2010 - moments in life

A few of our most significant moments of 2010:

• announcing our pregnancy with baby #3 (Ellie!)
• finding & talking to another family with a son with Will's syndrome - so few in the world with his diagnosis... it was so exciting to find this family & talk with them!
• Will was potty trained!  And praise the Lord - it was so easy!  (By the grace of God, this was really simple for us... God knew we needed something easy!)
• Will noticed & verbalized his awareness of his limb differences for the first time.
• We yelled "Move That Bus" and worked on our friends's, the Carr's, home with Extreme Home Makeover.
• We went to Boston, walked on the field at Fenway Park while the Red Sox & Yankees were warming up, & watched Will's first MLB game.  What an experience of a lifetime!  "Go B's!"
• I began to really study what God's word says about disabilities and whether He allows them or ordains them or wants them... what His role is in the formation of a baby with differences ... & had no idea I was about to have to stretch even more  - I was pregnant with Ellie but had no idea at the time of my intense study that she too would have a disability that differed from Will's.  After her diagnosis, I have found such comfort in the truths I learned during my time of study.
• We learned our unborn baby would also face some physical challenges - we had no idea the scope of what was to come in our initial finding
• We decided to open the envelope!
• We prepared a nursery for a baby girl - not knowing if she would ever come home to it
• We moved Will to a big boy room.
• I discovered that grief can be so great as to cause physical symptoms
• Upon our doctor's advice, I began experiencing life with Ellie in the Belly.  I didn't know if she could survive outside the womb, so I created a list of things to do with my daughter as long as I had her.  We saw movies together, I read out loud to her, I taught her how to fold towels and cook and bake her daddy's favorite cookies and choose produce.  She played pirates with her big brother and water gun fights with our family.  I talked to her and sang to her and adored her and loved her before I held her.
• Ellie pulled some crazy inutero stunts - twice causing our doctor to tell us if she didn't shape up in 48 hours, we would be headed to Dallas to deliver early - at 22 and 26 weeks. Thankfully, she always got her act together just in time!
• Will continued to amaze us with his swimming - diving to the bottom of the pool at age 2.5 and bringing up rings, doing various strokes, and even teaching himself how to flip off the side into the water!
• We celebrated 7 years of marriage!
• I wrestled and God grew my faith by leaps and bounds... and continues to stretch me and refine me
• Will caught his first fish!
• We were given permission by our doctor to travel on our vacation for a mere 48 hours.  It was a fast and furious and glorious trip to the ocean!  Ellie in the Belly got to to the ocean and on her first family vacation.
• I became overwhelmed with what life was beginning to look like... and still am.
• Our favorite pirate turned 3!
• Our daughter, Eleanor Grace, was born and our hearts grew and our lives changed forever and we are so blessed
• We began Ellie's therapy program at 6 days old... and stayed in Dallas for 10 weeks post birth.
• I began to live out what it means to be a receiver of grace... we have been blessed by so many
• While in Dallas, Will joined soccer tots & lil' sluggers and had a blast!
• I began to redefine how I trust God in all things (still working on this one.)
• We claimed God's truths over our children - they are fearfully and wonderfully made.
• We spent Ellie's one month birthday in a children's hospital & I wrote to the "FDA" regarding my thoughts on how future doctors (ie: med students) should treat pediatric patients with differences
• Ellie had her first surgery.
• After 12 weeks away, we finally brought our daughter home for the first time!
• Will started preschool & loves his teacher, "Cinderella."
• We enjoyed holidays like Thanksgiving & Christmas as a family of 4!  We are so thankful!
• Ellie had her first big party - a sip & see full of fun friends and memories
• We had our fourth annual team of "Where There's a WILL, There's a Way" at the Dallas White Rock Marathon & Will ran his first race!

So many moments of life - laughter and tears and being vulnerable with each other and learning about life and God and faith and crying and smiling and cuddling and bathing and feeding and growing and playing.  Our life is so good.  We are thankful for all of the moments of 2010  - the hard moments, the painful moments, the joyous moments.  God is weaving all of them together so perfectly as He writes our story.  

Thank you for reading our story and continuing to encourage us.