If you click on the above picture you should be able to look closer at Audrey's face. There you will see her yelling at the people she, Lorelai, and Uncle Aaron were beating in the 3rd Annual Daniel W. Shawver Memorial 5K. Quite the trash talker - she is. Although it should be noted that only her daddy and brother were behind them. Thank the Lord for a beautiful day. It was awesome. And we had a ton of people show up - thanks to all who did.

Let's see...an update on Audrey would tell you that she has begun to scream to show her IMMENSE displeasure when things do not go her way. For example, she cannot have a juice box by herself because she just squeezes it to make a mess and then laughs - so she screams when she can't have it. Then there is the ever present gently lowering herself to the floor, grunting and kicking her feet like a small ogre part. Please let it be known that these actions require, deserve and garner swift punishments that no one likes. For the most part she is good. She is just headstrong and knows what she wants. She bothers the dogs every day. Every day! I am convinced that she will be bitten at some point. Surprisingly our dogs are very patient with her. They have nipped at her a couple times but what do you expect when, from another room, you hear, "Gimme dat, I said, gimme dat." I walk in and she is pulling Maggie's leg. Poor dogs.

Alex and Audrey always fight over who will let the dogs out of the kitchen when we get home, or who will let them outside. You would think that WWWIII would require a bigger trigger than that but no. Doggy meltdowns are experienced almost daily. Ahhhhh - or is it ACK?

Alex loves the Wii. In fact, I am letting him play it right now. I know, Mother of the Year. It is very funny to watch him play. I hear him say "Super Mario Cart Wiiiiiiiiiiiii" all the time. His chosen name is Luigi and Audrey can be Mario. That is unless Lorelai is around then the girls have to argue over who is Mario and who is Princess Peach. Neither of them realizes that the Princess is the one with it all. We are planning on signing Alex up for T-ball. I think that is one of my assignments for today. We will see. I just would hate to spend $65 for something he will not play. But I think it will be good to get him in something like that.

Alex is beginning to put letters together to make words. He told me a couple weeks ago that the letters "O" and "N" spell both "on" and "no". I would love to take credit for that knowledge but he surprised me. I guess I should thank PBS and Leap Pad... He is so smart. He loves to add numbers and subtract them. We count all of the time. Hopefully it will be getting warmer and drier soon so we can go outside and play.

As for the other things going on...no news is good news? or is it bad news? Don't know. But I can share a few things with you. One, we have decided on a name for the baby. AND we have decided that sharing it with others will be okay. Her name was chosen for its meaning and it just so happens that it begins with an "A" (really, it's true). The name is Anaiya. The name is a variation of the Hebrew name Anaiah which means God has answered. So there you go - Anaiya.

Two, we have met with perinatal hospice, Journey of Hope, and have been very blessed by the people we have come in contact with - albeit just a receptionist and a nurse. Anaiya moves every day with such force and excitement that it is hard to believe the diagnosis could be true. She has decided that making her presence known is the only way to go. I will say that it is more a blessing than a curse but it does wear on me. It has gotten harder. I thought that as we went through problems we dealt with them better along the way. Unfortunately for me that seems to be reverse. But believe this if there is nothing else for you to believe - I have hope. I know that I am not abandoned (which I feel at times), I know I am not forgotten, nor forsaken. I know that the One who cares about the sparrow cares about Anaiya and our family. I am holding on to a couple of verses in Hosea 11 - I will include the parts that have helped me. Hosea 11:8 & 9 (8)...My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused (9)...For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst. If you are not familiar with Hosea - God has just been moved by his great love for Israel and decides to take a different course of action. Why? Because He is God and not man! I am praying for a change in diagnosis, I am praying that Anaiya will be 100% whole and healthy. I am also praying that many will move closer to God no matter what the outcome (including me!).

And three - I must go be a mommy and read my children a book instead of letting them play the Wii all day. If anyone has questions or would like to talk about things I am open and willing. We are going through this as a family and ignoring it has not made it go away - I've tried. It is hard, uncomfortable, sad...words cannot express what we feel but we are going through this which means we aren't stopping. We are going all the way and it won't always be so hard.

Right?