Countdown to Christmas

Well, I'm not sure if this will go through or not.  We're having a major computer meltdown!!

 

The kids are both getting so excited for Christmas!  Both had their last day of school for the year on Friday and both had their end of the year Christmas Party!

 

They were both lots of fun and mass chaos all wrapped into one!!  It was hard not to get emotional at Connor's party when his teacher and I started talking about this time last year.  Jan was one of his teachers last year too and she remembers last year all too well!

 

Mommy has been desperately ill the past few days... 'tis the season!  But I managed to drag myself to fight the crowds on Saturday!!!

 

Both kids sang in church this morning, Connor and the Cherub choir were up first and they did a great job!  Most of the boys however (including Connor) weren't too crazy about the bright lights shinning in their eyes so they squinted and covered their eyes through most of the first half of the song!

 

Then it was Mackenzie's turn!  You could hear her beautiful raspy little rock star voice all the way to the middle of the sanctuary!  She was singing her little heart out to "Go tell it on the mountain!"  And she was so proud!

 

Then, as we sat there for the rest of church, Connor absolutely would not sit still and would not stop talking!!!  I finally picked him up and took him to the lady's room ready to give him a big talking too about how we need to be respectful and let everyone hear the sermon!  That's when Connor looked at me all upset and said, "But Mommy I have to tell you something!"  I said, "What Connor, what did you HAVE to tell me in the middle of church?"  to which he replied, "I saw God in there!"

 

At that point I felt like a pretty bad mother and decided next time I should maybe listen to what he has to say and not be so quick to tell him to be quiet!

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

 

A Little Break

Connor will be getting a little break from clinic for the holidays.  When we went to clinic today, Dr. Shah told us she was giving us an early Christmas present and we don't have to come back for a whole month!!!!  That's unheard of!!  We literally don't have to go back until Connor has his MRI on January 20th.  That's great news!!!

 

The kids are both getting excited for the holidays!  Every morning Mackenzie adds another ornament on the countdown calendar and tells us exactly how many more days until Christmas.  And, every night Connor has been rummaging through the pantry asking "Mommy, what does Santa like to eat?"  He's convinced that tonight is the night the big guy is coming and he needs to leave some food for him to snack on!

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Back to Normal

We're back to normal... running at full speed!!  Of course, that means we're trying to keep up with the hustle and bustle of the holidays and I'm not so sure we're doing a good job of that!

 

For some reason I can't seem to get into the Christmas shopping this year.  I think it's because we simply don't need anything!!!  We are so incredibly blessed!!!  When you truly think about it, we don't need a thing! 

 

Connor and Mackenzie are both feeling good and doing well.  James and I both have jobs, we have a roof over our heads, we have food to eat and we have wonderful friends and family!  What more could a person ask for?

 

I'm sure there are plenty of other folks feeling that way this year with all that is going on in the world.  I just thank God for all we have and pray it will stay this way.

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

Stop Freaking Out!

That's basically what Courtney (my favorite nurse) told me when I called the clinic yesterday.  I was worried about the headaches Connor has been having and was pretty much ready to bring him in for an MRI right then and there.

 

She convinced me I was freaking out a little too much and it's probably just the mold in the air causing more of a sinus headache!!  Makes sense, we've all been having them!

 

Of course, Connor decided to give his teacher a heart attack in chapel today.  He grabbed the side of his head and said, "Oh my brain tumor is hurting!!!"  She immediately said "WHAT?????!!!!!"  When she started asking him "Does your head hurt?"  He smiled at her and said, "No, not really!"  and then went about his day!

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

The Headaches are Back!

For three days now, Connor has been saying his head hurts.  At first, you try not to make a big deal of it and just pray that it's a good sign that things are working and the tumor is shrinking.  But normally they come and go pretty quickly and all is well.  This time, they seem to be lasting longer and they've gone for three days now. 

 

I try not to worry, but when Oma told me how bad it was today when I went to pick him up and I told her this was the third day, you could see the worry on her face. 

 

For now, we'll just pray this is a good thing and I think tomorrow we'll make a call to Dr. Shah.

 

Otherwise, he's doing great!  He was swinging from the rings in gymnastics tonight and yesterday both him and Mackenzie sang in the children's choir at church for the Christmas Music program.  At first, Connor didn't want to go up on stage, but once he got up there he was waving to the crowd and blowing kisses to his sister.

 

Mackenzie looked adorable up there singing her little heart out.  She did such a good job and was beaming from ear to ear with pride!

 

Tonight, I want to ask for prayers for healing for Connor, but I also want to ask for prayers for other children.  This weekend we saw so many different families with children battling cancer and some of them are not doing so well.  Today I hugged a mother who just burst into tears because she simply can't take any more bad news on her child.  This particular family has been in the hospital for 8 months!!!!  No, that doesn't mean a few days here, a week there... I mean they have been in the hospital continuously for the past eight months!!  Pray for them and pray for healing for their little boy.

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

A great way to kick off the Season!

Tonight was the first annual Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Christmas Party.  While you might ask, why do we go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society functions if Connor doesn't have Leukemia???  Because they open their services to all children with all forms of cancer. 

 

They actually have a wonderful support group network of a variety of families we have come to know over the past year.  There's not really anything we have found in our area specifically for children with brain tumors.  In fact, we haven't really met any other families going through exactly what Connor has.  Some may have brain tumors, but nothing exactly like his.

 

Really though, when you get down to it, no matter what kind of cancer your child has, the battle is very similar.  Tonight, the John Wesley Room at our church was packed with families all fighting the battle against childhood cancer.  I counted approximately 200 people in all gathered there tonight.

 

The kids all got to see Santa and take a picture with him!  There was food, music and lots of laughter!

 

It definitely got everyone in the holiday spirit!  Thanks to Nicole and all of the many, many volunteers who made tonight possible!!!

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor

A Long Day

Yes, even though we are incredibly grateful for every precious day we have.... you can still have a very long, bad day!!!

 

It started off first thing this morning with the typical brother/sister bickering... "Mommy, I was going to brush my teeth and so and so pushed me!!!" UGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

 

Then when Connor and I showed up for clinic it was standing room only!  At one point there were about nine families all in the play room.  Some kids were hooked up to I.V.'s getting chemo, others were just waiting their turn for blood work, and some waiting to see the doctor.  It's usually pretty busy there, but today was one of the busiest I've seen it.  In addition to the play room, there were families in every room and in the other waiting areas.  Hard to believe that there can be that many kids with cancer in San Antonio.  But as you look around the room, you're reminded that your child isn't the only one with cancer and how incredibly blessed you are that he is doing so well!!!!

 

Several hours later, we headed home just in time to grab a quick bite to eat and go pick up Mac from school.

 

Then at children's choir tonight, Connor had a total melt down.  He wanted to be the center of attention and I informed him he needed to be treated just like the other kids!  Looking back now, I feel bad because I realize he was truly just exhausted and ready to fall asleep!

 

Sometimes it's easy to get carried away in the day to day routine of trying to be normal and have a normal life and you want to forget that cancer even exists.

 

Tonight as I look at the kids resting in bed, I thank God that we are somewhat normal and yes, even we can have a bad day!!

 

God Bless,

James, Brandy, Mackenzie & Connor