Happy Birthday Jesus!

How thankful we are to have this day to celebrate the birth of our Lord. What an awesome day! Not only is Bailey excited about Baby Jesus' birthday, but this is the first year that she really understood that she was going to get presents. She thought that was pretty cool :) Actually, if you were to ask her, no one else needed gifts....not Mommy or Daddy, just "me" was her answer :) This year Bailey received a very special gift, a big girl dollhouse. But not just any big girl dollhouse, this dollhouse use to belong to Mommy and was made by her Grandpa (Bailey's great-Grandpa). It was very special to be able to pass it down to her and even more special that she loves it!

Merry Christmas! We love you all!

Pigeon Forge, TN

This past week Bailey, my mom (YiaYia) and I went to Pigeon Forge for a night. It's the first time we'd been there and we enjoyed our trip. The drive is about 4 hours from our house and the town itself has a lot to offer but, I can see spending more time there during the spring/summer (when it's warmer). Tom was suppose to go but with his back the drive wouldn't be possible so YiaYia took his place for a girls only trip :) While in town, we shopped, looked at Christmas lights and went to the Dixie Stampede. All in all, a really nice trip.



Tough to tell but, we were holding Bailey up to the opening.

Bailey wanted to look through the opening "by myself".

Bailey enjoying the pre-show at the Stampede...the girl loves to dance!

People next to us took the first photo; this last one is a "self portrait".

Tea cup party, laundry and trusting in God....

I love good finds on Craig's list. For the past few months, I've been thinking about getting Bailey a small table and chair set for her new "big girl" room. I found a cute little set for $20 on Craig's list this past weekend. Originally I had planned to paint it white with pastel colors but, I think I may leave it the current blue color. Whatever the color, Bailey loves it. She sits in there and plays with her "friends" (stuffed animals, baby doll, etc). It's really cute. On this day, her bear was a "baby" and too small to sit in the chair, she said, so she had to keep him close in the stroller (she even went so far as to pull him up closer to her). How cute is that ?! :)




On this particular day, I was also doing laundry which Bailey loves to help with. Typically I have her laundry basket in the living room and I'll put her clean clothes in there and she'll take the basket back to her room (where I will put the clothes away). This day I only had a few items of Bailey's to wash, so the laundry basket was not out. Bailey still wanted to help so she grabbed her socks and panties and headed back into her room. I heard her giggling and went back to take a peak...she could not open her dresser so she was throwing her items up on top of the dresser. I guess she figured that was still putting them away :) Too cute!






Update on Tom (for those of you we have not spoken to): the insurance did not approve the surgery based on pre-existing criteria. They will cover the surgery, but not until March or April. In the meantime we are going to try (one or several) epidurals to help mediate the pain so that he is able to work (at least PT). We are also asking God to touch his body. Wouldn't it be great if Tom ended up not needing surgery? We think so! Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We love you all...

Okay...so this year I will tell you...

"I'd like a big girl doll house". This was Bailey's answer to Santa's question of, "what would you like for Christmas?". An answer nicely planted by Mommy as that's what she and Daddy are planning for "Santa" to give Bailey this year :) We have no pictures with smiles but heck...at least this year she sat on the man's lap, last year she wouldn't go near him! :)

Lots of love....

Surgery Bound...

For the last few weeks, Tom has been confined to our couch or the floor. On most days, he can get comfortable on his side or flat on his back....at least for a little while. Standing or sitting is very difficult. After trying (a different) drug therapy and rest, the pain was still so severe that we pushed the insurance for an MRI; turns out, Tom herniated a disc....again.

On Wednesday, he is scheduled for this third back surgery; this time it will be a fusion. We're trusting God for a successful operation and a quick recovery. Please join with us in prayer.

Lots of love to you all....

PRAISE GOD!

I find myself saying this often when I look at our beautiful miracle but this week I have an extra reason to shout it loud. Last week I took a picture of Bailey and Evan at a local mall, I didn't post this picture because it brought me great concern. I had read an article a while back:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1049618/Baby-saved-friend-spots-eye-cancer-clue-photograph-emailed-girls-mother.html .

This article is why I was concerned about the picture below.

I took Bailey into a pediatric ophthalmologist (Dr. Levine with the Thomas Eye group.... I LOVED him!) and not only did my beautiful girl sit perfect still and look exactly where the doctor needed her to (he told his nurses in the room that "you'd never see a better 2 year old patient" :) but....PRAISE GOD, Bailey's eye is perfectly healthy and the picture was the flash bouncing off her eye. It's not common to get a white pupil from a flash but, it can happen. Having said that, I will say again PRAISE GOD that Bailey's eyes are healthy and that Christ once again chose to reach out, touch, protect and bless our lives. My God is great!