooling supplies.  There is a chalkboard on the far wall and 4 shelves that not only hold their homeschooling books but also craft and sewing supplies, my laminator (for flash cards), markers and other coloring utensils (way up high!!) and fine motor items.

The Big Room also houses all things for little people.  I will go into more detail about those things below.  And I cannot forget the lone chair.  Our dream is to one day buy furniture for this room that more than 1 1/2 adults can sit comfortably on.  Until that day, the big, ugly chair will have to do.

On the other side of the room you will find the play zone.  

I have become very conscience, deliberate and purposeful about toys.  For the most part, I don't like them very much and here's why.  SO many toys on the market today are junk.  They are made out of cheap plastic and the only thing a child must do in order to make them work is push a button.  That's it- push a button and let the toy do it's thing.  No imagination.  No fine motor work.  No putting a little mind to work to try to figure it out.  Then, give it 7 seconds and it's finished.  

In a typical month, I stop by our local thrift store at least twice to drop off items.  I go through and clean out that often.  If a toy isn't living up to what I expect from it, out it goes.  If no interest has been shown to that toy in a month or so, out it goes.  We just don't have space to hang on to the toys that aren't living up to my expectations.  I want to share with you a few of my favorites that have passed the test and will live to see another month in our home.

I also want to add here that this is how we "do" therapy.  We "do" therapy through play and my kids never see it as work.

Indoor Gross Motor Play

This toy....oh how I LOVE this toy!!!!!!  It's from Walmart (ordered online for less than $70 and it was shipped free).  This trampoline sees daily use, and I am confident has saved a little boy from finding mischief a time or 2.  It does have a full enclosure and zippered door.  The door rarely gets zipped because both Charlie and Celia find it to be a game to unzip it as soon as they are locked in.  I don't even bother any more.  Celia learned to climb just to be able to jump!

The Bilbo and the tunnel.  I found the Bilbo at a local consignment shop for $5.  That is a steal considering it was in my Amazon cart that very moment for $25.  It is great for balancing or for sitting in and sliding down the slide....not that that has ever been attempted by a big girl.  The tunnel is great for hide and seek and crawling to a target.  It is also great for children to be enclosed but have to move to an opening.

This is Rocket.  At least, that's what we call him.  I think his actual name is Rody and you can find him on Amazon.  Again, I found him at a consignment sale.  I think he was around $5.  Charlie has discovered that one of Rocket's favorite things to do is jump in the trampoline.  Who knew?!

These bars are probably one of my favorite therapy tools.  We borrowed some from our PT for Charlie but a friend gave us these for Celia and Kate.  They are made out of simple PVC pipe and extend to about 12+ feet- they are completely pushed in in the forefront of the photo.

We also have a large piece of wood (2x8 or so) that is not pictured.  I lay it on the ground like a balance beam and let the kiddos walk/crawl/do cartwheels on it.

Imaginative Play

I think that it is SO important to incorporate imaginative play in our everyday.  I forgot to take picture of several other items I meant to include, so I'll just talk about them.  

First, our box of instruments.  This box is filled with some wonderful instruments that a good friend blessed us with and others that we collected here and there or received as gifts.  Celia usually doesn't wait for me to open it since she now has the impressive skills to unlock the latches all by herself. 

 Letter bean bags minus the "I".  One of our older girls made these for Charlie a couple of Christmases ago.  They have been great for learning letters, colors and how to spell his name.  I try to use these daily with him.  He finds it the most fun when we yell the letters or colors at each other then slide each one down the slide.  Whatever works.  They are also a wonderful weapon to throw at moving targets (mainly people:).

I included this picture for a couple of reasons.  First, for quite some time my tool for organizing small toys has been to gather all like items into ziploc bags and store in big baskets on a shelf.  My tool is failing me.  I seem to have a certain 2 year old daughter that has quite a gift of excelling at fine motor activities.  I couldn't figure out how ALL the small toys were finding their way scattered across the Big Room.  So, as a test, I gathered them all up (for the 10th time) last week and placed the closed ziploc bags in the middle of the floor.  I walked away but still stood so I could see what happened.  Wouldn't you know, that little squirt crawled right over to the and opened every single one!!!  Do you know how hard it is for me to open ziploc bags sometimes?!?!

The other reason I included this picture was to show a few of my favorite imaginative play things.  We have a play kitchen with play food- important in my opinion.  I just recently found a nice, small Little People playhouse complete with furniture and people- wonderful for imaginative play!  And our Noah's Ark animals.  Charlie has a thing for any type of little figures- animals, people, Veggie Tales.  He will play for quite a length of time with them so when I saw a wooden Noah's Ark playset at a yard sale, I scooped it up.

I have also saved the big girls' older play things like the big Barbie house, stroller, etc.

Puppets- self explanatory

Fine Motor Play

 I don't know why I like fine motor items so much, but I do and I seem to collect good ones when I see them.  Thus the reason we have one bookshelf completely devoted to them.:)  Quickly, I am going to go through what is on each shelf from bottom to top.

Large Legos, an old typewriter (just fit there), the Tickle Monster kit, books, foam picture/word squares, a barn full of animals and other farm stuff, felt boards and people/animals/plants, etc (I love these!!)

Magnetic capital letters, 2 different wood peg/shape sorters, nesting cups, pegs and pegboard, unspillable (yeah right!) paint cups, baskets (contents shown below) and my 3 favorite Down Syndrome books by Woodbine- Speech, Gross Motor and Fine Motor

Lacing buttons and beads and string, magnetic balls and rods (I love these, too!)

Puzzles galore, magnetic boards with people and clothing, flashcards, more lacing beads, lacing cards, small foam blocks in assorted colors and shapes, letter tiles and small pop beads (not allowed to play with yet)

It seems that we have become quite the collectors of wind up toys, but they are GREAT motivators for crawlers and they are cheap, cheap, cheap!!  The light up swirly stick things- again, a great motivator for crawling.  Lamaze magnetic bug blocks.  These are SO hard to find and seem to be over $30 on ebay, but I have found 3 sets now for less than $5.  I kept one set and gave the other 2 away to little ones with DS.  

Magnetic fishing pole and fish- wonderful hand/eye coordination work

Mirrors are great for speech imitation.  The triangular shaped one is plexiglass and safe for little ones.

Pinwheels. These really fall more into the speech/oral motor category but they are another cheap, fun toy to have laying around.  And the best part?  My kids don't even realize they are doing "therapy"!

And just to keep it real, this is what the big room looks like by lunchtime.:)

In Him,

E

Who we are...

I know we have a few new readers who are curious about our family. I have received several emails full of questions about who we are, what we stand for, how to adopt.  Questions about special needs.  And our thoughts about this or that.  

After going through the thousands of pictures on my computer I have decided to include many in this post, answer a few questions and save the rest for several different posts. 

First, who are we?

We are sinners.  It's true.  We sin daily yet over and over we receive the perfect love, forgiveness and grace from our Heavenly Father that we so do not deserve.  

We are a Christian, homeschooling, kid lovin' family of 8 living on some beautiful property complete with goats and chickens.  We have 3 incredible home grown daughters and 3 treasures who have blessed our family through the miracle of adoption.

Charlie and his chicken, "Pot Pie", and Moe the goat.

A couple of years ago we felt the Lord urging us to simplify.  We felt as if we had allowed the world and all the stuff we had accumulated to take the place of the things God holds closest.  And so, we began renovating a 60+ year old family farmhouse.  In the process, we rid ourselves of the overwhelming accumulation and began to truly feel lighter.  Is our home smaller?  Oh yes.  We lost about 1000 square feet and a basement when we moved here.  Do we have enough space?  I look at it like this- I have seen pictures of 10 people who all live in one cardboard home the size of my laundry room with dirt floors and a roof that leak.  We live in a mansion.  Some of our children do share rooms (gasp!!).  Our oldest has her own room but she knows that if/when more children join our family, children will shift and that luxury will go by the wayside.  We are abundantly blessed.

Because our family is larger than the average American family, people sometimes think that we may have less time to spend with each other but really the opposite is true.  There are more hands to hold, more hugs to share and more opportunities to serve.  Through each of our children, God has shown us that our lives are to be about service.  And cheering each other on.  It's about being passionate about and nurturing the gifts God has given each of us and celebrating those gifts!!  And we have fun!

God has chosen us to leave a legacy of love...and we do love deeply.  A legacy that is color blind and doesn't see disability.  A legacy that we try with every part of us to instill in our children and live out.

July 4th celebration 2011 under the 100 year old oaks on "The Hill" in South Carolina.

We value tradition and hold close our time spent with family.  We are blessed that most of our families live close by and actually like to still spend time with us.:)

 We are intentional about making memories for our children.  

Braves game with some cousins.

An evening meal with cousins.

While going through all the pictures, I realized that many things have blossomed into traditions that we all look forward to.  Gatherings with friends in the Down Syndrome community, July 4th celebrations both here at home and in SC, strawberry picking in the beautiful North GA mountains, birthday celebrations, Love Letters, Tuesday night ballgames, pumpkin patch excursions....

Sisters at the Braves game

This girl.  I love her.  I was worried that one day she may lose her carefree spirit, but at 16 she still has it!  She is standing over an air vent just like she did when she was 2.

What love looks like.

Just because I love baby toes.

This had to have been my favorite birthday.  The day was so laid back.  The kids poured love into foot and hand prints for me.  Then, what could be better than....dessert BEFORE dinner?!?!  We all went to our local frozen yogurt shop before stopping by a deli for sandwiches.  

I will treasure these handmade cards forever.  

And we finished the night at the pool.  A perfect day.

My window- spreading the word and advocating for all treasure with Designer Genes!!

Where the littles spend most of the summer.

This is one of my favorites, and no, I did not make this one myself.

I'm not sure when Love Letters became such an important part of who we are as a family, but I am so glad they did. I love that at any moment you can walk through my home and see a letter left for someone special.   

If they are left for a while, I will gather them up and keep them in a special box for the recipient.

This really should be in my earlier post.  Oops.  Homeschool projects need always to include food!!

We are so blessed to have a place where people can gather and foster friendships.

Learning to hola hoop at the DS gathering.

Charlie and his new friend chatting about something quite important at a Down Syndrome community gathering.  :)

Also at the DS event

We have gone to Daddy's Tuesday night ballgames for as long as I can remember.  The big girls grew up going and now the littles are following in the same tradition.  I love the dirt these games bring to my home each Tuesday night.  This is one night that the littles are allowed to sometimes stay up past bedtime.  

Sweet, sweet children of a friend just spending time with Charlie.

He's got skills.:)

Boys at the ball field looking at ants.

My granddad with all of his great grandchildren.  I adore this man.

And even though she may not know it yet, he loves her.  Sorry, Kate, for the tortuous photo shoot.

One of our most favorite places and times of year- springtime strawberry pickin' in the beautiful North Georgia mountains.  Mimi always tags along- we are usually finished WAY before she is.

A Mimi who is intentional about spending time with her grandkids....even if it means getting in the baby pool.

We do things a little different around here.  Like the "Redneck Slip-n-Slide" in the above photo. 

And Mimis jumping on trampolines in the below photo.:)

The shoes were kicked to the side early.

July 4th Fish Fry at hubby's family's land.  We hope this, too, becomes a tradition.

First catch of the day.

She cracks me up!

Oldest and youngest before Kate

We hope this will be a new annual tradition

His first fish.  Thanks for the help, Uncle Mark.

Cousins chatting by the pond after a long day of fishing

With family on a mountain retreat

What's better than fort making?

An impromptu Bible study between sister and a friend. Makes my heart happy!!

Just because I think it's funny- cousin had a "spy" birthday party and Charlie joined in.

In Him,

E