These days I find myself living a life that's tangled with joy and normalcy, and yet I find myself in moments where I am forgetful of where I have been, too caught up in the earthly trivial things going on around me or selfish desires I am frustrated aren't happening. I've learned so much about God and who I am because of the insanely hard moments of having a child with cancer, that while I am so grateful to have the privilege to be caught in the mundane struggle of life, I also don't want to be stuck there without acknowledging my God story that both rebukes and encourages my heart when I stop to remember.

It's a new season for sure. Just looking back over this neglected blog, I found this I had written 1 year and about 10 months ago:

"It's Day +4 and every day has been a little harder than the last. Judah has had extreme nausea. He has been vomiting a couple of times a day. He is also very sensitive to the IV flushes and heparin that the nurses have to use after meds/changing lines, etc. 

One of the sweetest things he has done on his own is asking to hold my hand during what he considers unpleasant times."

I never wrote that for the world to see, but it brings this bittersweet remembrance to my mind of how far God has healed and how far we have come since Judah's leukemias and bone marrow transplant to today. It's not because of anything we have done, but only because of Jesus working in us and through us, and the answer so many prayers over our sweet little boy, and I am so grateful.

It's honestly incredible how much we have gone through since that time and absolutely mind blowing that it could feel as if that was someone else's life.

From the slow healing of new marrow to coming off meds one by one, to countless doctor appointments that slowly got spaced out to just once a quarter this last year, to a blessed and booming real estate business, a growing church plant, to getting to do a bathroom reno in our home, to traveling to Disney for Judah's Make-A-Wish trip, to enjoying summer fun in the pool, lots of artwork hung every which way all over the walls, messes and more messes to clean up... the lavish grace over us is beyond anything I can think or imagine!

These two sons are gifts and it's been fun entering into that stage of no diapers and more self sufficiency. I'm enjoying being their mom so much. While they wear me out beyond belief and ask for things CONSTANTLY, they are growing into these awesome little people that often make me laugh!

We go on Thursday of this week to MUSC for a quarterly visit for labs and a physical with Judah's oncologist and we once again pray and ask for prayer for healthy, normal labs and a continued healthy Judah & family.

This October will be 2 years post transplant. We will go for annual tests and biopsies, and will be praying for the C-FREE results. I walk in victory over what God has done and pray that fear and doubt won't sweep in leading up to these days! Thank you for continuing to pray over our family!

I'm thankful to be less and less hinged around this time when God fought this battle for us, but these doctor visits remind me how out of control our own lives really are. It's not about what I do, although I so often want to think if I clean up my act, then God will be pleased. No, he is already pleased, not because of me or anything I do, but because of Jesus who lived that perfect life for me!

Also, if you could pray, pray for the families who have lost their little ones and are missing them big: Madelynn, Avie, Wyatt, and Aurora. Pray for continued health for Caroline and Victoria. And pray for those fighting right now super hard and are in the thick of it big time: William and Ry.

Fall Festival Fun - 2015

We had a great time yesterday at Midlands Church's fall festival! We have had it at Stone River the last few years, which is a beautiful venue on the river and overlooks the city, and even though it was a rainy day, it was a lot of fun! There are lots of pumpkin games for the kids and a chili cook off (which Hart won last year) ... we had to give the others a shot this year, so we left ours out of the running (JK!)

 Cai was Ezra from Disney Star Wars for Halloween. We had already dressed up 3 days prior for a number of Halloween business so this isn't his complete costume, but he wanted to wear it again!

 Waiting to Pumpkin Bowl!

 Pumpkin Tic Tac Toe

 Judah picked out this awesome prize from the prize box....

 Sporting those purple shades like a boss!!! I tell you this kid has two adjectives that describe him best: stubborn and silly! Hahaha! That's a fun combo!

We feel really blessed because yesterday was November 1st and Hart's first full-time day working for Midlands Church! By God's grace, we reached right past 50% of our support raising mark and are so grateful that God always always provides exactly what we need exactly when we need it! While there is still a support raising road ahead of us, we are grateful to have the amount needed to begin working full-time in ministry! If you would like to support our family in prayer and financially, please visit our support page for more details!

Hope yall had a great Halloween weekend!  

Back To Blogging! Park Time with Daddy!

Good photos go hand-in-hand with blogging for me! I'm just not going to put the extra blogging time in, if I don't have pretty pictures! I probably shouldn't be that way! My dslr crashed a few months ago and after saving and hunting for an awesome deal, God provided! One of my brothers who works at Target found a Black Friday DSLR kit (2 lenses, bag, SD card) for a Canon T3!!! God is amazing! We were just about to pay over $100 more for a used next model up version of this camera! So blessed and thankful for this new camera!!!

 I can take great family photos again, worth spending the money right there for me, and I am just so thankful for God for all the material blessings he provides for us! Mini-van, Dslr... baby... no, wait... can't check that off yet! Hopefully, this adoption will happen sometime this summer, right!? God's time. God's time!

Look how HOTT (two T's) my husband is... no wait... don't sin... just *note* how his belly is shrinking because I've made him give up processed sugar! He whines and complains, but he's losing weight and he's happy about it... Pictures don't lie! 

Now to the point of this blog post! We went to lunch with Hart today, and I tried out the new super zoom lens as I call it! The 75 - 300mm! I was sitting across the park on a bench and able to shoot these photos of my guys playing!

Cai climbed all the way up one of those jungle things all by himself and I got underneath him. Pictures like these next few mean the world to a mama!

I love this little baby face!

He climbed the jungle thingy all buy himself without falling and then fell once on top of the play ground... uh oh!

This child ALWAYS completely loses it at the first sign of pain. It takes kisses and love to make anything better. He wanted a band-aid for his face! ha!

Hart had his turn at being the photographer, too!

Cai loves "eee-gloos" right now... (igloos). He loves to turn our papasan chair over on our porch and climb under it and say it's an igloo. Well, fun deal, this Columbia park has an "eee-gloo" as he calls them.

Adoption news: no news... it's been 6 months (just about) waiting! We've decided to commit becoming Foster Parents to prayer, but have NO idea if God will move that way in us yet. Will you pray for us, too? We've been told over and over again that it's the fastest way to get young children in DSS. It also comes with the understanding that our home *COULD* be a temporary home for the child placed in it. Foster parents get the first choice to adopt the children in their home and you get to know the children in your home, before making any major decisions, but with that could mean we fall head over heels and then have to say good-bye. Becoming Foster Parents would mean we would stay on the Adoptions side at DSS to be considered AND be considered on the Foster Care side, as well. We don't want to be driven by fear of losing the children in our home if we go this route. We don't want to rush God's timing for this adoption. We want his perfect plan! All we are doing at this point is praying over it. Sometimes the very thing you say you will never do, is the very thing God calls you to. We are praying for the One who directs our paths to show us the way to go! We know He will! Please keep praying for us!

Traylor New Year: Sparklers and Cute Cousins

Over New Years, Hannah and Mike brought Naomi and Turner up to spend some quality time together!  If there is one thing I've learned from the Traylor side, it's that we LOVE and cherish our family time!

 It's been sweet to see all 3 cousins interact, even if Turner was asleep half the time! He's such a cutie!

Cai and turner were matching one night, so the camera had to come out, of course!

This sweet boy brings a bright spot to our days! He's such a happy, easy going little boy!

On New Year's Eve, Hart and Mike went and got us some Sparkler's and some fireworks to shoot off! The kids had a lot of fun! Naomi kept whipping her sparkler around everywhere and Cai just held his straight out!

 Cheers to a happy New Year!

Weekend Together

How's your weekend going? We've already been rather busy, yet able to enjoy life as a family of 3, too! Here's a glimpse!

The first picture there of Cai and the guitars...well, I asked Hart to grab Cai some pants and he came back with camo ones....He was already wearing a green tractor shirt....he looked SO redneck! And he pooped on our guest bed this weekend (RIGHT NEXT TO ME!) It was pretty hilarious and thankfully only on a throw blanket that was easily washed.... lesson learned!

Going across the row left to right: We have almost completed our adoption paperwork! Hooray! 

Cai and Abe played outside a lot and on our hammock! We set up our fingerprinting and have that this coming week! Another hooray!

I attended a Ladies' Brunch at church and loved my friend, Elizabeth's shoes...they were from India! Her parents are missionaries there! Aren't they fun?

I also made a new friend (Laura!). Hart showed her and her husband houses this past week and I got to meet her at the brunch! We like them lots!

Hart teased me with that new look up there. He told me he was leaving his side burns that long. YUCK!!!

I worked on some hand embroidery in my free time...lol...what's that!

Then, we went to Buy Buy Baby and bought a portable fold up potty for the diaper bag and a potty book for Cai. And let me go ahead and mention here that I did NOT mean to rock the boat as far as early potty training goes! Cai is not telling me he has to go yet, but I am trying a little bit each day to get him to go on the potty. My hope is that he will catch on sooner than later. He normally pees in his potty (for an M&M) about 2 times a day right now, but sometimes more. I will let him run around naked for an hour or two at a time, but also put a diaper on him. We talk a lot about going potty and that as soon as he recognizes the "potty feeling" he needs to tell mommy, but I know he doesn't understand me right now or get it. I say things like "Poop goes in the POTTY" a whole lot right now. I'm trying not to pressure him, but I do know he is more aware of his body than I give him credit. He will get quiet when he has to pee or poop and I have to be ready to "catch" him when he does!

Lastly, we ate at mi favorito...Casa Linda for dinner tonight! Fue muy bueno! I love Casa Linda and Hart found me a coupon on living social for $10 for $20...they ended up giving us our entire meal free, which has happened two times there now. Maybe it is a little secret that they don't know how to work their own coupons? Yes, I think it is true.

And we "ran around" everywhere looking for Hart some new running shoes.... he's interested in the Vibram Five Fingers, but isn't completely convinced if they are a fad or whatnot.

I also figured out some camera dslr secrets, which led me to practicing my dslr skills like mad...wanna know what they are?

Lenses have sweet spots...usually 1 or 2 stops higher than the lowest aperture. So instead of shooting wide open all the time, try shooting a couple fstops smaller (larger aperture number) than the lowest one.

I use my Canon 50mm all the time now, but was a little frustrated with why some of my pictures will turn out kind of blurred just a smidge and after I started shooting in my "sweet spot", I could really tell the difference. The other little secret is that apparently there are rules for your shutter speed and what number you should not go below according to each lens you use. With the 50 mm, you shouldn't have a shutter speed lower than a 60 or else your images may not be as sharp. This means you have to play with the ISO a bit and figure out the right lighting, but overall both of these little things made a huge difference in my photo quality this weekend!

So that's it. Hoping tomorrow is a lazy Sunday where we can all rest!

I Am A Family Man

As most of y'all know, my (Hart) favorite musician is Andrew Peterson. He has an awesome song called "Family Man". Check out this really cool video someone made using that song: