Bad News

Since the beginning of June, my dad has been feeling pretty terrible. We were all very worried about him and what was going on. After several weeks of prodding him to go to the doctor, and then several more days of running tests and waiting for results, we found out that the cancer has moved to his liver. What a harsh blow. The doctors have been very up front with us about the fact that this type of small cell cancer that he has doesn't go away...it will continually come back. That doesn't make it any easier to accept when it shows its ugly face in a new place. First in his lungs, then his brain, and now his liver. On top of that, he has a kidney disease and his kidneys are functioning at less than 15%. While we are all devastated by this, here is what we know:
1. God is faithful.

2. My dad is a fighter...I don't know a tougher man. He won't give up easily.

3. While we don't know what tomorrow holds, we do know Who holds our tomorrows.

4. Our God is "Jehovah Rophe," the healer! He can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Ultimately, he will heal my dad, whether it be here on this earth, or eternally in heaven.

Since it was the 4th of July weekend, they went ahead and admitted my dad into the hospital on Friday and kept him through Wednesday to do 4 rounds of chemo & monitor his liver. Now we just have to pray that it will work, and that God would do a miracle. If you are reading this blog post, would you pray for him and for our family during this time? Thanks in advance.

The verse God has given me for this situation with my dad, from the time his cancer was diagnosed almost 2 years ago is Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful to prayer."

We went to OKC to be with Pa & G-Ma in the hospital on Friday, and stayed over the weekend until Monday. Thankfully, Mackenzie was doing well enough after her surgery to do this. The girls really don't understand what is going on, but they do love visiting Pa and G-Ma. I know they brought a smile to Pa's days in the hospital. Mackenzie loved taking rides in his bed, and the only time Madison wanted anything to do with that was when she was asleep! She didn't like the moving bed at all. We made short trips up to the hospital, because it was just too hard to be still and quiet for very long.I love the smile on his face in this one...

Operation: No More Tonsils

For over a year now, we have known that Mackenzie's tonsils were causing some problems for her. We finally decided that it was time to take them out. I was really dreading it, but looking forward to not having to deal with the sleep apnea, sore throats, and gagging all of the time. This was our 5th surgery with Mackenzie. (3 sets of tubes/adnoids, tear ducts, and now tonsils.) I expected this one to be the toughest, but as it turned out, it was actually the easiest one for her. G-Ma and Grandma Baldwin came up to spend the night before with us, and we had a lot of fun with them. We went to CherryBerry for the first time, and it was beyond exciting for the girls! We weren't sure if G-Ma would be able to come or not, because Pa wasn't feeling well and we were still waiting for his test results, but she was able to be there and we were so glad.

We had to be at St. Francis Children's Hospital at 6:45 and they did the surgery at 8:00 on Thursday morning. Mackenzie was very calm & didn't seem to be worried at all. She took Ellie with her, so that helped! Grandma Baldwin stayed at the house with Madison, which was so helpful. Mackenzie was excited to get her panda bear at the hospital & named her "Pandy-Pandy." As always, they gave her some "loopy juice" that made her a little out of it, and she didn't cry at all when they took her back for surgery. It is always so hard for me to watch them take her away on that big bed. She looked so little, and it was all I could do to hold it together. The surgery took about 30 minutes, and then we got to be with her as soon as she started waking up. I was surprised when I got to see her, that she wasn't very upset. The nurse said,"She is doing very well, and she woke up so sweetly." When she opened her eyes the first time, the nurse told her they would get her mommy, and she said,"Okay" and closed her eyes again. In all of her previous surgeries, she has been very unhappy when she wakes up. She did cry just a little bit and nodded her head "yes" when I asked if her throat hurt. She also said her tummy hurt, so they gave her some medicine for that which made her sleepy again, so we just sat back there with her until it passed. We had to stay at the hospital for a couple of hours, but we were headed home by 11:15 or so. She did get sick in the car on the way home, but after that, she did so great. I was shocked at how quick her recovery was. We went shopping for ice cream, sherbet, pudding, applesauce, and yogurt a few days before her surgery, but she was eating grilled cheese sandwiches & peanut butter crackers that first day, not long after we got home. I also expected that she would sleep a lot, especially that first day, but her eyes never closed until late that night. G-Ma headed back to Newcastle as soon as we got home, and Grandma Baldwin stayed until later that afternoon. This was a hard day in more than one way for us. We found out this afternoon, right after G-Ma got home, that the cancer has spread to my dad's liver. We were all pretty devastated by it. God is faithful and He will carry us through this. I am so thankful that Mackenzie did so well with her surgery, so that we were able to go to Newcastle the very next day to be with Pa & G-Ma.

I was SO proud of my brave little Mackenzie! Hopefully this will be the last surgery we have to ever go through with her.

The night before her surgery, daddy was checking out her tonsils. They were really big!Ready to get this over with!She looks so cute in these little tiger hospital gowns, but I sure hope this is the last time I have to see her in one.It was so sad to see her with the iv's and wires hooked up...it made me very thankful that we healthy little girls.Poppa Jim & Louise sent Mack some balloons & a teddy bear. That was so sweet of them & she was very excited to get it!Mackenzie's friend, Bella, sent her a little angel picture frame, stuffed animal, and she made this sweet little "Get Well" card for her.We spent a lot of time coloring & watching movies that first day.

Dress-Up Divas

You just never know what the girls are going to come out looking like...playing dress-up is their all time favorite thing to do. These are two of their most recent dress-up escapades! It is really funny to listen to Mackenzie helping Madison into different costumes. She will say things like, "Here you go sweetie," and "Hold still, daughter!" (She pretends that Madison is her "little daughter" all of the time!)

They love playing dress-up, baby dolls, Barbies, tea parties, coloring, princess castle, Build-a-Bear, scrapbooking, and pretty much anything else that is girly! They play pretty well together, but they already fight like crazy too.

I love the outfits below...they are both wearing hats, dance leotards, and high heels! And they look so much alike in the face. Madison is just a miniature version of Mackenzie. I say it all of the time, but how fun to have a sister to grow up with...a constant companion to play with!

"Help, Mommy!"

I was working on something the other day & I heard Madison hollering at me from her room...Ididn't think a lot about it at first, but she just kept on jabbering and yelling "Mommy!" When I walked into her room, this is how I found her...she had taken her diaper off, and was trying to climb into her bed, but she was stuck! After a quick picture, of course I came to her rescue! This child has got to be potty trained soon, because she takes her diaper off all of the time. Silly little girl!

A Week of Appointments

Here was our schedule in the afternoons during the week of VBS:

Monday ~ Eye Appt's for Mack & Madi at 1:45

Tuesday ~ Dentist Appt's for Brian, Mack & Me at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00

Wednesday ~ PreOp Appt at 12:30 at St. Francis Hospital

Thursday ~ Tonsils Out at 8:00 A.M.

Not sure WHAT I was thinking when I scheduled all of this!!!! I like to go home and take naps after VBS, but that obviously didn't happen at all this year. Oh, and did I mention that I STILL didn't have my car back?! So I was still loading & unloading the girls in and out of a 2 door Honda in the 105 degree heat. FUN!!!

The girls had their eyes dilated, which was torturous because they both hate eye drops. Madison's eyes looked great, but Mackenzie has a little big of an astigmatism & she is farsighted, just like her momma. We have to check it again in 4 months and if it is any worse, she will have to wear glasses.

The dentist appt's went fine, and didn't take nearly as long as I thought they might.

The PreOP appointment on Wednesday was another story...it took FOREVER & the girls were so restless. We were stuck in a tiny little room, they were hungry, tired, and ready to go home. Along with that, we were awaiting my dad's test results, and I was super stressed about it & Mackenzie's surgery the next day. We could only play hide-n-seek and tic-tac-toe for so long. Finally, we were done and able to go home. Looking back, I'm glad we got all of this over with in one week, but I probably won't schedule things like this in the future!

Playing Hide-n-Seek...there were really two places to hide...under the table & behind the curtain!Where, oh where could Madison be?! I really wish this picture weren't blurry, but I'm putting it on here anyway...of course, she had her pony with her!

VBS ~ The Big Apple Adventure

VBS at STBC was a lot of fun! On Monday morning, Mackenzie and Bailey wore their matching dresses that Grandma Baldwin bought them the day before. Madison wore her new ladybug dress too. I worked in Preschool Crafts with Barbara Tuttle again this year, and it was fun & very busy! We made backpacks, Statue of Liberty torches & crowns, Broadway masks & signs, taxi cab picture frames, and more. Because of our crazy summer schedule, I actually had to schedule Mackenzie's surgery to have her tonsils out on the Thursday of Bible School, so we only got to be there Mon-Wed this year. We were very sad to miss the last two days, but it just couldn't be helped. Madison's favorite part of VBS was definitely the puppets! Every day when I picked her up, she was so excited to tell me about them. I was proud of her...she didn't cry too much when I dropped her off, or when her class left the craft area. She did pretty much just want to sit on my lap the entire time she was in Crafts! Mackenzie's 4 year old class had 16 or 17 kids in it...wow! She was so excited that Josie, Bella, and Abby were in her class, and also made quick friends with Hallee. Since we were only there for three days, VBS passed in a blur. I learned a lesson too...next year I am not going to schedule dr.'s appt's and a surgery during the week of VBS! It was very sweet...on Wednesday, Mackenzie's class prayed for her that her tonsil surgery would go okay the next day. I think their prayers were heard & answered, because she did so well!Of course, we have to dress up for the first day of VBS!
I love this little sleepy look! Madison wears an 8 1/2 and Mackenzie wears a 10. Madison's little strap usually goes in between the wrong toes, but these shoes are just too cute! The Preschoolers have a "Preschool Rally" where they get do music & see the puppets. Mack already knew some of the songs from being at G-Ma's VBS a few weeks ago. "Good Things, Good Things, Jesus Loves Good Things!"You can barely see Madison in this picture, but it's the best I could get without her seeing me. She was practically falling over the pew to see the puppets. She was rocking back and forth and clapping...it was so cute!I took pictures of all the kids one day for our picture frames, and this was Madison's. The Statue of Liberty crown lasted all of about 5 seconds. She was a happy camper as long as she had her pony with her! She is getting so big and she just gets prettier all the time!Mackenzie was always so excited to come into Crafts. I would hear hear saying, "HI MOMMY!!!" before I ever saw her coming! I've never seen the Statue of Liberty look so cute!Mack with Bella & Josie, two of her friends from church and her ElP class. Bella even brought Mackenzie a present after her surgery...it was so sweet! Here are a few of the crafts that the girls' made at VBS:

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

On Sunday night after the Falls Creek Celebration service, Mackenzie went home with Bailey, so I had some one-on-one time with Madison. I decided to give her a bath in our tub, and she LOVED it! It dawned on me as I watched her roll around the bathtub that this was one of very few times she has actually taken a bath by herself! It was really so funny to watch. I even got out the video camera, because she was twirling and spinning around in the water so much! She is our little fish...sticking her face in the water doesn't phase her at all. She only got to enjoy being an "only child" for a few hours, because Amy called and said Mackenzie wanted to come home. It was fun while it lasted, but I was glad to have both of my little chicks tucked safely in their own beds! I think Madison has her daddy's skin...she is getting so dark already, and we haven't even been outside very much this summer. I'm glad she doesn't seem to burn easily like me.

"From Head to Toe"

The girls thought it was so fun that they matched "from head to toe," as Mackenzie liked to say! These may be my favorite matching pictures of all time. Every time I think the girls can't get any cuter, they prove me wrong!

The weekend after Falls Creek was very busy for us. We left Falls Creek on Friday morning and drove to the mall in Norman where we bought these new shoes & a wedding shower gift. Then we headed to Newcastle & I did 3 large cookies orders before heading home on Saturday, for a wedding shower at 2:00. It was crazy! The girls got to spend the afternoon with Kari & Lexi. Then, on Sunday, we stayed for both services, had lunch with the Romosers, Poppa & Louise stopped by, I had to decorate and set up for VBS, and we had the Falls Creek Celebration service...whew! It was a great day, but I was very relieved when it was over. We are loving it that Amy & the kids have been coming to church. Mackenzie got to go home with them after church and spend the day playing with Bailey. She was planning to spend the night with them, but Amy called around 9:45 and said Mackenzie had changed her mind. I am so sensitive to that, because I never liked spending the night with anyone when I was younger. I think Mackenzie would have been fine if she weren't so tired...she actually fell asleep on my lap during the Falls Creek celebration service. I think she was missing me too, because things were so crazy at Falls Creek the week before. Brian was taking Josiah back to Danny & Amy's apartment, so he brought her home and she fell asleep within 5 minutes in her own bed. Now, on to VBS...no rest for the weary! (At least not in June!)

LOVE THIS! My sweet baby girls...I love you so much!