Eva’s 1st Birthday

Sunday evening we celebrated an amazing milestone in our family – Baby Evie had her first birthday party.  The Lord answered our prayers and she was home for Christmas and her birthday.    So many folks continue to pray and ask how she is doing and the answer is constantly changing.

Thank you to all who sent cards for the card shower.  I decided to wait and deliver them all at the same time Saturday evening.  I walked quietly up to their door and could hear them talking and laughing inside as opened the screen door hoping it didn’t squeak.  I realized that the stack was too high to put through the slot at one time so I divided it in half and as I slowly pushed the slot open I could see little pajama feet to the side so I give the first stack and shove, hurriedly pushed in the second stack and took off walking as fast as the snowy, icy sidewalks would allow.  Jumped in my car and drove off laughing.  What fun!

Here’s Mike’s response along with some pictures he provided.

Thank you for the cards for Eva's birthday. We had an enjoyable time opening each and every one. Isaac, Ellianna, and Isaiah having just thoroughly exercised their gift opening abilities, tore into each envelope like it was wrapping paper much to Daddy's chagrin. Here are some pictures to pass along in appreciation for helping to make Eva's day special.

 

 

 

 
 

Mike and Maegan also posted the following on their Care Page.

Eva turns ONE!!!

Today we celebrate Eva's first birthday and it has certainly been a birthday worth celebrating. More than once in the past year we were faced with the possibility that Eva might not make it to her first birthday or at least be spending it in the hospital. Evie is still very alive and healthy and has been out of the hospital now for over 2 weeks. We were blessed with a mountain of cards on Saturday evening and for those of you who participated in sending birthday cards to Eva, Thank you for that special blessing. We had a small party for Evie on Sunday evening with immediate family and it was a special time for us to remember God's provision in the past year as well as the accomplishments that Eva has achieved.

Thank you all so much for continuing to pray for us and support us as opportunities arise. Some of you we know well and others we only know because you follow events on this page but you have all touched our lives in so many ways. We are excited for the new year and the possibilities that await Eva. Your prayers and concern are still very needed and appreciated.

Because all of God's gifts are good,

Mike & Maegan

A break in the clouds….

Blogging this year so far has been mostly a thought process of taking a picture or two here and there thinking I can blog about this but that’s as far as it got.  Time seems to have been gobbled up with trying to find a new normal since the birth of our sweet little special needs granddaughter.  Hospital stays at CHOP (Philly) seem to be more normal then not – she is there again at the writing of this blog.  We continue to storm the gates of heaven with our broken record prayers for wisdom for doctors, relief for the baby and physical, mental, emotional and spiritual strength for M&M, the parents. 

Currently part of the my week involves keeping the other 3 children on Friday afternoons for various reasons.  Yesterday I decided to help pass the time with the littles with some crafts.  What fun!!!

  

A month ago these little were here while M&M were at CHOP with the baby and that day we made hand flowers to hang in the baby’s room.  (Pinterest is my new best friend – great ideas.)

I’ve noticed after the grands are at my place that things get moved around.  The little guy in the middle (above) loves to push buttons so the first load of dishes to go through the dishwasher after he has been here is never normal because the buttons aren’t where they need to be.

I have stars hanging from hooks on a lamp stand. (just realized that the shadows on the sofa make it look like we pulled it from a dumpster-ew!)

But I usually find them looking like this….

I caught the little culprit red handed yesterday. =)

Love the break in the clouds that these little hands bring.

June weekend

This past weekend was another busy summer weekend.  I was thrilled to have my bestie and her husband stay with us for a short stay.  I wasn’t able to get out to see her this spring but she has been in to PA twice this year and it’s always wonderful to spend time with her. 

We needed to split up a little time with them Sunday evening as we attended a wedding reception for a niece.

Our niece and her sisters.

The bride and grooms families.  Love this picture.

(stole these from a FB page)

Dad’s songs

When Dad first learned that he had cancer he started planning his service.  And as the months went on he would tell Mom of a song that he wanted song at his service.  So when it came time to actually plan his service he had done the work and we merely needed to put the finer details together. 

The songs Dad chose obviously were meaningful to him.  In true form of his heritage we sang all the songs a cappela. 

On my Tuesday visits with Dad I took an iPad along and Dad enjoyed youtube clips of songs.  He especially liked the Booth Brothers.

 

Growing up I heard a variety of music.  We even had a record collection of old-fashioned pop music.  But quartets – especially the Easter Brothers – were a favorite of his.  He had requested the Stumptown Church quartet to sings these songs but scheduling didn’t work out.  I was grateful, though, to be able to sing the songs as congregational singing.  We rarely sing a cappella anymore and I’ve always enjoyed good 4 part harmony a cappella.

 

 

Dad enjoyed great tenor singers.  Il Divo has been around awhile but the last Tuesday I spent with Dad I shared a youtube clip of the younger tenor group – Il Volo.

Not sure what it says about me but I have always LOVED the song ‘O Sole Mio – especially the part where it pauses and then belts it out. And when these three do this song I get goose bumps and can dissolve into a puddle.  Like I said – not sure what that means but ‘it is what it is’.  =)  Dad thought the did a great job as well when I showed it to him.

We played music by Jim Reeves during the services.  Jim Reeve’s album “We Thank Thee” was a favorite of us kids.  Everyone Sunday morning Mom would put a record on to wake us and this was one of them.  We each have our own favorite song off the record and mine was the title song “We Thank Thee”.   “God Be With You till We Meet Again” was one of the songs Dad chose for us to sing.

I’ve had this post started for over a month and finally decided it was time to finish it and send it on it’s way.  These past 8 weeks without Dad are just the beginning of learning to get used to his absence.  I think I’ve cried more this past week then the week of the funeral – reality is slowly setting in.  But we will meet again – Hallelujah!

Trusting

Baby Evie remains at CHOP and had surgery yesterday to put a G tube into her stomach and the surgeon agreed to also fix her belly button hernia while she was under.  The surgery went well but with Evie’s heighten sensitivity issues she is having a lot of pain.  And although we all knew that ‘surgery is surgery’ it’s been a real downer to have a crying baby, obviously in pain, again after a few days of improving calmness and comfort.

This is the first picture of Evie I have seen where she is awake, calm and not being held.  Just that sentence alone is wonderful.  We’re hoping and praying for more of these – soon.  Picture taken a few days before surgery.

Mike and Maegan are doing well but are exhausted.  Hospital sleeping arrangements are never the greatest.  But today the discouragement of a crying baby again seems quite heavy.  Healing will take place – it’s the waiting that seems longer then ever right now.

Thank you so very much to those of you who are marvelous prayer warriors on their behalf.

Baby Evie

A month ago today we were so excited to have Baby Evie finally coming home from a week at CHOP.  Things improved a little as far as her constant crying.  But it was still painfully obvious that she was/is not comfortable while awake.  New meds and trying new feeding schedules still did not provide a working routine that provided comfort.  After a neurology appointment last week and a rough weekend the neurologist sent them back to CHOP on Monday.  This time around the doctors and nurses are saying she won’t be sent home until they can find some concrete answers and sure ways to provide comfort for Evie.  (Just for clarity her name is pronounced E-va or E V.)

Again it’s amazing to be a part of a great, caring staff of nurses and doctors.  Lots of tests that seem to come back with ‘normal’ results.  A serious case of acid reflux is still their main concern.  It’s trying to understand why or how to ‘fix it’ that has discussions continuing.

This week Mike and Maegan started a Care Page that they hope will help answer questions for those interested. 

You will need to sign up as a member to access the page.  Her name is listed as Eva Smucker and the title of their blog page is Evabythesea.

Thank you to those of you who are faithfully and steadfastly praying for them/us.  There are some specific prayer requests listed on the page.  It is, without a doubt, the prayers of God’s people that have and continue to carry them through this journey.

Sunday lunch

Years ago my better half decided that he would make lunch on Sunday’s.  It provided a great opportunity for him get the kids in the kitchen as well and also help with clean up.  He is no stranger in the kitchen and I’ve always told him he’s a much better cook then I am.  He’s certainly not afraid to try new things especially since he never follows a recipe for his style of cooking.

Even after the children were married and out of the house he continued with the Sunday lunch set up and the only thing I’m allowed to help with is clean up. 

Here’s what our meal looked like today.

He took a top round roast and seared it then poured over a braising base that Betz gave him for Christmas.

He knows I LOVE mushrooms (my favorite is baby portabella’s) so as long as I keep them on hand he usually tries to add them to whatever he’s making.  His current ingredient of choice seems to be kidney beans and yep, he added some into this dish as well.

This dish of wonderful goodness baked while we were at church and, of course, there’s nothing better then walking into the house after church and smelling dinner.

No – there is no recipe.  It’s simply a trial and error and for him those usually end up as dump and win!

Cinnamon Slices

For my Thursday morning breakfast I tried something new and it seemed to be a hit.  I think I’ll be doing this recipe instead of my usual Monkey Bread recipe from now on – it was cheaper and, I thought, quicker.  So what’s not to lose?!

Plus this recipe calls for a glaze on top. 

Glazed Monkey Bread – CaChing!

 

Photo and recipe from Rhodes Bread. 

 

Tips:  I used an off-brand frozen bread dough.

AND you’ll want to be sure to follow the instructions to allow the dough to only partially thaw – it’ll make it much easier to slice and keep the slices workable.

Enjoy!

A tribute to my Dad – Jesse Fisher

At Dad’s funeral my two brothers and I decided to give our individual tributes to Dad.

There is a best selling book titled “Tuesdays with Morrie” about a dying professor sharing life philosophies with a younger student. I haven’t read the book yet but I certainly plan to now because the last few months I’ve had “Tuesdays with Jesse” and it was a dying father talking about life with his daughter. Our Tuesdays started as a goal to simply give Mom a chance to get out of the house for a little and spend time with their friends at the ReUzIt Shoppe. I drug my office work along to Dad’s thinking I could get things done while he slept on his chair or read his book. That set-up lasted for a week or two and then it became apparent that Dad wanted to talk about things and talk we did. Every Tuesday morning we had 4-5 hours together and I will treasure those moments forever. Just Tuesday a week ago Dad walked out to the kitchen table on his own and we had cereal together. We had a wonderful morning and it was my last ‘Tuesday with Jesse” in his home.

I stand here a blessed woman. My dad gave me the greatest gift a parent can give a child – he loved my mom. Dad thought he had found himself a beautiful woman who filled his list of requirements for a wife. As a child growing up I knew my Dad loved my mom and naturally assumed that all Daddy’s love the Mommy’s. As an adult I know that that is something to be treasured and have thanked the Lord many times for blessing me so richly. Even through Dad’s illness his number one goal was to be a good patient for Mom. His greatest concern was always Mom and how she was doing through this. Even in the last few days when he was too weak to talk Mom would lean in to talk to him and Dad would pucker up for a kiss. My Dad loved my Mom.

And he loved my Jay. He thought I did well for myself. He always liked talking with Jay and always took an interest in the business. Dad liked hearing about what was happening at the butcher shop. Another rare day out a few weeks ago for Dad was a visit to the butcher shop one last time.

On our Tuesday mornings I had a chance to ask Dad lots of questions and learned more and more about the things that were always important to Dad. I’ll share a quick – an extremely condensed list:

1. Dad was not a wealthy man but he lived within his means. I felt very rich the 9 summers our family vacationed in Canada. We learned to swim in the St. Lawrence Seaway; he taught us to fish and fish we did. Every little itty bitty perch and sunny we caught Dad would clean up and Mom would fry for supper. To this day I Love the water and my favorite food is fish. The first year after Jay & I were married we took another trip to Canada with mom & Dad where Jay managed to catch a good sized large-mouth bass that none of the locals had been able to catch. Jay & I decided we wanted to have it mounted. Wrapping that fish up to bring home instead of cleaning it and frying it I think pained Dad just a little. Dad and I shared a love for sardines. He enjoyed his love for oysters though with his brothers. I ate them as a child until one day I erroneously cut one in half.

We also took camping trips and one year we traveled in a truck camper to the New England States. Dad had a general idea of where we were headed but each evening he’d lay the out map and we’d plan the next day’s road trip. I have my father to thank for knowing how to read maps, road signs and finding your way from point A to Point B.

2. Dad’s hands were his greatest asset. He could fix anything. A repairman never graced our home. I remember newspaper laid out and pieces of whatever he was working on neatly placed around. And this is what he did during his time at the ReUzIt Shoppe – he had a worktable where he fixed electronics that came in. He so enjoyed his time at the ReUzIt shop where he and mom volunteered. We were thrilled to share a rare day out for Dad with his ReUzIt shop friends for his 80^th birthday. And if any of you are here today from the ReUsIt Shoppe let me publicly say Thank You for loving up on my Dad. And thank you in advance for the care you continue to express to Mom. I’m so grateful for the circle of good friends they’ve made with you.

3. Dad enjoyed reading. In the race between the turtle and the rabbit – Dad was indeed the turtle. It was slow but steady but this dear man read 8 books in the past 4 months – A neighbor had given him three books and he so enjoyed them and was sharing them with me. He was thrilled to learn that there were indeed 8 books in the series and I had them all on my own book shelf.

4. And last but, certainly not least, I’m sure you all have had the blessing of enjoying Dad’s dry sense of humor. When certain jokes come along in my own family we have an ‘eye rolling response’ and say ‘That’s a Gpa Fisher kind of joke’. We Fisher kids had the best of both worlds in laughter. We have to Stoltzfus/Smucker side of loud, laugh till the tears roll down laughter and then we have the Fisher style of chin in your neck, teeth together – tee hee hee.

So I’ve had a wonderful life that was influenced greatly by my father. His greatest gift was loving my mother. His greatest influence was his commitment to God and his church. I am proud of my Amish heritage and what that brought to the shaping of my life. And I’m grateful for my father’s own soul searching journey that found him one evening at Lloyd Eby’s farm asking questions about God, faith, a personal walk and joining Stumptown Mennonite Church. John Eby – I have YOUR father to thank for his guidance in MY father’s life. Those moments of faith sharing was the pivotal point in a journey and walk with God that Dad passed along to his children, grandchildren and great – grandchildren. My prayer is that we continue that faith walk and journey through as well as Dad did.

And so now this I pray

Dear Lord, thank you for blessing my life so richly with a Godly father. I know you have already received Dad into your care and have whispered to him ‘well done, thou good and faithful servant.’

I’m Free

Life has changed in the span of 1 week.  Dad declined rapidly and last Monday, after a very restless night, we decided it was time to move Dad to Hospice.  And Wednesday morning God called him Home.  It was clear to all of us that Dad waited for Mom to arrive Wednesday morning and within a 1/2 hour he was finally free from this illness and this world.

The Lord continued to time things in amazing ways the rest of the week during the planning of and during the viewing and funeral service for Dad. 

The past 5 months since the original cancer diagnosis have been a journey.  But the Lord so graciously allowed us to have wonderful moments together and our family is so very thankful for each day the Lord allowed us to spend with Dad.

He was ready to meet the Lord.  He had his affairs in order and his funeral planned.  He requested to have a family trio sing a Gaither song at the close of his graveside service.

Thank you Fi, Anne and Becky.  Asking us to join you sing the last stanza and chorus was very instrumental in beginning the healing in my own heart.  What a song!!!! and the hope and joy of heaven.

Home Sweet Home

Twelve days of a roller coaster ride and everyone is home again – safe and sound. 

Pappy drove down this morning to pick them.  The Lord allowed for absolutely perfect timing so he didn’t need to park nor get chased away from the front entrance.  Mike and Maegan didn’t need to stand and wait for him to arrive.  So many details flowed like clockwork.  Thank you, Lord!

In the meantime, Nana and the littles worked on a Welcome Home sign and got it finished just in the nick of time.

A very happy mommy!

 

It is a feeling beyond description to know they are all home – Together!

“I know the plans I have for you……”

Testing continues for Evie but the doctors have given enough information that we’re realizing that life will not return to normal – not that it was before this, really.  We don’t have a lot of definitive's yet but enough to know that the following poem puts our thoughts, feelings and emotions into words.

What About Tomorrow?

by Cyndi Egbert

A poem about life with a special child

What about tomorrow
is a common thought for me.
I wonder what the day will bring,
I hope no misery.
Each day has its own challenges,
Its battles to be won;
But so many days go by
Bringing another race yet to be run.

I get so tired and discouraged sometimes,
And don't know where to turn.
But You, Lord, will be with me
Ready when I'm willing to learn;
Comforting when I just can't
Look beyond that minute;
Patiently waiting for me to accept
the lesson that is in it.

So don't give up on me, Lord
(I know You never would)
Because I need to lean on You, Lord
So lead me as I should.
And while I'm talking to You, Father
One more request I ask-
Please give me peace, dear Lord
For this little one and my special task.
Amen.

Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD [is] upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to [the] poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to [the] captives And recovery of sight to [the] blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; (NKJV)

copyright 1998 by Cyndi Egbert

 

Mike, Maegan and Evie remain at CHOP.  There was talk of them possibly coming home Friday but that is looking questionable.  We have so many questions and the answers seem to be hidden and coming very slowly.

God is still on the throne, in charge and He knows our future.

We rest in that.

- I’d like to give testimony to the steadfastness that Maegan’s Mom, Eva, continues to provide in the care of Isaac, Ellie and Isaiah.  In spite of the absence of Mom and Dad these children are doing remarkably well.  They are happy and enjoying life as normally as they can.  Thank you Eva!

An eventful week

We make plans for our days, our weeks but sometimes none of it works out.
Monday evening I went to pick up and bring to my home my dearest friend and sista chick, Denise.  She was in from Indiana visiting her son, DIL and new granddaughter.  She spent the first week with her family and then a few days last week hanging out with me.

Since her move to Indiana I’ve been the one who flies out to her home to spend a week with her.  There have been an occasional time or two that we’ve been able to see each other here in my area but it’s been a quicky visit and never an overnighter.  For the first time I got to have her here as my guest.  Fun, fun, fun.
She was able to join our family as we celebrated Dad’s 80th birthday, Feb. 21.  We celebrated by having a card shower for Dad – cards started coming a few days before his birthday and continued pouring in the rest of the week.  He has received so far over 100 cards and he has enjoyed each one. 

The day of Dad’s birthday my brother, Randy, picked Dad up and drove him to the ReUzIt Shop that Dad and Mom have been volunteering at for the past few years.  It’s been almost 4 months since Dad saw his friends at the ReUzIt so it was a grand time to see him interact with his co-workers.
Dad isn’t supposed to be walking around without a walker or a wheelchair – something he thinks is completely unnecessary – so we compromised and he agreed to push the wheel chair around.

He showed me his work station where he cleaned and repaired electronic items that were donated.
  Dad would usually have a box of items that he’d drag home and work on in-between his weekly visits to the ReUzIt Shop.  His table in the basement had a good supply of batteries, small tools, etc…  He loved to show us the varied items that came in broken that with a few adjustments/repairs were running like new again.
The Lord has been gracious in answering our prayers and desire to have Dad see his 80th birthday.  What a fun day we had.  For more of his day you can visit Betz’s blog.
It was later that afternoon as Denise and I were out and about that I got a phone call from Jay wondering where I was (was only 5 minutes from home) and wanting me to get to Mike’s house ASAP so I could keep the 3 little ones so Mike and Maegan could take baby Evie to Hershey. 
It was a long 4 days at Hershey and so discouraging to bring Evie home with no answers and loads of appointments to made.  Although the plans Denise and I had hoped to make were changed and altered I was so grateful to have her here to walk beside me as we babysat, made trips to Hershey so the little ones could see Mom and Dad at least once a day and still managed to get some wonderful sharing time tucked in here and there.  Baby Evie was discharged Friday evening so Saturday Denise and I were free to have one day together doing some cleaning, cooking and shopping. 
We interrupt this blog for yet another trip to Hershey ER. 
To be continued………

The young and the old

This week has been a true mixture of life.  Monday started out with a very focused goal of getting my office work done because my dear friend, Denise from Indiana, was in the area visiting her new grandbaby.  As soon as my Monday list was completed I was on my way to pick her up to spend some time at my home.  Fun, fun.  Usually this time of year I’m headed her way for a visit so it was quite a treat for me to have her come my way.  We always pick up where we left off and the fun begins instantly.
Tuesday morning we hit the ground running because it was Dad’s 80th birthday.  God has been so gracious in allowing this special time with Dad.  Plans for the day were highlighted with Dad making a visit to the ReUseIt shop that he and Mom have volunteered at for quite a number of years.   Details of that day can be read on Betz's blog. It was such a treat for me to meet some of their dear co-workers and also to share that day with Denise.
Afterwards, Denise and I headed for a primitive home decorating store that is close to home and we had some great fun shopping together.  We were headed back home because I had a weekly business meeting to attend later that afternoon. 
But life changes with a simple phone call.  Jay called to see where I was and thankfully I was only 5 minutes away.  He said we needed to come to the shop because I needed to keep Mike’s children.  Earlier that day Mike’s wife, Maegan, had taken baby Evie for an ultrasound that had been scheduled after their visit to the ER over the weekend in an attempt to get someone to listen to their concerns for Evie’s constant crying.  The results of the ultrasound had just come in and Mike and Maegan were told to take Evie to Hershey.  Denise and I packed up the other 3 kids and brought home.
The next 3 days Mike and Maegan were camped out at Hershey Medical watching little Evie get test after test and late Friday afternoon they were discharged.  As Mike wrote in an email “No real answers to the original problem but we know of 3 more”.  Here’s what we know:
1. There is a hematoma on the right side of her brain resting between her skull and her brain – they will be monitoring it to see if it make any changes.
2.  There are pockets of under developed tissue in her brain.
3.  Although her eyes themselves seem to be OK the receptive information isn’t transmitting properly to her brain. 
4.  Not one of the doctors was able to provide a reason for Evie’s crying nor did they give anything stronger then Tylenol every 4 hours.
Details of things seemed to be changing everyday and on the last day we were hopeful that we may have been finding a cause for her crying but again came up empty.  Some of the doctors have been using acid reflux as a cause but those of us who spend time with her find it hard to believe that that is the sole culprit.  It it no exaggeration to say that in the 7 weeks of this baby’s life she has spent more hours crying then not. 
So the last few days have been far from normal. We are extremely blessed and grateful to have Hershey Medical in our ‘back yard’.  But I must admit that I’m disappointed that this wonderful medical place of expertise was unable to provide a solution to making Evie comfortable.  There are appointments to be made with an optomologist for eye therapy, a geneticist, a hematologist and a pediatrician.  They’ve also made an appointment with a chiropractor and I am hoping and praying that the chiropractor will be able to provide her relief from pain.
I wanted to post a few pictures with this blog but my scanner is currently not speaking to my computer and Mike was in the process of helping me at the beginning of the week but it has sat silent during all of these events.
And so a week of life has provided awesome joy in celebrating Dad’s 80th birthday (he’s gotten around 100 cards in the mail) and heart-wrenching disappointment in not being able to give precious little Evie some relief.
Let me use this blog to say a grateful THANK YOU to those who mailed cards to Dad – he had a wonderful birthday – and to all of you who have carried us this week with your prayers.  It is a priceless gift we can give each other.
And I can’t close this post without expressing my deepest gratitude for my dear friend, Denise.  How kind and gracious of our Heavenly Father to allow her to be with me this week and walk along side me.  We had lots of fun plans – and we’ve been able to fit a few of those in – but she walked along side in helping to care for the other 3 children at times, went along on rides to Hershey so the family could spend some time together, spent some alone time here at the house while I did what I needed to do. 
God is good.  And He is on the throne and He is in control.  We will continue to trust in that.

Happy Birthday

Today my youngest child turns 28!  Time has certainly flown by at warp speed.

Digger and his wife, Lacey, are keeping busy chasing three littles around.

Happy Birthday, Jason!  So glad God placed you in our family.  You’ve kept us laughing and continue to make life fun.

Happy Birthday

The dearest and greatest blessing in my life celebrates his birthday today.

We also celebrate the Lord’s gracious goodness to us.  It’s 9 years today since our business fire and the Lord has certainly provided beauty from ashes.  He has provided an amazing crew to team with and we wouldn’t be here without them.

  Thanks guys!!!

  And Jay – what a great group of people to help create new memories for your birthday.  I love you!

Christmas 2011

Betz was the official photographer at our home again this holiday.  And she was kind enough to send me pictures for me to blog with.  BUT, she beat me to the punch and at this stage of my weekend it’s simply way too tempting to just ‘cut and paste’.  So my guest blog can be viewed here.  Thank You, Betz.

In the meantime I’ll insert one that she has posted on her blog.  Our attempt to getting a family picture – at the end of the day rather then at the beginning.  Betz would get the photo all lined up, set the timer and run to her position and then all the littles would turn to watch her run while all the bigs were yelling ‘look at the camera, smile, look at the camera’ with no one behind it.  Simple instructions can be so hard to follow when you’re a little.  =)  Little Caleb is still trying to figure out where Aunt Jess got to.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year and a Blessed 2012.

Happy Anniversary

Today Mike and Maegan celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary.

I asked them over the weekend if someone would have told them on their wedding day that in 7 years they would have 4 children would they have believed them.  They both laughed and replied “No”.

They are wonderful parents who give their children the 2 best gifts possible – the gift of being raised in a Godly home and the gift of a mommy who loves their daddy and a daddy who loves their mommy.

So proud of you and love you both.

Introducing Eva Rachelle Smucker

We’ve had another addition to our family.  Little Miss Smucker was born early Friday morning, December 30 at 1:41 am.  She rounds out Mike (our son) and Maegan’s family nicely.  They now have 2 boys and 2 girls.

There were so many little details of her birth that the Lord amazingly and wonderfully provided.  Maegan has FAST delivery’s with little warning and she was so desiring to be in the hospital in better timing then her last delivery – which was a high speed drive including driving the wrong way on way streets, etc….  This time the hospital allowed them to stay when they went in and were admitted hours before the actual birth.  Thank You Lord for answered prayer.

I knew they were at the hospital the night before and received an email from Mike before I went to bed saying there would be a baby sometime in the next few hours.  When I awoke I quickly checked my email and there it was.  In the subject line was

‘wehadababyitsagirl’. 

Stolen from a long known joke in our family.  In the email he gave the normal details of time, length and weight but then a line that simply said Name Forthcoming.  What?!?!?  They had two names picked out for months and the littles were even call her Baby ____. 

Emails back and forth were now including the fun name of Forthcoming Smucker.  Pappy thought it was completely appropriate seeing Little Miss Smucker was their 4th one coming.

Arrangements were made for me to help Nana (Maegan’s mom) get the other three littles packed up and bring them in to the hospital to see Mom and Dad and Baby.  Upon arrival and getting coats off of all the littles and Nana being the first to hold Baby Forthcoming,  M & M finally filled us in.  They had decided to name Little Miss Smucker after Maegan’s mom.  What a wonderful honor and total surprise for Nana.  Nana’s grandmothers name was also Eva. 

They plan to call her Evie.  I spent some time later in the day helping the littles change gears and give the correct name when asked what their little sisters name was.  I finally got a piece of paper and pen and wrote an E and a V and got the children to say the letters.  What fun.  Instead of the accent on the first syllable (E-vee) it was coming out as E – pause – V!  =)  They’ll get it figured out.  Littles are fun!

 

Baby Eva make grandchild number 7 for us.

We tried to get everyone to cooperate for a family picture.  This was the best we could do.

Mommy, Baby Isaiah and big brother Isaac.  I told him earlier that morning that he was now a big brother 3 times.  I told him that when my mommy and daddy had a baby I was their first baby.  And that when me and Pappy had a baby his Daddy was our first baby.  And now because he was his Mommy and Daddy’s first baby he had really big shoes to fill as a big brother to his brother and sisters.  I think he liked the idea.  He’s already doing a great job.

   

 

Baby Isaiah has now lost his baby status.  He goes by Izzy or Bubba.

Miss Ellie saying Hello to her new sister.

Proud Poppa.

 

The Lord has been good.

The Lord IS good.

(Pappy is still referring to Baby Eva as ‘FC’.  Silly goose.)