After cancer.

I shared with you that my dad had cancer last year, and beat it.  That was the good news.  The bad news is that it left him with Pulmonary Fibrosis, which is untreatable, and it is terminal.  Average life expectancy from diagnosis is 3 years, and his case is progressing very rapidly.  He's on oxygen 24/7, using a combo of tanks and a concentrator, and recently he's been using a wheelchair almost all of the time he's not in bed or on the couch.  He's lost a lot of weight (he's about 6ft and now weighs around 135 lbs).  He's still my dad, but he's a completely different person than he was a year ago.

If I'm being 100% honest, I don't expect him to make it even three years.  I will count myself extremely blessed if he even sees Christmas.  I don't think he believes he'll make it that long either.  We discussed recording his life story (he'll talk, I'll type, as he can't really write or type anymore) and he's said he wants to hit the highlights first and then go back and fill in as we have time.

The good news is, my parents are moving to our area.  They haven't sold their home yet, but God has worked his awesomeness and some friends of ours are working for a Christian camp this summer and were looking for someone to rent their house.  The timing of it was such that we looked at the situation and it was OBVIOUS that God had worked this out, and the house is set up to accommodate my dad's needs (right down to hardwood floors so his wheelchair will roll easily).  This will give us the opportunity to spend time with my dad and also help my mom out with his care.  There's a lot of stuff going on with my grandparents right now and my mom has had to deal with a lot of that as well, so this will mean my mom can take care of things there and my dad can stay with us as needed.  He's actually been with us all this week and it's been great having time with him and also seeing him enjoy time with Emersyn.

Having him here this week though, its clear what his health is now like, and it impossible to set aside the fact that he is rapidly declining.  While its nowhere near what my dad and mom are dealing with, I've been an emotional mess, and I don't really see that changing.  I just want him to get better, and I know without an absolute miracle, its not going to happen.  He's dying.

The other good news is, my dad is a believer in Jesus Christ, so we know when his time here is through, he'll have no more pain in heaven, and we'll see him again.  This is a great comfort, but really doesn't take the sting away from the idea of losing him.

I know a lot of you prayed for my dad when we found out he had cancer, and I ask that you continue those prayers.  

April Showers Bring May Flowers: Party Time!!!

Party time has come and gone, and I'm so excited to share the excitement with you all!  First up our theme- April Showers Brought Our May Flower.  

Of course, I didn't know April showers would actually bring us May snow showers, and we had snow on the ground the day before E's birthday. We had planned to have the french doors in our living room open to our back patio and have seating out there as well, but of course, that didn't pan out.  Things were a bit of a tighter squeeze, but I think it turned out nicely.  My sister-in-law came in a couple of days early to help with all the party prep, and everyone pitched in the day of.  It was definitely a group effort.

The food table was my main decoration point.  Each of the foods had a flower theme.  We had White Cheddar Poppy-Corn, Snapdragon Spinach Dip, Pretty Peony Pinwheels, Sunflower Sandwiches, Petunia Pasta Salad, Violet Veggie Shooters,  and Blooming Button Mushrooms.

And my favorite... a Cloudy with a chance of Fruit Pizza station.

The cake had a layer that was rain themed, and then petals for the bottom layer.  It was delicious.  We also had a smash cake for Emersyn, along with an old wooden highchair I found at a flee market and painted pink.

The favors were little flower shaped sugar cookies- "Pockets Full of Posies".  I put together a slideshow of Emersyn's first year, and I made her monthly photos into a banner.  The drink station was set up right by the front door, along with a print I made highlighting some things about Emersyn.

Here's that print up closer, and the decorations in our dining room.

By the way, I waited until the last minute to order that print because a 5th tooth had been in the works for a couple of weeks.  And, she totally popped the 5th tooth AFTER I ordered the print haha.

Our little family:)  In this picture you can see the growth chart that was our gift to E- handmade by her daddy.  I cut out the stencils for the numbers and he painstakingly dremmeled them out, and stained the board.  We're excited to get it hung and see how she grows over the years!

And then there was cake!!!  E has quite the sweet tooth and she was very entertaining!

These days if you ask Emersyn a question, she'll shrug up her shoulders while we say "I don't know".  It is so cute.  She picked it up in less than 20 minutes, which is impressive until I tell you we've been trying to teach her to blow kisses for three months.

 Oh how we love this kiddo.

E wasn't really digging in in the unfamiliar highchair, so we let her go to town on a mat on the floor.

 She did not disappoint.

Yup, I got frosting all over in the process of cleaning her up and had to change.  Totally worth it.  Frosting is surprisingly moisturizing:)

We had a great turnout, and several people drove several hours to celebrate our girl's special day.  We're so thankful she has so many people that love her.  The bottom picture is my bestie, Jessica, and her little boy, Knox, who is a couple months younger than Emersyn.  Someday we'll be happy we have these photos of them for their wedding slideshow. Muahaha.

 Near the end of the party we made sure to get photos with our families.

It was such a wonderful day!