Joy in the midst of chaos!

It's been a little over 2 weeks since my sister and her family have been staying at our house during Maria's treatment at CHOP. It's been quite chaotic at times....since then Maria was unexpectedly hospitalized for three days with respiratory problems after a test... My mother has been in the hospital for treatment for her cancer... My daughter Mallory has had foot surgery. There has be a lot of stress and anxiety...sleepless nights, and temper tantrums (the kids...but the grown-ups have been tempted!)

In spite of the sheer weight of the situation, we've managed to get through many tough hours and days by counting our blessings and finding humor where we can.

I can't tell you how many cartons of ice cream, trays of Stouffers Mac and Cheese, packages of Perdue Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, pounds of grapes, boxes of Frosted Flakes, boxes of Eggo Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops, and Quaker Chewy granola bars we've been through! Pretty soon Shop-Rite is going to create an express lane just for me and my sister!

With all of the craziness, there have been many moments of joy. I've gotten to spend time with my "baby sister" and my nieces and nephews and my brother in law...who is actually working from here. I've been to the movies to see "Hotel for Dogs" with Sofia and Anthony. We've gone to the Adventure Aquarium. We also went shopping at Toys-R-Us...that almost made me boo hoo as I remembered bringing my own little ones there to shop for toys and things.

Maria has figured out how to blow raspberries, she's learning to clap, she's sitting up by herself well, and today she crawled...backwards...but she was motoring! And the biggest event was that she spent an hour and half with me and Mallory tonight...whether her mommy and daddy were in the room or not! Of course, two days before she goes back to the hospital she gets used to us! The poor little girl has not wanted to be held by anyone else since she went to the ER almost a month ago.

We are finding humor in anything we can. When Mallory had foot surgery, she really couldn't walk on her own and I couldn't carry her...and she needed to use the bathroom! Vince was holding the baby because Lorraine was at ...Shop Rite of course...and Dave was at work. So...I got the old faithful little red wagon and pulled her around the house in that! We had quite the laugh as she did the beauty queen wave while I pulled her around.

We had visits with friends and family, cards, gifts, and fruit delivered to the house. People are praying across the country and the world for Maria. The love and concern that has been shown to us all has lifted us and blessed us.

Maria is having surgery on Friday..less than 48 hours from now. The doctors have told Lorraine and Vince that the tumor is almost certainly malignant. But Maria's prognosis is excellent due to her age, the location of the tumor, and that all of the tests she's had show no cancer anywhere else in her body. I'm still praying that the tumor will be benign, please pray that too. And if it is cancer, please pray that the surgery will be the only treatment she will need. Please pray for the surgery itself to go well, and for Maria's body to heal well and quickly. Pray for comfort and peace for Lorraine, Vince and the rest of the family as Maria goes into surgery.

Thank you for your prayers! Knowing others are praying for us has brought me great joy.