Happy Birthday To You!

Just a few more video clips of Shane, these from singing "Happy Birthday" to him on Saturday! This kid LOVES him some attention!! Is he his Daddy's boy or what!

(Both taken on "Aunt Tate's" cell phone - thanks Aunt Kate!)

Three Minutes With Shane

Welcome to OUR world!!!

Good News/Surprising News/Birthday News

So our trip to Sloan-Kettering yesterday was a success!

We left the house at 5am, by 7 we had parked the car at the hospital and had walked over to the imaging center on 55th St. Chris had his CT scan around 8:30, by 9 we were walking back to the hospital, he had his lab work done at 9:30 and by 10:45 we were sitting at a desk across from Dr. G!!!

Results from yesterday's scan look great! Lot's of big black holes in his liver where tumor used to reside! And Dr. G. kept using the word "Fantastic!" when looking at all his blood work results!

We also got some surprising news! The embolization for the left side of Chris's liver is scheduled for next Friday, May 1. We never expected it to happen so quickly - we thought it'd be another week or two after that before we'd be back there for round 2! But, Dr. G. had an opening in his schedule and his favorite room was available, so we jumped on it! Dr. G is pretty confident that this embolization will be much easier on Chris (and on him!). The left side of the liver is smaller than the right side anyway, which makes it a bit easier, but there's also far less tumor on the left side than what had been on the right side. Another good thing, is that Chris now has more healthy liver tissue, which should also make recovery easier. AND, because Chris's blood pressure issues seem to be under control (124/76 yesterday, yeah!!) we shouldn't have the complications like we had last time either!

LOTS of great news yesterday!!

The only "downside" to all of this (and in the grand scheme of things, it's really not so downside!!) is that Shane's 3rd birthday is next Sunday (the 3rd) and we were going to have his party then. Since we'll now be in the hospital next weekend, we decided to move his party up to tomorrow instead!!! Soooooo, stay tuned for lots of fun pictures on Monday! Until then, here's his adorable birthday invitation - thanks to Stacey at Park Thomas Design!!

Sesame Street

So we had ourselves a FANTASTIC 4-day family weekend (more on that tomorrow)!!!

We kicked things off on Friday morning with a trip to the Arena at Harbor Yards to watch us some Sesame Street Live!! Our little guy had the best time and is STILL pouring through his $12 program!!!

***Happy Birthday, Nana!!! I actually FORGOT to wish my own Mom a Happy Birthday on the phone this morning (can you believe that!! Pass over the daughter of the year award, for sure!!!), so I HAD to give her a shout out on the blog to make up for it! We love you!!

With A Vengeance

Once Shane gathered all the eggs from his Easter egg "hunt" in the backyard, he went into Nana's living room and ripped open those eggs with a vengeance!! He couldn't possibly have eaten any more puffs or Cheerios in one day if he had wanted to!

If you haven't seen the videos of him collecting the eggs, watch those first!

Easter Joy

He lights up our entire world, in more ways than one, and it was SO great to watch him be a kid yesterday! He completely enjoyed his easter egg "hunt" that Aunt Kate set up in Nana's backyard! Here's the proof!

(Recorded on Aunt Kate's cell phone):

Getting Out

Even though it's not exactly warm yet, we'll take any increase in temperature we can get to get ourselves out of the house - it's been a LONG winter!

A few weeks ago we busted out and played out in the yard one night after work. This swing set may have taken 4 adults (+ 2 more to watch Shane!) an entire weekend to put together, but it was worth the effort! Shane LOVES the thing!

Taking a break to find a plane:

Happy Easter, everyone!!!

On The Road (Again?)

When the two of you pulled into our driveway that Friday night six months ago, each of you in a separate car packed to the gill with all of your favorite belongings, exhausted from a day of packing, lawyers and handing over your condo keys, none of us ever saw your planned two week stay with us turning into 6 months.

But as luck would have it, your condo sold at just the right moment, for 5 days later would find Chris in the ER and a week after that would find us with a cancer diagnosis. We hope you both know how much we appreciated (and needed) your support at that time. How great it was to come home from that fateful doctor appointment to hear you say you'd be staying with us for a while, to know that we weren't alone.

We're extremely grateful to both of you for all you've done for us these last 6 months. I think it's pretty safe to say that we wouldn't be where we are today without the support and the sacrifices you gave, and made, for us. There are no words to express our gratitude to you for giving up your own lives for 6 months to guarantee the safety and well being of ours.

While you are (finally!) making your way down to Florida today to re-start your life, know how much you're missed up here. And know we're okay. And that we'll continue to be okay.

With much love and appreciation . . . .

Earning His Keep

(Almost) 3 isn't too young to put him to work, is it??

Aunt "Sue-bus", I suppose this will be going into your "book"???!!! :-)

Helping Papa:
Getting pointers from Daddy:

Good job, Buddy!!!

**Note: Despite how dead our grass was (okay, is), we would never have our little guy doing any kind of manual labor out in the yard - not yet anyway! He pulled the seed spreader out of the shed himself (swear!!). I think he thought it was one of his push toys! Regardless, he had TONS of fun pushing that thing around the yard!!

A (New) Old Favorite

Stacey Thomas, a very talented designer over at Park-Thomas Design has been helping me design Shane's 3rd birthday invite (I'll be sure to share the design once they've been received by family). With Stacey's help, we decided to use this cropped version of one of my all-time favorites! Thanks, Stacey!

A Boy & His Dogs

Our son SO thinks that he is a canine! Most days, I'm surprised he's not walking around on all four like Kylee and Zoe do!

In the interest of full disclosure, when I was pregnant with Shane, Chris and I were a bit concerned about how the dogs, especially Zoe, would react to having a baby in the house. I mean, our girls had been our babies all along, right until we were blessed with a little blue bundle of our own.

Both Kylee and Zoe are rescue dogs, and both have their "issues". Not knowing what their full backgrounds are made it difficult to envision how they'd handle having a little one around. Kylee has to be the center of attention at all times, so naturally, we were concerned about how she would handle playing second fiddle for a while! And Zoe, poor Zoe. She was abused by her previous owner and has always been skittish around strangers - mainly men and children.

But, from the moment we brought our little guy home, our girls took to him like glue! Sure they have their moments when they've had enough of him and I'm sure they're wishing he'd just disappear for a while (don't all siblings?!), but ultimately, they love him - immensely. They've taken him in like he's one of their own and Chris and I couldn't be happier!

I mean seriously, could they be having any more fun together!! Just take a look at his face!!

Yeah, I'm talking about you Buddy!!

More tomorrow!

A Day At The Park

There's an elementary school, literally down the street from us, with a playground that Shane loves!

Often, on the weekends, we'll take a stroll up to the school and let Shane run around in the ball fields behind the school or play on the playground equipment for a while. It's a good way to get us all out of the house for a bit.

These snapshots were taken about a week and a half after Chris's embolization. Standing completely upright was still a bit tough for him and he was still in some considerable pain, but still - he knew getting out of the house would be good for him - and he was right! We all had a fantastic time playing at the school, as usual!

"Come on, Daddy! Over here!"

Curiosity still gets the best of him!!

Sick

Chris and I went to yet another doctor appointment yesterday, but this time it was the pediatrician! Our little guy has yet another ear infection!

He started with a runny nose on Tuesday morning and after a bad night of sleep Tuesday night, we knew something was up - so we made the call to schedule an appointment for an ear check. Sure enough, left ear was infected!

After a few rounds of antibiotics yesterday, and an earful of the "numbing drops" that the pedi gave us, our little guy had a much better afternoon and night and was doing better already when he woke up this morning. Apparently, dull moments aren't allowed in our house!!

I've got tons of photos at home waiting to be edited, but thought I'd share these 2 quick snaps from Aunt Kate's birthday on Sunday. Our kid is such a ham!!

This kid L-O-V-E-S attention!! (Have I mentioned just how much he is his father's son??!!) Anytime anyone sings the "Happy Birthday" song, Shane is convinced it's for him - even if he's in another room. See how much he eats this stuff up!!!
More tomorrow, promise!

Aunt Trae, it was great to have you here for a few days - we're SO glad you made the trip, despite being sick - what a trooper!!! Shane had a fantastic time and there's no doubt that he's going to miss you - we all will! Hope you have a safe flight home and we're already looking forward to your next visit!!

Better Already

Both my blogging and Chris!

And here's some proof (taken on St. Patrick's Day)! Looking good just one week after the embolization! Now we just need to get some weight back on him!
We had a house full of company yesterday, otherwise my new "blog promise" would've gotten under way a day sooner!

Here's a few more snapshots from St. Patrick's Day. $5 to anyone who can successfully explain to Shane that his electronic ride-on is an outdoor toy only . . .

Can't you just see the devil in his eyes! This kid is SO plotting his next "attack"!!

Back In The Saddle

This is me, saying to all of you, that I'm vowing to get back in the saddle and to be better about keeping this blog updated!

While I would certainly give anything to have Chris NOT be out of work on disability right now, the extra time with him at night is priceless - I didn't realize how much I missed having him around at night during the week. Family time is awesome! BUT, more family time means less free time, and less free time means less blog time!

So - to Aunt Kate - HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY!! to Aunt Trae - Welcome Back to CT!!!

We're all doing REALLY well, Chris included! Pain is present, but is becoming more localized and every day I'm seeing more and more of the man I married (how I've missed him . . .) We're still looking into different options for treatment (I'm still after the cure!) and we're taking each day as it comes.

Life really is beautiful. And valuable. You realize what's most important to you when someone threatens you with the possibility of taking it all away. Lucky for us, we refuse to let it be taken.

"Much"

It's the new "I love you" in our house (as in "I love you very much"). It's another "Shane-ism" and it lights up our hearts!

******

Chris is feeling, and doing, better every day. There's still pain, but that's to be expected for a while. The light is back in eyes. No, no. Scratch that. The LIFE is back in his eyes and it's SO good to see. He's not spending all day in bed anymore. His fast-acting pain medication is being used less and less often. He's eating a little bit more than before. There's a new sense of hope in our house for the first time in months and we're holding on tight with both hands!

Keep those prayers coming!

Celebrating You

My precious little boy. Today is one of those rare days where I took a piece of time for myself and looked back at some of these posts on this blog from the last (almost) two years; remembering you. Celebrating you.

It still seems like only yesterday that you were wobbling around on two unsteady little legs as you pushed your "walkabout" up and down the length of the playroom, teaching yourself to walk. It seems like just last week that I snapped that picture of you sitting in your highchair with a face covered in spaghetti sauce and the devil's look in your eyes and smile! It seems like just then, but it was long ago.

There are days when it's difficult for me to look back at the baby you once where, knowing you never will be again. Those are the days when it hurts my heart to realize just how quickly you are growing up, how soon your first day of school will be upon us, complete with your first lunch box and first real friend.

There are days (most days) when my heart breaks to think that you may really be my only baby. That it may really just be you. Baby boy, my precious baby boy, trust me when I tell you it's not that you're not enough for me (for I consider myself the luckiest mom in the world to have you), it's just that this isn't something I ever wanted for you. I wanted so much more for you. I never wanted for you to be an only child. I wanted to give you your best friend, your built-in playmate, your companion with which to walk through life. But I'm realizing, slowly, that life may have other plans in store for us. And in my heart, I know that that will be okay too. For you, Shane Patrick, you are the flame on my candle, on our candle, and you are all the light we need.

But still, looking back and realizing the details of the moments that have already slipped through my mind, I'm glad to have this blog, this comfort place for me. It's good to have a place to come back to, to be with the you that you once were - on the days when my heart is strong enough to visit there.

And so today I celebrate you. The you you are today. The you at almost 3 years old. My silly little boy who has found a new fondness in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The you that asks for "two treats" at bedtime; "two nanas. two puffs. two fishies" The you that makes my heart melt at the end of the day when you first catch a glimpse of me as I walk in to pick you up from daycare and how your face lights up enough to brighten even the darkest room. The you that still loves to dance and "sing" to the Wiggles; the you that knows which song, which dance step, is next - long before it comes. The you that wants to play in the pool, outside, even though it's only March.

The you that will still climb up in my lap on the occassional night for a few minutes of cuddle time before you drift off to sleep. Those are still my favorite moments. Sometimes I think you give them to me just to please me. Thank you.

Thank you for being you. And thank you for giving me so many reasons to celebrate you. To celebrate life.

Oh, What The Heck

Here's one more video clip!

That makes 3 posts in one day! Two with video and one with 10+ photos!

How's that for making up for lost time?!

His Love For The Wiggles

I'll admit it. I LOVE photographs. I love EVERYTHING about them. They're moments. Keepsakes. They're timeless.

Video . . . video is another story. We don't shoot much of it in this house (though I'm trying to rectify that situation and actually have TONS of video from Christmas if I can ever figure out how to edit and share it!)

Aunt Kate captured this on her cell phone a month or so ago. The quality isn't the greatest and it's fairly short, but it is funny! And it's Shane. 100%, dead-on, Shane. This is Shane on a daily basis, doing what he loves to do . . .dancing and singing to the Wiggles!

And in case you have a hard time trying to figure out what he's saying, he's saying goodbye to the "wacks". As in "quack". As in duck.

Welcome into our life!

Family First

We may have a lot going on right now, but it doesn't mean we don't know how to take advantage of a good thing!

Yesterday was the first nice day we've had since summer turned into fall! The temperature here reached (almost!) 60 degrees and we took full advantage of the nice weather!

We grabbed some lunch and headed down to the beach for a little exploration and play! By the time we left, the little guy was so worn out that he went home and took a 3 hour nap!

We're hoping today is another nice day like yesterday, and that this weekend is a pre-cursor of good things to come this week!

My one and only:

"Ooohh, rocks"Shane's attempt at "skipping rocks":
Enjoying the fresh air:

Sticks!!

"See, Mama!":
They still manage to make my heart stop:

"Hi, Mama!"

Best friends:

Taking it all in:

"See the boat, Shane?!"

I was there, too!
My two favorites from the day. These boys are my entire life and I cherish MANY, MANY more decades of moments like these.