Jordan's Lung Surgery

Jordan's surgery has been scheduled for December 3, 2010.  I am not looking forward to this day and I am sure she isn't either.  I know the surgery is going to be tough and the recovery even tougher, but I also know that Jordan can handle it.  She's been a real trooper throughout all of this and she just wants to get rid of the cancer.  The best way to do that is to go in and remove it.  She understands exactly what is going to happen.  She has had a long conversation with the doctor about the procedure and she knows what to expect.  I am hoping she is feeling better before Christmas and I'm really hoping that everyone is there tomorrow to celebrate Thanksgiving with her.  I am so thankful that my beautiful neice is alive.  I can't imagine what a different story this would be if we were just finding out now that the cancer was there.  I will never forget the moment Rustie called to tell me that she had been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma.  It was one of the worst moments of my life...maybe the absolute worst.  My heart breaks everytime I think about all of the pain that Jordan has endured.  I know that it has made her a stronger person, but that's such small compensation for the difficulty of her life.  The girls and I found several boxes of old pictures when we cleaned out the shed.  I think they were a little surprised at all of the pictures of Jo, but it became more obvious as we went through them that she has been a part of my life for a lot longer than they have.  She became my baby the day I found out her Mom was pregnant with her.  "If I Die Young" is moving up the charts this month and everytime it comes on the radio, I have to change the station.  I can't bear to listen to the words of that song.  Jordan posted it to her profile on Facebook this week and I cried for an hour after I saw it.  I know that she is going to survive this, but the thought that anything could happen is too much to bear...especially knowing that she feels it too.  And so we pray....

Halloween 2010!!!

I can't believe that I forgot to post Halloween pictures.  This was Amelia's first Halloween.  She was dressed as a kitty cat.  The outfit was so cute when she crawled around...her little tail and ears sticking up.  Sadly, Destiny did not get to go tricking or treating this year.  She had gotten herself into trouble for a week straight and I made this mistake of saying, "If you do that again you won't be able to go trick or treating on Sunday."  And wouldn't you know it, she turned around and did it again the next day.  Once it's out there, you have to stick to your guns, so she stayed home.  Michael sat at home with her, but only because at 17 he was more interested in watching scary movies than trick or treating.  Sabrina wore her costume from last year, she was a Charm School Witch.  Samantha wore one of Destiny's old costumes, Ninja Girl.  It was perfect.  We didn't have to shop for anything for Halloween this year.  They were too excited when they found the old costumes to even think about going out for new ones.  I went with Peyton to take the girls to a few houses and then Amelia and I came home so they could go to the big neighborhood close to downtown.  It was so nice to see our friends.  There are only a few houses that we care about visiting and they are never a dissapointment.  Pat and Jack had bags for all of the kids again this year.  I think Michael and Destiny ended up with as much candy as they would have if they had actually gone out trick or treating.  We took the kids to the Pumpkin Festival in Fayetteville again this year.  We haven't missed a year since we moved to Callaway.  The kids love it.  Peyton even dressed as a pirate for the event.  We really enjoyed ourselves and went to Wings and Things for lunch afterwards.  I also let the girls have a little Halloween spend the night party.  They invited Anna and Katelyn.  We had a house full of girls and I loved every minute of it.  It is so much fun to watch those cousins play together.  We really wish Riley, Kenna and Mary could have been here.  When I look back, we managed to have a very busy Halloween.  I even wore the old Danzas AEI Document Pouch costume that Mary and Rabun made for me NINE years ago.  It is still as cool as ever. 

Amelia Updates

I have been horrible at adding updates on Amelia, but I have a few for tonight. I should start by saying that Peyton has been so busy at work that we literally haven't seen each other in a couple of weeks.  We went to lunch together today to catch up.  It was so nice to hang out with him for a little while.  He was two hours late, but we managed to fit it in. Of course our conversation quickly turned to our beautiful kids.  Neither of us can believe how quickly Amelia is growing. She's just amazing. She is beginning to stand for almost a full minute.  I believe she will walk before she's 10 months old.  The twins started walking on their first birthday.  She's just trying hard to keep up with her big sisters.  I put in a Bon Jovi concert video this weekend and the big kids and I spent an hour laughing at her as she danced.  She banged her head and shook her bottom and threw up her arms.  It was so funny.  Right now she is watching Glee with us and bouncing to the music.  I have so many pictures to add and updates on Jordan.  They are going to do the lung surgery in two weeks.  The week after Thanksgiving.  Her PET scan showed some growth to the lessions.  It's minimal, but any growth means they need to go in quickly.  She is being really positive about it all.  She's such a trooper.