Picture Chaos, Baby Blessing, & Big Anniversary!

About a month ago, Michelle and I came upon some very cute dresses and I thought it would be fun to have Riley (her cousin) and Ella wear matching dresses and have pictures done for Christmas. Good plan, in theory, but not very practical in execution. We took the girls to Target today and Riley immediately had a fit. I don't know if she thought she was at the doctors office to get a shot or what, but she was not going to pose for anything. We tried treats and toys and all kinds of things, but couldn't get any decent pictures. Ella was perfectly happy, but barfed all down her beautiful blue satin dress.....several times. Near the end, Riley became fascinated with the Harley toy bike prop they had in the back, so we said let's put it in front of the tree and try it. The photographer finally got a few good ones of her. Then we said let's have Ella on the back of the bike with her, and Riley pulled a face and got off. In the end, we got a few good poses.....separate. Sigh. Next year I'll know better.

We also had Ella's baby blessing...finally....last Sunday. My Dad gave her a wonderful blessing and Thank You to everyone who came down in the snow. She wore her Grandmother's blessing dress, which was also worn by me, and then by her. It's made it 3 generations so far, I hope it will make it at least one more (I'll post pictures of it later!). There was also a funny story about my Bro. in law, follow the link to my sis' blog to read more about that. http://peterandlaurahoward.blogspot.com/

Also, the 10th-11th is a big anniversary for me. It's the day(s) I found out I had NonHodgkins Lymphoma and started cancer treatments 5 years ago! It's hard to think it's been 5 years already. When they told me I would have to go through 12 weeks of chemo therapy and a month of radiation and then wait two years to say I was in the clear, it felt like me life had been put on hold forever. I felt like all my life's hopes and dreams had just flown out the window. And now here we are five years later, another cancer diagnosis curveball, and one miracle baby later.

I've been thinking about it a lot lately and what a blessing it has been to my life....yeah that's right....a blessing. And anyone who knows me very well knows that I am not that spiritual and/or optimistic. I think I grumble my way through life a little too much. But I really do think that Cancer has opened doors to some wonderful experiences and friendships.

I also remembered something today that I haven't thought of in years. While I was going through my treatments, Grant and I would often have lunch at the cafe at the hospital. One day we went to the cash register to pay for our meal and they told me it had been taken care of. We never did find out who paid our bill, but I know someone saw my steroid induced chubby face and my bald cap covered head, and did a good deed. It was a tiny little act of kindness and a much needed pick me up to both of us. I think it's time to pay it forward.