Where to start...

Its been almost 3 weeks since I posted last and Im not sure where to start...

Last month was rough. More on me than on you. You were sleeping terribly up until a week and a half ago and so was your brother. I was up almost hourly...every 2 hours if I was lucky. I was so tired and it made it hard to get through the day. Its emotionally and physically exhausting to watch you struggle and not know how to help, and then add on that I am exhausted too, and it made for some very difficult nights. I would get down on my knees and pray that I would know how to help  you relax and that Id be able to make it through the night and then the next day....thank heaven for prayer. I always felt the peace and comfort that "this too shall pass." A peace that can only come through the spirit.

I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that the trials we face come to help us learn things we could not learn any other way. Sometimes I think that I am the reason you got cancer. I know that there are a lot of things that I have learned through this experience about myself, and about my Savior, and about a lot of other things that I dont think I could have learned any other way. I am so grateful for the outpouring of blessings that I (and our whole family) have received because of this horrible disease. I just wish I could have been the one to deal with it. I would gladly have taken that burden from you. You have handled it with such grace and acceptance that I am amazed. You are such a special kid. I just hope you know how much you have blessed the lives of everyone around you. I love you Wee Mee.

Maintenance has been a lot different than I expected....I dont really know what I expected, but its different than I thought. You are doing well. I LOVE (and so do you) not having to go to clinic weekly. Its so nice, but its hard to believe you've had  3 treatments in Maintenance already! Only 23 to go! Taking meds at home has become part of our daily routine and seems normal. Last Thursday you took 10 pills. Yikes. 4 were a steroid, 1 was 6mp (a chemo), and 5 were Methotrexate (another chemo). You did awesome.

The big round one is 6mp, the 5 yellow oval ones are
Methotrexate, and the 4 small round ones are steroids.

You had clinic last Thursday too. They had us in and out really quick and I am so grateful to that hospital! They try so hard to make you as comfortable as possible and you LOVE that they can access you and draw blood, and do chemo WITHOUT a window sticker. You hate those things. We are so blessed to have them be so close, and its comforting to know I can call anytime with questions or concerns and they are always there to help.

YAY! No window sticker today!

You wanted a pic by the horse cause he had antlers on,
and a clown wig. This horse kind of freaks me out.

So glad to be home!

The visit was pretty routine just a couple of things to report:

1. They upped your Septra dose (a preventative antibiotic you take every Mon and Tues throughout treatment) from 5mL to 7mL, because you are growing.

2. Your ANC count was 2300. They like it to be closer to 1000 so the doc said it could be up because your body is fighting a virus (you have a bit of a cold), or it could be up because your body is adjusting to the chemo and its time to up your dose. Doc Fluchel said if they are up still at your next clinic appointment then they will rule out the virus and up your chemo. 

3. Dad and I were worried about your clinic visit in May because you are scheduled for a back poke and chemo just 2 days before our DisneyWorld trip. We were concerned because clinic chemo, and backpokes are especially hard on your legs, and we didnt want you to feel miserable on our trip. I asked Doc Fluchel if we could do it when we got back from our trip and he said, "no problem!" Woo Hoo! He said Maintenance is a lot more flexible and he felt totally comfortable with that. We will just have to take your normal oral chemos you take at home with us, and keep up on those. Im so relieved. This will be a much needed trip for our family. We will actually be gone on your 1 year diagnosis anniversary. What a place to celebrate kicking cancers butt!

On a happier note, you and your sisters have restarted your extra curricular activities. Alyssa is taking Power Tumbling, Carly is in dance, you are taking tumbling again, and Tucker is just working on being awesome (a job he does well). You are all excited to be back doing things you love and I am happy to be the chaffeur again.

You are taking tumbling at Head Over Heels and you LOVE it. Sometimes you call it dance, sometimes tumbling, and sometimes "gin"nastics. The funny thing is whatever I call it is wrong.... I think you just like  to correct me. You've been twice now, and ask me daily if today is tumbling day.

The first time you went was kind of hard to watch. I had to fight back tears a bit because of how weak you were. It was a very obvious reminder of how much all these chemo treatments have taken from you. The biggest difference is your little legs. The steroid causes the muscles in your legs and bummy to atrophy and disappear, and the Vincristine (the chemo you get every 4 weeks at clinic) causes muscles weakness all over, but particularly your legs. I can tell just by looking at you that you have lost a lot of muscle over the last 8 months (has it only been 8 months...feels like longer). Your cute bubble butt is gone, and we cant hardly get your pants to stay up, and  your legs are a lot more scrawny.  I knew all that, but  to physically see all the strength you lost was heartbreaking. You used to be able to do back bends no problem, not anymore. You used to do all kinds of tricks on the tramp, now you have a hard time keeping your legs underneath you. The hardest one to watch was when everyone was hopping on one foot. You tried so hard, but just couldnt do it more than once. You were so exhausted but you were still trying so hard. I was so proud of you. It made me want to cry. I love your teacher, Coach Whitney. She is really good with  you. She pushes you just enough. She always encourages you to try and then will help you if you struggle. When you were all supposed to hop on one foot to the water fountain you tried and kept falling, so she just held your hand and helped you keep your balance while you hopped. You still struggled, but I was so proud of you for not quitting, and glad your teacher encouraged you to stick with it too. I think the class is going to do wonders for your strength and for your self esteem. It will be good for you to see how much you can improve with hard work.

Sissies were off from school last Mon and Tues. so we wanted to have a fun day. You and your sisters all wanted to go to Temple Square. Im so glad I have such sweet kids. You wanted to be outside because the sun was out that day and the temps were a scorching 40 something. So we bundled up and drove down. On the way I went up past the Capital Building because you guys love to look at it. You were all saying (with heavy sighs) how you wished we could go in. I told you we could go in it whenever we wanted...never had I seen such excited kids! (what the?) So we stopped and parked amid giggles and squeels of excitement. You guys were amazed and kept saying how if you you lived in a place like the capital you would play Cinderella as you scrubbed the floors. What an imagination you all have. You learned a little about how the government works as we took pics in some of the rooms...it was fun to see you so excited about something so simple.

The House of Representatives room.

I wouldnt want to scrub this place ever...even if I was
pretending to be Cinderella. I had fun embarrassing you
and your sisters by singing the song Cinderella sings
while she scrubs the floors...:)

Next we headed to Temple Square where we spent quite a while enjoying the South Visitors Center. You guys loved all the touch screen computers. (I kept thinking how many germs must be on those screens and whipped out the "hanitizer") They have a really cool model of the temple that showed what the inside looks like. You and your sisters were funny to listen to as you speculated on how they made it, and how fun it would be to be tiny and walk around in it. I told you its a lot cooler to go in the "real" temple life size, and even MORE beautiful.

I LOVE these kids! What would I do without you all??

These trees were so cool looking...all snarly.

Then we headed over to the North Visitors Center and went to see the Christus. We were snapping some pics in front of the statue when a couple of sister missionaries stopped and took a picture of all of us together. The missionaries were cute and you and your sisters were mesmerised by their accents. (one was from Australia, and the other was from Pakistan) They asked us if we wanted to go back and see a movie about eternal families...we (of course) said yes! The movie was awesome. Very moving. We are so blessed to be members of this gospel! I dont think I, or you, could have made it through our trials this last year without it. I am so grateful to know we are an eternal family. I was also grateful for those 2 sister missionaries who were inspired to share that movie with us and I am grateful that all my girls got a chance to hear them bare their testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. Its good for you to hear it from someone other than me.

So glad we live so close to this beautiful place,
and can visit as often as we like! There wasnt hardly anyone
there so we had the place mostly to ourselves.

Overall you are doing really well. You are happy and busy and seem more like yourself each day. You are still very easily tired and need a nap everyday, but Id be tired too if I was taking chemo everyday! We have been truly blessed that you have done so well. Things could have been a lot worse. As I meet more and more families with cancer kids I am reminded of how well your amazing little body has dealt with the treatment of this devastating disease, and how quickly you have bounced back.

"But Im not tired mommy..." 2 seconds later you look like this.

You just finished your steroid series for the month and have a definite increase in appetite. You have been a little extra emotional too, but its hard to know if its just because you are hungry and tired. I have noticed that you have been extra sweet lately too. You are always telling me how much you love me, and giving me hugs and saying your please and thank you's. You say the cutest things. I wish you could stay this age forever.

Dress ups and a tea party with Ry.

Hair hair everywhere...and other random thoughts

Holy cow,  your hair is coming in fast! I decided I would copy a fellow cancer moms idea (thanks Amanda!) and take a picture of you each month so we can see the progress in your rapidly returning hair.
Drum roll please...

Love that smile..LOVE that kid!

I worried your gorgeous eyelashes would never be the same,
but they are back in full force, and beautiful as ever! People
pay good money for lashes like that!

Random thought #1:
I went to dinner with some of our cancer friends moms last Wed night. Part of a moms group called "Utah Moms of Cancer Fighting Cuties". It was so nice to visit with other people who have kids going through what you are. There are some farther along in treatment who can answer a lot of my questions about what to expect, and there are some who are behind us in treatment and its nice to be able to lean on each other and lend support. When the Olive Garden (where we went to dinner) found out we were all there as mothers of cancer kids they gave us free appetizers and said the whole meal was free!! They even said dessert was mandatory! I cant believe how generous people are...so giving. I feel so blessed to live in such an amazing place, surrounded by amazing people.

Random thought #2:
The side effects of your meds this month have been so different and I really don't like it. I thought that after the 1st round of Maintenance chemo Id be able to know what to expect each round. Wrong. You are far more tired this round, and you are STILL having the night terrors, and insomnia. You still want to play, but I can see that you are easily exhausted. Plus you are VERY tender hearted...you get your feelings hurt over everything. Dad had to literally peel you off my leg the other night when I went to dinner. You were so upset I was leaving...you said you just wanted to be with your momma . Then the next day you were crying and upset when dad had to run an errand cause you "missed him so bad."

Random thought #3:
You have some pretty awesome sisters, and a pretty sweet brother too. Your sisters are a great distraction when you're not feeling too well, and your brother can always make you smile. I'm grateful for all my sweet kids. You all add so much to our family. I cant imagine our family without any of you. Alyssa is great to do crafts with, and paint your nails or play barbies. Carly loves to read to you and play school and Tucker lights up whenever you walk into the room. They love their Wee Mee too, and were ALL glad you're doing so well!

Cutest kids ever!

Steroids...Ugh

This round of Maintenance has been different. Hmmm...I don't know what to think.

You take ALL your meds quick and easy now. There used to be some that were harder to get you to take and some that were easier, but now you take them all without a hitch. I cant believe it. I remember back to our first few months of treatment. It used to take Dad and I an hour or more just to get you to take one of your medicines...literally. We tried everything. You fought it an fought it. I even asked the docs and Rachelle for some advice, but all their ideas Id already tried. They said one day it would all be "old hat" and you'd have no problem taking meds. At the time I thought that day would never come. Now it has and I'm grateful. Although I feel terrible that swallowing up to 8 pills in a day has become "old hat." That reality is one I would never have wished for you.

Steroids were taken with no problems this month too. Which is huge. They are by far the yuckiest ones you have to take. The docs said they had a class that let them all taste all the meds their patients have to take and steroids were one of the worst. VERY bitter. The side effects are different this time. Last time your appetite kicked in the day after you quit taking it. This time I haven't noticed too big a difference in your appetite, however your emotions are far more up and down, and the dreaded night terrors have returned. Ugh. I feel so terrible for you. You are literally yelling (and sometimes screaming) in your sleep. The only problem is you never fully wake up. You will have a full conversation with me...very upset and inconsolable...and not remember a word of it the next day. Your waking me up every couple hours at least, and to make matters worse, Tucker has started waking up every two hours too! I am getting NO SLEEP. I feel like a walking zombie. I'm forgetful, and some say a tiny little bit ornery. I don't know about that :)...I actually wake up MORE tired than I went to bed. Last night you were up more than usual  and complaining your eyes hurt.  Turns out you have pink eye in BOTH eyes. Your eyes were crusted shut and you woke up screaming you couldn't see.  I tried to explain what was going on. I told you you had germs in your eyes that made them sick like a cold. That's why you had so many boogies in your eyes.  You burst into tears cause you thought you had to go to the hospital. Oops. I quickly erased those fears and you calmed right down. Poor kid. I wish there was a way I could eliminate your fear of getting sick, and going to the hospital.

You have been very loving lately though. Very free with your hugs, and snuggles, and kisses. Which everyone on the receiving end of one of those special gifts LOVES! (Especially Grandpa Shepherd) You even gave big hugs to family you hadn't seen in a long time at some of our holiday parties.  A rare treat. Your kind of stingy with those.

I got to substitute your primary class yesterday. It was SO FUN. There were 13 little 4 year olds in the class and you were all so good. I miss serving in the primary. You were so excited I was your "teacher", you were being a little overly helpful. It felt so normal...I love normal these days.

I am hopeful that this coming week brings normal back, and maybe even brings a little boring with it. I could use some boring too. And some sleep...

Clinic and Christmas

We got a surprise at clinic. Due to flu season there are absolutely NO siblings aloud in clinic at all. I asked if that applied to nursing babies, and the answer was yes. So Tucker got baby sat in the playroom on the third floor.  I was a little nervous about leaving him with total strangers, but I had no other choice. Luckily we were in and out in no time, and the cute volunteers said he was perfect. What an amazing facility that hospital is. I mean, where else can you get chemo AND a free babysitter all in one day!

While I ran Tucker down to the playroom you stayed and did a craft with Pat. It was a gingerbread man "ordamen".  Soooo cute. When we got called back for height and weight stuff Pam gave you a really fun surprise...a HUGE stocking full of fun stuff just for you!!  Apparently an engineering company puts them together and donates them to the clinic every year. Once again our family is blessed by the generosity of others!  It had more than enough stuff to keep you occupied while I chatted with the doc.

You're sick of me making you pose for pics!

You were super excited because they had your chemo ready so they accessed you real quick, drew blood, and gave you chemo...all without a window sticker. Your least favorite part is the sticker so you were beyond thrilled. After that they said we could go!

I had been worried that they would up your meds because when you had a fever last weekend your counts were 4800. Usually your counts drop when you are sick... BUT, your counts were down to 1200, which is right where they want them to be. In fact all your counts looked awesome. "Perfect" was the word the nurse used.

I asked her why they were so high over the weekend and she said that when your on the more intense chemo your body is not able to make the antibodies it needs to fight off infection so your counts drop. But since you are on less intense chemo your body is actually making its own antibodies and fighting off the germys on its own! How amazingly resilient your little body is. Only one Maintenance treatment and your body is already bouncing back! I just cant believe how strong you are.

We even ran into some of our fellow cancer friends! Chase, who is in DI and doing awesome. And Erin who has AML and just won her battle with cancer. Yay for Erin! Its so nice to have friends going through the same thing. Its encouraging to see others do so well.

We did have one incident at the hospital. Actually the pharmacy. I had your prescription filled before we came home, and when I got home and pulled your meds out of the bag I found that your 6mp bottle had a sticker on the top that said "we owe you 25." Turns out that they gave you the last of the meds they had (5 pills)! Which would have been fine if they had told me! I was really frustrated because when I called the tech was very rude and unapologetic. It stinks because now we have to head back to the hospital on Monday to get the rest of the meds!! Oh well. It could be worse...at least we don't live out of state!

The next night was Christmas Eve. We had so much fun! We went to Grammy Shepherds and had a ham dinner (your latest fave.), and exchanged presents. Alyssa and Ashleigh took the puppy outside for a potty break and came rushing back in claiming they had just seen Santa fly across the sky in his sleigh! You and Katie-bug about lost it. You were squealing and screaming and laughing with delight as you ran through the house telling everyone that Santa was on his way! It was so fun to see you so excited about something! I love Christmas with my sweet kiddos! I love to watch the magic of the season through your eyes, and I love to remember my Savior and his life.

One of our favorite traditions is re-enacting the nativity. This year you were an angel, and you did an awesome job. I was fighting back tears as you came out all dressed in white, and bald. I cant believe how beautiful you are. You seemed to grasp the reverence of what you were doing and had a sweet countenance about you. I'm so grateful for your strong and sweet spirit. You have truly been an inspiration to me this past year.

 I am so blessed to have 4 such amazing kids. Each of you add something different, but very important to our family. You all have different talents and strengths and weaknesses. All of which add so much to our family. I'm just so grateful this Christmas for the gift of family. An eternal gift that I couldn't live without.

Christmas is today, and I am so grateful for my Savior! I am so grateful for the knowledge that he hears and answers prayers. That he knows me, and you, and that he has been our constant companion  this past year. While I would never wish cancer on anyone, I am grateful that your cancer has brought me closer to our Savior. And that I have gained a testimony that he truly does "make weak things strong." I could never have survived this past year without His help.  Merry Christmas Wee Mee. 2010 is nearly over and 2011 marks a new beginning!

Santa is the coolest!

Cutest kids ever!

Make A Wish...

I really don't think there is any way I could put into words how moving, and amazing Monday nights Star Raising Party was. It was overwhelming.

You were feeling so much better, and were so excited. I think you surprised your wish granters (Tom and Leslie) because the first time they met you they could hardly get two words from you!

When we got there the first thing we did was give all the fam a tour of the "Wishing Tower Place," as you call it, and you even showed everyone the inside of the Wishing Tower. You feel so special to have a key to that special room. You had been asking me all day if  I had your wish key...you were so worried we'd forget it. You kept saying, "Only wish kids have a key, mom. And if I forget it,  how will everyone get in?!" Makes sense.



 There is so much to share that I'll explain mostly through pictures...

Welcome to a wishing place McKall!



It says, "When I wished upon a shooting star I wished for..."
It has pictures of a bunch of wish kids and their wishes. You are
pointing to your picture and wish! I cant believe how many
 people we knew on that wall!

Close up of you on the wall of wishes!

After we looked around downstairs we got to take everyone
upstairs to the wishing tower! This is you using your wish key
to let everyone in. Its hard to tell, but there is light glowing
through the slits in the door. The kids were WAY excited!

You have to walk across this little bridge to get into
the wishing tower. Then in the background you can see
the waterfall and glowing lights. The cone shaped
thing is where you put your wish.

You got to show everyone how you put your wish in the
top of that cone, then put it on the base. All the
lights went crazy and the music played. It was pretty
magical for all involved.

Then it was back downstairs where they had all the tables
decorated with your favorite color!



They got some color pages out for all the kids while me and dad
sat down with you to decided which of three playhouses you
wanted them to build in the spring!



Decisions decisions...everyone knew which one "they" would pick.
I don't think you really understood that one of those playhouses is
actually going to be built for you in the spring. I think to you they
were just a bunch of pictures of houses.

This is the one you ended up picking! I was totally stunned
at how big they are. They are 8'x12' and have 2 stories! Its
got a wrap around porch and everything! Amazing!

After that Tom asked you to come up front for a minute...

Your eyes were huge and you were so excited! A
Barbie house (with an elevator) is what you've been
wanting for ages. I couldn't believe they had it all put
together and everything!

You just stood and stared for a second then you
said very softly, "can I touch it?" It was sooo cute.

We LOVE our Wish Granters: Leslie and Tom! What amazing
people to give so freely of their time to bring hope and
 happiness to our WeeMee! I hope you will always remember
these wonderful people and "pay it forward" one day. I will
be forever grateful to the whole Make A Wish foundation!

After the presentation of the Barbie house was some
yummy refreshments. You were so wrapped up with your
Barbie house you didn't have any. Later, on the way home, you
said, "hey, I forgot to eat my princess cake!" Silly kid.

McKall's Star. A local artist in Salt Lake makes these and
donates them to Make A Wish. Amazingly talented
people everywhere! Thank You!

After refreshments you got to hook your star on the string...

...and hoist it up...

...to hang with all the other wish kids stars.. It was
so amazing. I am so grateful to so many for all they
have done for you and for our family.

Here it is...kind of in the back center.

I forgot to mention the scrap book! The scrapbook is a place
where all the family who came can write special messages
to you. They keep it in the Wishing Place so you can always come
back and look at it. They also write where you star is located on
the same page so you can find it on the ceiling when you come
back to visit. Your page was filled with encouraging messages
from everyone...so much so that I'm not sure they are going to
have room for the picture! Oh well.

Obviously the night was a huge success. So much so that we didn't want it to end so we all went out to Chuck E Cheeses afterward for dinner and visiting! It was so much fun! It was such an amazing night.

Being around such amazing people, and so often lately, being on the receiving end of so much service really makes me want to give back. I cant tell you how many times we've heard the doorbell ring and answered the door only to find an anonymous donation to help with medical expenses, or a friendly card and treats to cheer us up. If I had one wish for you, it would be that you ALWAYS remember the amazing people who have given so much to our family, and find a way to always give back to others. You are such an amazing inspiration to everyone around you already...I know you will.

PS- Your hair is growing like crazy!!!

Its long enough now that it'll actually get messed up by a head band
or hat. If we want to change your hat or band we have to wet
your hair down to get it to lay back down! I cant believe it.

An unfortunate turn of events...

So, about an hour after I finished your last post, we got a call from grammy...

You had been having a long awaited spend-over...just you and your cousing Katie. You guys dressed up in princess dresses and had a tea party with grammy. Grammy said you were having so much fun together (and Im sure LOVING having 100% of grammys attention helped)! Then you started to say you were tired and wanted pj's and a movie. All was well.

Then you woke up about midnight and called for grammy. She came in to check on you and found that you felt very warm, and had a barky croupy cough. Awesome.

Thats when we got the call...daddy ran over there with the thermometer and your temp was 102! So off to the "hostible" you went. (after a quick stop at home for some EMLA). You left our house just before 1am and didnt make it home till just after 6am! Dad said you didnt hardly sleep at all!!

Poor dad had to wake up after only an hour of sleep and go do a couple of work things...

Poor you...I felt so bad. You were heart broken because you had been looking forward to the day you could have a sleep over with grammy. You've missed so many since you were diagnosed!

When dad brought you home for the EMLA , and you saw me for the first time, you broke down in heart broken tears....you said, "I wish I didnt have cancer mom...thats what I wish. I wish I didnt have cancer!" It about ripped my heart out of my chest. I feel so terrible you have to endure so much! It just doesnt seem fair. (heavy sigh)

On the bright side...your counts were a whopping 4800!! The highest they've been since your diagnosis (not counting steroids). Because of that, you didnt have to have a spend over at the hospital, and were able to come home.

Today you woke up feeling much better. They gave you a steroid to help with the croupy cough, and now it seems like you just have a normal cold. The whole family has it, so we decided to skip church and rest up.

I really hope were ALL feeling better by tomorrow...dont wanna feel crappy for the STAR RAISING PARTY!! So excited.

PS-Im amazed at your ability to feel so concerned about how everyone else feels about you being sick. You always try to cheer me or dad or grammy (or whoever) up about it. You've told me several times, while leaving to the hospital, "its ok mom, I love you." I dont know how you do it...I really try hard to hide any feelings of concern. I dont want to add to your worries. You must be able to sense it, or see a look of concern on my face. Your amazing.

PPS-Im a little worried they are going to decide to up your chemo dose because your counts were so high. I was told they like to try to keep your counts around 1000 all through Maintenance.  Guess we'll see. I really hope they dont...

Finding a new normal...

So far we are really loving Maintenance! If you have to be on chemo treatments...this is definitely the way to go. I finally feel like I'm getting my Wee-Mee back. Your steroid hunger has disappeared, which I have mixed feelings about.... it took a lot longer than I thought. Your extreme moods only lasted about a week, but the hunger lingered for two. I was beginning to worry you were going to be obsessed with ham for the full 2 years of Maintenance!! Now your back to not eating hardly at all, and I'm wishing you'd ask for some ham. Oh well. I guess I'm going to have to get used to the ups and downs. I think its going to be our new normal.

You've been asking me almost everyday if you have a "docker poinment" today. I am SO GLAD I get to say "no, not for 4 (3,2,1) weeks!"  Since you have no real concept of time you don't really get how long that is...but the relief on your face says it all. I'm so happy for you!! The fact that you can relax a little is huge for me, and you. I cant express in words how nice it is... I'm just so grateful you've made it this far and done so well. I worried that you'd have more side effects to your meds, but so far so good. Your next appt is this Thursday. 2 days before Christmas. No back poke, so all should go well.

We've been doing some fun stuff lately...

We went to our ward Christmas party. I was SO surprised
how outgoing you were. You've been a little overly shy
at these kinds of things since you were diagnosed.



You even participated in the nativity...you were an angel. My camera
wasn't taking good pictures in this lighting. You are the blurry bald
one in pink in the front row center.

We finally got our tree up. Me and dad (mostly dad :)) aren't so
good at lights. I laughed so hard at our tree...dad says its the
best one we've ever had! Thank you Walmart...only 20 bucks!

What a cutie...big sisters old soccer uniforms are your
favorite pj's! (you can really notice the lack of skills on the
lights in this pic. Hilarious)



You've had the energy to play with Ry quite a bit. This is you and
her in a fort you made all by yourself! It was filled with
pillows and blankets and snacks, because building
a fort is exhausting!



They say a picture's worth a thousand words...and this one says it all!
You called me from your room and said "uhhhh mooommm...my panties!"
When I came in you were just sitting on your kitchen, so I asked what
you were talking about your panties for. You said "I'm stuck..."
It took me a minute to figure it out, but once I did I laughed so hard
I cried...then I ran and got the camera!



A close-up of the panty incident! So funny!!



This is a pic of you on the bus to the Polar Express. Dad said you sat
next to this boy who was bald and had a mask on. (you can kind of
see him in the back) He said you sat by him all on your own and said,
"hi, do you have cancer?" The boy said yes. You said, "leukemia like
me?" He said "no, sarcoma."You said,"that's what (uncle)Josh has!"
You chit-chatted for awhile. I thought it was sweet of you to go out
of your way to talk to him. I think its so interesting how you have
 an instant connection with fellow cancer kids. Dad said you were
very sweet.



Thank you KBER 101 and Make a Wish for taking so many "wish families"
to ride the Polar Express! I think I was more excited than you or your
sisters! I was devastated when Tucker woke up the morning of
with a fever...no train ride for me! Dad said it was really neat...you got to
have lunch, ride the train to Santa's Lodge, meet Santa, and even
got a gift from him! What a fun day!

Your ticket...

Carly and Lyssa had a ticket too...

You better watch out...

You better not cry...

You better not pout, Im telling you why...

Santa Claus is coming to town!

I'm so excited for Christmas! I love watching the magic of this time of year in you and your sisters eyes. It so fun to hear the squeals of delight as you anticipate Christmas morning, and as you deliver gifts to neighbors and friends. I LOVE this time of year. So much to look forward to and be thankful for! Speaking of which...

On Monday December 20th, the 7 month anniversary of your diagnosis, Make A Wish is having your Star Raising Party! We are so excited for this special night. You will get to write your name on your own star and watch it raised to the ceiling with all the other wish-kids stars. What a neat, symbolic day. I hope you are always grateful for the wonderful people who put together this program. I am so excited to be a part of this special day! They will do the star raising, present you with a Barbie house (with elevator), and let you pick which playhouse you want them to build you in the spring. You also get to invite your friends and family to come share the moment with you. It should be so fun! So looking forward to it. Loving the new normal!