Stop the presses! We have some good news!!

My momma and her sisters

Well, I had another post ready to go, but that one will have to wait, because I have some good news that shouldn't have to wait for anything...

Today we found out that my mom's younger sister is a 10 out of 10 match for her for a bone marrow transplant!

This has the potential to drastically change the course of things for her as her prognosis is not very promising without it.

It's looking like February is when things will take place and she will likely be hospitalized, on protective isolation for 4-8 weeks after that. During that process, the health care team will protect her while they wipe out her faulty immune system and replace it with her sister's immune system which will hopefully start attacking her cancer cells.
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I remember watching these three sisters holding each other as they cheered their mom into eternity. Ever since that time, I have seen them cling to each other and watched as the bonds between them strengthened into some of the strongest ties I have ever seen.

I have appreciated how they each stepped up and offered a part of themself to save my mom's life. They know it won't be an easy process, but for them, there is no question that it is the right thing to do.

I know they will be supporting my mom and each other through the process.

And I think that's pretty awesome.

(Many) Conversations with JJ

JJ has become quite the talker. And he's a smart little guy. He constantly finds questions that stump me, like "What does 'why' mean?" and "What does 'either' mean?" and "Why we don't need fireman when bouncy ball gets stuck?" and "Where was God before he made the world?"

If you've spent any time with a two-year-old, you know that any answer given is just followed up by another question, until we finally insert a big word and he gets distracted. For example,

Daddy: You need to eat your breakfast.

JJ: Why me need to eat?

Daddy: So you can grow up to be a big boy.

JJ: ME ALREADY IS BIG BOY! How me grow?

Daddy: Well, your cells divide and make more cells. That's called 'mitosis'.

JJ: Hey! Me eat 'my toastis' for breakfast.

Daddy: Exactly.

This little monkey is all about being a big boy. He constantly reminds me, "Me BIG boy". He won't ever let me slip and say anything about him being little.

Sunday night we spontaneously decided to go out for dinner and the waitress asked, "Do you want a highchair for your baby?" As JJ climbed into the chair we chose for him, he said, "That was RUDE! Me not baby, me BIG boy!" I was surprised that she understood him, since I've been kind of counting on the fact that not everyone can understand him, as this kid is either loud or asleep, but no, she heard him clearly and apologized appropriately ;)

JJ is such a charmer too. Whereas KK will just not do something that she's not allowed to do, he'll do it, right in front of me, while smiling charmingly at me. Sometimes it works. Hey, I never claimed to be perfect! Could you resist this face?

A while back, I wrote a post about how I was teaching KK about safety. You can find it here. Well, I've been working on the same stuff with JJ, and last week, I thought I'd check in with him to see how much he was remembering.

Mommy: JJ, what would you do if someone asked you to come to their car to see their kitty? Would you go with them?

JJ: NO!

Mommy: Good. Now what if someone picked you up and tried to take you away? What would you do?

JJ: Me would run away home and get a knife and come back and say, "You don't do that!"

(are we seeing the difference between my delicate little girl and my tough little guy here?)

Mommy: Ok, we can work on that. What if a really nice lady said she had puppies in her car and she wanted to show them to you and that your mommy said it was ok? What would you do?

JJ: I not go, but me say, "If you have candy, me come..."

Obviously, I need to keep a close eye on this one. And possibly feed him more candy.

What the heck happened in Baltimore?

You might remember, about a year ago, I mentioned we were thinking about moving to Baltimore. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not that important. Go read about it here ;)

Over the past year, we went back and forth about the whole idea, finally settling on being 95% sure we were definitely NOT going to Baltimore. But everyone that we look to for wisdom said we should just go for the interview, just to get rid of that last 5% of doubt and that we'd know for sure either way once we went there. We were more than ready to close off that last 5% and settle into a comfortable life.

Approaching the trip, I was mostly excited. We were definitely NOT moving there (95% sure) and we were getting a whole 4 days without the weenuts! Peanut-lover was stressed - he had a lot to do on the trip. But I was ready for fun.

Then we got there.

We had decided to go on the trip with open hearts, willing to really assess whether Baltimore could be our home. Though pretty certain we were NOT going there, we wanted to be sure we had explored the option as completely as possible.

So when we landed and drove through the city in the middle of the night, it all really hit me. I looked around at all the buildings and recognized NOTHING. Not a bank name, grocery store, gas station... nothing was the same.

The first few days there, I was shocked to face so much emotion. I spent hours in my bible, seeking solace and wisdom... finding solace and wisdom. Over and over I found verses that related to what I was going through. I wish I had been journaling at the time because I can't remember all the details now.

One thing I do remember was reading in Leviticus about how the Tabernacle was to be built. It struck me that the building, maintaining and transporting of the Tabernacle was a ton of work. When Peanut-lover came in, I went to remark to him about this and it hit me that God's work is a lot of work. And that yes, Balimore would be a lot of work, but that didn't mean it was something to avoid.

For the first two days there, we explored the city and checked out neighborhoods. The food was delicious, the homes were so interesting, the university was awe-inspiring, the weather was hot and humid. I cried a lot.

On the third day there, Peanut-lover had his interview and spent the day with the lab at Johns Hopkins. Afterwards, he picked me up and took me to join the lab for dinner. Between the time we left the hotel and arrived at the restaurant, something in me had changed. I remember waiting for everyone else to arrive and saying to Peanut-lover, "Let's just do it. Let's just jump in with both feet." That night was our last night in the city and we stayed up so late looking at Baltimore with new eyes, like it might be our new home.



We prayerfully considered it over the next week or so. On the night we finalized our decision, the two of us went out to our favourite beach to talk, read our bible and pray. It felt like God was speaking to us over and over through what we were reading in the bible. All kinds of stuff about how we need to use the gifts that we have. So we decided to go.

One last issue remained and that was my mom's health. I couldn't imagine leaving her when she was unwell. At that time, she had made a remarkable recovery from the set-backs in the Spring and early Summer. I felt like it was a step of faith in terms of me trusting God with her life, for me to follow His leading to Baltimore.

But in the fall, things changed. My mom is quite ill right now, struggling through intense chemo and approaching a bone-marrow transplant which will be a very difficult time for her.

I can't understand why God would ask me to leave during her hardest days.

I just can't. It doesn't make any sense.

But my God is so faithful. He meets me right where I am. I read in Joshua, just a few days ago, about how the Israelites had to cross the Jordan River to get into Canaan (the Promised Land). God didn't have them cross when it was easy, He had them cross in Spring, when the river was overflowing its banks. It was then that they needed a miracle and He gave them a miracle. He made the river stop so that they could cross on dry land. He had them cross when it was hardest so that he could demonstrate his power.

I feel that he is asking me to cross when it is hardest, and I trust that I will see him demonstrate his power.

And so... we are packing up the nutty household and moving to Baltimore... and clinging to God every step of the way.

I don't value busyness, so why am I so BUSY?!?!

Last night I looked at my blog and noticed it was more than a little dusty. Which is sad, because I sure could have used some journalling over the last few months.

Let me quickly catch you up.

Since the beginning of August, we have:
1. Decided to move to a different country
2. Renovated our home
3. Sold our home
4. Freaked out numerous times about #1-3
5. Started our firstborn in school
6. Supported my mom through intense chemo and difficult health decisions

And there's more...

During this same time, Peanut-lover has also finished and defended his doctoral dissertion, published his research in a major scientific journal, and started lecturing first year biology students.

We are not the type that equate busyness with success. Ok, yes we CAN be, but we actively fight the urge to equate busyness with success. No matter how hard we try not to be busy, it always finds us.

And that's why I haven't been blogging.

I've got some writing to do, don't I?