Beach Fun

Noah and I made a last minute flight "home" to Panama City Beach, Florida this past week. As I said in my earlier posting, my doctor gave me approval to travel and my Aunt Mamie's doctor gave her some time off between her experimental treatments (she's fighting bone and brain cancer) to go to the beach for our annual Beach Week trip with our family from Nashville. Kelly, Mom and Dad were there and we stayed in our condo in PCB and the Nashville clan (the Masons) stayed in their places in Destin.

On Saturday, we all got together and had a wonderful time. It was my cousin Leigh Ann's birthday so I knew we were going to throw her a little party. But what I didn't know was that my family had planned a surprise shower for Ellyotte! She got so many beautiful and PINK things - I was overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. I got tons of smocked outfits, blankets, a pink tub, towels - everything I wanted for my baby girl. Our suitcase was overweight coming back home!

Seeing Aunt Mamie was really great. She's had cancer for many, many years. It started as breast cancer and she fought that valiantly. But after a while, it invaded her bones and now her brain. She's a fighter - no doubt - but this is not what you want a loved one to have to suffer through. So being together as a family was a very special event - it is always so hard to get everyone together in the same place, at the same time.

If you could be praying for her, I would appreciate it. She's been undergoing experimental treatments following long chemo and radiation treatments that didn't work like the doctors had hoped. And this last experimental treatment didn't "take" either - the spots on her rib cage grew and the spots on her brain stayed the same.

So when she gets back to Nashville, she will begin another experimental treatment and as her husband of 50+ years, Uncle Bob (who married us) said "be a guinea pig again."

Please pray for her. She's an incredible woman of God and says daily that the "doctors' reports haven't yet caught up with God's report." Yet while her spirits are strong, her little body is not and it is painful to watch someone you love so much suffer at all. I will keep you posted but I ask that you remember her.

She's my mom's oldest living sister. My mom was the youngest of 6 and Mamie was the 3rd of the 6. She is who Noah got his gorgeous red hair from - and we are so thankful for that gene she passed down! Noah wouldn't be the same without that incredible hair color. Maybe it is that hair color that gives Aunt Mamie AND our Noah their awesome feisty attitudes and fighting spirits.

We flew back into Louisiana last night and I am WIPED OUT. But my sweet husband has been good to make me take naps and rest. I can't believe that we are about 7 weeks from Ellyotte's c-section. On one hand, it is going fast. Yet on the other, this 100 degree Louisiana heat and humidity is dreadful! I am soooo bloated. And the heat only exhausts you further. But, babies are worth it, right?!

Our home has flooded.... You read it right. So Dan stayed behind this past week to deal with that. The dishwasher repairman (4 times over) didn't reconnect it correctly when we called in service on the machine time and again. So when we noticed wetness in our guestroom, we called the plumber through our home warranty service.

Yep... half of our entire home is flooded from the foundation up. We are waiting for the insurance adjustor to come on Tuesday following the long holiday and give us an estimate. But ServPro came on Saturday to begin drying out our home and left 4 dryers and one de-humidifier (at the cost of $250 A DAY) and will come back tomorrow to check on things. They said to get ready for some costly repairs. Our deductible in $1000 and we have already far exceeded that.

Moral of the story: Do NOT ever rely on Sears service... Our home is flooded because of their carelessness! And what a frustration - carpet, tile in kitchen, cabinets, baseboards, and possible furniture have to be replaced and we are having a baby in a month and a half. Another prayer request: pray that our home is repaired in time for Ellyotte's arrival! I couldn't bring myself to bring her home to this should she decide to come early. However, I have to add that we are still incredibly blessed. A home flooding is nothing compared to what some people are dealing with in their lives so for us to complain over this water damage isn't something we want to be guilty of. So, Dan and I have chosen to be THANKFUL that our home was not destroyed and that the damage is fixable. Annoying, yes. Devestating to our lives, NO.