Anna's First Surgery

If you don't know already, my sweet Anna has Gorlin Syndrome, a very rare genetic condition where her body's cells don't know when to stop growing. She has lots of small skin cancers (basal cell carcinomas) all over her body. Today she had her first surgery to remove two of the larger cancer spots. It was a quick procedure, a 'burn & scrape,' and that's exactly what the doctor did. I held Anna, and a very, very thoughtful friend entertained her while the doctor took what looked like a razor blade and cut out those spots (picture moles). Then the doctor took a mini soldering iron thingy and burned the area to create an instant scab and prevent infection. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes, but it was pretty traumatic for me. Anna said, "No, doctor, please, no," while she was doing it. Tears! Oh, I cried, Anna cried; thankfully my sweet friend kept trying to talk to her, encourage her, and distract her.

Here's my precious girl before the surgery:

And, here she is in 'recovery' at Sweet Frog, her favorite frozen yogurt place. Ha! She had stopped crying even before we left the procedure room. She's such a trooper!

She's in preschool at Rise, and it has been just a blessing. Anna is talking so much more, and I can tell that she's really benefiting from all the therapies built into the preschool curriculum.

Thank you, Lord, for always providing!

Here's her farm that's hanging on the wall outside of her classroom:

Anna the farmer! Isn't she the cutest thing?! Each day they add a new piece to the farm. This morning before her surgery, they made a pigsty with pudding paint. How fun!

God has also provided us with some new friends who are also affected by Gorlin Syndrome. This family lives very close to us, and they have been so generous with their time in sharing their experiences and encouragement.

Y'all, I just cannot say it enough:

God is so good!

Anna's First Day of School

If you stop by here often, you may be wondering how Anna's first day of her new preschool went yesterday. Well, she had a great time! Her daddy dropped her off in the morning (there is no way Mary and I could have gotten ourselves ready in time to get her there before 8 a.m.), and he said she only cried for a few seconds. Whew! When I picked her up at 2:30 p.m. (okay, so Mary and I arrived in the parking lot a little before 2:15 p.m. - I was anxious to get my baby back!), she was happy to see me, but she didn't run to me like she was being released from a prison camp - so that was good. And, the teacher told me that she went potty TWICE in the potty! She has NEVER gone in the potty at home! Wow! 

Here are some cute shots before she left yesterday morning. And yes, I didn't want the teachers to forget her name! Ha!

Hopefully she's napping right now; Mary is napping here. We're trying to stick to the same eating and sleeping schedule that Anna has at school. It just makes me feel closer to her to know that we're eating and resting at the same time - silly, I know.

Anna also celebrated her third birthday this past Sunday, the day before school started. Here's a sweet one we took at Grandmother's house:

As for me, there have been no breakdowns or tearful calls to the hubs or close friends. I've felt God's peace the entire time, so thank you for your prayers and encouragement. I really feel that this is God's will for us at this time, and He is SO good!

In (kind of) completely unrelated news . . .

Have you ever picked a word or theme for your new year? Last year my word was 'peace,' and this year it is 'joy.' You know how it says in the Bible that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Well, if our Heavenly Father's joy is our strength, it seems to me that my joy as a mom is my girls' strength. Does that make sense? My joy as a parent gives my kids strength, because God's joy as my Father gives me strength. I don't want to have that deep-down, invisible joy that no one sees. I want the joy that bubbles over and infects people with smiles. Corny, yes, but true. So, this year, JOY is my word.

Just felt like sharing . . .

Have a blessed day, friends!