NYC

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our trip to New York. They are out of order and some are not turned the right way, but you get the idea.

Lista

Lista lost her battle with cancer yesterday. She just didn't wake up. Thanks for all of your prayers - please continue to pray for her husband, her baby boy, her mom, sister, and dad, and the rest of our family.

We're back

We are back safe and sound after a week in NYC. We had such a good time! We were all tired, but Ellie was an amazing little traveler and she loved hanging out with the college students. I'll post pictures soon and I have so many cute stories to tell, so I'll post them a few at a time.

First, an update on Lista. I don't even think they are going to try the treatment now because she is sick. I'm a little numb to the situation right now and am angry to an extent. They won't even schedule her to come to the hospital because they know she won't survive the treatment since she is so sick. However, she's not just going to get better on her own, so she's not going to survive the cancer. My big question right now is, why not go on and just try the treatment...if it is too strong for her body and she doesn't survive the injection, she doesn't have to suffer any more, right? Otherwise, she is just wasting away sitting at home not able to do anything, suffering, not feeling well, not able to care for her baby, not able to talk to anyone, not even able to stand on her own. It just upsets me that with all of modern medicine, there is nothing they can do for her. We had so much hope, but from what I understand there is no hope. Thankfully, she is a Christian and she will soon be in a better place where she doesn't have to suffer any more. I don't understand why this is happening to her and I guess I never will. Please pray for her that she isn't in pain, for her baby boy that he grows up know his mommy loved him so much, for Lista's husband, sister, mom, and dad that they can all find some peace and comfort somehow, and for all of our family as we try to deal with the situation.

I am so thankful for my healthy little girl, my marriage (of 7 years, as of this weekend), and my new baby girl growing inside me. As for material things, I am thankful for a great car and for our new house that we'll move in to next month. I'll never understand why such good things happen to bad people and such bad things happen to good people, but I know that I am blessed and that I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Busy

We are going to be BUSY over the next few weeks. We're leaving for New York next week with some of the college students, my niece graduates from 5th grade later the next week, our 7th anniversary is May 20, we close on our house May 31, we're taking Ellie to Disney and to visit some family in early June, and can move in June 21. I'll try to keep pictures and updates on here, but if I'm not on much, it's because we have so much going on.

Please be praying for my cousin, Lista. She's really not doing well at all, but we're still hopeful.

I'm it...

I was tagged by my friend, Miriam, for this "random meme."

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. My dog was in our wedding.

2. I love checking other peoples' blogs.

3. I love to clog.

4. I like doing crafty things.

5. I was laughing during labor and delivery.

6. My second toe is longer than my big one (it's 2 inches long).

7. We just bought a house - our first house. We've been married 7 years this month and this will be the 6th time we've moved.

Maybe these girls will play... Sheri, Deva, Emily, and Lynsi. (I would list more people, but I don't know that many people who blog. Maybe the next person can list 7 friends.

Home Sweet Home

Finally, we have bought a house. We found it Wednesday and bought it Friday. Of course, we have lots of waiting to do until we can actually move in, but we should be in no later than July 1, if not a week or two sooner. Here are some pictures of the house, but that furniture is not ours - the people still live there. In order, they are Ellie's room, 2 outside pictures (and the toys stay), out front, living room, dining room, kitchen, and our bedroom. We don't have pictures of Ava's room, the girls' bathroom, or the office...but I'm sure we'll post more when we actually move in.

Ellie's reaction

My friend was asking about Ellie's reaction to the baby and what she thinks about the whole situation, so I thought I would post some of the cute things she has said.

~"I want Ava Claire come out right now, Mommy!"

~"It's not Elmo anymore, it's Ava Claire." (she said if it was a boy, his name was going to be Elmo)

~"I want you have baby too, Daddy!"

~We were shopping and we saw a tiny baby girl. I explained that Ava would look like that when she gets here. Ellie asked where here Mommy was and I pointed and said her Mommy was pushing the cart. She said, "No, where's Ava Claire's Mommy?" I explained that I was her Mommy and that she was going to share me with Ava. Later, she was retelling the story to some college students and she was very clear in telling them that I was Ava's Mommy, too!

~Ellie loves to hug my belly and she's starting to talk to the baby.

Needless to say, she's just about as excited as we are! I don't think she always understands things, but she's learning how to ask good questions about what she doesn't know or understand and she's figuring things out. She loves to be around other kids and is such a good helper with the little girl I babysit right now, so I think she'll be an amazing big sister!

It's a...

GIRL! Things look good and she is healthy and ACTIVE!!! I'll post more pictures soon.

Funny Phrases

Ellie is trying so hard to use complete sentences and is really doing a great job, but she comes up with some funny stuff sometimes. Here are a few of her latest phrases...

~What's that Daddy's got in his right hand?

~Are you like that? (instead of "do" you like that)

~Sometimes, I go Nonee's house.

~(When we ask if she needs to go potty...) "Well, I might pee-pee in my panties."

~When we ask what's in Mommy's belly, she says "Baby"...when we ask what's in Daddy's, she says, "FAT!" When we ask what's in her belly, she says, "Not baby, not fat."

~And last but not least, this is one of my favorites... We were eating downtown with our friend Jamie and we could see people walking during their lunch breaks outside. She noticed some women walking and asked what they were doing, then someone else walked by, then a guy was running for exercise and had his sunglasses and headphones, shoes and shorts...but no shirt and Ellie yelled, "Him NAKED, Mom!"

Hugs

Ellie is going to be such a good big sister! She's always so sweet and she has been giving the baby hugs lately, along with dolls, books, and toys. Since I babysit a 7 month old, she's pretty good at knowing what babies can have and what they can't, so it's cute to see her bring my belly a baby-safe toy!

Pictures Galore

Cade with his "Gran-Gran" and "Dan-Dan" ,
















Issie, Ellie, and Dizzy,

and last but not least, Baby Cade in his Easter outfit.

Easter pictures

We spent Saturday with Jeff's family and Sunday with mine.

Easter Eggs

Ellie had a blast tonight coloring Easter eggs...but she said, "I coloring my Easter bunny stuff". After she used all of the characters, she wanted more. When we told her that was all of them, she said, "That's fine. We get more at Wal-Mart."

Good news!

From what I understand, Lista and Tishie actually both just got good news! They both still have a long road ahead of them, but it's the first time since either of them got sick that there was much hope. Tishie's counts have been either too high or too low, so she hasn't qualified for a stem cell transplant, but they started a new medicine and it is actually chemo and it's working, so we're hoping maybe she can have the transplant this summer sometime. The other medicine they started her on didn't work. Lista didn't have much hope at all because they hadn't found treatment that worked on anybody. They just found someone with another kind of sarcoma and used an experimental drug that killed all of the tumors, so they are going to try that on Lista in 3 weeks! Pretty exciting! Thanks for your prayers!!! (keep it up)

New Story

Here is what Ellie woke up telling me about this morning. I told you she was turning in to a story teller!

"Sometimes I go Nonee's house. One time, I fall in her potty. Nonee just laugh and laugh and laugh."

I called my mom and she said, "Oops! I forgot to tell you about that one!"

Paragraphs

Ellie isn't just talking in sentences any more. She is putting sentences together and is a great story teller! Today she fell and she wanted to tell Jeff about it. Here's what she said.

"I play in water. I ask my Mama and she said she not want to. I say otay. Then I fall down and Mama put band-aid on. That my story. Ha-ha."

Hooray for Spring!

We have been loving this nice weather lately! Ellie and I have been sitting outside in the mornings waiting for Jaci's mom to drop her off, then we play and eat outside during the day, and wait in our chairs again in the evenings for her mom to pick her up. This weekend, we were headed out the door to get in the car and she had her baby with her. She sat down in her chair and informed me that I needed to sit down too. She said, "We wait here for her mommy...her be here soon."

We also took her bowling - she bowled a 9 with a little help. What a blast!

Lista

My cousin, Lista, could really use some extra prayer. I know those of you who have been reading this blog have been praying and I really appreciate it. She is so sick. I feel so sorry for her and her more immediate family. My mom helps keep her baby one day a week and she said Lista has lost so much weight. For those of you who don't know Lista, she is about 5 feet tall and weighed about 95 pounds before she got pregnant. She didn't gain much in her pregnancy, so she's tiny anyway. She couldn't really afford to lose more weight. She can't eat though, because she is so sick. She hasn't had chemo in a couple of weeks, but it is still making her sick at her stomach. She can't take care of herself, much less her baby. My mom said her baby doesn't even really know who is mama is. It's just such a sad situation. My honest prayer is that if God is going to take her away from us, that he go ahead and take her instead of continually making her suffer. Not that I want to lose my cousin, just that I hate to see her suffer. However, I really like the verses in John 9 that talk about Jesus healing the man who was born blind. The disciples asked him who sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born blind. "NEITHER THIS MAN ,NOR HIS PARENTS SINNED," SAID JESUS, BUT THIS HAPPENED SO THAT THE WORK OF GOD MIGHT BE DISPLAYED IN HIS LIFE." I am trying to believe that Lista will soon be a walking miracle. Please share her story and ask for prayers from everyone you know. Thanks!

Random pictures

Jaci, the baby I keep during the day.

Ellie making cookies with Nonee and her cousins.

Our Goodwill Formal we had for Valentine's Day at USI.

Ellie's first "professional" haircut.

Goin' to Nonee's. She was so excited! She stayed while we went to New Mexico.

Jeff's accident - he got rear ended and had to have the whole back end of his truck fixed.

Announcement

This is how we told our families...we love how she looks like she's saying, "I've got a secret!"

Two girls?

So, Jeff and I have both decided that this baby is a girl and that there is only one. Some people say that the mom can sometimes predict what she's carrying...so we'll see. We're having Ellie practice names to see how cute it sounds when she says them, but my niece has convinced her that the baby is named Elmo (we're thinking something more like "Ava Claire"). One of my biggest frustrations with this pregnancy is my clothes situation. I don't need maternity clothes yet, but I can't wear my "normal" clothes. I've decided that I am going to start my own line of clothing for before and after maternity clothes. When I make my millions of dollars, I'll share with all of you who read (which is probably only about two people). :-D

I have some new "products" that I'm selling on my blog (www.beckylynnsgifts.blogspot.com) and I'd love your suggestions for a new name for my blog. I'll post new pictures soon - of those new things, of my growing belly, and new pictures and stories of Ellie. She is with my mom and dad right now, along with my brother's 2 girls. When I talked to her earlier today, I asked her if she was ready to come home and she quickly said, "NOT YET!"

Keep praying for my family. Lista, my 26 year old cousin who has angiosarcoma, went back and had the tests done again yesterday and her tumors haven't grown (good news), but they are also not any smaller (bad news). They were hoping the chemo and radiation would shrink them. Her white blood counts are low, so she has to have a shot every day this week and she'll go back on Friday.

12-week Dr. Appointment

We went to the doctor today to hear the baby's heartbeat and I think it is one of the best sounds in the world! It's such a comfort to know it's beating and sounds healthy...and it makes the whole pregnancy so real. So, I'm showing really quickly this time, which makes us wonder if there could be more than one. Probably not, but it is "our turn" in both families for twins and we can't help but wonder. Anyway, the doctor didn't help us there today. He finally found the heartbeat off to the side (he checked and checked right in the middle...and we started getting a little worried). He turned off the doppler and said, "Well, we found one. That's enough for today, right?" Jeff said, "So are you saying there is just one?" The doctor replied with a smirk, "There is at least one?!?!?!?"

We go back in 6 weeks to find out the anatomy of our baby...or babies. :-)

Crazy Times

I can always come up with excuses as to why I don't blog...but I love checking everyone elses'. We have had some crazy times lately. Jeff and I went to Albequerque, NM for 5 days and Ellie stayed with my parents. She did really well. My dad doesn't say much when it come to stuff like this, but he called me the night we picked her up and went on and on about what a joy she was and how well behaved she was. I was proud! I'll post pictures of our trip, but we didn't take very many. We were there for a commissioning service and didn't have much down time. Anyway, when we got back, I knew I was tired and didn't feel great, but I thought it was just from being pregnant and tired. It got worse, though...and I ended up with the flu. When I finally felt better, we went to Murray to celebrate our niece's 5th birthday. I got to visit with my cousin Landy, too. When we got back, I finally unpacked from Albequerque...and Ellie ended up with a cold. She's getting better, though. We're all battling allergies now, but we are somewhat glad because it means spring is here. We've been to the park the last two days and Ellie doesn't remember how fun it is to swing and slide...she's a little scared of both. She'll get used to it, though - and I'm sure won't want to stop before long. Keep praying for my family. My aunt started her chemo this week and my cousin finished hers. Especially pray for Lista - she is so young and her baby boy needs his mama!

Too cute!

These are just some random pictures that I thought were too cute not to share. She was all wrapped up and had my hat on while we were on USI's campus for BCM last week, she loves to exercise with Jeff, and she thinks she has to have her morning "dose" of Sesame Street when she wakes up, along with her "friends"!

Go Colts!

Ellie had a great time watching the SuperBowl with us - and I don't think I've ever seen a cuter cheerleader!! When we got in the car, she said, "I'm excited!"

Update

So, I'm a little behind on updating Ellie's blog. We've been really busy this month, plus we didn't have internet for about 3 weeks. Here are a few new pictures of Ellie, along with pictures of my cousin. Lista needs your prayers! She is 26 and has a brand new baby boy, Cade. She was just diagnosed with angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer with few treatment options. Her mom also has multiple myeloma, which is another rare form of cancer with few treatment options. E-mail me if you want to know more. Remember to check out www.elliekate.shutterfly.com for more pictures.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! It's been so fun to watch Ellie grow this year and we're looking forward to what she'll do in 2007! Maybe I'll be better at updating her blog and everyone can keep up with her new tricks and watch how big she's getting. She's the best!

Am I cool, or what?!?

This is what hanging around with college students all the time will do to you. She's also learned to give wet willies!

Is this how it goes?

Ellie decided to put her coat on by herself in the car...what a trickster!