Beauty Shots {Red and White Striped Knit Ruffles}

We are slowly but surely getting samples made and photographed, of our striped knit ruffles. We are thrilled with how popular they are. And just think, we still have six more colors/stripes in our stash that you haven't seen yet. Eeek!!!

Here is the red and white you can find in {our shop}. Perfect with Raggedy Ann for the 4th of July.



The narrower stripes are more difficult to line up perfectly at the ruffle and the leg seams, but Amy nailed it again. So proud of that girl!



I think I would have a heart-attack if I had to line these up. So I'll stick to the embroidery...for now.







Also, a quick note to say that my dad's leukemia is back and he is on hospice which means his white blood cells are basically non-existent, his platelets are dangerously low and he has chosen no further treatment. Prayers are greatly appreciated.

So I have no idea what this summer will look like. I'm leaving our days wide open and available for impromptu visits and giving him as many opportunities to spend time with us as he can handle. Just yesterday he and mom sat in my yard and watched the kids and I plant some annuals. He ate popsicles with us and had enough stamina to walk around to the back and let me explain all the landscaping I'm doing in the backyard. He adores gardening and had plenty of tips and advice to share. I hope I can get it all done in time for him to enjoy it too. I'd love to have a little photoshoot with "Boppa" and his grandkids in front of our new hydrangea filled backdrop.

Amy and I aren't exactly sure what our next designs will be or how much we will have to offer that's new for summer. We have a couple of things we'd like to make real soon but we also wonder if we shouldn't just get a jump on Christmas designs now, since we skipped that last year. So you'll have to wait and be surprised with whatever is next. :)

The shop is open and filled with as much as we can handle, so if we are open, feel free to keep shopping. If we are temporarily closed, then we needed a break to catch up. This is when I am so thankful to have an awesome partner to work with. We are both able to pick up the slack whenever the other needs it. That is priceless!

"Got you, Mommy"

The sweetest thing happened.

And I will never forget it.

I was sitting folding laundry as Sam made his way to me through the stacks. He stood behind me and flung his little body onto my back. Wrapped his sweet chubby baby-but-really-a-BIG-boy arms around my neck and said in my ear "Got you, Mommy" with a giggle.

Be still my heart!

There are no photographs. There are no videos.

But the memory will forever be burned into my heart.

So when it's 1am and you can't sleep, but you lie there thinking of a friend on the homecoming of their new babe. You know the Lord is asking you to pray.

"Lord, I pray that all is well for Jenn tonight.

That she is savoring every moment,

every breath, every tear and every giggle.

I look forward to the day when she can hear her son's sweet voice say

"Got you Mommy."

...and so much more...

Amen.

I think I'm in shock!

My mom just called us to say they have the results back from the bone marrow biopsy they took from my dad yesterday.

When he was diagnosed 2 months ago, his bone marrow was 95% cancer. Usually when people are diagnosed with Leukemia, it's only 5%. The type of Leukemia he has (ALL) is extremely aggressive. We've heard that over and over from his Dr.'s.

But, as of right now, his bone marrow shows NO signs of cancer!!!

Wow! We can hardly believe it.

To be honest, the way things had been going, we were pretty sure it was going to come back showing no change, no move in the right direction. And that he would possibly choose no more treatment. It's been a bleak couple of weeks.

But God is working a miracle in his body and I am so thankful for all of you that have been praying for him. That you are a part of that miracle makes my heart just melt. Yes, I'm a bit weepy right now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for lifting my dad up to the one who heals. And thank you to the Great Physician for answering our prayers.

This battle is not yet over. The next step is to get him healthy enough for a stem cell transplant. Thankfully his brother is a match and lives in town. But we've got to get that pneumonia cleared up and his strength back.

Calling all prayer warriors

My dad was taken to ICU last night. His blood pressure was dropping rapidly yesterday and they thought maybe he was “septic”. I stayed until midnight last night when they told us he was stable (that was with a 75/43 blood pressure). But this morning it’s still not under control. They’ve been giving him blood to increase the volume (thus increase the pressure) and now he’s on meds that are supposed to help. However, they can only give him up to the max dose before that won’t help anymore. He’s halfway to that max dose and so far his body hasn’t kicked in to start regulating it today. If it doesn’t and they reach the max then they won’t be able to stop it from dropping completely. He would die. They said his condition is tenuous. Not sure exactly what that means to them.

David is picking the girls up from school today and then bringing them to the hospital to see him. He had wanted them to come at 11pm last night, but we decided to wait. I’ll stay home with Sam since he can’t be in the ICU, and then I’ll go back again tonight. My mom stayed with him all night. She said that he’s in good spirits, but also convinced he won’t live past tonight. He looks awful, like a typical chemo patient I guess. His stomach is greatly distended which can also mean the cancer has spread to the abdomen or may be part of that “septic” thing they were talking about. Mom forgot to ask the Dr. about that when he came in at 5am. She’ll ask the oncology Dr. when they hopefully visit this morning too. They just did a chest extra since he also has pneumonia (which alone is not good) and they’re doing blood work. He had just finished up an intense round of chemo (he has terrible mouth sores from that) and yesterday his body rejected a platelet transfusion he had (just one of many). Please keep him in your prayers today. It could be a pivotal day for him.

A Dad update

Please continue to pray for my dad. The genetic test came back last week and said "prognosis is dire." And wouldn't you know, the Dr. just left it in his room for him to read alone, with no time to discuss it until the next morning? For reals people. Talk about a poor bedside manor. Come to find out the next day that "prognosis is dire" was only referring to the fact that the chromosomes in his bone marrow have actually changed and a "chemo only" treatment won't be enough. So prognosis for an only chemo treatment was dire. He will need a stem cell transplant in about 4 months to aid the chemo. You'd think they could just say that instead of letting a patient think the worst for 20 hours. Grrr... His siblings are being tested for the cell transplant and then I'm next in line. Please pray that one of us is a match!

Up until today he has only been on chemo, no steroids with it, which is what they use when treating adults with this. That's because he's extremely allergic to steroids. They did a test this week-end to see if the chemo had made any changes yet (it should have). There has been no change yet. At all. So now today they are starting him on steroids, which we were hoping to avoid. They will give him something else to combat the effects but we have no idea if that will work. Please pray that it does. This is serious stuff and he needs it in order for the chemo to do it's job.

"God is in control...God is in control...God is in control..."

You can pray for me too. I am stressed to the max these days. And in my case my sciatic nerve flairs up when I'm under any kind of stress, physical or mental (usually it's just mental). It's all I can do to walk, the pain is so great. But I'm really good at hiding it too. Oh how I need this vacation (2 weeks, yay!). Do you think a Dr. would write an Rx for muscle relaxers? It's the only thing that helps my sciatica. But I would feel silly even asking, so I'm sure I won't. Besides, I don't have time for one more appointment. Oh well...

Gotta run, the kids are in the bath and there is a lot of screaming going on. This is going to be a looooong day!

Update on my dad

I can't even tell you how comforting it is to know that so many people are praying for dad and our family. I told my mom yesterday and she was so glad to hear it. So thank you all SO much!

Just found out for sure that my dad has "Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia." He starts chemo tomorrow and will be in the hospital for 6 weeks straight. They will also give him a small does of steroid with it, but he's extremely allergic to it (makes him bonkers, yes, that's the actual word his Dr. uses since he's never been able to handle them for treating his MS) so they may have to pull that at some point. Most patients get high doses of steroids with chemo as that's the best combo.

They are also doing a chromosome test but won't have results back for a week. Depending on what the markers are he could have anywhere from 5-25 years. Please pray it's the 25 year type! He's also having a full CT scan and brain MRI today to see if there is anything else of concern. Please pray that nothing else turns up.

And to make this even harder, Sam has had a head cold and the rest of us could be carriers so we haven't been able to get to the hospital to visit him. His immune system is impaired right now and will be for some time. Please pray that we get healthy quickly and stay that way so we can visit him regularly.

Also, I'm thankful that my dad has been retired for a couple of years now and that my mom will be able to retire this April. and that they only live one mile from us. What a blessing that it is!

Thank you for all your prayers. Keep 'em coming.

((HUGS))
~Angel

Prayer Request {for my dad}

Just got off the phone with my mom and dad and it's not good news. My dad has been feeling very run-down with little to no energy for the past 6 weeks or so. Thinking it was his MS, they waited it out hoping it was just a dip in the up and down cycle he's somewhat used to.

But, yesterday after feeling discomfort in his chest and having shortness of breath he went in. They admitted him to the hospital right away of course, given his history. Bloodwork showed that his platelet count was only 3 when it should have been 150. If he had gotten any cut he would likely have not stopped bleeding. They've noticed lots of bruising too. So after being transferred to a more capable hospital for platelet transufions, they took a bone marrow sample. The Dr. there is 99.9% sure he has cancer. *gasp* That's the last word I ever wanted to hear about my dad. I've already lost my first mom to that horrible disease. They also said that it's aggressive given how low his platelet count was. We'll know this afternoon what type exactly and tomorrow the severity and course of treatment.

I would greatly appreciate prayers for my dad, my mom and I and the Dr.'s treating him. God is in control and I'm doing my best not to worry.

God hears us when we pray

Do you remember my post about my friend Lisa? Many of you said you were praying so I wanted to give you an update on how God has answered our prayers thus far, in case you aren't following her Caring Bridge journal. By the way, you just need to create an account with Caring Bridge (super easy) to have access to her journal. You can also read her family blog here.

On August 29th, Jason wrote:

"Last Saturday morning we were at Abbott meeting with a Neurosurgeon who told Audrey and I the love of my life had 1-2 weeks to live. In the 24 hours following that meeting 2 more doctors told us high-does steroids may give her some minor movement in her left side but any significant improvement was not likely. One week later Lisa, Jack and I were enjoying the best eats in town at the state fair! Praise God and thank you Jesus for your finished work on the cross where you bore ALL sin, sickness and disease so we don't have too!!

...What we are experiencing is a miracle! It would be easy to simply say the steroids (or some other logical explanation) are why she is walking around; but the Glory belongs to God alone! Please stand with us in resisting the tendency to explain away this awesome miracle. God never promised anymore than today; but today I can take a walk with my bride - something the doctors said would never happen again!"

Lisa was at a Hospice care center from Friday August 27th to Wednesday Sept 1st. She continued to receive Hospice services at home. And she gradually regained her mobility. So much so that they were just able to take a trip to Orlando for Jack's 6th Birthday! Praise the Lord!

Here is what she wrote on her Caring Bridge this morning:

"Well, I got a call from my beloved oncologist, Dr. Steven Duane, last night at 9pm! He had talked with the Brain Tumor Specialist and both agreed that since I've been doing SO WELL, all of the changes they saw were likely only treatment-related (from chemo). They all want me to sign off of hospice! Praise God! :) Making great strides every day~ thank you Jesus"

She is still in a fight for her life, so please join with me in continuing to pray for Lisa and her family.

Lisa, we are so very thankful to God for answering our prayers and giving you more time with your precious family. May he continue to heal your body. Amen.

Prayers greatly needed...

...of peace, comfort and of course a miracle, for my sweet friend Lisa.

After a summer of chemo and radiation, the tumor in her brain has not given up. She will be moved shortly to hospice care. Please keep Lisa, her husband Jason and their son Jack in your prayers. She has been so strong through all of this (even the second time around), she is a fighter. I know she would greatly appreciate any additional prayer warriors.

Please pray for Kate

Kate was a perfectly normal 5 year old little girl enjoying the summer with her family, until June 29th (just 24 days ago), when she went to the doctor because of a tremor in her hand. She started chemo today. Please read her story here and pray for Kate and her family. I know they would do the same for you if it was your little girl. I just spent the last hour reading every journal entry and now I am on my knees in prayer for this beautiful family. Please join me.