What do you wear to the beach?

I ask because proper beach attire in my house is highly arguable.

Some bundle up in 40 degree weather and growl at the blasted wind while showing absolutely no desire to touch the water or hold a seashell.
Behold, Exhibit A:



Others in the family relish the thought of tingly cold toes and salty hair. They put on a slightly small bathing suit with enthusiasm and dance with abandon while searching for that perfect shell or while waving at dolphins in the distance.
Behold, Exhibit B:




Can you tell which one was born in Florida and which was born in Georgia? :)

Two Things

There are simply only Two Things that are good about steroids.

1) they are killing any hidden remaining leukemia cells in my sweet baby girl


AND...





2) They make for some sweet quiet moments on mommies bed watching movies.

(And by the way, Youtube is weird. We started out watching babies laughing and next thing I know its a kid dancing to Shakira and then what do you know, there is Shakira herself shaking it up. Piper liked it so I hung in there for a minute but Mommy has a limit and apparently my limit is a Colombian pop star singing about her hips.)


So here's to steroid pulses where my daughter has learned to cuddle instead of scream on my hip.

Monthly Clinic Visit 12/15

Piper had her monthly clinic visit today and all is well. Chad had the honor of bringing Piper alone while I juggled Linley and got caught up with present wrapping, endless laundry and housework and working on an pile of to be filed papers. It was lovely...I didn't say a word for 6 hours and frightened myself when I laughed out loud at a Seinfeld re-run. (Elaine cracks me up every time) Like I said, lovely.


And clinic apparently went well. Piper was given steroids before her IVIG transfusion and subsequently did not have any reaction to it and was able to complete it in the normal four hours. Her chemo (vincristine) went without delay and the Nurse Practitioner was pleased with her almost half a pound weight gain. (6.4kilo last month, 6.6 this month) Pipers ANC was higher than they prefer to keep it during treatment. The goal is closer to 2000 or so and she was at 5300 so Nurse Amy upped her weekly methotrexate to 3 pills instead of 2 and a half and upped her 6mp one night a week to see if it keeps her numbers within the more appropriate range. BUT...everything looks beautiful, there are no concerns.

Piper is eating her weight in Ritz crackers. And shredded cheese. She nibbles willingly on pistachios, eggs, and raw baby carrots. I have to admit that I was thrilled to hear that she had gained weight because I dropped one of her 4 daily four oz. formula feedings. She was puking every night and I just felt like it was a futile attempt...the last thing I wanted to do was to create yet another food aversion. She now takes four oz. 3 times a day and is eating much more. So, less calories going in from the formula but none coming back up and less diarrhea.

We had a visit from the Babies Cant Wait team last week. It was pretty much unanimous that Piper more than qualifies for help. Hopefully, she will be beginning weekly therapy in January and I am still attempting to get additional treatment through the hospital where she gets treatment.

Today begins her 5 day pulse of steroids. Last month was pretty easy but we have had some months that were horrid. I never know what to expect but thankfully we were able to bump up her monthly visit to today instead of next week in order to have her off steroids and back to her sometimes fussy/always cuddly self for Christmas.

So there you go. I am sure I will remember something else but as for right now I am going to go crawl into my clean Apple Mango Tango smelling sheets and mentally celebrate that tomorrow is Linleys last morning to have to get up before the sun for 2 glorious weeks.

I am doing my part...

...to stimulate the economy. I feel for those who fear for their jobs but Praise God, if you work for Gain, you are secure. Children like my Piper who puke or my Linley who loves a good old fashioned multiple daily wardrobe change or my husband who likes clean socks, well, we are doing our part to keep you guys in business.

Enjoy the Christmas season with your newly secured, newly stimulated paycheck Gain and friends. I love you and I love the Apple Mango Tango scent and seriously, its makes the chore that is washing clothes so much more enjoyable. Not putting the laundry away though, that part still totally stinks. (figuratively not literally)

Always fun to be me

Pay no mind to my appearance..the church outfit I initially put on this morning was the unfortunate destination of Pipers lunch, post consumption. And while baby wipes are super helpful in Target (snack, post consumption), not so much at home when a shower is your best bet.



Oh, my sweet little mini Kelly Ripa. You are an amazing little cook and helper...the dance at the end was especially fancy, but I prefer the one where you don't share the Chex Mix with the floor. You are correct though, it was still "totally fantabulous".




And hello there to you, Piper. Please don't eat that. Don't eat anything unless you want to commit to digesting it. Pretty please?





So making Chex Mix is a super easy and super yummy holiday treat. Plus, its nice to not need a lot of room to prepare it as Piper is actually sitting on the entire counter. Actually, the dish stand next to the fridge is also part of the counter but it doesn't count since I refuse to dry my dishes on the trashcan, which is the only other surface in the room. Thank goodness I found a cutting board to partially cover the stove top and provide me with sooo much more space. And no, I cannot cook over there because the only power outlet in the room is behind the dish stand. Chad often woos me with images of a future kitchen with a fridge that my 5"1 self wont tower over and one of those fancy drawers that wash your dishes with a push of a button...what a man.

Puking and chattering none stop aside it was a pretty nice day with the girls and Chad. At the risk of being selfish and short thinking, I am still prayerfully awaiting the day that I can relax in a normal way with this little family...seriously, I am praying an awful lot for that one these days.

"Hey, its okay"

-to pay the extra money to shop at Publix because they have cool shopping carts
and free balloons and cookies for the girls.

-to wonder what it would take to spend a day or so alone in the bed...and to be
okay if that would require, say, a bout of the flu.

-to wonder how Chad would deal with twin boys. Just to wonder, not to plan for.

-to feel badly for Kate Middleton because I cannot for the life of me imagine
planning a wedding or a marriage with so much scrutiny and rules.

-to find myself daydreaming about sleeping in on Saturday morning thanks to my mom.

-to be a horrible, horrible, horrible Christmas present wrapper.

-to love my daughters unabashedly but still fully acknowledge that Piper screams
like a pterodactyl and that Linley is chattier than Kelly Ripa on coffee.

-to have a mini crush on Coco...and if you know who he is, you are as cool as me.

The part of the conversation that I apparently missed.

This is what I remember:

Me: Linley, its time to get out of the shower okay?

Linley: Can I have 10 more minutes???

Me: not tonight...lets go

***Silence***

Me: hello?

Linley: I'm turning it off

Me: thank you


And I assumed that was all...BUT apparently she really, really, really had more she wanted to say but was a very wise 5 year old who treasures her evening Christmas shows privilege.

(And the answer is that I ignored it because I am pretty sure she got that "get the last word in" mentality from her mother. talk about ouch)

Sleeping Beauties

These are my girls. And they are beautiful.

Piper is indeed, wearing a hat, as she does all the time for some strange reason. She looks and acts just like her Daddy but sleeps just like her Mommy...curled up on her tummy with her hands under her chin.



And Linley still sleeps with her "lammy" as she has since she was 4 months old. She looks and acts just like her Mommy but sleeps just like her Daddy...on her back sprawled out and usually with her arms over her head.



And now I need to go wake Piper up to get some more calories in her little body before dropping this tired body into my own bed, inevitably to be joined about 3:00am by one very sweet, sleepy, wiggly 5 year old and her ragged "lammy".

Love these sleeping beauties.

daybook

I hopped over to the blog of one of my readers and she does this little post every so often. It made me smile plus I hate doing the laundry that is building up as we speak. Soooo...I will procrastinate in a very productive way.

outside my window: are squirrels, which Piper calls doggies and I let her.

I'm thinking: about explaining to Linley that not only "brown boys" can sing rap music but am fearful she may confirm her newest career aspiration.

I'm thankful: for two happy girls to do Christmas crafts with tonight, even if Piper did stick tape in my ear and Linley wanted to make an pair of Christmas paper underpants.

I'm praying: that I will be a faithful sufferer no matter what ick my life has in it.

In the kitchen: there are never more than 2 people at the same time unless any additional people are willing to sit on the trashcan.

I'm hearing: the sound of the 3 year old up stairs who is apparently jacked up on coca-cola and playing with a million marbles every night til midnight.

I'm reading: Not a marriage communication book. No way Jose. Not us.

One of my favorite things: Candy Cane Hershey's kisses. Nothing better.

I'm creating: a pair of earrings with the most gorgeous blue glass beads and wondering who I like well enough to pass these babies on to.

Around the house: there are many messes the maid needs to get to cleaning up.

A few things to do this week: Pipers evaluation for Babies Cant Wait, decorating the house, making some yummy Christmas jello jigglers, participate in Walk to School day with Linley even though its just dumb to walk anywhere in 40 degree weather, making a meal for an expectant mommy friend, counseling with the hubs, writing thank you notes to the sender of said jello jiggler makings and other fantastic supporters of our family, shopping for Christmas presents, reorder Pipers formula and weekly meds, having lunch with Linley at school, going to a Christmas parade, and maybe just maybe a nap in there somewhere for me.