Day 100+ !!!! and shes coming to visit!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works with in us to him be the glory..."   Eph 3:20-21

God is so good. He has protected my mother-in-law. I'm sorry for not updating more but just wanted to share a little with you now that she has made it to the other side of the procedure and is healthy enough that she and my father-in-law are actually traveling all the way to Iowa TODAY to visit us :) We couldn't be more excited. We are so incredibly proud of our Honey and how tough she was to endure all that she has gone through the past six months! 

Thank you thank you thank you for praying for her. I know you did. and she knows it too. She is still a little weak and it could take another year for her to gain all her strength back from the intense chemo. But she is doing well!!! We couldn't be more thankful!!!!!!

Here are some updates from her that she wrote on her caring bridge site:

In Ann Voskamp's blog this week, a quote struck me. "The way to stand with the falling is to give them the gift of the knees because this is how His Body catches and carries each other home." It is a gift to hold each other up and I have definitely experienced it this summer with all of you. I want to be faithful in doing that for others. It's humbling and amazing to see qualities of God through this, His faithfulness, His Sovereignty, His Omnipresence, His Love for each of us, and much more. 

Written Sep 18, 2013 6:02pm

This is Day 100! Unbelievable, how God has brought me through to today, the first hurdle of surviving the transplant and going infection free these past 100 days. It really is a miracle and I see God's hand through it all. The 100 day window is an arbitrary number used in transplants. Before day 100 is considered the time of acute complications like infections, pneumonia from the transplant, after day 100 is considered post transplant. (I had it explained to me much more clearly than this!)
     The second hurdle was evaluating the MS.  I had MRI's yesterday and today of the brain and spine, and was to go to Dr. Lim (oncologist) next week to hear results and to Dr. Saulog (neurologist) in 3 weeks to go over results more in depth and talk about the MS.  Dr. Saulog, (she) called me today at 2:45 and asked if I could come in at 3:00 for an appt.  It scared me to death thinking she had gotten results and found lesions and was going to put me back on MS drugs as soon as possible. I've been off any MS drugs since April.  Donny met me there and we waited in exam room for a while, she did various neurological tests on strength and reflexes, kept getting up to ask something of her staff  and finally said we'd go over the results of MRI.  I was as nervous as the first time I was diagnosed in 1996 praying and trying to prepare myself for what she was going to say.  Finally, she said with no emotion that I had no new lesions!!!!  I was so relieved and I think she really was very pleased.  You'd have to know her!  There was no improvement in the old lesions and atrophy in part of my spine which probably will not get any better (which I wasn't too surprised), BUT  hopefully I will not get any worse!
She wants to start me on IV steroids next week to boost me up and then she will start the weaning off the steroids a lot slower than before.
Also she is setting up physical therapy for this fall which I think will be great for me.  It's hard to push myself when mobility is so hard. I guess I need a coach.  I will still do the IVIG in a couple of weeks and the breathing treatment at the hospital.
     Anyway, I feel hope!  I feel like a weight has been lifted and I can now look forward to trying to get stronger physically.  I will say I have been fighting doubt and insecurity, I guess Satan knows where to attack when you're weak. The devotion book "Jesus Today" that I read today was on hope, just what I needed.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,faithful in prayer." Rom 12:12

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the LORD is the Rock eternal."
Is 26:4

"For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Rom 8: 24-25

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

"Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

And a powerful verse that Team Lisa (some friends and family) have been praying the last 2 days is:
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works with in us to him be the glory..."   Eph 3:20-21

Please continue to pray for me that I will fight doubt and fear.  I don't want to be like a wave tossed here and there, but firmly secured to the Rock.  It will still be an uphill battle to build strength, stamina, balance and whatever else may be possible to gain. The studies have shown that improvement happens in the first 2 years after the transplant so I've got my work ahead but I'm so much more positive about the future now. Again I just can't thank enough the friends and family and some I don't even know who have been faithfully praying and hope I'm not selfish in asking for your continued prayers.
Praise the Lord for his goodness and mercy!

Lisa update :)

Sorry for not updating anyone on my mother-in-laws progress this summer! I have been mia from my blog and so many of you have been so kind to ask how she's doing so I for sure need to "proclaim what the Lord has done!!"

Today is day 95. (remember day zero was the scary day back in June. I just can't believe its already almost day 100!) She had a rough summer- recuperating, gaining energy, resting in the quiet and isolation of her home. To the glory of God she NEVER got sick! This is unreal people. God is so good. He protected her even in ways we don't know. But somehow, besides nausea and normal weakness, tiredness and sickness, she never got a fever or had to go back into the hospital after the procedure!! She was smart and careful and she and Donny and Grace made sure to take such good care of her. Her doctors say she is a textbook case - her results are off the charts. All her blood counts and levels and everything are back to normal!! Now, they are trying to figure out the steroid dosages and other things, which she thinks is making her feel weak :( not fun when she had more energy earlier in the summer. When she feels like she has the energy, she is able to walk up and down her street with a walker!!!!! Her hair is growing back :) They got a new dog, Sadie. They won't test for the MS cells for a while longer but now that is the biggest prayer request ----> that all the MS cells are gone!!!! and that she will fully recuperate soon. and PLEASE PRAY for her soul. for her spirit to be joyful, even in the solitude and waiting and wondering. Pray that she won't be anxious or worried and that she would trust the Lord. He has been so faithful this summer - as he promised he would be - and we are just trusting him to let her MS be gone. He is the healer and He has created her in His image.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!! She feels them and covets them!!

here's a link to her caringbridge site that she updates: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lisamason

We love you Lisa!!! and couldn't be more proud of you. Can't wait to see you sometime soon! We miss you. xoxoxo

five months

oh my precious Lucy girl. 

You're five months old.

You are just about the sweetest thing.

*So laid back.

*Still such a good sleeper {~8pm-4/5ish-8}

*You're not really a long napper though. 3 or 4 30-45 min naps each day. but i'm sure not complaining bc you sleep so well at night.

*Still breastfeeding and its obviously going well, judging by all your healthy rolls :)

*You just gobble up your rice cereal and are learning how to actually swallow it

*You put EVERYTHING in your mouth and get so frustrated if it doesn't fit or you can't reach it

*LOVE bath time! and Reeser CANNOT wait for you to be able to take a real bath with her.

*If I lay you down to play on your back you pretty much immediately roll onto your tummy but then get a little frustrated if you can't figure out how to roll back over or you can't reach the toy you want

*This week you starting reaching for toys while you're on your tummy

*you are quite the drooler lately!! usually we have to change your clothes several times a day.

*Just found your feet

*You can kind of sit up, with help from lots of pillows

*You love to go on runs/walks outside in the double stroller 

*You just laugh and laugh at your big sister

*You're wearing lots of 6-12mo clothes and size 3 diapers

you're such a joy in our family!!! love you sweet thing.

Lisa Update - Chemo this week!!!

Sweet Lisa starts her big week of chemo tomorrow. She will have five days of treatment and each day she'll get three different chemo drugs. Oh man, this will probably be a very, very tough week. Like i've said before, her body has a tough time handling even the smallest of colds and this intense chemo just wipes her out. Please pray for her body to be strong, for her spirits to be high, that she wouldn't be in too much pain or discomfort and would be able to get around the house or the hospital ok, for her husband, Donny, to be available, for the doctors and nurses to be wise and wonderful to her, for her house to be comfortable and a quiet place of rest, for the chemo to work!!! (that it would knock out all the MS cells before they put the "clean" stem cells back in), and most of all for God to be glorified.

And next Monday (June 10th) is when she'll get the transplant and it will begin the very critical time. We're all a little anxious, but trusting Jesus who has created her perfectly and knows the plan for her life.

We've LOVED being able to facetime with her more lately since she's at home and she sure seems smiley and joyful! She's been able to rest at home the past few weeks and I think it's been a good little break before the next big round starts tomorrow. We feel so blessed in Iowa (and all around the world really) to have so many people praying for her and for the procedure to go well. Thank you. I know God hears and Lisa feels all those prayers. Please stay diligent to pray. Reese has be so precious just randomly during the day to say, "mommy we need to pray for Honey." Love her caring little heart. We sure love our Honey more than words! Stay strong this week, Lisa! We love you!!

I have this verse on the chalkboard in our house this week:

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer" Rom 12:12

painting party

a whole month late.... but here are the highlights from reese's fun third birthday:

she woke up to streamers hanging from her door and balloons everywhere :) and gigi and pajoe had gotten to our house after she fell asleep so that was a fun surprise when she woke up too! 

pretty much a walking pottery barn kids add ha! got a suitcase and lunchbox to go with her backpack. this girl loves bags and loves to organize everything. hilarious.

her big birthday present finally got set up on her actual birthday and she was soooo excited! 

{note that shes totally bundled up and it was april 19th. ugh. hope its not that cold every year on her bday!}

party time!!

here's the incredible invitation my cousin aimee made 

when i was brainstorming what to do for her birthday this year I started just thinking of all Reesers favorite things to do... and pretty much EVERYTHING was some sort of art :) So we went with an art theme and she was so excited about it. For a month before the party she would tell everyone she saw at every store or the post office or church about her "painting party" and all she wanted was fingerpaint :) which we didnt actually do at the party but she didnt notice!

paintbrush rice kris pies

Each cute friend got an apron with their initial painted on it and a little canvas with their name taped off. Then they got to paint on their canvas -all over the place!- and when it dried we pulled the tape off and their name was still white. It was pretty cute and praise the Lord no one got paint on their clothes (that i know of). I was so worried!!! I think they liked it. Except all of our three year old friends are boys so they didnt quite love to paint as much as the birthday girl. She was the first one to start and the last one to finish (by about 20 minutes haha like i said, she loves to paint!!)

all the mommas and the second borns. these girls have been such a blessing to me this year!!! i need to write a post just about them. God is so so so faithful to always provide me with the neatest women. I just adore each of them! We've joined their small group and couldn't be more thankful for this community! who knew such awesome people lived in Des Moines Iowa ;)

chaos? :)

munchkin still painting! while all the boys were climbing the swingset, blowing bubbles, riding in the barbie jeep, coloring with chalk... reese was still painting :)

this was pretty funny bc R was so excited about the facepainting the days before the party but when it was actually time to she chickened out and would only let me do tiny dots on her cheek (instead of the butterfly we had already even practiced haha) and she insisted on painting my face first :) thank you reese mason for the beautiful orange blob you painted on mommys face! anything for the birthday girl

her face was just precious as everyone sang to her. too bad it was so chilly and you couldn't see her cute shirt that said "its my birthday" on it. 

 rainbow cake! totally worth it. 

fun outdoor chalkboard!! 

cute dax in the barbie jeep :)

oh hilarious. reese is still obsessed with cars (aka lightening mcqueen) and mater and we watch the movie over and over and she can practically quote the whole thing and she just loves them like they're dolls and she takes care of them like dolls. hilarious. so she saw this dumb cars pinata at the store and begged and begged for it for weeks before the party. so her dear sweet daddy caved and surprised her with it. hilarious. she just LOVED it. and still loves it when she sees it in the basement. i'm thankful it had those strings at the bottom bc it could maybe we used again! surely she won't still have this obsession when she's four though, right?? 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REESE ELIZABETH!!! 

You are such a firecracker. You are so passionate in every single way. You are tender hearted but strong willed. You love to play outside. You LOVE to have imaginary friends with you (and us) allllllll the time (well actually most of your imaginary friends are actual people (always Sam but sometimes other friends too) and we pretend they're with us). You love to act out scenes and scenarios you read in books or on tv shows. You love books and we read together A LOT! You're really good at "reading" by yourself by looking at the pictures and making up what might be going on. You have the most precious curls and hardly ever let me put anything in your hair. You still love gymnastics and are getting so good. You can do a forward roll, sort of a cartwheel and can walk on the beam by yourself. You are still in the 1% in height and 8% for weight. What a little peanut. Funny bc youre very very very allergic to peanuts. We took you to the allergist this year and you're pretty dang high on the scale of how allergic you could be :( We're still praying you'll grow out of this though. You are also pretty much the best big sister in the whole world and its adorable to watch you love on Lucy. You now know how to text people from my phone. You text imoticon images to whoever the person was that I last sent a text too. Usually daddy, gigi or honey :) or maybe a random church person or maybe my hairdresser. haha that was a little embarrassing. You have the sweetest, high pitched precious voice and I just LOVE it when you tell me stories about something we did or something you made up. You sorta know how to spell your name - usually you say R E S EE. That little brain just works non stop and is picking up something new everyday. You are so dear little Reese and you make me so so proud. I couldn't be more thankful to be your mommy! Thanks for getting me through these long days - even when I want to pull my hair out bc you're being a stinker - I still am so thankful to have you as my little buddy! I love you sweet girl.

steady my heart

this song just came on my pandora station and i just fell to tears. so much of what my heart is feeling today. we're doing fine... just a hard day. feeling like a yucky, tired, exhausted mommy with my sweet girls needing all of me when i feel like i have nothing to give. and i feel like i'm doing it all wrong. i feel like my heart is tired. but even then, my Jesus is there. he's the lover of my soul. he's got me in the palm of his hand. i will run to HIM. and hopefully HE is what i can somehow give to my girls through my brokenness. HE is the one who steadys my heart. 

Wish it could be easy
Why is life so messy?
Why is pain a part of us?
There are days I feel like
Nothing ever goes right
Sometimes it just hurts so much

But You're here
You're real
I know I can trust You

Even when it hurts
Even when it's hard
Even when it all just falls apart
I will run to You
'Cause I know that You are
Lover of my soul
Healer of my scars
You steady my heart

I'm not gonna worry
I know that You've got me
Right inside the palm of your hand
Each and every moment
What's good and what gets broken
Happens just the way You plan

And I will run to You
And find refuge in Your arms
And I will sing to You
'Cause of everything You are


I'm not gonna worry
I know that you've got me
Right inside the palm of your hand

texas vaca

Mark had a vacation week in April and we were excited to be able to go see his family in Amarillo. We drove there with the girls and it was quite an adventure to say the least!! We left at 5:30a in hopes that they would sleep a lot in the morning and then we'd get there by dinner time. oh boy. hopeful thinking i guess. haha. We just didn't anticipate very well how long it would make the trip when we had to stop so I could feed Lucy so often. Reeser was such a trooper and she did awesome!! She had fun watching movies on the ipad and playing with new little toys I got her to give her different things every few hours. Lucy did fine also, she was just only three months old and was still nursing so often and after 12 hrs in that silly car seat, she had had enough - but we still had 4 more hours to go. it was crazy. and then we came to this sign:

i about lost it. but God is good, all the time. We found our own detour and made it to the hwy. The trip usually takes about 12 hrs and it took us 16+. crazy. on the way back we decided to leave after dinner Wednesday night and drive halfway and then get up super early and drive the rest. This was unbelievably easier!! Now we know and we'll prob do that every time from here on out. 

Here are a billion pics from our trip. We had a blast just being with family and getting to see a few friends too. 

Lunch at the Plaza with the grandparents after church:

Lu loves her auntie G:

Chillin on the back porch with Honey:

Driving down the street to have ice cream at PawPaws with the crazy aunties

racing:

birthday dinner for all the april birthdays - Lisa, Mark, Reese and Joel

her aunts got her a new helmet she had been asking for over and over and over

Honey and Lucy Kate 

fun in the sun and warm weather! we were so so happy to see the sunshine and not have to wear coats!

this was just the sweetest thing when gramma mason got down on the ground and wanted to just play and roll around with reeser. so so sweet!!

auntie anne got the girls matching dresses- reese was asleep but we had to get a picture of them ha

we were so excited to get to spend just a very quick evening with our friends - the Hickmans. They were our very first friends when we had just gotten married and lived in Lubbock and God has been so faithful to me through my friendship with Heidi. So fun to continue to go through life together even from so far away!

fingerpaint from aunt julia. her other very very very favorite present. she has been asking for this FOREVER and i had been waiting to give it to her for her bday. she would seriously fingerpaint at home all day long if i let her!

playing with honey and pops at the FLC at church. (matching again, from their aunties. i love it when they match :)

leaving amarillo we came across another Road Closed sign. oh gah lee. I about died. luckily this one had a detour and it was really quick. thank you Lord for taking care of us the whole way!

playing dress up in her new princess dress when we got home.

such a fun and special trip. i know we'll be making that drive a billion more times. its always worth it!!