An attempt at change ...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I blog. I think that I've mostly been stating facts to keep everyone informed of what has happened lately, but as I read other blogs, I start to wish that I wrote down a little more about how I felt about these things that happen. There is so much more involved in life than just facts. I think that blogs without feeling are a little more boring to read anyway. So ... I have decided to attempt a change.
I've been baking all day for our church Christmas party, which is tonight and it's make me think a lot about Christmas and people that I miss and wish that I could see. The smell of pumpkin cranberry bread reminds me of last Christmas, and how much things have changed since then. Take Evan for example, last Christmas we had just been told that he was a girl! How much that little man has changed our lives and helped us to believe and trust God, especially through uncertainty. First through bad news with the ultrasound, which ended up being nothing (or God totally healed him overnight, which I wouldn't want to take away from Him) We've learned a lot about how to react to people's comments about how he looked in the stores, malls ... I could have cried, and did so many times when people asked me, nervously, if he fell (and by that you mean, did I drop him, since he's a newborn and doesn't roll, sit etc). What about the little kids who point and stare, and who's parents try to shush them. It's hard when people don't really comment about how beautiful your child is, they comment about the one thing that ... well. How faithful is the grace of the Lord, who's mercy endures forever, and is fresh and new for me every day! He constantly refreshes and gave me the grace to go to the store for milk the next time and the grace to go to Boston and back what feels like a million times. And now to be through most of it.
And what about Gabe? He's huge now! Last Christmas he didn't even know how to climb onto a chair. This year, he "helped" me make the cookies for tonight ("Mom, don't eat it ... it has raw egg! But not this piece in my mouth, it has chocolate chips in it"). He's learning what it means to obey, and he's so excited about Jesus' birthday. The other day, he was calling "Jesus? Jesus? Where are you? Are you coming to your party? We're having a cake for you." How precious he is as he knees on the pillow next to his bed to pray for Joaren and anyone else that he can think of.
I think that I am a very different person from last year's Christmas, more grown, but more aware of my own faults and weaknesses. I walked through some hard things with kids, our friends and our family this year that have really made me examine my relationship with God to see how deep it truly does go.
What will next year hold? There are lots of unknowns, but one big Known to walk me though whatever.

ALL DONE?

We went to Boston for the 3 week follow up to Evan's laser/4 month follow-up to Evan's surgery appointment on Thursday and received great news. Dr. Fay doesn't need to see Evan for a year and he thinks that the rest of Evan's "bump" should go away on its own! Isn't that great? We were so happy, and surprised. It is relief to know that this part of our lives has come to a close, at least for now.
Thank you all who've been praying and helping us out with Gabe and Evan while we've needed to go here and there and everywhere to get our little boy treated. We've been so blessed by your love, support and generosity. Thanks.

Dr. Waner

Thank you all so much for praying for us as we were in NYC. Evan was great and is doing well after the treatment. It took about 25 minutes from start to finish and he acted like nothing happened. We were able to see both Dr. Fay and Dr. Waner (who is world-renowned, by the way) and they did the surgery together. Both men are definately gifted by the Lord in this area. It takes a lot to decide to specialize in vascular anomalies. It's not really glamorous, and lots of times insurance doesn't even cover it. We were so blessed with how gentle both men are with Evan (not even touching him if they have cold hands, and letting him tug their lab coats). He gave them both huge smiles when they came in!
It broke our hearts to see some of the other children there at the hospital, who have walked roads with hemangiomas and vascular malformations and ... that make Evan's experience look like nothing. There was one girl there who was on her 26th surgery, and she was only 4! How blessed we are to walk this road that God has put in front of us. He gives us the grace to walk through what He's given us. I couldn't imagine having to go through what some of those other parents and their children have had to. There are some kids with Evan's sort of thing who are in life-threatening situations because their heart can't keep up with the demand that the tumor is placing on it. What would it be like to be in that situation? I can only imagine. There are days that I feel a little overwhelmed with doctors and things, but then I read articles like these about Dr.Waner and am reminded how blessed we really are!

And We're Off Again...

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to let you know that we are going to NYC this week for another procedure for Evan. He's going to have a laser treatment from Dr. Fay. Dr. Fay doesn't have the laser in Boston (MEEI can't afford one!), so we'll have to head to the City for the treatment. His app't is Friday morning, so please be praying. This time Gabe is going to come with us. He's so excited about riding the subway! We are so blessed to be able to stay at NYSUM, rather than pay for a hotel. If any of you want to read about the laser that they are using on Evan, you can go here. It's the Baylor University site, but it has the best explanation without trying to sell you one!

Here we are again at "the patch." We were waiting for the tractor to come back and get us and our pumpkins. Notice Gabe's pumpkin? He tried to find the smallest one he could get. I think he succeeded. It cost us a whopping 46 cents. We cooked it up today for him because he kept trying to eat it like an apple, and then asking me to cook it. What can you make out of pumpkin anyway? Is canned pumpkin the same as cooked pumpkin? All my recipes call for canned.
Evan did great too. It was his first time in a winter hat (it was a little chilly), and he kept it on fine. He loved seeing the animals and picking leaves off the apple trees.

On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch and apple picking. We had a lot of fun. Gabe was a little nervous about the hayride to "the patch", but once he was on he loved it. He talked all day about his "2 hayrides" (one to the patch and one back). Notice his pants? He found a huge mud puddle and fell in it. Greg grabbed him just in time or he would have been soaked entirely.

Airplanes!

I thought you'd like to see some pictures of Evan on his first plane ride. He did great as we flew to Portland, OR for a conference and back.

Playing Outside

Evan got a ride on the swing at the park for the first time! He was so cute. He smiled and cooed.


Gabe had fun at the Gen Church picnic and got to play with water balloons for the first time! (He went into the church building so that he wouldn't get wet!)
I can't believe that summer is almost over!

Round 2

Here we are waiting for surgery with a very hungry boy!

Evan was wonderful and the surgery took only a few minutes. He woke up his smiling self (as you can see). Everything is healing very well! Thanks for praying.

The Big Day

Here are some pictures from our big day in Boston. Evan was a trooper and everything went great. The surgery took 2 hours and the doctors did a fabulous job. We stayed over one night at the hospital. Here's a view from Evan's room (not too shabby, huh?). Thank you for all your prayers. We will be going back on Thursday to get all the stitches out. This will be a
shorter surgery. Please continue to pray for us. Thanks.

It's covered!

Hey! We just wanted to let everyone know that we heard from the insurance company and Evan's surgery is going to be 100% covered! It is one week from today, so please be in prayer for him. Aren't these boys cute? Evan is fascinated with the little animals that rotate while he's in his swing and Gabe LOVES the bulldozer at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Bath Fashion

This is what happens when Daddy gives Evan a bath!

Joaren comes for a visit

We had a good time while Julie, Vince and Joaren were in town for the week. The cousins had a little trouble in the sharing department, but overall everyone had a fun. Vince and Greg were able to arrange the same day off, and the weather was beautiful, so we swam at a friend's house and went out to lunch together. Not living close to family can be hard, but it makes time even sweeter when we can be together! Thanks for the fudge Jul, it's tasty!

Some Shades and a Smile

Check out Gabe's new sunglasses! He loves them because they're "like Daddy." And Evan is all smiles now! He loves to grin at Mommy and Daddy, especially when he's just been given a clean diaper!
About the Boston trip, thank you so much for praying. Evan is scheduled for surgery in August to completely remove it. God is orchestrating all the details for us!

To Boston We Go!

God has opened up a big door for us to walk through! On Thursday, we are going to be driving Evan to Boston to see a pediatric eye doctor who specializes in vascular anomalies (what Evan has). Please keep us in your prayers!

Evan Josiah Falco is born!

Here he is! Evan Josiah Falco was born at 10:13 am on Tuesday, May 1st. He is 7 lbs, 11 ounces and measured 21 inches long.



Check out these piano/guitar/drum/saxophone/whatever he wants to play fingers!



Evan was born with a very special birthmark. It will disappear with time.

Our first family portrait. A happy family of four!

He's a BOY!

We had a very fun surprise on Monday. As we were having our routine 34 week ultrasound, the doctor looked at us and laughed and told us that he had made a mistake in December. Our new baby is not a girl. He's a BOY! Once we got over the shock, we were so excited! Now if we can just decide on a boy's name...

Snow!!!!

We finally got snow!

Yep, our very first snow storm of the year happened on Valentines Day and Gabe was so happy to go outside and help Daddy shovel. It was a nice day. Greg stayed home and we had hot chocolate and played in the snow. The next day was my birthday, so Greg decorated a nice cake for me and we went out to dinner as family. It was really fun for me.
Speaking of fun things, Gabriel has discovered another great thing in life, pockets!

Time Flies!

Playing "hums" with Uncle Matt and "Gorn"

Riding Daddy's "car"

Chillin'

Fun at a friend's birthday party!


Eek! It's already been months since I last blogged! Christmas and the start of the new year really flew by. We had a lot of fun over the holidays visiting family and trekking to various Christmas parties and such. January has flown by with tremendous times of growth for us as a family, and personally with the Lord.

Greg led a fairly large team from church to NYSUM in the beginning of January, and God really moved in their lives as well as using them on the streets of NYC. The weather was beautiful while they were there. You can’t beat 70 degrees doing park ministry in January!
Greg and I were able to visit Louisiana for a youth pastor's conference that was an excellent time of impartation for us. Gabe stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa H. and had lots of fun playing with his cousin "Gorn." He's getting very big, definately not a little baby anymore. Today he did a craft with glue and crayons and ink. He's started to work on potty training - and doing fairly well. He's talking all the time about everything, and loving life. His disappointment so far is that it's not warm enough to ride his bike (and we haven't had enough snow to play in yet either).
We found out just before Christmas that our new baby is probably going to be a girl. We are very excited and praying for wisdom to raise this little girl into a mighty woman of faith. As for names, we haven't decided (and in case you are waiting with baited breath, we aren't going to tell anyone what we picked until she's born - so just breathe normally until then).
February looks to be another fun month for us. Greg and I both will be celebrating our birthdays and at the end of the month our church will be holding its very first missions conference! We are so excited and can’t wait to see God call more people to work in the harvest fields of the world! We also will get to see our missionaries, whom we love. I will get to meet some for the first time (since I came here just after they went back to serving overseas)!
Remember - life is fun! Joy is a choice (and it comes from letting the Holy Spirit be active in your life!)