FEELING BETTER BY AFTERNOON

After a few hours on the couch watching "Hotel Transylvania" and some Batman episodes (that right there telling you that Cora didn't feel like herself, since she never sits still longer than 5-10 minutes for TV/movies), and an hour coloring/doing puzzles at the kitchen table, the kids ate a great, big lunch and took a good, long nap. By the time they got up at 3:30, they were feeling better and in need of some outside time to burn off the energy they'd accumulated by being so sedentary all day.

Big boy showing me how he can go "FAST!" down the hills

I swear, we have THE MOST TOLERANT cats (Maxine especially is very patient with Cora, and I have no idea why, since she shows no such patience/tolerance for anyone else!)

Post biking snack time (Cora didn't bike or trike - she chose to be pushed in the single stroller or be carried around by mama, still not feeling 100%)

Bundled up baby doll so her cold doesn't get any worse

James eventually got tired, but neither kid wanted to go inside until daddy got home. Pretty sure I walked 3 miles this afternoon!)

P.S. James can now wear shoes without velcro. Not because he knows how to tie shoes, but because his feet are now big enough that his shoe size often pushes him into styles without velcro. Crazy!

TEA AND ICE CREAM

Cora had a low grade fever when I picked her up from school yesterday afternoon, so we nixed our plans for the gym, her first dance class, and dinner out after Jay's school board meeting, and retreated to the couch. She'd started coughing badly Wednesday but we didn't think much of it, since James has been coughing (due to allergies, perhaps) for a couple of weeks. She slept fine all night (with the help of the cough meds her daddy brought home and some ibuprofen), but still had a low fever when she awoke today. Just to be safe, we kept her (and James) home from school. 

Some hot tea and ice cream was justified to help with their sore throats:

 

CARINGBRIDGE

Stephen and Robyn have started a CaringBridge site for Christopher as a way to keep their friends and family (and the many people across the country who are hoping and praying along with us) up to date on his progress as he goes through treatments. Please feel free to visit the website (there is also a mobile app and an option to receive updates via email) and leave your prayers, positive thoughts, and words of encouragement. If you would prefer to send a handwritten note or anything else, I think it is OK to do so, so please contact me for the appropriate address.

Also, I would like to post again the link to Karyn's CaringBridge site. Although it hasn't been updated in a while, she has had a second surgery, and on her most recent checkup discovered spots on her liver (though her neck and lungs were clear). I am asking you to also keep her in your prayers as she awaits further results.

LIKE MAMA

Cora requested that I put her hair in a ponytail this morning, "like mama". It was a stretch, but we made it work. Hard to believe a year ago she barely had enough hair for a mini mohawk and now we can do pigtails and ponytails!

HEY THERE CUPCAKE

STRENGTH AND HEALING AND FAITH

I would like to thank the many of you who have continually checked in with me over the past week, inquiring about Christopher and letting me know that you are thinking about him and praying for him. It means a lot to me, and to Robyn and Stephen, to have so many people pulling for him. We have prayer chains coursing through congregations across the country, and individual prayers and positive thoughts being sent up from almost every state, and even overseas. Prayer and positive energy are powerful things.

I received a text from Stephen last Thursday that ended with a note that they needed some time to process the latest news, and I didn't want anyone to inundate their email/facebook, so I held off on writing anything here. I really don't know what they are comfortable with me sharing, and I certainly don't know the details as far as exact diagnosis or treatment plan, but I'll give a quick update for those of you who I know are loving Chris from afar. The biopsy results showed stage 4 neuroblastoma. He had a Hickman line placed and has started an intense regimen of chemo (first round almost complete). He is getting the best proven treatment available.

 I know you all want to help, that you wish there was something you could do. I understand because I feel the same way. I am grateful for the many of you that have kept Christopher at the forefront of your mind over the past week - don't let up. Please know that the best thing we can do for him right now is pray - for healing, and for strength.

 If at some point programs are set up (i.e. to donate blood in Christopher's name), I will let you know, but there has obviously been no talk of that yet. Also, a few of you have asked me about an address to send notes of love and encouragement, and I will check with Robyn when I talk to her later this week to see if that is ok. If so, I will contact you each separately (and not post an address on the blog, of course).

SUPERBOWL PARTY PARALLEL

The Niners made it to the Superbowl this year, so like a good California girl I donned a red shirt, whipped up some football-shaped cupcakes, dished out my favorite party foods, and invited some friends over to eat, drink (Jay's Irish Red, his first solo brew, was ready just in time for the party), and sort-of watch the game while the toddlers/preschoolers entertained themselves. Seriously, it was like we had 2 parallel parties occurring, as I remarked to Jay at bedtime that I felt like I hadn't seen James or Cora in 4 hours, since they were so busy playing with their friends. It was nice, I'll be honest, but also kind of humbling to realize that our kids are old enough to party solo, no longer clinging in shyness to our legs or requiring our constant assistance with snacks and potty breaks. Anyway, you all know the Ravens won, but since the overall verdict was that the Niners played a good game, we'll call it a success. Both the game and the party.

Emma graciously shared her mama with Cora

Daredevils Manu and James were coasting from the upper driveway to the top of the stairs in the backyard. James just learned in the past week or so to keep his feet up on the bar while gliding, and he's since gotten very brave (AKA fast), swinging the handlebar from side-to-side to zig-zag around and come to screeching halts. He may be ready for a real bike before we know it!

I just thought it was so funny that while Lauren was nursing our curious cat kept trying to see what was going on under the cover. Nobody else paid any attention, but the amazingly annoying General Mouton was front and center.

Leo LOVES our kitties. Not sure if Mouton was crying or laughing as tried to outrun him!

The red velvet cupcakes are always a crowd-pleaser! Will was happy to model the chocolate frosting.

The big boys (James, Manu, and Coltin) being robots. (And yes, they obviously dumped 3 large baskets of toys out in order to make their robot helmets. It's cool. We're used to toy chaos in our house.)

At the end of the night Lauren was DONE. Luckily Sophie worked some mama magic and rocked/hummed her to sleep. So sweet!

A very random group of superheroes...

FRIDGE BANDIT

After helping me put away the groceries, she got herself a snack trap and proceeded to fill it with grapes and berries, straight from the fridge. She knows they don't last long in this house. I suppose my fuzzy slippers counteracted her missing shirt in the cold confines of the refrigerator?...

FREEDOM RIDGE PARK

Sophie had 22 miles on her schedule for today, so she and Jay carpooled to Madison to run 12 miles along the Natchez Trace Parkway trail. Alex and I joined them later so that I could run her final 10 miles with her, then all go out for lunch to replace all those burned calories. Sophie did awesome, and Jay and I each got one last good long run in before our half marathon (which is now just 3 weeks away). While we ran, Alex and the non-running Lindsay parent entertained the kiddos at Freedom Ridge Park, conveniently located within a half mile of the Trace trail. It was a beautiful day (warm enough to lose those jackets by 10:00am) and the kids expended a lot of energy climbing, biking, digging, and playing soccer, which is good, since their parents expended an equal if not greater amount of energy running...

 

POTTY WOES

Perhaps only Grambot and us remember Cora's week+ fiasco of potty accidents at the beginning of January, but when she went back to normal afterward, we let it go as regression. Then this week it's been happening again... our very well potty trained girl started having accidents 3-5 times per day (including a few naps) and overnight every night. We would have written it off as regression again, but being the hypochondriac parents that we are, combined with the urging of her daycare teacher (which certainly put us on high alert), we decided to visit the doc to rule out any big issues. Luckily, she was indeed given the all-clear (urine was clean, constipation not an issue, everything looked normal down there, no pain or infection or other indication of an underlying issue) and was otherwise healthy as well. 

So what's the accident culprit? A few suggestions by the doc that made sense to us included 1) chocolate as a diuretic (she had a LOT of chocolate over the holidays and beyond, due to Santa filling her Christmas stocking with candy), 2) soapy bath water causing irritation (she took MANY baths while home with Grambot over vacation because she loves the new bath toys she got for Christmas, and probably sat in her washed off soap/shampoo - we don't ever add bubble bath, and also often climbed in while Grambot was showering, so she probably had adult soap/shampoo in the bath water as well), and 3) once she wet herself the first or second time and felt any chapping, it caused her to not want to go (thus holding it longer than usual and only letting it out in trickles when she couldn't contain herself). Other than the chocolate issue (the candy is long gone), these culprits could easily have made a recurrence over the past week. We know for sure that she sat in a colored bath over the weekend (for a LONG time), so that could easily have been the start of our problem. Especially since James has also complained of some irritation, poor guy.

So, the lesson to ourselves (and perhaps others out there who have kids with sensitive skin)? Our kids will now only sit in the bath BEFORE any hair washing or body scrubbing or teeth brushing occurs, and they will be immediately rinsed off and removed from the tub afterward. And whenever possible (which is most of the time), we'll just skip baths all together and shower them instead.

PINKALICIOUS

HOT AND COLD

It was 77 degrees outside, 78 degrees inside, and yet she chose to add Leo's blue snow hat to her ensemble this evening, which also included James' old pants, James' belt (just sort of wrapped around herself), and James' flip flops. Our girl has style.

SUNDAY: POSTER PAINTING

Until somebody invents the teleporter, the best way I could think to send a hug to Oregon was with poster paper and paint. The kids got really into it (Cora perhaps a little too much... her "likeness" was basically a brown blob by the end) and it was a good outlet for me this afternoon. Chris, Robyn, and Stephen are constantly on my mind, and I hope they are on yours too. Please keep praying! 

SATURDAY: BIRTHDAY PARTY

Saturday afternoon birthday party for our little newly 3-year-old pal Talon. 

Followed by dinner with the Kennedys at Mellow Mushroom, where Al was recruited to entertain the kiddos with stories and cat drawings.

FRIDAY: PARK PLAY

Friday afternoon park playdate with Manu and Leo, Will and Lauren, and David and John.

Equally sharing the lemonade (makes a mama proud!)

This was before she discovered that the hole she was laying in had fire ants in it...

He found these two worms and played with them for a ridiculously long time. But he was gentle with them, didn't attack us adults with them, and eventually let them go in the dirt, so oh well. Boys will be boys.

PRAYER REQUEST

I am urgently requesting your prayers for my best friends and their son Christopher.

Robyn took Christopher in early for his 18-month well baby because he'd been a little sick and she wanted to get him checked out before flying to Oregon next week (they are moving back from Hawaii to Oregon right now, and Stephen had already left to start his new job). The doctor found a large tumor on Christopher's kidney and he has been rushed from Maui to Oahu. He has a CT scan this morning and Stephen is on an airplane headed back to Hawaii as I type this (Robyn's mom and Stephen's mom are thankfully there with her right now). No matter what they find, Christopher will need surgery. I am asking for your prayers for the best possible results of the scan.

UPDATE
I spoke with Stephen tonight. They're at the airport headed to Portland. The CT scan showed cancer, neuroblastoma, and it's bad. Chris' entire abdomen is filled with cancer. The hospital there was talking about admitting him for surgery and further tests on Monday, so they just grabbed their bags and the first flight to Oregon. Chris will be admitted there (OHSU) immediately tonight and the doctors will get right to work. Stephen said that other than looking a bit pale, it's impossible to comprehend what is going on inside of Chris because he's running around the airport without a care in the world, just the cutest and happiest little guy. Please pray for Chris, and for Robyn and Stephen, with everything you've got. They have a long road ahead of them and they need our strength to help fuel their own. I will update whenever I get news (because I know so many of you love them and are concerned and wanting to help), but it will be sporadic as they undergo tests, surgery, chemo, etc., and hopefully find a few moments for sleep. And please feel free to get everyone you know praying for Chris. The more, the better.

SPIDEY IN THE CLOSET

Spiderman woke up at 5:07am this morning. Thank you Monkey Preschool Lunchbox for keeping him happily occupied while mommy and daddy got ready for work.

ST. JUDE WARRIORS!

We're now 3 months out from Warrior Dash Mississippi and I'd like to share with you our Vicksburg Warriors team page, created with the goal of raising $1000 for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Our team currently has 11 members, and I'm confident that we can reach or exceed this goal by working together! If you have the means, please consider making a donation to our team and/or sharing the link with your friends and family. The more people we tell about this, the greater the impact we will make - even $1 makes a huge difference when all your buddies contribute! So thank you in advance, whether you donate or share our link, we appreciate the help in reaching our goal. This is such an important cause, and the Dash is a really fun fundraising opportunity for us! 

P.S. If you would like your donation to credit Jay or I specifically, go to our personal pages (Denise or Jay) and donate from there. ALL donations will credit our team, but to credit a specific team member you have to donate from their personal page. Thanks!!

SOCCER LESSON #1

Last week we signed James up for spring soccer. He'll be on the U4-U5 team with his buddies Manu and Will. Practice/games don't start for a while, but we went ahead and bought him some cleats while we were in Jackson yesterday so that he could get used to wearing them. Jay picked out the cleats and shin guards (since I know nothing about soccer - seriously, Cora and I are on the same skill level), and while we were shopping, James walked over to me with a set of pink shin guards and said "Here, these are for Cora, so she can play on my team." So sweet, huh? Unfortunately, even though Cora REALLY wants to play with her brother and her buddies (she keeps telling us that she's "going to play soccer too"), she's not quite old enough. Maybe in the fall. In the meantime, she can play with James and her parents before spin class...

Lesson #1: kick with the top of your foot, stop the ball with your instep, and don't use your hands.

This was not his first time playing with a soccer ball, of course, but definitely the first time that we played with any semblance of rules. He was pretty proud of himself every time we praised him, which was quite adorable.

 The afternoon was definitely a success, and both kids ran ALL OVER that field (and were thus pretty exhausted afterward). Win!

After the lesson, we took out James' glider and battled the wind to send it flying a dozen or so times (which equaled lots more running around by the kids, to chase/retrieve the plane). That thing can SOAR!

LITTLE HELPER

We visited a grocery store tonight that had those little carts sized for pint-sized shoppers. It was the first time we'd ever come across them, and Cora was super excited! We let her push that little cart, loaded it with heavy groceries, and marveled that she managed to get around without bumping into anyone or anything. Such a sweet little helper!