a few pix to catch up

she loves the water!!


waiting for Daddy to come home from work!


on Father's day! can't tell who is happier, daddy or Sarah!! she brings so much joy and laughter into this home!! love you little girl one of these days i will get Sarah kissing my belly...she hugs it and says love youuuu

she's turned another corner on us!

where does the time go? Sarah is completely done with both therapy classes. friendships were made that were hard to "let go" in a sense...Ms Katrina become more of mommy's friend then ever thought possible. Just the other day Sarah and Victoria were having a bad moment.... and they kept asking for Ms Katrina! they didn't want mommy or daddy they wanted her! so the next day when Ms Katrina stopped by for the last session i told her.
Thinking it was priceless, she past along her address and phone number, the girls wanted to talk to her on the phone but i didn't have that info. but now that Ms Katrina is not the "therapist" we can become friends. Ms Katrina, thank you for everything you endured with us!! thank you for loving Sarah even when she wasn't lovable!! For working with her when she wasn't teachable. Not sure what we will do every Friday mornings now!! but you will be thought of and we will be calling you! the girls just love you!!

being the last session, the girls (even Victoria) got presents. Dora buckets shovels, bubbles, stress balls and stickers..
the girls couldn't wait to play with the stickers...they had so much fun!

and when the stickers got"old" Sarah moved onto putting the bucket on her head!!


she is growing up on us! can hardly believe it!! Seriously, where did the time go!?we love you little princess and are so proud of what you have accomplished so far!!

BIG NEWS!!

i seem to have forgotten to mention some pretty big news on here...

It seems as though Sarah will be done with her Physical therapy. we met for the last time today! we are so thankful to me Matt for all his help and for loving on Sarah when she just wasn't very lovable!! but she has crossed over to the point of not qualifying for help!! it is such a bittersweet day! she is becoming more and more as a 2 year old should!

we are so proud of you little fighter! God has so much in store for you! Each day brings you one step closer!!


and now onto some other big news! it seems to be that God's plan is bigger then ours and his ways are clearly not ours!! We recently found out that Sarah and Her twin sister will become a "big" sisters!! but more on this exciting news later

thank you all for your prayers for Sarah during these two years! she is moving forward and reminds us daily of just how awesome our God is!!

tubes went well

Sarah's procedure went well. Sarah on the other hand was insulted beyond what she could handle. but i guess if you want to get in and out then she knows what she is doing!!

The tubes went in between 8:15 and 8:30, they were on the way home by 8:45!! way to get in and out there Sarah!! During that 15 minutes she ate a cookie and drank some juice between screams! the nurses said, okay you can leave, Sarah stopped crying and did what she always does...reached up to gives hugs and kisses to all the nurses at the desk!! like i said, SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING!! thank you all for your prayers!

appointment

Sarah will have tubes put in on May 27th around 8:00 am. please keep her in your prayers. it's not a huge deal, but please pray anyway! thanks

ears and MRI

for some time now we (the doctors and us as parents) have been watching Sarah to see if she too would need tubes. we went to the specialist a month ago, at that time he said he wanted to wait to see how long Sarah would go with no infections. well she didn't go long! Just getting of meds for a recent Ear infection, proves that even with meds, they are not clearing up.

SO this morning when they ear doctor said, tubes are needed i was not shocked! she will go in at the end of May for tubes. will pass on more info when available.

we are also scheduling her MRI, it will be in June. please keep her in your prayers as we head into the next couple of months. As i get more details about these appointment i will pass them along.

thank you following us in prayer as we continue on this path that The Lord has laid before us.

just for fun...

in her Father's arms

when i took these and saw the final resultall I could think of.......


she's been carried by her Daddy....



and how many times has she heard the voice of God whispering some thing in her ear? we love you Sarah!

update

it's been awhile, but just quickly wanted to let you know that she needs no tubes (in her ears). the doctor wants to see how she does through the summer! I'll try and post pictures of Sarah in action tonite....

enjoying a "new Sarah"

Sarah has become a "new" girl!! i say this because we are seeing a different side of her daily!

she is getting around so nice now, it's almost as though she has figured out that the things at the end of her legs can get her anywhere and fast!! Last summer we tried to go out to the playgrounds, and though we did, i will admit it was stressful...Sarah was still wobbly and not really walking yet, she cried about everything. she was mostly frustrated that she couldn't go where everyone else was!! we've been to Chuckie Cheese's and she loves climbing in the tunnels... she would never have done it last year!!

this is her watching her brothers jumping on our moon bouncer... the other day she was out playing in our back yard, walking all over the place like she owned it all!!

to look at her, one would never know she has already had brain surgery!! My God is awesome...come back for more spring action pictures!!

we got to meet some new people

I have it in my heart to alwas say thank you to those who pray for Sarah. when SArah first went in to the hospital and they found that she had the brain tumor we knw thr only way to get through it was to lean on Jesus, and to get others praying for Sarah. through Sarah's Care page at http://www.carepage.com/ i have met many people and believe that one day we will see them face to face. then i can say thank you. thank you for praying for my little girl.

but today we were able to meet three very special people. Sarah doesn't realize just how specail they are, but one day when Sarah gets older, she will read this and on the days she doubts, she will know that God has a special plan and so many people stand behind her. with prayer! there are so many people that i don't know, but which i did, so that i could include them in this blog but for now, names will have to do..

fromt eh bottom of my heart I say thank you all for being prayer warriors for a lttle girl you don't even know, but some day will....

i have not shared these pictures but i feel that it's okay to do so now. above at the top, is Sarah minutes before going into surgery. this picture right above, is Sarah a couple of days after so many of you lifted her up. this was Sarah, 100% cancer free just a couple of days after her surgery..

here are a few of you...

explains it all

He has been so good to us!! Thank you Jesus!

it's been too long!

Sarah is doing well...we have been very busy with sick children, but i felt as though I needed to show you some pictures of Sarah...

she is doing so well..getting more and more vocal as the days go by, she is learning her ABC's believe it or not, and loves to listen to praise and worship music and dances, I'll have to video tape her and Tori dancing together!!

she is almost ready for a big girls bed

i say that but I'm not ready for late hour party times that will turn out like this in the girls bedroom....

...needs mommy to get a little more brave when it comes to night time diapers...she is 99.9% potty trained. even when she was/is sick, she hated to wear the diaper...so we tried a day without any...that little stinker showed mommy and daddy off!!

she is truly our little miracle girl!! please keep her in your prayers. she has had to go back on all her meds again, and we got pretty nervous a couple of times with her breathing. She has improved over the course of today. instead of every 3 hours with breathing treatments, she is able to go for 4 hours. And also she is beginning to get more frequent ear infections (kind of funny because up until her sister had tubes, Sarah really didn't have ear infections..now that tubes are in her (tori's) ears, Sarah must feel she needs attention....)

she is growing like a weed!! and seems to love every adventure that is around the next corner!!

MRI

we left this morning at 6:45, it's 5:00 PM and we are just getting back.. the MRI went well and the results are looking good! Thank you to all who prayed for us today. Sarah is exhausted but over all is doing great!

MRI and catching up

Sarah is set to have another MRI on Wednesday the 14th. please pray that she stays healthy. we have a nasty virus running through the house. I was brushing her teeth and noticed that she has little bubbles in her mouth...praying that they will just be gone... Timothy came down with the same thing and was sick for 5 days...

so please continue to pray for Sarah.


She is doing awesome these last few weeks. seems as though she is repeating more things! and is forming more two word sentences! she goes down for naps with no diapers and wakes up during the nights and yells, "potty" if she has to go!!

On more then one occasion both Jacob and myself have confused Sarah and her sister...Sarah is still holding her weight, while her sister is putting it on!! makes life more fun!!

Over this past weekend we celebrated her older brother's b-day at Chuckie cheese's...and it was so neat to see Sarah having fun walking around and climbing into things. it seems as though her little world is opening up...it's sad on one hand to see my baby growing more and more independent everyday but on the other hand she is such a little miracle and it brings joy to see her becoming her own person. Each day is just one more day that we realize just how special she is.

one thing about Sarah that has blossomed is the fact that she says, "love you" with little arms stretched up and lips ready to give kisses!! she will take your heart if you let her!!

okay, didn't mean to get all mushy on you. gotta run i will try and post pictures of Sarah during the next couple of days between the many doctor appointments this week.

thank you for all your prayers and i will keep you posted on her MRI (which is at 9:00 AM)

be blessed!!

i wanted to share with you. Sarah's year in review! it was a wonderful year!! her first for no admissions into the hospital, (I think she may have taken care of her time with in the first year!!!

any way, this slide is long but if you just watch it through you'll be blessed!! i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed putting it together.. i present to you Sarah in 2008

may have a blessed 2009!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sarah enjoying the snow!

I took this, this morning!

Sarah really loves the snow but the reason i wanted to post this is because this is where the scar is, but you can hardly see it!! She truly is our walking miracle!!

I would like to take this time to say a heart felt, "Thank you" to each one of you who prays for this little girl. we don't know what God has in store for her in the years to come, but I do know that it is VERY evident that God has is hand on her!

This Holiday season is the first one for Sarah and us as a family to Really have fun at home. Last year, well she was just getting use to living life with no tumor, she was just re-learning different tasks that she thought she has accomplished...

But to look at her today, she seems like any other 2 year old! she walks around singing, teasing, laughing, crying!! figuring things out on her own!!

I plan on taking pictures on Christmas and sharing it on her care page and here. So many of you have had such a big part in her little life. That i want to share it with you.

From this Mommy's heart, i wish i could personally meet each and everyone of you, to hug you and say thank you. to let you see our little miracle running around and enjoying the life that almost was not.

My prayers for you during this Holiday season is that you will draw close to family and just enjoying them! if you don't 'live near family, call and let them know you are thinking about them. let them know that you love them..

MERRY CHRISTMAS from this Hoffman home

God is watching over her!!

we have officially moved into the home with no bottles and man the stack of diapers are lasting forever these days!!

the other day we watched as Sarah's nipple to her bottle, fell off in her mouth!! man was it scary! she wasn't sucking too hard, she was more like chomping and all it took was one good chomp... and off fell the top part of the nipple! thankfully we were right there watching her this time. That was literally her last nipple in the house. Jacob and I both agreed that they are both old enough to just cold turkey...stop the bottle!! it's been a few days now and we are surviving it!! they are sleeping better through the night and waking up dry!!

My babies are being forced to grow up!! what will life be like this summer? we may be having a family trip to a far away land!! it's in the workings...but more on that later!! Sarah's siblings are home from school today because of a snow storm. we are going to make more cookies and maybe later go play in the snow!!

cookies and crafts

We are headed to see some doctors on Tuesday. we liked to visit them once in a while when Sarah is not sick!!and what better time then now...we made brownies and cookies for the Doctor and nurses that delivered Sarah and her sister. it should be fun!

Sarah even helped put the sugar into the mix! And what kind of mother would i be if I didn't let all four of my kids try it?? Sarah loved it!!


but today Sarah enjoyed doing some crafts with stickers.

if I'm able to I will take pictures of tomorrow's outings!!

enjoying her pony and teddy bear

the girls got one of their gifts early so that mommy could use it to distract them...and it works every time!! the ask me to take pictures!! I LOVE IT!!!Horses like apples right, so why not try apple juice?




and then some fingers to go along with it!! and then there is her fascination with books, puppy's and this brown teddy bear....








i'm so glad this cute little girl is mine!!!