Another Thing.....

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.' The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him."

Lamentations 3:19-25

Things I'm Loving At The Moment

Hey friends. Just wanted to share some of the lovely things in my life right now....big & small. I'm having one of those days where I feel like I could complain about everything bad in my life & so I'm trying to change my mood by telling you some of the good things. So here goes.....

1. The song "Perfectly Fitted" by Waterdeep. I have loved this worship group since college when I saw them in concert with 100 Portraits. Some of their stuff is amazing. Some is a little weird, but I love this new song by them. Go check it out here.
2. I love how Ava is learning tons of new words. When she hears a bird singing she says "bird" and points out the window. So cute! She's also saying puppy, baby, booka, eye te te (translation: my eyes see...a line from her favorite book, The Eye Book by Dr. Suess). She also sings a song that's in spanish from Sesame Street--well the chorus at least...eye, yai yai yai....I have no idea how to spell what she's singing. But it's cute....I promise :) She also says beep beep when you touch her nose, or anyone else's nose for that matter. She has been so fun lately!!
3. Spending time praying with my husband for our baby in El Salvador.
4. Mango Mandarin body wash from Bath & Body Works.....it smells so summery!
5. The color green that we painted our living room. Dune Grass from Eddie Bauer. It's been the same color for almost 8 months & I still like it. That's pretty amazing in my "I want to constantly change my house around" world. I'm even thinking of painting my bedroom the same color.
6. My adoption yahoo group.....all of the families that are adopting from El Salvador with America World. It helps me remember that I'm not alone in this process.
7. My sweet friends that love me so much.
8. Food from The Pear Tree--a restaurant across the street from us. SO YUMMY!!! Queso soup, fruit salad, chicken salad, pumpkin bread, peach tea & cider. Are you hungry yet??
9. My new shirt from Forever 21.....a friend gave me her store credit. I thought that was just the sweetest thing!
10. Fitting in a size M at Forever 21. Yeah!
11. My sister who is working her fingers to the bone so that we can bring our baby home. She is sacrificial & her love for my family has spoken to the deep corners of my heart. I want to be like her when I grow up. She is amazing. And so are the blankets she's making. Check them out here.
12. Watching Matt tickle & play with Ava. She laughs so hard. She loves him to pieces. It makes me love him to pieces.
13. Compact fluorescent light bulbs....it makes me feel like I'm doing something good for the planet.
14. Wearing flip-flops again. I feel lost in the winter without them.
15. Talking to my Mom and Dad on the phone every day. It makes me feel warm inside.
16. Diet Dr. Pepper.....like always.
17. The flowers planted in my front yard that rebloomed. I thought they were dead & gone & now they're back.
18. Getting new vacuum bags so that I could FINALLY vacuum my floors after a whole week of not being able to. I love having clean floors.
19. Ava's summer clothes. They are so cute & they make me jealous of her cool style :)
20. My God who has been so faithful & near me when I'm feeling very low. I'm thankful for Psalm 77, which has become my relief. I'm just so glad that God is still God & He is ok when I question His goodness & His plans. I'm glad that He doesn't love me less when I tell Him I'm angry that my Mom is sick. I'm thankful that Job was a real person & I can learn from Him. I'm thankful for peace that passes understanding. And I'm thankful that God runs to the prodigals.

I Feel Like I've Been Using This Word A Lot, But Here's The UPDATE

Hey friends. I feel like the title of every email lately & every post has been Update, so if any of you writers out there could help me think of a new word, that would be awesome :) Anyways, I wanted to post about my Mom's doctor's appointment last week since so many of you have been asking how it went.

She has officially been diagnosed with Stage III C ovarian cancer. I'm not positive what that means, just that it's very advanced Stage III, but has not penetrated her major organs (praise God!). She is going back to the doctor next Friday, and if her body is strong & healing on schedule then she will begin chemo 2 weeks after that. The doctor is wanting her to complete 8 rounds of treatment, but also mentioned that most patients can't get that many in b/c their bodies can't handle the medicine. So he's hoping for her to get 3-6 treatments. A treatment means that she will spend 24 hours at the hospital hooked up to an IV with her chemo medicine. Then she will go home & 6 days later they will do it again. Then they will wait 3 weeks in between rounds. So it's going to be a long hard battle, but we are trusting God with all of this.

According to the doctor, there is a 20-30% chance that she will be "cured" from the chemo--meaning cancer free. He said that most likely the chemo will just keep everything contained & under control. But we are choosing to trust in God & not in statistics. If He chooses to heal her, that is His plan!

We have been so busy lately with our adoption paperwork. They're not kidding when they say it is a TON of work & compare it to pregnancy. We still have so far to go, but things are getting done here & there & we're steadily plowing through. We have been working on this for exactly 3 months today! Matt & I had a really great prayer time last night for our process & our baby & everything involved. We hadn't prayed together in a long time b/c we've been apart so much lately. So it was a really sweet & encouraging time. We decided to make Monday's adoption day in our house & spend the evening after Ava has gone to bed praying together. I'm really excited about this.

I guess that's it for now. I don't have any new pics of Ava b/c my memory card is full & I need to take it to Sam's Club to get pictures made so I can delete the old ones. So hopefully I'll get that done this weekend. Love you all :)

Prayers For My Mom Today

Hi friends. Please be praying for my Mom & Dad today. They're going to meet with her doctor to get her pathology reports back (showing the extent of the cancer) and setting up their "plan of action" for her treatments. I think that it has been a very emotional day for them, so please keep them in your prayers. My Mom is still having major pain in her stomach....so continue lifting that up. Thanks for your prayers.

I'm home now & trying to get back to "normal" or as my family has been saying, our "new normal". I am worn & so extremely tired. I feel like I'm on benadryl 24/7. Please pray for rest & renewal this weekend. Love you all....

Auntie Em's Creations

Hey friends! Please check out our new website where you can purchase blankets that my sister is making for our adoption. 100% of profits go into our adoption fund. Check out our new website at:

www.auntieemscreations.blogspot.com

Ava's Walking--Kind Of :)

I wanted to upload this video of Ava walking so I could show my Mom while she's at the hospital. So Mom....enjoy!!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

What We Know So Far...

I know that some of you don't get my email updates about my Mom b/c I don't have your email addresses, so I wanted to post the email I sent out the other day. It's too emotional having to retype all of this & put it into words, so I'll just borrow from what I've already written.

Since I wrote this email my Mom is doing ok with her recovery. The doctors had to manipulate her bowels so much during surgery that they haven't started functioning correctly yet. So everything that is going down is coming back up as acid reflux. She will start eating crackers today & they're hoping to remove her IV & start giving her medicine in pill form. So she's not going home today obviously....my guess is Thursday or Friday. Please continue to pray for all of us. Thanks!


hey friends. It has been such a long couple of days. I had planned on writing last night, but was completely drained by the time I got home & had to go straight to bed. I don't even really know where to begin. Thankfully, my Mom came through the surgery fine & she is recovering well. The bad news is that it is definitely cancer & it is very extensive. The doctors were hoping to find that the tumor was contained in her reproductive organs & that the hysterectomy would remove everything. Unfortunately, the tumor was huge & had spread all the way up into her stomach lining & had attached to the outside of her bowels. The removed her appendix b/c it was also covered with the tumor. They had to remove a large section of her stomach lining b/c it was touching the tumor. Thankfully the tumor hadn't penetrated through her bowels, so the insides are still ok. She also suffered a minor bladder injury during the surgery & will have a catheter (sp??) for the next 10 days. This is definitely not the news we were hoping to receive. Boiled down, she has Stage III ovarian cancer. We are beyond grateful that it was not worse than this, but we would have loved to have better news.

The doctor said that she will have to undergo several rounds of chemo & probably numerous future surgeries b/c there are hundreds of microscopic pieces of tumor spread throughout her stomach lining & remaining organs. The doctor said that beyond a miracle of God she will not be "cured" of the cancer, even after undergoing chemo. She will have the cancer until the end of her life. The doctor seems to think that undergoing chemo will, however, keep the cancer under control. He didn't want to go into too much detail about all of that now b/c he wants to focus on getting her through the recovery from surgery.

It has been such an emotional couple of days for my family. We all cried most of the day yesterday & just sat around kind of numb and in shock. We are so thankful that she came through surgery & we still have her with us, but we are afraid of what lies ahead. When we finally got to see my Mom last night we all just held hands & my Mom said "God is good". He is good....His plans for us our good. Even though we don't understand why He is allowing us to walk through this suffering, we do KNOW that He has not forgotten or forsaken us.

Mom's Surgery Tomorrow

Hey friends. Well, tomorrow my Mom goes for her surgery at 12:15. It has been a difficult couple of weeks for her, so I think she's ready to have it over & done with. They have had to drain her stomach 3 times in the last 2 weeks & yesterday they got 3 liters out. She slept for the first time in 4 nights last night, so today has been a little better for her. She can already feel her stomach filling up again though, so it's good the surgery is tomorrow.

The surgery will include a radical hysterectomy to remove the tumor. They will also remove anything that the tumor is touching, so we still don't know how expansive the surgery will be. They will also scrape her abdominal lining and drain any remaining fluid. They are going to run several tests on all the surrounding lymph nodes to see if any cancer has spread to them. Supposedly women have several lymph nodes around their reproductive organs, so we are praying that the cancer (if there even is any) has not spread there. Here are some things to pray for:

First & foremost, pray for her complete healing....that there is NO CANCER!
For my Mom to sleep really well tonight & to feel rested in the morning. She has been coughing non-stop b/c the fluid is putting pressure on her lungs. So pray for no coughing & LOTS of sleep.

She can't eat or drink anything (water included) after midnight tonight, so pray that she doesn't even desire those things!

Pray for the doctors as they operate. For their wisdom & steady hands. Pray that they are able to remove everything that is or could be cancer. Pray for the tests to be done clearly and carefully. Pray that my family is able to be a godly witness to the doctors & nurses that we come into contact with.

Pray for my sister as she is not able to come from Kentucky for the surgery. We are trying to get her back out here next weekend....so pray for the finances to be there so that she can get a ticket. Pray that she feels the comfort and peace of Christ as she waits for news so far away. It breaks my heart that she can't be here. Pray for her emotions tomorrow.

Pray for my Dad....he is really stressed about everything. Pray that things with his job can be put on hold for a week so that he doesn't even have to worry about anything.

Pray for Matt as he travels here tomorrow. He will be here until MOnday & I am so relieved that he's coming.

Pray for Ava as she is with babysitters (wonderful friends of mine!!) for the next few days. Pray for good naps, no accidents, good eating and a happy baby!

Pray for my Mom's recovery and healing process. She will most likely have to go through several rounds of chemo, so pray for that whole process.

Finally, please pray for me....I'm feeling a lot of pressure to kind of "keep things together". Pray that I can just be honest with my fears & emotions. I have been having extreme back pain & I know it is a direct result of the stress I'm feeling (and carrying Ava around 24/7!!).

Thanks for your prayers. I am trying to remember that God holds tomorrow & all that will happen in His hands. It is out of our control. BUt I also believe that prayer is our most powerful & effective tool to reach the heart of the Father. More than ever I ask for & covet your prayers. Thank you for praying so much already & for your continued support. We all feel the strength of your prayers so strongly right now....you are such faithful friends to me & I love you so very much.

A Little of Everything

Hey friends. It's been a crazy couple of days & I've been meaning to post for awhile now, and it just hasn't happened. So I'm going to include several things in this one post to make things easier. My Mom is having a pretty rough day today--she is feeling worse by the day & I know she's so ready to have the surgery done & over. She had her stomach drained again last Thursday & it provided relief for a few days, but she's feeling like it's filling up again. She was hoping to not have to have it drained again before the surgery, but it looks like she might have to go back again tomorrow to have it done. She hasn't slept in 4 nights & is having a lot of stomach pain. So please continue praying for her as we still have 3 days to go until surgery. We've had good days & bad days throughout this journey, and we're learning to trust God with both!

Since we needed some laughter & smiles, Emily & I took Ava down to the park the other day while she was still in town. Ava LOVES to swing & we LOVE to watch her. Here are some pictures of that....and hopefully a video (if it works!!).

We are up to our elbows in adoption paperwork. We have begun compiling our dossier to be sent to the El Savadorian government. It is definitely a lot of work & a LOT of money!! So my sweet sweet sister has decided to help us raise some money. She made Ava a ribbon blanket for Christmas & Ava loved it!! So she decided to make more for me to sell & all the money will go towards our adoption. I am so proud of her--she is so artsy! The front of the blankets are made of really soft fleece (either pink or blue). The backs are made of satiny (sp??) fabric. And the ribbons are different colors & textures. I have met so many babies who love these! So I thought I'd try to sell a few on here....just to see if Emily should make more. The pattern/color of ribbons may very, but I've posted pictures below of a girl one & a boy one. If you'd like to buy one for your own baby, or for a gift, just comment me or send me an email: rachelsetliffe@aol.com and I'll get it shipped. We are asking for $15, which includes the price of shipping. Also, if you'd like to special order one, I'm sure Emmy could make something special, with colors, etc... Thanks for looking :)




Front of pink & brown blanket


Back of girl blanket


Front of boy blanket


Back of boy blanket