Trent at 2 1/2

As of today {disclaimer} 2 1/2 is my favorite age yet.  Mainly because toddlers crack me up.  While I know Trent is no comedian, we find ourselves laughing at him every day, because there is no telling what is going to come out of his mouth.  Last weekend I was trying to explain to him that Publix might not have any "gween dwive buggies," since it was going to be crowded.  I asked him what he was going to do if there were not any of the driving buggies left.  He looked at me like I was nuts and said, "I gonna cwy like a baby!"  While I appreciate his honesty, I was very thankful to see the driving buggies when we got there.  His latest thing is "chanting" songs.  I can't say he sings, because it's more like he just chants/says all of the words.  His favorite song right now is "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed."  I need to video it.  Speaking of beds, he's been in a regular, double bed for the past three weeks.  It was a last minute decision when we moved, and thankfully he has done great-- partly due to these bed bumpers.  They are fabulous!!  Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:

 He's perfected the "mad face."

 This is how I feel about potty-training too, buddy.

 Why wouldn't you climb into your easel and yell, "I stuck mama!"

 We're getting ready for the pumpkin patch a few months early.

 Thanks to some sweet friends for passing along Trent's new favorite outfit- his robe.

I personally prefer pop tarts or cereal, but he likes hot dogs for breakfast.

Life

Hi blogging friends,

As many of you know, we've had a hard month.  I have tried not to write much about cancer on the blog, but it's such a big part of our lives right now.  I knew I had to either take a break from the blog or share feelings I'm not comfortable posting on the Internet.  To give you a brief update, Mike was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, which is often referred to as pre-leukemia.  Since he now has MDS and Hodgkin's Lymphoma, the doctors did not give him a positive prognosis.  We know that God is the ultimate physician and can cure him at any time, so we are not giving up.  We still have hope, and we have faith in God's plan for our future.  {It has taken me three weeks to get to this point, and some days are better than others.}  Mike started a new drug last week that could help with both the MDS and the Hodgkin's.  His counts were up a little bit today, so we pray that the drug is working {even though the doctors say it takes 4-6 weeks.}  If you want to keep up with us, Mike posts updates on his CaringBridge page.   I also want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to our sweet friends and families who have been AMAZING.  You all have done things I could have never imagined possible.  I am literally in awe every day by your generosity and thank God daily for giving us such an incredible support system.  I love you so much!  Please keep praying.

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I probably would have held off on blogging if Mike's health was the only thing we had going on right now, but I like to document big things in our lives.  As some of you know, we put our house on the market in March.  Well, we sold our house last week.  Doesn't God have a great sense of humor?  The sweet family {I went to high school with the father- small world} looked at the house for the first time last Thursday.  They made an offer the next morning.  We are closing on July 29th, and we have to be out by August 1st.  I can honestly say that this house stuff is not stressing me out.  I gave it to God the night we found out they were going to make an offer.  It's amazing how He takes care of things when I let Him.  We have some great friends that are letting us rent a house they own in our neighborhood for the next few months.  I've been moving stuff in all week, and the "big stuff" is going this weekend.  We took a load over this afternoon, and as we were leaving Trent said, "Bye bye Trent's new house!"  I'm not sure he really gets it, but he is having fun playing in open rooms while I unload boxes.  If his play vacuum cleaner worked, we'd really be in business:)  Once things settle down a little bit, we'll start looking at houses in the city we hope to live in soon!

I haven't taken many pictures recently, but here are a couple that made me smile.

Oh, I'm also "fasting" Facebook for three weeks.  It's already been a week and a half, and the worst part has been people asking if I de-friended them {of course not!}  Like blogging, Facebook and I have a love/hate relationship.  I've decided being addicted to both is probably not a good idea:)

Trent's Beach Photo Shoot

Candace Nelson {Candace Nelson Photography} took pictures of Trent while we were at the beach in May, and she did a fabulous job!  If you have a beach trip planned this summer and need some portraits, I'd highly recommend Candace and David.  I had a hard time picking my favorites, because they all captured his personality and expressions.  Thank you Candace!

Airplane, Memory and Mike's "Blog"

Trent went on his first airplane ride last weekend.  Some of our good friends invited us to come "see" the plane, and Trent and I ended up going on a quick ride.  Trent loved it, and he is obsessed with watching the short video clip Mike took of us taking off.  Thank you Mindy, Jackson and Momo!!

As I've mentioned before, I'm one of the least crafty/creative people you'll ever meet.  I usually can't even copy ideas very well.  However, everybody gets lucky every once in a while.  

Trent loves playing "Memory" on Mike's phone.  Attempting to divert him from the phone, I created a simple home-made Memory game by drawing shapes on some cards.  He loves it.  He does not take turns {it's a one-man game} and he may or may not turn the cards back over if they do not match.  His game usually consists of him picking up a card and holding it in one hand as he turns over the other cards saying, "No match... no match... no match... YES match!!  Yay Tent!" until he's found all of the matches.  {I realize there are lots of memory games available for purchase, but I thought this would be educational, since it's shapes and colors.  And, it was a random idea on a Sunday morning, so there was no time to shop.  Ha!}

Last, but most important, Mike has taken over his CaringBridge site {at least for now} and he's doing a great job.  Everyone always asks me what Mike thinks or how Mike feels about what is going on, so I'm thrilled he's sharing his thoughts and feelings with the www.  He's always joked that he wanted to post on this blog, so I told him now he has his own blog.  He got a kick out of that one:)  That being said, it's been a hard week-  really hard.  One of those weeks when I find myself begging God for clarity, explanation and peace.  The short story is that Mike's counts {white blood cells, platelets and red blood cells} were unexplainably low this week.  He had to get blood and platelets, which he hasn't had to do in years.  His platelets were the lowest they've been since his bone marrow transplant in 2003.  We still don't know why.  He had a bone marrow biopsy today, which he explains on his site, and we should find out the results next Wednesday.  In eleven years his cancer has never been in his bone marrow.  Please pray that is still the case.  If you want to visit his site, click here.  The picture below was taken today after the biopsy.

Dermabond, the Lake, Cancer and Bailey

I bet that title hasn't been used before, but it summarizes the last week around here.

• We had our first Dermabond experience last Friday.  I figured it would happen sooner rather than later, and I'm very thankful that stitches were not necessary.  Mother of the year here was not there at the time. It happened at my mom's house.  Trent and Trevor were playing, and there was a fall.  Trent's head took the blunt of it.  I hear {from my dad and sister, who took him to the doctor} he was very brave and didn't even cry at the doctor's office... except for when he had to get on the scale.  For whatever reason, weighing on a doctor's office scale is terrifying for the child who likes to jump on our scale at home.

• We went to the lake the next day for Memorial Day weekend.  We had a great time with my family.

• We got some pretty tough news this week.  Mike had scans, and his cancer {Hodgkin's Lymphoma} has returned around his spleen and liver.  He went into remission in February, so he was cancer-free for 3.5 months.  It was great not to have to worry about doctor's appointments, treatments, etc. for that time, but now we're back on the roller-coaster.  While I would never have chosen for the cancer to return, God has allowed it, so we are accepting it.  Mike wrote about his feelings here.  
• We've been spending some time outside... after the sun goes down and the temperature gets below 100 degrees.  Bailey hasn't been featured on the blog in a while, but she's been back home for a few weeks.  She's enjoying pine combs, Trent's food that falls on the floor, and lots of naps.  She misses walks, games of fetch with Papa, and the personal space she received during her time in Opp.

I guess that's all for now.  Happy almost Friday!!

A Week at the Beach

We spent the whole week at the beach last week.  We are usually a Wednesday-Sunday {or shorter} vacations kind of family, but we tried something new this year.  It was fabulous!  I wondered if I'd be ready to come home after a week, but I could have stayed another week.  My parents rented a house in in Destin, FL and let my sister and I and our families stay the first four days, and then my parents came down the rest of the week.  We loved it and have already requested to do it again... maybe even this year:) 

Of course we took a million pictures.  Here are some of my favorites:

The last day we were there, Candace Nelson {Candace Nelson Photography} took pictures of Trent.  Not only is she super sweet and great with children; she's an incredible photographer!!  I'm trying to narrow down my 30+ favorites:)

Puddle Jumpers and Ice Cream Sandwiches

We are at the beach this week, and I've discovered two new favorite things in the few days we've been here.  First, the puddle jumper I bought this last year, but I think Trent was too young for it.  This year, at two, it's perfect!  He loves it- so much that he wants to wear it inside the house.  In a couple of hours, he figured out how to swim/get around the pool by himself wearing the puddle jumper.

Next, Skinny Cow's Strawberry Shortcake ice cream sandwiches.  They are divine.  Buy some ASAP.  We bought them at Wal-Mart.

And since I've already taken hundreds of pictures, I'll go ahead and post a few...

Have a great week!  I'll be back soon with a beach recap.