Happy 3rd Birthday Ian!!!!!!

So today was Ian's 3rd Birthday! For the last couple of weeks he has been talking non stop about robot cake and robots. He really likes WALL-E and Transformers. So we made him cupcakes and a cake with a WALL-E theme and his gifts revolved around Robots. We were able to find WALL-E sheets and also a blanket. Also he has been asking for the movie Chicken Little. We borrowed it from Netflix and he has loved it ever since. I love to see him smile and get excited. Here's to many more birthdays in the future! Happy Birthday my sweet Ian!

Here is Ian admiring his Bumble Bee Transformer poster....

Here is Ian showing off his cake... I think I will keep my day job... a cake decorator I am not!

Ian all dressed up to go to church for the first time in nearly 10 months.

Ian just woke up and is checking out the cup cakes baking in the oven.

How To Eat an Orange...

I had the best laugh yesterday! We bought clementine oranges at Costco a couple days ago and they are Ian's favorite. So, I had been peeling and feeding them to him all morning. Well apparently I wasn't peeling them fast enough because Ian came out of the kitchen with one of them in his hand eating it like an apple! LOL! He had the weirdest look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out why it didn't taste right. I had him spit out the bite and give me the orange. I then peeled two more for him to devour the right way! For a kid who is a picky eater, I am surprised he didn't spit out the offending bite immediately. He was determined to eat another orange I guess. Funny Boy!

Cute Brothers and other Random Pics....

So this would be the boys playroom. It almost always looks this way. I have begged, pleaded, threatened, compromised and now I am at a loss as to how to motivate my little monsters into cleaning up. I have taken toys away and nothing phases them. I vaguely remember my mom having the same problem with my sister Chloe and me. Only it wasn't trains, cars and planes, it was every imaginable Barbie toy known to man. I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if they would keep all their stuff in the play room, but that isn't always the case. It migrates to every room of the house until your stepping on it, clearing off countertops, and sweeping it off beds for nap time. LOL! One of these days I hope they develop an appreciation for cleanliness.


I suppose Mike and I are to blame, we have over induldged them. Too much time at home over the last little while and we are over compensating. Can anyone say "GARAGE SALE" this summer????

I just thought these were cute pics of the boys! I love capturing pictures of my boys when they are being kind and loving toward one another! I often hear them singing "Kindness Begins With Me" and telling eachother 'I love you Bryce/Ian' . I melts my heart.

These boys have become eachothers best friends! I hope it stays that way!!!

Spencer just being cute as usual!

SNOW SNOW SNOW and MORE SNOW!!!!

So we woke up to about 5 inches of snow and it was still snowing. I think we got a total of 7 inches. It was so wet and of course we have one of the longest driveways in the neighborhood! Did I mention that we are the only ones on our block who don't own a snow blower. I'm thinking they know something we don't.... Of course we are the archaic ones with a stupid shovel. Anyhow, I got the boys all dressed and ready to go out and play in the snow! We had a great time. It only took me about three hours to clear the entire driveway, of course the boys weren't out there the entire time. Bryce and I made a snow man. We had a great time today! The boys are finally in bed and I bet they are going to sleep well tonight. So here are some pictures and another short video.

100 Day Post Transplant Milestone

We made it. Yesterday Ian hit his 100 day post transplant milestone. We have been so blessed, Ian didn't require any more hospitalizations due to illness and he continues to progress. He is eating well, growing taller and gaining weight! Ian isn't even three yet and he is already 39 inches tall and in the 90% for height. I don't think the chemo did anything to stunt his growth. LOL! Ian's care has been transferred to an oncology doctor who specializes in brain tumors and he will be followed closely for the next couple years. As I understand it, he will have brain and spine scans every three months for a while. If we make it to the two year mark post transplant with no tumor regrowth, then there is only a 5% chance that it would ever come back after that, and then each year that passes the chance of reoccurrence goes down. To say that I am looking forward to June 2010 would be a HUGE understatement. I long for that day with all my heart. I am not sure if I could handle watching Ian endure any more treatments if the cancer should return. The only thing I can do is trust Heavenly Father to protect and heal Ian. I have faith....all will be well.



The other good part about reaching the 100 day milestone without complications is that we have a few less restrictions and also Ian is now on one less medication. Ian can go out without a mask to places that aren't too crowded and we can also go to church together as a family so long as he doesn't go to the Nursery! We still have to be cautious about it being the cold and flu season and so we have still been restricted from play groups and other places with little kids. It won't be long though before we can let loose! YAY! My plan is to have a blast this summer with the kids!

Mike took this video at the clinic on our camera...it's just random footage. But the boys are cute!

Chance Meeting.....

This morning I decided to run to WalMart for some milk. It was about 6:30 am, a time when not many people are shopping so that I can safely take Ian out. Anyhow, we all went in our PJ's with winter coats and all. The boys were thrilled to be getting out of the house and I was surprisingly happy about getting out with all three of them. When I got to the store, there was a space waiting for me next to the entrance, and the parking lot was nearly empty. As I was getting the kiddos out of the van and in the wagon, a woman who had parked next to me was unloading her cart and getting ready to leave. I asked her if I could take her cart and she said ok. Well, when she saw me putting a mask on Ian, she asked me if he has cancer. I told her that he did and that he was done with treatment, but that we still had to keep a mask on him because his immune system is immature. Well she wanted to know what type of cancer he had. I told her medulloblastoma and this sweet woman, began to share with me that her oldest boy Brandon who is now 27, had medulloblastoma when he was six years old. Her son Brandon, underwent chemo and radiation. As a result of the radiation, he is emotionally and cognitively frozen at 6, though physically he is an adult. This wonderful women, her name is Justine, knew just what to say to me and just how to boost my spirits. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father made it possible for us to meet. Even though I know I am not alone, there are very few people who can say they know exactly how you feel and who know exactly what we are going through. Just knowing that her son is alive and well, even though he is frozen in innocence at the age of 6, she said that she was just so grateful to have her son with her still. Oh how I understand what she means. We exchanged phone numbers and I hope that we can get together some time for lunch or something.

Brain MRI

Our amazing little boy IAN

Just a quick update... Ian had his Brain MRI completed on Friday. All went well and the doctor was able to report back on the results... Ian is still in remission. We are so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers, who protects and heals. Thank you to all of you for your thoughts and prayers on behalf of our little boy and our family! This coming Tuesday, Ian will have an MRI of his spine. We are confident that those scans will also come back clean! Of course it will be another year and half before we can truly relax a bit more...They have told us that if the cancer doesn't come back within two years post resection of the tumor, it is highly unlikely to come back... Nevertheless it will be several years before anyone will consider him cured, if they can ever say that! At this point we are just so over joyed that his cancer remains in remission!