I am AUSTIN

I took a few minutes to get some shots of Austin on his 5 month birthday. He is such a SWEET boy.

A few things about our MAN:

• He LOVES his tongue. He sticks it out or chews on it constantly.
• He is all SMILES and the HAPPIEST baby as long as you are directly talking to him.
• If I put him on his belly her rolls to his back IMMEDIATELY. Austin may have been 10 weeks early, but he isn't about to be left behind.
• LOVES windows.
• If he's on the floor he picks up his bum and back and pushes his way around with his legs.
• Austin tries to eat his WHOLE hand all the time. It makes the funniest noises.
• He loves to go swimming in the tub.
• He always calms down when MILLIE sings to him. His favorite is "I Told Every Little Star".
• I get his BIGGEST smiles by making his legs RUN and talking in a HIGH pitched voice.
• Austin wants to be STANDING constantly. Millie was the same way.
• Best of all he is a MAMA'S BOY!

Austin I love you and I am grateful you are in our family. When I am having an unbearable day your smiles dry up my tears. Thank you.

Round 2

Millie started the next stage of her chemotherapy. I wish I could say it was an easier day then it was, but they had to access her port for the 1st time and do a Lumbar Puncture. Millie did pretty well with her port but it broke my heart to have to hold her down. I know it will always hurt when they push that big, fat needle into her chest, but I hope she can adjust.

Usually Millie does amazingly well with her LP's but this time was different. They hit a nerve yesterday, she couldn't straighten her legs at all even when she was lying down. There isn't much we can do for her but try to keep her flat on her back and apply heat.

Mill was heart broken when she couldn't go to school today. She begged me to let her go and we started getting ready, but I could tell on her face that she was in pain and I had to talk her out of it. Hopefully she'll be back to herself in a few days.

I'll try to post again tonight or tomorrow...AUSTIN IS 5 MONTHS TODAY!

PARTY TIME!

Streamers, Cake, Balloons, Presents, Family, and HAIR...

We had an awesome night last night during our HAIR CUTTING PARTY! Millie's cousins Cyndell and Lilly donated their beautiful hair to Locks Of Love and got these DARLING hair cuts. Millie wasn't ready to cut hers all off so she went for a chin length do. She LOVED it! Jager and her Uncle Roscoe totally biced their heads, Brady was going to as well, but Millie only wanted his " a little short". He's going to hold off until hers is gone.

Lilly and Miss Millie

The whole hair cutting gang
Roscoe, Jager, Millie, Lilly, Cyndell, Brady

Jager Boy

Doesn't Cyndell look AMAZING!

This makes me LAUGH!

Jager taking my pic

Our friends from Australia sent this doll to Millie. It is so CUTE! The hair totally comes off, it has a scarf, and then it has a short style for when it grows back. Millie hasn't named it yet, but she is going to come to clinic with us every time Millie does. They both have cancer, so she needs to get her chemo too.

THANKS EISHA, STAN, MARY, OLIVIA, and THOMAS

Millie cut every one's pony off to donate. She had a BLAST.

Me, Millie, Jen (she donated her time to come help with every one's cuts, we couldn't have done it without her), Lilly

MY FAMILY SERIOUSLY ROCKS!

Playin Around and a Few BIG Days for Millie

Millie didn't have clinic on Monday because of the holiday so we spent the day relaxing. Austin and Millie we being cute so I went a little camera happy. Millie has been off her steroids for a week today and we are finally seeing OUR little girl come back to us.

AMELIA NEWS:

(These pictures are from Tuesday and Wednesday)

Our clinic appointment was moved to Tuesday. This was a BIG day for her...

• In clinic they drew blood and found out her RED blood count was low, so we had to schedule for Wednesday to get a transfusion.
• In the OR They placed her PORT in her chest. The Port placement it's self went well which is really the best news, but it was a NIGHTMARE of a day. She wasn't suppose to eat after midnight the night before (we did wake her up at 4am to feed her-don't tell on us) and they didn't get her into surgery until nearly 5 PM! The poor kid was starving to death! We were suppose to be in the hospital until around 4:30pm and we got home about 10PM.
• She finished her 1st round of chemo called the Induction Stage, it was 29 days.
• They tested her Bone Marrow. It shows ZERO signs of cancer! This is what they expected to happen, but we are grateful she's following protocol. They also sent her marrow away for more extensive testing, the results will be in sometime next week.
• Administered one of her chemo drugs into her spinal fluid. No news here, she handles this wonderfully!
• Drew more blood in the OR. Someone in the the lab messed up and they had recorded the wrong blood type. Luckily they caught it Wednesday before her transfusion, but it meant they they had to retest her when we arrived Wednesday after being there all day Tuesday. It took 3 hours to get the results back and then another 2 hours to transfuse. We have ALL had enough of the hospital for this week! (thanks mom for coming with us).

I want to post these pictures so I have a record of what the Steroid and Vancristine have been up to on her physical appearance since I talk a lot about the emotional side of things. These pictures were taken over a week ago. Her face was much more puffy and her hair is barely hanging on now, The tummy shot doesn't do it justice either, but this is the only one I have.

NOW FOR THE BEST NEWS! AMELIA GOT TO GO TO SCHOOL YESTERDAY!

I wish I had taken her picture. She was overwhelmed with excitement. I cried like a baby when I dropped her off. I am so proud of her! I know some of you preschool moms read up on Millie and I want you to know how grateful I am for your support. Some of you have sent cards or posted on the blog and every time it makes Millie smile. Thank you for putting up with the little changes that Patti as made to the classroom. It means more then you will ever know. Right now the thought of school is what keeps my Millie going. She loves everything about it, including your children!

THANK YOU.

Rolling Proof

It's more like a PLOP!

Momentous Occasions

AUSTIN ROLLED OVER TODAY!

I didn't think he was even close and all the sudden PLOP he was on his back. He can roll over both shoulders from his tummy to his back. I'm proud of our BIG boy!

Amelia also just took her last steroid for about 9 days! The poor girl looks like she is going to BLOW. Her little cheeks are not so little anymore and her poor belly is expended to the point of no return. She can't even put her shoes on. She has to roll to her side to get up. I feel so bad for her! I am hoping that this break will help her MOOD and her PUFFINESS.

A Piece of Paradise

When I asked Millie what she wanted to eat for lunch today she asked if we could go to the place where we share soup and a sandwich (aka, paradise bakery). We has just been to the doctor and he said her counts were up and we could take her out if we felt comfortable with the idea. Since it was only 11 am and I knew it wouldn't be busy yet, I hurried and got the kids ready and headed out.

We got our food and the second we sat down she started screaming at the top of her lungs that her drink was too big and she didn't want it. Every time I would try talking to her she would get louder. At one point I said, "Millie I love you but I think we should go", by now the whole restaurant is staring at me, and she says, "NO MOM WE ARE STAYING HERE AND YOU NEED TO TELL ME YOU'RE SORRY RIGHT NOW, THEN DON'T TALK TO ME AND DON'T TOUCH ME". I thought I was going to die. Our little piece of Paradise had turned into a HUGE slice of Hell.

We had had such a good day and I was really excited to get out with her and feel a little normal, I wasn't expecting a ragging steroid fit. Pretty sure I won't be doing that again!

Serenity Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A long lost smile

Millie has been a totally different child the last week or so. It has been so difficult to get her to smile. Today we went to my sister Lindsay's house to drop off a picture Millie painted for her. She didn't want to get out of the car, but the kiddos ran out to see her and I saw a glimpse of MY MILLIE.

This picture does my heart good

Cousin Sherry pointed out that Jager looks a little like Tom Sawyer. There is just something a little mischievous about that child. That's one of the reasons I love him so much!

A Little Update:

She is still eating a ton! Her new favs are quesadillas with egg in them (breakfast burritos), cheese melted on a plate (she eats it with a fork), and gogurts. She is still crying and screaming a ton as well. Today I told her that I put her plate on the table and she starting bawling and yelling that I was rude and I broke her heart. "Don't say that to me mom"! Somebody help me please.

A BIG Update:

AMELIA IS IN REMISSION!

After one week of treatment the Leukemia count in her bone marrow went from 96% to 4%! What does this mean...

Well it means that she is included in the 90% of people who are curable! It doesn't change her treatment plan very much. It will still be based on a monthly basis and it will still be about 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. Through years of research they know that the cancer will come back if not treated properly even though she should be cancer free by the end of the month.

We feel everyones love and support. I know that Millie is doing as well as she is because there are so many people praying for her. Thank you and Please keep it up!

Birthday Surprise

Okay, so you're probably thinking, "Did you really just go to Vegas?" Well, kind of...

Brady surprised me with tickets to cirque du soleil. Last summer we had tickets to the traveling show at the E-Center. Sadly I didn't get to go because I was put on bedrest the day before:(
Brady being the awesome husband that he is gave me the best birthday ever. We flew to Vegas, ate some yummy Italian (I HEART risotto), saw a movie (I know it's a little boring for Vegas, but I really wanted to see Blind Side), shopped a ton, went to a show, ate some more, went up the Eiffel Tower, and walked the Strip. It was so fun to get out for the weekend kid free! At this point we had no idea what the next week had in store for us and I am so grateful that Brady and I were able to get a little one on one time before this new chapter in our life began.
Thanks Babe!