Joy

Wow! I've almost gone 3 holidays without updating the blog! Somehow October - December just seems to absolutely fly by! I always think that next year I'll be more organized so it won't seem to get so busy and crazy, but here we are 3 days til Christmas and I still need to wrap presents and I haven't done hardly any baking and I'm running out of time! We had a really fun Halloween. This was our second year trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood and we had fun walking around with friends from school. The kids took their pillowcases so they could hold as much candy as they possible, and they still have candy left!! November was crazy, the kids had conferences at school so they had a full week of minimum days and then a week off for Thanksgiving. I loved hanging out with them so much, I felt like it was summer again- only colder! I took all the kids to get a haircut one day on their break. It was Kelsey's first haircut ever and she was so cute, asking me beforehand if it was going to hurt. :) The more I thought about it, I think it may have been Brooklyn's first haircut too. Before she was diagnosed, I was letting her hair grow long and it was so beautiful and thick for only being two! I am sure I trimmed her bangs a few times, but I don't think I ever took her to a shop to get her "first hair cut." Of course last summer, when her hair was all falling out, we shaved her head, but I don't count that as her first one. I went to one of those kid places that has toys and movies and she was so excited to sit in one of the race car chairs and get her hair cut. She had another spinal tap in November, and while we were there, I was thinking that she only has one or two more to go until she's done! When they told us that first week we were in the hospital that she would have about 25 spinal taps, I just cried. I couldn't imagine her having to go through all of that. Now I feel like I could cry because she has almost completed all of them! She is truly amazing. We got to spend Thanksgiving with Mike's family in Southern California.  It was so much fun to be down there and play with all of the cousins and aunts and uncles, and Grandma and Grandpa of course! The weather was beautiful and the pool was warm so the kids went swimming every day! The first weekend in December, we were fortunate enough to go to a party at the hospital for kids going through treatment.  It was so nicely done, there was food and treats and crafts and activities for the kids, and each of the kids that attended (including siblings) got a present from Santa.  It was really such a nice thing that our family all got to do together. This month when Brooklyn had her week of steroids again, I felt so bad for her. I could see that when she would get angry, it was like she didn't have any control over it. I felt like I could better understand the term "'roid rage". We will always joke about her anger when she is on the steroids, but this last time, I felt like I could really see it taking its toll on her. She would just explode when the littlest thing set her off, but you could tell she didn't mean it and she would cry after she would get so mad. She also felt horrible again and would fall asleep on the couch a lot. The director at preschool called last Wednesday to tell me that Brooklyn wasn't feeling well and was resting on a chair with a blanket, which usually doesn't happen. She usually powers through and plays even when she isn't feeling great. She stayed home on Friday and then Monday, she threw up in the car the whole way to school, so we turned around and came back home. We try to stay in our routine as much as possible, but some weeks are harder than others to stay on track. We have been extra busy lately because the kids have had performances and parties at school and the girls had gymnastics performances too. We've had something to go to almost every day over the last couple weeks. Mike and I did get a little break last weekend when we got to fly to Scottsdale for his company's Christmas party. It was fun to get away and relax, even though it rained the whole time! :) We must've brought the cold weather with us! My parents stayed with the kids and we packed the weekend for them with basketball for both Braden and Kayla and going to see Santa and the firefighters when they drive through the neighborhood Saturday night. The highlight for Brookie was when an elf ran up the driveway to give her a candy cane because she didn't feel well enough to go down the street with the other kids to see Santa. Brooklyn had her performance for preschool Wednesday night. She did a great job and was so excited to sing on stage with her friends. It is amazing to see how well she is doing even with all the medicine she still has to take every day. I was thinking the other day that it is hard to remember what life was like before she got sick, and if it's hard for me to remember, I'm sure that she doesn't remember a time when she didn't have to take medicine. It's such a normal thing for her now, sometimes she even reminds us that she needs to take it. When I think about all she has gone through, and been so strong the whole time, I know that she will be able to get through anything life brings her way as she grows older. We have felt so incredibly blessed throughout this experience with the support we have received and still receive today. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your families. We are looking forward to another fun Christmas with our little ones.