I'm blogging again!

This has been a super crazy year so far. To summarize ... I started the year doing The Biggest Loser (update: I lost over 30 pounds, some I have gained back), then I hurt my back in aerobics class and had to go through several months of treatment, and just when I started doing better (July), I was diagnosed with a fibroid the size of a baseball on my uterus and had to go through intense treatments that have made me feel like I've been in menopause for the past four months. Now, I will have a Myomectomy on Monday, November 16, to remove it. (More about this whole situation and the procedure will come in a later blog ... both here and on destinyinbloom.com.)

Needless to say, this has been an extremely long and emotional year for me. But there have been some bright spots: we bought our first house, Travis got a promotion, and our first nephew, Brett, was born in April.

So, with all of that said, I was very excited to see Brett when I went to Oklahoma a few weeks ago. We also were going to spend some time with Travis' grandparents who have not been doing very well. They live next door to Travis' parents, so when we go to Oklahoma, we get to see them often. The first day we were there we went with Chad (Travis' brother), Becky and baby Brett to visit his grandparents. What I didn't know is that they had a very special surprise for me.

Before I tell you what the surprise was, let me go back to March when we threw Becky a baby shower. One of the gifts she received was from Travis’ grandfather. It was a hand planed baby cradle. He made it to be an authentic antique. It is absolutely amazing! Of course, I wanted one. I mean, just because I was not having a baby now didn’t mean I wouldn't ever have one. But then when I got my diagnosis in July, along with it came the news that the possibility of having children was very unlikely unless fibroid was removed.

Well, when we went to their house, Grandpa Duncan took Travis and me out to the back where he showed us the baby cradle he made for us! I couldn't speak ... I just cried. My heart melted. He's been so sick and his arm is so badly damaged that we thought they'd have to amputate it. He practically made the cradle with one hand. He told Travis that he did everything he could to make it for us before they took his arm. He said it was the last one he would ever make. After he said that I just cried some more. After I got myself together and hugged and thanked him, I took some pictures of the cradle along with Travis and Grandpa Duncan.

The doctor believes that after this surgery, I will be able to have children ... more importantly, I believe I will have children one day. And I really believe that this cradle was a gift from God ... a sign of hope ... a sign that there's more to come. :)