That really resonated with me as I have seen some big things this week however I have likely missed tons more.
We live close enough to Chicago that it is a day trip and growing up we went to the city many times, but one of my favorite things to do in the city has been going to the American Girl store. I remember going a few times when I was younger and how in aww of it I always was. Since I found out Jilli was a girl going to the American Girl store with her has been a dream of mine. This year AG released their girl of the year... an astronaut! Jilli wants to be an astronaut when she grows up (she wants to go to space on Thursdays...) and her uncle Seth helped to work on the new fuel gauge for NASA and she adores her uncle so anything space is really cool in her world. Since we first saw what the girl of the year was all about Jilli has been very interested in it. She has two of the Target branded 18in dolls that she LOVES and takes very good care of and so we were talking about how the girl of the year doll this year might be the perfect big girl doll for her. My mom and I originally were going to take the girls up to Door County this weekend but our plans changed so we had an open day on Friday so we decided that it was the perfect day to go.
Jillian loves the Eloise movies... she watches them while we are at rmh (we need to order rmh more of them, we keep watching the same couple over and over and over lol) so her eyes got huge as we came into Chicago. She was excited to be in the city like Eloise. We didn't tell her where we were going until we parked the car and then she got really excited to find out we were going to the American Girl store!
We wondered around the store for a few hours. The girls LOVED it. Lydia wanted to play with every doll that was on display and didn't understand why she couldn't. Lydia got a Bitty Baby from my dad at Christmas (my dad bought me my special doll for the Christmas when I was one and he did the same for both of the girls... we just happened to find a good deal last year at Costco on a Bitty Baby so that is the doll he decided to get for Lydia... she calls it Bumpa Baby) so she brought her doll with. Lydi loved looking at every "pet" they had for the dolls and fell is love with the stuffed puppy named Grace. Jilli was so excited to see all the space stuff for the doll of the year... but the look on her face when mom and I told her that she could have a doll of the year was priceless. Jilli didn't ask for anything in the store... she pointed out things she thought were cool but she never asked for a thing... she was just so grateful to be there. She LOVES her doll and brought it with her to church today. After AG mom and I got some lunch at a cafe at Watertower place, walked down to the Disney Store and the girls loved to push the buttons for the annomatronics and then we talked back to Watertower place (during our walk we got to see a street "preacher" and picketers yelling at people that they were going to hell and they deserved it... this was NOT the gospel message... my head and heart have so many thoughts on this but thats a different subject). We looked around at Macy's and then headed home.
Friday night Brent and I went out with Jamie and Jason for Jamie's birthday... its rare the 4 of us go out any more but we had so much fun. I truly value them in our lives... we joked that we are getting old lol... the 4 of us are known for our multi part date nights... on time we went to one restaurant for dinner... one for drinks... one for dessert and then to a movie... on Friday we went to dinner and then to BuyBuy Baby and then for ice cream lol.
When we got home I was tired. Brent grabbed the mail and handed me a letter that had the return address of Health and Human Services... you open letters from them quickly...
It was on NIH letterhead and I started to read... it was addressed to our special needs doctor letting him know that we have made it past the review round of the application process for NIH and we passed that round and are moving forward to the next step that is consent and that we would be getting a call soon!!!! AAAHHHHAHAHAHA! I read the letter three times over. My mom was asking what I was reading (I am sure I had an odd look on my face) and Brent walked by and I handed him the letter and he read it and then asked if I was getting out of the letter what he was getting out of the letter and then he came over and gave me a big hug. Tears were in my eyes and I just kept praying thank you. I then sat on the edge of the couch with so many emotions. My stomach felt weird... I felt like I was going to cry and I was very cold all at once. I just sat in aww. I really could barely talk about it or say anything... I couldn't post it to Facebook... I just looked at my phone blankly for a while... I didn't know what to do.
Friday was one crazy day!!!!
The letter is dated Lydia's birthday... one special day! But that also means that this decision was already made before I yelled at God on Monday... He already knew the letter was coming... He already had the plan rolling... He had this. As I stood in church this morning my mind was thinking about how my different feelings I have about this and how this feels much different then if the letter said the opposite however either way God is good. I know that feels easier to say in my shoes today when something good is going on however I have had plenty of days where the opposite is true so I understand both feelings really well and I think sometimes it is really healthy to remember in the times of joy how God is still good in disappointments and in disappointments that God is still good in the joy... it came be easy to get swept up in the emotion of now but it is good to remember the opposite too because it gives you hope in the rough times and it reminds you to be thankful in all times. God's goodness doesn't rest in our circumstances.
My head is still swirling. It still doesn't really feel real and I think until we have the dates and are actually headed there that I will likely keep my head and heart a little reserved. Our next step is to wait to hear from NIH about what we need to do next. I am hoping they call us soon! Prayers that they call at a time that works well because we are headed into a busy week!
Yesterday Brent worked on finishing demoing the bathroom. It is cleared out and ready to start to be rebuilt again next Saturday. We are hopeful a few people will be able to help Brent in that next weekend so a lot can get accomplished of getting that finished. Next weekend we are also serving dinner at RMH!
Since Brent was finishing demo work we decided it was best for the girls to get out of the house so mom and I took the girls to the Rotary gardens. We had never been before and Jilli LOVED it. She loves gardens and I love that she is able to enjoy the calm things in life. That she can find joy in wondering around the garden.
This upcoming week is going to be crazy. Both girls have MD clinic (neuromuscular, pulm, rehab), Lydia is having her muscle biopsy surgery and will be in the hospital at least overnight, Jilli is having an echo/ekg done and both girls have cardiology. Its going to be an adventure of a week but I think we are as ready as we can be!
This past week our family also went though a transition... my little brother moved to Colorado to work at the Ronald McDonald House! He has been working at moving out to CO for a few years as his girl friend lives out there but he has been job hunting and finally the perfect job came. We are so excited for him... and a little sad for us. Many people don't know all the stuff Seth has done over the past few years to help with the girls from coming to dentist appointments with me to entertain the girls to driving down to Shriners with me to help navigate traffic. He has helped a lot and we will really miss having him around but we know this is the right move for him and we are excited for all the families he is able to help because we understand how important the RMH staff is. Good luck Seth, we love you!!!
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| of th efun of catching two children smiling and looking the same direction... one can not have it all lol |
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