Easter Pics

We got the pictures from daycare of Carson with the Easter bunny! Looks like it went as expected based on the first picture. So cute though. He recovered nicely for the second. :)


What a difference a year makes......remember this?

18 Months!

Carson is 18 months old today! Can't believe a year and a half has flown by already.

He wanted nothing to do with Mr. Elephant tonight. Every time I set it next to him, he threw it down and laughed. :)

Chemo

We heard back from the vet early last week that Emma's white blood count had returned to normal. Yay! So we were able to go to Champaign Friday for another treatment. She did so well. Jenny said that they were very pleased with how well she responded to the new treatment. All of her lymph nodes have decreased dramatically in size since our last visit. One lymph node in her neck remains mildly enlarged so they consider her to be in partial remission. They backed off the dose a bit from last time in hopes that her white blood count won't drop as low. Her liver panel showed mildly elevated results so we're going to stop the steroids for now. Otherwise, they said she was bright and alert and responding well. :) We'll go back in 3 weeks.

Here's Em on the way down. :)

And after, enjoying a well-deserved treat.
She's been doing great this weekend. Hopefully it keeps up!

Spirit Week

As I already mentioned, last week was Spirit Week at daycare. Monday was Hat Day. Here's the rest of the week. :)

Mismatch Day

St. Patrick's Day


Crazy Hair Day
Notice the pink eye above as well. :( It's now in both eyes. We started drops on Friday and it looks like they're starting to clear up a bit now.

Wednesday was Favorite Team Day. It was also Easter Bunny pictures so we opted for a polo vs. sports tee. No pics yet. :) I'm curious to see how he reacted to the giant bunny. Hopefully, it was better than Santa!

Hat Day!

This week is spirit week at daycare. Today was hat day! :)

Look at that face!


I know, he looks like he's 3 in the last one! Ha!

Tomorrow's mismatch day!

Emma update

We got a call last week from our vet. Our oncologist had called him to let him know that Emma's white blood count was low. Jenny had warned us that with this kind of chemo, sometimes the WBC had a harder time rebounding. But we were under the impression that it happened more often after a couple of treatments. It was disheartening to have it happen after her first. :( They started her on some medicine to see if it would help bring it up. She got her blood drawn again on Thursday so we'll see what it says. She's supposed to go for her next chemo treatment on Friday. If it doesn't come up, I don't know that they be able to give her another treatment. The hard reality is sinking in that we're not going to have much time left with her.

It's really hard to think about, but we at least briefly discussed "the end" with our vet. He now makes house calls. He assured us that he could come to the house when it's time. That's very comforting to me to know that she'll be with us at home and not in some tiny, cold exam room. She'll be on her pillow and surrounded by her favorite toys, etc. She's been such a huge, wonderful part of our lives and I only hope that she's had a wonderful life with us as well.

We're not giving up yet though. We'll see how this week goes and plan on another trip to Champaign! :)

Melmo!

"Melmo? Melmo? Melmo!" That's what we hear around the house these days! Carson has been watching Elmo at school. :) He's recently discovered that Elmo is on his diapers and toothpaste at home. He seems thrilled by this. Almost as thrilled as Mickey (or monkeys) on his pajamas! It's so adorable to hear him talk more. I love it! Of course, he still calls himself "mama" and all of his "m" words kind of sound the same, but that's okay. Lol.

I haven't posted in a while. Figured it was time for an update on the little man though. I'm supposed to be working right now (don't worry, I'm at home), but.......I'm sometimes a bit of a procrastinator! :) Anyway, as it's been awhile, this post is probably going to be a bit random as I try to recall all that he's been up to lately. This is my baby book after all, so I need to get all of those random "milestones". Someday (I promise), I will be a good mom and go back and fill out his baby book completely! At least I have this to look back on. It's just crazy how time passes so quickly and he changes so much! It's hard to get it all down. I'm too busy soaking it up.

Like I said, he's talking more and more. It's pretty amazing to us to hear him. I think daycare has really helped a lot, being around so many other kids - I'm often surprised at some of the things he knows! A couple of weeks ago, I asked him if he wanted some more milk and he nodded and said "more". But I noticed that he also did something with his hands. I asked him again to see if he'd do it again.....and sure enough, he also signed "more". I couldn't believe it. Apparently, they do signing as part of their "circle time" at school. Since then, he's signed several things to me! So cute. What I like though, is that he also says it along w/ signing. He can sign "thank you", "hat" and "all done". Pretty cute. He also now knows all of his body parts. We started just w/ belly, nose and toes, but he's got them all down now. Last night, he even showed me heart. We were reading and saw a picture of a heart. When I said it, he patted his chest twice and said "boom, boom". How cute is that?! I'm just so proud of him learning so much. I'm just fascinated every time he says something new. :) I just love him to pieces! I was just thinking the other day about how I miss him being a baby... but this stage is so much FUN. It's hard to miss it too much.

I can't wait for warmer weather so we can get out and do more together. I'm definitely looking forward to it now that he's older. We at least made it out this weekend for our first walk of the year. I think it helped Emma being able to get outside a little bit. And Carson was more than overjoyed when we pulled his wagon out! We also went to the store this weekend. I know, very exciting. But the reason I share the story is because Lucas and I cracked up as we walked by the produce section. We went by all the onions, apples, oranges, etc. and our precious 18-mo. old screamed "ball, ball, ball, BALL!!" Love it. We laughed so hard.

Okay, so what else have we been up to over the last couple of months??

Discovering love of ketchup!
Surviving first blizzard!

After we dug out....
Helping Daddy clean the kitchen floor
Helping Mommy open her birthday card
Getting a delivery from Old Navy
Hanging out in the "toy chest"
Chasing down the vacuum (one of his favorite things)
Being adorable :)

Trading in our highchair for a booster seat!
Saying "cheese"

Being a big boy
Taking care of Emma ("Sissy")
Dancing

Going blind from Mommy's flash (but look at those eyes :) )
Guess that's about it for now. :)