Our Best Christmas Gift...

I explained in my last post that we received an interesting, but gracious gift this year. My mom contacted me in early December about a friend of hers that wanted to help Chris and I out financially. Mom called to ask me about how much we owed in medical bills. In my mind, I don't even think I have ever stopped to consider that. We just make payments each month as the bills come in. We just consolidate and then make payments.

This friend and my mom became friends in the second grade, and they had stayed in contact all these years. The couple knew of Cade's medical condition and mom had kept them updated through the last few years.

Mom called me back later in the day and told me that they wanted to help us. (Keep in mind we did not know this couple at all.) There was quite an amount that we owed from when Cade was first born and our insurance didn't cover his surgery at 7 months of age. We had been making payments on that since his birth. My mom made contact with several people to ask for a settlement on the account.(the settlement was about $3000 less than what we owed on the account.) Many of the individuals she talked with that day told her that there was NO WAY they would settle for that amount and had never done that. Guess they don't know my mom. She was pretty persistent and kept calling and the Lord kept working.

When I got home from work that day, mom called to tell me the news. They ACCEPTED the settlement. Not only that, but this gracious couple offered to pay the remainder of the bill. At this point, I was completely speechless. I had no words, and it took me about three weeks to pen a thank you letter. How do you put into words how thankful and appreciative you are to someone you have never met before? This was such a God thing!! He completely orchestrated the entire situation.

Chris and I are so thankful for the Askins. As much as we worry about bills and how we are going to pay them, our Lord is continually asking us to just TRUST...Let it Be!!! Again, as author Sarah Young states, "He is wanting us to exercise our 'trust muscles'.." This was just another time in our lives that He clearly provided for us in a way that we would never have imagined..through complete strangers.
My prayer is that when my worries and stress increase and begin to take a stronghold on my life, I will be reminded of all the ways He has provided for us.
Thank you again to the Askins Family for their gracious and generous gift this Christmas!
To God Alone Be the Glory!!

First Snow of the Year and it was a big One

Sorry for the lack of posting in the last few weeks, we have been extremely busy! We have had a pretty eventful few days. Forecasters were predicting snow for Sunday...only about 1 1/2 ". On our side of town which is West Nashville, we ended up getting about 6 inches. It has been crazy. On top of that, we have had freezing temps as well. Currently it is 19 degrees and it feels like 6..Needless to say we spent about 30 minutes outside today and yesterday.

The weather this year for Nashville has been crazy!! Flood in May, blistering hot weather this summer, and record temps in December! We haven't had snow in December for about 3 years.
So today Chris and I both had our first snow day. Timing was not great due to this being Exam week.

Cade still got some time out in the snow. He shoveled the snow and wanted so bad to build a snowman, but the snow was too powdery..(sp?)

We are gearing up for Christmas. Cade has been so excited this year about Christmas. It was the first year he decorated his tree by himself. He loves all the lights and wants to look at lights on our way home from school each day.
He has learned the carol "Away in a Manger..." too cute!

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! The Lord gave us a special gift this Christmas and I will share that in another post later!!
Love you all!!
(the first pic of cade was taken by our new neighbors..they live across the street from us and happen to be out walking..she is a great photographer!)

"TO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED"

So these past few weeks have been crazy and exhausting for everyone in the Brian household. I took a 5th and 6th grade basketball job, Chris' football team made it to the playoffs, and he is beginning coaching for basketball, and of course Cade and his crazy schedule with doctor appointments. Amidst all the stress we have right now in our lives, I was reminded today, by a quote that says it all.."Too Blessed To Be Stressed." How true is this statement. Of course this time of the year always reminds us of how truly thankful we are and should be.
I am so grateful to the Lord for how he has brought comfort, health, joy, and many other numerous provisions during the course of this year. We are so very blessed!

I am also grateful for family. My sister just recently sent me some pics that she took of her kids. We don't get to see them that often..only when we travel to Ohio for Cade's eye appointments. These pictures are amazing! She is an awesome photographer and not to mention Holland and Addi Kae are too precious!! I am very thankful for her and so proud of how she has continued to seek the Lord in everything that she does. She is an awesome wife, a loving mom, and a wonderful sis! Love you Hill!

Happy Halloween and a few random pics.....

So Cade was a Race car driver for Halloween. It was actually a Pit Crew costume, but we told him it was a race car driver--Lightning McQueen. He had a great time and actually went up to a couple of houses by himself--that was huge!! He was so excited all week for Halloween. We asked him what he was going to say when he went up to the door and he said, "trick or treat, smell my feet.." We eliminated the last phrase to be polite..haha!
The other pics are from school. He had school pictures last week and they didn't take his the day I had him dressed. As you will notice he was NOT cooperative with the photographer, but glad he expressed his true self. This pic has the real CADE written all over it.
We actually found another race car costume today on sale and he had to have it. He looks somewhat like Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights..haha!! Too funny!!!

Enjoy!!

Football and Pumpkin Carving.....

Chris and I took Cade to his first SEC college football game last weekend. It was Vanderbilt v. South Carolina. Yes, the same Carolina team that beat my Alabama team earlier..ugh!!! We had great seats--right behind the Carolina bench. Cade just sat there and took in all the pre-game festivities. He had a pretzel and a pizza before the game even started..haha! He enjoyed it and he loved watching the band at halftime. Not sure if that is good or bad thing..:) We ended up leaving around the 3rd quarter, because Cade at that point was everywhere. He could not sit still. Vandy lost 21-7, but it was a great game!

We carved pumpkins the following day and it was Chris' first time to carve a pumpkin. Neither one of us carved pumpkins growing up, so we do not have any carving skills whatsoever! Thanks to the carving book I picked up, along with some handy-dandy tools we carved 2 pumpkins. Cade loved it, but did not like all the goo in the pumpkins..go figure..he hates to be dirty. He asks every night to light up the pumpkins and he is sooooooo excited about Halloween. He has been counting down the days since last weekend. This year he is a Lightening McQueen racecar driver..it's really a pit crew costume, but we didn't tell him that. It looks adorable on him. He also dressed up his buddy "NASCAR." NASCAR is his puppy he got from Build-A-Bear, and yes he named him NASCAR..haha! They both match! It is the cutest thing ever. Will post pics of that soon!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!

My Celebrity Crush Part II

So most of you know that I am a HUGE fan of Carrie Underwood, so much that I will be traveling to Memphis to see her perform AGAIN!! Yes, this will be the second time, but it was just the best concert ever. This past Wednesday I went to see her here in Nashville with my bestie Tosha. WE had the best time and when we are together the laughter never stops!
This summer my cell phone rang and it was my sister. She wanted to know if I still wanted to see Carrie in concert. Of course my answer was an ECSTATIC YES!!! You see I had been trying for months to get tickets and knew I couldn't afford them at the time, so it was such a blessing for her to call!! And on top of that our tickets were soooo close. You will see in the pics.
It was AMAZING!!!! My favorite part of all was when she sang "Jesus Take the Wheel" and incorporated "How Great Thou Art" into the song! It felt like we were all standing for several minutes in applause.
I think what amazes me about her is how grounded she is. She is in the top of her league with many accolades to her name, but so grounded in the Lord. Love that about her.
Anyway, enough of my rambles. Here are some pics from this week!

Owen Farm

So today, Cade and I went to Owen Farm. Our church has their Fall Festival there each year. We had alot of fun. We visited with the animals, went for a hay ride, went down the big slide, played on the tires, and picked out a pumpkin. Here are a few pics of our fun day!!!

Never a Dull Moment

Well we had some things unexpectedly occur this past week in regards to Cade. Cade's doctor has been wanting to have an MRI done to see what has been the cause of the irritation in his eye. So Wednesday I received a voicemail that they were trying to schedule the MRI and surgery in the same day for Thursday. THURSDAY---which was the very next day!!! So all day on Wed. the surgery coordinator worked on getting this done in one setting. I was shocked, but very thankful this would be one procedure and not two separate. By 4:00 I received the call that it was good to go. Cade would be having an MRI done and then they would be transporting him directly to the OR for surgery.

To make a long story short, Cade was very scared and nervous. Poor thing thought he had to go potty about 5 times before surgery. Sedation went great thanks to our best friend "versed"- his loopy drug that makes him forgetful. Surgery only took an hour. She removed the glue that was causing the irritation that was left from the previous surgery in the summer. He was stitched up and sent home.

We are so thankful for VCH. I know I have said this many times in many posts, but it is the truth. The way they handle these children is amazing!!!

We were home by 3:00 with minor swelling. My dad was able to come down and help and Cade was so thrilled about that! He loves his Papa!! They spent the next day together and had so much fun!

Again, I can't put into words how appreciative Chris and I are of those of you who have walked alongside us since Cade's birth and have prayed for him through numerous procedures!! It amazes me still today that many people that Chris and I have never met lift us up daily in prayer!! Do you know how encouraging that is? To see the body of Christ wrap it's arms around strangers who are struggling? That truly exemplifies Christ's love for us!!!

While we were waiting for Cade to get out of the OR on Thursday, I have been reading our pastor's book Plan B. In one part he talks about all the questions we try to answer in regards to life.. the when, how, where, who...when the only question we should be living out right now is the "why"? This question we already know the answer to and this is the one we should be focused on. The answer to the "why" is to reflect His glory, to bring Him glory. This is where I TRY to keep my head in the midst of all this craziness we call life! We are called to this earth to reflect HIM and to bring HIM glory!! That is it!!!

Cade has done great through all of this!! Most of you know that he bounces back so fast. He went back to school yesterday and has been sharing his experience from last week with all of his teachers. Last night before he went to bed he prayed and thanked Jesus for all of his friends that prayed for him when he was in the hospital. He is getting so big and I can't wait to see how the Lord is going to use him!

K...I think I wrote way too much.. Sorry for all the rants. Thank you all for your continued prayers! We love you!!

The Boys of Fall....

Well, it is football time in the Brian household which means Friday nights are spent at the stadium and Saturdays are spent watching college football! Cade has become very interested and has really enjoyed watching the games with us.. So fun!! We root for Alabama, Texas, the Tennessee Titans and the Dallas Cowboys. Today we had our own football game in the front yard. Me, daddy, and Cade. We had a blast. Here are a few pics! We love this time of year!!!!! "Are you ready for some football????"

The Road that is traveled...

So I have been slacking in "blogger world." I guess when school starts and volleyball begins, my time gets filled pretty quickly. I did want to spend some time updating everyone on how Cade is doing.
This past weekend my parents took Cade to Ohio to visit my sister and her family. It was the first time Chris and I had been without Cade for more than one night. He did great and had a blast!!! He loved playing with his cousin Holland and being with Nana and Papa. It was hard for us however the first night, but both us got much needed rest. When he got home he told us he missed us and kept hugging us all night. Loved that!!
Yesterday, I took Cade fishing. We took hotdogs as our bait and didn't catch a thing. We did get a couple of bites, but nothing! He got more bites on his "Lightening McQueen" fishing pole than I did on mine...ha!

Today he had a checkup on his eye at Vandy. Appointment was scheduled for 10:30 and we ended up leaving around 1. Took forever!!!! Cade has had some mucous collecting in the corner of his eye since surgery so I was curious to find out what could be the cause. Dr. Mawn thinks it could be the glue that was used during surgery to harden the blood vessels that is causing the irritation. To get a better feel of what it could be she wants Cade to have another MRI, which means sedation, which means an IV, which means a a scared little boy. This saddens my heart, but I know this is the road that we are currently on. I wish I could just take this all away for him. He has been so thrilled that his eye "is getting better." It just gets hard when we have to explain to him why we have to keep going back for more procedures. He makes sure every time we visit the doctor that we aren't going to the hospital since they are located next to each other.
I am not sure when this will end or when we will visit the doctor/hospital for the last time. I am not sure if his eye will ever look like the other. I am not sure if it will grow back. I am not sure where this road will take us. One thing that I am sure of is that HE has already laced HIS shoes and traveled this road. HE has walked through deep crevices and over bumpy paths. HIS footprints are clearly marked along the way and I must remember that HE is there walking beside us as we travel down this path called LIFE.

Soli Deo Gloria!!!

The Little Things..

It still amazes me daily how fast time flies. Cade is growing up so fast before our eyes and I can't stand it.. His conversations sound so grown and SOMETIMES I wish I could pause time for a bit. The words he uses now and the way he communicates with his friends and teachers crack me up. He is so big! Here are a few examples:
-Cade was watching cartoon the other day and he said "this cartoon is boring."
-He told his teacher he could not sleep until his lion went to sleep.. (right!)
-He told me last night he was the "goodest" kid because of God.
-He reminds me to feed the fish everyday, or he asks me if I have fed them. (they would probably be dead if I didn't have his reminders.:)
-He is using the potty now without a stool now-which he thinks is great!
-He told me on the way home that I was not the boss! (this one got him in trouble!)
-When talking to him about not talking sassy to us or his teachers, he responded, "well, I don't want to talk about that anymore."

We are in the process, as you can tell, of trying to communicate to Cade that talking back to us or his teachers is not acceptable. Have no clue where he gets that from-:)

I am learning to treasure each moment. I know there will be days down the road for more memories and more "big boy" moments, but for now I will treasure the "right now" moments!

Sweet Conversations...

It has been a while since my last post.. School has started for us and so we stay busy. Cade's pre-school doesn't begin until September, but he has been going with me every morning. He is with his buddies and has loved every minute with them. He has missed them so much!
Yesterday one of his teachers had a sweet conversation with him in regards to his birthmark. Here is how it went:
Cade: "I can't go to sleep right now cause my eye has a birthmark.." (LOL!!)
Teacher: "Well, not sure about that, but how did you get that birthmark?" (of course they know, but wanted to hear what he would say)
Cade: " God gave it to me, cause he loves me."
Teacher: "How did you get it?"
At this point he gets confused about that process, how God came into his house and put that birthmark on his eye, so here was his conclusion:
Cade: " I think we were playing frisbee outside and the frisbee hit my eye and that is how I got it." hahahahahah!!!

First of all, gotta love his creativity for trying to get out of nap time! haha! I love these sweet moments and love that his teachers shared that with me yesterday, and that He does truly know that He is special!! Just made my day!!! Hope it makes yours as well!!

Making Progress

Since my last post things have been going okay.. We did have to take Cade back to the doctor once again to have the patch removed again. This time the patch was saturated with drainage and not blood, so it had to be removed. Yes, it was very hard for Cade, but once it was off he was good to go. Dr. Mawn did not want to re-patch it and I was HIGHLY advising her not to. So as of today it is not patched and he is on the road to recovery.
Cade's eye is opening more each day and the swelling is going down. We are so grateful for the Lord answering our prayers each day! He is able and willing as Chris and I were reminded at church this weekend!
Cade is back to his normal self and back at it! He has been going non stop and he cannot wait for school to start back!
I wanted to thank each of you for praying for us during another difficult bump in the road! Cade just rolls with the punches, but it does wear on the Chris and I. We are continuing to rest in His presence and are being reminded each day that He is holding our hands through it all! Again, words cannot express how much your prayers have meant to us! We are thankful for each one of you! I will try to post pictures of Cade's progression soon! Thank ya'll again!! WE LOVE YOU!

Recovery Period

Well, we have been home since Friday. We were so glad that we were able to go home! The discharging from the hospital was not so great. Cade had several things that needed to be removed before we left and they were all taped/glued to his skin. So that part was not fun. Other than that we have been home recovering. Chris' mom is in town and she has been so helpful!

We have run into a few setbacks while at home. Cade's eye has been bleeding since surgery, not profusely, but just bleeding. The patch over his eye became quite full yesterday so we had to visit the doctor today. The bleeding was running some, so we needed to get the patch changed. It was not a very pleasant visit to say the least. At this point, Cade is DONE! He is sooooo DONE WITH EVERYTHING...DOCTORS, HOSPITALS, TAPE, IV'S, ETC. So it was very traumatic for him to be held down today as they removed the patch and worked on him in the office.

I say all this for you to lift him up in your prayers. If the bleeding does not stop by Thursday of this week, they will have to go back in via surgery to stop the bleeding. This momma cannot take another surgery right now. So we are consistently praying that the Lord will intervene and stop the bleeding.

You know I have heard growing up in church "the Lord will never give you more than you can handle.." You know what, I don't believe that one bit. I believe He does give us more than we can handle because it is at that point that we need HIM the most and at that point we draw closer to HIM! It is during that time that we can find strength in HIM and find rest in HIM. I heard a song on the radio this week that pretty much sums up my feelings in the last few days, "when my strength is gone, You are mighty and strong, You keep holding, keep holding on!" It is in HIS presence that I find rest and strength! I will continue to cling to that fact and trust that HE is the GREAT PHYSICIAN!!

Update on Cade

It is 11:40 and our "warrior" is sleeping very peacefully in the intensive care unit. The surgery was very successful and we are VERY thankful for all of your prayers. Cade was scheduled to have surgery today at 1:45, but because of a backup in the O.R. he did not go into surgery until 4. Keep in mind he was not allowed to eat all day. Our little man did not mention food or drink all day! That is unbelievable to me, but so God!!
He took it like a strong little boy and we are amazed at the strength the Lord gave him!!
They were able to remove a good portion of the malformation from his eyelids. According to the doctors Cade now has what they call an AVM-arterial venous malformation. There is not much difference in how it has to be treated, but it just means that there are artery components as well as veins. The MRI showed that the flow of this AVM has changed and now leads into the lid area which is why it has been so bulky in the last few months. The good news is that it is flowing toward the eyelids and not the brain!! Praises!!!
There are many other technical pieces to the operation which I won't divulge, just because I am not sure what all the terminology actually means right now, and it's 12:00 and I am just pooped!
Thank ya'll for all of your prayers!! We are very thankful for each and everyone one of you!!!
Soli Deo Gloria!!!

Prayers Needed Again...

We are off to Vanderbilt Children's on Thursday the 22nd. Cade is scheduled is for another big procedure. It is similar to the one he had about a year ago. It is a very complex procedure with 2 doctors involved... Dr. Mericle and Dr. Mawn. We are not sure the length of the surgery, but the last took 7 hours. We are praying that the Lord will calm Cade as he enters the hospital on Thursday and that he will heal him quickly.
In this particular surgery they will remove more of the VM from his eyelids. Dr. Mericle will inject a glue-like substance into the eyelids which will harden the blood vessels. Dr. Mawn will then go in and remove what she can of the VM. Like I have stated in previous posts this is something that seems to be very complex and something Chris and I have come to believe will be a ongoing thing for Cade. I am not however completely sold on that fact, just because of how big of a God we serve and the power He has to completely heal Cade. I do believe that whole-heartedly!!!
If you will please lift up these two doctors on Thursday...pray for a calmness for Cade and that he does not get upset not having eaten all day(surgery is scheduled for 1:45-no food all day!), pray for a full recovery, and for this momma's heart!
I will update through facebook on Thursday and maybe some through the blog. Thank you again for all your prayers!!
Soli Deo Gloria-To God be the Glory!

love you all!!

SeaWorld

The second part of our vacation was spent in Orlando. We took Cade to SeaWorld. He had a blast. We got there pretty early and just in time for the dolphin and bird show. Cade was mesmerized. Birds flew through the crowd and were so low that we thought they would hit our heads. So neat! Between shows we went to see all of the animal encounters...sea turtles, sharks, flamingos, sea lions, manatees, etc. We went to the sea lion and otter show too. It was funny and Cade enjoyed it. They had a stingray encounter where you could touch all of the stingrays. Cade would not go near the water. He was not that impressed and I couldn't make myself touch them either. He loved the dolphin encounter! We viewed them from underneath the tank as well. Of all the animals there, he hasn't stopped talking about the dolphins. He loved them!!!!
The last show we went to was the Shamu "Believe" show. I have always loved this show and amazed at the enormity of these animals. Incredible! It was an amazing show, but no trainer ever entered the water with the animals. I was guessing it was because of the death of one of the trainers last year at this park. Cade liked the show, but I think he could have watched the dolphin one all day.
By the end of the day we were all pooped!! We went back to the hotel and went for a swim.

We also happened to be about 20 minutes from Gwen who was in the Orlando area for Jeremiah's national championship game. They played teams from all over the nation and the championship game was Saturday. We drove over to watch Team 147 play and they won! On top of that Jeremiah won MVP. You have to remember, Jeremiah was like our own son when he was a baby. We practically help raise him and always took him places, so it was neat to get to watch him play. He is now 11. Crazy!! Another "extra" about going to watch him play was that Shaq was there. He was walking in the door as we were walking out. Jeremiah played his son's team earlier in the week and beat them. So of course I got a pic of him..Man, he is HUGE!

We headed to Madeira Beach that afternoon for the week with my parents. More on that later..

Satellite Beach..

We have spent the last few days in Satellite Beach, Florida visiting Chris' Aunt Cathy. It is gorgeous down here and they live practically 3 minutes from the beach. We went to the beach yesterday and it is quite different from the gulf. The water is FREEZING and the waves are huge, which would explain why Cade wouldn't go near the water..Anyhoo, we have had a relaxing few days. Today we visited the marina so Cade could see the boats and huge manatees. It was a treat for all of us to see the manatees. So neat! Tomorrow we are headed to SeaWorld. Hoping the rain holds off for us and that Cade has the time of his life! To say it is HOT down here is an understatement..We have stayed cool thanks to Aunt Cathy's pool!!

VACATION!!!!

So we are about to head out for a few days. Cade is so excited and has actually counted down how many more "sleeps" we have until we leave. We were planning to head to Orange Beach for a week, but the oil has changed our plans somewhat. So we decided to go visit Chris' aunt in Satellite Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic side. We will stay with them for a few days and decided since we are so close to Orlando we will make a stop to SeaWorld. Cade has not stopped talking about SeaWorld. He is not a big animal person, but has always loved ocean animals so this will be a special treat for him.
We are also going to be in Tampa for a week with my parents and my brother's family. Our vacation with them to Seagrove Beach was moved further down the coast also due to the oil. We are very ready for some family time and to spend more time with Chris before his crazy football schedule starts in July. We feel very blessed to be able to get away for a few weeks!

On a side note, we did hear from Cade's doctor this week regarding his recent MRI. It was not news that I wanted to hear. She told us that the VM has increased in size and is "different" in some areas. I am not sure what all this means, but I am not going to jump to conclusions either. Again, my prayer for Cade is really a miracle.. that our BIG God will just heal this VM and remove it or keep it from growing or re-appearing in other areas. That is my prayer. I was reminded again this morning during our worship service that "nothing is impossible for Him..nothing is impossible, because He holds the world in His hands!!!"

Will post more of our trip in a few days!!! Love you all!!!

My Celebrity Crush

(disclaimer: i apologize for the randomness of this post-ha!..)

Okay, so everyone has one but not everyone would admit to having one. I must admit that my celebrity crush changes from time to time, but right now it is Carrie Underwood. Yes, I have a little obsession for her right now. Her new CD has been out for a while and Cade and I love to listen to it in the car. She is getting married in July and coming to Nashville on tour in October. I do not have tickets YET, but hope to get them!!! A few of my students went to a benefit concert last night for flood relief here in Nashville and guess who showed up??? She did!! They sent me a couple of pics of her performing. So great!!!

Off to the Races!!!

Felt like it has been forever since I last posted. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer! We have had some fun times and it has been very relaxing.. very thankful that I have summers off.
We visited my parents a few weeks ago just to get out of town for a few days. As most of you know, Cade loves cars! He has so many hot wheels that we have given boxes away at times to other kids. It is all he plays with at home. He races with them, lines them up in many different ways, tows them to the garage to get fixed, etc.. It is what he loves to do.

My parents live about 5 minutes from the drag park. They have lived there for some time and you can always hear the races from their house at night.
We decided to take Cade to the races. Number one, I felt like the biggest redneck paying for a ticket to the drag race. Number two, was not dressed properly-I guess proper attire was cut off blue jean shorts, tank top and at least 3 tattoos on each arm. Number three a bad sunburn from being there all day!

My mom and I took Cade and we waited and watched several different kinds of cars each line up to race. It was very loud and I thought Cade would want to leave, but he just covered his ears and watched! He loved every minute of it and it was all he talked about for the next few days. Even now when he plays, he says, "red, yellow, green.."
It was fun to watch him enjoy something that he loves!