Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago, Gamma (my mom) decided she needed some pictures of all of her grandchildren.  She made sure they all had coordinating outfits, then asked Ms. Ginny to come to her house and take the pictures.

Here are some of our favorites:

 

 

 

   

And for the outtakes:

This one would have been cute if someone would have instructed the princess on how to sit like one, instead of acting like she came straight from the backwoods.  Cade also looks as if he is pretty uncomfortable with that stump at his backside.

This has to be the BEST picture of the day.  This is one of my ALL-TIME favorites.

Camper Cade

This week is Spring Break, and it stinks that both Rob and I have to work.  But, we are thankful that we both still have a job in this economy:)

Cade is going to Camp this week, and he has been so excited.  It is a day camp that is held at a local lake.  The bus picks him up and drops him off.  The best part is that he gets to take his fishing pole and worms every day and go fishing.

 

 

This picture is blurry because it was taken with my lovely iPhone.  You can probably see that his eyes are swollen and red.  That is because he has a love/hate relationship with my mom’s cat, and has to love on it every morning when we drop Gracie off. 

I’m so glad Cade loves to go to camp.  They are learning Bible verses, praise and worship songs, and they get to be kids. 

We are excited we get to meet up with the Collins crew on Thursday at the T-Rex cafe in Downtown Disney.  Rob and I are taking just Cade to meet up with his old buddy, Christian.  I will definitely post pictures on Friday.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Gracie vs. the Bed Post

…and the bedpost won!  SG got to make her first visit to the dentist this week thanks to an altercation with the bedpost.  She and Cade were cleaning her room, when she tripped over a toy, and landed mouth first into the bedpost.

We visited a pediatric dentist, and he was wonderful.

She cried the entire way there, but once she got there, she put on a show.

You can see where the tooth punctured the bottom lip.  Doesn’t she look like Cindy Lou Who?  Her lips are still swollen.

 

Her attempt at smiling.

 

What you can’t see is that her front tooth had been displaced behind the others, but had already started to move back into place.  Talk about grossing a momma out!!!

 

The end of our day, with her lips still swollen. 

 

This girl needs a helmet and a facemask.  If you find any good deals on one, just let me know:)

Wait

The hardest part of our journey can sometimes be the waiting. Waiting for answers, waiting for drs, waiting for phone calls, waiting for appointments, and most of all, waiting on the Lord to tell us what He wants us to do. I ran across this poem the other day on a blog I read, and it was as if God just answered my question, in black and white, as to why we always have to wait.

Wait by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

Prayer Request

My friend, Sarah, shared this baby’s story with me, and I am asking you to pray for his family.  Baby Carter passed away yesterday after suffering from bacterial meningitis.  Even though we don’t know this family directly, I do know how uplifting it is to know that people are praying for your family.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cartereudy/

Little Miss Stomach Virus

If you will remember, I posted a while back about SG being in a pageant.  Well, I just got the pictures off of Beas’ camera, so here they are.

Let me start by saying that the Princess woke up with the stomach virus that morning.  She was throwing up left and right.  I tried to talk her into staying at home, but she was having none of it.  We drove to the hotel, got her dressed, and prayed for the best.  She hadn’t thrown up in a while, so we thought we were good to go!

She sat with Granny and Wimmy while we waited, and waited, and waited.  It seemed like an eternity!  It was finally about our turn to go, and she erupted like a volcano, all over the front of her dress.  We took her outside and told her we were just going to go home.  She begged and pleaded, “But Mommy, I practiced so good!  I want to go on stage.”  She has some of her momma’s good ole’ competitiveness in her.  Victoria helped us strip her down, and off to the hotel bathroom we went.  We washed that youngin’s dress in the sink of that bathroom, and put it back on her.  She was so proud she was going on that stage.

 

  

   

She was a real competitor!  Other than the puke-stained number on her dress, you would’ve never known she was sick!

We then had to wait for them to announce the winners.  It seemed like an eternity.

She was so patient, and tired.

  

Her biggest fan! 

SG got  2nd runner up, and she was so proud of the two Barbies she got!

 

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of the two of us.  She was such a trooper and was so adamant that she finish on stage.  I was so proud of her!

 

The Final Report & Plans

^{Jeremiah 29:11} For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

^{We got the call last night from Dr. D with the news of the final report of the MRI. He had finally met with Dr. K, and called with their thoughts. All three doctors are in agreement we should deliver at Shands. However, his words were, “Let’s be honest, we all know this is going to be a difficult repair because there is so much going on.” Deep down, I have known this all along, but there are days when you just want to forget about the bad and the ugly, and focus on the good. He did say that while we have many things to be pessimistic about, there are some things to be optimistic about. So it’s still a waiting game.}

^{The plan for now, is to not really have any plans until Faith arrives. They all know that ultrasounds and MRI’s can’t see everything they need to see. And I DO believe, they are battling with the fact a lot has happened in the last couple of months that is medically unexplainable, thanks to the Great Physician! We will meet with Dr. K to hear his opinion, but it seems as like no plans will be made until they can see her up close and in person to make a decision.}

^{Needless to say, last night was not a good night. I know we have so many things to be grateful for, and believe me, we don’t take any of those for granted. The last thing you want to accept is that we will not know anything until she gets here.}

I do know that God is still in control, and He knows the plans He has for all of us, including Faith. And He promises us that they are plans to give us hope and a future. Now we know that our hope cannot come from a doctor, an MRI or a surgical plan, but it must come from God. God’s plans may be for Faith to simply be born into His arms, and if that is the case, we will be given Hope and a Future in the Kingdom of Heaven.

We are not going to lose our trust in Jesus today. Just because things don’t go our way, doesn’t mean he has let us down. This is not the end, only a stepping stone to grow our faith and our Faith in Him. Sure, I feel like I’ve been beaten down, but I know He will pick me up, carry me through this fire, and see me through to the other side.

Please pray (as I know you are and thank you from the bottom of our hearts) for our family today. We are tired, emotionally spent, and are feeling weak. I feel like I am being overcome by the burden of our situation, and I am sucking right now as a mom, a wife and just everything else I am supposed to be. Satan is on me like white on rice today, and I am trusting in Jesus to take him out!