Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Questions


Brooklyn has been feeling well the last couple weeks. She hasn't had much nausea in the mornings and when her home nurse Wendi came out last Monday to check her blood, her numbers were all right where they want them to be. We have still been struggling to get her to eat healthier food, so dinners at our house are not the most fun time of the day. She has been preferring to not eat than eat something she thinks is going to be yucky. Even things she typically likes, like mac & cheese, she will refuse if it doesn't look the right way. It is good to see that her stubborn strength is still helping her battle the cancer, it just doesn't make meal time very easy. :) Two weekends ago, Mike and I got to go to Arizona for a trip with his work. It was a really nice resort and it was good to get away together for a few days. My parents and aunt and uncle all watched the kids and they had a fun time. We were nervous to be so far away, especially because the resort didn't have cell phone service, but everyone stayed healthy, so that was a huge blessing. We haven't been away from them for that long before so it was really good to get back home on Sunday, I swear they looked like they had grown! :) Kelsey is starting to talk so much more and wanted to tell us everything she did with "Bubba, YaYa, and Bookie." :) I woke up that night with the flu, which made Monday and Tuesday hard because I wanted to stay away from the kids so they didn't get it, but they just wanted to be near me because we had been gone all weekend. Thankfully I was better by Wednesday and no one else got sick. We had a fun Saturday filled with back to back baseball games which was a little crazy for Mike, running from Braden's game straight over to Kayla's field. It was a really hot day too, so we all got some color, my color was mostly a reddish hue since I made sure to lube up the kids with sunscreen but forgot my white legs of course! We were all so hot and sweaty when we got home, the kids and Mike actually jumped in the pool! Their jaws were shivering, but it was good to cool down and clean up a little. Then we got to celebrate my uncle Jack's birthday that night which was really fun and good to see some wonderful family and friends. Sunday after church we drove to Vacaville to meet our good friends, the Mullanes at the Nut Tree. We were quite a scene getting a table for 12 (they have 4 kids too), but luckily the restaurant we went to was loud and had plenty of other kids in it, so the noise level we brought just added to the mix. :) The kids all had a fun time playing on the play area afterward and then we headed home to finish homework up before Monday morning. When we were driving one day last week, Brooklyn started to ask me questions about God and Heaven. She said, "Do God have Petaroni pizza mom?" I said yea, I think he does. She then asked if He has tables. I said, yea, He probably does. Then she asked if God has medicine. I said, "You won't need medicine when you're in Heaven Brookie because you won't be sick." She wanted to know if we are young or old in Heaven and I said I wasn't really sure but that she didn't need to worry about that because she wouldn't go to Heaven for a long time, after she grows up and gets married and has kids and she is really old. She almost started crying and said, "I don't want to be old," which made me almost start crying because one thing every mom wants is for their kids to grow up and live a full, happy life and not die until they're old. I said, "I want you to be old Brookie." But she just kept saying she didn't want to be. I know that she didn't know what she was saying and that she wasn't getting deep and philosophical on me or anything, she is 4 after all, so I just changed the subject. But this Sunday in church, we sang one of my favorite songs which always makes me cry. The chorus is talking about what life will be like in Heaven and I thought it was perfect after the conversation we had just had last week. The words say, "No weeping, no hurt or pain, no suffering, You hold me now, You hold me now. No darkness, no sick or lame, no hiding, You hold me now, You hold me now." It will be wonderful, whatever age we are.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Spring Break


Mike was laughing at me last night because I had just told him that I think this last week was the best week ever. He said, "I think you like spring break more than the kids do." It might be true! I love being on our own schedule and getting to do fun stuff together, and getting to sleep in a little bit too! Monday, Brooklyn had her monthly appointment with her oncologist, and it was the first time all of the other kids have come with us to her appointment. The doctor said she was looking good so then we headed over to to the infusion room. I wasn't sure how it would work there because they only allow one family member in while she is in there, but Mike had a lot going on at work, so he couldn't make it to the appointment, so I had all 4 kids with me. They were really great about it though and put us in one of the isolation rooms. It was so cute because Braden and Kayla were really into watching the nurse draw Brooklyn's blood and give her the chemo, and they kept saying how brave she was. Brookie was loving showing them how she could help with everything from cleaning her port to flushing it and helping shake up the blood. It was really sweet because the nurse took Brooklyn into the other room to pick a prize when she was done and she came back with a present she had picked out for each of the other kids. I took them out for frozen yogurt after we were done because they were so good during both appointments. Tuesday morning we woke up and got on the road to head to San Francisco for the day. I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the SF zoo because Mike and I had been there one other time when Braden was really young and had loved it. It was a really fun day and we loved seeing all the different animals and hanging out all together as a family. After we were done there we took the kids down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions and have dinner. The weather was perfect for us all day and it was so much fun to take a little day trip. Wednesday the kids got to play with some friends while I ran some errands to get ready for having bunco at our house that night. They really wanted to stay up and watch all of the moms roll dice, but they were all pretty tired from our big trip the day before. Thursday morning we got up and went to horse camp. We have been to this same camp a few other times, and the instructor is great with the kids and our kids love being around all the animals. I stayed with them because I wanted to make sure that Brooklyn was doing okay since she was one of the younger kids. They got to hang out with chickens, bunnies and horses and the older three all got to ride on a beautiful white horse named Stella. They also got to play on the trampoline and ride the zip line and finished the morning with an Easter egg hunt. They had a lot of fun in just three hours! Kelsey loved playing with everyone too, and even got to sit on Stella with her big brother. We had lunch and played at the park with our friends after camp and then rushed home for Kayla's t-ball practice. We were all pretty tired that night! Friday we had lunch at our favorite pizza place with some good friends and the kids spent every quarter we had in the game room. Going out to lunch and to the zoo and horse camp are new adventures for us since we haven't done a lot of that for the last year. It still freaks me out to have Brooklyn touching everything and sitting or laying on the ground, but I just try to wipe her hands with wipes as often as I can and hope that she doesn't get germs that will make her sick. She was on steroids again all week, so she had a few temper tantrums each day, which would usually end up with her crying on the floor, wherever we were. I know she wasn't feeling 100% so we tried our best to have extra patience with her during those times. Saturday, Braden's team had a scrimmage against another team so we all went out to watch. It was really fun and the team looked great! Coach Mike was really proud of them. :) After the game we ran some errands and then came home to work on a project Braden has due for school this week. Yesterday we woke up at 4:00am and 5:45am to Braden in our room wondering if it was time to go hunt for eggs yet. A little before 7:00 we all finally got up and came downstairs to find the Easter Bunny had visited our house! The kids had a wonderful time looking for eggs and we had a fun morning at home. We then went to a wonderful service at church and then headed over to my parents' house for the afternoon. My aunt and uncle were there and my parents' good friends the Shaffers came over for dinner too, so it was a wonderful day. We ended the night eating ice cream sundaes around the fire pit, two of our favorite things at Gaga and Papa's house. The kids actually had today off from school as well. We were a little more mellow today since they go back to school again tomorrow. My mom and the kids and I went to a park for a memorial picnic in honor of my friends' father. It was good to see her and spend some time with a family that I was so close with growing up. I took the kids to a playground after we left because they thought they were going to get to "play" since we were going to a park, but they didn't have much chance to while we were there. There was only one other little boy at the park, so we pretty much had it all to ourselves. I love watching the four of my kids play together, their laughter and happiness bring such joy to my heart. I pray that they will continue to be friends as they get older. When we got home I asked Brookie if she was feeling okay because she wasn't looking great and she said, "No, I don't teel good." and then ran outside to play with her brother and sister. She always seems to get a little swollen during her week on steroids, and I don't know if it's from eating more, or just from the drugs or if she holds more water, but her cheeks fill out and her belly gets a little more round. The next three weeks, she always slims back down, but then she starts them up again. I don't know if she's just not feeling great because she just finished steroids Saturday, or if her chemo is making her stomach upset or if she's just tired from our busy week. It could be a combination of the three I suppose. She still amazes me and although her moods may change as quickly as the weather lately, I know her feisty-ness and determination are what are helping her through this tough time in her life. I am so thankful for her strength.  

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Spring is on the way!


We have had a fun couple weeks. The weather has been crazy, with sun one day and then rain for the next three. We've been trying to get outside whenever the weather has been nice & have been loving the sunshine. Brooklyn has gone to two swim lessons and done amazingly well! After her first lesson, the teacher told me that she thought Brookie was almost ready to move up to the next level and that Brooklyn kept asking her if she could just swim across the whole pool. :) She has no fear in the water, so it is great that she is getting some practice in now before we start swimming in our pool this summer. We have also been busy with baseball practice (on the days that it hasn't been rained out!) Mike has been amazing juggling 2 teams, organizing the schedules and teaching 25 kids ranging from 5 to 10 how to play baseball. We haven't started games yet, but it will definitely be exciting once we do! We had the kickoff pancake breakfast last weekend and Brooklyn wanted to wear a jersey just like Braden and Kayla, so they were pretty cute all together. We took the kids to see The Lorax in the afternoon and had such a fun time. The kids loved it and even Kelsey made it through the whole movie without squirming too much and having to go outside. :)  The kids all had fun weeks this week at school and Brooklyn and Kayla had parties and egg hunts in their classes before getting out for spring break. Brooklyn still seems to not be feeling great after the weekend, with the extra chemo making her stomach hurt in the mornings, but her blood counts are right where they want them to be, so it is good that her body is responding the right way. We are also super thankful that we have all stayed healthy the last couple weeks, especially after Kayla had strep throat. Brooklyn hasn't been wanting to eat much besides pizza and candy, so we are working on getting her to eat healthier food, which has been a bit of a struggle. After all, who doesn't love pizza and candy for every meal? :) It is still hard because we don't know if she's just being stubborn or if the food is really tasting bad because of her chemo. We're just trying to take it one meal at a time and explaining to her that we want her to be healthy as she's growing up, but all of that is a little much for a 4 year old to understand. :) This weekend Kayla got to spend the night at Nana & Bumpa's house and Brookie got to spend the night at Gaga and Papa's house Friday night. It was super special for each of them to get some time on their own with my parents and aunt and uncle. It was also super quiet here with just Braden and Kelsey! Braden got to go with Mike to his softball game Friday night, so he loved that too. We are pretty much all baseball all the time around here! We got some stuff done around the house this weekend which was great, and we are really looking forward to having the week off from school this week! Hopefully we will have some sunshine and everyone will stay healthy all week! I know how different spring break will be for us in 10 years, so I am going to be sure to enjoy every day with our kids while they still want to spend it with us. :)