Happy Birthday Isaac!

Better late than never, right?!

We had a memorable day remembering the birth of Isaac, and I wanted to make sure to share it with you. Isaac's birthday this year was also Easter. We were so blessed to have this day to celebrate our son and the Son of God. The correlation of the two events served as a reminder that we will be in Heaven with Isaac one day because of the resurrection of Jesus. We went to church in the morning. In the afternoon, 60 family members and friends joined us for a balloon release at Isaac's burial spot. We then hosted dinner for our parents and siblings.

I wanted to share the photographs from the balloon release. A HUGE thank you to Dan's cousin Lisa for capturing these breathtaking images. The balloon release was special because it reminded us once again that we are blessed by a great support system. All of these people took time out of their Easter holiday to remember our son.

Happy Birthday Isaac! We can't wait to celebrate with you soon! We love you!

11-11-11

When we got married, my mom thought it was so cool that our 5th wedding anniversary would be on 11-11-11. At the time, I thought that the date seemed so far away. Now, I can't believe it's tomorrow! Our wedding was an amazing day, and we were fortunate to be able to celebrate with our family and friends.

The past five years seemed to have flown by. Undoubtedly, we have been through a lot in the past five years, especially this past year. Our anniversary last year was right before we found out about Isaac's condition. I remember being so excited and thinking that on our next anniversary, we will be parents. Needless to say, this is a very bittersweet time for me.

I am so blessed to be married to my best friend. I am looking forward to what the next year has in store for us!

Our Wedding Day - November 11, 2006

We're Still Here!

It's been a while, but we're still here. I hope to continue our blog, and I hope that we still have some readers out there!

We had a busy summer. We were fortunate to have three weeks of traveling together. We were gone for most of the month of July. When we got back home, I went right back to school. I can't believe that we have already been back to school for six weeks!

During our travels, we went to South Dakota for a week to visit my mother-in-law and her husband. They have a beautiful ranch, where we got to relax and do "hokey" touristy stuff. Next, we went to Orlando to visit Universal Studios. Dan wanted to see the new Harry Potter world. Finally, we went on a western Caribbean cruise. We definitely needed the relaxing time together!

Here are some photos from our travels:

At Mount Rushmore

At the ranch in South Dakota

Just before ziplining on our cruise

Waterfall climbing in Jamaica

After the Tie-Dye Gators won the Cozumel Amazing Race

Hopefully we still have some readers out there. We would love to continue to share our journey with you!

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to write a quick blog to let you all know that I am still writing. And to say Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. We may not have a child on earth, but we are parents to a precious angel in Heaven. Dan took such great care of Isaac while he was with us, and I know he is going to continue to be an amazing father to our other children someday. He always enourages me to see the positive in all things, and he has a very generous spirit. We have so many things to look forward to, and I am so fortunate to be able to share my life with Dan. This picture is my absolute favorite one of Dan.

Being Thankful

Today I have been reminded (more than once) that I need to be more thankful for the things that God has given me.

First, one of my friends posted this on Facebook: "What if I woke up today with only the things I thanked God for yesterday?" This thought made me realize that I have not been diligent in thanking God for everything that He has given me. I have so many things to be thankful for, but often during this time of trial, my prayers and thoughts have focused on the things that I need rather than all of the wonderful things that I do have.

Another reminder that I need to be more thankful came as I was putting away the sympathy cards that were sent to us during the past few weeks. I decided to re-read some of the notes that people wrote. I came across one from a friend of my aunt who lives in Pennsylvania. I have not met this woman before, but she has been praying for us after hearing our story from my aunt. In the card, among other things, she wrote that she thanked God for Isaac's perfectly formed hands and feet. This prayer was so special to me because it was so personal. It also made me realize that I didn't even thank God for his perfect hands and feet. Amidst all of of my pain, I took some things for granted, including ten fingers, ten toes, and a full head of wavy brown hair. Looking back, I am SO thankful for these things, but I never expressed that to God.

With that being said, I am thankful for all of the prayers that have been said on our behalf. This woman, again, who we have never met, prayed to God on our behalf and expressed what we were feeling, but hadn't yet prayed to God. I know others have prayed for us when we didn't have the words or strength to go to God.

I found the following verse to be so powerful in terms of giving thanks.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:16-18

What high ideals to strive for! I like the words always, continually, and in all circumstances. In times of trial, being joyful and giving thanks seem to be so hard, but they are also so important. In the first few days after we found out about Isaac's condition, we were devastated. At that point, I couldn't imagine looking back and being joyful and thankful for this journey. But, along the way, I have experienced positive things from a tragic situation, and I have learned not to take for granted the many blessings in my life. This journey has taught me that it is possible to be joyful and give thanks in the hardest and most painful situations.

I am so thankful for our little boy and his perfect hands and feet.

Tributes to Isaac

The past few weeks have went by so quickly! Today is Dan's first day back at work in more than 4 weeks. We are very fortunate to be able to spend so much time together during the past month.

I am so thankful for the support of our families throughout my pregnancy and afterwards. We could not have done it without all of them!

I wanted to share two special things that my sister, my dad, and Dan did in honor of Isaac. My sister Kelsie graduated from the University of Florida on April 30. We were fortunate to be able to go to Gainesville and see her graduate. Since so many students graduate at the same time, the graduates often decorate their caps to help their families identify them in the crowd. Kelsie chose to decorate her cap with an "I" in honor of her nephew Isaac. It was very special to me because I sometimes think of the things that I won't see Isaac do or accomplish. But, in a way, I was able to see my son graduate that day. We are also proud of your accomplishments, Kelsie!

Kelsie with her "I" cap

My family at Kelsie's graduation

This past weekend, my dad and Dan got a more permanent tribute to Isaac - a tattoo! It is a tattoo of Isaac's handprint and name on their chest. Dan made the handprints in the hospital and the tattoo artist was able to replicate it exactly. Now, I get to see and touch my son's handprint everyday!

And, one more picture of Isaac with our family members that were at the hospital on his birthday.

Making a Difference

I have looked over the blog several times in the past week or so. There's a lot of things that I wanted to write about over the past few months but never did. I will continue to write as we continue this journey of healing. There have been two ideas that have been getting me through these past five months. The first one is that I will get to spend eternity with my son in Heaven. The second is that God put Isaac on this earth to fulfill a purpose. This idea is emphasized in a story that was shared at Isaac's memorial service from John 9: 1-3. "As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so the work of God might be displayed in his life.'"

I hoped and prayed that I would see some evidence of God's work through Isaac during my lifetime and that I would not have to wait until I got to Heaven to see why God gave Isaac to us. However, I never imagined what an impact our little boy would have or that I would see it so soon.

First, Isaac inspired his mommy and daddy to become closer to God. Even before the blog and before we really told anyone about our situation, Dan and I realized that the only way that we were going to survive this situation is by completely trusting in God. So, if nothing else, I am so thankful for the impact Isaac has had on our relationship with God. Isaac has changed our lives in so many other ways too. Now more than ever, we are so thankful for the many blessings that we have. Dan and I have also grown so much closer in our relationship. I love my husband more today than I ever have in our 11 years together.

But more than just us, Isaac has made an impact in so many other lives. His influence was evidenced in all of the people that came to celebrate his life on Saturday. Dan and I were humbled by how many people were there to support us. We could not have asked for a more beautiful tribute to our son. Thank you to all of you that were there. Aside from all of the people at the service, I know Isaac's life has had an influence on all of the people who have read our blog and others who have heard our story from one of our friends and family members. We have received cards from people that we have not met, just because someone has told our story at church or at work. We are so thankful that so many people have allowed Isaac's story to touch their hearts.

Isaac has also touched the lives of other children through charity. I know the staff at my school has been collecting diapers and other baby supplies to donate to local families. Thank you so much for allowing Isaac to make such a difference in our community. We also set up a Memorial Fund through Operation Smile that many of our family members and friends have generously donated to. Operation Smile provides surgeries for children with facial deformities, such as cleft palates. Right now, the donations will provide surgeries for 6 children in Isaac's memory. Thank you to those of you who have made donations so far. If you are interested, you may donate in Isaac's name through this Memorial Page: http://support.operationsmile.org/goto/IsaacMarkovich

I am so thankful that the work of God has been displayed because of the life of our son. I know his impact will continue far beyond his short life.

I have had some requests for more pictures of Isaac. Thank you all again for your continued support and prayers.

Our first moments together