So thankful

I have so much to be thankful for this year -- family, friends, the opportunity to go back to school, having a job in this tough economy, a roof over our heads, food on our table and of course my sweet, beautiful, smart, healthy baby girl.

But most of all this year, I'm thankful for Mike. He is so strong, and there are days when his strength amazes and humbles me. He has an incurable cancer and he is living with it better than I live with a cold. He goes to work every day, even when he doesn't feel like it. He's determined to live his life normally and provide for his family. He's determined to be here for me and for Julia. He's determined for us to have a normal life.

One of the first things that went through my mind when I heard his diagnosis last April and learned that the survival rate for this cancer was in months, was that he wouldn't be here for the holidays. I don't know why my mind went to that, but it did. And here it is a year and a half later, and we're celebrating holidays No. 2. I can't begin to describe how blessed and grateful I feel for that.

Only two more!

I can't believe I've kept up with my little collages. I rarely stick to anything. But I thought it would be fun at the end of the year to put them all together to see what we did and how much Julia has changed.

October is a great month around here. We've got Julia's birthday, pumpkin patches and Halloween. I think it might be my favorite.

My mini Minnie

My sweet Minnie. This is the first year she was actually into Halloween. Last year, she got pulled around in a wagon and refused to go to any houses. This year, she said "Trick or Treat" and "thank you" and collected her candy (which she refuses to eat... )

We went to Boo at the Zoo with her sweetie, Landon, a mailman.

And she went Trick or Treating with her sweetie Jake, also known as Mickey. We had to use Tony to try to get these two mice to stand next to each other for one picture.

And Hannah Montana was there too.

It was a fun fun time. So cute to see Julia all dressed up and into the holiday. I think the fact we watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown 40 times beforehand helped.

September

Dang! September was a busy and exciting month! We got serious about potty training, Aunt Soup came to visit, Julia started eating chocolate chip cookies and she got a pink big girl room! A lot going on!

Coming soon: Halloween pics! I promise to get them up before Thanksgiving. My girl was THE cutest Minnie Mouse ever...

Happy birthday ... to me!

Our sweet girl turned three, so of course, a Minnie Mouse party was in order...
And our friend Andrew, who is an awesome photographer in his spare time, brought his camera and gave me a CD full of fabulous pictures capturing our day. I LOVE THEM! They make my heart so happy.

So here some are, for you to enjoy too!

Despite many practices in the days leading up to the party, Julia was not thrilled with us singing Happy Birthday to her. Here, you can see the look of apprehension on her face.



And here, you can see the tears. Maybe she didn't like our singing...



Opening presents. This girl was spoiled rotten!



Kristen



Love this pic of Julia and Mad. She's giving her a kiss on the cheek, but it looks like she's telling her a secret.



Julia and Kristen. Note the big girl bed. Yep, we finally got rid of the crib. Sigh...



Cara and Anja



I love this funny silly little person.



Jake, and the Minnie balloon.




Thanks Andrew!

She...

*makes us laugh until our cheeks hurt.

*loves Olivia books, Charlie Brown and duckies.

*is partial to the purple crayon.

*just recently started eating chocolate chip cookies.

*says please, thank you, bless you and excuse me -- most of the time.

*fills our home with sheer joy.

*can make a ton of animal noises, including roosters, turkeys, snakes and bees.

*loves to jump on the bed.

*is incredibly smart.

*still takes a nap every day.

*couldn't live without her Ella.

*knows her noodles (and will only eat Barilla-plus rotini).

*makes me want to be a better person.

*is THREE years old today!

I still pinch myself every day that she is really mine, that God blessed us with this most perfect little human and has given us so much love and joy. I really don't know what we did to deserve it, but I pray every night that God will help me to do right by her, to be a good mother and raise her to be a good person. My heart bursts every time I look at this sweet little girl.

Some pics of her very first week on earth:

Mike update

In all the excitement of Julia's new room, I forgot to mention that we saw Dr. Neel this week. It was the first time in two months. The good news is, we don't have to see him again until December.
He seemed really pleased with the way things are going.

The lump in Mike's neck appears stable. I think his exact words were "it looks really good." So the plan is just to continue with what we're doing, which is Avastin every other week. Mike's blood counts are back up too, so he won't have to get a shot for that every other week anymore.

So, all of this is good, we think.