A prayer request

There are quite a few ladies that read this that I consider great pray warriors and so many of you graciously prayed for Mark earlier this year.

I ask you to offer up my nephew Emeric in your prayers please.

 I think I have mentioned him before awhile back. His Mom and Dad are my Bro-in-law (Mark's brother) and his wife (who is one of my closest friends in pgh). They found out last summer that Emeric has Tay-Sachs. They began working with Children's and he underwent a stem-cell transplant to help slow and/or reverse the Tay-Sachs. That was back in October. All went well there. Unfortunately, he contracted a very serious virus shortly before Christmas and he has been battling it ever since. This virus is deadly, particularly because he underwent Chemo before his transplant and his whole slate got wiped clean.

It looked like he might be on the up swing a week or so ago, but as of yesterday he was experiencing some seizure like episodes and that is something totally new that they'd not had before. He is very weak, tired, and my MIL just told be yesterday that the doctors thought he'd be long gone by now. Actually, they thought he might live a max of 3 weeks when he first contracted the virus. He is, at this point, a medical miracle since he has been battling the virus for over 3 months. His T-cells have yet to grow back and they truly have no idea how he is still alive.

Please pray. For healing for Emeric and strength and peace for Jonathan and Michele.

Thank you all.

7 Quick Takes - Hello February!!

Linking up with the lovely Jen for the first time in A LONG time! :)

1

HELLO FEBRUARY!! 

January was a hard month. It has been particularly cold here in the 'burgh which means I can't take the girls out (below freezing at least 25 out of the 31 days) and every one is getting cabin fever!! Thank goodness we got Juls a new bike for Christmas and our house in big enough that she can ride it around. 

There were also some health scares for my husband and a miscarriage for me. 

I have never been so happy to flip the calendar! 

And happy to report, he is going to be FINE!

2

I did get to end the month on a high note. I was able to escape the bitter cold and take a SOLO weekend trip to Naples, Florida to celebrate my friend Jen's 29th Birthday! 

It was super fantastic to be with my dear friend of almost 10 years on this most special day for her. 

We got all dolled up on Friday night, had a few beverages*, did some dancing and had a splendid time. 

*We went from a wine loft to a bar around 9:30. They had a cover charge and as Martha was paying the cover charge and all 3 other girls are walking into the bar, the bouncer stops and cards me! Me, the oldest in the group! I looked at him and said, really? Me? I'm 29! He laughed, looked at my ID and said, 23 at the oldest!

He was forgiven!

Enjoy a few pics of the warmth and sunny goodness that SWFL is:

I want to go back...

3

Earlier this week, Mark and I went on a tour of a possible new school for Samantha. 

See, her mom and step-dad moved in September about a half hour away...3 or 4 school districts away depending on how you drive there.

We haven't been super happy with her current school (academically) which is extremely frustrating given that it's a private Catholic school we are paying decent money for. 

This school we toured was a public school in a wonderful school district but again, a half hour away with no busing available from our house. Meaning, we would be driving 2 hours a day, every other week, just to get her to and from school. 

::sigh:: 

It's a little much if you ask me and I am not even sure this is the best route to take. Public school that is.

Sam's only ever been in a small Catholic school and if we are talking number of students, this new school is 10 times the size of her current school! 

Plus, I really feel strongly about Catholic education for as long as it's possible. 

I have no desire to home school but I really want the faith to be integrated into their schooling, especially when Confirmation is just a few short years away. 

We are going to tour another Catholic school that's almost exactly half way between our house and her Mom's. I am really hoping it can work out. It has busing to both our area and her Mom's...It just seems like such a good compromise. 

Prayers for us. This is a hard decision to make. We want the best for Samantha but we also have to keep our other kids and Mark's career in mind.

4

Speaking of school, I registered Miss Juliana for preschool next year! Unfortunately, with her having a late October birthday she will be in the 3 year old class. I am having hard time with this because Juls is a wickedly smart girl. I have been told numerous times by many people how advanced she is for someone her age. Whether it be speaking, physical ability, or any other milestone. Juls did it above the curve. But, I did some research and talked with some people and they suggested putting her into the 3 year old and see how she does. Then, if I think she is ready, test her into Kindergarten early but if she doesn't pass the test, at least she won't be repeating the 4 year old class. 

I also found a Ready-K program (at the same Catholic school we are going to tour for Samantha) that would be a great fit for Juls. 

They grow up so fast!

5

And Miss Miriam is 15 months old already!

WHAT???

How did this happen?

She is just sweet as pie but man is she stubborn! If she does not want to do something or really wants a particular item or food, she will LET. You. KNOW!

We went for her check up this morning and she is just a wee-bit smaller than Juls was which is great because that means all the summer clothing will fit! :) She is a bit of a chatterbox but isn't a fan of repeating new words. She will just stare at you if you ask her to say something but then out of nowhere, she'll throw a pillow on the floor and say "Sleep" clear as day! 

Each kid is different and one of most enduring parts of Miriam is her cuddliness.

She loves to sit on your lap and chill out with you. She'll hold your finger and 7 out of 10 times she will fall asleep on you. 

Juli never did that. EVER!

Her favorite places to play are in my kitchen cabinets and on top of the kids table. 

Safety first!

Also a fan of walking around with her head covered...

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I have been on a reading kick (one and only benefit to cold days and nights...) and I have fallen in love with the author Lynn Austin! 

She writes Christian Historical Fiction. There is often a romance or two in the story but given that it's Christian, it never crosses that awkward "maybe I shouldn't be reading this!" line. 

 I would HIGHLY recommend  The Refiner's Fire Series  (the first book is free for Kindle readers! )and I also loved Until We Reach Home! Eve's Daughter's was good but it didn't shine a great light on a Catholic priest, so...

Currently reading Hidden Places and so far, so good! 

Check out your local library for the books and ebooks! FREE BOOKS! Who doesn't love Free things!

7

So, this is totally random but I got 9 hours of good sleep last night. This is not common for many reasons but I was wiped last night. Was in bed at 9:45pm and slept til 7. And ya know, getting up at 7am isn't so bad when you are properly rested. I text Mark and told him I felt like a whole new woman! It's crazy! 

Going to really try to get more nights of sleep like that. I think everyone in my life will thank me! 

Happy Friday Ya'll. Anyone in the South is welcome to send warmth up North! 

Benign

The biopsy is done. Just spoke with the surgeon. They were able to test in the operating room and it's sarcoidosis. Any and all inflammation of lymphnodes is benign. 

No cancer. 

Praise God. 

Hope

First let me thank you all for your prayers, emails and kind words. I am so grateful to have such wonderful women in my life.

Mark went and met with the surgeon this past Friday. This appointment was a meet and greet, let the surgeon have a first hand look at all the scans and set up the biopsy. Well, I wasn't able to attend because I was in FLORIDA (more on that later) and I was super nervous b/c I felt like I should be there but Mark was having none of the idea of me cancelling my trip. He was like "you need this trip more than you need to be at this appointment." And he's right on both accounts. The appointment went extremely well. The nurses treated him like their own son and the surgeon had some positive news also. I mentioned that there are 3 possible outcomes and the surgeon is fairly certain that it's the best one of the 3 - sarcoidosis. The only way to prove this is with a biopsy. Plus, he's said he's been wrong before and with Mark only being 31 and having his whole life ahead of him, he is not taking any chances.

The biopsy is taking place tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Not sure of the time just yet but I'm sure it will be at o'dark-thirty! It's a fairly routine outpatient procedure and should only take about an hour. And he should be up and around by Friday. Then we wait for the results. They could be anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks. ::Sigh::

Let me tell you though, after Mark heard how positive the surgeon was and confident in what he saw, Mark's whole demeanor changed. I could hear it instantly in his voice in the message he left as he was leaving the office. It as if all this weight of worry has been lifted off of him. He's had more energy in the past few days then he's had in a month. Now, I am still worried and am cautious of him over working himself but it's so refreshing to have him almost back to his normal self.

Please pray and I'll do my best to keep this updated.

Keepin it real - Hardships

A friend of mine mentioned that she missed keeping up with my life on the blog. That surprised me because I feel like my life couldn't get anymore normal and the exciting times consist of little one's learning new words, saying off the wall things or family holidays. But, life has been a little different this past month and I feel like I need to put some of it on paper just so I remember how exciting "normal life" is.

Way back on Dec 22 my hubby woke up with a cough. No big thing. The littles were sick and I assumed he was the next unfortunate one to get the cold/cough they both had. Well, by the end of the day he was complaining of achy joints, chest pain, had started running a fever and was looking pretty terrible! A visit to the MedExpress on the 23 diagnosed him with Pneumonia. The radiologist called about a half hour after we left and said they saw something that seemed worse than just pneumonia and we should go to the ER for a CT scan. Praise the Lord for big families bc 2 of Mark's brothers were able to come stay with the girls while we went to the ER. They didn't have anything new to say and the ER doctor wrote him off as "your 31 with an otherwise clean bill of health" so why should you get a CT scan. We trusted him. Learned my lesson there.

It took over a week for Mark to get back to somewhat normal but even then, he still was complaining of chest pain, had a consistent cough and was over all weak. Many people said that pneumonia really takes it out of you and he'd be better in a week or two more. Well, the chest pain became so bad one night that he was seriously worried that he might be having a heart attack.

It was also during this time that we discovered I was pregnant. We were excited but nervous and surprised because we weren't trying (or avoiding for that matter). Once the idea settled in that we'd have another one and we were just thrilled, I miscarried. 

I urged him to call his pcp, who had cleared him of infection around new years day, and go get checked out again. Well, to the naked eye, he was fine. No physical problems to speak of. But, having just recovered from an infection in his lungs they ordered another xray. That xray confirmed that something was indeed off and he needed to go for a CT scan so that they could get a better look at his chest/lungs and all mid-chest internal organs. They called that day and said he needed to go that night for a follow up.
-remember that ME radiologist who said there was something off in the Xray and the ER doc who said he didn't need it? Yeah well, he should have had it! 

Urgency from doctors is never good.

Mark refused to let me go and was trying to tell me that everything was going to be fine. I acted like I believed him but my gut, oh my gut was telling me different!

He called on his way home and told me something, honestly I can't remember what was said but I could tell he was glazing over the meat of the diagnosis. He did mention that the pcp was not a specialist and he needed to see one...It was not until after the girls were in bed that night that he finally told me the "specialist" he was going to see was an Oncology doctor. I WAS going to that appointment. Which was today.

There's an excessive amount of lymphnodes in his chest and a small mass of tissue that shouldn't be there between his bronchial tubes. There are 3 outcomes at this point:  Sarcoidosis (not so bad), Lymphoma (bad), or another cancer metastasized in the lymph nodes (worse).

Sarcoidosi is an inflammatory disease that is found mostly in the lungs and is a small tissue mass that forms after an infection. It could be an acute problem is this turns out to be the case and he might have to deal with it for the rest of his life. Given Mark's history with lung problems, this is absolutely a possibility but given the excessive lymphnodes found, this is not the only possibility.

He will need to have a biopsy done asap to figure out if this is malignant or benign.


I haven't wanted to talk about this much because the outcome is unknown. I can't plan anything for more than tomorrow when so much is on the line. His life, my 31 year old husband's life, could be on the line. Nothing will make you stop and really reflect on what's REALLY important except the possibility of losing one of THE most important people in your life.

When I miscarried, I prayed to God to tell me why this baby was placed inside of me for such a short period of time and almost instantly I heard "servant" in my heart. I felt that this baby while it would have been a blessing, and in it's short life inside of me was a HUGE blessing, it was not the right time to welcome a new life. God knew what I am able to handle. I felt Him calling me to be His servant for someone in my life. Little did I know how quickly I would be called forward into that role. 

We are trying to keep a positive outlook. Pray for us. Mark is a very positive, silly person but I know he's nervous. Pray for us to accept God's will and to have all the grace we need to get through this hard time.

Beneift of a blended family

So as Juls and I sat at the table having a quite lunch, she started asking about a picture of the Pope we have on the fridge. That lead to talking about priests, talking about Heaven, Angels, Mary and baby Jesus.

She asked, after hearing that Jesus came out of Mary's belly, who was Jesus' Daddy.

"Well, Jesus' father is God the Father in Heaven. He put Jesus into Mary's belly with the help of the Holy Spirit!"
"Cool!"
"But, you know how I am Samantha's step-mom?"
"yes..."
"Well, Jesus had a Step-Dad named Joseph who was married to Mary and helped raise Jesus."
Thinking it over..."Cool! What raise mean?"(we discussed)

Then, she asked, "Was Jesus baptized?"
"Yes, actually he was..." And then we talked about how he was not baptized til he was older but he was presented at the Temple.

Having a blended family has it's struggles, but Juliana understood immediately the fact that Joseph could be Jesus' "dad" without actually being his Father. She knows that Samantha is not my daughter because we see her mom weekly but she knows that I love Samantha and that I help Mark raise Samantha when she's here.

Also, having this conversation with Juliana really shows me how fast she is growing. She can be a handful sometimes but that energy, that curiosity, that love that pours out from her is going to make her something extra special as she grows. I just hope her love and curiosity of God and the Church grows with her!

Five Faves - a song, an app, a recipe and pics

Linking up with Miss Hallie again this week!

1

Overcomer - the song and video by Mandisa!



It is uplifting, inspiring and the video seriously brought tears to my eyes. Plus, every time I hear it on the radio, we turn it up and have a dance party! Even at 7:50 this morning when I was getting the girls dressed and I hadn't had coffee yet!

It's that good!

Juls also love's her Good Morning song, which she adorably refers to as the "get up, get up" song!

 

2

The Fertility Friend App

 

For all us NFP users, knowing your cycle and body is ever so important whether you are abstaining or trying to conceive. I used FertilityFriend.com when Mark and I first got married b/c I found it to be easier than a piece of paper that I was BOUND to loose! It was nice to know my chart and all my info was in one place that my (then 6 year old) step daughter couldn't just happen upon! ;)

I have since found the app and love it! You can keep track of all your signs, symptoms, temps, additional notes and more!

Best of all, it's free!!

There is a VIP membership that you can pay for, but I haven't ever needed any of their services!

 

3

Me: What'd you do at school today?

Juls: We painted a turkey

Me: Cool! A Turkey! Why did you paint a turkey?

Juls: ::shrugs:: Cause my teacher said so...

 

Well, she is only 3 but on the upside, she followed directions! Hooray!

 

I am super excited about Thanksgiving next week!!! :) Especially to make this Sweet Potato Casserole recipe! YUM!!

 

4

Cousins, matching!

Miriam is 4 months older to the day than sweet Savannah in the back! They live in RI but we got to spend the weekend with them when we visited Maryland this past weekend!

These two plus their 3 month old cousin Oliver are going to be TROUBLE in a few years!

I can't wait! :)

 

5

Sisterly love

 



 

 I am really not sure which one loves the other more.

 

Happy Thanksgiving from the 'burgh!