So this week in Valentines and of course it is Jack’s first time giving them out at school and of course he is missing out on it because we have scans this week, but we still made them!  I give all the credit to some other mom but I stole the idea of the Internet and here we are!

Cute, right!?  We will go in to school tomorrow and drop them off and see the other kids but then we will take off and come home because my Dad is coming in town in the morning.  He would never miss scan week so he will be here early tomorrow and then my Mom will come Friday as well.  I am sure he is looking forward to the next two days of being around me when I am a total stress case…obviously I am kidding!  I know I am not the most pleasent to be around when it comes to scans but can you blame me?  We did have so very random things happening today and you know how we do believe in signs so we will take what we can get.

There is this website, Pintrest, that I am on.  You can find all sorts of wonderful crafts, recipes, home ideas, clothing…really, anyting you can find on the Internet that is wonderful, you find on this site.  A very long time ago I posted a picture of Jack after his tubies came out…this picture in fact…

and over the last hour or so, he suddenly, out of nowhere it has spread like wildfire.  So many people are leaving nice comments and sharing Jack’s picture.  It literally just happened.  No clue why, but it did.  Then Zac called me tonight and told me that the number “11″ has been all over today for him.  He said that he saw it about 30 times today.  I know this has to be just a little comfort from above from a few certain people saying that Jack is going to be ok.

Please keep the prayers coming that scans are all clear.  Dr Eshun said he will call us Wednesday night so hopefully we will know results then!!  Thank you again for all your support!!!

Ok Folks…we have been talking about an event that we have been planning and we want to finally let you in on it!!!

The Jack Morton Foundation has teamed up with Phoenix Children’s Hospital to host an event at Stand Up Live in Phoenix!  We are so excited about this and you should be too!!

We met a wonderful man named, Boomer Nichols, at Stand Up Live when we were there for my sister’s birthday.  We found out that his daughter was treated, and won!, at PCH for JMML (Juvenile Myelomonocytic leukemia) and we had an obvious connection with him.  After speaking a few times, we decided that we had to plan a wonderful night to raise money for research.  There are five wonderful comedians who have stepped up and wanted to be included on this night to make you laugh…make you have a wonderful night out while helping to raise awareness.  National headlining comedian, Rich Vos, along with top Arizona comics Boomer Nichols, Jill Bryan, Mark Cordes, and Travis Thurman will all be performing for you on March 8, 2012.  There will also be some amazing silent auction items as well as a great raffle!!!  This will be a night of laughs, dinner, prizes and of course a night were you can make a BIG difference.  A night where you can give back knowing that what you give will be going back to PCH specifically for Neuroblastoma research.  A night where you will be able to help so many kids.  A night where you will be able to start to put an end to this awful beast that invaded Jack’s little body.

We will be posting more information in the days to come and add a link on how you can purchase your tickets for the night.  If you didn’t realize, March 8th is the anniversary of Jack’s diagnoses.  When Boomer told me that was a night that would work for him and Stand Up Live, I almost fell over.  Of course that would be the day that would work…the day that Zac and I were told that our baby had cancer.  Now we can turn that day around from a day of total tragedy into a day of love and laughter.  After all, laughter is the best medicine!

It has been so long since we have updated!  I think this is the longest we have gone, but I have hardly even been on the computer but that is not a bad thing!

Zac came home from work last Thursday which was earlier than we expected so that was great.  It has been a long time since he had been able to come home and to say the kids were excited is a pure understatement.  My parents came in town for Christmas and will be here until after New Years.  Christmas Eve came and my family was here along with Zac’s family.  We all had a great time being together since it was the first time in a very long time we had been able to do that.  Christmas morning rolled around and was wonderful.  Jack was so excited for his gifts and Braden just wanted to run around and didn’t really care to open anything, but that’s ok!  He was just happy playing with the boxes!  Jack gave Zac and I a calender he made at school that was all about his handprint and it was so darn cute.  I cried, of course, when he had us open it.  He sat there and rubbed my back and smiled and was so proud of his work that he did with his teacher.

Zac and I surprised the kids with a play set for the back yard this year and they love it!!  Jack said it was “totally awesome” and you practically have to rip Braden away from it when it’s time to go back inside.  I am sure we will be spending tons of time out there.

My dad had a necklace made for my, my sisters, and my mom and it is so very special.  He has been working on it for a year now and we love it!

Zac had to leave last night and him and Shawn are up at work again but will be able to come home for New Years.  We get to celebrate all the good that has come our way this past year and hope and pray for an even better year in 2012.  2011 has been Jack’s year for sure but we hope that 2012 will continue bringing great news, clear scans, and good health.

Just an update on our toy drive for PCH…we are still accepting donations and toys through January since we won’t be delivering them until then.  We are so exited that the room in our house keeps getting more and more filled with wonderful gifts for the play room at the hospital!  It is so exciting to see what you all have done for the kids and we cannot wait to take them down there!

Well Hello!

We have had a wonderful holiday weekend with our family all being here.  Zac and Shawn (Nikki’s husband) were only here for a couple of days, but a couple of days is better than nothing!  My parents came in town and we had Thanksgiving over at my sister’s house across the street.  Zac’s Dad was able to come by during the day as well as a visit from his brother, Jess, at my sisters house that night.  The kids all had a great time playing together and it was just a simple understood fact between everyone that we were all so happy that we were there together.  When we sat down to dinner my aunt and my mom had some very nice things to say about the family and then Zac took the floor.  Zac is a very quiet person so when he said he had something to say I was a bit blown away.  It was wonderful to hear him tell everyone how thankful he is and how happy we could all be together.  It was a wonderful moment that I will never forget.

Zac had to leave the day after Thanksgiving to head back out of town to work so he wasn’t able to join us at our annual Zoo Lights trip, but we still had a good time.  The kids love it and this year my aunt and her family along with some other friends were able to come this year and it was a good time by all.  Jack actually sat on Santa’s lap this year and while he looked a tad terrified, he did well.  He said that he was “so proud of himself” after he was all done and that was pretty cute. Braden on the other hand, wanted nothing at all to do with Santa so I wasn’t going to push it on him!

The decorations are almost all up for the season…the tree and the ornaments are up but the lights will be the challenge with Zac being gone but I know we will get that done!  Jack just loves driving around and looking at lights and there will be no way that we don’t include our house!

We start getting back in to the swing of things tomorrow with Jack going back to school again this week and counting down to Christmas time…I can hardly believe it is that time of the year.  Time flies.

I didn’t update on Jack’s appointment with the endocrinologist last week.  We went and it was a pretty quick and painless appointment.  Jack’s thyroid function is totally normal and it has been since he started his medication back in August.  Since his thyroid was only slightly elevated, I asked the Dr if we could cut the dose of meds in half and see if anything changes.  I would really love for him not to have to take any medication at all especially since the numbers of elevation were so very small.  He said that he had no problem cutting out the med all together 6 weeks before Jack’s next set of scans and then taking labs when he is under to see where he is at. So we will be stopping his medication in the beginning of January and then when we have scans the 3rd week of February we will check his levels.  I really hope that he is in the “normal” range and that we get to stop meds.  It would be so wonderful to have him on nothing at all!!!

Anyway, I will attach some pics that I forgot to attach before…some from scans, Thanksgiving, Zoo Lights, and of course the night of clear scan results!!

Scans:

Getting poked for the 2nd time….and then the 3rd!  He did so good!

CT scan with no anesthesia…

Seeing Dr Maze before anesthesia…he was joking with Jack and then wanted to see pictures of Nikki’s wedding and Jackers dancing at the reception….he is the best!

Waiting really is the worst part…

Worth the wait!  All clear!  Jack (last minute) asked for a sparkle cake and this is what we had in the house to work with!

Thanksgiving…

My sisters and my mom…some of our biggest supporters!

Jess and Zac and the kids!

Braden!

Zoo Lights…

And Santa…

Well we are on day 3 of Jack having bad dreams, but last night was much better than the 2 before.  After talking with a couple of my friends and then Jack’s teacher, I felt a bit better knowing that their kids have gone through this too and hopefully it is not over any memory that he has from treatment.  When I picked up Jack yesterday from school he told me that when he was upset the night before it was because he saw black little monsters on his wall that didn’t have eyes and something white in his closet.  Well, that’s a bit freaky!  Jack’s teacher told me about a little trick that she had used so we tried it last night.  We got a spray bottle and I told him I was putting in a magic potion that got rid of scary monsters.  He was going to use his own magic and spray the “potion” around his room and that way all the monsters would leave.  Cole (Jack’s cousin) told Jack that he took care of the outside of the house for him so now no monsters could even get in.  Jack was very fascinated by the idea.  Of course we also had the talk that monsters are not real that that they are only part of his imagination and he probably saw some shadows or something.  To that he said, “I know Mom, but they were moving and I wasn’t even jumping on my bed or nothin!”

Anyway, last night Zac, Jack, and I sprayed his room and his bed to get rid of the monsters and then Zac read him a very easy book before bed.  No monsters at all.  He did wake up once and I heard him get out of bed so I met him in the hall and put him back in bed.  He wasn’t as scared as before and this time he only stayed up for about 10 minutes before falling back asleep.  Hopefully his new potion method along with Norbert will get rid of the monsters for good.

Braden had his check up this morning and he did pretty good.  He wasn’t thrilled at all about the Dr examine him but that’s understandable.  He is doing well and that’s what matters.  He is in the 50% for weight and 75% for his height and length.  He said he was doing really well with the amount of words his is saying.  He had to get 2 shots but he handled those pretty well.  We are going to do a urine test on him as well this month to make sure his levels look normal and we are assuming they will be, but you can never be too careful!

I picked up Jack today from school and he has a bit of a cough.  He doesn’t have a runny nose or a fever so I really think this is allergy related.  Hopefully it will get better over the weekend!

I am attaching a few pictures from the PCH Radiothon that I just got the other day…

Us waiting to be interviewed…notice the rat???

Interview time…this was more emotional that I thought it would be but thankfully our interviewer was very kind!

All done…we can breath now!

Jack, me, and Meghan!!