Birthday girl.

Happy birthday Piper girl. We adore you and your whimsical, creative, beautiful self.

By God's grace and the resilience and joy He has given you, 

you have bloomed this past year... despite it all. 

You are tender-hearted, inquisitive, and filled with stories and questions.

You are kind and compassionate to others and I have seen you 

intentionally move towards those that appear different than yourself.

 

You are so silly and love to laugh. We begin and end most of 

our days with smiles and many, many, many times it is because of you.

 

When I think back to the last year and your little two year old self when this all began, 

my eyes fill with tears. 

You have been so brave, sweet girl. So very brave. 

I couldn't be more proud of you.

Today we celebrate and thank God for you...

Your life is a gift and a blessing to your mama and papa and brother 

and to all those that know you.

2nd birthday.

 Happy 2nd birthday Gideon Watts! You, my son, are a crazy-courageous spitfire of a fighter and stronger than I could have ever imagined--- a Warrior-Boy indeed. You are indiscriminate with your smiles and fist-bumping friendly and have brought great joy and sweet laughter to this little family, even on some very dark days in the past year. In a poor attempt to sum you up, you are strong-willed and fearlessly adventurous, hilarious and expressive, kind and compassionate and a lover of all people, a huge fan of your big sister, and a cuddle-bug with your papa and mama. You are a force to be reckoned with. The past two years have been such a gift and I would live them over and over again just to know you, Watts.

All kinds of normal things.

Muffins at Spring Garden Bakery after an early morning walk.

Front porch popcorn snack.

Best part of the day = when Papa comes home from work.

Tent playtime.

Early morning walks.

Clinic.

We had a clinic day yesterday for IV chemo but Watts did not have a lumbar puncture like I wrote a couple days ago (I was getting ahead of myself on his protocal). Watts did great at his appointment and seems to love going to the hospital, as does Piper. Yesterday they did art at the art table, music with Mr Collin, and of course got to see beloved nurses, doctors, and staff. They loved it all! 

We are now on Day 2 of steroids. He had some trouble sleeping last night and some crazy irritability and rage this afternoon, but so far he has kept his appetite and his sense of humor:) We are hoping and praying for an easy week for our boy because we have some fun plans this weekend.

Thanks for keeping up with us as we truck along in maintenance!

A song for our 10th Anniversary

 

Thanks to Charlie Swing for playing pedal steel and Edd Kerr for engineering and mixing.

These days.

Well, that was an unintentionally long blog break... I wrote that I would write more when I felt like I had caught my breath, but even when things had seemed to settle back down after Watts' fever, I seemed to have lost my desire to write. I need to write these things down for memory-sake, though, so plug along I will.

Twins!

Watts is doing great. He seems to be thriving in maintenance and we frequently get comments from folks who haven't seen him in awhile about just how good he looks. Praise God. To say that we are thankful for this boy and these good days, just doesn't seem sufficient. Today as I nursed and rocked Watts to sleep [Yes, I am still nursing... yes, I am still rocking an almost 2 yr old to sleep... yes, it takes almost an hour.], I couldn't help but look down at my boy of 23 months and think about what he has gone through in his short life. It is almost hard to wrap my head around.

After the fever scare and the round of strong antibiotics, Watts has bounced back to normal and it seems as if the antibiotics has also knocked out Watts' "chronic" cough and nasal discharge. Wohoo! For the first time in months and months, Watts is not hacking and coughing throughout the day. Coincidentally, he also seems to be getting his appetite back which leads us to wonder if the cough and nasal drainage might have been causing the nausea and not the 6-mp (chemo drug). Only time will tell, I guess.

Protocal-wise, we have started our third week of 6-mp for this round. Next Monday we will go back to Brenner for a lumbar puncture with intrathecal therapy, an IV push of Vincristine, and we will start another week of the dreaded steroids. We are hoping that this steroid round is an easier one on our boy than last one.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our Warrior-Boy. 

PS. Today is Michael's and my 10 year anniversary! Today we celebrate all the Lord has done in our lives the last ten years and also remember our 9th anniversary when we were surprised by getting to go home for the first time post-diagnosis. That still goes down in the books as the best anniversary gift ever!