Snow daze

This is the 3rd day this week that we have been inside! GA has experienced aweful ice storms that have caused roads to close, stores to shut down, schools to be out and people have been stuck inside for days!! It's starting to all run together like Groundhog day! My girls have been creative, but we are definately ready to get back to the "real" world! Here's a video of my oldest "sledding"

My girls

Pictures are up!!

Kimberly Pope is an amazing photographer and friend. I have know her since I was little. She has two beautiful little boys. It was great to see her again! Here is the link to her website and our sneak peak!

Picture...perfect!

This last year has been a blur of what seemed to be never-ending doctors appointments, surgeries, trips to Emory, hospital visits, and endless blood work. Where has it gone? Holidays that I would have normally marched the girls out to get their pictures taken were quickly overshadowed by sickness. When I look at the pictures of my girls, they were just babies when all this happened. They had no idea what was going on. My youngest was barely 18 months and very dependent, her big sister, only 21 months older was very demanding. I went through stages where I had no energy at all to even function, let alone take care of my girls 24-7. God provided help through friends and family and gave me supernatural strength.
When I found out I was chosen to have a photo session with Kimberly Pope, I was beyond excited, a flood of memories washed over me. Although I had missed capturing the memories during the midst of our trials, this is a victorious way to celebrate the ways that God had provided and blessed our family! We are very grateful for this opportunity this weekend!

Diagnosis

Exactly this time one year ago, I was calling the Doctor's office to get the results of my biopsy. I was told that they would call to give me the results as soon as they got them, but days later had not heard anything. I remember talking to the nurse and her words were filled with guilt and worry. "Yes, Mrs. Westbrook. We do have your results (pause) but the Doctor wanted to be the one to talk to you about them."
"Oh really?" I said, because I was told that the results would be told to me over the phone..quick and easy. Then God took a hold of my heart and prepared me for what was about to come. He calmed my racing heart and said be still. I called my husband and had him meet me up at the doctor's office.
When I got there I was met with stares and a few whispers, and a nurse who was especially apologetic. We were quickly rushed back to a room. It seemed like we waited forever in that small room. I remember talking to Nick and telling him that I felt like it was cancer. "Just wait and see what he says."
When the Doctor came in, he talked and talked but never once used the word that I was waiting to hear. He said that my blood work was fine, I had neither a hyper or hypothyroid. He mentioned surgery, removing the tumor, it was a solid mass, the size of it was about 3cm, used terms that I didn't know anything about at the time, but would soon be all to familiar to me. Finally I just looked at him and said..."is it cancer?". He nodded and looked down like he thought I would fall apart in the chair. "It's fine," I assured him. God will take care of me. He mentioned only taking one half of my thyroid so that I could still function without medicine and I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. He wanted to schedule the surgery as soon as possible. But I wanted to get a second opinion about this cancer that was in my body. I wanted it gone, all of it...gone.

Our Beach Trip

I feel like I have been postponing this post because I wanted things to be picture perfect but we all know that is not how life is! So here's my story. Well....the week before we left was filled with sickness. Hallie had pink eye, Laney Grace sounded sick. I had an eye infection and had not been feeling well at all. I decided that I would take a trip to the Dr. just in case. I am glad I did b/c he said that I was on the verge of getting phenomena. Just what I needed to start my vacation, a large dose of medicine!





The trip and the beach were truly amazing. That is my little piece of paradise each year that leaves me refreshed and grateful! I absolutely love the place that we stay and the owner is generous enough to let us stay for free which is amazing ! I love being at the beach and seeing how beautiful Gods creation is and yet so detailed. Having kids has taken my understanding to a whole new level. In the business of life we forget to throw our hands up and praise him or we think we are just beyond that.

Well...I am not. I may not run on the beach and laugh like my little girls do, but inside my heart overflows. I am blessed. I am loved...by the very creator who made me and knows me full well. I think I have been waiting on my one year mark to look back and say, whew that was tough but we made it. God is showing me that He is much bigger than that. Its not about me...He wants all the glory for my healing and He holds my life in His hands. I may not feel great everyday or even feel like praising Him everyday, but I should and I trust that He holds my future and YOURS in His hands. I am left here on my knees and urge you to do the same. Please pray that God will heal my body but before u do that make sure to thank Him for all the blessings we have already taken for granted. May God bless you beyond what you can even imagine....


We went to church at the beach




Ate lots of ice cream at the sugar shack



Watched and cheered for Nick during his triathlon...which he placed 4th in the age group by the way!




and played in the ocean and the pool! It was a great vacation!

Reflective

Okay, I know most people know all about this blogging world, but I am still learning!! So, I changed the look of my blog, to this! I love shabby chic and the white frame is my favorite of all. Pretend that it's a mirror because I have no idea how to make a picture appear in there.

So my *reflective* thoughts for today are it's almost been ONE YEAR! This weekend marks the "anniversary" of my "first" ER visit. Here's a recap, I was talking to Laney Grace one morning and started to feel really dizzy, my words became slurred, my vision was blurry and I lost feeling in my right arm. I had a ongoing headache that had not gone away for 3 weeks and was in a lot of pain. So, I went to the ER and waited for them to do a cat scan, lots of blood work and tests. I found out that I had been through what they call a complex or classic migraine.

Oh no, I thought, we were supposed to go on vacation to the beach today, my favorite trip of the year. That really was my first thought, then I thought about how crazy all of this was for a person who rarely had headaches let alone migraines. Then I started to worry, what did this all mean, what caused it, is there something seriously wrong?

After a migraine "cocktail" at the hospital and several prayers later, I returned home. My outlook was starting to change, but I would have never imagined all that this one year had in store. God only allowed me to see directly in front of me. Which happened to be a nice relaxing trip...to Rosemary Beach. I had no idea if or when I would have my next episode, all I could do was trust and put one foot of faith in front of the other.

***side note*** We are leaving tomorrow to go on the same vacation trip to Rosemary Beach. Nick has his race, then we stay for a few more days and enjoy each other and the beach!