Thanksgiving Weekend

Jonah was quite sick the week of Thanksgiving. He vomited Friday morning and into Saturday and ran a high fever (around 103) that lasted 6 days. We took him to the doctor twice. The first time (Saturday morning) they told us it was likely a virus and would run its course. The second time (Tuesday) they ran several tests including blood work and determined that there was an infection in his body (that was not viral), but they could not detect where it was. They sent us home with antibiotic and told us to contact them if he hadn't improved by Friday. The days and nights were difficult. Jonah would scream out (as if he were in pain) and would writhe in our arms. This happened multiple times during the day and night and left us feeling helpless and afraid. It's terrifying when the doctors cannot define your child's sickness and when your baby acts differently than he ever has before. . . when his smile and energy are gone. . . when he won't eat or drink and can't sleep for more than an hour at a time. . . My mind (the hypochondriac that I am) went the worst possible places. Thursday night I just sat and wept with him in our office chair, listening to scripture lullabies, and I begged God for mercy and healing. And wouldn't you know, Friday, we received our first sign that Jonah was on the upswing. He ate his first meal in days and smiled (this was monumental). He definitely wasn't himself, but we could see glimpses of him shining through. He has steadily progressed over the weekend, PRAISE BE TO GOD! It feels so good to see life bursting from him again!

These pictures were taken on Thanksgiving. They wonderfully capture the misery of the day for Jonah. . . It was quite overwhelming for him I think, feeling as sick as he did. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have taken him out, but it was difficult to resist an opportunity to gather with our family and friends.





And these pictures were taken on Friday (the beginning of Jonah's upswing) at Mimi and Popi's.


I am head-over-heels for this picture! Jonah totally looks like a teenager in Uncle E's hat! ;)

EVE AMELIE . . .

OUR DAUGHTER!!! It feels amazing to say that! I still feel entirely outside my body. . . This was one of the most extraordinary nights of my life! One I will never forget. There are no words to describe the emotion that swallowed me as the tech said, "Entirely, 100%, without a doubt, baby GIRL!" The revelation of Eve is quite deep for me on numerous levels . . . I will share more in the days to come, but for now I leave you with the first images of our sweet baby girl, Eve Amelie.

4D Peek

Less than 2 hours now until the personhood of our baby is defined! It feels too good to be true! I’ve been telling myself all day there’s a chance the baby’s position won’t allow for gender determination, as to keep my expectations low to prevent disappointment, but I don’t think it’s working. I fully expect these to be my baby’s final nameless hours and will likely be devastated if they’re not! ;)

There has been much talk about gender lately in our home and amongst our family and friends. Everyone asks about my intuition on the matter and of course like most moms I do have assumptions . . . assumptions rooted in revelation and deep stirrings surrounding this pregnancy that have led me to believe God is actively preparing me to nurture a daughter.

Yet, in the realm of desire, I am genuinely neutral. I have always felt we would share our home with another boy and at least one girl (though my ideal family would be 2 boys and 2 girls if I could choose and handle the pressure). That being said I can think of countless perks of having another boy. It would be a wonderful gift to Jonah- a friend to play ball with and camp with and chase girls with (they would be quite a team in this arena I’m sure). I’m entirely prepared in the realm of cloths and toys. And perhaps most importantly, there is something profoundly moving about being chosen by God to raise male children, priests of future homes, particularly in a society that seems to be lacking in quality men . . . I believe Willis boys are a rare breed and would be honored to be the vessel through which God multiples them into the world!

Then of course there’s the novelty and beauty of a baby girl. . . The grace and charm of a feminine spirit would undoubtedly be enthusiastically welcomed. Though I must admit there is a sea of insecurity within me surrounding the idea of nurturing a daughter. The mere thought simultaneous stirs excitement and hesitancy, I suddenly become highly critical of the woman I have become . . . all my areas of lack, those things not worthy of imitation . . . and there are many! However, imagining her with Allen and all that would subsequently be touched and healed in me trumps my insecurity. . . I am confident her essence would change us and our home in profoundly beautiful ways. . . Pink and purple, ribbons and bows, flowers and butterflies. . . Yes, it would be an extraordinary addition, wouldn’t it?!

Baby Joel Update!!

Baby Joel’s LP results from yesterday returned CLEAR OF CANCER CELLS! Joel HAS NOT received treatment since the results from the first LP 10 days ago which sent his family to end-of-life planning and their doctor recommending they sign a “Do not resuscitate” order . . . OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL!! He is STILL HEALER!! Oh, God continue to display your power in Joel's body!! In the words of Joel's father, "Lord, make a spectacle of cancer!"

I thank God for inviting us into this miracle!!

If you would like to read the full report posted by Joel's parents click HERE. :)

Jonah sings "Jesus"

Out of the mouths of babes flows perfected praise!! Thank God that even at 20 months Jonah carries the name of Jesus in his heart and it pours from his lips! Nothing could bring me more joy!

Our Boy

Our beautiful, ever-evolving, baby boy. . .

Jonah's Words :)

We have become progressively impressed by Jonah's vocabulary. He shocks us everyday with new words and signs of increased connection and understanding of things. It truly is amazing to observe the evolution of life in your children! Nothing compares in my opinion. . . This weekend at TGIFriday's we decided to video tape some of Jonah's words, so we would have documentation of his development at 20 months. Last night, I read a report from Baby Center that said the average 20 month old can say 12-15 words. Of course this compelled us to make a list of the words Jonah knows . . . To our baffling surprise we ended with 69 (and probably missed a few). I've always heard that boys develop much slower than girls linguistically, so this was especially amazing to me! :) We're not claiming to have an Einstein on our hands, but we are grateful to know that our sweet, baby boy is developing perfectly on schedule. :)

For future reference these are the words Jonah currently says:

shoes, socks, horsey, toes, duck, car, truck, bless you (my personal favorite), bubbles, fast, high, Mimi, Popi, Daddy, piggy, Nannie, Pa, cat, dog, ball, up, down, off, on, thank you, bye-bye, house, baby, push, swing, phone, hi, fish, cookie, no, diaper, jump, this, touchdown (daddy's favorite I think), door, cow, spoon, cereal, pee-pee, two, five, hair, eyes, crash, kick, pretty, Elmo, stuck, toys, Ethan, uh-huh (for yes), bike, blocks, rock, close

And a few that aren't perfectly pronounced but he gets his point across so we decided to count them:

TV, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Bottle (ba-bas), water (wa-wa), Rachel (yay-yay), Nathan (Na-Na), Dawson (Dawsey)

Our God is Mighty to Save

I have wept more in the past 24 hours than I have in a very long time. Not simply tears but uncontrollable sobs birthed from the depths of me. I shared last night about baby Joel and his fight for life. The story of this tiny boy grips me in a powerful way. I have spent hours sifting through his blog, reading his mothers heart and the details of their circumstance. The magnitude of Joel’s suffering and their warrior spirits profoundly move me. I can’t stop crying out for mercy on behalf of this family!

I must admit that as I do I inwardly wrestle the intent of God. His ways are higher than ours, I know, and his plans often exceed the scope of our insight, yet I can't seem to stop the “whys” from billowing from my chest.

Still in the face of all my questions and all my crisis of understanding my spirit with strength and conviction sings, “Our God is MIGHTY to SAVE, he is MiGhTy to SAVE!” Over and over the words roll from the depths of me. I believe our God heals! I believe he has the authority to display his power and mercy in Joel’s body, and I ache in these hours to see him in all his glory arise in this story!

www.joelevangreen.com

Joel Evan Green

This is a call to prayer, to all those who believe our God’s power and intent exceeds the scope of science and worldly diagnosis, I ask you to join with me in crying out for the healing of Joel Evan Green, a baby boy who has battled the beast of cancer for over 9 months and whose parents received word this week that cancer has spread throughout his body. Scientific solutions have failed, but our God is mighty to save! He still heals! He still delivers! May his power and mercy be displayed through Joel in these days!

If you would like to follow Joel's story, I encourage you to visit the following link: www.joelevangreen.com. His parents are passionate lovers of God, boldly declaring his goodness and power in the face of this devastating news. As a mother of a son so close to Joel's age, this story crushes the breath from my lungs! I cannot fathom watching my child suffer or seeing his life slip away before me. . .

Oh, God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of all who suffer, in your mercy hear our prayer. . . let our cry come unto you.

Click HERE to see videos of Joel.

3 Month Baby Belly

I definitely won't be staring in the show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" any time soon! I'm not great at carrying my kids in a discreet manner as you can see. :) My baby is the size of a lime according to books, but by the looks of things you'd think he or she is more like the size of a small cantaloupe (ok, a large cantaloupe)! ;) I don't mind though. . . I absolutely love watching the evolution of life in my body. I never feel closer to a miracle than when I'm pregnant! These days feel so sacred. So holy. So blessed. Thank God for this child and his invitation to women to join him in the intimate dance of creation!

Halloween Week

This year Jonah dressed like Vowey (Allen's childhood attachment object). Or at least he aspired to. His costume was adorable, we just had two problems- Jonah hated it and he didn't even wear it on Halloween. Let's be honest though parent-to-parent, it's really all about the pictures, right?! And we did manage to snap a few of those. . . ;)Look how he LOVES to dress up. . . definitely one of his favorite things! :)



Oh that face! And belly and thighs and eyes and ears and nose and lips! I am entirely smitten with this boy. . . STILL!
Could I be surrounded with more beauty? I must say, I'm a very lucky woman!
Pumpkin carving. Jonah's not a fan of messes. :)

Mickey makes Jonah smile faster than anyone these days, so of course we had to carve his face in our pumpkin.


Daddy and Jonah eating fresh baked pumpkin seeds. Their favorite part of the carving.
Lunch with Grams and Aunt Rachel and a little arm wrestling to pass the time while waiting on our food. :) Jonah won by a long shot!

Friday we trick-or-treated at Gallatin Square. Well, semi-trick-or-treated. We didn't actually collect candy because I'm a mean mom (or "mum" as Jonah would say) and decided it wouldn't be a good idea to tempt ourselves with the candy, but we had fun walking around with our friends and seeing all the kids dressed up.

Then we stopped by the clinic to see Mimi and Popi. . . probably the best photo of this years costume in my opinion. :)


Friday night and Saturday we spent at Horton Haven. Daddy led worship for a retreat. We had a great time!

Pirate Jonah! Arrrgh!
Saturday morning we went to Nashville Zoo between camp services. It was a PERFECT day! We had lots of fun seeing the animals!




Waving at the Zebras


And one final picture of Jonah loving his costume. . . Not sure how it loaded way down here. . . Blogger has a mind of its own! :)