Sun Jan 30, 2011

Front yard the night before we left...lots of snow

Sleeping off the sedation after his MRI

Hello my faithful readers! We are back from Houston. We had quite the trip. We left last Thursday morning, right after we got all that snow. Ugh! lol The roads were ok through Missouri, just had to go REALLY slow. However when we got to Oklahoma the roads were covered in black ice, and it was kinda scary. I was totally missing my 4 wheel drive although it probably wouldnt of helped. I invited my dad to go with Blake and I. It was a surprise for my aunt. She had no idea. They are cousins and haven't seen each other since 1994. lol Needless to say they were both excited to see each other. I love going down to see them. I was so happy that I was able to see everyone this trip. Blake loves them all so much! Our apt was on Monday morning. We left my aunts house an hour and a half before our apt, and due to the traffic and rain, we were almost 30 min late. We made it to the MRI on time though, thank goodness. After Blake was done with his MRI we ate the lunches we packed, and then went to our follow up apt. We met with a doctor who explained Blake's MRI. His tumor is still stable! They did a lower contrast MRI so they weren't able to tell us for sure if his tumor is off his brain stem, but the fact that his tumor has shrunk so much is good enough for me! He said there is always a chance that the tumor could come back, but its just a chance. So I will continue to pray for a stable tumor. I am going to try to get a copy of the images, one from before Proton therapy and one now. Words cannot explain what the images show. I truly feel Houston was our miracle! Blake is doing so great! I am looking for a pt job. Its been difficult since he is still going to rehab 3 days a week, and in Feb he will start preschool for half day on the days he isnt at rehab. I keep praying that something will cross my path. God has a plan and i know he will open the door when the time is right. Phil is trying to pick up overtime at work, so that will help. We have faith. Oh I almost forgot to tell you guys, Blakes new plan after his 1 year apt will be MRI every 4 months instead of every 3, and we will only be going to Houston for our yearly apts. So that is good news! I am sad that I will have to wait a year to see my Houston family. I might have to take a trip down just for fun. lol I love them so much-it stinks that we live so far away from each other. Well, thats all for now. So I will talk to you all soon!! xoxo

Jimmy and Blake-so happy he just got bubble gum ice cream!

At Chuy's with the crew!

Fri Jan 14, 2011

2nd Day in Florida...already on the beach!!

Happy New Year everyone!! So far this year has been great! We started off the New Year with a 24 hour drive to Palm Bay, Florida. Blake was such a trooper in the car. I cant believe that he rode the whole way with very few fussing. lol He is one amazing 3 year old. We stayed with Christian's Aunt and Uncle-who are the sweetest people! They took very good care of us! The weather was fantastic-75 degrees most days! Monday we went to Cocoa Beach, and Ron Jon. Phil was looking for a new hat, somehow Blake and I found hats and Phil had no luck. lol Blake loved the beach, and with sunny weather it was the perfect day! We went to Disney World Tues-Wed. It has been a childhood dream of mine, and I must say it was just as great as Id imagined it would be. Blake had the time of his life! He loved seeing all the characters, even though it was quite the challenge...we stood in line for an hour to see Buzz and Woody. lol He was able to meet Pirate Goofy at Magic Kingdom, Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, Buzz, Woody, McQueen, and Mater at Hollywood Studios, and Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Thumper, and King Louie at Animal Kingdom. We were able to see a lot of the other characters, however they were done by the time we saw them. We stayed in the Caribbean Beach Resort, in a pirate room. Blake LOVED sleeping in a pirate ship, the room was totally done in Pirate theme. Very cool! We all had so much fun! We decided to go back to Cocoa Beach on Thurs. The weather was a little chilly, we walked through Old Cocoa Beach-had lunch at a french restaurant on their patio. It was really nice. Then we headed back to the beach-it was chilly but still so nice. Blake played in the sand, we collected a couple sea shells. It was the perfect end to our vacation. We left at 4am our time to come home Friday. Arriving home at 4am on Sat. We did stop in St. Louis to eat a snack with Christians brother and future sis-in-law. We really enjoyed the week.

We leave next Thurs for Houston. I am really anxious to hear what MD Anderson will say when they see how great Blake is doing. I also have a ton of questions for them. I am looking forward to spending time with my Houston family. I have missed them SO much! Blake is getting excited for our trip too! You would think he is sick of long car rides! 2 big ones this month. However, he doesnt seem to mind the long rides!
Our year is starting out great! I pray that it continues. Thank you all for all your support-you guys are amazing! Love to you all!!

Walking into the Magic Kingdom...Blake loved the castle

Dumbo

Pirate Goofy-what a signature!!

A long wait to meet these guys!



Finally meeting McQueen and Mater



Christian and Blake hangin out on the beach on our last
day in Florida. Blake loved Cocoa Beach!