Tue Nov 23, 2010

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!! We are looking forward to spending time with our families. We are heading down to see Phil's family tomorrow after rehab. They all live down at Pomme de Terre. We will be staying through Friday. Saturday night is Thanksgiving at my parents house. I am so excited for pumpkin pie. Mmmmm!! I am so grateful that we have SO much to be thankful for this year! Blake is doing really well. We started back up at rehab today, our 2 week break was great. Blake is getting so big so fast. I am starting to miss my lil man. He is a flirt. He has been saying all kinds of funny things lately. I need to start writing them down. He is so much fun these days. He loves playing with his imaginex stuff, and cars of course. He is getting to be so independent. We are currently working on potty training. So far its going pretty good-slow, but good. He isnt telling me when he has to go yet, Im hoping that will come soon. He does pee on the potty most of the times I sit him on it. I was so proud of him for wearing underwear to rehab today and not having an accident until we were on our way home. So from 8 until 230 he stayed dry, and peed on the potty twice. I cant wait till he has the whole potty training thing down. Its a lot of work.
Tomorrow they are going to cast his arm, luck for him they are out of the sock that goes under the cast, so he gets one that will come off and on. Last time when we tried this kind-he knew it could come off, and wouldnt do the work. I am hoping since he is older, we can explain that he has to wear it until bath time/bedtime everyday. He has been listening to the therapists about his tape, so Im hoping the casting will work the same. lol
I hope all of you have a fabulous Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for all your continued support and prayers. We have had a long year-and having you there for us has been such a blessing. Thank you all for sticking through this with us. I am hoping next year continues to bring us good news. I also hope Blake continues to make progress with his right side, and gaining more of it back. He is such an amazing kid. I am one proud mama!

Sun Nov 6, 2010

Ok so I said Id post soon! So here we go!
Good news is always so much easier to write about! We had our oncology apt on Thurs. to get the results to Blake's MRI...and his tumor is STABLE!!! I cannot tell you how happy we are! I am so thankful for all the prayers and support! Blake continues to make gains, he is one happy little boy! November is going to be a great month, I can just feel it!
This past weekend I went out with Megan-who is about to pop! lol She is due Nov 27-with her 2nd lil girl. I am so excited! I cant wait for my new lil neice to be born-Avery Taylor. Megan had asked me to take pics of her while she is pregnant-so Sat I took Megan out for her shoot-let me just say I had a blast! I am pretty happy with the pictures. I posted them on my Facebook-if you wanna take a look. They are in my 'Photos by Me' album. I am trying to get back into photography. I started to a few years ago and slacked off due to life and what not. However, I am ready to get back out there and capture life! Well, actually so far I am just doing portraits. But who knows-possibilities are endless!! Im enjoying myself!
I will let you guys know how Blake's botox goes on Thurs. I am looking forward to seeing the results! Talk to you all soon!!

Tue Nov 2, 2010



Blake LOVED painting faces



I am so sorry I have taken so long to do an update. We have had such a crazy, busy October. It was a great month-just super busy! We had 3 benefits for Blake in October alone. We are so grateful for all the continued support. It has been a year now since all this has happened, and knowing that we still have the support of all of you means SO much to us! Blake is doing really well. He is talking more and more each day. If I could only remember all the funny things he says. He has quite the sense of humor. His balance is a lot better-he doesn’t fall nearly as much anymore! I have SO much to tell you!




Junk 4 Jackson-garage sale



During the month of Oct. we were able to meet so many amazing people! Our month started with Junk-4-Jackson‘s 4th Annual Garage Sale. We met Denise through a mutual friend. She was looking for a child to be the honorary recipient of the sale since her son died in November of 2009 from brain cancer. We felt so fortunate that she chose Blake! Her son’s story was so touching, and we had a lot in common. She is such a strong and inspirational woman! We also met a ton of people through Junk-4-Jackson. Just a few of the people who were touched by Jackson and his story formed a group called “Friends of Jackson” in order to help raise awareness for childhood cancer! They are all such amazing people! We have a whole new support group…everyone fell in love with Blake! He is seriously one loved little boy! He had so much fun at the sale. He loved the fire truck; he didn’t want to get out. Channel 9 came out and got some footage of Blake in the fire truck. We missed it. L We are still trying to find someone who recorded it… Channel 5 also came out and did an interview with Denise. I am so amazed at how many people donated their time and ‘junk’ for the sale. The sale had some great attractions: Slugger, KU band, soloist, guitar player, moonwalks and SO much more!! It was a blast!!

Blake watching the pool tournament

After the sale we headed down to Nevada, MO for a ‘Catch Me Running’ benefit. For those of you who are not familiar, Christian has started a non-profit organization in Blake’s name to help families of children diagnosed with life threatening illnesses. We have received a lot help from Christian and her events. She is doing an amazing job; it’s a lot of work to get a foundation up and running. Her goal is to obtain 501(c)(3) status in the next few months. This has been a dream of hers; she was waiting to find a cause. Lucky for us, Blake is now that cause. Her passion for this organization is so incredible! I look forward to working with her to help other families down the road. It’s such an amazing thing to give back and help people who are going through similar situations. Ok-, back to the CMR event in Nevada, lol. Christian, her dad, and step-mom hosted a dinner, auction, and pool tournament. We were interviewed live on the Nevada radio station prior to the event. I must say that small towns have some of the BIGGEST hearts! There were only about 40 people who attended-but let me just say that with all the love and support, you would have thought there were a hundred! Nevada will always hold a special place in my heart. It reminded me a lot of the dinner we had in Paola, KS. The community of a small town is amazing to me…everyone is there to help you out like you are family. It’s truly inspiring!

Blake as Two Face

We had a week off in-between these events and the Halloween party. Thank goodness! We all worked really hard on the details for the party. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. I take pride in making Blake’s costume, as well as mine. This year I made Blake’s, Phil’s, and mine, along with helping Christian with hers when she needed me to. I am pretty proud of the turnout! Blake was Two-Face (from Batman), the Tommy Lee Jones version. J He looked the part! We originally planned his costume off the bald spot he had from radiation; however, his hair had almost grown back in the few weeks before Halloween. Lol So the night before Halloween, we shaved off the ‘new’ hair. I know you are thinking we are crazy, but we did shave the remaining hair off Monday morning. Lol Oh, and I actually saved the ‘new’ hair in a zip lock baggy. I know I’m weird. I have to keep it for the baby book! The party was a hit! Phil made an inflatable maze-so cool. My dad was the bearded lady at the kissing booth, SO creepy lol. Jon’s dad, Tom, was the mad scientist. He made this really cool game, which was a huge hit with the kids. We had some really great volunteers. We couldn’t have done this without their help: Sara-photography, Brooke-pumpkin painting, Jackie & Janet-entry table, Jeff & Kelsey-face painting and tattoos, Katie-our salon scare dresser, Phil and Jon-the maze coordinators, Megan-pregnant vampire @ the vampire tea party, Kathy-mad scientist assistant, Rebekah-games, and-of course-Ted at the Veterans Hall, who donated the space to us! We are so thankful for all the help and hard work! Also, a big thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed the party! Without you ,we wouldn’t have a party. I love that everyone dressed up! The costumes were so great! I will be posting pictures soon! I LOVE Halloween!!



Our amazing crew that volunteered for the party!







So, after our incredibly long day Sunday, Monday we had to be at CMH by 7:45am for Blake’s MRI. I am praying that we get good results. I’m a little nervous…I always am even though we have had good results since Houston. We find out Thursday the MRI results, so I will keep you guys posted. This month is another eventful one-MRI, a short break from Rehab, Botox, CMH rehab follow up, return to Rehab, Cast Blake’s good arm again, and Thanksgiving. Whew. I think that’s all. Life remains as busy as ever. Oh, and did I mention we are trying again to get Blake into the school district’s special preschool program? Lol It seriously never ends! We have SO much to be grateful for though. I have such amazing supporters and family who love us. I know no matter what is thrown our way, we will make it through…with a positive outlook. God has a plan for us!!

I will talk to you all soon. I promise I will try my best to get back to updating you a little more frequently!! xoxo