Family Blogs

Happy Day +1000 to me! For all of you non-cancer-stem cell transplant-literate people out there (c’mon!)on the day of your bone marrow transplant, you start over at Day +0. Your “Re-Birthday” if you will. It’s a beautiful day! Check our archives around June, 2009 for a link to that birthday party.

So….its day +1000 for me!!!

If you had asked me 1000 days ago, I would have just simply asked for one more year at least, to watch my daughter grow up a little more, to play dress up and dance to music with her a few more hundred times. I would have just asked to take a few more trips with my husband and have a lot more cuddly movie nights. I would ask for a hundred more phone calls from my sister and some more of her amazing “make chemo girl feel better” videos. I would have asked for at least a few more roadtrips with old friends and nights out with the girls. I would have asked for as many weekends as possible with the parents and parents-in-law, relaxing and enjoying good home cooked meals, listening to old stories and making sure mine were heard too. I would have probably asked for food to taste as good as did before chemotherapy (later it did, I assure you, and so do my hips)

1000 days is a blessing I didn’t know I could count on. What an amazing trip it has been! My daughter has grown from a whiny two and half year old to a somewhat less whiny 5 year old. She has completed 2 years of gymnastics (STILL cant do a cartwheel!) almost one year of ballet and tap. She has almost finished preschool and can’t wait for kidnergarten. She has had her first boyfriend and kiss (sloppy and on the ear, but it counts!) She can sing most Katy Perry and Lady Gaga songs and shakes her booty like no other. She loves a good joke and does a great job botching them in her retells. She can swim a little and has a proper stance when swinging a softball bat (both thanks to me!) She tells some great campfire stories that still make me laugh months later. We got the boat I always wanted. I got to stand on my boat and yell the song “I’m on a boat” like I always wanted to. I went to Mexico with 14 great people and we chartered our own sailboat and played on our OWN island! I ziplined from 9 stories high (NEVER AGAIN!) I was Roasted on my 30th birthday in a most embarrassing fashion (screw you Jeremy! Paybacks are a b____!). I almost lost my wig on a roller coaster. I rocked out at a Green Day concert at Day +60. I finished my teaching endorsement. I grew my hair 16 inches! I saw my daughter as a flower girl finally (and cried like crazy) We bought a house! They said we wouldn’t have more kids after the transplant, and darnit we did that too! Brody has more joy in his heart than anyone I know. He smiles and smiles and smiles (unless he is hungry or frustrated, than he is screaming a bloodcurdling death scream) He makes my heart melt 50 times a day at least.

I’ve gotten 1000 good night kisses from my family and 1000 good morning hugs. I have gotten to enjoy 3 more Christmases with all of my family. I feel like the luckiest person on earth. So many people don’t make it this far, why should I? I don’t know, but I am glad I have and am so grateful to God for extra time here!

Little 2 1/2 year old Morgan on my Re Birthday~! She never doubted me for a second!

Me on Day +0, hooked up and looking sickly - from what I remember, and I try to block it out, stem cells smell like buttered corn, right Karri?

A few of my reasons to live! Naptime in Brody’s crib with the pillow pets!

Our Little Miracle Brody is 3 months old today! Its been crazy and amazing! I have so much to post, but so little time!

2 Weeks

3 Weeks

2 Months

10 Weeks

Halloween!

Passed Out

I don’t even know where to go back to so I am just picking things out from the last several months radomly. I have so neglected this blog!

Jesse nicely helped Luke and Stef move back to Genoa and how do they repay us? By sneaking Hat back into our possession in his book bag that he accidently left at their new place! For those of you who are asking “What the hell is Hat?” Hat is an orange and white stocking cap that we have been planting on each back and forth for the past 7 years. Hat had a 2 year hiatus as I believe Luke and Stef had lost him somewhere, but found him when they were packing up to move again. Hat has had some amazing plantings. My favorite time was when we had Luke’s mom wrap him up for us and he opened it on Christmas morning. He felt so betrayed that his mom had turned on him. She also snapped a picture at just the right moment to capture the betrayal and hurt in his eyes. I also enjoyed the time we had my sister build Luke a beautiful clock with the hat inside of it. He loved that clock. And then we started sending him postcards Karri had made with the clock being put together, with the hat inside. We weren’t there, but we heard he went bizerk on that poor beloved clock. Luke had some good ones on us, but I won’t give him any props on them on here because this is my blog, and therefore, I am the winner on all accounts. So now……we plot……and they wait……..for the return of HAT…..sometimes, its the waiting and not knowing that is hardest…

Morgan finished another year of gymnastics in May. We had our ups and downs with gymnastics thats for sure. Each week, she never wanted to put on her leotard or put her hair in the required pony tail. Every Monday night, I almost always ended up blowing my top because it was the same arguement over and over and over again. Girls can be so frustrating!

Back to gymnastics, my only goal for this second year was to see my little girl do a cartwheel. I never learned and could not master it all. I do remember my mom and my sister working with me in the backyard, but I just couldn’t get those stupid legs up and straight. I even cheated during the Freshmen PE gymnastics quarter for the cartwheel test. I waited until Mr Ripke was distracted and ran down the mat to the other end. I think I even yelled “Ta Da!” I must have gotten my check mark cause my A+ in PE was still firmly intact. Anywhoo…..every week as I watched Morgan, it grew more and more apparent to me that she posseses the same mental block of cartwheels that I suffer from. Alas, even though the cartwheel aludes her, she does great work on the parallel bars and can go all the way across and back and also does a very nice front roll and split roll so I can at least sleep at night with that knowledge.

Here are some pics from the gymnastics recital which lasted about 2 1/2 hours of which her little class of Tiny Tots were performing about 10 minutes. I will probably never trick Jesse into attending one of those ever again….

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We need signatures to send the message that we DO NOT WANT dirty oil passing through our states.

Thanks!!!!!