Home Sweet Home

Some long overdue updates... :)

Our move went as good as can be expected. We had lots of help and I said more than once that day that I'm really glad I'm not a guy! They worked so hard, carrying heavy stuff up and down steps and in and out of the truck and houses. It was exhausting just watching them! Everything went smoothly, but it was a long, overwhelming day. I don't think I realized how much work it was going to be, but we did it and it's over :)!

Our first week in our new home has been wonderful!! The kids have adjusted so much better than we anticipated. I am so surprised that none of them have asked to go home or that they haven't been talking about our old house much. My mom kept saying before we moved that they will adjust fine because what makes it home is our family. I guess she was right because they have amazed us :).

Unpacking has been going pretty fast and everyday I feel more settled and organized. Jim's parents were here for a little shy of 2 weeks and they were a huge help! Between my mom and my in-laws, they all worked and have been working so hard to help us get everything just right :).

One of our new neighbors brought us some cookies the other day :). Everyone that we've met so far have been so friendly. We love our neighborhood!

And here are a few pics of our new place :). We still haven't hung much on the walls and have a ways to go, but we're getting there. We are painting the living room and dining room right now so I'll post pics when we're done with those rooms.

Great Room

Foyer (we're painting the dining room pictured in the back)

Kitchen

Our Bedroom

And a few pics of the peanuts :)...

The Crew :)

Caleb & his second mommy

Caleb pulling up on everything :)

And I wanted to update on our old home and how God so amazingly pulled that all together for us. There is a family from our church that is moving in in a couple weeks! We couldn't have hand picked a better family to love, care for and be blessed by our old home. God's timing is so perfect and we are so excited for them and so thankful for how perfectly it has all worked out :)!

And lastly, the video that I put a clip of in my last post at our church went great! It is such an encouragement to us when we see God using our story! Our church has some big plans for the future with taking our story to the community, but more to come on that soon :). If you'd like to see the video click HERE.

Thanks so much for checking in and hope you all are enjoying fall :)!!

Abbey's Story

*Be sure to pause the blog music*

Western Reserve - Grace Church

1066 East Aurora Rd.

Macdonia, Ohio

Saturday, September 25th - 5:30 pm

Sunday, September 26th - 9:30 am & 11:15 am

This weekend our church is doing a documentary on our journey through Abbey's leukemia. Our Pastor (Pastor Jason Haymaker) is doing a series called "Our of the Ashes" and it's about pain and suffering and why bad things happen to good people. There are a very talented group of people working hard on the video and our prayer (as it has been since the day Abbey was diagnosed) is that God would be glorified through this journey that we have been on. We know God is going to use our Abbey in big ways as we share about this great trial in our lives and the way that God has loved and cared for our family in huge ways over these past two years. If you live in the area, we would love if you could be there! If you have any questions, please e-mail us at colbert06@yahoo.com. Above is the trailer that they showed this past weekend in church so I attached it so you could see too :). We hope to see many of you there :).

I will soon do an update of all going on here in our new home. We have been busy, busy, busy, but all is going so well and we are blessed beyond words by this gift that God has given us :). The kids are adjusting beautifully and we are just so very excited :). Hope this finds you all doing well!

I totally should be packing...

By about 10 p.m., I have been hitting a brick wall and have been too tired to do one more thing. I should be packing right now, but I'd much rather sit here and veg while the kids all sleep peacefully in their beds and I wait for Jim to get home from work.

We have gotten a lot done, but there is still a lot to do. Last time we moved, was 8 years ago and it was just Jim and I moving from a tiny apartment to this house. I think we were able to pack our place up in an hour. Now, with four kids, we have accumulated so much more stuff and the packing is a little overwhelming. Jim keeps reminding me that we need to just take it one room at a time and eventually it will all be in boxes. I roam from room to room way too much and end up having projects started all around the house. We'll get there!

Things at the new house are coming along beautifully! I will post some pics of the inside once we are in :). Yesterday I spent the day painting Jacob's room (along with my step dad and dear friend - thanks John and Marcie :)) and it was so much fun! Painting is so rewarding because you can see the progress so fast. His room looks great! We did three walls tan and the accent wall is a greenish/brown. Jacob is very into anything camo/army so he thinks it's pretty sweet.

Thursday, Jim's parents are coming into town which will be so nice! We can't wait to see them! The kids are itching with excitement and we all can't wait to show them our new pad! This Friday is Abbey's clinic/chemo day. We are going to be accompanied by a couple guys from church who will be videoing some of her visit. They are doing a story on our journey for an upcoming video at church and they want to get some footage of her at the hospital. Should be pretty neat!

Well, thanks for checking in on us :). We sure do love all our blogger friends out there and are so excited to walk with you all through these big changes for our family :). I'll update again soon!

(and a few pics, just for the fun of it!)

Giddy With Excitement!

So all of you guessers were right! Yes, we're moving!!! We are giddy with excitement here!

Jim and I bought our first home 8 years ago and it has been a wonderful little house for us. We started as 2, then a year later went to 3 and now eight years later we have filled this 1300 sq. ft. home to the max with the 6 of us. We have had a couple go's at trying to sell this house over the past few years, but nothing had panned out to sell it. We've had some interest and even an offer, but after hearing nothing after 2nd showings, then a buyers loan falling through we decided to think about renting. A few months back we got hooked up with an awesome realtor (if you're looking for someone, let us know because she is amazing!) who has shown us the positives in renting in today's market by making our property work for us and by allowing ourselves to move into something else while interest rates are so low and while so many great deals are out there. There are tons of bungalows for sale in the same town that we live in and stuff isn't selling much, but is renting like crazy, so we decided to rent this house out for now and then eventually, down the road we will try to sell it again.

So, all that said, we bought a new home!! It's a dream come true for Jim and I :)!! It's beautiful and just perfect for our family. We are going to have so much more room and the layout is exactly what I've dreamed of having for years. The neighborhood is everything that we were looking for too with a community pool, sidewalks and a quiet cul da sac street.

I can't even tell you all the ways that we feel like God perfectly worked things out for us to get this exact house and every minute we spend there we find more things to love about it! We closed last week, but we are spending lots of time there getting everything clean and ready before we officially move in. Next Saturday is our big move day when we will move all our furniture so it will be our first night sleeping there. We can't wait :)!!!

Not only will this be a new house, but in a sense it is a new chapter in our lives. Abbey is almost done with her treatment and we are almost done with this whole cancer thing. As much as we have loved this home, it will always be the place where we brought our precious little cancer patient home to. It will always be the house that we made into a bubble to protect our family from germs while Abbey was in her intense treatment. I will always remember vacuuming up hair from these floors and crying in these bedrooms. We have lots of wonderful memories here too, but we are ready to move on with our lives and be done with this cancer journey.

God has been so very good to our family and we truly feel blessed beyond words with the way that He has cared for us and worked this all out for us. We can't wait to get in our new home and fill it with love, laughter and memories :). Thank you for crying with us through the hard times and being excited with us through the good. It's so fun to be able to do these posts and get to share our blessings and excitement with all of you :)! I will leave you with recent pics of each of the kids since they are growing right before our eyes :). And more pics to come soon as we make memories in our new home :)!!!

Where in the world have we been??

Have you ever felt like you're a chicken with your head cut off? That's kind of how I have felt lately!

BUT.... we have some wonderful news to share soon! Here's a hint for you while you wait... can you guess where we're standing? Details to come soon :)!

Abbey's Party

Abbey's birthday party was a blast :)! The girls had a great time and got to do everything from getting their hair and nails done, to doing crafts, playing games and they even had a fashion show on the red carpet :)!!

Each girl got to pick out a princess dress right when we got there.

They did crafts

Got their hair done

Got manicures

Played games

Won prizes

Did a fashion show

And we ended the day with ice cream :)

It was a lovely day fit for princesses :)!

Abbey is 5!!!

On August 9th, our princess turned 5! We had a family party for her on that day, which was just lovely :). In a couple days, Abbey along with 4 of her closest girlfriends are going to a kid hair salon for a mini spa day. I will be sure to post pics of their up-do's and manicures after her party. How amazing it is that just one short year ago, Abbey had hardly any hair and here we are this year celebrating at a hair salon :)!! God is so good!

Caleb

Caleb is 9 months old already! Seems like we just had him, but then again we totally can't imagine life without him :). I am so very crazy about this baby and just thinking about him makes me smile. His dimples melt my heart and his laugh brings instant happiness. He has brought so much joy since the day I found out we were going to have another baby and in the midst of this cancer journey that we have been on, he has been a blessing like no other. It's crazy to look back and think how we found out I was pregnant with him just 3 short months after we found out our Abbey had leukemia. We must have been crazy to add another baby to the mix of what we were going through, but looking back on it all, God totally knew what he was doing because he is a perfect addition to our family. You are so loved little man :)

Go Abbey Girl!

Friday was Abbey's clinic day and all went well. Her numbers were good and her visit was fine overall. Her normal nurse and nurse practitioner were both on vacation and the doctor that we deal with the most was not in clinic while we were there so we dealt with all different people, which was kind of weird. They are all very knowledgeable and they all know what they're doing, but it's amazing how much we have gotten to be so comfortable with our "regulars". It's usually like going to a good friends house when we go to clinic because we catch up on life with them and there's something very comforting about being with people who have been there since day 1 with us and who know every single thing that has happened medically over these past 22 months with Abbey. Our nurse Kathy knows me so well and no matter what my concerns are (and no matter how small they seem), she takes her time and talks me through everything. I can't tell you the number of times that she's been a shoulder to cry on for me and she can tell in my eyes when I'm worrying about something or needing more information. So, needless to say, it's easier when our normal medical team is there. Abbey breezed through the day though like a champ. She never once complained about not being able to eat (and she wasn't awake from sedation till after 2:00) and she just went with the flow through her chemo, exam and sedation for her lp. I am always so happy when she opens her big brown eyes after it's over and I get to take her home :)!

Wanna know something super cool?? This week Abbey learned how to swallow her pills whole with water instead of them needing to be crushed up and put into bites of food. A while back we had talked to her nurse about little kids swallowing pills and she said sometimes they can learn to do it. We never did ask Abbey if she wanted to try it because we really felt like she was too young to even attempt it. There is one week per month where she has to take three pills each day for a five day period (her steroids 2 times a day plus her oral chemo). Well the other night out of the blue (apparently this has been in the back of her brain since she heard us talking about it at clinic a couple months ago) she asked me if she could try to swallow the pill whole instead of me crushing it up. Of course I said sure and after three sips of water, the pill went down. Since then she has swallowed every pill that I have given her including her chemo (this one I have to cut in half because it's pretty big, but she gets both halves down without a problem :)! She is sooo proud of herself and we are sooo stinkin proud of her too! I think I was about 13 before I learned to swallow pills and I still don't like the feeling, but like with everything else this girl has amazed us with her courage and strength through this journey. Go Abbey Girl :)!

Abbey :)

This Friday, we will go to clinic for Abbey's chemo in her port, spinal tap and spinal chemo. At this point she only gets an lp done once every 3 months, where at the beginning this was weekly. She will be put under sedation for the procedure and won't be able to eat until it's over. For as many times as we've done this, you'd think it would get easier, but sometimes I feel like it gets harder. I can't wait for the day when she's done with her treatment. We sometimes feel like we can see her body just getting tired and worn out from all that she's been through and all the medications that have gone into her these past 21 months. But, we are in the final stretch now and we know we can do it :)! Please pray for all to go smoothly this Friday. For high numbers and for her usual braveness through it all! Thanks :)!

Pool

We have spent lots of time at our local pool this summer. Jacob and Abbey are currently taking swimming lessons Monday-Friday for a 3 week session and they are loving it. Jacob has really strived in his class and just got moved up after mastering all the skills in the class that he was placed in. He's swimming so hard that by bedtime, he's out the second his head hits the pillow :)

Micah prefers running through the fountain most of the time that we're there. Every once in a while, he runs over to the pool and jumps in to me a few times, but he always finds his way back to the fountain :).

The weather here has been beautiful! Hot, hot, hot and just perfect for swimming during the day, and playing outside at night :). I sure wish summertime could last forever!!

Jacob's 7th Birthday, Abbey's first ponytail, our Snugglers and an End Date :)

Life here has been good! On July 7th we celebrated Jacob's 7th Birthday (his actual birthday is the 8th) and it was a super fun day! He invited 14 of his closest buddies to come spend the day at a place called Fun n Stuff and they jumped in inflatables, played video games, did eurobungy, played mini golf and ate pizza and cake. I truly cannot believe that we have a 7 year old already! Jacob has since been building all his new little lego sets and playing with all the other very cool stuff that he got. If you know Jacob at all, you know that he LOVES his toys. Since his birthday, his bed is full of his new stuff and you will often find him sleeping with a toy in his hand. Jacob is such a neat kid and we sure do love him!

Abbey had her first ponytail last week, which is pretty amazing considering last year at this time her hair had just started coming back in! There wasn't a better time than last week to be able to get your hair out of your face as we had some 90 degree days here. The kids have been fishes this summer and have been thoroughly enjoying our nearby pool. Today, Jacob and Abbey started swimming lessons and as we walked out to the car, all they could talk about was going back tomorrow so they could get back in the water.

Caleb is growing so fast and is quickly catching up to Micah! He is at the age now where he just loves his mommy :)! The feeling is totally mutual! He is also pretty crazy about his siblings! Micah often entertains him and keeps him smiling!

Jim is busy with work! He is so happy to be back! This month he is on afternoon shift, which is 3-11 and in the past this is usually a shift that I don't like too much since he's gone for dinner and bedtime, but I will never complain about or dislike a shift again. I'm just so happy that he is working Police shifts and back to doing what he was meant to do!

And lastly a quick update on Abbey. She has been doing beautifully! These last 2 months have been the most normal months since she was diagnosed, 21 months ago. Her numbers have been holding steady where they want them and she is handling all of her medications like a champ. She has had no fevers and has been healthy as can be! She will go back at the end of this month for her chemo in her port and spinal chemo and each clinic visit we know we are one month closer to being done. And the most exciting thing to share... We have an end date for her treatment!!! Her last treatment date will be

January 8th, 2011!!!

I'm going to end on that today as there is nothing that can top that :)!! Thanks for checking in!