SURPRISE

Every year at Christmas time Will & I pick out a word that encompasses the year that has passed. Our first year (2003) it was BELIEVE because after an amazing 6 months working in D.C. we came home to an awful economy in Oregon & it took many months for Will to get the job the Lord wanted him to have. The next year we chose MIRACLE because after almost a year of trying to have a baby we found out on our anniversary (December 21st) that we were pregnant. We lost the baby at the end of January but our Cana was still a miracle! In 2005 the word was BLESSINGS. . . Will had gotton a new job & a few months later, a promotion. . . & on July 10th we again found out we were pregnant, this time with our precious Lilyanah. This past year we decided the most appropriate word is SURPRISE. Surprise, Lilyanah came 2 months early, (and of course the great surprise that she was healthy & doing GREAT). Surprise, you have cancer. . surprise the cancer is gone. . . we got a new sister-in-law. . . a house, and our final surprise of 2006 was revealed November 26th when we found out we're gonna have another baby. God is full of wonderful surprises & where we began the year with some difficult ones, we ended the year with such a beautiful one. . . . At first we didn't tell anyone because we wanted to make sure the baby was okay. I wasn't sure how far along we were & I had that CT scan on the 25th of October (which came out GREAT by the way, all looks good). But they hook you up to an IV & I remembered that when I had my CT scan in the hospital before Lilyanah was born they didn't do the IV because I was pregnant. Anyway, we went to the doctor on the 11th of December & by the grace of God I even got to see my OB doctor from my pregnancy with Lilyanah. (She was actually in the operating room when they found the cancer.) It was an unexpected blessing because she was about a week away from her due date & they didn't think she'd be available. Anyway, we saw our little one & everything looks wonderful; there's nothing like seeing that heartbeat & knowing your baby is okay. So, since then I had an appointment with my oncologist, who had no concerns about me being pregnant so soon after my treatment. That was a surprise too. A good one of course. So now I've been assigned a Perinatologist (someone who specializes in prematurely born babies); I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it's because I'm automatically considered a high-risk pregnancy. I actually have a meeting on January 12th with Dr. Ellis (my oncologist) & Dr. Lubarsky (perinatologist) to talk about what we're going to do CT scan wise & probably with ultrasounds & such. I also have an ultrasound scheduled for January 10th where they're going to make sure we're right on with the due date & that I'm not further along than 10 weeks (as of December 24th). What a mouthful!

If I try to fit Christmas & New Years into just one entry, I will either fail miserably or end up with one of my EXTRA LONG entries. I put a picture from our New Year's Eve party, not everyone who came is in the picture. . . We took it right before we went inside to watch the 'ball fall' on the television. It was such a blast! And thanks to Nick & Kelly (3rd & 4th in from the left in the picture), we had the crowns to begin the new year in! (Also Mom is taking the picture.) I hope you all had a similarly FANTASTIC December 31st! My question is "What did you do for New Years?" Well, I know the date says it's December something, but I'm finishing this up to post on January 8th & the Tostito Bowl is on so I've gotta go, but I love you all & hope you are drenched in the blessings God is showering on you! ~Wendy.