Happy New Year!

So everyone's awake at our house even though it's 12:30. :) Nothing big, just a bit of a fever from Ms. Izzy. Her big sis must have given her some tips on downing meds before she was born, b/c seriously... she has always taken medicine like a champ! She's downed some Motrin and is snuggled up next to her daddy now and I'm catching up on bad tv. :) My body is so in that "getting ready" mode!

We've been busy getting things ready here at the house. One of the things we tackled last week was going through all the dressup clothes and weeding them out a bit. Would you believe that we found a "gift" from Catie as we did? Granted, we used to stumble upon little gifts from her all the time, but the longer she's gone, the less frequently we find them. If you've followed us since Caringbridge days, you might remember that Catie was a bit of a money hoarder. After she died, we found over $50 in her "change purse" that she kept with her at the hospital. I couldn't believe it! As time without her passed I'd stumble on a purse here or a change holder there w/ a wad of money in it. I thought I'd found it all, but apparently I'd missed her Minnie Mouse purse! It was buried in the dressup stuff w/ a wad of 8 one dollar bills stuck inside it. I just had to laugh!! I do confess that discoveries like that truly do feel like they're from her and it's so very nice... the money doesn't matter -- though it does make me giggle -- it's the feeling of finding something of hers. I know she didn't consciously leave it for us to find, but it still feels like a gift from her.

We had a great Christmas and Iz was TOTALLY into it all! :) She loved the lights, she loved the baking (ok, let's be honest -- she loved the cookie dough and you wouldn't believe how fast she could shove it in her mouth!!), she thought she had to be involved in opening any package that was unwrapped in her presence! I promise to upload some pics soon and do a better Christmas update.

For now, I'm heading back to sleep! I figure we'll be seeing early morning hours a lot soon!

Oh yeah, one more thing... thank you to those who suggested a satin/silky pillow case to help w/ the serious bed head Iz has in the mornings! We've gotten a couple and it really does make a big difference -- especially on the nights she manages to keep her head on the pillow all night!!! :)

Annette

When Catie was going through treatment, there seemed to be an abundance of baby girls within a year of her age waging their own battles on the 3rd floor of Scottish Rite. One little girl was Maddy and we got to know her family as we walked the halls together. Maddy battled undifferentiated sarcoma bravely, but won her battle as Catie later did, by running into the arms of Jesus. I remember watching her family walk the halls with her on their last stay and my heart breaking for them. They have since welcomed 2 more little ones to their family. Grant is 2 and Annette is just 10 weeks. This week Kirk and Natalie (mom and dad) learned the unimaginable news that Annette has a large tumor in her brain and a tumor in her spine. They are facing this beast a second time. Doctors are suspicious it's medulloblastoma or ATRT, but nothing will be known for sure until pathology reports are in. Her biopsy and debulking surgery is scheduled for early this morning. Please pray for this family... pray for a better outcome... pray for strength and wisdom... pray for Grant as his world has been turned upside down... You can visit them and leave encouragement for them on their blog... http://www.maxeyweb.com