The Mother of all Gingerbread Houses... A Gingerbread Fort!

I know, I posted a lot of pictures....but you had to see the amazing progression of our creation. Jordan came down for the weekend to hang out and helped us create a gingerbread fort! He provided the candy, and we provided the extra little hands to make our fortress. Not bad for an idea on a whim!









The kids were super patient during the initial construction because they knew the candy eating and decorating was coming!



Rebekah got a little tired close to the end....

And the final product! Everyone did great!

Hello Christmas.....

Our little reindeer are about to gallop away.... they are so excited! We put up our Christmas tree yesterday afternoon, and they both thought that last night was Christmas Eve. They said that after they went to sleep and got up, Santa would have gifts for them. Well, we tried to explain there are many nights to sleep before it will be Christmas Day!

Goodbye Thanksgiving....

Thursday we hung out with Pappa and Gram enjoying a fun nontraditional meal - fajitas! After dinner, we watched movies and stayed warm inside! It was a great day!



The kids had a blast playing with their cousins this year when we visited Mt. Vernon. Andrew and Rebekah are pictured here with my brother's kids - Raif, Kade and Talon. Andrew had so much fun roaming all over my uncle and aunt's property. Rebekah spent the afternoon collecting leaves with Mumsie. They were both exhausted when we finally got to bed that night!

Hiking!

Our fall weekends have been lovely, so we have been taking advantage of each one by going hiking at nearby Glen Rose. It is beautiful out there, and the various trails provide a range of paths for the kid's abilities. Andrew and Rebekah have done a great job traversing the 'wilds' of the local hill country! We love the out-door family time!

A Day at the Park

This fall has been so great with nice weather and fun outings! One day recently the kids and I met some friends up at the Firetruck park and had a picnic. After playing and eating, we walked closer to the town square and enjoyed the beautiful fountains and bridges.

Andrew and Rebekah love playing with Davis! And as you can see, they wanted to hold Davis' hand and be right there with him. They are super playmates.

It was a lovely day, and a wonderful time to be outside!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween, we spent the evening at Acton Baptist Actoberfest. They had booths and activities for the kids all over their gym. Rebekah got her face painted, and they both got to participate in a variety of creative challenges! There was even a train ride outside. It was a fun evening and different from the usual for us. Our Jedi knight and fairy princess had a super time!

Through the Storm and On the Other Side

Several weeks have passed now since the passing of our little one. Actually a month has passed without Issac...it is hard to believe. Because it was only within a month that we discovered Issac was not well, attended the specialists, and experienced the letting go of our boy. Issac Ramsay Higgins is a truly, precious treasure. How can I say how hard it has been to experience pregnancy, only to have it cease in such a short time. It is often surreal, almost dreamlike in its brevity when I think about it....a whisper of a memory.

I know Issac is in the Lord's arms being rocked and loved by the greatest Caretaker of all! To be cradled, truly cradled as a baby in God's presence - that is my comfort, my joy, and honestly my sadness because I long to hold Issac once more, to see his form. I will never know his triumphs, his favorites, his sadness, his tears, his hugs and kisses...but, but, I hear his laughter. I do, and it is an amazing thing. God gave me Issac, whose name means "laughter," and that is the one thing I hear from Issac.

Blessings, strength, comfort and great love.... these are the words I would describe in our experience and trial. God is so faithful, and I have learned and faced growth and seen growth that I need in my life. So, I thank God for Issac and the little breath of his life. Were Issac here today, I would not hold the blessings I do now from what has happened. Was that God's plan? I think so. Growth, spiritual growth is what God desires so much with us! Oh, How He Love Us and wants the closest relationship He can have with us. "The Lord Gives and Takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord."

It is in God's Hands

Last Wednesday at our specialist visit in Ft. Worth, our doctor saw, as did we, that the cyst around our baby had grown and covered even more of the body. Ryan and I could both instantly see the difference from two weeks ago.

As the doctor examined closer, he saw the tiny heart beating only on one side. The left ventricle was already full of fluid and no longer beating. The doctor said we had only a few weeks left before the heart would give out.

So we don't know how long we have, but we do know God has a plan in this - in that we can trust. I pray for healing, for complete healing because God can work miracles no matter what the circumstances. Hope keeps me going.

God's Comfort

"For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13



All of us are created by God... each detail, attribute, character personality and even our very physical condition. God knows and loves every bit of our design as individuals.... He loves us and cares for us so very much!



"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me." Psalm 139:1



Who knows us better than God? Even at 15 weeks of age....

Andrew's 5th Birthday!

Andrew turned five on September 15th, but we celebrated the weekend before. His party was a lot of fun! We had everyone over at our house, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and enjoyable. It was a great crowd! Andrew loved his gifts and having friends over to play. We can't believe our oldest child is 5...wow, how the time flies! He is such a wonderful boy!

Our Little One - A Design of God

As of tomorrow, I will be 14 weeks pregnant. It is such a blessing to have a life growing inside me! This little one, formed by God, molded by His hands, is God's design, and this is no mistake in God's designs. We thank God for our blessings, and I wanted to share our journey on our blog.

This is our first sonogram taken two weeks ago today. It was during this sonogram that we learned our baby has a cystic hygroma. The cyst is around the neck area, but from the size of the sonogram pictured here, you may not be able to see the cyst. With a cystic hygroma, our baby has a chromosome abnormality. An abnormality of this kind can result in a range of disbilities, or in some cases, nothing at all. The range can be from Down's syndrome, Turner's syndrome, Trisomy 18 or 13, or heart defects and other complications. The extremes are uncertain, but with very sensitive sonograms and testing, we can learn more and have a better idea of what is occuring in my womb.

We visited a specialist last week, and we now know the cyst has moved to the abdomen area as well. This growth in the cyst is characterist of Noonans disease, which is not survivable to full term. In another week we will know more when we visit him again, and be more certain, if it is Noonans or not. If the cyst has grown even more, then Noonans is most likely what our baby has. However, if the cyst has gotten smaller, then Noonans is ruled out, but we are still faced with the possbilities I listed above. And several of those - Turners, Trisomy 18 and 13 - are also low on the survivablity scale. We are considering, if we are at that point, of doing a test to better look at the chromosomes and determine what our baby may be dealing with. So, needless to say, through all of this, it can be hard to wait...but patience is what I ask God to give me.

For us, it is a road of trusting and having faith. Because we know God is in control, and we know He has a plan. It is not a bad road or a bad plan, in fact, God's road and plan is what is absolutely best for our family! Do we trust that and rest assured in it, or do we worry and fret and wonder? Sometimes I do, but the Lord says we just have to cast our burdens on Him. This is a burden, and one we do not want to bear alone. And I know I could not bear it without Him! He is my daily strength. And I can only look at this one day at a time with God holding me up.

Thank you friends and family for your prayers and support! Thank you for going through this with us!

Our Hotline

So once again we have moved our blog, and this time we are back on blogspot. Soon we will be up and running with pictures and stories of our everyday living....our family hotline.