bad news... please read, please pray.

As most of you know by now, my little brother has a brain tumor. About 10 weeks ago I posted a note similar to this, asking for prayer before he had his 4th surgery. The surgery went very well, as well as it possibly could've, according to the neurosurgeon, but we recieved bad news today.
Despite removing all tumor visible by way of MRI, etc., the tumor has returned, and is bigger than when they removed it 10 weeks ago (about the size of an eyeball) . That was his fourth surgery, and most invasive. He also has gone through 6.5 weeks of radiation. According to the doctor, they've exhausted these possibilities. The tumor has returned after each surgery, and has grown back despite the radiation... The type of tumor JD has is very rare, and the situations of recurring like it has done, even more so. There are only a handful of instances like this in the world, apparently...
Needless to say, we're all pretty shaken up by this news. It's terrifying to not have an immediate game plan, to have a doctor tell you that they're just not sure where to go from here yet. The next step will be for them to biopsy the tumor, and from the info that brings, they'll go from there. He said that the tumor is no longer the grade 2 tumor it was before, but is more aggresive. So, we need to develop a plan of action quickly.
We go on Thursday to see the pediatric oncologist.
Please, please, please be praying for our family. For wisdom for the doctors on what to do, where to go from here. Chemotherapy may be an option, but we'll know more after speaking with the oncologist and the biospy of the tumor. Pray for wisdom for my parents, as they make decisions based on the info recieved. Pray for answers, for hope, for peace, for comfort.
As terrifying as this has been from day one, we've now entered a new ball game. Please, just pray. Feel free to put JD on any and all prayer chains you may know of.
Thank you to all who have lifted us up, encouraged us, helped us through the last 4 years of this, and to those who are praying now. We love you all, and are so blessed to be surrounded by such friends and family!

talk about productivity!

I finally got some things done that have been hanging over my head, though I still have a list a mile long of things to do before Baby Girl comes... this was a good start.
Today I:

• Cleaned out Corban's dresser
• Sorted too small clothes, too big clothes, current clothes, PJ's, short sleeve, long sleeve, etc.
• Drug the massive tote of baby clothes from the guest bedroom to my room
• Sorted by sleeper, onesies, outfits, etc.
• Pulled out all gender-neutral items, and all white onesies and socks
• Taped off the shower, vanity, etc. in the bathroom

and, drum roll please...

• I finally primed my bathroom. Painting soon to follow... hopefully tonight, if the current coat dries in time, and if I make it awake past 7:30.

I realized a few things while doing these things though. One, my son has/had a tremendous amount of clothes. There were way too many newborn or 0-3 months items that still had tags on them, or that I had no recollection of him ever wearing. Two, Corban has a good amount of 24 month and 2T winter clothes. This would be fabulous, if he didn't wear a size 12 months. And three, I hate primer. It stinks, it's sticky, and it's stuck all over my hands, clothes, watch, etc.

We have company coming tomorrow, and while I made good headway today, there's a lot to be done before it's guest-worthy! But my son is refusing an afternoon nap (due to a late morning nap- two days in a row... I fear an end of 2 naps is around the corner....). So I'm out!

See Post Below for explanation...

rrrrrrrrrrrrandom.

It's Sunday after church... Jordan is still at church (for second service, and then clean up), and Corban is sound asleep for his morning nap. I've got all kinds of things I could be doing, but I'm going to enjoy a few quiet moments to myself.

I am seriously craving some Hint of Lime tortilla chips. With roasted red pepper hummus. Mmmmm. A snack straight from heaven, in my opinion. :) We flew through a bag this week- I had forgotten how yummy they were. And now I want more. A Kroger trip may be necessary this afternoon...

Hmmm... what else? Our trip to PA was w o n d e r f u l. I started to write two posts about it, with pictures and everything, but something happened both times. So I said forget it. Some highlights include: seeing Brandon and Holly (duh), shopping, going to Lake Erie, going to an orchard/festival thing, playing some crazy games of Apples to Apples, yummy food, touring Lake Erie College Of Medicine (where Holly is in her second year of med school), and the awesome, awesome chocolate shop. We had a great time just hanging out, and look forward to the next few months with visits from Brandon and Holly.

I did some serious bathroom cleaning this week. I'm hoping to prime the walls today, and get them painted tomorrow. Then all that remains will be Jordan laying the floor, installing the light fixture, sink head, and shower head. And then our bathroom will no longer have peach walls, choo choo train border and red-white-blue shag carpet(!!!). It will be a glorious day. I have until next Saturday (6 days!!) to finish cleaning out our guest bedroom. This wouldn't be such a huge task if, well, the floor wasn't completely covered with stuff, boxes, clothes, etc. and if I didn't have to go through the ginormous tub of baby clothes to pull out all of the white onesies and gender neutral things. Once the room is clean, we will then paint, and eventually put in Corban's big boy bed. And then start the process of turning his old room into a nursery for Baby Girl. I really am looking forward to having these things done, as it will mean the bulk of our house remodeling is finished. It's just little things from there... like painting trim, touching up paint, putting on the new doorknobs, etc. We are installing our NEW WINDOWS on November 1st, thus the reason for my deadline. I mean, it'd be helpful to be able to walk into the room to install the windows, right?

Moving on... Thanks for the baby name suggestions. I'm so curious to see what we'll end up actually naming her. I'm hesitant to say that my current favorite, and what we're really leaning towards at this point, is Emilia... because chances are, I'll change my mind again. But as of today, that's the front runner. I like this spelling (vs. Amelia) for a few reasons: One, I think it looks prettier, more feminine, and two, because it has cuter nicknames- Emi, Em, etc. So, there you have it.

Oh- and I had to share this. I know I posted the ultrasound photo the other day, but I was going through Corban's newborn pics and found this, and couldn't believe it!! Check out the resemblance: (Insert minutes of frustration here---- Why does it only add my pictures to the very top of my post? And then not allow to me to drag them down? And why can't I find my pictures saved anywhere? I have to re-upload them all after deleting them from the top. Grrr... I don't like blogger! I much prefer the simplicity of xanga. Or the 5 years I have using it, that makes it seem easier... Either way, this is dumb.)

Okay- well forget it. I'll just make a new post to show the pictures. But can someone PLEASE explain to me how to make this work? I even made sure that the cursor was at the end of my post, where I wanted the pictures.... Blah.

one reason I love my life....

Oh, how blessed am I?

'Tis so sweet to be a mama to this little boy!

Name That... Baby? and other ramblings...

We had a very busy day, and I cannot believe it's already after 4!! We left the house about 9 this morning to go to the doctor (routine OB), and then went on to Whole Foods Market, Carters, and Super Target for mostly groceries. I'm a little peeved because, well, I'm a new coupon clipper. I looked online last night, printed some coupons off, clipped ones from the paper, etc. I took the time to dig out the coupons as I selected the items today at ST, had them grouped together, ready to give to the cashier. She was all frazzled because she was an express lane, but another employee had told me to go down her isle because there was no one in line. So I did. Next thing you know, there's 4 people behind me, understandably annoyed at my cartfull of groceries and stack of coupons. She rushes around and sends me on my way. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that she slighted me $5 worth of my coupons! I know, it's just five dollars- but come on! That's $5 that should still be in my pocket. I will look more carefully before I leave the store next time, that's for sure.

My appointment went well this morning. Nothing new to report, really. I did the nasty glucose test today and could barely finish the drink. Yuck. My last three appointments I haven't seen the Nurse Practitioner that I usually see, who was the main reason I returned back to that same doctors office. I'm going to call her tomorrow and ask if she'll be seeing me anymore, or if I'm just going to have that other lady, who, quite honestly, I'm not that fond of. We'll see from there, I guess. I'm going every two weeks already, and then a month from now I start the weekly biophysical profiles. There hasn't been any indication at this point that there's anything to be worried about with the baby's heart, but they like to monitor the baby closesly at the end because of my heart condition.

Anyway- we got a really great profile shot of Baby Girl McG today, as you can see. The Ultrasound Tech tried to get a 3-D shot, but she (baby girl) had already covered her face back up with her hands. At one point during the ultrasound, she had a hand AND a foot covering her face. Silly girl. :) Silly, nameless girl. sigh. I wish we could figure out a name! We have less than 3 months to figure it out... and I think I've read every book on the market and looked at every website under the sun three times. Ah, well, it'll happen. We'll find one. Or at worst, settle on one when she gets here.

Here are names that have been on, but exed off of 'the list', to give you an idea of the style that we like:

Adeline
Nora
Cate
Ella
Hadley
Emilia
Eden


Anyone have any great suggestions? Names you considered using? Names you like but can't use because you know someone named it, or who is going to use it, etc? If I don't know you in real life, or see you less than once a year, names you used? I'm desperate! :) Even if you don't have a name to offer me, at least say hello if you stopped by and read this. I'm still learning the ropes of this blogger business, and have no idea how to see if anyone is reading this other than by comments and those who are 'followers'. So- comment away. Oh- and thanks in advance for suggestions.

if you give a child a fork...