Merry Christmas

May the peace of Christ dwell richly in your hearts.

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours. May the peace of Christ dwell richly in your hearts.

Shriners Hospital For Children Christmas party

Happy Holidays

We had wonderful Christmas season this year. Ben and I started the tradition of picking out an ornament every year that represents that year for us. We think about the major events and changes we have gone through, pick out an ornament, and then I write the year on it. We have been married for five years and every one has an ornament.

From top left:
2008: our wedding ornament. The year we got married. It says "Ben and Lisa" and the year.
2009: A blue star from India because we spent a large portion of that year working at the children's home.
2010: A wooden ornament from Charleston. We love Charleston and spent a weekend there to celebrate our anniversary. I was pregnant in 2011, so this trip represented the end of our two-person family.
2011: One of Anna's First Christmas ornaments.
2012: Our New Home ornament. I found this one online and I loved how it was a red house like ours.
2013: A little doctor angel to represent Ben's first year working as a professional physician assistant. It was a long time in the making and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into it.

 Here are a few pictures of us and the girls from the holiday season.

Anna at the Shriners Christmas party.

 

The rest of these pictures were taken at my in-laws house.

 

All I want for Christmas

 

I wanted to share some of Anna's special Christmas gifts this year! As a family we decided to forego gifts considering all our money is going towards medical bills and Anna's next leg, so we really didn't expect many gifts around the tree... yet somehow family surprised us with some wonderful presents for Anna. Here are a few special ones:

 

 

This hand-made playhouse was passed down to Anna:

 



 

 

This adorable wooden kitchen from Anna's grandparents which is just her height:

 

 

 

This beautiful doll cradle hand crafted by Anna's uncle:

 



 

This winter hat from my sister:

 

 

Some little clay ornmants from my other sister:

 

 

 

And of course, new books for Anna. Her favorite!

 

I will post some more Christmas/baby pictures soon!

Ladybugs and Miracles

We celebrated our first Halloween in our own home this year! I LOVE getting trick-or-treaters and couldn't wait for our 'very own'. Some Christians choose not to partake in the holiday, and while I respect that, I have no problem with some fun dressing up and candy appreciation. And while I won't be dressing my children up as grim reapers or devils anytime soon, I've always enjoyed the fun fall spirit and how the community comes together for the kids. Good times.

Candy choice is important. Always go with Mom's favorite:

On our way to the costume parade:

 

We weren't planning on going trick or treating with Anna, but our neighbors talked us into going with them, and she had a great time. Ben pushed her from house to house in a little car, and by the end of the night she was getting in and out herself, going up to houses, picking candy and putting it in her bag! Being that she's pretty shy in new situations, I was impressed.

 

Doing the candy rounds.

 

 

Anna's candy:

 

Or should we say Daddy's candy?

 

 

 

I am constantly reminded about the miracle that Anna has gone through this last year.

It's still hard to believe that my little girl went from this:

to THIS:

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE

The last month in pictures

I know I have been kind of slack on the posting lately. The majority of my energy has gone into dealing with Anna's food allergies, skin, and the use of her leg plus trying to help Ben with research on future job opportunities. Since he's doing surgery right now and working in the burn unit, he works long hours and doesn't have much time for those extra things. Regarding Anna's  allergies, I have become a little discouraged and very exhausted! She dropped completely off the growth curve at her last appointment and the doctor was concerned. Usually I don't worry about that kind of thing, but feeding my family in a healthy way with the limited options we have has become so hard. Many times I wonder how on earth I will be able to manage another baby on top of these special needs. I really need to get this dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, bean-free, berry-free, everything-free healthy cooking in more of a groove.

We took Anna to the Columbia Riverbanks Zoo for Father's Day. Both Ben and Anna got in free!

The giraffes were a little too close for Anna's comfort.

We had the opportunity to go see the Lion King in Greenville. It was wonderful.

Playing

One of those rare days where I resorted to a short video for my sanity. The Snowman is perfect for that.

Another new, scary reaction. Just. One. Bite. Eggplant, onion, olive oil, or garlic? Don't know.
This was soon after her back broke out in hives cause Ben was holding her after eating something with mayonnaise in it.

Before our 4th of July festivities. We had a Latin American feast with a friend from Costa Rica, complete with my favorite, fried yucca!

Anna couldn't eat this cake but the rest of us enjoyed it!

I've been thinking and anticipating what the gender of our little one will be. I should find out next month (or maybe earlier if I can convince Doc T to check for it at the next appointment). I feel like God has been speaking to me about naming so I have a bit of a hunch what the gender is but am still not completely sure.