Catching Up Part II

For those of you who don't read often, the time line of blogs will show up with the most recent first & go back in time (wouldn't that be fun!?), so you may want to read the entry "Catching Up" first & then come back & read this one. I should probably break it into a couple of entries, but I just want to get caught up, so it's lengthy!

In late January Emery & Sharon Killian, as well as Kody, Jill, Natalie & Kade, flew in from Sloan, Iowa to visit us while we were in the hospital. We didn't get any pictures of the whole crew when they were here. This is the only picture I have of the majority of their family available to me & I wanted you to see as many of the Killian clan as possible because they are all very special to my family. We were next door neighbors when we kids were very young. What a blessing! The picture also includes Kelly & his fiancee Cristi, & Karalee (their oldest) who is now pregnant with a little one! Missing are Karalee's husband & son, David & Killian Sprinkle & Kade. Sharon got Lilyanah the most adorable little rain coat, hat & boots! I'll post a picture of her in them when they fit, but that's gonna be a while!

While the Killians were still here, Will's best friend, Jason Fox, flew into town from Oklahoma. He left the day after we got to go home from the hospital---a day I'd been dreaming about since January 7 when I was admitted! Lilyanah had been throwing her arms up in the air for a week doing a 'touchdown' motion, so we knew she'd be ready to go home for Super Bowl Sunday (February 5, for those who don't know)! In this picture J was laughing at one of Will's jokes & Lilyanah was holding her head saying 'oh daddy!' Jason & his wife Kim are expecting a little girl on or around August 1! Wow that's coming up quick! What a blessing little girls are!

Our next visitors showed up on February 11, minus one. Justin Graham & his wife Tammy are lifelong friends & have a sweet little 10-month old, Jaylee. After living in Michigan for the majority of their marriage, they moved to Washington (where Justin is from; Tammy is from Oklahoma just like my Will!). So it was very sweet of them to make the long trek down to good ole' Newberg, OR for a visit. I've known Justin since he was a goofy little grade schooler in bell bottoms. It's a blessing to still know him & get to know his sweet bride decades (yikes) later. They left their little Jaylee with her Grandma Pam & Grandpa Ross (who are also dear friends) up in Kalama, Washington, because Lilyanah isn't supposed to be around other little ones, otherwise you would get to see her cuteness in the picture too!

The very next day the ladies at the Newberg church of Christ blessed us with a shower. I have a lot of pictures of me opening up presents, but I much prefer this picture of Will holding Lilyanah. I never imagined I wouldn't be able to take her to her own shower but b/c she's a preemie I wasn't able to. So instead we had her daddy hold her in the church office where there's a big picture window so the women could walk by & see our little miracle! Looking back, it's amazing how little she was! We had her weighed on the 18th (@13 weeks) & she just broke the 9 lb mark! She's 9 lbs 1-1/2 oz to be exact! At 10 lbs the doctor said we can let her go more than 4 hours between feedings, so we're looking forward to that!

I just wanted to put an "unposed-for" picture in here. This was at Lilyanah's "supposed to be Birthday party" on the 9th of March. I was trying to get the video camera to work with the remote control & Will was blinking. You can't see his long eyelashes but I'm hoping Lilyanah gets them cause they're gorgeous! (I know he'll love that I wrote that!) That was the night we shaved my head . . . Which seems so long ago but it's only been a little over 3 months since we found out I have/had cancer. By the way, tomorrow, Friday the 21st I have my ultrasound, which will tell us more conclusively if I'm in remission or if what is on my ovaries are in fact tumors. So I'll blog tomorrow to let you all know the results. Thank you in advance for all the prayers you're sending our way! They're priceless!

Here's our little one March 11 waiting to take her bath. This little robe set was the first thing Will bought for her before she was born. There's a matching towel w/ hood, wash cloths & washcloth flower puppet. The whole set was a necessity. She looks so adorable in it & it's getting closer to fitting than it was then. She was swimming in it before she got to get in the water! Have we told you that Lilyanah loves the water!? She only fusses when you take her out! I'm sure mom wrote that when she posted some pictures of Lilyanah in the tub a while back. We're going to Hawaii most likely in October to celebrate being done with chemo & cancer (Lord willing!). I can't wait to see her in a little swimming suit playing in the ocean. She'll be 9 months & I know she'll love the water & the sand as much as her mommy!

On March 23 another lifelong friend, Lecia New, & Nicole Cummings threw another shower for our little Lilyanah. It was so much fun & so good to see friends that I haven't seen in a while!
So, starting from the back left it is as follows:
Crystal Arn, Bree (Moyer) Roberts holding Evan Joy, Heather (Johnson) George, Katie (Niehus) Wolffe, Etema Banks, Kristi Spears, Laura Bodine, Linda Tucker (Will's Mom), Michelle Duke (Will's sister), Nicole Cummings (holding Nolan), Mom (Denise Craig), Laura Kronewitter (cousin), Korie Jones, Moi holding the guest of honor, Lecia (Boyd) New, Marta Sears, Michelle Akins, & Audrey Smith. Laurie Rauch is taking the picture!

Okay, I'm listening to music & if you want a good cry, all of you mommies, listen to "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride! WOW! While I'm writing this Mom is feeding Lilyanah laughing at me because I'm serenading her with my water bottle microphone. Everyone knows when I'm having good days 'cause I sing & dance around the house. Like it says in Ecclesiastes 3:4, "There's a time to mourn and a time to dance." Good days are definitely a time to dance!

The picture to the right is of Bree, her little Evan (who is 6 weeks older than Lilyanah) & obviously me with little Lily. . . Bree & I have known each other since grade school. We met at Camp Yamhill, too, so she knows Justin. I haven't talked to Justin about it, but Bree & I have decided that we'll have to be the "cool mom" counselors when the girls are old enough to go to camp but not too old that they don't want us around anymore! Jaylee, I think, will be a year ahead of the girls in school but if Justin wanted to I'm sure he could be one of the "cool dad" counselors too. It'd be good to have the gang back together.

So you're pretty much updated on all the things I meant to write about but didn't for whatever reason. So I'll end with, don't you love spring!? I broke out the shorts today & sat outside with Lilyanah while she slept. Didn't God give us a beautiful world!? I know He's blessing all of you in one way or another; I know He blesses us through you! Have a great day! Wendy.