Thankful this Easter

We feel incredibly thankful as a family this Easter. It's hard to imagine that we had just found out about Lilly this time last year and now we are celebrating her first Easter. She has enriched and fulfilled our lives in ways we could never imagine. Brad and I took her to the G-Day game on Saturday so that we could officially introduce her to the Bulldog Nation! She was unsure of it at first but as she took it all in she began to smile and enjoy the Redcoat Band. She only made it through the first half and fell asleep the rest of the game. We taught her the cheers so she is well on her way to being a full blown Bulldog!
Perhaps what we are most thankful for this Easter is Brad's health. In case you haven't heard, Brad had surgery to remove an ameloblastoma, a benign tumor, from his jaw last Tuesday. The surgery went very well. The doctor, Dr. Martin Steed, was confident he removed the entire tumor and was encouraged by the fact that the tumor was so solid. He didn't feel there were any stray pieces left. The tumor was located about a millimeter above the nerve on that side of his jaw and because of its solidity, he was able to salvage the nerve. Brad was checked into the hospital after the surgery for the day. Brad was able to sleep off and on but he was incredibly thirsty and unable to drink anything because of the gauze in his mouth. The doctors came in to check him and were amazed at the lack of swelling in his mouth so they decided to discharge us that night. After a brief stop at Walmart at 12:30 in the morning, to get soft food for Brad, we made it home to sleep in our own bed. Thanks to Gigi and Papa, we didn't have to worry about Lilly for a couple of days even though we missed her terribly! Now it has been 5 days since the surgery and Brad is doing really well. He is still very sore and has numbness on the left side of his mouth. However, is able to eat on the right side of his mouth and is building up to more solid foods. I think what is most frustrating for him is that he can't get really full...he is having to eat around the clock. All in all, things went well and we are happy to have the surgery behind us. Once he is completely healed, in a couple of months, we will be able to look into replacement options, whether that be a partial or implants. Implants will require more surgery and more money so we have to weigh our options. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It helped make this process so much more bearable. Enjoy some more Easter pictures below!

Mom, DeAnn, Lainey, Lilly and I after church and brunch at IHOP.

Lilly and her Daddy

She was a happy Easter girl in her adorable dress!

My little Flower Child