Check the Photography Blog

I'm too lazy to post the pictures and post again here so go check out my photography blog. I posted some super cute pictures of my parents. Some with my kiddies and some without. Either way, they are so priceless to me!!! Peace.

C Money

I just looked through my blog (thanks for the comments here and there!) and realized that I hadn't posted these pictures I took of Carter while we were in Breck last month. He's such a good sport... me shoving my camera in his face all the time... 1/2 of the time when he feels like doodoo. One of these days he's going to just puke on my camera just to prove a point. :) But, until then, camera in the face it is! :) I think I'm a touch bias but isn't he SO cute?!?!? I love him in hats. I also love him bald. As crazy as it seems, he has TONS of hair in these pictures compared to what he has now. He's so cute and shiny-bald now. There's not a lick of hair to be seen. The other day Bryan painted his head black... just for fun. We enjoy having the Bald Eag around. :) While Addi and I were in San Diego for my girls weekend (girlfriends from AZ) she saw a picture of Carter all cute and bald at Gigi's house (my super cute Grandma). She turned to my mom and exclaimed, "That little bald boy misses me!!" Indeed, he did. I think it was just as much that he wanted to make sure she wasn't having too much fun without him. He has declared that he and Daddy will be going on their own Boys Trip as soon as he's healthy enough to travel. Not sure how to break the news to him that his cancer has left nothing but crickets int he bank account. :) I really can't get enough of this kid. He's my hero and I hive him millions of kisses every day... since he's still small enough that he's not embarrassed by me yet. :)

A Little Update

I know I've been neglecting the blog. Lots going on. Here's a quick update on the family.

Bryan went on a boys weekend to New Orleans with Clint (always), Bill (Clint's brother), and Collin Christensen (his cousin). They had a lot of fun. They went and saw Joe Rogan (the Survivor dude who is also into UFC) do a show about UFC, went on a cool swamp tour, went to what I can only assume is an aquarium (he texted the kids a picture of a baby alligator and turtle), and of course, hit up an NFL game.

My mom came and hung out with me for the weekend with the kids. Always makes it a little better having someone to spend the weekend with when Bryan is gone. I get so bored at night.

Carter's counts are super sucky. They more or less have been since the beginning of August. He hasn't really played with anyone since then. He hasn't even seen his sweet friend Taeler except for once since then. We avoided a blood transfusion this weekend by the skin of our teeth. That wouldn't have been a huge deal but it would have been a day in the hospital and a day away from the girls. We went to the doctor again today for his monthly antibiotic and checked counts again. Still bad but showing signs of heading the right direction. He has another appointment on Friday and IF (big "if") he passes counts he will start a new cycle of chemo on Monday morning. Personally, I don't think he'll pass.

Pathetic moment of the week: Addilyn for the past few weeks has been complaining of being tired and having pain in her legs and stuff like that. Those were the same complaints that Carter had when he was diagnosed. So, Dr Reaves (the oncologist) let me bring her in today and they tested her for Leukemia. Good news guys; she doesn't have it. :) Dr Reaves giggled when I requested the test with the disclaimer of "I know I'm being silly but..." and assured me that I am NOT the first parent that is uber paranoid about siblings getting cancer as well.

Pres is still too cute and wild for words. She learned how to climb out of not only her crib but also a port-a-crib. She's only done each one time but unfortunately I think our days in the crib are numbered. I can't believe I'll be getting rid of it... never thought I'd see the day.

I'm good... same old thing. I'm working away on getting a few photo sessions done. I took out some girlfriends this weekend for a "Hot Mama" shoot. We had so much fun. The weather and girls were beautiful so in turn the pictures are beautiful.

Next I'm going to post about our vacation to Breckenridge... over a month ago. :) Until then, I'll find a random picture to post with this post.

This picture is from Breckenridge. I have been SUPER bad about just pulling out the camera. I think after we move (IN TWO WEEKS!!!!!) I'll be better about it. I'll be sure to take pictures of the disaster of a house while we are unpacking. :)

Family Pictures

It took THREE times to actually get our family pictures taken. THREE. Not because of the cancer (although that would be a better story). Nope. It was because the weather up here kept giving us storms on my picture day! Seriously? What's up with that? But, we finally got them done. It was very important for me to get family pictures taken while Carter was bald. I want this documented. (It's the photographer in me.) This is (hopefully) the most life changing thing my sweet little family will EVER go through. Plus, it's been almost two years since we had pics taken. With moving and everything last year we were aiming for spring time and then the whole "your kid has cancer" thing happened so pics got put on the back burner. But, alas, here they are and I couldn't be happier with them. My super duper awesome friend Chelsea Bevans of Shutter Bliss Photography took them. These ones I edited but you can pop over to her blog and see the ones she edited of us.

Addi is such a poser. And when the light hit that super pretty time and the other three kids were done (who's the third, you ask? Why, it's Bryan. :)) Chelsea wanted to take advantage of Addilyn's killer hair and took a few pictures. As you can tell, Addi put up a REAL fight... (eye roll)

Love this man more and more with each passing day. Don't know what I did to get so lucky but I thank our dear Father in Heaven for him each and every day.
This is the Christmas card one so... get ready! :)

I pink puffy heart this one. It'll be framed somewhere.
His shirt made me giggle. We support drugs in our house. :)

Bryan is SO good with making the kids laugh.

Tired

Long night last night. Carter's in the middle of Delayed Intensification. (Head to my photography blog to see details on that.) He's been doing amazingly well. He should be puking his brains out and while he doesn't feel fabulous, he's not throwing up. YAY! Last night when he was heading to bed he felt particularly nasty. He went to sleep at 7:00, garbage can in hand ready to vomit... whimpering. Poor guy. At 10:00 Bryan and I were in the family room and we heard him crying. He was in our bathroom going potty and on FIRE. His temp was 104. Again, poor guy. So, we called the oncologist who told us to head to the ER. Bummer.

The nice thing about him having cancer is that when Carter and I got there they knew he was coming (thank you to the oncologist for calling) and we didn't even sit down. We headed back to Carter's room and he went back to sleep. He still had a fever, though it was a little lower at this point. When he gets a fever we aren't allowed to give him anything to treat it until they get his blood counts and give us the okay. They want to see what the fever will do on it's own. It wasn't until I asked the nurse a few times at 1:00am for Tylenol that we actually got one. (Poor ER nurses. They are going a million directions at one time.)

By the time they finally accessed his port he was no longer numb from the numbing cream I had put on him. They missed his port the first time (they did this last time we were in the ER) so they had to poke him twice... at 12:30am... while he wasn't even numb. He was NOT entertained. But, we finally got his counts. They were really high, which is GREAT! What that means is that his body sensed the sickness (whatever it may be, we still don't know) and his white blood cells went crazy multiplying trying to fight it off. This is great! They pumped him full of some pricey, super strong antibiotics and by 3am we were back in our own beds at home.

It was a long, looong night but it was good to hear that his body's doing what it should be doing. His fever is all but gone this morning and we are heading into the oncology clinic in a few hours to get some more of the antibiotic. Poor kid. He had been de-accessed for a grand total of 12 hours before they poked him again. We had de-accessed him at home yesterday morning (that means that we took the poke out of his port) after we had given him his dose of chemo at home. But, as always, he took it in stride, slept in this morning, and hasn't complained even once. Amazing.

Here's a picture I took at the hospital on my iPhone last night. He looks so darn tired... :(

Addi Cakes

This child.... honestly, she couldn't be more perfect... couldn't be more adorable... couldn't be more sensitive... Sometimes my Mommy-guilt sets in. She is the middle child and I do my best to not let her have "middle child syndrome". But, right now, it's hard. With Carter going through everything he's going through and with Preslee being such a little spit-fire right now (and potty training), I worry constantly if I am being a good enough mommy to this little sweet heart.

She is IMPOSSIBLE to stay mad at. I dare you to try it. You won't be able to. Her heart breaks into a million little pieces when she knows she's done something wrong or made you upset in any way. She sobs very sincere tears and just wants to hug you when she knows your upset with her. Every ounce of frustration or anger instantly melts.

She is also our little snuggle bug. Always has been. Ever since they handed her to me the moment she was born, she has loved cuddling (every mother's dream). She will constantly come to us (sometimes if she wakes up to pee or something at 2am...) and sweetly ask, "Can I suggle wis you?" in her cute little voice. We could not be more in love with this little girl. I just wish I could freeze her like this so she doesn't turn into a mouthy teenager.

I know there is a reason the dear Lord gave her to us. I think it is a reward for something... not sure what, but I'm going to question it. I could spend every last moment of my life with her. She's my littel angel.

Our Big 2 Year Old!

Preslee turned two on August 1 while we were up in Breckenridge on vacation. It was so fun- and easy- to celebrate it while we were there. My parents were up there with us so that in itself was a birthday present for her. We took her out for a little photo shoot (it's beyond stunning up there). It was a photo shoot I left feeling frustrated and like I had gotten exactly ZERO good pictures. Turns out I got tons of great ones. The key for Pres is having Daddy behind the camera to get her to smile and laugh. She was definitely hard to photograph (I wanted to super glue her rear to thr ground) but well worth the sweating and running to get these pictures. I want to freeze her just like this... she's so darling! (With a Tasmanian Devil edge to her.)

This one below is SO "her."





The one below she was mad a a wet hen in. She had taken off her shoes and refused to put them back on so she was just in socks. She was NOT pleased with me (nor was Daddy, I think) when we took her out of the stroller to walk across the beautiful field.