Life is precious.

I've been MIA over the weekend. So much going on. I've been on Facebook chatting with old friends. I was saddened to learn of the death of a fellow classmate. Actually, this classmate was a year older than me, but when you go to a rather small school. The class above you and the class below you are so blended as friends..it's like you're all in the same class.

Learning of the sudden passing of an old friend is never easy. Especially when he leaves behind 2 kids. Grown kids, but still. This passing was senseless, to say the least. Caused by depression and alcoholism. Suicide. How very sad. Life is just to precious.

May you finally find your peace Mike.

I can admit, that briefly. Only briefly I thought about hurling myself out of a 5 story window. A window that I sat in while Carly laid in ICU fighting to survive the ECMO machine. I thought just briefly about it. Thankfully, I quickly realized that 1)how selfish of me. I had a 3 month old fighting with all her might to survive. 2)I couldn't get the faces of my kids out of my head. 3) it would be very painful and possibly not do me in. My thoughts were gone, as quickly as they came. That was that. I've never had thoughts like that prior to Carly or since that one late night pity party I threw myself.

Life is too precious.

Questions answered!

So, , , I've been getting some questions in my comments and in my email. Thought I would take a minute to answer a few.

Why not seek a second opinion regarding Carly's platelet count?
Carly's Oncologist has done every single test possible to try and get to the bottom of Carly and her platelet issue. The last test being the Ultra Sound of her spleen and liver function. Which both checked out A-okay! There are no more tests to do. As I said, we know it is not cancer. It is not due due damaged organs; such as the liver and spleen..which would have been caused by the chemo. And it has nothing to do with the functioning of the liver and spleen. ** Carly's other blood work is perfect.. well, perfect for her!**

What is ITP?
The best I can do to answer that question, since I don't really get it yet myself..is to let you read up on it yourselves. Click here. You'll likely be overloaded with information that really doesn't explain the, "why".

Aren't you a nervous wreck that her platelets will bottom out suddenly?
Well, yes I am. But, our Oncologists has told me she doubts that will happen. It could, but she doesn't expect it to. And, I know the signs to watch for. Such as Petechiae, nose bleeds, bruising - where you wouldn't typically see it on a child. Such as buttocks, upper arms, lower arms, neck, face, torso...etc. In other words, those on the knees and shins are more typical bruises for kids.

Is there any treatment for ITP?
From what I have learned thus far, yes. Mainly it is used for adults. Not in children. If her platelets did suddenly drop. Like to 10,000. She would need a platelet transfusion. Trust me, I'm still learning about this.

How did this happen (low platelets)?
Tough question. No one really knows the answer to this one. We all suspect it was due to a viral bug that Carly developed last May. It lasted for 12 days. And I mean 12 straight days, of diarrhea. Carly ended up losing just a bit over 4lbs during that bug. That's when her platelets really took a nose dive. They haven't been normal since. However, her platelets would dip down to around 107,000 & 115,000 during the months of last February '09 and November of '08. Each time, she had just been sick. So that was the doc's reasoning to both those lower than normal counts.

Will she ever recover with her platelet disorder?
Yes, she can recover her platelet disorder. Will she? We don't know. But, it is very possible. Per the Oncologist. I have read that kids do, often times get over this condition. Only time will tell. Prayers wouldn't hurt either!

Can her low platelet condition turn into cancer again?
Believe me, I asked this very question. The answer is NO! I was told that leukemia leads to low platelets. Low platelets do not lead to leukemia. We already have ruled out leukemia. Back in June when Carly had to be check via a bone marrow aspirate. The results were: 100% cancer free!

Is there anything that you need to change in your lives with this newest diagnosis?
No. We go about living life. The only real thing we need to do, is be careful with giving Carly Motrin and Advil. Although, she can have it occasionally, per the Oncologist. Otherwise. We go about our merry way. Myself..well, I need to find a bit more peace of mind with this. Other than that. Life will continue marching forward!

OUCH!

Today, at 3:15 I went out to Carly off the bus. She was all bundled up. Looked pretty much like she did when I sent her on her way this morning. We headed to the house. We fought the dog...who thinks he's human and just can not stand this very cold weather we're having. After winning the battle with the dog, we proceeded to get Carly's layers, upon layers of clothing off of her. She headed to the living room to watch her new favorite TV show. The Wizard's of Waverly Place. All the while, telling me she was hungry. I headed to the kitchen with her back back.

After getting her squared away with her homemade veggie soup ~ that I had just made this afternoon. I went back to the kitchen to go through her backpack. Each day, (only since Jan 1) the school/teacher has been sending me a binder home in Carly's backpack. I'm told what has taken place throughout the day. What goals, if any were met. I also see comments from the other staff who work with Carly. Such as SLP, OT, PT and the resource teacher. It's proven to be quite helpful. So happy they started doing this. Anyway, I opened the binder up today and found this:

"Carly fell on the playground today. She was playing with a few other girls and got bumped. She got right back up and continued to play as if she wasn't hurt. When she was back in the classroom, we noticed a scrape on her chin. She said it didn't hurt, but we still had her put an ice pack on it."

"(Carly was on the blacktop where it was clear)"

Okay, so. This is EXACTLY what I told the school would happen if Carly were outside during winter time recesses. She has such poor balance. Coupled with winter clothing; snow pants, snow boots, bulky coat, mittens, scarves and hats.... the poor kid can't walk very well through snow. She does try. Makes me a nervous wreck, but she tries. And that's important. The problem is, her balance issues. She knows she needs to be careful of the other kids. They make her nervous. They tear around like wildcats! I have no doubt that this was nothing but an accident, but it's one that I told them would happen if she were outside during winter recess.

Now...the school says that she didn't cry. Weeeeellllllllll, not sure I believe that one. These pic's don't do this chin any justice. Trust me. It's nasty looking. And She told me it hurt. I know it hurts her, because she keeps rubbing it.

I'm not going to make a big huge deal over this. Even thought it ticked me off that she was outside all bundled up..when her IEP clearly states otherwise. (during winter time) Although, I did write a note back to let them know that we may need to re-evaluate her recess time during the winter months. I did that merely to remind them..that they had better pull out her IEP and read up on it!

Another thing that I'm concerned over is the fact that these kids are outside playing on the playground with wind chills of 12. It was bitter cold here today. Tomorrow is suppose to be much colder. It's so cold, our dog can't even deal with it. Note those pink cheeks...likely wind burn. Ugh!

**Please don't look at her dirty face. I really notice it in these pic's. She comes home from school looking like a rag-a-muffin most days. :o(

My Menu Plan.

Back at it again this week. Planning for meals makes my life so much easier. Grocery shopping cheaper. If you can believe it! Actually, I make my meal plan out, head to the store and purchase just what I need. Plus some other necessities. Such as, milk, bread, cereal, juice..that type of stuff. Beats the heck out of walking around trying to plan meals while shopping.

This weeks menu:

Monday: Canned beef and noodles with green bean casserole.

Tuesday: Baked herb chicken, rice with a veggie.

Wednesday: Scalloped potatoes w/ham salad and rolls

Thursday: Goulash, fried potatoes w/veggies (didn't end up having this last week)

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Left overs

Sunday: Potato burgers, shredded hash browns, green beans and rolls

The following recipe is a new one. I haven't even tried it yet. I found it in a magazine and thought it sounded really good.



Baked Herb Chicken:

8 skinless drumsticks
Juice of large lemon
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 T rosemary
2 T thyme
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes

Preheat oven to 425. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place drumsticks on baking sheet. Mix juice from lemon, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oil, mustard, salt and pepper in small bowl; pour over drumsticks and toss to coat. Add tomatoes. Cook about 40 minutes, until drumsticks are cooked through & tomatoes are tender. Be sure to turn drumsticks halfway through roasting time.

Well........

Unbelievable. That's about all I can say right now.

I just received a phone call from our NP @ the cancer center. Carly's ultra sound is completely normal. Her liver and her spleen both function perfectly. So,,,what does this mean? It means we have no real explanation as to the low platelets that Carly has been dealing with since last May. They are labeling her as a child with ITP. Which I can't even pronounce!

The thought was, Carly's spleen was going to be the culprit of this issue. I'm very happy that both organs are functioning normally, but I really wanted some sort of explanation as to why. Not having an answer to this issue is quite frustrating.

Now we try to put this out of our minds..per the doctor's orders! Go on with life as usual. Recheck Carly at the cancer center in 6months. Pray that her platelets suddenly go back to normal. As the doctor says, is very much a possibility.

FYI: I learned that 2 Xanax in one day are way too much for me to handle. Ha! I've been dragging all day today. I should have listened to my friend Heather, she warned me! I really thought that I'd be able to sleep it off last night. Not the case. Live and learn, I suppose!

Low Plates..Again!

So, I had Carly in Ann Arbor today. She had a return visit scheduled. The visit included a blood draw, physical exam and a chat with our NP and Oncologist. I wasn't very happy to hear the Carly's platelet count is lower this time around than it was back in November.

November counts looked like this:

white count 3.3

hemoglobin 13.3

platelets 85,000 (normal is 150,000 - 400,000)

ANC 1.7


Today's counts:

white count 2.8

hemoglobin 13.6

platelets 67,000

ANC 1.2

I was bummed. I really had hoped that her platelets were up from November. We(I)watch every single bruise this kid gets. She hadn't had a bruise in 3 weeks. Then, she went back to school and apparently bumped her knee. A nice looking bruise appeared. But, it was already going away within a few days. I was convinced her platelets had risen. No such luck.

I asked a lot of questions today. Like, "could these low platelets lead to cancer?" I was told no. It is the opposite. Leukemia leads to low platelets. (I do know that, but you can't imagine what thoughts go through my mind) Since Carly doesn't have leukemia that's not what's going on. I also asked about past patients and reactions with their platelets. I was told that they did have other patients that did this very same thing. Then I got brave and asked both our NP and our Oncologist if they honestly believed that Carly was okay. No cancer looming around and if they thought "it" would pop back up. They both replied told me that, yes she is okay and no, they don't think "it" will pop back up. The last thing I asked was, "is it possible that her platelets will ever return to normal"? The answer was, "YES". Wouldn't that be nice? One thing that may have caused her platelet count to be lower today...Strep throat! She had it for 3 weeks and spent 25 days on antibiotics. She just finished her last course of med's up a week ago.

From that appointment Carly and I headed to radiology. Our doc decided at the last minute, to get an ultra sound today, of Carly's spleen and liver. Just to be sure that neither were damaged during chemo. She doesn't expect they were. Plus, this would give them information on just how the spleen is working. During the test, the tech was very talkative. Almost to talkative. She told me, "oh there are no tumors". Nice...being they weren't looking for tumors! She also showed me Carly's ovaries, uterus, kidney's, gall bladder and of course her liver and spleen. It was weird looking at my 8 year olds ovaries and uterus. The tech also said that Carly's liver and spleen looked pretty good. She thought that possibly the spleen was a tad bit large, but said she'd have to pull her charts out with the radiologist. She did tell me that both organs looked quite healthy. I won't get a final report until tomorrow. Hopefully. Being it's Friday I'm not sure if I'll get a report or not. Although, our doc knows I'm a nut job! I'll bet she calls me.

As for return visits. We go back in 6 months. Which really stinks. We are suppose to be going yearly at this point. Oh well, I'd much rather have them checking her more often. At one point today, the doc said we could get labs in 3 months. Then she changed her mind. She told me that I need to be able to find some kind of peace of mind. And she knows that I will be nothing short of a nervous wreck if we check her in 3 months. I was told to "put this out of your mind for the next 6 months". Yeah, right!

That's about all I have. I'm exhausted tonight. I have a splitting headache to top it all off. I came home and took a Xanax and plopped down on the couch for about an hour. I plan on taking another Xanax before I go to bed tonight.

Wordless Wednesday...sort of. Dancing Queen. January '08

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My menu Plan.

I had a change in lasts weeks menu plan. Ashleigh came home unexpectedly. She always seem to request something different that what I had planned. This week, you'll see a couple meals that resemble last weeks menu.

Monday: Boiled dinner~kielbasa, cabbage, potatoes & carrots

Tuesday: Crock pot spare ribs, mashed potatoes & broccoli w/cheese sauce

Wednesday: Hamburgers and fries

Thursday: Goulash, fried potatoes & green beans

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Out for Chinese food

Sunday: Tacos, Spanish rice and corn cake casserole


This weeks recipe:

Corn cake casserole. ( We love this stuff )

1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1 can cream style corn
1 can regular corn
1 stick melted margarine or butter

Mix all ingredients together. Place in greased pan. I use a pan that's 7"x11". Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Or until it is firm to the touch. Good stuff!

Oh my...

...I've been reminiscing.

Going through pictures yesterday, I ran across this one. My heart about melted when I saw it. It's a picture of Carly, one week old. When Paul came home from work, I pulled it out to show him. I asked him if this wasn't the most precious 1 wk old he'd ever seen. His response was, "Yeah, Ashleigh was cute" He argued with me for a few minutes. He was Insisting it was Ashleigh. Until I finally pulled the picture out of the frame to show him, the proof written on the back ~ Carly 1 week old.

Carly was born weighing 5lb 11oz. She came home weighing 5lbs. 6oz. She was 18" in length. Just a tiny little thing. Preemie outfits were worn until she was 3 months old. As you can see...they tended to be a little big on her! We had a nurse at Cardiology suggest that we buy her doll clothes. She said she knew of several people who did that. We never did though!

What's been going on, and...

TGIF!!!

Man, am I happy today is Friday. This week seemed to drag on forever. Honestly, I think it has a lot to do with the weather. I'm just getting tired of it. I'm sleepy all the time. Cranky too. Or, I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that I started off the week without my dear old friend...Coke Classic. Yep, I'm trying to kick the habit. No doubt, the reason why I'm so ornery and sleepy! I'm lacking my caffeine fix. It's about to kill me! Oh and I'm dieting. No wonder I'm losing my flippin' mind this week! Ha!

Let's see, what else has been going on?? Carly went back to school Monday. She had not been since the start of Christmas break. Which was Dec 18. She kept getting that darn strep throat. Or else, she just couldn't get over it. One or the two. However, I believe, we have finally conquered it. Now, she is dealing with thrush. Ugh. Poor kid. Her tongue and even the corners of her mouth were a mess. Which does seem to be looking better today. After the using Nystatin for the past week.

Each day, I receive reports from the school. The teacher, and all of the other staff who work with Carly; speech teacher, resource teacher (who works on tons of speech w/C), OT, PT..send me a written report on how Carly's day goes. Each day this week, they all reported that Carly worked her little tail off. She really does try so hard to keep up the pace with the other kids. Carly is doing so well the last few months (in school). Her words are exploding. She is FINALLY...talking more. I know that all of her doc's told us, "Give her time. Carly would likely have been talking by now, but she kept getting slammed with all this medical stuff. Causing major delays...over and above the delays seen with Down syndrome". Maybe they were right. I hope so. We have been waiting and waiting for this talking to take off. She is recognizing sight words and even picking them up on her own and bringing them to me while verbally saying the word. WOW! We are thrilled. The school is thrilled. Most importantly, Carly knows this is big stuff. She is very proud of herself.

Yesterday Carly got to celebrate her birthday with her class. The teacher called and asked if we could do it on the 14th. Due to the fact that Carly's bday falls during Christmas break. Then the following week the poor kid was out sick all week. So yesterday was the day. I took cookies and juice boxes to the class. I'm so upset because I didn't have my camera or my cell phone to snap a couple of pics. See what not having Coke Classic is doing to me? Anyway, the kids all sang the bday song to her, as she stood up in front of the class. It brought tears to my eyes. Those kids just LOVE her. They don't view her as being "different". Carly is their peer. Equal, in their eyes. Other than they all about freaked when they asked her how old she was and she proudly displayed 8 tiny fingers. Carly is very tiny. She does not look like an 8yr old. She looks about 4. That may even be pushing it. At any rate, the kids were in shock to learn that she was indeed 8. Actually, she is the oldest in her class. It's so funny to listen to those kids talk. They gush over Carly. They tell her how little and cute she is. And that their baby brother or sister "wear shoes and boots that little too, just like you Carly".

Today, Carly is home from school. It's teacher planning day. Monday is MLK Day. No school Monday either! Sooooooooooooooooo,, she is keeping me hopping this morning. Nothing is making her happy on TV. I finally told her to go find her toys and play. Thankfully, she took me up on that. Right now, she is playing with her puppy. (toy). It came with all things needed to fix a sick puppy right up. A stethoscope, syringes and even a cast for an injured paw. Carly thinks the puppy also needs to be wearing lip gloss all over his/her nose. Which makes for a nice MESS!

OMG, I finally got a facebook acct. Much to Ashleigh's disliking! She tells me it's not for old people. Guess 43 is considered old now. At any rate, I signed up Wed., night. Ashleigh may have a point...I'm having a heck of a time learning how to navigate around facebook. Maybe it should be left to the youngin's! My friends tell me I'll figure it out. They seem to think blogging and facebook are very similar. I beg to differ. This blogging stuff is pretty cut and dry. Facebook has so many different options. Quite frankly, I do not have that much time to spend on a computer. Maybe it will get less time consuming once I figure out just what he heck I'm doing.

Have a great Friday everyone. TGIF!! Once my eyes stay open for more than 20 minute intervals....I'll be back at it. If I make it through my Coke Classic withdrawals!

Thankful Thursday

Three, pretty good reasons to be thankful!

My Menu Plan.

Now that the holiday's are behind us...maybe, just maybe, I can get back at it with my menu plans. We'll see :o)

Monday: Chicken pockets, roasted potatoes

Tuesday: Potato soup, salad & rolls

Wednesday: Ham & provolone panini's & coleslaw

Thursday: Chili & corn cake casserole

Friday: Pizza Night!!

Saturday: Hamburgers & french fries

Sunday: Crock pot spare ribs, mashed potatoes & broccoli w/cheese sauce



Chicken Pockets:

Tin foil
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Sliced onion*
Sliced Carrots*
Sliced Celery*
Sliced Zucchini*
Season with Lawry's season salt
1/4 tsp of margarine (per pocket)
(*optional)
Use tin foil for each breast. You'll want it large enough to fold into a pocket. Place 1 breast per each foil pocket. Add veggies ~ really you can do what ever veggies you would like. I've even diced up potatoes) Sprinkle desired amount of seasoning. Add 1/4tsp of margarine to each pocket. Fold tin foil into the form of a tent..sort of...be sure all edges are sealed up tightly. Place each foil pocket on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Simple and good!

Note: I've made these with just BBQ sauce and the chicken. Yum!

Medication.

UPDATE: I just got on my blog and found some weird stuff. I see duplicate pictures, that were not there before. And, they don't show up when I go in to edit them out. If that makes sense. Ha. No clue what happened. Too weird. Oh well...you get the just of if. I always look at my posts after I post them. Just to see if I made any silly errors. Those duplicates were not there then either. Hmmm. Sorry about that :o)


Carly started her life placed on medication for hypothyroidism at the age of 3 weeks. Then went on to have heart surgery at the age of 3 months.

At the age of 4 months, came home on Viagra...................one of many medications that she has taken.

The Viagra was in tablet form. I had to crush it up in a prescribed amount of water and stirred until dissolved. Giving it to her 4Xper day. Then reducing it down gradually (to wean her off it).
Not to mention, the other 6 heart related drugs that she came home on. The grand total at that time, along with Synthroid for hypothyroidism + Viagra = 8 medications a day. Various amounts given at various times throughout the day. She took them all like a champ.

SEE??? No problem.

Here she sits, taking Viagra out of a syringe. Like a champ. With no problems whatsoever. She took this stuff this for 1year & 6months.

I can only imagine, this tasted AWFUL. (I didn't taste this drug)

September 25, '04: Bam. Cancer struck. Treatments began. 26 months worth to be exact. This was the day before being discharged from Mott Children's Hospital. After our leukemia diagnosis in '04.
Handling her IV medications like a champ. Never once complaining.

Carly having her last dose of Mercaptopurine (oral chemo). In Nov '06. Again, taken like a champ. Again, giving a med to herself.

Her last Vincristine ( IV chemo) Nov '6. No problems. Ever. She would climb up in the chair, get hooked up to her port and just breeze through it. Course, it wasn't always a breeze. Chemo sucks. About as bad as cancer sucks. Some of the chemo via IV was really bad. Some made her very ill. But, she NEVER complained. She just went with the flow of things. As long as that pacifier was in her mouth!

Below, is how I dealt with all of the medications during chemo. I had to track everything she took. It was my attempt to keep my head straight. Writing each medication down. Tacking lists upon lists onto my cupboard. Checking it off each day, after giving any medication to her. It stressed me out majorly. I'm so unlike Carly...she never, ever complained.

Moving right along to '09 and '10. Carly has decided. ENOUGH MEDICATION ALREADY! She is sick and tired of medication. Who could blame the poor girl? She's had her share. And then some.

This Omnicef is very good stuff. It tastes GREAT! Carly always used to love it. She just sat, opened her mouth and down the hatch it went. In fact, she would often ask for "more".

Zithromax = Ick. According to Miss Carly. I don't think so. Neither does Paul. Yes, we do taste all of her medications. Except for the Viagra. I just couldn't bring myself to taste that stuff. We taste her medication, just so we know ourselves how good or bad tasting they really are. We don't think Zithromax tastes bad at all. Carly .... well, let's just say, it didn't go so well. It was TERRIBLE.

Thankfully, she is back on the Omnicef this go 'round. She has been doing so well with it. Until last night. Oye.... What a time I had getting 1 stinking teaspoon down her at bedtime . She has turned into a little squirrel. Holding her medication in her mouth f o r e v e r . . . Just like the squirrels store their nuts in their mouths.

The end result is something we are NOT used to around here. Tears. Lots and lots of tears. I really think Carly has simply had ENOUGH medication. Certainly enough to last her a life time. Or so she thinks. She's likely, just plain tired of it all. Although, one would think taking medication is a second nature for Carly. It's all she's ever known.

Until now. And so, I will keep giving her the medication. Much to her disliking. I'm not sure what the problem is. I can promise you, it's very stressful. I dread each time her medications are due.

Strep throat. Round 3.

Poor Carly. She has been fighting strep throat since Dec 17. On the 17th we began, Round 1 of strep throat. Carly was put on Omnicef for 10 days. She finished up that med. Acted fine. We made it through Christmas. Whew!

Along comes the 28th. Carly woke me up several times in the night complaining that her tongue and throat hurt. She wanted to go to the doctor at 4:30 in the morning! As a matter of fact, she was asking for a shot! I did get a flashlight out to look in her throat. I saw a very bright red throat, but no streaks or spots. Off we go, on the 29th, back to the doctor. Round 2, strep was back. Doc placed her on another antibiotic ~ Zithromax for 5 days.

This picture was taken on January 1. Click to enlarge and you will see just what her throat looked like while taking, Zithromax.

This picture is one of many that I was in the process of editing on Jan the 2nd. I notice something in this picture that didn't look quite right. I zoomed in. Way in. That's when I realized she had spots in her throat. Again. I nearly had a heart attack. She was acting absolutely fine.

Sunday Jan 3rd. Carly started complaining again of a sore throat. What the heck?! Jan 4th, back to the doctor we go. He was stumped. Leave it to Carly to stump all of her doctors. I found out that for some people, strep is very difficult to get rid of. Soooooo... Round 3 is here. Carly was placed back on antibiotics for 10 days. Doc put her back on Omnicef. His thoughts were, "she likely didn't get quite over it the first time around." He also said, " Zithromax did her no good whatsoever!" Ya, think?

What does all of this mean??? It means that this poor little girl hasn't even been back to school yet. I looked in her mouth last night and decided that she needed to stay home from school again today (Thursday). Her spots are nearly gone now, but she had some bright red streaks. No way am I sending her off to school. I know she is no longer contagious. How could she be? She's been on antibiotics since Dec 17th. (with the exception of a couple days between meds). I just don't like the thought of sending her off to school when she still isn't 100% Carly.

What else does it mean??? Well, it also means that her blood work will likely look like crap when we head to Ann Arbor on the 21st. Dagnabbit. Although, on a lighter note. I have not seen ANY bruises on this kid in almost 3 weeks!! She even bumped her knee yesterday while climbing on the counter. She bumped it really hard. So hard she cried her poor little eyes out. I just knew I'd find a nasty looking bruise within a couple of hours. NOTHING. NADA. ZIP!! Hopefully that means her platelets are UP and closer to normal. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but hey. I would really LOVE to kick off the year with some normal looking platelets! Even though I know that the likeliness of that happening isn't so likely. Especially since she's been sick since mid December. Oh well. A mom can dream. Right?

A Birthday gift from a Friend.

Actually, this gift couldn't have come at a better time. Carly is battling strep throat for the 3rd time since Dec 17. We had just gotten home from the doctor yesterday, when the mail man (woman in our case), arrived with a package for Carly. Let me tell you, this kids eyes lit up! I'm quite certain that Carly thinks gifts are an everyday thing around here! Being that her birthday is one week after Christmas!

Pay no attention to her non matching clothing! After the mailman (woman) left, I told Carly she had to go potty first, before she could open her package. Big mean momma. After going potty, we opted for some comfy clothing. I could only get her comfy pants on her, before she darted off to open her gift!

Do you see the word Candy? Well, for a split second, that's what we thought it was. A box of candy. Boy were we ever wrong! It's a matching game!

Carly saying "cheese", while not taking her eyes off this game. It's a very nice matching game. I've never seen one like it. The cards have pictures of all different kinds of candies. Made me want some chocolate while playing it. Ha! We have played this game many times already. It's a big hit!

A HUGE thank you goes out to Polly and Kristen. Who, bytheway....are amazing! All they are going through, and they had time to think about Carly on her Birthday. Kristen, is an amazing gal. I'm blown away by her each time I read Polly's blog. Make sure you check on Kristen. Prayers have been answered many times over for Kristen. Let's keep those prayers up for Kristen and her family. Go visit their blog. I'm telling you, she is amazing! Again, thank you for thinking of Carly during such a trying time for your family. Polly, we received a card in the mail from your mom. It brought tears to my eyes. The card was full of kind words.

Happy Birthday (a day late) to Carly!!

Happy Birthday Carly!

Only a day late in blogging about it. I wasn't feeling too well, therefore no blogging yesterday. I did edit pictures very late last night. It was after midnight and I figured I may as well wait on the whole darn thing!

click to enlarge collage

I can not believe that our little gal turned 8 years old!! Although, there are times that I feel she is much older. Given all she has been through during her first 4.5 years of life.

We had a quiet, small little birthday party for Carly. Just our family of 5 and my parents. Simple, but sweet. Carly prefers smaller gatherings anyway. We've decided that we will give her a big ole birthday bash in 2 years. When she's 10. That's not very far off. Yikes!

The collage above is made up of birthday pictures, of course ;o) . Carly and her favorite, Ashleigh (who left today, to go back to her life in Kalamazoo). In one of the pictures, Carly is showing us how old she is. She is trying very hard to master 8. That darn left hand/fingers just don't cooperate for very long.

Carly is having quite a hard time tonight. She is already missing "sissy". She wants her back home. We told her that sissy went back to her house. That was the wrong thing to tell Carly. She had a livid fit. Wish us luck the next few days, while Carly goes through "sissy" withdrawals!

Christmas 09

The final chapter ~

Move over Hannah Montana. Carly's rockin the house!

Hoping You All Have A...

2010 ~ WoW!