absence

well, in my absence from blogworld, some friends of ours experienced a tragedy like I can't even imagine, and it's left me reeling, and unwanting to post or write at all.

Last Wednesday, little Avery (21 months old) was struck by a car and did not survive. A terrible, unexpected accident. Her parents, Rob and Jeanie, have their feet firmly planted in the rock of Christ and He is sustaining them in a most remarkable way. They believe that God is sovereign even in this circumstance and continue to hold tight to that belief which is giving them peace and comfort in a time that seems so unbearable otherwise. Our close friends, Cindy and Kevin, (Rob's sister, and Avery's aunt and uncle) as well as the rest of the Kochan family too, are of course, grieving along with them, but are all truly relying on the strength that can only be found from their faith in Christ; They have comfort knowing that because they've let Christ be the ruler of their lives that they will be reunited with Avery again....and they know that God will use this tragedy in some incredible way.

It has also been amazing to see the way that this has touched the entire church family that Rob and Jeanie are a part of. It has been powerful to see the body of Christ responding in a time of need.

Please lift up in your prayers this entire family, and Rob and Jeanie's two other children as well.

girly girl?

Abby had a pretty great week this week.

Since my belly is infinitely growing, I am no longer to comfortably paint my toes. So I decided it was time to go get them done and only had time for a quick 'pedicure' at a place in the mall. Normally I do this at the salon I go to, but it's much more expensive and time intensive, though I should say, I think worth it! Anyways, since spring is here, thus sandals, it really needed to be done. So I told Abby one of the days she was home this week that we were going to get our toes done. She was SO excited! Once we got there, I let her splurge and get her nails painted too, plus she was sitting so patiently while my feet were soaking and such. You can see the delight on her face in the picture!

Then later in the week, she got to start soccer! She has been talking about this for at least the last month, asking when she gets to go and stuff. The day of, she asked me if the boys were coming to watch, and I said yes, our whole family is going and we'll all watch. She replied, "i've been watching them and now they get to watch me!" Again, she was delighted. She did really well at all of the 'drills' they did, but when it came time for scrimmage, she was a little lost and did a lot more watching than chasing the ball. I'm sure she'll get it though; she's already excited about when she gets to go again!

all clear

well, Matthew had his follow up appointment today after his surgery 11 days ago, and he got the 'all clear.' Doctor said everything looks perfect and he can go back to normal activities. Yeah! We made it!!

I keep thinking about last week though; it was possibly one of the longest weeks ever, so hard seeing your child in pain and feeling helpless since I can't fix it; I also started wearing thin on the compassion toward the end of the week. Not that I didn't feel bad for him, I did, terribly, however, being sleep deprived does not do wonders for me emotionally, nor physically. One day last week when Matthew started crying because he wanted goldfish to eat, and knew it would hurt too much, I started crying as well. Not a normal response, obviously, but keep in mind I was extremely tired, and pregnant!

Anyways, something positive did come from last week.... aside from getting the infected parts out of his body, and correcting his snoring like an old man, resulting in more restful sleep for all of us, something even more!

The compassion that I saw from Ben was something I'll treasure forever. Sometime during the week, as Matthew was laid up on the couch, a friend of Ben's came to the door to see if he could go out and play; we asked Ben if he wanted to go, and he replied, "no, I don't want to since Matthew can't." My heart melted. Now, don't get me wrong, they do have their moments as siblings where things aren't so picturesque, but most of the time, they really love each other to death. I posted a couple pictures of things they made for each other during the week; Matthew was missing Ben since he was off at school, and Ben just felt so bad for Matthew, and each day asked 'do you think Matthew's getting better?'

So many things about parenting are so hard, but one thing that I pray will continue is for their relationship to stay so loving and close. What a great support to go through life with. Something about the bond of brothers.

look out, here she comes!

Abby got this new bike for her birthday last month, and already has gotten so good at riding.

It's such a riot though, from our driveway to the one across, or vice versa, she crouches down like she's racing and yells out a "yee haw, yahoo..." It's so funny. (I'll try to catch it on film one of these days) I guess she's been watching those 2 big brothers for a little too long!

the bravery award

here's the patient....

sweet little guy. We are so proud of him for being SO brave yesterday. He had to have his tonsils and adenoids out, and the anesthesiologist didn't let us go back with him til he fell asleep with the mask, (which I was annoyed by, because that is scary stuff), but being the laid back little trooper he is, he gave us a hug and walked back with the nurse.

We saw him next when they wheeled him back up to his room where we waited for him and we just chilled for the rest of the day, and he had to do a few certain "jobs" before they let him come home.

We got home yesterday afternoon, and had a rough night, but he's doing pretty well and on the road to recovery.

We're so thankful that it went well, and so glad it's over!