The Night Watches

.Steroids. A thing not to be trifled with. A thing we will not have to endure in large doses again. A thing that made my baby boy gain over 6lbs in a few short weeks. Oh man, are we grateful to be be finished with that segment of Jack's treatment. I do not joke, when I say that the steroids changed our day to day in dramatic ways. I wanted to wait to put pictures up of the changes the meds caused in Jack, until I could show the progression of change. It really was quite dramatic. Each morning, I observed that he seemed bigger... which perplexed me that he could change so rapidly. My eyes could not believe it, but my back and arms certainly knew it was true. Jordan and I both were achy all of the time and our backs were just so sore from holding him. It was truly heartbreaking to watch him unable to stop eating, knowing that each bite was making him bigger and more uncomfortable. The weight gain was primarily in his face and tummy, so his poor legs were just not used to holding so...

I am so happy to share that the results from the bone marrow biopsy came back with the results we had hoped and prayed for! They said they found less than 0.1% Leukemic cells in his bone marrow!!! So this is such great news! The prognosis is a good one, and now we get to keep marching on into the next 3 years of making sure the Leukemia does not come back and he is fully in remission! Thank you all so much for all the prayers said on our behalf! I also have the happy report of how last night and this morning went as well... So last night, we woke Jack up at 11:30 to feed him one last time before midnight. He was so sweet and groggy but ate a bunch of nuggets and french fries. We gave him a bottle and put him in bed at midnight and hoped for the best... well, he did not wake up again until 4:45... which was AMAZING for us and him! That was a long stretch for the little guy! After that he cried for a while and Jordan tried distracting him with books and holding him for a while. Jordan w...

It is hard to believe it has been a month since we first heard the words Leukemia from the Doctors at Children's Hospital. Is it possible for the days to be both long and fast and the nights to seem like they will never end, and yet they are all too short? Many days, by the time is is 5:30 or 6, I feel like I am about to loose my mind! Jordan coming home is the sweetest sight for me, and the boys! I think it is a universal law, that dinner time, no matter the circumstances of life you are in, is just tricky if you have children! And this month has been no exception. There are two reasons why I title this post as .Please Pray. One is that tonight is THE LONG ONE....after midnight, Jack is not allowed to eat until 10 or 11 am after his procedure. If you have been following the blog or talked to us, you know that this is no small feat. He has for the past 3 weeks been awake every 2 hours or so with several nights being every 20 minutes asking for food to eat- which he has eaten all of...

A friend of mine sent me this quote from John MacDuff the other day, and it has richly blessed and encouraged me. Thank you Susan. I hope it encourages you as well. "As your days, so shall your strength be." —Deuteronomy 33:25 "God does not give grace until the hour of trial comes. But when it does come the amount of grace, and the nature of the special grace required is granted. My soul! do not dwell with painful apprehension on the future. Do not anticipate coming sorrows; perplexing yourself with the grace needed for future emergencies; tomorrow will bring its promised grace along with tomorrow's trials. God, wishing to keep His people humble, and dependent on Himself, gives not a stock of grace; He metes it out for every day's exigencies, that they may be constantly "traveling between their own emptiness and Christ's fullness"—their own weakness and Christ's strength. But when the exigency comes, you may safely trust an Almighty arm to bear ...

In the midst of all that is going on in our lives right now, little Dylan boy is growing so fast. Tomorrow he will be 14 weeks old! He has been such a sweet joy to me during this time, and I have so enjoyed his many smiles and coos. I am amazed at what a good angel baby he is. God knew that during this trying time in your lives, we would need an angel and what a kind God to have given us one! Dylan sleeps so well and is truly a happy baby. He is sleeping around 8 hours most nights, so at least when we are up at night it is only with one child! And he is just a sweet snuggler. I love love love to hold him. Looks like he is going to be our dark child, keeping brown/green eyes and dark hair... we will see! Here are a few pictures of him at 13 weeks that I took earlier last week.

Oh these men are so precious to me... I look at this picture and see the gifts God has so lavishly blessed me with, and cannot help but be amazed that God would be so kind to me. To have been given a man like Jordan as a husband, friend, leader, and love... there are no words. I am just so grateful. He is my match, he cares for me so well, he is exactly what the Lord knew I needed to face these trials we are currently in, and them man to lead our family back to the Cross time and time again. And when I see my dear sweet little boys, that we have the privilege to raise them, teach them about the gospel, to watch them grow and just enjoy the joy they bring to our lives... they are such gifts to us. The past few days and nights, I have had several moments where I have been overwhelmed by the lavish care of God. My 30 th birthday was a few days ago, and over the course of three days, my family and friends lavished encouragement and care and gifts on me. They have pointed me back to the wa...