Along with MANY others. Finally getting to hug Joel and Jess and touch baby Cora was nice. But it broke my heart even more to see friends in such pain and to shed tears with them.
I think about them constantly throughout my day and pray every time. But at night when I lay my head on my pillow, the thoughts pour in.
Here are some verses that I've been turning to:
"For I know the plans I have for you saith the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I know God has a plan for little Cora. He has a plan for Joel and Jess. Nothing happens on this earth without first passing through Him. He is a GOOD God. And I know that he will have only GOOD come from all of this.
"Now the Lord of hope fill you with all the joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." Romans 15:13
The only way we can truly have peace and and hope during this time, is through the Lord.
I know that the Joel and Jess are touching so many during this time. Their faith is a true testimony. If you haven't read Jess's blog yet, I hope you will. Through the pain and suffering they are going through right now, she is finding things to praise our mighty God for.
I am just in AWE and tears fill my eyes when I think about the number of people who are praying for this dear family. Jess said they have heard from people in China, Italy, London and France who are praying for Cora. Thank you to all of my friends and family, for praying for this family you've never met....and for passing this prayer request to those you know also.
When Taylor and I prayed last night, she said "tank you baby Corwhah, make her feel better" I know that lots of other little ones all over are praying for little Cora too. Prayers from toddlers...nothing can beat that.
So now we just wait. We wait to hear the results from Cora's biopsy. We wait to find out when she'll go home and when she'll start treatment. We wait till we can see and hug Joel and Jess again. We wait to see what the Lord's plan for this family is.
I put this song on my ipod after seeing the movie Fireproof. I listen to it all the time. And have loved it even more these last few days. I think about this waiting game that Joel and Jess are having to go through. And how they are able to see God and his grace and mercy through it all.
We must truly remember that everything on this earth is HIS. Even these little ones....belong to him.
It has been amazing to see the support system that is lifting the McClenahan's up....truly AMAZING! Continue to pray....visit Jess's blog for specific prayer requests.
UPDATE: Jess (Cora's mommy) has now updated their blog....you can read about their journey so far and see pictures...straight from the source! Here's a link to Joel and Jess's blog: The Macs
I know that many of you who follow my blog don't know Joel, Jess and Cora. If you'd like to keep up on the latest updates, two of Jess's friends have been updating with some of the latest, click here or here. I believe there will be a website and "Cora" blog coming soon. So please click on these links to keep up with the latest and continue to pray for Cora and her parents. It's so hard to understand this. It's so hard to cope with the fact that cancer has attacked such a little body.
My heart has been SO heavy for the last few days. So I can't even begin to comprehend what Jess and Joel are going through.
I do know that they are leaning on God and trusting him in all that happens. Joel and Jess are an amazing couple, I wish you could all know them.
We know God is good. We know He is in control. He loves Cora more than any of us do--even her parents.God gives us these little ones to care for--even THEY are His. So I hug mine a little tighter and more often now. And pray. Please continue to pray....no matter how far disconnected you are, God hears your prayers.
Of course he did it when he was at Papa and Nana's house...so we didn't get to see his ACTUAL first steps. But he did it plenty more for us when we picked him up!
I have YET to get him to do it for a video...so you can just get the idea for now with these pictures of him standing all by himself!!!
This is almost 2 months earlier than Taylor's first steps. I think this little guy just wants to GO!
Oh, and he FINALLY started clapping...the little stinker just watched us clap for so long and wouldn't even try.
Now, he's all about the clapping...in fact, he spends most of his day clapping.
Surely, you don't all have your Christmas stuff down already...do you? We didn't get all of our Christmas down until Jan. 10...so what.
Our tree made it down sooner than that. And who knows when our outside lights will make it down.
Taylor really had a hard time watching all the things she has LOVED the last 2 months go into boxes. We tried really hard to explain that she would see them again. When we took down the tree, we organized the ornaments back into the shoeboxes for each person...
Dave and I have ours combined in 2 boxes....most of them are his. Growing up, he got a new ornament every year. He even has an ornament with his picture in it, from when he was 5, or something like that....so cute! After we got married and had our very own Christmas tree, his mom gave his box of ornaments to him. A tradition we will DEFINITELY be continuing for Taylor and Mason.
Here's our 2 boxes...
Taylor's box....notice the barn ornament? We thought that was the perfect ornament for this year....after her birthday party in October. I'm not sure how she has so many already.
And NO....we don't purposefully treat our 2nd child differently...
but here's Mason's box. Really, there would only be one ornament in there, the "Baby's first Christmas" one that we bought him this year. But I felt really bad and gave him the free one we got at Hallmark for buying 2 ornaments.
I probably would have tried harder if the purpose of these pictures were to show you how beautiful the flowers that Dave sent me were.
Don't get me wrong....they WERE beautiful.
But does anyone notice anything wrong with this picture?
Um, yeah......if you know that my birthday is in September, not January, you are probably a bit confused.
The delivery lady (who I THINK was also the one who made this arrangement up) handed these to me and said "Happy Birthday!"
I said "Anniversary...it's our anniversary."
OOPS!!! At least the card was appropriate and had the message that Dave wanted on it.
The other bad thing is that he asked her to have them to me by 4:00...before he got home.
That would have maybe been more funny...for him to have NOT been there when I received these. I probably wouldn't have corrected her if I had have been alone...I would have just pretended it was my birthday and wondered what Dave was thinking.
Regardless...the flowers are BEAUTIFUL! I wasn't expecting this at all...he doesn't do this all the time....so it's always a surprise when he does...I kind of like it that way.
Get this...my husband, who HATES to play games....suggested we play Monopoly the other night after the kids were in bed.
So we did.
The monopoly game we have (which was left in the game closet by the previous owners of our house) was missing all the money. We tried to use the money from The Game of Life...but it wouldn't work.
So not only is it convenient to have Dave's parents a few blocks away for the kids' sake...but also for times when we need to steal Monopoly money. It started out fun.
Until he started buying EVERYTHING he landed on. And then he started buying houses on EVERYHING he owned. I know, I know, it's the point of the game. I owned lots of property too...but not for long.
He would wait until my marker got near the "high-priced" properties. When I got close, he'd stop me right before I rolled, and he'd say he wanted to buy some houses. He'd put houses on ALL the properties that were anywhere from 5-10 spaces in front me. (use your probability skills with 2 dice and you'll know his strategy here)
He'd get done buying houses, I'd roll, and land on the property he JUST bought houses on.
It got to the point that it was no fun to even roll the die. The whole board was a danger zone to me.
I got sent to jail 3 times. It was more fun being in jail.
I was down to this...after mortgaging all that I had. And then I landed on Park Place with 2 houses.
Game over.
I was going to just take a picture of the board, with all his houses, everywhere....
but then he wanted to lay all of his money out AND all of his property titles out so that everyone could see what he finished with.
He said "make sure they all know that I owned all but 4 properties on the whole board"
What a proud moment in his life.
Maybe he should take his monopolizing skills elsewhere and do something worthwhile with them.
He's lucky I'm going to be out of town this next weekend...otherwise, there would definitely be a re-match happening.
Since we have lots of readers that DO NOT know our friends Joel and Kendall...
This post is for you.
If you are planning a wedding, are in a wedding, know someone who is planning a wedding...you are DEFINITELY going to want to check this out.
Our friends are the owners of The Wichita Photobooth Company, and you are HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO have them at your wedding! Here's their site: http://www.thewichitaphotoboothcompany.com/ So yeah, seriously, the coolest thing ever! I would be ALL over it if I was getting married again! Maybe Dave and I could renew our vows and have a big reception just for this!
My sister said these were the BIG thing in California, they were EVERYWHERE!
I know lots of you read my blog from the Winfield and Wichita area...so make sure you pass this idea on! They are the only photobooth in this area...so snag them quick!
Oh, and it's not just for weddings....you can have them come to class reunions, company parties, family reunions, birthday parties, basically ANY event you want!
And when the photobooth is a HUGE hit at your event...you can thank me!
If you haven't already read this post...you're too late for the guessing game...here's the answer: YES...Dave had an official Christmas sweater...you will find him wearing it in 2004, 2005 and 2006. You'll also notice a white shirt with stripes in 2 of the pictures and a pink one with stripes that can easily pass for the white one as well. Oh, how I wish I could get away and be okay with wearing the same clothes for that many years.
Regarding the previous post with all of the pictures of Dave and I...
Did anyone else notice something the same in 3 different pictures?
Today, I've been married to the most wonderful man in the world for 4 years!
WOW...4 years! We have had SOO much fun, made so many memories, experienced so many blessings, and brought 2 little angels into this world!
I thought it would be fun to look back at our last 4 years in pictures (plus some)...
For those of you who don't know, we met in March 2003 at K-State....when my fork broke! It's quite a cute little story...some of you know it!
December 2003 - My sorority date party...some 40's or 50's theme? Christmas 2003
February 2004- Pi Phi formal....man, wasn't Dave just a lucky guy to get to attend all these events with me!
Easter Weekend 2004 in Vegas - with Dave's whole family...great place to be for Easter, huh?
May 2004 - the night he proposed!
Christmas 2004 - a few weeks before our wedding
January 8, 2005 - He's MINE!
January 2005 - Honeymoon in Cabo
September 2005
December 2005 - Our first Christmas TOGETHER
December 2005- Celebrating our first anniversary in Colorado
October 2006 - PARENTS!
Christmas 2006 - Christmas with our baby girl
September 2007 - KSU tailgating
Christmas 2007 - our family is about to grow more!
February 2008 - Now a Family of 4
December 2008
Happy Anniversary Babe! You are my best friend and I love every day that I've gotten to spend with you. Thank you for wanting to spend forever with me. Thank you for being the most wonderful husband and spoiling me everyday! You are a dream come true! I LOVE YOU!
This little monkey is just a few months short of being ONE!
I think I have a cute idea planned for his party!
Man, the second child grows up so much faster than the first.
Stop little guy, STOP!
He had such a wonderful first Christmas...well, I guess he didn't care too much about anything, but we had such a wonderful first Christmas with him!
I'm sad that we only have a few months left of bottles....our bank account isn't sad, but there's just something about feeding him bottles that I love.
I'm sad that he'll be walking soon. His crawl is just so cute.
I can't wait for him to be done with baby food though...Taylor was great with baby food...Mason is just difficult at meal time no matter what we give him...baby food, table food...anything!
My little girl is such a cuddler, so snuggly and loving.
I don't want this little guy to get past baby stage and run from me all the time...but I should probably prepare myself, huh?
I just want to give him snuggles and kisses all the time.
So I've noticed that I've had some major spelling mistakes the last few posts...let me blame that on a few things...
1. I started uploading my pictures from photobucket and for some reason every time I do the spell check, the pictures get all messed up and I have to redo them.
2. I have some MAJOR eye problems right now..seriously. I went to the eye dr. and found out I have some "crazy long word, medical problem" with my cornea. He said you could compare it to a piece of plastic wrap wadded up and then laid over my eye...vs. looking through a flat smooth surface....not THAT explains why I can't see straight! Friday I couldn't even open my eyes. I'm not in as much pain now, but I can't see anything clearly. I'm not supposed to be wearing my contacts, but I've tried so hard to wear my glasses and I REALLY can't see clear at all with them. So I've been wearing them just for short periods...and even with them, most of what I see on the computer screen is blurry. But don't worry Smiths, I really could see Lily, I wasn't just saying she was cute...I meant it!
So there....excuse my mistakes...I'll try to go back and fix them, but in case I make more...now you know.
Congrats to our good friends, Joel and Kendall Smith, and Ollie....on the new addition to their family!
It was a LONG day...okay, I guess the day was longer for Kendall and Joel than it was us. But it was long for the rest of us too...if only they knew how worried we all were! Seriously Kendall, no more time estimates
"hopefully I'll have it by early to mid-afternoon"
it just causes more worry! Or maybe we should learn to add 5 or 6 hours to whatever you guess.
We waited and waited to hear the big announcement of their new little one.
And she finally came! YES SHE!!!
Welcome Lily Mae!
Is that not the cutest name EVER!!! I LOVE IT! And of course a VERY VERY cute baby! I stole this picture from Courtney, Kendall's sister. To see more, check out Joel and Kendall's blog.
You guys kept a good secret!
Although, if only I had of stopped by your house like I was about to do, to see if Courtney had heard if everything was okay....there's no way Courtney could have kept those pink circles above the crib a secret!
I was SO hoping for the call before my jewelry show...I even kept my phone in my pocket during my show...and snuck away 5 minutes before it started to call Dave and see if he heard (this was 6:55)....come to found out later, she was JUST about to arrive! But wouldn't ya know...Dave got the call instead, while I was gone. So I had some exciting news when I was done!
Congrats Joel, Kendall, and Ollie....what a PERFECT addition to your cute little family! Ollie will be such a sweet big brother! Kendall, I'm glad you can have some PINK around the house now. We can't wait to hold little miss Lily Mae!
After Taylor and her 2 cousins, Sydney (4) and Paige (2) got their matching tutus for Christmas....we knew they would make such a fun little photo shoot! I, of course, know a few people who could have taken WAY better pics...BUT, we just had to get it done, and we wanted to add the rest of the family too...so it was off to JCPenney's!
Ooops, that's not very good advertisement for them, is it? I can't get in trouble for that, can I?Oh well....I guess SOMEONE spoiled us!
In my head I imagined the girls frolicking around and playing together and just being too darn cute! Who was I kidding??? Especially mine...she was ONE tough little gal! We bribed her with EVERYTHING! At one time I was pulling her back into the studio while she was dragging her legs. I guess it could have been worse...at least she wasn't crying/screaming!
So anyway, not much action from them...but I think they turned out pretty cute anyway.
Especially this one....
Then we got the boys...Mason and his 3 older boy cousins...Jaden (3), Jeremy (8), and Tyler (almost 6!)
Soon...very soon.....too soon.....he will be running around like crazy with these boys!
All of these pictures were a surprise to Dave's parents for Christmas. The most recent family picture that is displayed above their fireplace has one grandchild in it (Jeremy), Stef was pregnant with Tyler and Dave was single.... So I guess that was over 6 years ago...8 people were in that picture....me plus many kids were missing.
15 are in this one....
So now we're good for awhile...unless SOMEONE goes and adds another one to their family...STEF you BETTER not mess this up!
sorry for the quality of these photos...they are thumbnail versions available to share online....I can't get them any bigger or clearer.
We decided it was time for another girls night...this time IN, not out. Kendall's about to pop, so we wanted to get it in before the little one arrives (which is TODAY sometime...YAY!)
And we also figured that her baby belly wouldn't quite fit in at the dance club.
So the alternative...my basement.
tons of food...way too much!
sweats and pjs
Mama Mia!
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
a night away from the kiddos
and a BIG apology to Alisha and Sarah for cutting you out of the picture. Sarah even said "was I in that?" and I guess I lied to her...I seriously thought she was, I wasn't paying attention.
After the first movie, I gave everyone a chance to leave if the really felt the need to get back home to husbands and kids, I didn't want to make them feel they HAD to stay, I wasn't tying any hands...there were no takers.
I say we need to have another night solely dedicated to the performance of Mama Mia songs....including dance moves.
Thanks for a fun night girls...can't wait for the next one!
The holidays have come and gone. Seems like we've hardly been home lately...trying to spend as much time with family from out of town as we can. But now it's back to the normal routine of life.
Here is the last round of pictures from the last week or so...
My parents were at our house Dec. 26 and 27...we were suppossed to have them longer, but they came a day late due to our germ-infested house.
Taylor didn't mind...she got to open presents AGAIN! Thanks mom and dad...we loved having you...you spoiled us all with gifts! Next year, assuming we don't spend the week and half before Christmas sick, I promise to be a better prepared hostess!
Many of our days the last 2 weeks were spent over at Dave's folks' house where his brother and family were staying. Taylor got to the point where she knew where we were going pretty much every day after waking up from nap. Before laying down for nap she'd say "I wake up from nap I go Papa Nana's house to see my friends?" She is now having a hard time understanding why Jeremy and Sydney are not at Papa and Nana's house anymore.
One afternoon the Coleman Santa Claus (aka: Dave's cousin Terry) came to visit! He works for Coleman and gets the hook up every year on some awesome stuff....and he's so nice to share it with us all. He came in with bags and boxes full of goodies! Our favorite was a fold up table to use when we're camping!
The kids all got camping chairs! There were so many goodies that came out of his bags, I can't even remember all that we got! He definitely spoiled us!
Thanks so much Terry!
Mason was such a good sport...all his cousins wanted to do was hold him, carry him, sit by him, and pose with him.
Jaden, you better start growing...Mason MAY weigh more than you do! And cousin Jeremy....always SO good to the little ones! Mason has some good steps to follow.
Oh these girls....for now, they are happy playing dolls...well, happy ONLY if they each have their own!
I can't imagine Christmas's when they are wanting to play with their makeup, cell phones and whatever other gadgets will be the big thing then!
So yeah, seriously, the coolest thing ever! I would be ALL over it if I was getting married again! Maybe Dave and I could renew our vows and have a big reception just for this!
