kadence faith

{cathey, me, charlene, kristen {and kadence!}}

kadence faith is the miracle who came into our lives and our family on december 27.  my niece, {tim's sister's daughter}kristen, gave birth to kadence the day before her own birthday...

i want to write this post not only in celebration of kadence's life, but in honor of kristen, the amazing woman that she is, the mom she is becoming and the child of God who is being molded and shaped by her daughter on a moment to moment basis.

on october 2 when kristen went to her doctor for a standard check up to find out her baby's gender, they discovered that kadence has spina bifida and hydrocephalus.  kristen had the opportunity to join a research group out in california so her and her mom {cathey}moved their life out to san fran for a little while for kadence.  in this research group, she was placed into a sub group where an inutero surgery was done on kadence to fix the place on her spine where her spinal cord was coming out...

weeks passed...cathey took care of kristen, i know they laughed a lot, they decorated her hospital room with christmas, monitored kadence, had good days and bad days...

and kadence took her first breath on december 27th, just in time for her momma's birthday on december 28th.

and everyday since has been a unique day, i know.  kadence has had good days and bad days but she is progressively getting stronger and healthier, like we all are hopefully...

they will be home from san fran soon hopefully, and i can't wait to hug them and love on them and get to know kadence, and get to know the "mom" side of kristen.

kristen, i am so proud of you and the way you are walking through this life change as you fall deeper in love with your daughter and your God.  i know there is joy and pain and questions and laughter and awe-struck-ness and tears and exhaustion and good things and hard things.  you are never alone!

love you!

extreme makeover home edition in tulsa, again!

and simmons is building, again!  simmons are the ones who are building our house {almost done!} and we are pretty big fans of theirs.  and next week, for the third time, simmons is building a house on extreme makeover home edition!

and if you are around, you can be a part because they are looking for volunteers to help.  anytime between january 28 and february 3 you can do anything from handing out snacks and drinks to electrical to plumbing to carpentry to loading and unloading to miscellaneous {do you think they would let me do ty's make-up?}... if you are interested you can click here to get more info and fill out a volunteer form.

our walk-through was moved up to this afternoon {yay!} so we got the scoop...they need volunteers and from what they were saying, {and from what i can imagine} it would be a really fun and meaningful thing to be a part of for a family here in tulsa who needs it.  what a cool way to be the body of Christ in action.

tomorrow {jan 19} at university of tulsa at 930am is the community pep rally...

maybe we'll see you there...

you've come a long way baby!

 september 17, 2009

 

 october 28, 2009

 

 november 12, 2009

 

 december 18, 2009

 

 january 16, 2010

final walk through: january 19

closing/start moving: january 27

{dear house, we can't wait to live in you!}

 

{oh and of course we had to document our first meal in the house...taco bueno tacos...yum}

haiti

my heart just breaks for what happened and is happening in haiti. some ways you can help from wherever you are include...

jesus in haiti

worldvision

samaritans purse

or text HAITI to 90999 and $10 will go the red cross for earthquake relief. {that will show up on your next bill} every bit helps.

everyday things

sometimes i think that i love my life too much...

its the little things. and the big things.

a few mornings ago silas and i were in walmart and an older man who worked there was stocking shelves. he had a big belly and a long white beard. silas is 2. you know what is coming. silas shouts in a booming voice, tiny finger pointing at the man...

"santa claus!!!"

i'm trying to not laugh too loud as i try to push the cart on and tell silas that that is not santa claus, but just a man who works at walmart.

he's sure about what he sees.

"no, that santa claus!"

a few minutes later "santa claus" was stocking shelves on the isle we were on. silas leans around me and says in the voice most filled with wonderment....

"hi santa claus. hi santa claus. hi santa claus..." {on repeat}

"santa claus" never acknowledged silas, but another customer stopped as asked me if that was indeed what he was saying, and she walked away laughing. i heard her laughing several isles over, too.

only minutes later on the cereal isle, an unsuspecting customer walks by us to grab his grape nuts off the shelf...and we would have just gone on, but it was early in the morning and this guy was still wearing his bright blue pajama pants covered in bright yellow smiling faced moons...

"mama, he in pajamas!!!"

silas yells this, perfectly clear, not just in that tongue that only parents could understand.

the man looks at me, obviously embarrassed and i can only laugh and explain that 2 year olds call it like they see it. fortunately this guy had a good sense of humor.


{the jokester himself pretending to sleep in the laundry basket as i write this....}