Onward and Upward

One of my friends who has been going through a hard time signed her email with the phrase "Onward and Upward" the other day and I really liked that phrase. So I decided to write a blog about somethings I am looking forward to or good news.

1. I know this is random to the rest of the world, but a year ago today I was dismissed from Dr. Phy's office. She was an amazing fertility specialist and I love her dearly, but I do not miss being her patient. I am still so very thankful to our Heavenly Father for the generosity of the gift of Corey.

2. Tomorrow is March. The weather report says it is going to be a couple of more days of nasty weather, but I am an optimist and I believe Spring and Spring weather is around the corner.

3. We are starting to make plans for our summer vacation. I think we are going to do a simple Sea World trip, but it will still be so fun and I am super excited.

4. The Olympics are over and it is time for some good TV again. The Bachelor is wrapping up tomorrow. Jim and Pam are supposed to have their baby on the Office on Thursday. Modern Family is new again this week.

5. Spring Break is 2 weeks away! We have nothing planned!!!!!!

6. I might get to see my sister's family this month. Today Corey was fussing in the TV Room. Carley was talking to him and trying to make him better. She said, "Your aunt lives in Keller. I know you miss her, but don't cry. She lives in Keller not here. She can't pick you up". Apparently I am not the only one missing the O'Rears.

7. Corey went to the Pediatric Dermatologist this week to get his little blue spot on his bottom lip looked at. It looks like it will be a "no big deal" kind of thing that we will just monitor. It is always nice to get things checked off our "mom lists".

8. Cody is going to get my car radio fixed for my birthday so it will play my IPOD. YEAH!

Here is for moving onward and upward. Praying that March is a wonderful month filled with good news and fresh starts for so many of you out there.

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. Our world is filled with yuck. (warning, this is a downer post)

This week has been so sad for so many of us in blog land. A week ago today, I asked for prayers for three things, Jenny, Kamara and the Cox family, and The Deavers.

Jenny left this world on Monday. God healed her, but not at all in the way I wanted. My heart continues to break for her family and friends. It is such a loss to our world.

Kamara's sweet baby girl, Ryleigh, is still fighting. She is doing as well as I can imagine any baby born at 24 weeks to be doing. Still, it is sad, her baby is fighting instead of growing in Kamara's safe womb.

The Deavers lost their twins. Wyatt Christopher and Eloise Ann are already home in Heaven and I cannot fathom what the loss is for their parents.

There are other babies I am praying for. Babies who were born to soon and went straight to Heaven, and the babies of my friends that I love who do not have babies on the way, even though they have prayed and prayed for God to open their wombs. Their mommies are on my heart daily.

A wonderful guy that we grew up with at Broadway, Jason, is fighting cancer. He has a sweet wife and 3 precious children. I have attached the link to his care pages for those of you who want to keep up with this. Jason Rogers grew up with us. His wife Lauren Pruett Rogers is my age and went to ACU. Jason's brother-in-law and Sister-in-Law are Zach and Tami Pruett. Tami is Kamara's twin sister. Can you imagine what this family is dealing with?

Also, a dear friend's marriage seems to be ending. Even though our friend fought for what was right and did everything they could, sometimes situations on this Earth are not up to us and Satan has a small victory.

On a less significant note, Corey's ear drum ruptured on Friday and he is STILL in pain. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything she can do for him. And I have the stomach bug, which just wears me out and makes me feel like what is rapidly exiting my body! (TMI)

Jenny's family eloquently wrote something along these lines that I am going to try not to butcher:

In Heaven, there is not amputations, no sickness, no disease, no divorce, no hurting, no infertility, no death. I long for this.

Oh, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Heal our pain. Heal our world. Give peace to these precious families who are hurting. Give support to those who feel alone. Please give healing to those who are hurting. And help us, Your Church, to be your hands and feet and minister to them in the way that you would want us to.

On a final note, my friend Lynley posted this link to a post that Jenny wrote on her blog in 2006. In honor of her and her life, I am going to post a link to that post. May it bless you and may it remind US ALL what our lives are truly about. http://kindermommy.blogspot.com/2006/01/random-nothings.html


Lord, what Satan intends for evil, please return it for good and to be used for your glory.

The Ultimate Healing

Jenny went to heaven today. Heavens gain is our loss. Thank you for praying for her and being with her family and friends and on the journey.

Big Sister and Lil Bro

More Prayers!

1. Please continue to pray for Jenny. Both of her legs were amputated below the knee today. https://www.carepages.com/carepages/JennyBizaillionUpdates

2. My dear friend Kamara from college delivered a baby girl today at 24 weeks. http://thecoxcorner.blogspot.com/

3. Brian and Melissa Deaver, are expecting twins. She is 17 weeks along, and was admitted to the hospital yesterday having contractions. She is on medication right now to stop them, but comes off of it tomorrow. Please pray that these babies will stay put for the full term!

Big Sister Date and Valentine Weekend

Here are my little Valentines

Friday was Carley's Valentines party. They had a huge party and dance at their school. The kids could dress up or wear normal clothes, whatever they wanted. They played music like YMCA, Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, and stuff like that. What was my daughter doing? Yes, my little fairy tale lover was SLOW DANCING in the corner with her boyfriend K. I just about died. I tell you, Carley loves a good romance!! Sheesh! All the others were running ramped in the middle, but not my girl.
That night we took Carley on a big sister date. Corey stayed with my mom and we took Carley to Bueno, where we had a preshow meal with the Kings, and then to see the Disney Live Road Show. She LOVED it! It was SO fun and so cute! Carley loved the attention and the time alone with both of her parents. She did miss her brother too, which was sweet. :) She was in awe of the show. There was the Mickey Mouse gang, Tigger, the Cinderella crew, and the stars of Toy Story. Carley loved it and especially loved all the confetti at the end.
The next morning we went to IHOP with my folks and began a really sweet family day. Lots of playing and cuddling with both kids. Cody surprised us with a cake from COLD STONE!!! He also gave me a new Willow Tree angel that I love and he bought Carley one too. :) And my sweet mom brought be a baggie of the white conversation hearts, which are my favorite.
That afternoon we went to the Tech Men's Basketball game against A&M with the Simpsons. We all love that sweet family, but Carley and Hudson are really funny together. She LOVES that kid. Parker and Corey were good troopers through all the noise.

Then about 11:00 that night Corey woke up SCREAMING! He never cries and he literally cried ALL night. Poor baby had a tummy ache and we did everything we knew to do. He didn't sleep more than 20 minutes all night until about 6:30 am when he finally pooped. It was SO sad and really exhausting for Cody and I too. Then Carley woke up sick. She had a low fever and a horrible sore throat. We missed church and waited for the clinic to open. Sweet girl had a sinus infection that was pretty strong. The rest of the day was spent in our pjs.

It was a great weekend, but I sure am tired! Glad my kiddos are better and SO very thankful for my Valentine, Cody. It was not the most romantic of weekends, but it was a great reminder of love and being there for our family and for each other. Cody makes each day brighter.

True Love

This song is not new. It has been a favorite love song for many years, but it was covered by Selah and has really spoken to me about my journey with God the past couple of years. I hope it blesses you as well. Take a listen to the whole thing and see if you can find a way back to God today as well.

Also, thank you for praying for Jenny. Please keep doing this. They are in an amazing battle.

Happy Valentine's Day. I will post pictures soon of some of our fun

P.S - Here is the link in case the youtube video has quirks through blogger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2671nJMXv8

Pray for Jenny!!!

Jenny Ross Bizaillion is a precious, precious girl. We became friends our Freshman year when we lived a few doors down the hall. We continue to stay in touch via Facebook and blogs. Many of you have probably blog stalked her before.

Basically about a week ago, Jenny found out she had the flu. On Thursday she was hospitalized because it turned into pneumonia. Today she it became sepsis. Currently her lungs, kidneys, and heart are starting to fail. She has been put on continual dialysis. It is not good at all.

She is literally fighting for her life right now. She is married to a precious man named David, mother to a sweet girl named Malaya, and sister to Josh and Jonathan who are just wonderful. This is a very scary time for her family. Most healthy 31 year olds don't start the week with the flu and end the week like this.

Please pray for this family and visit her care page for more updates.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

In August, Carley was the Shining Star Student of the Week at her school. It was fun. She got to be the line leader and go first at Show and Tell. Big Stuff. :) In October, Ms. Sharon started adding a poster to the Star mix. She usually tells the parents on Friday so they can make a poster with the kids over the weekend. We didn't have school of Friday because of the snow so I was surprised at the end of the day yesterday to see Carley was Shining Star again. I guess the first rotation had happened so it was time to be stars all over again. Cody had arranged a mini-spa for me last night that was going to take all night so I knew I didn't have time to do the poster. I told this to Carley's teacher and she offered to let Carley be the Star for two weeks. I knew this was not a good idea, because two weeks of star attention would turn her into quite a diva!

So I stopped and bought a poster board on the way home and some stick on letters. I came home and asked Cody if he would do the poster with Carley. He was super excited. I pulled about 20 pictures for Carley and Cody to choose from and left.

It was hard as a mom not to do this with her. I had visions of this detailed and elaborate poster that I wanted my little Star to have. I knew which pictures I would pick and all of that. I wanted her to have a poster that showed the whole class how much she is loved and what she loves from my perspective.

Well the poster I came home to was PRECIOUS! It did not have the decoration, layout, pictures, or annotations I would have picked, but it was made by Carley and it was perfect. She picked her favorite pictures and told Cody what to write underneath each one. They were SO cute. Also, it is just supposed to be a photo collage, but Carley had her daddy go find some pictures on the Internet of Macaroni and Cheese, Hot Dogs, Fazolis, and a big pink 4. She wanted to tell her class all about HER!

I am so glad I was not home to "perfect" the poster. I will treasure this because it is her opinion of her little world. When I took it to her teacher today, Carley was SO excited. She told Ms. Sharon all about it and that she had picked out every part. When Carley went off to play, Ms Sharon told that it was her favorite poster of the year because it had really been done from the student perspective and not the parent's.

Just to give a little example of her annotations, I have to share a couple. Under her Easter picture I would have written something like "Easter 2009 or Easter when I was 3". Carley wrote "I look like Princess Aurora". Under the picture of her holding Corey I would have written something like,"I love my baby brother". Carley wrote, "This is my first day as a big sister".

Congratulations, Miss Shining Star. We love you!