Believing God

Jack had a wonderful 1st birthday party, surrounded by all of our family, and graciously hosted at my brother-in-law's house (thank you Jeff & Janet). We got some great pictures, Jack was ridiculously spoiled with presents, and it was just nice to have almost all the family in one place. Fun times! Thank you everybody. Unfortunately, Jack doesn't look like his birthday picture today. He is down with a fever and he's pitiful. Won't eat, just wants to moan and snuggle. I'm loving the snuggle part, but I wish he could get some good sleep so he can start feeling better. We were supposed to go to Kangazoom for a 3 yr old's birthday party this AM, but we had to back out. Don't want to get any other kiddies sick.

I just started a new Beth Moore study at my mother-in-law's church - Believing God. I know a lot of you have taken this study already and I've heard such wonderful things about it. I've only been to the first week's session and done 2 days of the homework, but I am LOVING it. It's pretty crazy to think how quickly we can be arrogant about our own lives and start thinking that God can't make things better for us, or that he wouldn't want to. Our faith is what pleases him. There is nothing he can't do, and I need to remind myself of this daily. God has already blessed me in so many ways, and I'm choosing to trust in what he has planned for our family next.

Forester had a GREAT time at the big Braves day out. He got to meet some players and they signed a jersey for him and a glove. He even got to say "Play Ball" before the game started. Thank you to all the wonderful people that came out to support him and let him know how much we care about him. It was definitely a day none of us will forget. When Forester got home from that big weekend, he had his Sept chemo treatment and then had to have another transfusion this last week due to low blood counts. He still has two more chemo rounds (Oct and Nov) but he's holding up okay. The two main things to note are that his last MRI was clear and his hearing tests have all been perfect so far. PRAISE GOD!! His school teacher has been coming to the house a few days a week to keep him up to speed, and he's doing really well with that.

So, I am slowly becoming a self-taught graphic designer. SLOWLY is the key word. I could play with my design software for hours and not get sick of it, but I get really impatient when I can't figure out how to do what I want to do. However, I've got some great designer friends that are quick to help me with my questions, which is a huge help. Below is my first official design I've done for a friend's catering business. It ain't perfect, but it's a starting point. (Side note: This gal can really make some yummy stuff, if you're ever looking for a caterer. She rocks!)

Ok - I'm tired of typing :) HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

GREAT again, we are (say in Yoda voice)

Jenna (Steve's niece) is a mommy, times two, now. She delivered Campbell May Bonner on Saturday morning at 5:10am in San Francisco and she's perfect. We can't wait to get our hands on her. Why oh why must they live so far??!! Oh yeah....Coast Guard. Poo. Congrats to the whole fam! We love you! Thanks for making us a GREAT Aunt and Uncle again. Keep 'em coming.

Mom came in town last night and Dad is coming tonight. Whit, Pete and family will be here late Friday night and so will the Nashville clan. We're doing Jack's 1st birthday part at Jeff and Janet's pool Saturday afternoon and I can't believe we're actually going to have everyone together. It's really hard to make that happen these days, and I'm so excited about it. Sunday is Forester's Braves day and we've got almost 100 people coming out to support. So cool. I think it will be such a fun day for him. I still have a few extra tickets I've been holding on to, so let me know if you still have interest in going and I can try to work something out. Here's the t-shirt we'll all be wearing on Saturday.

Forester, overall, is doing pretty well. He's still getting chemo treatments every few weeks where he's in the hospital for about 4 days. He's also getting his blood counts tested frequently to check his platelet levels, etc. and sometimes that requires a transfusion and limited access to the rest of the world. His neuropathy and leg pain is pretty bad right now, so he struggles a lot with his walking. The prayers and sweet thoughts and gestures have been constant, though, so thank you for all of your support. God is good and there is a light at the end of this tunnel. It's just a very long tunnel for my sister and brother-in-law (and my parents) who are dealing with this daily. Time passes a lot faster when you're not spending each day with Forester. Please continue to pray for their strength through all of this. Pete is also struggling with a pinched nerve in his neck, which has created some extra stress. We're hoping this is better by the time they drive down here on Friday. Here's a new Bradburn family pic that I love.

Ok - there's always more I could update on, but I got to get my day started here. Jack has been taking "infant survival" swimming lessons each morning over the past four weeks. I know...crazy, huh? Call me overprotective. We just spend a lot of time around water so I figured it was worth it. He's learning to "roll and float", which basically means if he fell into water, he would know how to roll on to his back and float until someone sees him. Here's a pic of the torture :(

And one more, just for the cuteness factor. I can't believe he's already a year old. This was definitely the fastest year of my life.