This Halloween was a huge one for our family. As you all know, Addie was in the hospital for 10 months from August last year until June this year. We spent many holidays in the NICU and PICU, and we were so grateful when Addie got to come home. We’ve spent Fourth of July, my birthday, Mathew’s birthday, Addie’s birthday, and now Halloween together, and I couldn’t be more grateful. This year, we decided to dress up as a scarecrow family on Halloween and we had so much fun!
I bought us all plaid shirts, burlap and felt for our hats, fabric for our patches, and raffia for our straw. It was a low-cost costume idea to turn us into a scarecrow family, but one that ended up working out really nicely! The hats were interesting for me to make, and were a little time consuming, but overall it was such an easy project to get us all to match.
We initially had plans to take Addie out to our church’s local Trunk or Treat. I’m not sure why the idea of that had even crossed my mind, because usually I’m pretty picky about where we take Addie because of germs. I especially never take her around other kids (unless they stay at home and don’t really play around other kids because they’re little like her), because kids have more germs than anyone else on the planet. With a medically fragile kid, you just can’t be too careful. Still, the idea of being “normal” got me caught up and I insisted we go to our church event.
The night before we were supposed to go to the Trunk or Treat, Mathew told me he wasn’t sure about our idea. I had just stayed up incredibly late making all the hats and pinning on fabric squares that, I admit, got me upset, because I didn’t want to miss out on being “normal” parents with Addie for her first big holiday. I went to bed and prayed that the Lord would make it abundantly clear whether or not we should go after all. I’m a stubborn person, so I felt like if I asked for it to be made “abundantly clear” I would have some kind of answer.
The next morning, the first thing on my mind was that we shouldn’t go to the Trunk or Treat. God really answered my prayer, and although it wasn’t the one I wanted to hear, I knew it was the right thing to do. Sad and sulking, I asked my friend Lauren if it really wasn’t the best thing for us to take Addie, even if it was for 30 minutes. She reminded me of Flu and RSV going around and how I should be extra careful to not expose Addie to it. She then suggested that we have an impromptu Halloween party at her house that night! What a kind and thoughtful friend!
I dressed our whole family up, gathered Addie’s supplies, and we scooped her up and took her to Lauren’s house. Once we got there, Lauren (and my sweet friend Meredith) had dinner all ready for everyone. Lauren even had a whole photoshoot area set up for Addie and her little friends Oliver and Kennedy to take pictures. We ended up having so much fun with our friends that I was so thankful we didn’t take Addie to the church. Most importantly though, I was so grateful for friends who would go above and beyond to try to help us have a “normal” experience like other families just to make the holidays with a medically fragile child easier.
Our scarecrow family costumes were a huge hit and I’m so glad everything ended up working out so well. This Halloween was so memorable for us! We are so grateful to our friends the Gilberts and the Lassiters. They did such a wonderful thing for our family and we are so lucky to have them in our lives.
It does kind of stink that Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas are all around when sicknesses are the worst, but I’m so glad you guys still had a fun Halloween. I love the photoshoot area with Addie and her friends.
Breenah recently posted…October 2015