Life as a Lewis

Dear friends of Melissa, This is Melissa's sister Becky updating her blog.  I wanted so much to be able to bring the best news from today, but unfortunately, we did not get the report from her surgery that we were wanting.  The surgery was much more extensive than they had originally planned and they have given her a diagnosis of stage 3 ovarian cancer.  The surgeons were able to remove the majority of the cancer and encouraged us that our immediate focus is to get her recovered from this surgery and then we will look ahead to treatment plans.  While we are most assuredly disappointed, we know that God is good.  Please continue to pray for her, for Brian and their family.  Right now, we are simply waiting to even see her.  Pray for Brian as he shares the results from the surgery and that somehow they would be able to rest tonight.  I will try to update again tomorrow. Thank you so much for your prayers and love for Melissa and her family.  They are precious to us. Becky

First of all, let me just say that I was mortified to discover I've been saying gynelogical instead of gynecological . Seriously hate misspelling things. Brian kept telling me my friends would forgive me. :) So we spent 3 hours at the hospital today. I cannot tell you how I felt the heavy weight on my heart lifting throughout the day, and I know it was because of your prayers. I am so grateful that God provided for me in that way. Brian and I were able to laugh many times today. Met our doctor and really really liked him. His news wasn't necessarily reassuring, but he is going to be a great doctor to have in my corner. My tumor is pretty enormous, which is never good. I'm having surgery first thing tomorrow morning and will have a 4-5 day hospital stay. They will know before the surgery is out if the tumor is cancerous. He said there is a chance that it is not, but there is a strong possibility that all my stomach problems in the last 5 months are a result of ovarian cance

It's been 11 days since we learned stomach issues might not be so simple; 7 days since the word oncologist was used; 5 days since not so simple turned into serious. And the waiting has not been easy, my friends. But as He's done in the past, God has been so good to place scripture, songs, friends directly in my path to encourage me. I have been overwhelmed by the number of phone calls, emails, facebook messages, skype sessions, etc. and feel very loved and prayed for. And I'm not gonna lie, the drama in the last 5 minutes of AI Thursday night and watching Daniel-son (a.k.a. Ralph Macchio) and Hines Ward dancing in sparkles helped divert my attention for a few moments as well. The original plan for today was to get up, rush ourselves out the door to get Camden to school, then Rory and I drive 45 minutes to a dentist's appointment, spend several hours waiting for Rory's teeth to be cleaned, drive 45 minutes back home in time to meet Brian, drop Rory off at Gram an

Both my kids loved this game of swinging between two adults, and nearly every Sunday walking from church to home with Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz, we hear "1....2....3....jump!" Rory giggled uncontrollably when she saw this picture because "you took a picture of my booty." And maybe one of these days I'll try this shot again with a little more planning than, hey, let me grab my camera while you stand here and wait in the freezing cold on a very gray, dreary Sunday. ;)

When Rory saw the pictures of Camden as a baby Wednesday, she was full of great reactions (drama queen, this one) so when she asked to see the baby pictures again, I decided to grab my camera before I navigated to the blog. She did not disappoint. :) Ignore the atrocious desk. One of these days it will be clutter-free again. And let's not pretend some of you don't have desks that look exactly the same way. :) In other news, my blood tests did not come back with good results so I'm seeing a Gynelogical Oncologist Tuesday. Obviously, not what we were hoping for, but I know that God has a master plan and that this development is not news to Him so I am choosing to make a strong effort to stay calm and not panic. Our friend Randall reminded me of Psalm 56:3 which says, "what time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." It's the verse my dad recited to me over and over as a child when I was afraid of storms, and it's what we recite to Camden and Rory when they

Camden is kind of obsessed with jumping rope ever since they had Jump Across America at school a couple of weeks ago. One of his friends let him borrow her jump rope this week, and I had the best time watching both kids. There just might be a jump rope in his future (as in tomorrow), but don't tell him. :)

Seven years ago we flew to Chicago and laid eyes on the cutest 8 month old boy. Since I've used those airport pictures over and over, I decided to pull out a few from his first week home instead. His first bath. Yes, in the sink. He screamed bloody murder when we tried to put him in the bathtub, but he loved the sink. One of my all-time favorite pictures. He did not sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time during the first few days so I would take the first shift and then Brian would take over at 3:00 a.m. He always smiled with his tongue out. Yes, he's leaning in for a kiss after being home just a couple of days. He's always been an affectionate kid and it started just a few days after he came home. And a few things about Camden today: Finally made it to 50 lbs soaking wet, fully dressed, with shoes. . . and couldn't be happier about it. Loves, loves, loves all things Star Wars and can describe every single character in excruciating detail. Seriously loves

Camden had a dentist's appointment yesterday and had only good news from the dentist - something that hasn't happened in quite a while around here. Hurray for healthy teeth! Re-entry into the real world after spring break was a bit tougher than I had hoped for yesterday. Camden actually used the sentence, "Sadly, that was not the case." at supper last night, and he was not joking. When I told Camden that I was able to get all the stains out of his new baseball uniform, he said, " Nooooo! I wanted them to look like I played hard!" (Biz works wonders in case you need a laundry tip) I was on the phone when Rory and I arrived home from grocery shopping yesterday and Rory took it upon herself to help me unpack. I later found the new package of toothpicks in Camden's bathroom, and my new tube of mascara has completely disappeared. This is how Camden feels about the sun these days. I've been wavering about whether to mention this or not but finally de

Before church last night 117. first sign of green grass 118. yellow daffodils on the side of the road 119. short unexpected afternoon naps 120. really good doctors 121. the sound of Camden on the phone describing cookie dough to Gram 122. steroids 123. Rory's evil giggle while taking steroids 124. the smell of Orchid Allure Downy on my clothes 125. sunlight streaming through the windows 126. help from family 127. pretty (and free!) Starbucks cake pops 128. safe trip to and from Illinois 129. family you want to be with (totally stole that wording from Becky) 130. Whitey's ice cream 131. Lactaid :) 132. reconnecting with old friends 133. good services 134. beautiful parks 135. brand new white baseball uniforms 136. lots of sunshine 137. 7 year old boys in baseball uniforms jumping for joy 138. photoshoots 139. finally some medical answers 140. making family memories 141. Rory's cute toes 142. flip flops 143. Target trips

24 hours 5 games 5 wins 1 enormous trophy At bat Making it across home plate This picture totally cracks me up. Does she look tired yet? And, yes, that's her baby on her head. We let her bring baby and stroller to the park, and she had the best time with it. She also had to fight off other little girls wanting to "share." LOL Aaaannnnddd, finally giving up. I think I look as tired as she was. Little boys in baseball uniforms are just seriously cute. Do those coaches look tired or what? It was one long day, but it was also lots of fun. Camden CRASHED last night into bed, but he'll always remember this day not just as a whole lotta fun, but also the first time he got to experience first place with a big trophy.

Camden's first batting attempt of the evening. They won the game 10-4, which Camden declared "unusual." He's kind of right - in two soccer seasons and now three baseball seasons, we've yet to be on a winning team so this just might be our year. And what you don't see because I cut the video off too soon is that he actually got out at 2nd base, but it was a close call and we're going to blame it on the coach since he sent him on to 2nd base while knowing that Camden generally runs in slow motion :) And Rory told us on the way home that when she plays baseball, "we'll be the pwincesses and get home runs and triple plays."

Yesterday we took advantage of the sunshine and went to Nashville to run a few errands, visit a park and have lunch at one of our favorite spots. We're already starting our "this might be the last time" frame of mind. First up was Percy Warner Park which has a beautiful driving (or walking) trail. Even though it may feel like spring, the trees haven't quite gotten the message and are still very brown and bare. It's hard to see, but there is a large, long stone staircase that takes you to the bottom of this hill. And, yes we walked it although my knees were wishing we'd taken the road that loops around instead. Me and the kiddos We stopped off at Fontanel Mansion to look around, and I wish we'd made a trip here in the fall because it would have been beautiful. Side note to my photography-loving friends: I'd forgotten how difficult it is to shoot in full sunlight, middle of the day with no shade in sight. Yikes! This one is my favorite because they

The kids thought it was really funny when I looked down from the deck, saw them playing, and asked them to lay down for me. They played outside for hours yesterday. Hello, sunshine! We're off to enjoy our one free morning of spring break. Happy Thursday!

Spring break is this week for Brian and Camden so we packed up, drove 9 hours to Illinois on Saturday, had two fundraising services at local churches Sunday, crashed on Monday, then drove 9 hours home Tuesday. I feel like I describe all our trips as whirlwind trips, but it's the truth. I was so glad to see my parents and be home even if it was only for 48 hours, and we loved seeing our old friends at church. We've been gone for 9 years but it still felt like home Sunday morning. I was able to snap a few pictures while we were home. Wait for it. . . . . .Keep waiting . . . . . Uncle Matt and the kiddos - they just adore him, and no wonder! He plays and plays with them, lets them climb all over him, etc. Taken 7:30 yesterday morning as we were headed out the door. Yes, a total of two pictures. In my defense, it was 30 degrees outside and our schedule was crazy, but two pictures is pretty sad. And I was going to complain about spring break being before spring actually arrives

I'm not gonna lie: not every picture on this page was actually taken on the right days. But I won't tell if you don't.

A couple of months ago Brian and I had this great idea to let Camden grow his hair out and then have it cut in one of those cool longish Asian boy hairstyles. Well. Not only was it taking a very long time (it's been 3 months since we last buzzed his head), but it became increasingly clear that he would never sport one of those hairstyles because he has a large patch of hair on the back of his head that grows up instead of down. Seriously! So we decided that until we knew what we wanted to do, we'd at least send him to someone to shape it up because it was kind of messy and out of control. Now Camden was very against a haircut. He's never been a shy kid, but over the past few months he's become very fearful of new situations and he's never had his haircut before by anyone but Brian. He kept telling us, "I don't want to look cool, just regular." The situation was not helped in any way by the fact that Rory insists on telling him 10 times a day that he wa

Last weekend we celebrated Rory's 3rd family day. While I would really, really like to be that mom who has beautiful party decorations and goes all out for celebrations, I'm just not. But here's the thing - Rory doesn't care that we used leftover mismatched fall candles or that I didn't have fancy plates and napkins and beautiful hanging decorations. All she knows is that she got to choose her favorite food (bulgogi, although she chose ramen noodles first), that we ate a candlelit dinner, she got to wear lots of jewelry (Camden helped "dress" her up), and it was her special night. Oh, and GiGi's cupcakes. Always cupcakes for her celebration!

The last 7 days have passed in a fog of stomach pain, sleepless nights, coughing, kleenex, and doctor's waiting rooms. Thank goodness Rory and I are both on the mend. We had some scary moments with Rory this week. It is not fun to hear your child gasping for air, but the asthma can't hold out for long against two steroids in addition to a regular inhaler, and she is feeling some better this morning. In fact, I detect a bit of sassy attitude in her which I will blame the steroids for. I clearly remember how hyper Camden used to be when he had to take them! In other news, Rory has seemingly overnight learned how to say her L's. We no longer hear "wiz" for Liz and "wuv" for love, etc. The good news is she still hasn't mastered her R's so we can still hear cute words like "scawy" and "hiwawious." I have not had my camera out much, but I did snap these last night. A moment of comfort from Camden (he asked if he could hold her fo

. . . about what we've been up to (and this doesn't count the 2 new medicines we brought home today).

I've been a blog slacker for the past few days for a multitude of reasons, but those reasons would not include a lack of pictures or scrapping pages. :) So here are a few from last week. Rory's been fascinated with catalogs lately. On this particular day, I walked in the living room and found her propped up on the chair, and she told me, "I'm just imagining myself wearing this dress." This dress, by the way, only cost $98. :) A warm day last week f2.2, 1/1600SS, 320 ISO Believe it or not, but I actually shot her face out of focus on purpose. :) f2.2, 1/1600SS, 320 ISO Friday was Read Across America Day, and the 1st-4th graders at Camden's school were to dress up as a book character. They had a little parade at school Friday morning. Good thing Camden really wanted to be a ninja from a recent Magic Treehouse Book because I forgot all about it until 24 hours before the big day, and we all know it's not like I'm going to be able to throw together som