Praying for a Miracle

On Friday (July 15) my 2 1/2 year-old nephew (Brendan's sister's and brother-in-law's son) was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal Sarcoma (cancer). The tumors continue to grow and multiply at such an alarming rate that after being given about a month to live on Friday, today the oncologist now gives little Andrew just a few weeks left here on Earth. To put into perspective how aggressive this cancer is, just 3 weeks ago the only symptom Andrew had was a bump on his head which his family believed to be an "egg" from a fall he took being a typical 2 year-old boy. Less than 2 weeks later a 2nd bump appeared, this time on his leg. We now know that these were/are sarcoma tumors. There are now 25+ tumors throughout his body... Some of you may be doing the math in your head ... a little flag is going up... yes, Andrew was born the day after Ty was delivered. He has been the little guy I look at and smile (often through tears) knowing where my 2nd son would be at developmentally. Selfishly we pray that God will intervene. That He will take this cancer away and heal Andrew. We also pray for God to wrap His arms around Andrew, his mom Brianne, his dad Joe and his sister Aubrey. To grant them peace in their hearts, comfort in their souls and strength in mind, body and spirit. We pray, too, that God does the same for us as a family but more specifically that He gives us all the strength to be as supportive, loving and caring as we can be for Bri, Joe and Aubrey as well as each other.

I have gone through a horrific loss - no parent should ever experience the death of their child. However, I also recognize that my loss was/is nearly uncomparable to the loss that my family may soon face. My prayer for Brendan and myself is that God can use our loss and use us to be supportive to Bri and Joe in ways that those who have not gone through the loss of a child simply cannot be. Please pray these things with me and for me.

You may be wondering how else you can help. A non-profit account has been set-up to help cover any medical bills not covered by insurance as well as funeral expenses. Please, by no means, feel obligated, but for those interested here are 3 ways to donate:
1) Checks made out to "Andrew Morris Fund" (please contact me personally for an address to mail these to.)
2) Donate via PayPal
3) Stop by any Associated Bank and let the teller know you would like to make a donation to the Andrew Morris Fund

Thank you, again, for all of your support! Hug your children a little longer and tighter and cherish each moment with those that you love.

Take care and God bless!
~jenn

Easter in July

So I remembered that I never posted about Easter - big surprise... There are days I half wonder if I've got early onset Alzheimer's but I know that it's really just motherhood and having too many things to keep track of. OK - so not sure how long this post will be. Sadly at this point my pictures will remind me of what happened. What I do remember of Easter is that T still LOVES to get his hands dirty (literally) and use them instead of spoons when dying eggs, thinking C was the most beautiful little girl in the world (which she is anyway, but especially so in her Easter outfit) and that T could have hunted for Easter eggs for a week.

The day started off like any other Sunday in our family - C wanted to wear her tutu over her pj's. So stinkin' cute if you ask me :) "Julie Grandma" (as T calls her) had the house decorated up and festive for the holiday. I can't remember if it was before or after church, but we attempted our annual family picture - at least the grown-ups were smiling, right?
Following church we did the egg huntS (yes, plural). I think T handed his basket over to one of us adults a minimum of 6 times to re-hide the eggs. It was a hoot watching him run around and be SO surprised to find the eggs hidden in plain sight. C wasn't much interested in finding the eggs themselves but more-so getting them open to see if there was chocolate inside. The girl takes after her mother in that department, that's for sure!
When it was all said and done, I think all the yet-to-be-eaten candy got thrown away. The eggs containing the candy ended up getting hidden among some rabbit droppings (I'm sure it wasn't Mr. E Rabbit, he'd never poo in Julie Grandma's garden. Must have been Peter or his cousin Benjamin Bunny - hehehe) and that just grossed us all out.

OK - all for now. Stay tuned for another installment of the Moore family. :)

God Bless and Love to all!
~j