grace led in life: 3 weeks until Isla's 14th surgery

In just over 3 weeks, we will be headed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia again. Isla will be having her 13th V.E.P.T.R surgery/14th surgery overall.

(November 8).

Please pray for Isla

This surgery will be another "expansion" surgery as her surgeon expands her Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rods that are connected to her ribs.

It is always so bittersweet... never sweet to see your little love have to face another surgery, but we will never take for granted the miracle it is that Isla is breathing...thriving and all the miracles God has done in her life.

Isla is a fighter...so strong, so brave. She has overcome so much in life. Truly a warrior.

Nerves are quite high for Isla. Trying to process another surgery is so hard on her. While she doesn't fully understand the "why" behind another surgery, she definitely knows what takes place with another surgery, even down to the little details. Medical trauma is so real and present and along with surgery comes a shift in schedule, so many details changing, which causes an "earthquake" in life for Isla. We communicate and help Isla as best we can as she processes through so many questions and says "I'm sorry surgery is so hard, Honey" (her way of saying surgery is hard). Isla doesn't quite understand time yet, so every day she is waking up thinking surgery is today. That is quite overwhelming for her. Isla finds comfort in visuals. So, we created a story of pictures that helps her process through the journey from travel to hotel, to pre-op, to surgery, to recovery, etc and all the little details in-between. We are so proud of Isla for asking the hard questions and talking through all the steps of the surgery journey even while anxiety is so high for her and she doesn't fully understand. That is bravery.

We have been loving the shift of Fall weather. These cooler crisp days are beautiful!

It has still been a hard and difficult season, but there are a lot of sweet blessings every day to be thankful for!

Justin is still facing the strike at Boeing. This is a big stressor in so many ways (financial, medical insurance, etc) but the extra time we have had with him, feels like the greatest gift, too. He works so hard for our fam and it includes a lot of overtime. So, getting more family time has been so very sweet.

My health (Molly) is still struggling. I was finally able to try to wean off of over two months of steroids (oofta) and am a couple of weeks into a new treatment. I'm holding fairly steady but not doing well and still feel quite sick. We are praying that this new treatment will work and I can have strength through Isla's surgery time...that I would not have any big medical issues while we are away from home. Would love prayer for my health.

Both kiddos are enjoying school...so thankful!

Isla has been loving her school time and has the sweetest teacher and para-educators! We are so blessed by her school and each teacher, paraeducator, and therapist! It is so sweet to see Isla's confidence building more and more. She is so proud of her school and we love her team! Isla's favorite class is music!

Zeke has been working so hard and loving his school and co-ops, too! It's been a busier schedule for him, but he has been so diligent in his work and it never ceases to amaze us by his ability to soak in all the information! He really likes his co-op teachers and classes. He says he loves his at-home teacher, too... haha! His favorite class is Latin!

We were able to make to to our traditional Fall outing to the pumpkin patch! We LOVE Autumn!