For me, the day comes with sweet memories. God has done an amazing job of removing the pain from this situation and replacing it with joy and hope. I can truly say that. I know for many people, so close to us, this day is hard. They remember the sound of me yelling Noah’s name instead of his first cry. They remember watching the team of nurses rush in instead of them rushing in to see him. And there are others who met us after Noah and simply sympathize with us on this day. Friends who love us so much, that they love Noah as well. Oh, I am so blessed.

The day began as usual getting everyone dressed and off to school. As I am rushing the little girls out the door, I stepped back to the kitchen for something and noticed the time on the oven. 9:01. The time of his birth. The air quickly left my lungs as I was suddenly, unexpectedly overcome with tears. A few moments pass and of course I was out the door. It was a moment in time that I am deeply connected to. We ended our day with balloons and cupcakes, singing to heaven as though he was on the edge of a cloud listening. The awesome part of this is this story is real. It is not like Santa, where one day they will realize none of that can happen. There is no fabrication of the truth here. Noah is in heaven with our Savior. He is safe, happy and looking down on us. He knows when we love and celebrate him. And honestly, I believe he gets our balloons in one way or another.

I am going to walk through his story again each day.

I have seen bluebonnets for years. In the spring, they would cover the sides of main highways to and from cities we would travel. But this year, they are everywhere. And not out in the country, but right here in the neighborhood. For weeks, we have enjoyed the sight of fields of blue and orange.  We attempted to get some photos tonight. I really felt confident. I didn’t bring rewards, I just knew they were old enough to do this. HA! They tried… But you know what, we got what life is right now and this is enough. Enjoy some Texas awesomeness. More

On this day, March 5th, 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Alyssa asked this morning, “But you had the cancer before that day.” And, yes, I guess I did, but this is the day that marks my knowledge of the disease. And this is the day where our fight began. I am beyond thrilled to say that I am a 2 year survivor today.

Throughout the last year, I have come to realize how blessed I was to be able to fight this disease. How blessed I am to be healthy. As I walked through the shock and my treatments in 2010, I was not really aware at the seriousness of my disease. I was told that I would have a very high survival rate with treatment, so of course I did the treatments recommended. 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 30 days of radiation. I finished, there was no cancer detected in my body, I moved on. It wasn’t until I began to visit doctors here in Austin that I looked head on into the fact that my fight is not over. Two oncologists that I met, suggested yearly CT scans and after reviewing my stats, removal of my ovaries. I was shocked. I thought I was good? They would both explain to me that my young age, the size/type of tumor and that lymph nodes were positive made me high risk. My current oncologist said if I were his wife he would do everything he could to keep the cancer from coming back – hysterectomy, 6mo – 12 mo CT scans, etc. I left the office with just “whoah!” How did I make it this far being so naive about my disease?

Was it naive or faith? Maybe I was just dealing with all I could then and now I can begin to make the best decisions to move forward. I remember a statistic that my TN oncologist gave me based on my exact cancer. He said that in 10 years, I have a 50% chance of being cancer free. For some reason that speaks louder to me today than it did 2 years ago. I am more prepared today to face this head on. I will continue with yearly CT scans. I had my first in February and after too many days of waiting they finally found my results and confirmed everything was clear. I will also be removing my ovaries. Well, not me. My cancer was estrogen/progestrone receptor positive. Which simply means that it fed on those hormones. The fact that my body is still making them is a risk that we don’t want to take. And, I will be able to take a more effective drug if I am post-menopause. But with that comes risks. Removing those hormones from my body at my age puts me at risk for bone loss and heart disease. Did you know that estrogen protects your heart in women under 45? I think Ethan’s words were something like, “Let’s just get you to 10 years. Then we can worry about your heart.” I love that man. And pray with every bone in my body that we grow old together.

The short of this is, “Hallelujah Praise God, he has healed me.” But with trusting and giving him praise there is a part in it for us. Decisions that we can make to keep this cancer away. And in the last few months, we have made those decisions and will move forward fighting and still trusting. Seriously, what else is there without trust in God?

Dressed, tights, hair x 3 and they were off. The girls had a blast and danced the whole 2 hours, Ethan said. Megan walked into the room and headed straight to the front to dance by the big speakers, while Alyssa hung by Daddy and shared a few dances together. One of many special nights to come with the privilege of three girls.

God blessed my time in TN with different groups. I had individual people who meant a lot to me, I had my small group from church, and I had amazing neighbors. This trip was arranged by the girls that lived all around me. Five of us took 2 days out of life to have a road trip to Asheville, NC. We ate at only local diners, visited a waterfall near the Smoky Mountains, shopped and just relaxed together. Being real, catching up on life.

I returned home to Texas with many bonuses. I was refreshed. Both by being surrounded by friends and having some time away from the daily life with kids. I came back with a new look on parenting, mostly from watching my friend in her daily activities with her kids. And I came home, glad to be in Texas. I absolutely loved living in TN, and for many months I was sad I had to leave so much behind. But as life takes shape in Round Rock, Texas, I can see God can bring good things wherever I go. The trip back to TN opened my eyes that it is not my home anymore, even though it is where my house. I could appreciate my time there, but I knew it was time to head back to Texas. I was glad when that plane touched down on the dry, flat land.

I am looking forward to years of girl’s trips and will call myself blessed to have friends in so many places.

The whooping crane, the tallest North American bird, is an endangered crane species named for its whooping sound. It is one of only two crane species found in North America. There is an estimate of only 400+ left in the wild and we saw 3 of them. They established a winter home at Granger Lake in December, outside of Austin, and Ethan heard the news. We all headed out searching for the cranes. It wasn’t hard to spot them based on the collection of old people and scopes. We followed the crowd and got a peek at a pretty cool piece of nature. And as a bonus, we spotted a bald eagle sitting in a tall tree. Pretty amazing even for us who aren’t totally consumed with birds.

Don’t let these photos fool you. The girls took one or two looks and then played in the dirt for 30 minutes.

This is a photo through a telescope. We could see it a bit more clear with the scope, but it sure made me wish Ethan had one of those really expensive scopes to see them crystal clear. To my surprise though, many an old lady asked to see the cranes through his scope and were impressed with the view. He must know what he is doing.

So here is Christmas. We celebrated it. That is about it.

My parents were here for a few days and then they took the girls to Houston for the week. Ethan worked, I cleaned out a storage unit, shoved all the stuff we hadn’t unpacked into the closets and attic. Then we met my whole family for New Years. I am thankful for the time with family, I always enjoy Christmas, but I am ready for a new year. Ethan and I have joked that 2009 might have been the best there is, and we didn’t even know it. Here’s hoping 2012 has lots of wonderful things in store for the Whaleys.

I have been  impressed with Audrey and Megan’s school. For picking it out based on location, I think I did pretty good. Megan and Audrey have been singing the cutest Christmas songs the last few weeks and we finally got to see it in action. Well, Megan preformed, Audrey just stared…alot like last year as I recall. But I had my fingers crossed waiting for Megan’s class, and I am pretty sure I had a big, proud smile on my face for a solid 15 minutes. Pictures don’t do these type of things justice, so you will have to watch the video.

The kids enjoyed each other and we experienced the trails with a 5K Turkey Trot, swam in the heated pool, threw and painted some pottery (thanks to Aunt Ali), and took the canoes and paddle boats in the lake. There was plenty of downtime, plenty of Wii, plenty of eating and lots of fun. Thank you Oma for providing for us.

I found this idea on a blog and really wanted to do it with the family. We packed some food and snacks along with some essentials into Blessing Bags. The kids and adults wrote on the back of the note an encouraging word. Then we zipped them up and passed out to each family so they could find someone to bless. I am looking forward to finding that person and letting the kids experience the joy of helping others.