Probably won't blog for awhile...

Well, tomorrow we are off to Washington! I can't wait.... I'm extremely excited!! It could possibly be a very interesting trip. It will be Austin's first trip without diapers. So cross your fingers and pray that he does well!! We are bringing his potty seat, just in case he has to go potty at a time where there's no rest area, so hopefully this will go smoothly!
Saturday is my baby shower. I'm so excited for it. My mom, Jen (bro's girlfriend) and my good friend Chelsea's throwing the shower for me. They are being very secretive, and won't tell me a thing about it. Well, except that they're having pink punch. HA! :) So I really can't wait to see what they've put together. I'm lucky to have such great family and friends. :)
Sunday is Easter, which I'm very excited for. This is Austin's first Easter with this set of Grandparents, so it will be new again. He's a little older this year, so hunting eggs will be fun for him I think. We'll be able to actually hide them a little bit this year. Last year, we "hid" them in the middle of the yard, so they could be easily seen.
Bryant has to leave on Monday. Duty calls. Unfortunately. I'll definitely miss him, but will be staying in Washington until the 22nd. I'm excited for it though, I will get to spend some time with a couple friends, and my family. I've been pretty homesick lately, so it will hopefully cure it for awhile!

For those of you wondering, there's been no news yet on the Tacoma job that Bry applied for.

And here's the picture of the day! I took his a few days ago when we went to the park with Austin.... I just love it. It's the perfect daddy and son picture... makes you wonder what they were talking about. :)




xoxoxoxo
k.

Oh Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uncle Paul & Austin

(Sorry ahead of time if this whole blog is jumbled together in one long paragraph. I don't know why it keeps doing that and won't let me seperate thoughts, paragraphs, ect.)

I don't even have the words tonight. I've been sitting here for about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to start this post. I'm just speechless.
Some of you may know, and some of you may not. 11 months ago, our Uncle Paul was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Glioblastoma to be exact. To get a grasp of the severity of his tumor, here is a blog I posted on my Myspace page 11 months ago right after they found out his prognosis:

Uncle Paul. Goofy. Insane at times. Life of the party. Loving. Caring. Loyal. Amazing.
.....Drooping mouth. Arm Problems. Slurred speech. Doctor visit. MRI.
Oh shit.
Our Uncle Paul went in not even two weeks ago to see the doctor. He's been realizing that his left arm has been not functioning quite right, the left side of his face had been a little "off" and he just wasn't Paul. So him and Aunt Connie went to see the doctor, thinking what anyone would think... he had a stroke. No, I only can wish on a million stars that was the case. But it's not. They found a huge tumor in his brain. And I am not exaggerating when I say huge. It was/is HUGE.
And that's when their life started falling apart.
Surgery, the best option for brain tumors. Brain surgery. Oh my God. Just those two words together.... they just shouldn't fit.
They knew going in that the tumor was malignant. Paul came out of surgery wonderfully.... better than anyone could have asked for. He went in, and 4 hours later he was out.
The doctor, however, didn't share in such joys. Wonderful that he came out so well.... but prognosis, not great. They weren't able to get much of the tumor due to horribly interrupting motor skills and overall brain function. Full recovery? Not hopeful. In a few days they'd have a complete biopsy, the doctor said.
Well, today was that day. Final results are in.
Glioblastoma. The worst kind of tumor one can possibly have. What stage you ask? Stage 4. And if you know, or if you don't.... there's only 4 stages.
Oh shit.
Glioblastoma is an incredibly fast moving tumor. Some can double and even triple in two days time. Some cases, as in my Uncle Paul's case, the tumor can grow so incredibly large and do it's damage, before you even know you have cancer.
Not only that. Stage 4. A year or less, at best.
Oh shit.
The bottom just fell out of the lives of many people today.
Keep it together? Are you crazy? Are you kidding me? Do you hear what I am saying? A year AT BEST. Now YOU keep it together.
But I know my role, I know I've got to keep my chin up, I've got to stay strong, as everyone in the family does right now.
This will be a trial. This will be a task that I hope we can all accomplish to give them the peace and serenity that Conne and Paul need right now.


So that's that. That's what they were dealing with. Paul has fought harder than I thought possible. He went through horrible round after round of Radiation/Chemo. Treatments that made him sick. So sick he kept ending up in the hospital for IV fluids. I just can't even describe the things that he endured during this time. Not to mention Aunt Connie. They are so strong. SO strong.

His Chemo ended, and Monday was his "tell all" MRI. The MRI that would tell them whether his cancer was better, or worse. And as you can see from my blog 11 months ago, it's always hard to keep your hopes high, and always hard to look for that silver lining.

His doctor appointments were today to reveal the results.

GOD IS SOOOOO AMAZING. The tumor, this deadly tumor, is mostly just dead tissue now. There are two noduals on the MRI that showed up Monday that were not in the September MRI, but the radiologist and both oncologists strongly believe that it's residual of the radiation!!! He goes in for another MRI in July to check those two spots. But you've just got to be kidding me?! DEAD TISSUE!!!! A miracle is all that is. Plain and simple. God is so good!

Please continue to keep them in your prayers. The doctors told them to get back to the normalcy of life, but continued support and prayers never hurt anyone!


ONTO my project of today!


I finally found stencils that I loved and wanted to use in Sydney's room. So my friend Sarah and I tackled her room today. I'm not quite done, but am so in love with what it looks like that I just have to share it!! Check out the pictures!!! (If you click on the pictures, it will bring it up bigger so you can view detail!)

xoxoxo

k.

What a crazy day!

Today has been so crazy. I made plans with my friend Claire and her little girl Dailey to hang out before playgroup this morning. She showed me all her cloth diapers, and different types and brands... (we're seriously thinking about going that route.) So we get done with that, and leave to go pick Sarah up for playgroup. We notice part of the round-about is blocked off by a cop car, and then down the street that leads to my house is also blocked off with more cop cars and a fire engine. Weird? So we carried on and got Sarah, and were driving to playgroup, which is at the Youth Center, and notice that there's kids, hundreds of them (or so it seems) walking to the BX. It looked as if they'd been evacuated from the school. And as we got closer to the Youth Center, there were cop cars everywhere, zooming about. So inside we asked the ladies behind the desk what was going on. There'd been a gas leak in the school, so the entire school had to be evacuated. Yikes! So we go on with playgroup, and about 11:00 we end up getting evacuated from the Youth Center. There'd been another leak at the Bowling Alley, which is right close to the Youth Center. Almost half of base had been evacuated it seemed! The school, the BX, the Commissary, the Youth Center, the Bowling Alley, Community Center, and Library. So we had to leave immediately, and come to find out, I couldn't go home. Nor could Claire. I live in the new subdivision right behind the school, and Claire lives right behind me. Our developments had been evacuated as well. So we ended up going to Sarah's and crashing and eating some lunch. I just came home about 1:30. Today was just NUTS! 90% of the roads on base were blocked off, cops were everywhere.... it was a little surreal. And quite scary really!

On another note, Austin had a blast at playgroup. He ran and ran and ran and ran. And looks like he found an obsession with hula hoops. He was pretty cute, and I kicked myself that I didn't have my camera. He just had a blast though! And needless to say, now that we are home, he's passed out upstairs in bed. He'll probably take a wonderful nap!

His potty training is still going excellent. No accidents. He goes all day with no accidents, he tells us when he has to go potty, or, if we ask him if he has to go, he will tell us yes or no, and he's spot on with that. He goes stinky in the potty now, he's just doing great. I get up with him 1-2 times per night to take him potty, and he will get up with me, and go potty, and then go right back to sleep. Sometimes he will even fall asleep on the toilet. It's pretty funny. Every now and then he will wake up in the morning with his undies a touch damp. I haven't figured out if it's just a little pee, or he's just sweaty. It's never enough to go through his undies as well as his pants, so it's just a tiny bit. Guess we'll see as time goes on how he does!

Well, I'm going to lay down while I have the chance. I am exhausted today. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will load some pictures on later today or tomorrow! We shall see! :)

xoxoxo
k.