Slumber Party and Rock 'n' Roll Braeden

My big girl Emerson is now 5!! To celebrate her big birthday, I allowed her to have her first sleepover with her favorite friends. It was a success! We had pizza (along with carrots and fruit to make it a little more healthy! :) ), then had yummy funfetti cupcakes with chocolate frosting, opened presents, then the girls got in their pj's and sleeping bags to watch the new Barbie and the Three Musketeers movie. Afterward we painted everyone's nails (they got to choose finger or toes!). Then it was time for bed. I anticipated the giggling and whispering and there was some, but they were quiet and asleep by 9 and then up bright and early at 6! I made them pancakes for breakfast and then they were off to their own homes! I must say it was so, so, so much fun! If they all are like that I'll be willing to do that more often! It was fun for me to see Emerson so excited for her slumber party and so giggly with excitment the entire night. Great first experience. Oh, and Braeden did want to join in the festivities, but when I told him he couldn't also sleep in the living room, he was really quite hurt, but I offered him a bowl of his own popcorn to take to bed and that seemed to make it all better!

I'm going to attach some pictures from the fun party and then I have a funny video of Braeden rockin' it on our bed (On a side note, he's doing great, for the most part, with the pottying! Ignore the stripped bed in the movie due to a pee accident. That's beside the point! :))
Sorry, too, for Landen crying in the background. He was mad, and not hurt, which is why I kept the video rolling! :)

October News and Looking Forward

To say there has been excitement these past few weeks would be an understatement!

First, very briefly, we received some pretty heavy news last week from our elders at our church. The elders met with Jon two Fridays ago to tell him the budget for Emmaus Road (where Jon has served as youth pastor the past 3 years and interim-ed for a year before that) was suffering some shortfalls and after praying and agonizing, they had made the decision to cut the stipends that we have been receiving starting in January. That news brought to us a lot of emotion because that would hinder Jon's ability to continue serving with the youth that he's loved and poured his love for Christ into, as well as seriously impact our own finances. Why would that hinder Jon's ability to serve with the youth, you may ask? Well, if you know us, we are a single income family. Because of this cut, Jon or I or both of us will have to pursue another source(s) of income to make up for the shortfall which won't leave much time to continue serving in that capacity.
After a week of grieving over these facts, we've recommitted to serving Emmaus well during Jon's last few months of being on staff and have begun praying for God to close our time on staff with Emmaus in the presence of His love and grace as we begin to look forward.
We have received so much love and support from our family at Emmaus, too, and it has brought about a lot of peace and has reminded me of God's faithfulness and promise to always provide for us. (Matthew 6:28-34)

On a lighter note, we are preparing for Emerson's 5th, that's right, 5th! birthday this week. We had a party planned this past Saturday for all our family, but silly me took the older two kids to my parents house (over the hill in Cheytown) on Friday night. My parents were going to bring them back in time for the party on Saturday, but I didn't check the forecast, which included several inches of snow and fog. Whoops! So Emerson and Braeden both were snowed in and didn't make it back for the party. Well, the rest of the family wouldn't have made it either, I suppose, since they were also traveling from Cheyenne! Ha! Oh, well. Emerson still has her sleepover - her very first sleepover- to look forward to this weekend and I know we'll plan a party sometime very soon so she doesn't get gyped of that special "I'm turning 5!" attention she deserves from the family.

And as the winter season begins (wait, isn't it only early October? Oh yeah, I live in Laramie!) we've already had ourselves a few good snows, but unfortunately our family has been faithfully passing around the latest bug and I have not one good picture of my kids playing in the snow (and as much as I like to say "Ugh!" to this early snow, I always have a little bit of an excited and awakened feeling when I wake up in the morning to a fresh blanket of snow).

So here are some recent ones of us "sicklies" in the house instead:

Braeden and Emerson in their blankie tent in the living room:

Emerson wasn't feeling well this day:

This would be Crayola green marker all over his face:

Please think of her...

A while ago I posted about a beautiful little five year old girl named Kate (please see my previous post here). I've continued to follow her journey through this battle with brain cancer. This little girl is fighting for her life. Last week they had a woman fly in to photograph her and her family. This woman touched the McRae family (Kate's family) in a special way because she is a cancer survivor herself, so they asked her to capture some very special moments with their family. Lidia, the photographer, posted some of the pictures in a video as well as some still shots on her blog here.

I watched it this morning and I literally couldn't hold in my tears. I cried for this family. I absolutely cannot imagine the horror of finding your sweet baby girl has a tumor in her brain that has a better chance to leave you without your daughter than not. And this family keeps sharing her story as to bring more glory to Jesus. I can only shake my head as it leaves me without words.

So if you think of her, please pray for Kate and her family right now. They must be facing the most difficult thing most anybody could ever face - the evil of this cancer trying to take away this precious life. And praise God for how he is using it to share His name.

You can read more of her story at www.prayforkate.com

I have to admit...

I really do have the cutest kids in the world!

Big Birthday Boy Braeden

My big boy just turned three! It's hard to believe that it's possible that he can be three already. I know every parent says that, but I really do know what they mean. It's all flown by so fast! His special day was just that, though, pretty special. His birthday also turned out to be his first day of preschool, so he got to be the special kid that brought cupcakes for snack and after preschool he got to choose where we ate for lunch (of course, it was nowhere other than Burger King!) He took a good nap and then we had dinner and afterward another cupcake, filled with three candles to blow out and we sang to him. I think he was a little tickled to have us sing to him. Anyway, it was a fun day. Then we also had an actual party for him this past Saturday (the week was really all about him!) where our closest friends and family came to enjoy his special day. He sure does have so many people who love him, and rightfully so. He certainly has my heart! I sure do love that boy!

Here are some pictures of his actual birthday and then his party. And the last is from his birthday from last year.

A whole new face...

This is a little bit of a long story, but please bear with me. The past few days have been pretty consumed with thoughts of the doctors appointment I recently went to this past Thursday to the orthodontist. Why am I seeing an orthodontist since I have had braces TWO times already, you might ask? Well, since high school I have had problems and pain with my Temporomandibular joint, the joint that connects the mandible (jaw) to your skull, also known as TMJ.

I have been treated once already for TMJ when I was 19 and I wore a splint in my mouth as well as my second set of braces, which helped in the short term. It really never did completely get rid of my headaches, pain, and locking of my jaw, though. Most recently, I've been experience longer lasting, more intense headaches, more locking, and shooting pain under my teeth. All this to say, this is what brought us to the orthodontist.

After taking indentations of my teeth, several pictures, and a full, 360 degree scan (MRI?) of my skull, I was looking at pictures of my sinuses, teeth, and airway on a humungous (Jon might call beautiful) TV screen. And to make a long story short, my problem is a skeletal problem. It also turns out my joints are about flat from wear (which they should not be), my airway is extremely small, I have pollups in my sinuses, and I have what looks like degenerative bone disease. This doctor teaches doctors around the world about things of the jaw and teeth and he says this is one of the more severe cases he's ever seen which is not something I was really prepared to hear.

He then proceeded to tell me that most people have one optimum option along with a Plan B to treat their symptoms/ailments, but being so severe, I really only have one option. This part was disheartening to hear.

My only option to get it right this time (after braces in highschool and treatment a few years later for the TMJ) is to wear a splint on my lower teeth and braces on my top for 3-6 months while also going through physical therapy, which includes weekly visits. Two things: this doctor is in Ft. Collins and what I will do with my kiddos during this time, I don't know.

After this, I need to have surgery. My impression was that this surgery is very serious and in his professional opinion, it needs to be done by someone who specializes in this very specific surgery. He informed me that the only doctor he would trust is one in Santa Barbara, CA (also, he knows of on in Chile, but we probably wouldn't go to that one!).

Needless to say this is VERY expensive. Thankfully, we do have good insurance, but what we believe at this point will not be covered is very stressful for us and our finances. I also have to figure out what I'll do with my kids while I drive to Ft. Collins for appointments and physical therapy.

Another quirky concern is that my facial structure will change drastically because of all the treatment. The doctor was able to show me what he projected my face to look like after he corrects things and it really will be different me. I'm really struggling with how I feel about this part, as well. I'm sure you can understand why. I'm not looking forward to explaining to people that I didn't have plastic surgery or going through the story of why I look so different. Let alone my kids, who will have a mommy who is looking different, although I guess they get to see me through the transformation, but I digress...

Jon and I have prayed and discussed this a lot the last few days. All in all, though, it sounds like this is something I have to do (or face a broken jaw and much more pain later). I am considering taking frequent pictures so I can see (and maybe encourage myself with tangible progress) how things are changing and be able to show how and why my features had to change so much to both my kids and others.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this! Needless to say it's overwhelming and a little disheartening. I covet all the prayers I can get!

The Kelly Babies

Can you tell who is who? I think we've pretty much made it known that we are done having babies. But as I look through these old baby pictures, it makes me wonder if we'll be able to stick to that decision, especially once Landen begins to grow out of the baby stage (don't tell Jon I just said that!). Anyway, for me, it is fun looking and comparing the pictures of all my babies around the same age. Why don't they just stay little forever? :)
The first three are of the kids right now, but all of the rest of the pictures were taken of my kids when they were between 5 and 7 months old. Oh, they grow so fast!