Family & Friend Fun

We have had a good few days! We've had a lot of time to hang out together and have fun indoor time since the weather has been so terrible! It is great to see the kids playing together and having such a good time. That is what I have always wanted for them, to be close to eachother and be not only siblings, but also friends. In fact, today Brooklyn even said, "Braden, you my boytend." :) We had an awesome day today because Brooklyn got to go to her little friend's birthday party! She was so happy when I told her that we were going. When we pulled up in front of the house, she said, "I'm so extited!" She hasn't had much chance to play with her friends for a couple months, so it was so great for her to be able to go and just play. Even when she was pouting because she didn't get the toy she wanted, you could tell she was so happy to be there. When we were leaving, I told her to hug the birthday boy, so she did, and then she said, "Me go inside and hug all the other people?" It was the sweetest thing ever. So, of course we went back in for hugs all around. Was I nervous about germs? Of course, but all of the kids seemed to be healthy and her blood counts are good, so we went for it. It was great for me to get to see my friends and chat with them too.  Most often, we are just passing in cars or the hallways in between pick up and drop off times at school. I am so thankful for today and that Brooklyn got to have a little bit of normal back in her life. I was talking with Mike the other night about how weird it is that it has been 2 months now since we found out about the leukemia, and how wild it is how dramatically our life has changed in that time. That first week was crazy - such a shock, we didn't have a clue what was happening, or why, how our lives would change and what would happen with Brooklyn. Now, two months later, it is like our lives are just normal again, except it is a new normal. We are used to making sure we give her her medicine every night and flush her Broviak. We are used to having our home nurse come over every week to draw blood. It is even normal to go to the hospital for spinal taps! Who would've thought that could be a "normal" thing?! We know that she can't go out and be in super busy, public places because we have to protect her from getting sick, but we have found ways to do what we need to do.  It is truly funny how God can guide you through a time where your world is rocked to the core, to the time when everything is kind of okay again. We still have to be super careful, and of course we will have more hospital visits in our future I'm sure, but we know we can get through it together.