There is always one thing in a couple’s lives that completely changes everything in one fell swoop, it alters the schedules for life, that you might have decided. Each and every single mother can vouch for the fact that children are not all coos and grins, looking after a newborn is hard work, but worth it! Loretta Cyrus, 41 years old and residing in Michigan really knows this well. When she was the tender age of 18 and then called Loretta Pullins, she found out that she was pregnant, she wasn’t married at the time… At the time her boyfriend responded to the news by saying “You’re not going to keep it, are you?”, but Loretta said that she was going to have the baby and he then left her to cope all by herself!

It wasn’t long after this that she discovered that a lump on the side of her neck… She had been tired and sick for months, the weight was really dropping off her too… She visited the doctor in the end and that led to a biopsy and terrible news: She had a disease called Hodgkin’s disease, its a sort of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. The Doctors advised her that if she started chemotherapy and radiation therapy straight away that she would have much better chances of living, but on the other hand it would kill her unborn baby, the choice was hers to make. Loretta wouldn’t do it, she wanted her baby to have life and be born, it was a risk she was more than willing to take! It was a huge risk and it nearly was fatal to her… Doctors were not able to monitor the state of her cancer as it worked its way through her neck and chest to her abdomen and even under her arms, poor brave girl! Towards the end of her pregnancy, the physicians started administering targeted radiation treatments to her chest so she was able to keep breathing and to keep the cancer in her chest at bay. At about seven months her doctor induced labor, little Alana was born weighing 4 pounds and 10 ½ ounces…. After this Loretta’s treatment really started! The chemotherapy really made her lose her hair fast and she was so incredibly thin too, but it really killed off the cancer too, she was at last cancer free!

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only problem that she had, she also had an ovarian tumor, o bowel obstruction and a very nearly fatal car accident, all affecting her life very seriously. She was, however, such a strong girl and she survived it all, her daughter by her side all the time, her reason to live and to fight on! Alana, her daughter said:

“My mom’s amazing!! …Sometimes when bad things happen, people kind of fall, and she doesn’t. When something bad happens, she gets back up and keeps going.”

In Tennessee, this dairy cow, Maybelle had been producing milk for around eight years for her previous owners, she was healthy and cared for well by them. But like many cows over five years old she was not producing as much milk anymore. Her previous owners were very grateful for the years she had produced good milk and they were very happy to surrender her to the sanctuary called The Gentle Barn. Andrea Burritt, the sanctuary Manager was happy to receive Maybelle and she wouldn’t have to produce any more milk again for people. She could now spend her time in comfy stalls and have nice deep bedding and graze in the fields in the lovely pastures on the sanctuary. But even though Maybelle had a wonderful environment, comfy and relaxed she was still pacing and crying, she was really frantic! Andrea was really concerned for her, and what was wrong, it was really hard to see her so distressed, she said that it made her feel awful! She said:

“She would look you right in the eye, and just scream. You knew something was wrong, and it was just hard trying to figure out how we could help and what we could do.”

The only time Andrea had seen her stressed like this before was when she had been separated from her baby. No one knew if she had a baby, but it certainly looked like she did. Like us, humans animals have extremely strong bonds with their young. Mothers love is clearly what seemed to be compelling her to feel like this, she was trying to tell everyone what was wrong! The family that owned Maybelle didn’t have a phone so the Gentle Barn confounder, Jay Weiner, went over to the farm to see if she had a baby on site, he had a trailed just in case they did have her baby there! Sure enough, there was a calf, and it was Maybelle’s baby, the little calf was male and 9 months old, called Miles, how sweet! Miles was over the age of weaning and was completely self-sufficient now, but he was next to Maybelle’s pasture and they saw each other every day! They talked about what to do and in the end, they decided that Miles should also stay with her mom, they loaded her onto the trailer and headed back with her… As soon as Maybelle heard the calf, she knew it was hers, everyone was so pleased to see her happy again! Andrea said:

“We ran to Maybelle and told her, We have your baby, we have your baby”

“And she just stood at the corner of the pasture until she saw that trailer come. Then she started chasing the trailer across the pasture up to the top.”

Maybelle was calm again and all was well with the two of them, she even started eating again, because she hadn’t been eating she had been moved to the Gentle Barn. As another complete surprise to everyone, months later Maybelle was found to be pregnant! She was pregnant when she was brought to the sanctuary but no-one had realized that she was at the time! Maybelle had a little girl, she was called Eclipse, now Maybelle, Miles, and Eclipse are all together on the sanctuary at the Gentle Barn, these lovely cows will have such an awesome time together!

We all have a paternal instinct in us, to prosper and carry on our genetic lines. Victoria Bradley was more eager than most to have a little beautiful baby and bless the word with another little beauty of life. Imagine how excited she was to realize that she was pregnant! Around 24 weeks into her pregnancy she realized that it was not going to be a conventional sort of pregnancy for her. She learned in her hospital visit that it could be devastating if her daughter was born too soon.

It was a very touching and special time, quite emotionally taxing though too. She was so nervous not knowing what might happen to her precious little baby when Victoria gave birth to the tiny little girl the doctors said that she wasn’t likely to live very long.

Francesca is what her mom decided to call her sweet little girl, she had no idea at that stage that the two-pound little baby was going to be a miracle! The little baby arrived so early that just two days before her birth she could have been legally aborted and while her early birth was a shock to both mom and the doctors, mom grasped hope for her little girl to live.

Just looking at Francesca’s tiny little feet and her tiny little hands made everyone melt, her mom said that looking at her little body it hadn’t sunk in that she was her daughter! Mom hung on and was string through her multiple surgeries and medical procedures, she held her skin-to-skin to help bond to each other and hoped it all worked out.

During the first month, there were many challenges and it makes it very hard to believe that she could one day really be a normal thriving baby girl. However, after many months of sickness and recovery, just see how she looks now!

Francesca has completely denied the odds and look at her now, an inspiration, one day she will grow to be an even bigger inspiration too! Wath the video below, and if you love it as much as us, please SHARE the video and raise awareness about this miracle!

We all know that Washington is well known for its cold weather, it is after all quite far north, so in Kennewick its exceptionally cold too. Getting deep into the winter months it is really important that parents help their children stay warm. Not all families have the money though to spend on a hat and gloves each year, especially as kids grow out of their things so quickly! A bus driver from Kennewick, John Lunceford, saw this as a problem up close and he wanted to do something about it and help the kids who can’t afford clothes they need to keep warm this winter! He first saw this happening one time he stopped at the ‘bus stop’ to pick up some kids. There was one boy in particular who got on the bus crying. His ears and his hands were red, from being exposed to the cold so he let the boy use his own gloves. He said to the little boy that it would all be OK, but really he was quite concerned, he didn’t like the thought of any kids going without warm winter clothes, what a nice guy!

After he finished his work for the day he thought up an idea, he was determined to help! To make sure the kids could actually keep warm when outside it was so incredibly cold he went to the dollar store. He bought several pairs of hats and gloves in black and pink. He revisited the school where the boy was who he helped earlier, he didn’t know the boy’s name, but he found him anyway! He gave the boy a pair of gloves and a hat, so he wouldn’t be cold again. Lunceford is a grandpa and it really touches him deeply to see such suffering! He had plenty of hats and gloves left over, and he now wanted to give them all to children who needed them. He planned a trip to the school Library to talk to the children, he said he would give them hats and gloves that they needed them.

There was one girl who was very excited about a hat and gloves! All the kids at Kennewick School district now know that if they need warm clothing for the winter, there is one lovely guy looking out for them! He told them all he would take care of them if they needed help!! For many families its hard to even put food on the table each day, let alone afford gloves and hats, boots etc. ….all the things needed for the winter months! If the kids were left to get cold they would be sick for sure, making them even more behind and disadvantaged at school! It’s really so essential that they have these things to stay happy and healthy and educated and that is why this lovely bus drivers contribution really was so special, many children really do feel special and cared for by what this wonderful guy has done. Not surprisingly the bus drivers story has gone viral and people on the internet are talking about how inspiring this guy really is, and we completely agree!! Facebook user Shelley Maglio said:

“Amazing role model to all.”

Please SHARE this with your family and friends at this wonderful time of year, what an inspiration!

Ben and Eliza Curby found out they were going to have a baby around three months into their dating, of course, they were in a panic but equally excited too! They always wanted to start a family and this great news meant it was all coming to fruition! Their adorable little girl was born, Charlie, as healthy as a horse, but as the weeks passed by, Eliza couldn’t stop feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Eliza shared her lovely love story, she said:

“We fell pregnant with our first, Charlie, three months after we started dating!”

“Ben had always been super keen to become a father so we were over the moon at the thought of creating our own little family.”

“Needless to say the decision was taken out of his hands – I win!”

She really enjoyed being a mother, it was her dream come true, Ben too was so happy about their lovely daughter. However, despite their happiness, Eliza still sensed something a little off.

The girl and young mother thought that she may be pregnant again, she was tired all the time! But only six weeks after the birth of her last child she just thought that her tiredness was due to her crazy busy year. Starting a new relationship, having a baby, it all took its toll! She said:

“I was exhausted trying to figure out the ins and outs of being a mum, but about a month after having Charlie though I felt really, super exhausted…Everyone told me it was sleep deprivation catching up with me but I was not convinced – I remember looking at Ben and saying, ‘I think I’m pregnant.’ “

Ben…. “He just laughed.”

They already had a super busy house with a newborn baby so another seemed just practically impossible!

Eliza was really convinced that she really was pregnant again, around four home tests later she got the result that confirmed her thoughts, she was, in fact, pregnant again! The next thing to do was to get to the doctors to really make sure that the test wasn’t wrong, but as sure as eggs are eggs she was pregnant. Even more than that, yes there is more, there was another surprise… She told the news:

“The technician seemed awkward and uncomfortable, before he finally said, ‘Look, it’s early days…. but… I think there’s two.’ “

That’s right folks, there really was two!!

“I was so scared but secretly super excited – I think everyone has a secret desire for identical twins.”

Twins usually run in families, but for there to be identical twins, it’s not heard of at all. It took a good while for all this to register….

Thankfully for Ben and Eliza, their twin boys went all the way to term, to 36 weeks without any problems at all. The two boys were born and named, Jack Antony Richard and Wolfe George Harry, they were lovely and in perfect health, everyone was thrilled with the new additions to the family circle.

Even with other young children in the house, the couple wouldn’t have it any other way, what a wonderful couple! One great way they look at how things turned out is, it’s just like they had triplets, constant diaper changes, pacifier hunts and breastfeeding bonanzas and that’s Eliza’s day every day, rinse and repeat! Now Eliza even has her own blog called “twingenuity” she shares what life is like under their crazy, loved-filled house!

There is nothing at all that could have possibly prepared them for the challenges that were ahead of them, with those three amazing children, however, we couldn’t be any happier for them all!

The armed forces fight to protect us and look after us in times of conflict too, but having a Loved on in the forces is a mixed blessing. On one side you’re incredibly proud of what they do, but also you are also immensely worried about them and their life they are laying on the line for those ideas they are protecting! We pray for them every day and hope they are returned to us safely, one little girl really didn’t quite understand what was happening when dad was shipped off to Afghanistan. She knew that daddy had gone and she just wanted him to come home to her. Santa Claus had asked her what she wanted for Christmas, her first thought, of course, she wanted daddy to come home. As soon as she perched herself on Santa’s knee she immediately said; ‘I’ve been a good girl’ and that’s why I’m asking for a special present this year… It had been months since her father was around and she wanted Santa to bring him home to her from Afghanistan. Of course, Santa is the only one that can do something so huge! Santa with his jolly smile and happy aura telly Kensley to turn around and that there is somebody special that is waiting for her… Right now Kensley has no idea what is happening or who is waiting for her, but this is a surprise that will blow little Kensley away! Dad will remember this special moment forever, the look on Kensley’s Face was priceless and for Kensley she will look back on this moment with fondness and appreciation. What a momentous reunion between father and daughter and how altogether sweet! Have a look for yourself at the touching reunion of father and daughter below.

Going to visit Santa is a special thing for any child, but for 7-year-old Garrett Coyne’s it’s both special and exciting, he really loves seeing Santa every year. So much so that the family makes it a special event every year at the local mall. This year though, a parking lot Grinch has dampened the spirits of the family! Garrett went to the mall this year with his mom, Nancy, to spend some time to see Santa, she only wanted to bring a little joy into his life! They parked in a handicapped parking space and went to see Santa. When they got back got back to the car, they were completely shocked! Somebody had scrawled something on the car… Someone had written on the car in lipstick, the words:

“UR not handicap”

Nancy really felt awful about it, not surprisingly, she was hurt and saddened by what had happened the parking lot Grinch really didn’t know what her family has to cope with every day. Garrett was diagnosed with Batten’s disease around the age of three years old, it’s a neurological disease and it is degenerative, he will slowly lose his motor skills over time. Sadly his speech is declining quite fast, he also has no vision and he is stuck in a wheelchair. There is no known cure or for that matter treatment either. More often than not the condition ends in childhood death. Their car was parked in a disabled space with a legal permit, at the mall, which is even odder and surprising why somebody had done what they had! Nancy said:

“I can’t believe someone could be so obnoxious and ignorant and rude about a situation that I struggle with daily”

The place where it happened, at the mall, they have also spoken out, they too are offended by what had happened there! During the investigation by the police, the mall is giving their full cooperation to help find the person responsible for doing this. At first, the family was very angry, but now having had the time to reflect, they just hope that the person realizes that what they did was wrong. The Coynes have since started a non-profit in his name since discovering Garrett’s illness, called Garrett the Grand – Batten Fighter.

They have raised a whopping $100,000 to help other children who also have Batten disease and to provide ongoing support to Garrett and children like him. Every single day the Coynes are dead set to show Garrett that nobody can crush his spirit, to give him the best life and experience he can have, for what little life he has left. His dad Joe said:

“You just have to do the best you can and always move forward …You have to look at it all and say, Let’s just live.”