Grace's 4th Birthday!

Here are some pictures from our sweet Grace's 4th birthday!  We had a great day celebrating her life. It started with breakfast as a family and getting her Willa doll!  Then our family and friends came over after lunch for a party!  There was cake, ice cream, craft time, and presents.  Grace soaked it all up and had so much fun! 

Grace, we love you so much!  You are a true delight to our family.  Your laugh and smile always cheer us up!  And your spunk and unconventional ideas keep us on our toes!  We are so thankful for your life.  Happy Birthday Grace Elizabeth!

Lunch out with Nana!

During the months of February and March, Mom had many rough days due to the chemo.  However, because of the steroids they gave with her infusions, she had some good days when she was energetic and hungry!  So we went out three times - first to Fresh Market and Los Arcos, next to the International Market (and Los Arcos and Fresh Market, too!  THAT was a big day!)  And then on March 30, we met Steven for lunch at Don Pedro.  Mom really wasn't feeling as good that day, but she didn't want to turn me down when I suggested we go.  A few days after that was when she ended up needing to go to the hospital.

We had a great lunch and she had some special bonding time with Cole.  He knows her name and can say it!  He was laughing up storm when he tried to feed her chips and salsa.  Here are a few pictures from our time out...

Animal adventures with our cousins!

In late March, Kati and I took Elise and Grace to Georgia to visit our cousins Joe, Amy, Savannah and Tyler.  We watched Savannah perform exquisitely as Belle in her school's Beauty and the Beast play.  The next day we went to a ranch with the Joe's family and also my cousins Shannon, Julie and Evan.  We had a great time seeing the animals together and bonding as a family.

Grace LOVES mud!

Two days in a row, this girl played outside in our backyard mud pit.  There is an area where we used to have our trampoline sitting and the grass has died.  Well, add some water, and you have a mud pit! Grace wore this lovely dress out to play one day a few weeks ago, and the next thing I knew, we had a muddy princess!  She absolutely loved it!

April Snapshots: Spring is here!

Here we are

Boy, am I glad it's spring!  After a fun summer, ending with a trip to Disney in September and then Elise's 7th birthday at the end of that month, the fall and winter were HARD for us.  Nana (Betsy's mom) was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in November and spent 11.5 weeks in the hospital. During the time she was there, we celebrated Isaac's 9th birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.   She was discharged in mid-January, and then the Mauney family got sick.  Some kind of virus with body aches and high fever went through each of us over the course of 3 weeks.  Once we were well, Steven's body took a nosedive into a dark season of depression.  The months of February and March were very hard for him.  We celebrated Grace's 4th birthday in February.  Mom started chemo that same month.  

On April 7th, exactly 5 months after her initial diagnosis, Mom was admitted to the hospital for another week long stay, with life-threatening complications from the chemo.  Thankfully she is now back home and recovering from the impact to her body.  And here we are.  It feels like a tornado has come through our family.

We are still here, but there has been some damage that needs repair.  Our stress hormones have kicked into overdrive to handle all that's happened.  We have learned to cling more tightly to God and each other than ever before.  And we're learning what life is really about - love.  Loving well.  

I have lots of pictures and videos on my phone from the past 6 months, but I haven't blogged them or printed them.  I am trusting that the time will come to catch up.  In the meantime, I am going to try and start blogging again and do what I can.  I want our kids (and us!) to have memories from this time.  

But more than pictures and stories, I want them to know that when things got hard, Jesus held us.  When we didn't know what to pray, He prayed for us.  When we needed a hug, He provided one of His kids to wrap their arms around us - even total strangers.  And now, when we can't see the future, He can.  And it doesn't look scary to Him.  He is never going to drop us and let the bottom fall out.  It's already fallen out, and He had us securely under His wing the whole time.  That's what I want my kids to know.  

Isaac, Elise, Grace, and Cole - when you are old enough to read this, please know that what Jesus did for me during this season (and my whole life), He does for you.  There's never a place you go where He isn't with you.  There's never a struggle you'll have that He doesn't understand.  There's never a word you'll say that He can't handle listening to.  He sees you.  He knows you.  He loves you.

I hope you remember the times we danced to Skillet's song "Stars".  The words are powerful and true.  Never forget that the One who holds the stars in place also holds tightly to your hearts, my precious ones.

                                                                   "Stars"

You spoke a word and life began
Told oceans where to start and where to end
You set in motion time and space
But still you come and you call to me by name
Still you come and you call to me by name

If you can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am, lifting up my heart
To the one who holds the stars

The deepest depths, the darkest nights
Can't separate, can't keep me from your sight
I get so lost, forget my way
But still you love and you don't forget my name

If you can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am, lifting up my heart
If you can calm the raging sea
You can calm the storm in me
You're never too far away
You never show up too late
So here I am, lifting up my heart
To the one who holds the stars

Your love has called my name
What do I have to fear?
What do I have to fear?
Your love has called my name
What do I have to fear?
What do I have to fear?

If you can hold the stars in place
You can hold my heart the same
Whenever I fall away
Whenever I start to break
So here I am, lifting up my heart
(Lifting up my heart)
If you can calm the raging sea
You can calm the storm in me
You're never too far away
You never show up too late
So here I am, lifting up my heart
To the one who holds the stars

You're the one who holds the stars

How 2016 ended for us... and goals for 2017

This fall has been a nonstop adventure for our family.  My last posts were from late August, so I will attempt to summarize what has happened for us since then.

On the weekend of Labor Day, we had three days of fun since Steven was off work.  On Saturday, we took a day trip to the NC Zoo and spent all day there.  On Sunday, we took a day trip in the other direction to Asheville, NC to see the Western North Carolina Wildlife Reserve.  We had so much fun walking around and seeing all the animals at both places.  We had lots of quality family time just the 6 of us.  On Labor Day, we decided that since we'd had so much fun at the Zoo, we would go back again.  It was another lovely day that ended with the kids playing in the Mud Cafe area and having a blast.

While they were in the Mud Cafe, I took a bad fall.  I had been standing beside a mud- and sand-filled  trough, and when I turned around to find Gracie, I rammed my left shin into the trough, spun around and fell down, banging my right thigh on the other side of the trough, and then ultimately fell out of the trough onto the ground.  I scraped up my shin pretty severely, but as most mommas do, I just wiped it off, composed myself, and went about taking care of the kids.  Little did I know what would come later...

The next day we had some longtime friends, the Murrays, come over for a play date.  We had a blast all playing, eating, and visiting together.

Over the next couple days, I noticed my shin was extremely painful, and the pain got worse when I stood up or walked.  I wondered why it wasn't just healing up, so I went to the Urgent Care to get it checked out.  As it turned out,  I had gotten an infection in the wound and would need antibiotics.  I also was encouraged to get a tetanus booster shot, which I agreed to.

The next several days included lots of attempts to rest and keep my leg up so that it would heal.  I also had a HUGE bruise on my right thigh that made it painful to lay down on that side.  Falls are not for the weak!

About a week later, my wound didn't look like it was healing, so I went to my family medical practice to get it looked at.  The doctor said it was healing well and that what looked like infection was actually new skin called granular tissue (if I remember correctly.)  He cleared me to make the trip to Disney World in two days, so that brought much more peace of mind.

We went on our Disney Trip and had a great time.  It was hot and crowded, but when is Disney not hot and crowded?  We had Mom and Dad and Kati with us.  Halfway through the week, I got a Urinary Tract infection and was in pretty bad pain while we went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom (for the second time.)  But we all made the best of it, and made some wonderful memories.

We got back just in time for Elise's 7th birthday.  We spent her birthday at the American Girl store, eating at the Bistro with Mom, Kati, the kids and Elise's new doll Willa.  The next day, we had a party at our house (princess theme) with all of Elise's friends - the Smiths, the Bantas, the Murrays, Cadence Broome, Mom and Dad, Sylvia and Leon, and Granny and Pawpaw.  It was a very special time celebrating an incredibly special girl.

October held two trips!  The first was a getaway for Steven and me to the mountain cabin.  We left Isaac, Elise and Grace with Mom and Dad, and we left Cole (for the first time ever) with Donnie and Hallel.  He was still waking up every 2-3 hours at night, but Hallel was confident she could handle it. What a blessing it was to be able to sleep, have quality time, and get some real rest together.  

At the end of the month, Mom, Dad, Kati, the kids and I went to Hilton Head Island for a long weekend trip.  We came back on Halloween.  Mom seemed pretty tired the whole time, and her left leg was swollen.  She also was nauseated and had chills.  I started thinking of all her symptoms and wondered if she had anything going on with her kidneys.

We got home from the trip around 5 PM on Halloween and that night Jennifer and Gabby Brewer  came over to trick-or-treat.  That's been our tradition for the past several years.  The weather was so nice that we all enjoyed walking around the neighborhood.

That next week was fairly uneventful.  On Friday November 4th, I asked Mom if she wanted to go with us to Discovery Place Kids.  We went to Cookout for lunch first and then headed to play at DPK.  That was the day that Mom had some unexplained bleeding and we called Dr Toosi about it.  She went to see Dr Toosi at 3:40 that afternoon and an abdominal ultrasound was ordered for Monday, November 7th.  The ultrasound showed a mass in her uterus and a mass on her kidney.  She was admitted to the hospital that evening.  Then "Mom's Journey" began.  We have documented that in our "Mom's Journey" google doc.  The journey continues as I write this post.  

Monday, December 26, 2016

Yesterday was Christmas. It was a wonderful day. Mom is in the hospital and so we went to see her. Before doing that, Santa visited the kids and they saw their presents from him. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and opened gifts as a family. We ate sausage balls and cinnamon rolls for breakfast at our table. We lit all of our advent candles as we ate.  

We reminded the kids that Jesus is our hope, our peace, our love, and our joy.

We went to the hospital around 1130. We thought we would stay only about an hour and a presents and a couple songs in moms room.  However, when we arrived mom said that Katie had had the idea of Mom getting in the wheelchair and us taking a tour of the hospital. So she did that. We started on our tour and when we got to the cafeteria, mom said let's sing some Christmas carols to the passersby. So we stopped and started singing with Steven accompanying us on the guitar. We think six or eight songs…many people stopped and said thank you and some state. In fact there was one white headed lady who stayed the whole time and even grab a chair to sit in while she listened. She cried almost the whole time and afterwords thanked us saying it meant so much to her. We then made our way to the lobby so that we could take a picture of the huge Christmas tree. many people stopped and said thank you and some state. In fact there was one white headed lady who stayed the whole time and even grab a chair to sit in while she listened. She cried almost the whole time and afterwords thanked us saying it meant so much to her. We then made our way to the lobby so that we could take a picture of the huge Christmas tree.  We asked the woman to take our picture. After she did, mom asked what her favorite Christmas Carol was. She said joy to the world and oh come all ye faithful.  Mom said OK we will sing those for you. And we did. Then we went to the seventh floor to sing songs to moms nurses and fellow patients.  After that, we were asked to go to the fourth floor because they had requested we come and sing. So we did! The fourth floor was a sister oncology wing to the seventh floor where mom is. The fourth floor was a sister oncology wing to the seventh floor where mom is.    three different individuals asked us to come to their room. The last one was obviously a much loved woman. Her entire family was in her room with food and decorations and lights celebrating Christmas. They seemed to really enjoy our family coming.

After that, we went back to moms room and got her in the bed. Then she was ready for the kids to open their gifts from her and we also brought her a gift from us. We took her a nice fluffy new soft blanket.

After that, mom was very tired so we all left and came home to rest. Around 430 granny and pop all came over in addition to Kati and Daddy. We had sandwiches, soup, chips and dad to Greene wonders for dinner. Then we open presents and enjoyed each other for the rest of the night.  It was an amazing Christmas. In fact, it may have been our best ever! With the exception of Mom not being with us in the evening for our family time at our house.  

This has been a very full year since last Christmas. With BJ dying in March, mom being retired (so she and us ), gallivanting around everywhere, our Disney trip in September, and mom’s health crisis starting in early November.

In 2015 we had a baby and moved. I thought that was the most stressful year of my life. I was wrong. I believe this one (2016) may top that one. However, I think I handled the stress of this year better than I did the stress of 2015. So I don't know which one truly was more stressful if it actually has anything to do with how I handled it. Still, at the end of 2015 I proclaimed that 2016 would be a year of low stress. I have learned not to do this. Maybe the lesson to learn now is to embrace each day, stress and all as a gift.

Today, all the kids are playing with their new Christmas toys. Isaac is doing Minecraft of course. However, we have learned that he would really like the PC version of Minecraft. We had no idea about that before Christmas or that would be a great Christmas present! Oh well! Maybe an after Christmas present… Elise is playing with the big huge horse that we gave her and also her Pegasus horse from aunt Kati. Grace is playing with her little horse from aunt Kati. They are so cute out in the cul-de-sac playing on this 60° day.  Sadie our dog just escaped for the umpteenth time. Steven and Elise ran after her and Zach (Our Neighbor with the golf cart) came to give them a ride. Now he has grabbed up Gracie and is riding all of them back to the house.

Quotes:
Upon seeing our Rooster mount one of our hens, I told the kids "He is fertilizing an egg." Elise responded, "He's not fertilizing an egg!  He was on top of that hen!!!"

So - 2016 has been a year of stressors.  And also good memories.  

We lost our Dear BJ and have watched his Mom and Sister mourn and grieve this year.  We, too, have grieved.  

We saw our Gracie turn 3, Cole turn 1, Elise turn 7 and Isaac turn 9.  We settled in our house.  It took us a good year, but it is starting to feel like home.  We built a giant chicken coop (well, Steven built it) and we got our little chickens in May.  We have seen them grow into hens and, oops, one Rooster!  They are laying eggs now, so we are finally able to enjoy the fruits of our and their labor.  We went on a big Disney trip with our family and made lots of good memories.  

And we have watched Mom go through a health crisis with inner strength, a (mostly) positive attitude, and family support that is uncommon these days.  

We don't know what 2017 holds, but I know that God is with us and all around us and in us.  As Steven Curtis Chapman sings - His strength is perfect when our strength is gone / He'll carry us when we can't carry on / Raised in His power the weak become strong / His strength is perfect / His strength is perfect.

So, my goals for 2017 are these:

1) Get my health back (go to the doctor/GYN/chiro/dentist/eye doctor, and get all concerns addressed; work on losing 50 pounds over the course of the year.)

2)Do my homeschool well.  Focus on my kids and have fun with them as we learn together.

3)Love my people well - my kids, my man, my friends, my family.

4)Soak up every moment with Mom that's possible.  She will begin chemo early in 2017, so that will bring it's own challenges.  Whenever we can have fun together, we will.

Fun with our Roo!