If everyday could be like yesterday, I would be thrilled.  I won’t go in to every detail because I am sure you all don’t really care to read what I did all day, but as far as the kids go…

After running some errands in the morning we came home and I fixed the kids a snack before Braden’s nap.  After they ate, the two of them ran around and played for so long that I didn’t want to put Braden down.  It seems as Braden has grown up over night and he loves playing with Jack.  They were building forts, opening a “store”, wrestling, running, running, and more running.  It was cute to hear them play and even better to hear their laughter.  When Braden went down for a nap Jack and I got out the paints.  He used to really not like getting paint on him at all, but now he is different!  We painted his hands and made hand print designs and he loved it.  He wants to do his feet today.  He painted a few pictures and then he wanted to get out his “artist kit” so he could make Nana a card and draw a picture of her and Grandpa eating dinner.  Pretty darn cute.  He was so in to everything that he was doing and we just chatted away while he did it all.  After he ate lunch, we tried out my new obsession…baking cakes in individual cans.  I know, sounds interesting, and it is!!  He loved baking them with me and after we tested out all 3 flavors and that was even better.

Braden was up from his nap and they were running around again.  Braden fell down and I could tell that Jack had a little something to do with it.  I asked him what happened and Jack said, “It wasn’t me!  I didn’t do anything….it was the ghhoooost….boooooooo” in his best scary ghost voice.  He blamed him giving his brother a little extra of a push on a ghost that made him do it.  Ummmm, ok.  Off we went upstairs to play in the play room which also included cleaning the play room.  For some reason I feel so much better when I can see the floor!

Zac came home from work and of course the kids are always so happy to see him.  They wrestled around while I cooked dinner.  We ate and Jack came up and gave me a hug telling me, “Thank you for making such a good dinner Mom!”  My heart melted for the 10th time.  After Braden went to bed, Jack noticed the boys across the street were playing out front.  They play football and sports in our front yard cause it has all grass and they love it.  He asked if we could go out there so off we went.  Jack was on fire!  He has always been really good as so much, but catching a ball was never his thing.  The boys’ threw Jack the football and he caught it one handed and all the kids started screaming and jumping up and down.  They are so good to him.  They know and understand all about Jack and cancer and they were so gentle with him while he was sick and they love that he can play now.  Jack ran around and caught almost every long throw they gave him.  He was so proud of himself.  It was way past bed time, but Jack was so happy that I really didn’t care.

We came in and red books and off to bed Jack went.  He is still sleeping now so he must have had a great day yesterday!  I only hope every day could be like yesterday…or even better!

First off…Happy Birthday to my Mom!!  My mom has always been my biggest supporter and greatest friend.  She has always been here for my family and when Jack was diagnosed, that didn’t change.  She has traveled many miles, many times, to be here with us over the past 15 months.  She has never said no to a request that we have had for help but she also never really needed be asked. She has always been one step ahead of us and would do anything for her kids and grandkids.  My family is very lucky to have her …hope you have a great day mom and we will see you guys next weekend!!

Second…Jack and Braden have a new cousin!  Zac’s brother, Jess, and his wife Amy welcomed a new baby boy to this world on Tuesday.  He was 8 lb 1 oz and a healthy happy boy.  Mom is doing well and they will hopefully be able to go come tomorrow.  They named him Cale and we look forward to meeting him sometime soon!!

Jack’s friend, McKenna, who was diagnosed with NB about a month prior to Jack just had her 3 month scans and all is well with her!  She has some remaining tumor left in her belly but it is dead because there has been no growth at all but they still want it removed.  They were finally approved to go to NY to have it removed and they couldn’t be happier!  Just thought we would share that good news with you all!

As for us…nothing too out of the ordinary!  We were at Target the other day and Jack wanted to buy a new game with his money so he picked out a Dr Suess game called “I Can Do That!”   When Braden has been down for naps Jack and I have been playing it and it really is a very cute game.  Jack said that the game cracks him up and that is so great to listen to!  Nothing better than a laughing child!  We dropped off Jack’s “sample” at PCH on Tuesday so hopefully we will hear by next week if his levels still remain normal. We will let you all know when we get the results!

Well, hello!  It’s been a few days but that is not a bad thing!  Jack is back to his normal self and we really think that all he has now is some allergies which have been cleared up by a little medication.  He is feeling great and back to his old self.  On Friday I got a call from Dr Eshun and we talked for a long time about everything that is going on with us as a whole.  He told me that Jack is going to have a million fevers over his life and I just need to start getting used to it…easier said that done.  He knows that and totally understands.  He really believes that Jack is going to do so well and that is so encouraging.  He said that if we were comfortable he would just give us a call after scans in August to give us results instead of having to come in for an appointment and we are all for that.  We talked about Neuroblastoma as a whole and how the number of patients diagnosed has dramatically increased over the past couple of years.  If they only knew why…awareness, research, and funding.  Without those, we will never know.

So the plan is…this week we will be doing a urine test that we have to take down to PCH for results.  We will know of those by the end of the week or the first week in August.  We will be seeing Dr Eshun the week before scans for a check up and then labs will be drawn while Jack is asleep for scans.  We will be finding out soon what our schedule is for our “1 year post transplant” tests.  We thought life would slow down…not likely!

Over the past few days we have kept busy just by playing, running errands, swimming, and enjoying life.  We went to Hobby Lobby the other day because I am trying to figure out exactly how we want to display all of the beads Jack has collected with Beads of Courage.  Each time Jack went though anything…pokes, tests, hospital stays, clinic appointments, chemo, hair loss…anything he got a certain bead.  He has a ton.  We are trying to figure out how to display them in a way that he will be able to keep forever.  Off we went to the store and I started talking to a lady who works there about what I was wanting to do.  She helped me put it together and then as I was walking away she came towards me, as if we were long lost friends, and gave me a huge hug.  She said, “God bless you and your family and all you have been through.”  It put a smile on my face to know that total strangers care so much about my family.  She was so sweet and I know that she went home thinking of our family and how wonderful the boys are.  I will be going back this week to get more things and will be giving her one of Jack’s cards and let her know that her simple act of kindness reminded me how wonderful people are and that I will never lose hope that we will be able to bring more awareness to this disease.

Anyway, the boys are crazy wild after swimming today and I think it is more wild from being tired so off I go to read some books and put Braden (our little Monster) to bed.

Jack and I are sitting here on the couch chatting after having a long day and all is well.  Jack is feeling much better.  No fever and no pain.  Perfect.  He woke up early and took a nap while Braden was down for a nap and woke up in good spirits.  He ate well and played well.  I talked with Sharon today and told her all that was going and and she said, “First, stop taking his temp every half of an hour.  99.5 is not a fever and don’t drive yourself nuts.  He may have been hit with a cold, virus, and allergies all at once.  There are other reasons for fevers besides being sick so stop being so worried.”  Ok, that’s exactly what I needed.  I needed a kick in the butt from Sharon.  She said that if he still has a fever through the weekend and complains of pain then to call her back on Monday and we will go from there.  She is not worried and she does not want to move up the scan dates.  Jack has to do a urine test next week and if for some reason his levels are higher than normal, we will move them up but she does not think they will be and either do we.

Nikki spent the day with us doing some wedding planning and that took my mind off of bveing a total panic freak.  By the time that Zac got home, Jack was feeling much better.  He ate a great dinner and took a shower with Zac and all is well.  Jack and I were just sitting here telling each other how much we love each other and then he said, “Mom, I don’t know what I would do without you.”  Really.  Ok.  My heart melted and my stomach did a flip.  I love my boys so much.

Anyway, all is well and we are good for tonight.  Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers…

I ended up moving Jack in his room in the middle of the night so he had more room to move around (in case you haven’t noticed, my husband isn’t exactly 5 ft tall so he takes up a lot of room!) and then I ended up going in there about a hour after that because I didn’t want him to wake up not feeling well.  He slept ok but he did wake up at 5:30 this morning!  He says that nothing hurts and he seems to be in a fine mood.  No fever as of now so that’s good!  He is sitting up in bed with me now watching Mario Bros on the ipad and seems to be a-ok.  I started looking up random things on the Internet about fevers and allergies and being over tired and apparently you can get them from both of them.  I am sure I am over analyzing it all, but I will call Sharon this morning so she can hopefully tell me to stop worrying and go on with the day!

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, texts, messages…you guys are all great!