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.