holiday weekend

No matter how many times I have to do it, it really is never easy saying good-bye to my family. You'd think I'd be used to it by now...I haven't lived in the same town as them since my freshman year of college, but it still makes me sad and tear up a little.

My parents came briefly for the holiday weekend. They were here less than 72 hours, but woooow! We had a full couple days. Our activities included Donut Wheel, shopping at Target and the mall, lunch at Beyond Bread, napping, Tangled, Ramona and Beezus, Tucson Padres game, the Splash Pad, a tour of the NICU, church and In N Out Burger. Oh, and Chick-fil-a on our way to the airport.

With all the activities of the weekend, one would have thought to take his/her camera to document said activities. I however, forgot. The only time I remembered to take pictures was at the Padres game. So I guess that's all the memories I have of the weekend for now. But I did get a picture with my dad...and my dad doesn't take pictures. Here are a few of our fun, BUT my mom isn't in ANY of them. I'm not sure how that happened!

Maybe next time I'll remember my camera...and actually remember to take pictures with it!

LU: a pest

I was trying to get everyone ready to go this morning so I could take Lucy to her Dr.'s appointment. After Elly asked me for the 6th time (or so) why we were taking Lucy to the doctor I reminded her again about the bump on Lucy's leg that the doctors wanted to look at. To which she replied, "mom, that bump is a pest, huh?" Perfect description, Elly. Perfect description.

Lucy actually went to see an oncologist today for the second opinion at the request of the orthopedic surgeon we had already seen. I don't want to bore everyone with details, details, details, mostly because I can't remember them all. I am awesome with remembering details...except in situations like this. However, I do want to give everyone the basic run down of what was discussed.

Lucy has a benign mass growing on her right tibia, which confirms what we already knew. The physician we saw today wants to manage her case by taking x-rays of her leg every few months. She will have to see the ortho guy at least yearly until her teens and she will have to wear the leg brace as much as she'll tolerate it for awhile (once we get it), but I'm still not sure how long that will continue. The word biopsy was thrown around today and has been thrown around at previous appointments, but I think we'll be able to hold off on that for now.

Here's a picture of Lucy's leg. I wanted to put this on here, just so everyone can see how the bump is causing her right leg to bow out.



Our family is continuing to believe in Lucy's healing. That even if the bump is there for awhile, it won't be a problem for her...that it won't turn into anything else...that she can adjust well with the changes that are about to take place for her aka "The Brace".

I feel since this whole ordeal started different verses from the Bible or lines from worship songs have resonated with me weekly. "Forever Reign" is the song I keep singing over and over this week. There's a line that says

You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God You are God
Of all else I'm letting go.

I've found myself clinging to that and really proclaiming it in my life - that I would continue to let go and that God would continue to show me how He is here and He is in control.

just a phase

I'm definitely a rule follower. The thought of being in trouble while growing up would seriously make me sick to my stomach. I'm not sure if this is a personality trait or a learned behavior, but I know one thing for sure, at this point, Elly does not care about following rules.

On the way to her last ballet class of the session this morning, Elly tells me that she doesn't want to go. I gave her all the reasons why it would be good to go: her friends would be there, mommy would be in the class today watching, it was the last class for awhile...etc, etc.

I should have know that because she didn't want to be there I was asking for it. Let's just say I wouldn't let her have a sticker at the end of class and I made her apologize to the teacher for being disrespectful. I'm really glad I thought to take Miss K a "thank you" card, because I'm pretty sure her patience was wearing down.

I really hope this is just a phase.

At least I got a semi cool picture of her feet at one point.

LU: questions

Lucy Update (or LU if you will)

I went into Lucy's ortho appointment today excited to finally ask a few questions, get a few answers and most importantly - a diagnosis. However, I left with more questions and less answers.

Bottom line, there is still no definite diagnosis for the growths on Lucy's leg, yet. Because they don't want to proceed with a treatment without knowing exactly what is going on, we've been referred to get a second opinion with a physician who works in Phoenix. I'm currently in the process of getting an appointment for Lucy with him.

The biggest area of concern while we're waiting is the way the growth on Lu's leg is impacting it. There's no doubt (visible on the original x-ray and even looking at her leg) the growth is causing her bone to bow. For this reason, Lucy will soon be sporting a custom made brace on her leg as a preventative measure to help support her leg (basically so she doesn't experience any fractures).

An x-ray of Lucy's left leg was done today to make sure nothing was growing on that leg as well. I'm elated to say her left leg is perfectly healthy and normal at this time.

It's frustrating not knowing what's next. I'm continually taking deep breaths praying for God's peace to fill me. My thought processes have gone on a hundred paths today already but one thing for sure, as difficult as this is, I'm learning to take my hand out of the pot of control and trust God to take care of my little girl for me.

Lamentations 3:22-24

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

blessed

I don't like to think I set my expectations high for holidays or any kind of plans these days.

I know that with any holiday, when two small children are in the mix, plans won't always go on without a hitch.

However, Mother's Day this year was darn near perfect for me.

Sure there was frustration with the, oh I don't know, million or so tantrums Scott and I dealt with during the day. I was up at 5:30 like every other morning, because my girls don't believe in sleeping past that mark, so I was tired.

BUT...I wouldn't trade the time I was able to spend with my family for anything! I absolutely love being a Mom and watching Lucy and Elly only make me strive to be even an even better Mom for them.

I am truly blessed.

Exactly as I said before...Blessed.

splash park

I took the girls to the splash park today.

Besides the water being absolutely freezing, we had a great time.

The girls spent more time eating their snacks I'm sure, but we saw some old friends who we haven't seen in a while and enjoyed their company.

Elly begged me to say longer as her lips quivered a lovely blue color.

I might take them back tomorrow.

Here are my cuties before we left.