Family Changes

     Our little Hazelnut is doing very well this week!  Besides a loss of appetite and some fatigue, she is otherwise feeling much like herself.  She has been up playing, taking walks through the halls and spending much needed time in the playroom.  We should finish up by early Friday afternoon and be discharged soon thereafter.  Then we come back Sunday night for the grueling week of the IL-2 and Ch 14.18 combination.  All of this being said, I would like to take the opportunity now to share with all of you some of the changes our family has been experiencing outside of Hazel's treatment.
     In November of last year, as many of you can remember, Hazel was in the ICU fighting for her life.  It took everything we had to stay by her bedside and put our faith in God to pull her through those harrowing days.  During the second week of her stay, Aaron and I received the surprise of a lifetime and learned that we would be expecting another baby.  Upon discovering this news, we were utterly shocked, overwhelmed and even broken.  I had spent the entire month of October in the hospital with Hazel, only returning home for one single weekend.  Aaron and I made responsible birth control choices and I had been so unbelievably stressed that we never even imagined this could happen.  We both made the decision to keep the news to ourselves until Hazel was in a more stable place and until the two of us could be excited to share the news.  Now, I am 21 weeks along, Hazel is doing wonderfully well, our family and close friends have shared in our celebration, we have discovered that I will deliver in July, just weeks after Hazel's very last inpatient stay; so we feel elated to finally share this news with all of you!  We have chosen to keep the gender a surprise and it has truly given us something exciting a wonderful to look forward to this summer.

     Due to our unexpected family growth (5 children, can you believe it?!), Aaron and I began praying about a possible move to a bigger home.  We didn't necessarily believe it would even be possible, but we wanted to put the option completely in God's hands, and if he provided a way for it to happen, then it would be in His will.  Well, in His faithfulness, He not only provided a possibility for us, but He gave us a new home to move into that will be absolutely perfect for our family.  We just sold our current home last week, and will be closing escrow sometime at the end of March or beginning of April.  He showered these transactions with His guidance, and most importantly with His provisions.  As wonderful as this has been to receive such a blessing, it has presented us with quite an overwhelming schedule (on top of the already busy one that we have).  So we put our complete trust in Him to provide us with the support we need to get through this move!

     As I have been praying about, and adjusting to these two new changes God has brought to our lives, I have felt something in my heart that I hope is what God is trying to show us.  Hazel will be finished with treatment, and will hopefully be cancer free, we are having a new baby and we are moving to a new home.  All of these things seem to point to a new beginning and a fresh start to our family.  I feel as if God is showing us he has a bright and beautiful new chapter in store for us, and I pray that it is so!