Visit with the Brilliants

If you've been following Peter's story from the beginning, you may recall our connection with Riley Brilliant. We met them at the hospital after both boys had undergone major surgery and were struggling to survive. Come to find out, they were born on the exact same day at the exact same hospital. The Brilliants live in our area and were schoolteachers like Tom. We visited with them a lot during those first difficult weeks at the hospital. Jason and Michelle were a tremendous source of encouragement to us. I remember Jason praying with us for Peter.

Riley had a brain tumor and has been treated at St. Jude for quite some time. I will never forget visiting Michelle and Riley in his room and Michelle making phone calls right and left and doing amazing amounts of research to find the best treatment options for Riley. I was so impressed with her diligence and sacrifice. I knew she was at least as tired as I was and yet still going strong to care for her child.

Last night, the Brilliants had us over and we had a great time! Riley is doing really well and still smiles ALL THE TIME. Peter had a ball tormenting poor Lizzie. He loves pretty girls. I'm so mad I didn't take any pictures. I brought my camera, but we had such a great time talking I never even gave it another thought.

Riley and Peter are both incredible miracles. Both were given little to no chance of survival and both are doing great now. It's not often that people get to see one miracle in a lifetime, much less two. I'm so thankful God connected us with these precious people.

On another note, Alana played the role of "babysitter" (sort-of) last night. She stayed in the bedroom and supervised Lizzie and Peter - really just Peter, so Lizzie could play in peace. It was so strange for me to have her be the older child watching the younger ones, not one of the children actually playing. She is growing up so much! I'm so proud of her.

Let It Snow

We ALMOST had a white Christmas!

Merry Christmas - a day after!

Early Christmas Gift

Alana got an early Christmas present today.

A sweet friend MADE this dollhouse for her. It is amazing! It looks like a dollhouse you would find in a classic toy store from the movies.

This is my favorite room - I think! It's hard to pick a favorite.

Thank you so much Nancy! We love you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

14 Years

Fourteen years ago today I married my very best friend.

Second only to His Son, I consider Tom the best gift God has ever given to me.

I love you! Happy Anniversary!

Peter is 2!!!

December 15, 2008

December 15, 2009

December 15, 2010

And just like last year on his birthday, poor Peter is sick! I suppose this will happen often on or near his birthday, given the time of year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!

We love you so much. We had no idea how much you would change our lives when you were born, but it is all worth it. We can't believe you're 2!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my absolute favority holiday! I love fall and Thanksgiving has always felt like the culmination of the season - although now it seems like it's turned more into a pre-Christmas. I also love it because it's like the calm before the whirlwind of Christmas. I love the Christmas season too and Thanksgiving just sort of kicks it off. I love the food of Thanksgiving, the weather, time with family..... all of it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Another Heartbeat

There is nothing quite like that moment in early pregnancy when you first see your baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound screen. Life! It's amazing. I remember it clearly with Alana. I was SO relieved because I had had a miscarriage only 3 months prior. I remember it with Peter, also following a miscarriage.

Well......there it was again today!!!! That's right, I'm pregnant. We can hardly believe it. My due date is June 8th and I am 9 weeks along. There will be another little Ellsworth running around this house. We are thrilled....and scared....and excited....and apprehensive............so many things, but we are trusting Him who holds us all.

Praise be to God!

Family Day

We had a fun, family day today. We took the kids out to Reed Gold Mine and had a picnic lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect - the kind where you can wear short sleeves or long sleeves and you're comfortable.

We did A LOT of walking and wore Peter out!

We has such a good time together. We didn't want it to end.

Sweet Siblings

Alana is Peter's hero and best friend in the whole world!

Peter has been very into this hat lately.

Alana thinks he looks like a "dude."

Update

Thank you all for your prayers. My dad got out of surgery a few hours ago and did fine. I talked with both him and my mom a little while ago. The Dr. said they will send off the prostate and lymph nodes for further extensive diagnosis to see if he will need further treatment. Please continue to pray for my dad as he recovers. He is in A LOT of pain right now.

Prayer Request

Many of you may already know that my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few weeks ago. He had a couple of other scans done after the initial diagnosis to see if the cancer had spread and all indications are it has remained contained in the prostate - Praise the Lord! My dad will be having surgery tomorrow to remove the prostate and lymph nodes. The cancer had so saturated the area that the Dr. wanted to do the radical surgery.

Please keep my dad (and mom) in your prayers tomorrow, as well as the doctors and medical staff that will be caring for him.

I will post an update as soon as I can tomorrow.

Thanks!

Birthday Party Pics

We had an "adults only" birthday party for Alana this year. (Sounds like something inappropriate, doesn't it?) Actually, it was a blast! Alana and Peter thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention. In fact, Peter was our entertainment. No need to hire entertainment when you have a toddler around.

Alana got some great gifts - things for her room (which we are getting ready to paint), a scooter, paint/craft sets, school supplies (one of her favorite things), a radio, and money (also one of her favorite things).

I found this cake at Target and thought it was cute and girly and fall-ish.

We had such a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALANA!!!

Today, this beautiful girl is 9 years old!!!

I can't believe it. She is growing up WAY too fast.

I can remember the day she was born as clearly as if it was yesterday. I had an amazingingly easy delivery, especially for a firstborn.

Alana wanted to look like JoyAnna Duggar on her birthday. I think she achieved that look:)

I love you, precious girl!!!

21 Months

Guess who is 21 months as of Wednesday??

This little boy!!!

I can't believe he is almost 2. What a milestone.

At 21 months, Peter:

is still SO silly

understands everything we say to him

doesn't talk much

but smiles, all the time

is better governed by love and patience than strictness or harshness

loves to wear Daddy's, Mama's, or Sissy's shoes!!!

I love you, sweet miracle boy!

New Additions

We have a new addition to our family.

Meet Lucy Grace Ellsworth - the guinea pig.

I really wanted to get Alana something special for her birthday this year. She LOVES all animals, but she wanted a cat. We decided our household could not handle that with two dogs already so we decided to go with something a little easier. Alana has fallen completely in love! I think the guinea pig has fallen in love with Alana too.

We also want to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the Oldham family on the birth of little Thomas Knox. We know they are so happy that their baby was born on the same day we got a guinea pig. Because of that, they will never forget little Thomas's birthday!!!

We're Still Here

It has been WAY too long since I've updated this blog. The last several weeks I've been running on empty. It started back before the 4th of July with a terrible sore throat that turned into a nasty cough that just wouldn't let go of me. I kept coughing and coughing, but then some days I would feel better so I put off going to the Dr. Finally, this week I knew it had been too long for a cough to hang on like that so I went to the Dr. and was diagnosed with walking pnuemonia! No wonder I felt so yucky. Anyway, I got some drugs and I am on the mend.

Here's what we've been up to lately:

Tom started seminary last week. He LOVES it! It is a lot of work, but he is thoroughly enjoying himself.

Alana and I started back to homeschool last week. So far, so good. We had a good year with it last year, but so far this year is even better. I'm much more relaxed this year and I think that is helping Alana to be more relaxed. It helps so much to get a year under your belt and be familiar with the curriculum.

As Alana and I do school, Peter just mostly gets in the way:) He wants to be included in everything. I'm trying to work with him on coloring so he can feel like he has "school" too. He really prefers to color with his "Sissy" though.

Peter loves to clear out all his toys from this bottom shelf and crawl in there and sit. I must ask, why is this so fun??:)

We are so happy it is September!!!! Fall is my favorite season and also my beautiful girl's birthday. She'll be 9 on the 24th of this month. So bittersweet........

Highs, Lows and Hopes

Alana came up with a good idea for dinner conversation a few months ago that we have been implementing. We mention our high and low for that day. It's good because it helps to channel conversation. Otherwise, Tom and I would be swinging back and forth between Alana's constant chatter and Peter's attempts (and often successes) at being a clown. It also helps to recap our day. Last night, Alana said that we should add another element - our hopes for the next day. So, to give an exmple:

My high today was an encouraging convesation with a friend.
My low today was a terrible nightmare I had in the early morning hours.
My hopes for tomorrow are to get some groceries.

If you are in need of a little more organized conversation around the dinner table, I highly suggest this! We've had a lot of fun with it.

20 Months

Peter is 20 months old today! I can't believe it. That sounds so close to 2!

At 20 months, Peter:

Is VERY silly!!!

Has become a major couch potato. We're really going to have to work on this.

LOVES his beautiful Sissy! But then, who wouldn't??

I love being the mother of these two kids!

Happy Birthday and Cardiologist Visit

Today is my dad's 61st birthday! Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I love this picture. It was taken 3 days before Peter's surgery.

I do not have a good picture of my dad with both kids. We're going to have to work on that. This is the only one I have with the three of them.

We took Peter for his regular visit with the cardiologist yesterday. I was dreading it because Peter screams the ENTIRE time! However, he did slightly better yesterday. He did scream, but he got calm for about a minute or two at a time, which is a huge improvement for him. The nurse blew bubbles during the EKG and that helped a lot.

Overall, things remain the same for Peter. The Dr. can still detect a murmer over the left side of Peter's heart, so we need to continue to monitor that left pulmonary artery (which is not new news). However, he did say that we can wait on doing those two tests (echo and lung profusion scan) until next summer, and even then we will probably only do the echo without sedation (if Peter will tolerate staying still). He said we will only do a lung profusion scan (that does require sedation), if we can't see all we need to on the echo. In the meantime, he just wants to see Peter back in six months. He also said that there is not really the possibility for Peter to be in heart failure anymore. The more pressing issue is that that artery would not keep up with Peter's growth and his right lung would have to start taking over more of the work, which could make Peter more tired. He said the sympton we need to watch for is a decrease in activity.

The Dr. reiterated to us again that this is something we need to watch all throughout Peter's life, especially during his growth years. However, I did a little better job of preparing myself for this news than the last time. It's as if Peter is 99% normal, but we need to watch that 1% of not normal. Please continue to pray the same - that the artery would remain open and strong and continue to keep pace with Peter's growth.

Potty Training?? Already??

Peter asked to sit on the potty today. I'm completely flabbergasted!! We have not made one single mention of anything potty-related to him at all. I've not even been remotely thinking that direction. However, Peter has been watching and paying attention and decided he wanted to sit on the potty. He didn't do anything, but I just can't believe he even wanted to sit on it.

I am NOT READY for this yet!!!:)

A Quick Thought

It was SO GOOD to be in the house of the Lord today!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head

Having fun at Nana and Grandpa's house!

Bad Blogging Again

Some reasons for the delay in posting........

Between my parents' garden and our garden, we've had an abundance of summer vegetables.

We've made 8 chicken pot pies and frozen them for the winter months.

We've bagged 6 gallon-size freezer bags of cubed squash and zuchini for casseroles.

We've bagged 8 gallon-size bags of grated zuchini for zuchini bread.

I was hoping to can green beans this year, but that is the one vegetables that hasn't done so well. We got in one good crop and that was it. I think it got too hot too early.

We have been able to can 20 quarts of homemade marinara sauce with our tomatoes.

The REAL reason I've been too busy to blog lately!!!