Hannah, Taylor & Hailey

Happy 3 Year Forever Family Day To Taylor!

2012-02-01T19:06:00.000-05:00

3 years ago today we met one scared little girl in China. She put her little hand in mine that day and walked out of that meeting room where her foster mom and her foster moms daughter were and never looked back.

She is just one amazing little girl! Happy 3 year forever family day Taylor, we love you with all our hearts, Mommy & Daddy!

Meting Taylor for the first time. February 2009

In China just thriving!

February 2010.

February 2011.

February 2012. We decided instead of ice cream we would take her out to dinner.

Happy Birthday Hannah!

2012-01-31T16:01:00.006-05:00

6, how did that happen??? Our little Hannah Bear turned 6 years old today! We decided to take the girls to Cedar Falls for some outdoor fun today as it's a safe place for Hailey to go and be free from wearing a mask. The girls had so much fun and so did Millie!

She is one wild and crazy girl, so full of life!

Millie wanted in the water so bad, it was cold though. The temp here today was about 60 so it was a nice day for the park but not for a swim.

Just makes a mama's heart melt!

Thank you so much to Buz for Hannah's cake, as usual her friend Jonathan did an awesome job on making Hannah the perfect cake, she loves it! I'll take more pics later as the cake has cupcakes that go around the outside.

Adding more pics from tonight:

She had gotten some money for her birthday to go shopping with and here she decided to throw it all up in the air, she just cracks me up!

(Taylor being super silly in the background)

Again thank you Buz for getting our little Hannah Bear the cake of her dreams and to her friend Jonathan for making it, you made one little girl so very happy today.

Clinic Day

2012-01-27T17:44:00.002-05:00

Today we had clinic again, not much is new Hailey got her Vincristine (chemo) push, and her Methotrexate (chemo) through I.V. and as usual her Zofran through I.V. for nausea.

Playing in the playroom before we're called back.

Hannah took this one of me and Hailey while she was getting her chemo. All the girls got pillows and blankets that were handmade and donated to the cancer center, they were trilled to pieces! Hailey has hers and it says "God Loves Me", how cute is that?

Hannah and Taylor hanging out on the bed watching a movie.

She's got a headache tonight along with some nausea and is having diarrhea so I hope it's just from the meds and not that she's coming down with something. (Our hospital bags are always packed though)

Her oncologist went over the next stage of treatment for her. She'll finish up her Interim Maintenance in a few weeks which lasts for 56 days then she will begin Delayed Intensification which will last for 56 days and with that will be a new regimen of drugs.

She'll be getting her Dexamethasone which is her steroids which she did pretty good on as most kids turn into screaming devils from what I heard but Hailey did really well on them for the most part, I just don't look forward to her face all fattening out again and her eating day and night.

She will still be getting her Vincristine (chemo) but will also be getting Doxorubicin (chemo), Pegaspargase(chemo), Methotrexate (chemo) in her spinal fluid, so more spinal taps coming up again, Thioguanine (chemo) and finally Cytarabine (chemo). I'm tired just writing all that and to think all these drugs going through my child's body, it's TERRIFYING. That's all the drugs that will be given to Hailey and some of them, up to four different kinds given in one day at clinic.

Give your kids big hugs and kisses tonight and pray your child never has to go through this, it's a parents worst nightmare.

We've just been hanging around the house a lot as it's that time of year for flu season so I don't want Hailey out and about too much. We've worked on lots of Pinterest crafts and stuff so I'll post pics soon if y'all want to see what I've been making. We did do a story time craft at the library and it was about dragons and knights and princesses so the girls made these shields which they thought were pretty cool.

We also had a visit by 2 of the sweetest ladies in the world who heard about the girls and wanted to make them dresses. Well, they did the smocking on the fabric and I will sew them into dresses but the girls absolutely LOVE them! So, I'll be working on getting the dresses done next week. And the funny thing is my grandmother use to do smocking and had made me smocked dresses when I was little, well by the time my grandmother got moved closer to me she was too old to teach me how to smock but I had always wanted smocked dresses for the girls. I had even bought the girls a couple of smocked dresses in Vietnam when we adopted them and now I just can't afford them esp. with 3 of them to buy for so how cool is that?

We also got free tickets from the cancer center to a character breakfast in March for me to take the girls to. They are suppose to have quite a few Disney Princesses there along with Pooh, Peter Pan and I'm not sure who else. I just hope Hailey will be healthy enough to go and not be in the hospital.

I Am A Cancer Mom

2012-01-24T09:41:00.003-05:00

I am not a soccer mom or a hockey mom, though I dare say I am as tough as any of them, maybe even tougher. But I am not bragging. Although I spend hours on the road transporting my children to events, I do not take them to practice or games. The events my children participate in are more of the life-or-death nature. The competition is fierce. There is no practice for the contest we are involved in. We have been thrust into the fight without practice and without warning, and even without our permission. We meet with our team and coaches on a regular basis, sometimes as much as five days a week and for hours at a time, sometimes all day. Sometimes we must live at the facility where we have around-the-clock assistance from our team and access to specialized competition methods. I cheer them on, but not from the sidelines. I get right in there and fight, too. Sometimes I have to wield the instruments of conquest. It is all blood, sweat, and tears; my child’s blood, my sweat, and all of our tears. So far, we are winning, but the fight is far from over, and the tide could turn at any time. Vigilance is vital. To let up, even for a day, could be the difference between victory and defeat. We are in hand-to-hand combat, so to speak; my hand tightly holding those of my children and husband, and I’m not letting go. I am a cancer mom!

(This was written by Heather and is being used with permission)

Feeling Better

2012-01-20T14:33:00.001-05:00

Hailey has been fever free since around 9:00 last night, she's been on I.V. antibiotics even though all her cultures are coming back negative, and I really did some smooth talking to her Dr. to hopefully go home tonight.

Around 5:00 will be the 24 hour mark for her cultures and as long as those are still negative she will get some I.V. antibiotics that are good for 24 hours right before we come home, yay, in and out in 24 hours, that's record time for us so far!

My little cutie!

We're In The Hospital Again

2012-01-19T18:00:00.002-05:00

Well we made it 3 weeks till we had to come back here but Hailey is running a fever again. I left my camera at home so I took a quick picture with my I Pad.

Clinic Day

2012-01-17T16:46:00.004-05:00

Today was clinic and Hailey had a spinal tap which meant no eating or drinking after midnight, up early to get to the hospital etc....

Her counts were low but she just made it by 20 points. Her AGC count was 570 and had to be 550 for her spinal and chemo. This is her count which tells us her immunity system count, a healthy persons is in the thousands so usually they tell us anything 500 or under she is to stay at home, not be around others etc..., but even at 570 she won't be doing too much outside of the house.

She had a really great day and was happy and smiling all day at clinic.

She got Vincristine (chemo) push, and her Methotrexate (chemo) through I.V., then also got the Methotrexate (chemo) injected directly in her spinal fluid.

Sometimes if I take the time to think about it I just get the chills thinking of all these harsh chemicals that are being put in her little body, but of course the alternative is worse so we just keep chugging along.
I'm not a great photographer at all but geez some of these pictures at clinic are a horrible color. Smiley girl!

Still asleep afterwards.

Waking up but still needing to lay still.

It's amazing how these little kids learn early on to pick up their "line" and push an I.V. pole all by themselves. She's allowed to do pretty much anything while she's getting chemo, whether it be sitting and playing, sleeping or up and walking around the halls to playing in the playroom or eating.

Up and around getting our chemo.

And this is what she does the rest of the day after chemo, sleeping like a baby, so sweet, she even has her thumb in her mouth.

I had finally asked the Dr. today that I had noticed the other 2 girls have just shot up in height and Hailey seems to have stopped growing and he said that the chemo will/has stunted her growth. He assured me that in time and after treatment she will start to grow and catch up again.

It's A Girl!!!

2012-01-13T19:16:00.003-05:00

I am so excited!

I thought we'd never adopt again.

Even my RH (reluctant husband) said yes!

I saw those big brown eyes!

That sweet little face!

I couldn't resist!

We already are so in love!

I just knew she was our daughter!

We are so happy to introduce you to Millie

She is a four month old German Shepard/Australian Shepard mix, we adopted her today from the Humane Society. What did y'all think I was talking about?

Nothing exciting

2012-01-12T17:45:00.006-05:00

Gosh, nothing is new here, just took the girls to storytime at the library then we went to Toys R Us (met another mom with a little one home just 1 week from China, oh how I want another one, lol) then hit the mall so Hailey could get a few things with her "Hair Fairy" money. She ended up with an oh so cute Hello Kitty purse and wallet she found at Claires!

Someone had asked me about the "Hair Fairy", she's just like the tooth fairy only for the little ones with cancer that lose their hair to chemo we save it when it falls out and you leave it out and the Hair Fairy comes. She usually leaves you a nice chunk of change cuz losing your hair from chemo at 4 years old deserves a little bit more than what you get from the Tooth Fairy don't ya think?

Snapped some pics this morning before we left.

I also got the girls stats just for my own info on their weights and heights as this month Hannah turns 6, Taylor is just 5 1/2 and Hailey just turned 5. My China girl is defiantly my bigger girl and at least Hannah is well over the 30 pound mark now and she's at least on the weight chart now.

Hannah Height 45 in Weight 36.2 lbs 49% for Height 5% for Weight

Taylor Height 45 1/2 in Weight 44.6 lbs 75% for Height 64% for Weight

Hailey Height 43 1/2 in Weight 38.2 lbs 61% for Height 38% for Weight

What We've Been Up To

2012-01-11T10:43:00.007-05:00

This is all me lately!

Gosh after company/family left last Saturday I've just been busy getting the house all back in order and cleaning out stuff. I am so addicted to Pinterest it's crazy! But the girls and I found some cute Valentine crafts we've been working on, I'll post pictures when we get those things done and I'm thinking about doing all DIY Easter baskets for the girls. No store bought things, just some homemade toys and goodies, so we'll see.

I had quite a few people ask me about the Christmas ornaments I made and how I did them and where I got my supplies from.
Here are the ornaments

I bought the plain glass ornaments at Michaels but you can get these at any of the craft stores.

The ribbon was also purchased at one of the craft stores to match the color of the decals.

I purchased the decals at Santa's Gift Shop on Etsy

She has so many cute ideas for other projects also. The decals are so super easy to put on too and if you get it crooked you can just peel off and restick again.

So, what have y'all been up to?

The Hair Fairy

2012-01-08T20:15:00.002-05:00

We've been meaning to leave Hailey's hair out for the hair fairy but with the holidays things just got a little bit hectic.

So tonight Hailey decided it was time but she didn't want to part with her hair. We buzzed the little bit that she had on her head to leave then Hailey and the other two girls got together and wrote this note.

Translated, according to the girls it reads:

Dear H fairy
I want to keep most of
my hair you can have
the little bit that is
here
Hailey love

Downtown Greenville

2012-01-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we went downtown to walk the shops and have dinner, we all had a great time! Brandon and Gina leave for Florida tomorrow am. We've had a fun and busy two weeks with them.

Clinic day

2012-01-05T18:58:00.003-05:00

Another clinic day today, not too exciting except Hailey was definitely having an off day. She cried every time someone wanted something from her. Just a bad day for her, on days like this my hearts breaks for her and everything she has to go through.
She got Vincristine (chemo) push, and her Methotrexate (chemo) through I.V. She goes back in 10 days and has another spinal tap with chemo injected into her spine.

She is at least smiling here getting her chemo. She came home and slept most of the afternoon.

A New Bike

2012-01-04T19:13:00.003-05:00

We got home today from running some errands and guess what we came home to? Hailey got a bike given to her from Cody's Wheels Of Hope

Hailey was eligible because she has a life threatening illness.

She was so excited and we had to go right outside to try it out. They even sent a helmet too!

Christmas pics

2012-01-04T19:12:00.001-05:00

If you scroll down you'll find pictures of Christmas and clinic and a day in the mountains that were all taken, I've just now gotten around to posting them.

Happy Birthday Hailey

2012-01-02T19:15:00.000-05:00

OMG, how do they grow up so fast? Happy 5th Birthday Hailey, we love you so much!!!!!!!

I am one lucky mama, I've been able to share all her birthdays with her!

1st birthday

2nd birthday

3rd birthday

4th birthday

5th birthday. We had celebrated her birthday last week when daddy, Bill and Brandon were here. Thank you soooo much Buz and Wayne for the absolutely amazing and beautiful cake, it sure was a dream come true for Hailey!

Today for her birthday we took the girls to the zoo and just enjoyed pizza at home for dinner.
Hannah, Taylor and Hailey

Jesse and Hailey

Gina, Hannah, Taylor and Brandon

Feeding the goats

I just made some Hello Kitty cupcakes so she had something on her birthday

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T10:39:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: Taylor just had an ear infection so we were able to come home.

Hailey is feeling good and we are suppose to go home this afternoon. It was questionable as to whether or not we would leave today as Taylor is home now with over 101 fever and upper respiratory crap stuff going on. She is seeing the Dr. at 1:00 today to see what's going on and they weren't sure whether they wanted Hailey near Taylor. But, the Dr. said he'll send Hailey home on antibiotics and we need to keep the girls separated. Her counts have come up some, 450, but that is still extremely low with a sick sister at home.

I'll keep y'all updated.

These were just taken this morning, we're waiting to get one last dose of I.V. antibiotics.

Still Here

2011-12-31T12:59:00.003-05:00

I was so hoping we would go home today, her fever is gone but her AGC count is super low, healthy is around 3000 and her's is 132. This is the count they use to fight infection, so a count of 132 is just about having no immunity system.

Otherwise she is feeling good and is happy!

Hailey is back in the hospital.............again

2011-12-30T16:32:00.003-05:00

At least we made it through Christmas without being hospitalized. I'll post later all our Christmas pictures and all the fun we had with daddy and big brothers here but for now she was admitted with a fever again, it started last night and I had called the dr.s answering service and we were told to just wait some. This morning we were still running fever of just 100.2 so we were told to come into the clinic. They checked her blood counts and gave her antibiotics by I.V. Then we headed up to the 5th floor to be admitted. I so hope we can be home in a day or two.

Mountains

2011-12-28T18:19:00.002-05:00

Today we decided to go up to the mountains for the day, it was cold but so beautiful!

Daddy with the girls

Me with the girls. (Don't know why we didn't get all of us together, duh?)

Brandon and Gina with the girls.

Brandon and Gina.

Jesse climbing where he's not suppose to be. Notice the color of the mountains? That's why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains, just beautiful!

Daddy and Hailey.

Brandon and Gina again.

Eating a picnic in very cold weather.

My babies.

Feeding the Canadian geese.

Hailey. Even without hair this child just takes my breath away, she's so beautiful, inside and out.

Clinic Day

2011-12-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

We had clinic today and daddy got to go with us. I took pictures so y'all can see what happens most weeks.

We start off in the waiting room on the first floor at the lab waiting to get blood drawn.

Miss DJ getting Haileys blood.

We go up to the second floor to her pediatric oncologist. She's working on some crafts while we wait.

We then start off in one room and we go over her medicines that she is taking at home. She gets her weight and height checked so they can always adjust the amount of meds and keep track of her growth because of the chemo and other medicines she's on that may cause weight loss etc....

Her temp and blood pressure is taken.

We then head over to the exam room where we wait for the Dr. She is in a group of 5 Drs so she just sees any of them. The hospital where Hailey goes is also a teaching hospital so quite a few time we get residents and students checking her out also.
This is Dr Cook whom we love and notice Hailey is still continuing working on crafts, she still ignores the Drs quite a bit.

Nurse Sarah is cleaning her port to put the I.V. line in.

Putting her I.V. in.

We then head over to the "day hospital" where she gets her chemo.
She got Vincristine (chemo) push through her I.V., push just means it's in a syringe and they just inject it in through the I.V., takes about 15 seconds.

She also got Methotrexate (chemo) that is hung on her I.V. pole and takes about 30 minutes to drip into her through the I.V., along with anti nausea medicine.
We just sit and either watch T.V., play games or here Hailey wanted some chips to eat.

Her I.V. is then taken out of her port and we head home.

Christmas

2011-12-25T12:42:00.001-05:00

Daddy was home for two weeks over Christmas and we stayed busy.
We went to the hospital to give gifts to all her nurses on the pediatric oncology floor.
They had a beautiful poinsettia tree in the lobby.

We went up to Charlotte and took the girls to Bass Pro and saw Santa

Bill arrive on the Friday before Christmas and we celebrated his birthday.

All dressed up for church on Christmas Eve.

We let the girls open a few presents that night. Brandon was arriving Christmas afternoon so we were waiting to open a majority of the presents when he arrived.

The girls are sprinkling food out for the reindeer.

Daddy reading The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas morning.

Bill

Jesse and Hailey

Taylor, oh so happy with her presents!

Christmas Craft Projects

2011-12-19T19:50:00.003-05:00

Here are some more of the craft projects I did for Christmas presents this year. With Hailey being sick it made it easy for me to stay home.

I made these wood blocks for our neighbors and some friends and had to keep a set for me cuz they looked too super cute on my mantle. These were really easy to make, they took a lot of time though to sand and paint but I love the way they turned out. (once Jesse and I figured out we had the blade to Teds circular saw on backwards we were good to go, and your saw still works fine honey!)

OMG, these came out perfect! I saw them on Etsy but didn't want to pay the high price for as many people as I wanted to do and they came out so professional looking! I made a ton of these.

More Scrabble Tile necklaces for the girls friends.

I make 5 photo albums every year, these we send to Teds mom and my parents and I make them up for our 3 single kids (don't know why I don't do for the married ones) and to me they are the perfect gift especially when your parents have everything. They are really time consuming but I think they make the most thoughtful gift. I usually take each month of pictures and take about 10 out of the girls/family from each month and organize them in the album by the month, that way our parents can go January thru December and go back and see pictures of the girls and our family. I think this is the 5th year in a row I have done this.

This is what happens when 2 girls are awake and one falls asleep. (at least they wrote on the post it note, Love, maybe they thought that would make it okay?

Ted came home today and will be here for the next two weeks, yippee!!!!!!! I think the girls have him worn out already though! (if he doesn't watch out he'll have a post it note stuck to his face)

Clinic Day

2011-12-15T17:33:00.003-05:00

Today was clinic day, Hailey did so good, I was so proud of her. I have numbing cream that I apply to her port before we leave home and cover it with Press & Seal. Today was the first time that when they "accessed" her port she didn't cry, PTL!!!! She's finally getting used to it. (By "accessing" it they stick an I.V. type needle into the port to hook up the I.V.). I'll have to get pictures next time so y'all know what I'm taking about.

She got Vincristine (chemo) push through her I.V., push just means it's in a syringe and they just inject it in through the I.V., takes about 15 seconds.

She also got Methotrexate (chemo) that is hung on her I.V. pole and takes about 30 minutes to drip into her through the I.V., along with anti nausea medicine.

So while we waited for that the girls painted ornaments and played Candy Land. Child Life is always so good about keeping the kids busy while they are there.

(My camera was defiantly on the wrong setting)

Here's a better picture of the tee I whipped up for the girls, so easy and super cute!

BTW, I found this tee on Pinterest. Have y'all heard of this site? I must be living under a rock or something because until a few weeks ago I had never heard about it, but I. Love. It. It is the most fascinating site I have been on in awhile. You can browse through some of the stuff but you just put in a request to join and I'm still on a "waiting list" for them to let me join. But, you can still see so much cool stuff in all the categories, so many awesome ideas!!!!

I made up these 2 gift baskets full of goodies for the clinic and also for the 5th floor nurses.

I also had Hailey give each nurse a scrabble tile necklace I made. My neighbor across the street printed the pictures out for me then resin is used to give them the glass effect. These took some practice though to get them right.

We only got the clinic stuff delivered today as when I went out the the car to get the other basket my battery was dead, ugh! So called a tow truck and he recharged my battery but but by the time he got done with us I was ready to go home. We'll deliver those another day.

The girls finished making cards and also helped make candy cane reindeer for the nurses baskets.

Remember this picture from my last post?

This is what I got made with it, only in massive amounts for gifts.
White chocolate dipped double stuffed oreos.

Chocolate dipped pretzels.

And chocolate dipped butter cookies made to look like wreaths.

More Christmas project pictures to come.

Santa At The Zoo And A Few Other Odds & Ends Of Stuff

2011-12-10T19:24:00.003-05:00

Today was Santa At The Zoo! It was a little cold but we had fun!

The zoo had put trees and presents in all the animals cages for them to play with.

These pics didn't come out good but I am waiting for the pictures the zoo took to upload so I'll post that one when I get it.

Here the girls are talking to Santa about what they wrote on their Christmas lists.

They were also giving away free Chick Fil A lunches to all the kids. (I don't know what faraway land Taylor is in here)

Sisters being silly.

My neighbors stopped by with a Christmas gift for us and the girls today, so I let the girls open theirs early as I know they weren't going to be able to wait. (they scream like this with EVERY present they open, anyone coming for Christmas bring your ear plugs) Thank you so much, you can all see they loved their gift!

The girls made Christmas cards last week.

Today was "do nothing with the hair" day.

We made some cookies.

Daddy bought us this ornament.

Hailey does a lot of this in our off time.

This is on my to do list the next few days. (I'll show the finished results later in the week)

Hailey also had clinic last week but we were in and out of there in a couple of hours, no pics as she just had blood taken and got her stats for the week. As long as her blood levels are where they are suppose to be she starts next week a couple different kinds of Chemo through I.V. so I'll post more after I know what she gets etc... on Thursday.

Busy Weekend

2011-12-04T18:49:00.003-05:00

As long as Hailey feels good we try to go places so this weekend was especially busy for us.
We had Home Depot craft on Saturday morning.

Then we headed over to the mall for the kids Christmas party there.
Here the girls are watching a magic show.

We came home and I got a picture of them on the front porch. (Hailey was not happy about getting her picture taken)

We then headed to downtown Greenville for their annual Christmas parade.
The girls never can go downtown without stopping by the Mast General Store for candy.

Hailey had fallen asleep like this and had just woke up.

The girls love the Grinch.

And of course Santa always ends the parade.

Sunday we went to church in the morning then went to the Simpsonville Christmas parade.

This was the same Grinch float that was in last nights parade.

Santa

So what did y'all do this weekend?

Clinic Day

2011-12-01T18:41:00.002-05:00

It's funny when Hailey was first diagnosed we sat down as a family and decided we didn't want our family blog turned into Haileys cancer blog but it seems like our world revolves around Hailey and her cancer now, how couldn't it? So, I'm sorry if it seems like all I post about is Hailey and her dr. appt.'s and Hailey and her cancer but that's what our life is like now, that's what our family is going through right now so I guess that's what a majority of what my posts are about.

She had another spinal tap today with chemo injected into her spine, this is the last one at least for a few weeks anyways. I think next week I'll get the schedule for what this next month will look like for treatment.

I only took this one picture right afterwards as by the time we got to recovery it was packed and I didn't want to start taking pictures.

We came home and decided to decorate the tree.

Haiely looks so sad in the background, I ache for her each day but it's amazing how really well these kiddo's handle everything they go through.

We're home!

2011-11-29T20:18:00.003-05:00

We are home! The doctors found no flu, no bacteria so they just ruled it out as a virus. This is what happens to a child with leukemia when they get a simple virus. She just had a fever, no vomiting, nothing else except a temperature and just feeling crappy equals a week in the hospital. With hardly any immune system it just takes so much more for her little body to fight it.

She had her ups and downs all week they would let the tylonal wear off so they knew where her temperature was at and she would feel yucky then she would get her tylonal and perk back up. She ran a 103 temp up until yesterday and it finally broke.

Day 4
Keeping busy with crafts.

Hailey didn't eat her pizza dinner so I fed it to the other two girls before they headed out to go home.

Day 5
She decided she needed some make up today.

It's a good this she did her make up as the Zaxby's Chicken stopped by for a visit.

Child Life is always on hand to hand out craft projects.

Riding a trike up and down the halls with her sisters.

More crafts to keep the girls busy.

Taking another ride around the halls before bed.

Day 6
The girls got these cute little Clemson bears a doctor was handing out today.

This is the ceiling tile Hailey painted back in October when she was diagnosed and it is hung up in the ceiling now, so cool!

Her message board in her room.

She loved playing this piano!

Now I just need to keep her healthy the rest of the month. We go back to clinic on Thursday for another spinal tap so I have tomorrow to try to get caught up.

Thanksgiving, and guess where we ended up at

2011-11-27T15:06:00.005-05:00

I had a cute post all planned, girls all dressed to get that Thanksgiving Day picture of them, turkey cooking in the oven and..............

Hailey started running a fever. When she gets a fever of 100 we have to call the docter and she is hospitalized. So we ended up in the hospital and today is Sunday and we are still here. They've done every test and xray under the sun and everything is coming up negative so they are assuming it's just a virus. But with temps running anywhere from 100 to 103 she can't go home till she is 24 hours free from fever.

Day 1
Our Thanksgiving Day family photo.

Day 2.

Hailey got a blood transfusion today.

I thought these pics were so cute of her little bottom hanging out, at least she has underwear on!

Another Clinic Day

2011-11-22T16:09:00.004-05:00

We had another clinic day today, a couple of days early because of Thanksgiving coming up.

Hailey did really good again and they had a raffle at the clinic to win free turkeys and we won one of them!!!!! I was so excited and had to had my picture taken with someone who handed me the turkey, I hope that picture doesn't get around too much.

Hailey had fun drawing and cutting out some Thanksgiving pictures before her procedure.

Still asleep.

In recovery having some crackers.

Next week we do it all over again, another spinal with chemo is scheduled for Tuesday.

We've had a pretty boring week this week. I was raking some leaves outside and Hailey fell asleep. She just gets tired so easily now.

I have a confession....... we started putting up Christmas stuff, ugh! I don't know why, I was just in the mood to do so, never have I ever put up Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving. Oh well, the girls had fun and we seem to be home quite a bit more now with Hailey sick so we are finding things to do.

Hannah thought the decorations made cute earrings.

Playing outside.

We were suppose to be in Florida now with family for Thanksgiving but Hailey can't travel that far for at least the first year of treatment so we are home. It'll be a quiet day which is fine, I've got a turkey dinner all planned for the kids though.

We probably will get out and do some Christmas shopping done too even though I do have it about 90% done, I know, yes I am one of those people that shop year round, am somewhat orgainized and have most of it all done by Thanksgiving. I like to enjoy my Decembers and not have to worry about shopping. I've also been making a lot of gifts and will post pictures as soon as they are all delivered as there are quite a few recipients that read my blog, oh they are all coming out so cute too!!!

So, do y'all have your shopping done?

Clinic Day

2011-11-17T16:31:00.005-05:00

Today was clinic for Hailey and her blood counts were where they wanted them to be for her to be stable to start the next phase of treatment. She had her spinal tap with chemo injected directly into her spinal fluid, she had another kind of chemo put into her I.V., then she had a third different kind of chemo by mouth (a pill) that she will take daily for this next month.

She is doing better and better each time we go to clinic, this is the second week in a row she hasn't cried when they have drawn blood, quite a feat I think.

She is still crying every time they access her port, basically they insert an I.V. type of needle in through her port which is just under her skin but I have a prescription numbing cream I put on it before we leave the house. The nurse said she could tell it really hurt Hailey this time so I need to try to really layer it on next week.

She is getting used to the anesthesiologist as today she didn't cry at all when he came in and put her to sleep. She knows the drill now, she can get in my lap, be given her sleep meds, then when she is asleep I carry her to the table. I can stay in the room with her through the procedure then I'm there when she wakes up.

Not too much in pictures, she's had a lazy day today.

I have to mention the quilt she has was made by the Sunday school class of a friend of the girls. Mia was born in China and the kids each got a quilt square everytime they read a scripture. When they had read enough to make a quilt one of the moms put it all together. We are so blessed to have so many people surrounding us with love and prayers. Thank you Mia, we'll be sending pics to you soon of Hailey with her quilt.

Still asleep.

In recovery.

Hailey's Story ~Leukemia~ How It All Started

2011-11-15T17:52:00.001-05:00

I've been asked how it all started with Hailey getting sick so I thought I would share her story.

She had gotten what seemed like a little cold right when everyone was due to arrive in September so I just gave her some cold medicine for a few days and it seemed to clear up. She also had a decrease in energy. We had Ted and 2 of the boys here, my parents here so we were busy and I just put it on her being tired because we were on the go so much, I even thought she might have some sort of virus and I had even posted in my blog that I thought she had a virus. She then started running a low grade fever, nothing I was too concerned about 99 to 100 degrees.

On Thursday before she was hospitalized we took her to one of the walk in clinics here (I haven't had time to find a pediatrician yet). We were told she had a double ear infection but it was slight. She was put on antibiotics and we went on our way.

Over the weekend she woke up just once each night with what seemed like stomach aches, she cried quite a bit that her tummy hurt and didn't want me to touch it. I did try to push on her stomach to see if maybe it was her appendix though.

Sunday she still was no better, still running a slight fever and completely lethargic so we returned to the walk in clinic and they said maybe the antibiotic wasn't working so she was given an antibiotic shot then a stronger prescription and we were sent on our merry way once again.

Monday night it was just a mothers gut instinct that something was horribly wrong. Her lips were just white and so were the bottoms of her feet. (now we realized it was because of her low blood counts) I had given her her bath that night and her stomach seemed huge to me. (We later learned that her liver and spleen were enlarged, a normal persons liver and spleen are tucked up nicely under your rib cage and hers were at her waist) We went to bed and I even got up in the middle of the night and got on my computer to see if I could find anything. We had been up in the mountains so I was thinking maybe a bug bite or a tick, I thought maybe mono because she was so lethargic, leukemia had come up on my searches but I just passed over them thinking she doesn't have leukemia, that doesn't happen to us, I never even clicked into the leukemia websites.

Tuesday I took her back to the walk in clinic, they drew blood to see what might be going on and discovered her white blood count levels were at 2.5. A healthy persons are anywhere between 11 and 13. She wasn't getting hardly any oxygen. They told me they were taking her by ambulance to the children's hospital here in Greenville immediately. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is fast growing, if not treated in time it is fatal. It's scary to think how much time she may have had left if she hadn't gotten treatment.

We arrived at the hospital, they drew more blood and took x-rays. We were told right in the ER that it was probably leukemia. She was put in PICU where more blood was drawn and tested, we had a ton of Dr's coming and going all saying that they were almost sure it was leukemia.

Wednesday night, October 5 her oncologist came in and said he got the results back from the final blood test and our baby girl had leukemia.

Thursday morning, October 6 she was sent to surgery for her port placed in her chest, bone marrow drawn and a spinal tap done with chemo injected in her spine.

You just never think it's going to happen to you, to your child. It's been such a scary and horrifying experience to go through and it's so hard to watch our baby girl go through this, but we are thankful for all the support everyone has given us. Hailey still has a very long road to recovery but we know that God will watch over her and get us through this.

These were all taken the week to 2 weeks before she was hospitalized. She was so sick and we didn't even know just how sick she really was.

Looking at these photos for me is so incredibly hard now that I know cancer was just raging through her little body, very hard to think about.

Hailey now. These photos are hard on me too as I see what the medicine she is on does to a person. The steroids have plumped her out and the chemo is making her hair fall out. Thank God she is a tough little girl, she's still our same Hailey and I know she will fight this cancer and beat it!

Trying To Get That Perfect Picture

2011-11-14T18:41:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again when I dress up the girls and take them out somewhere to get our annual Christmas card photo. Oh how I envy those moms that have become expert photographers and take awesome pictures of their kids but heck, I just don't have the time to learn all the photo stuff that it takes to get really great shots. So instead I do what I can and they all turn our pretty good anyways.

Here's just some of the pictures I got and we had a great time too!

A Day Up In The Mountains

2011-11-13T19:18:00.002-05:00

Today we headed up the the state parks which are up in the mountains. (Hey,, I'm going to take advantage of Hailey feeling good the next few days) Thank you Buz and Wayne for the passes.

As usual the girls had so much fun and you really appreciate the fresh air and Hailey not having to wear her mask.

I took so many pics of the girls but I look at them every day and thank God for choosing me to be their mom!

Hailey could not get Jesse to understand why a girl needed her purse to go hiking. They actually argued over this and of course the four year old won.

It was really cloudy out,

and cold,

unless you're 21 and your more concerned about how you look instead of staying warm.

Cedar Falls Park

2011-11-12T18:35:00.003-05:00

After breakfast with Santa, Jesse asked if I wanted to take the girls to Cedar Falls Park so off we went.

Since Hailey is off all meds right now she is happy and has a little more energy so the Dr. told us to enjoy her this week before she starts chemo again on Thursday.

Jesse has kidnapped my camera and took most of these pictures. It's just so nice to get the girls outside as much as possible, they love nature and all the fresh air, it's wonderful!

Breakfast With Santa

2011-11-12T14:12:00.002-05:00

Today we went and had breakfast with Santa. The girls have kid memberships at our local mall so they had a free breakfast put on by Chick fil a, Santa was there along with Tiger and Pooh and Snow White. They had face painting which the girls didn't want to do and they made out Christmas cards to send to our troops.

Hailey was so excited she was going to see Santa then got there and wanted nothing to do with him or any of the characters.

Eating breakfast, they each got a free kids meal.

Hailey thought the candy cane pen was pretty nifty! I try to get the girls out and about but am paranoid about getting Hailey sick, the Dr.'s last words to me on Thursday were don't let her get sick this week as we want her to start the next phase of treatment next week.

I forgot to get pictures of all 3 girls there so we got home and I snapped some pics, Hailey had already replaced her hat.

Clinic Day

2011-11-10T18:02:00.003-05:00

Well today was a clinic day but there is nothing interesting to tell, no pictures either. We got up bright and early as she was scheduled for a spinal tap and that didn't happen. Her blood levels were not where they want them to be for the next phase of treatment so they will do it next week, hopefully. And of course she has to be put to sleep for it so she hadn't had anything to eat, all for nothing.

The first month was called the "induction" phase, which we just finished up.

The good news is she is in remission! PTL! This is very typical for leukemia, the first month of treatment is hit hard and most kids should be in the remission phase after the first month. She still has a very long road to recovery though. Leukemia where it is a blood cancer it travels all throughout your body and can hide in all sorts of places. When her blood is tested it is just on the small amount that they draw and you can't tell where it may be in other parts of her body. Her bone marrow also gives them lots of info too though. So she will start the next phase of treatment hopefully next week. She will also get chemo daily now to in this phase.
Whoo hoo, 1 month down and only 29 more months to go! (hey, I gotta keep looking to the positive)

So this next month starting next week for her spinal tap is the "consolidation" phase, she takes daily chemo here at home called Mercaptopurine, she will next week just get a one time dose of Vincristine (chemo) this month (last month she had lots of this) and she is scheduled for 3 spinal taps this month with Methotrexate (chemo) injected into her spinal fluid. (I know this may bore some people but it helps me to keep track and to also let family know what she is taking and doing)

Here's just some pictures from this week.

This picture of Hailey from the back was taken just a week and a half ago. (and I had thought she had lost a lot of hair then)

This was taken yesterday.

My baby!

The girls did some Christmas crafts. I know it's early but they see me making things for Christmas (gifts) and they want to make things too.

Hailey LOVES this hat!

I took these yesterday while we were outside playing.

Look how much the leaves have changed!

Also, thank you soooo much to Brenda for dinner tonight, I need the recipe, the girls LOVED it all!

And again, thank you to all my neighbors, you know who y'all are, for just being there for us, we couldn't do this without you!

I am so far behind on my e-mails and phone calls to everyone, if you've e-mailed or left a message in my blog to contact you and I have not gotten back to you I will, I try to send out a couple everyday but I am really backed up, sorry.

Cancer Carnival

2011-11-05T19:44:00.002-04:00

Today we went to the cancer carnival put on by our cancer center, and it was also their 25th year anniversary of the center.

The girls had so much fun!

Hannah saw something.

Hailey was happy cuz they had food! (I don't know how long it takes for the steroids to get out of her system but she has been off of them since Tuesday and is still eating!)

They had several bounce houses and slides. Hailey is still just too weak to go on any of them.

Love that smile!

They had games.

Crafts are always fun too!

Hailey won all this in a raffle, I kid you not! She was one happy girl!

Then, they got treat bags on the way out! What fun! Thank you to Bi Lo Charities Childrens Cancer Center!

Also this morning we hit Home Depot for the kids craft project.

Random Pics

2011-11-04T12:43:00.002-04:00

Since clinic on Tuesday we haven't done much, Hailey slept a lot on Wednesday then we went outside after dinner and the other girls played while Hailey sat in her stroller.

These I took this morning while the girls ate breaKfast, I can't believe how much of Hailey's hair is gone. But, at least being off the steroids she is smiling so much more!

Even though Taylor has a poptart in her mouth I think so looks cute here!

Clinic Day

2011-11-01T13:00:00.003-04:00

Today was a clinic day and she also was put to sleep for her bone marrow extraction and a spinal tap with chemo injected directly into her spine. Just not fun!

She is off the steroids as of today, Praise the Lord! Hopefully now her face to will slowly come back to normal, her appetite will go down also but if it goes down too much which chemo will do to a person, she will need some supplements to help out with calories.

Getting some IV fluids before she is put to sleep. along with some anti vomiting meds which didn't work too well as she threw up in the car coming home.

Still asleep in recovery.

Awake, but not a happy camper at all.

Thank you again to everyone for your support and prayers we truly appreciate everything everyone is doing for us. Cancer is such a hard thing to go through and then to watch your child have to endure it is even harder. It breaks this mama's heart.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:03:00.003-04:00

The girls as usual had sooooo much fun!

We took them over to our local park for trick or treating. The local businesses set up tables for the kids to go around and trick or treat to. They had train rides and free hay ride and hot chocolate, put it all together and it just oozes fun!

This child of mine just cracks me up everyday!

And of course I took quite a few pics of Miss Hailey, I curled up the little bit of hair she has left and put some make up on her and she just felt beautiful! She was exhausted though by the time we got home.

What is it with long lines we get stuck in? (it was worth it though)

We came home and I took Hannah and Taylor (Hailey was way too tired) to our neighbors on our cul de sac and called it a night. Hope y'all had a Happy Halloween too!

Hailey's Hair

2011-10-30T18:38:00.001-04:00

It was just one week ago today I posted that some of Hailey's hair had started to come out and one week later she has lost so much, oh how much more will she lose this next week?

I know it's hard to tell in these pics but it is thinning out so bad. She really doesn't have bald spots yet, it's coming out pretty evenly all over right now but I tell ya, it's so hard for this mama to bare, it just leaves a pit in my stomach.

All three girls hair was about the same length, Hailey's has shortened up quite a bit.

I did get this smile out of her today! Love those cheeks of hers, they're so kissable right now!

Her hair that we are saving for the "hair fairy". (Even the feather came out with the hair this week)

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-30T16:05:00.002-04:00

Today we carved out the girls pumpkins, they had so much fun!

She's smiling!

More smiles!

Hannah did her own face on her pumpkin. (looks kind of like he has a cleft)

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-29T23:09:00.001-04:00

This afternoon we took the girls to a pumpkin patch. They had so much fun!
They got tattoos.

The girls running around the stone labyrinth.

Oh how this big brother loves his little sissy!

Riding the straw bail horsey.

On the hayride.

I can't wait to see a smile back on this little girls face, it just breaks a mama's heart to see her like this.

Checking out some of the animals on the farm.

Clinic Day

2011-10-26T15:24:00.003-04:00

Today was a clinic day, I'm sure after the 2 1/2 years of clinic day posts I'll get really tired of them, and I'm sure Hailey will too.

We were in and out pretty fast today she had blood drawn and her levels were not too bad, her cancer cell level was up a little from last week but they didn't seem too concerned and her immune level is still really low, just in the 100's. (normal persons levels are 3 to 5 thousand). She had her chemo today and we were done. Next week it's a spinal tap and bone marrow extraction so we'll be there at least half the day.

Hailey is doing about as well as can be expected, she's still extremely tired and spends most of her days napping or sitting and coloring and she is just starting to go through catalogs making out her Christmas list for Santa. She seems depressed, it's hard to tell if maybe she's just tired. Her hair is coming out but she seems okay with that, she knows the "hair fairy" is going to come so that perks her up. It's just plain hard to watch your child go through this. No four year old should have to spend their days taking a bunch of medicine each day and going for chemo, spinal taps, bone marrow extractions, and everything else that comes along with cancer.

Hailey napping. I love this picture of her!

Here is her hospital, this I took just this morning, beautiful day out!

Waiting for her oncologist to come in. Oh how I hate to see her face all puffed out from the steroids, it's so hard to see your baby like this.

Since it was a short clinic day we stopped by the park to play and eat lunch. I try so hard to let the other girls just be kids and not forget about them even though our life now seems consumed by cancer. Hailey sits in her stroller as she doesn't have much energy and the other girls played hard. I had packed lunch for the girls to eat at the clinic but since we weren't there long we ate it at the park.

I just have to thank our friends, our neighbors and all you blogging friends out there that have been so supportive to us through the past few weeks since finding out Hailey has cancer. We truly appreciate all the e-mails, meals, prayers, comments, gifts and cards we have gotten. You have no idea when something like cancer hits your family how nice it is to have supportive people around you. We could not and cannot do this without all of you, thank you! Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue on our journey to recovery for our little girl.

Trying to live normal

2011-10-24T19:01:00.004-04:00

Today I got up and am trying to live our new normal. In between feeding Hailey, taking temps., giving out her medicine, and trying to research and find out info on leukemia, it's harder to do than ya think.

We did school work.

We took a walk and collected leaves to put between wax paper to hang up in the window.

Miss Hailey got on the swings today, hooray!!!!!

I know our new normal will come, one day at a time!

It's Happening!

2011-10-23T15:25:00.001-04:00

Oh my gosh, as much as I was trying to prepare myself, you just aren't when it happens. A big chunk of hair came out when I brushed Hailey's hair this morning, I'm sick! I know it's so minor in all that she is going through, I know it'll grow back in a few months but I tell ya, it's just plain hard! She's handling it just fine too I may add, she's excited about the hair fairy coming, go figure!

Yesterday I took the girls to a Halloween Party at our local mall, I did take lots of precautions with Hailey, we're told not to keep them in a bubble but to take lots of precautions if we do take them out. They got treat bags, made necklaces and played games, just a fun afternoon for the girls. hailey stays in her stroller all of the time we are out, for germ reasons and she's just too weak to walk right now.

Today we made sugar cookies and decorated them. (Thank you Eddie, Lisa and Mia for the Halloween tees, too cute!)

Our next door neighbor was getting rid of their swingset and asked us if we wanted it, well of course!!!!!! The girls LOVE it!!!!! Thank you!!!!!

Hailey still too tired to play but we sat outside and watched.

Love that face even with chili dog and icing on her mouth!

Jesse still has to finish or I should say fix the roof over the slide, he broke it trying to put it up, but the girls don't seem to care.

Boo At The Zoo

2011-10-21T20:50:00.002-04:00

Tonight we took the girls to Boo At The Zoo.

The line was sooooo long!!!! And of course Jesse was complaining about the amount of people there but when we got done Hailey said she had so much fun so Jesse thought it was all worth it then.
You couldn't even see the front of the line.

I didn't get too many pics of the girls, I'll have to remember on Halloween to do that, we were running late and I wanted to beat the crowds, ha!
Hannah was a 50's girl, Taylor was a rock star and Hailey was a princess.

I had a comment about not being out in the cold 3-5 days after chemo, what? I will have to look into that, I'm freaking out now that Hailey has been out twice now in the cold after chemo. (Thanks for giving me that info Ruby, I'll have to find out)

Hailey is cold!

2011-10-21T09:42:00.003-04:00

Hailey is so cold this morning, it's around 36 degrees out but I have the heat set at 70. She's eating her Ramen Noodles (she already had chicken nuggets and french fries for breakfast, remember she's on steroids, they'll make her eat and the chemo will make her want the salty stuff) I don't know what she'll do when she loses her hair!

Photo Session

2011-10-20T08:49:00.005-04:00

Today we had a photo shoot with Emily from http://www.emilycoreyphoto.com/ She heard about Hailey, she has a little girl also adopted from Vietnam and wanted to offer a photo shoot! We were so excited she wanted to do this for us and the girls all looked so cute. Emily lives up in North Carolina but her family is here in South Carolina so if you need someone to do photos she is awesome!

She was so patient with the girls and funny too! Miss Hailey was not a happy camper but who could blame her. I think Emily got a lot of cute pictures and even offered to shoot us all again in the spring when Hailey might be feeling a bit better. Thank you Emily for a great afternoon!!!!!!

I just snapped a couple of pictures after we were done and the girls also had to go to the Mast General Store for candy. (At least Hailey perked up for this)

Oh, and it was coooold today, in the 40's and 50's!

This is what Hannah thought of the cold.

Hailey all bundled up in her blankie.

A smile!

Picking out candy.

We came home and lit a fire, whoo hoo!!!

Hailey crashed.

I made goulash, corn bread and gingerbread cake for dinner, life is good!

Our First Clinic Day!

2011-10-19T18:39:00.002-04:00

Today was our first day at the cancer clinic, it'll be where we go for the next who knows how many years to come for blood work, chemo, and what ever else Hailey will need as she battles her leukemia.

We had to be at her appointment at 8:45, the lab 15 minutes prior and it's a 30-40 minute drive, not an easy feat with 3 girls to get ready that early in the morning.

It didn't start off too good as I thought all her blood would be drawn through her port, wrong, they pricked her finger and she was not happy. I was upset because I had told her she wouldn't get any owies today.

But we ended up seeing the Dr. and got all her stats on her blood, she's still going in the right direction where they want her to be. She got her chemo and also needed platelets, so we got done around 1:00 and headed home after a long morning.

Her HGB was 11.2 which is great, when she first went into the hospital it 2.5, dangerously low. Normal I think is anywhere between 11 and 15. In lay mans terms this is like how much oxygen is getting to her system. At 2.5 that is why she had no energy.

Her WBC is 700! She started out at around 5500, I think and this is like determining the cancer cells.

Her AGC is at 168. This is still bad, it's the number to determine her immune system. Normal should be in the thousands, last week hers was at 0 so it's better than last week. It just means I have to take extra precaution if she goes out. Wearing her mask, try not to be around kids, etc...

Platelets were 27000, I'm not sure what they should be but she has had hers up to 59000 in the past few weeks so I guess that's low.

So much stuff to learn, I'm just going day by day and week by week, we are trying to keep our spirits up and make sure we don't let her cancer run our lives, it's a part of our lives but it doesn't have to be all of our lives, does that make sense?

Here is little Miss Hailey getting her chemo and platelet transfusion. She actually slept through most of it, except for here she eating her chips.

Oh, look at those cheeks! (the steroids are sure plumping her out)!

Hailey's big brother Jason and his wife sent a box of goodies to all 3 girls, thank you Jas and Kathleen, we love you!!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2011-10-17T15:59:00.001-04:00

Love, Hannah, Taylor & Hailey

She's eating everything in sight!

2011-10-16T17:04:00.003-04:00

We were told because of the chemo that leaves a metallic taste in her mouth that she'll want salty stuff and then the steroids would just make her hungry she is just eating away at this point.

The dietitian told us at the hospital that at this point we just want to make sure she eats then we can fine tune it later to more healthier things.

She was already in the hospital wanting to eat french fries, cheeseburgers, ravioli and bacon. But now that we are home she ate a small bag of instant mashed potatoes yesterday for breakfast. She had a taco, chili dog and ravioli for lunch, this morning it was spaghetti O's for breakfast, ravioli, french fries and chicken nuggets for lunch. I don't know where she is packing it away at. I can see from the steroids her belly is getting a little bigger and her cheeks are plumping out too.

Eating a chili dog and Doritos.

French fries at the mall. (I HAD to go out to finish up the girls Halloween costumes for this coming weekend. We took every precaution as possible except when she had to eat her french fries, the mask had to come off)

Chicken nuggets in the car.

We're Home!

2011-10-13T18:54:00.003-04:00

After 10 long days in the hospital we are home!

It was a long day for Hailey, she's exhausted. She had her spinal tap this morning and they injected her chemo directly into the spine. She also had her chemo that goes into her IV today. We took a tour of the clinic downstairs she will be coming to every week for her chemo. The pediatric cancer center in the hospital is awesome! She had a blood transfusion because her white blood count was low so hopefully she'll be okay till next Wed. when she goes to the clinic for her chemo. Plus she ended up getting a severe headache. Whether it was from the spinal tap or her sitting up too fast after her blood transfusion, it was not easy to see her in so much pain.

Her immunity levels are still at 0 so we have to stay home for the next week till she has blood drawn again. The levels have to be over 500 for her to go out even with a mask.

She finished her ceiling tile, we can't wait to go back and see it up in the ceiling.

Oh, and I am so glad to have my computer back. I've been using either Ted's or Brandon's which are unfamiliar to me and had none of my info on them. (I LOVE my computer!)

Pretty Good Day Today

2011-10-12T19:28:00.004-04:00

Hailey had a pretty good day today, they took her off the I.V. for the whole day today and is weaning her off the I.V. meds and is getting she started on the oral meds. I have 6 prescriptions we are going home with. She had another transfusion of platelets and they give her benedryl with it so she ended up being tired and sleeping most of the afternoon.

Getting her transfusion.

Tonight we took her downstairs, off the oncology floor to the healing garden outside. It was nice to be off the floor but I was so freaked out about the germs everywhere! Her AGC count which is her numbers for her body to fight infection is 0 today. A normal healthy persons AGC is around 3000, and when Hailey's count is 500 or over she can go out with a mask, anything under she is suppose to stay indoors away from anyone.

She found this outside the gift shop.

We hope to go home late tomorrow afternoon. She has her spinal tap with chemo in the morning then we have our tour of the lab and clinic downstairs where she will come every week for her chemo.

A couple of pictures from today. Her brother Bill got her the teddy bear, it says I'm kicking leukemia's a%#

So Tired

2011-10-11T18:06:00.003-04:00

Not too much new, Hailey is doing as well as can be expected in this part of her treatment. I had always heard how chemo can just wipe a person out but until you see it it's worriesome to a parent. She is soooooooo tired. It's just all the chemo, meds and cancer that is raging through her little body.

We hope to still come home on Thursday or Friday so we'll see. She is scheduled for another spinal tap on Thursday at 8:00am to have more chemo injected directly into her spinal fluid. Even though no cancer cells were found in her spinal fluid it is preventative. She'll have another one done in 2 more weeks then I'm not sure after that. We just are basically going day to day right now and I'm trying not to think too far ahead in the future.

She is also scheduled for another platelet transfusion this week, she already had one done the day before her surgery and her platelets are low again so that is scheduled for her this week also.

Today a couple of guys came to sing for the kids throughout the hospital. Hailey seemed to enjoy it, she's the only little one on the oncolgy floor right now that could make it. (there are quite a few teens up here) They gave her a shaker egg to keep plus one of their sing a long DVD's.

Hailey also gets to paint a ceiling tile here on the pediatric oncolgy floor. The square tiles that are in the ceiling, the hospital uses them for artwork. The kids paint them, then they put them all up in the ceiling, so cool!

I knew at Hailey's age she doesn't do much (none really) free hand type of art work but I wanted something that would be Hailey. I decided to turn the tile square into a coloring book page. She loves, loves, loves Hello Kitty. I copied a picture out of one her her coloring books and just free hand drew it on there and made it way bigger, (the tile is 2 foot square) outlined it with black marker and voila! She got part of it painted today and hopefully she can finish it tomorrow. It's so hard to see the littlest of activity completely wear her out.

Hailey at her little concert.

Her tile square before painting.

Painting.

The other girls even got to paint a picture too.

Our little princess.

A Chemo Day

2011-10-09T22:26:00.004-04:00

I snapped some pics of her last night in a good mood. Her good moods last about 15 minutes each day and that's it so we cherish them a bunch when it does happen. She is on steroids which make her just miserable.

Today was another chemo day for Hailey and I'm not quite sure who it's harder on, her or me. She got a one time dose of it today and it is the only dose she'll get throughout her month of treatment of this prescription. (she is on another chemo prescription the rest of the month)It's time released over the next 2 weeks. She's suppose to do her first 7 days of therapy in the hospital and go home around day 8, which for us, today is day 4 so I was hoping to go home on Thursday but it probably won't be till maybe Sat. The nurse told me today she is scheduled for another spinal tap on Thursday so we'll find out tomorrow.

On all her numbers she is doing really good, they are all just where they expect them to be at this stage in her treatment.

The steroids are just horrible, she will just cry and cry and cry and be completely miserable for a couple of hours after taking them. (she takes them 2x's a day for her month long treatment plan). They are going to make her good and pudgy which I can already see her belly getting quite a bit bigger now. Otherwise she pretty much slept most of the day.

I had forgotten to mention in previous posts that Hailey had to have 4 blood transfusions. We are so thankful to the people who take the time to give blood.

Trying to get her to smile for the camera.

Thank you so much everyone for all the comments and prayers! We are blessed beyond words for the support everyone has given us.

Hailey Update

2011-10-08T08:55:00.006-04:00

Thank you everyone for all the comments and e-mails! We are reading them all I just don't have the time right now to get back to you but I will.

Hailey is doing better little by little, her shoulder is pretty sore but she is still on pain meds as long as she needs them.

I feel like I am running on auto pilot right now, so much to take in it's all so overwhelming. You always read the stories of this child or that child getting cancer and in my little blog world I think I can only come up with a couple little girls that I have followed their blogs on that have gone through something similar to Hailey and you truly never can image that something like this would ever happened to you. I still don't think it has actually hit me yet. I keep thinking a doctor is going to come in and tell me her lab reports got goofed up and she's fine, it was just a virus or something.

We just found out that Hailey will be on chemo for at least the next 2 years! I had no idea. I thought she would do her little 26 day of meds and chemo and that would be it. I knew nothing about leukemia. We are so use to going to the hospital, having surgery and then coming home. They give you one little sheet of paper of post op instructions that lets really confess, we don't read over really well anyways. We are being pumped full with so much info everyday it's confusing. I've already gotten 2 big loose leaf binders of info, procedures, drugs etc. We are having to learn every drug she is on, what it does, how often, side effects etc.... We have been learning about how to keep her as healthy as possible. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood but also effects her immune system. If she even gets a cold she risks being hospitalized for. We have to sanitize everything, she'll have to wear a mask everywhere in closed places (not outdoors), hand sanitize when we come into the room/house, and then again when we leave, and every place in between. Only in an absolute emergency do they want me to let her use a public restroom. And NEVER to let her use a public sink. Did y'all realize a public sink has more germs than the public toilet seat? I just learned that, yuk! We are shaving to learn about her "numbers". I guess numbers are going to be all we think and talk about. What is her white blood count today, where are her hemoglobin levels at....

Hannah and Taylor are suppose to have a little class for them on Monday to learn about Hailey's cancer, her "port" used for meds, sanitation, learning that they'll have to wear a mask at home if they get sick etc... The big kids are doing okay but I can see how this is effecting them, it's just plain hard to watch your baby sister go through so much.

Thank you again, everyone for all the kind words, e-mails, phone calls and prayers, we are so grateful right now for the support everyone is giving us and we truly appreciate it.

Some pictures of little princess while here in the hospital.

This was in the PICU feeling pretty good.

Right after surgery in her new room on the oncology floor. (never thought I'd ever be here with one of my kids)

Here she is sporting her new little friend, her "port" that she'll have for at least the next 3 years.

Please Pray For Hailey

2011-10-07T13:34:00.003-04:00

Two days ago our little girl Hailey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Yesterday she underwent surgery for a spinal tap to check for cancer cells there, there are none in the spinal fluid so that is a good thing. She also had bone marrow removed to determine the exact type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia that she has and she had a "port" put in under her left collar bone for her to receive her meds and blood draws through.

Yesterday she was also started on her first chemotherapy treatments.

I have so much more to say that I will later on, right now things are still crazy and hectic here, I know it did take us some time to notify our family and friends either by phone or e-mail, and for those of you who are e-mailing or calling us back and we have not gotten back to you, we will, it's just taking us time.

She is in a fantastic hospital here in Greenville, we know she is in the best of hands. Please just keep Hailey and our family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this long and difficult journey.

I just wanted to add something to this post as I have already been asked quite a bit already, please feel free to share Haileys story as I know getting word out there and getting many more prayers will help out so much.

Downtown

2011-09-29T18:50:00.002-04:00

We took Hailey to the Dr. today and she has a double ear infection! I had asked her numerous times if her ear hurt and she always said no, poor baby. She's on antibiotics so hopefully she'll be back to her ole self in no time.

Brandon got the girls stuff to make the pine cone and peanut butter and bird seed things to hang up outside. (the squirrels are eating them though)

I love the sassy look Taylor is giving Hannah.

The State Parks & Mountains

2011-09-27T18:49:00.001-04:00

We took off for the day to quite a few of the state parks in our area and had such a great day, long day but great day!

Up above the clouds.

Mommy smooching on Hailey!

Hailey's mode of transportation while hiking.

What a cutie!

We found an old fashioned soda shop up in NC, yum!

The girls thought it was funny to have one of them in NC and one of them in SC.

Boys will be boys!

Beautiful!

We went and walked this trail that was so covered by trees it was so dark.

The leaves are just barely starting to change.

We found a great place to hang out.

Cedar Falls

2011-09-26T18:47:00.001-04:00

Went out to Cedar falls for a little bit today.

Paris Mountain State Park

2011-09-25T20:34:00.002-04:00

We took the girls today up to Paris Mountain State Park. There is so much beauty all around us up here is SC!

We found a great park on the way home and had our picnic lunch.

Check this out, 3 stories!

We also found the State Farmers Market on the way home and got some veggies and the girls picked out some gourds.

Clemson Tailgating!

2011-09-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

Today we got up bright and early to meet up with my family for a day of tailgating and the Clemson/Florida football game. Everyone had so much fun!

My guys!

My brother Rich, the cook!

My sister in law/sister/best friend, Ann.

My niece's little girl Campbell, what a cutie!

My niece's little boy, Anderson, another cutie!

Our little tailgate site!

The stadium.

Dr Seussical

2011-09-23T20:29:00.001-04:00

We took the girls to a musical up in Greer tonight, "Seussical", no pictures were allowed and it was suppose to be outdoors so I dressed the girls warm and because we had had rain earlier they had it indoors.

Greenville Zoo

2011-09-23T20:28:00.001-04:00

We went to the zoo today and as usual the girls had fun. Hailey still isn't feeling good, I think it's just a virus that needs to run it's course.

Brandon gave Hannah a little camera to use, I think I know what the girls may get for Christmas!

Feeding the goats is always so much fun!

Greenville Car Show

2011-09-22T20:26:00.001-04:00

Today there was a car show in downtown Greenville the guys wanted to go to.

The girls got candy again in the Mast General Store. (I love that place!)

We rode the trolley.

Outlet Mall & IKEA

2011-09-21T20:23:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday it rained quite a bit so we decided to head up to Charlotte, NC to IKEA and also there is an outlet mall half way between here and there. No great pictures that day, Hannah just wanted for me to take her picture on this guy.

Ted/Brandon & Grandma/Grandpa arrive!

2011-09-20T20:04:00.002-04:00

My parents got in Sunday afternoon and Ted and Brandon arrived late Sunday night. Monday Bill had to head home so we took my parents to downtown Greenville for the afternoon to walk the park and feed the ducks, eat lunch and my parents had lots of fun shopping in the Mast General Store! (My parents were just here for 24 hours on their way back from Cape Cod to Florida but it was nice anyways to have them here even for a short time)

Grandma and Grandpa with the girls. The water in the fountain was actually pink for breast cancer awareness.

The girls all got feathers in their hair. (I really bought the kit and the feathers on eBay for a fraction of the cost and did it myself, so easy!

Go Clemson!

State Parks/Mountains

2011-09-18T19:55:00.003-04:00

Today we packed a picnic and hit all the state parks in the area. Hailey has had a little runny nose the past few days so she wasn't feeling too good.

You can see why they call these the Blue Ridge Mountains.

It was cold, like 53 out.

I'm so blessed!

Hiking some trails, this is how Hailey hiked.

Bill and the other two way ahead of us!

Touch A Truck Event & Downtown Greenville

2011-09-17T19:33:00.003-04:00

Today we went to Touch A Truck Event and the girls had fun, Hailey was a little overwhelmed by all the kids honking the horns though so she wouldn't get in any of the trucks.

We also went downtown and walked all around, had lunch, and the girls picked up candy at the Mast General Store.

Bill's Here!

2011-09-16T16:10:00.002-04:00

It's so nice when my big kids come visit! Bill got in last night so today we headed out and showed him some around town, we also took him to Cedar Falls which is always so nice. We saw about a dozen wild turkeys but they took off kind of fast before I could get a pic as we were all holding up the girls to see them.

Oh, and it was cold today, 60!

We then headed out to Nivens Apple Farm.

Baby chicks!

Soooooo Funny!

2011-09-09T14:41:00.002-04:00

Well after I took the tractors away from the girls last night they put their little heads together (triple trouble) and came up with a new idea. They dragged their little cars down off the deck (which is no small feat seeing it's high up off the ground) and decided to ride them down the back yard. I was laughing so hard, they were just too funny!

A Couple of Video's

2011-09-09T10:11:00.003-04:00

I am just lovin' this little video camera Brandon gave me, so easy to use as I don't have one of the fancy smancy cell phones, lol!

Daddy had sent the girls some treats in the mail.

And riding the tractors down the hill seemed like a good idea at the time, but of course we soon found out there is no way to stop them except to run into the curb and they went faster than the girls could petal. (at least no children were harmed while making this video)

Football

2011-09-07T18:59:00.003-04:00

Baby It's Cold Outside!

2011-09-07T15:21:00.001-04:00

Not really, but to my little Florida girls 61 is FREEZING to them.

Labor Day Festival

2011-09-05T15:00:00.003-04:00

Today we took the girls to our Labor Day Festival here in Simpsonville. As usual, the girls said this was the best day ever!

It was deserted as most people I guess went on Saturday and a lot of the vendors didn't show up as rain was forecasted. It was very clouded and looked like rain but it never did. We had a great time though.

The petting zoo for my girls is always a big hit!

Jesse liked this guy!

Lowes had a tent set up so the girls got a Lowes apron and goggles to keep and made a bird house!

A penguin mascot from somewhere around here, we haven't lived here long enough so I haven't got a clue as to where he is from.

Can't go to a festival without getting a funnel cake.

Hannah and Taylor rode the big slide, Hailey was too scared!

Daddy's Home Depot Girls

2011-09-03T18:37:00.003-04:00

This morning I went out to get more paint and it just so happened to be the same day and time that Home Depot was doing their kids workshop. The girls had sooooo much fun, got their own apron and a pin and also made a message board. I guess they'll be seeing us next month for another project, it was so worth it! (And it's all free)

Of course I didn't have my camera with with, didn't think I's need it to go buy paint, so Jesse took this quick after we got home.

Having Fun!

2011-09-01T13:48:00.002-04:00

It was about 68 this morning when the girls went outside and they said it was cold!!!!! I think they just like the idea of wearing a sweatshirt. These are the first ones they've ever had so to them it was the greatest!

After lunch they decided to make a fort sort of thing out back. And no we don't have any grass, at least not yet. The previous owner left leaves all in the back yard for years so it killed the grass. Hopefully we'll be able to grass seed this fall then again in the spring. Having a fairly wooded back yard will make it hard but not impossible!

Somewhere throughout the day Hailey is now minus shorts. (Hey, at least she has her underwear on)

Some Video For Y'all

2011-08-30T18:37:00.003-04:00

Here's just some random video from the last week or so of the girls, the one of the girls playing the Wii was taken just before we moved.

I know I don't do much video and I should, I just need to get a new card for my video camera. These Jesse all took with his phone.

And yes in this one the adult supervision is standing on a chair in the guest bath painting the window while the 4 year old is drinking a soda which the 21 year old gave her, ugh! (she's got a little sugar buzz going)

Hannah is so good at this, it's so funny to watch her.

Park & Picnic

2011-08-30T13:55:00.002-04:00

Today I took the girls to a park right here in town, just beautiful! It is literally in our back yard, it is so nice and the temps this morning were in the 70's, Hailey was cold, lol, so she had her sweater on all morning. I packed a picnic too for them.

This bench was a swing so the girls had fun being pushed on it.

We also went and got library cards this afternoon, at least I did, the girls have to be 5 here in SC to get a card, 2 are and Hailey is just 4 so I knew someone would not be happy if two got cards and she didn't so we'll just wait till January then I'll let all 3 girls get their cards. Story time will start up here next week so I think I'll start the girls going to that also.

I'm still painting and unpacking, there is light at the end of the tunnel though, boy has it been a lot of work. I have been painting every room and every closet in the house plus helping Jess get the yard cleaned up and still trying to get out and do things with the girls and learn our way around the area, I'm so grateful for my GPS. I just want to get finished up soon as I need to start schooling the girls and the holidays are just around the corner, so much to do and so little time, ugh!

Some Odds and Ends

2011-08-26T16:52:00.002-04:00

I took the girls today to our big mall here, wow, is it ever nice!!!! 2 stories with all the nice stores. I would have had to go to Tampa back in Florida to get something this nice. (I forgot my camera so no pics) We shopped, had lunch, the girls played in the play area and then each got a cookie, as usual they always tell me this was the best day ever!

My parents had given the girls gift cards from Toys R Us so they got lots of neat outdoor stuff. Thank you so much Grandma & Grandpa!!!!!!!!

We got 3 little goldfish today, the girls were tickled pink!

Bill had sent me a picture of him and Zeus.

Greenville Zoo

2011-08-24T18:33:00.002-04:00

Today we took the girls to the Greenville Zoo. We got a family membership for the year so I can take the girls often. The zoo is really small but it was really clean and nice. The girls had so much fun!

We were feeding this pig (special food we bought at the zoo) then saw the signs that he could not be fed, oh well, hope the poor piggy is okay.

What's the zoo without some good ole junk food!

Afterwards they have a huge playground the girls played on.

We got home and in the mail was a package from daddy, little tin lunch boxes with candy! Thank you daddy!!!!!!

Making Cookies

2011-08-23T19:11:00.002-04:00

Today I took the girls over to Miss Bitsy's and Mr. Joes (Grandma Bitsy & Grandpa Joe which they would love for the girls to call them) house to bake cookies. Bitsy stopped by yesterday and invited us over and we were thrilled to pieces! I can't get over the southern hospitality everyone has shown us here.

Bitsy and Joe live 2 houses down and are an older couple whose kids and grandkids live out of state. They have just fallen in love with the girls and just love them to pieces already!

The girls had so much fun! (I know Hannah has her eyes closed but it has Taylor in the picture as I only took a couple all afternoon)

Hailey eating extra chocolate chips.

Playing with some toys over there.

I also took the girls to the pool over the weekend.

A Day Off

2011-08-18T16:59:00.004-04:00

Today we took the day off from unpacking and painting and headed out to go up to some of the state parks in the area.

First we hit Caesars Head State Park, just beautiful!

As we are driving all up these winding roads the girls are just yakking away making so much noise so Jesse told them to try to be quiet and look out the window and maybe they'll see a deer. (We were both thinking, yeah, right) But guess what we came across, a deer!!!! The girls were so excited!

We then went to Pretty Place Chapel which also has a gorgeous view! You can even hold your wedding here.

We had a picnic lunch and I couldn't find anywhere to throw out our trash but saw these signs, yikes!

Check out our temps up here, it was so nice and cool! (Eat your hearts out Floridian people, lol)

We then headed to Bald Rock which has amazing views there. It'll be nice to hit these sights on a crystal clear day.

Just a couple of pretty pictures out the car window.

We then went through Table Rock State Park.
The girls thought it would be fun to stay in one of these cabins.

We also found a playground to play on.

The girls had so much fun and they always tell me "this was the best day ever!"

FCC Pool Party

2011-08-14T18:20:00.002-04:00

We got together with our new local FCC Group (Families with Children from China) for their annual pool party. The girls had so much fun and it's always so cute to see all these adorable chinese girls together.

It wasn't till about 10 minutes before we left that I remembered I hadn't taken any pictures, so here are just a few. I had so much fun chatting with all the other families, they all made us feel so welcome here that I almost forgot to take any! (These were all taken about 7:30 last night so that's why it's kind of dark)

The girls all fell in love with Rebecca who is 12.

Making Some Time For A little Fun!

2011-08-10T20:04:00.003-04:00

We are trying to find some time for a little fun in between painting and unpacking, so much to be done.

We took the girls to Cedar Falls, it's a brand new park that Greenville County is building but they have so much more to do. The play ground area was still under construction which bummed the girls out but we did go down by the water, walk some trails and walked in the woods. My girls definitely need some hiking type of play clothes.

The girls wanted to help take the ugly brown contact paper off the pantry shelves, yuk! Notice the look on Haileys face, she didn't have to do it but wanted to even though she looked unhappy about it.

This is much more what Hailey is like. (Even if she is in her jammie top, she thinks she looks just bootiful)

The girls have been riding their scooters everyday outside. We have met almost everyone on our cul de sac and everyone is just as nice as can be. We had a neighbor even bring over some cinnamon bread, it was so good!

I took quite a few pictures so my family could see our street a little better with the houses around us.

Then to just add one more thing to my already busy and hectic plate I think I broke my little toe! I stubbed it on the woodwork and the end of the stairs and boy does it hurt! I guess I'll just keep the two toes taped up together for awhile as I have heard that's really all that can be done.

We're Here

2011-08-06T18:10:00.009-04:00

We arrived up in South Carolina all safe and sound! I have not had time to e-mail or call anyone so if you are worried, we are here and all doing fine.

On Friday right before we moved I took the girls over to Grandma & Grandpa's to say good bye.
Outside my parents country club.

Jesse let Hailey drive down our street.

That same night Bill had us over to his house for a cookout. The 3 girls have no strength against Zeus.

It was a really hot day to move!

My hot and tired guys!

And we're off!

The girls outside the South Carolina welcome center.

Eating pizza the first night in the house.

The next day unloading.

The girls enjoying a picnic lunch out on the back deck.

We found time already to eat BBQ at Chiefs Firewater and Wings BBQ. (I'm glad these girls are lovin' BBQ)

We also went up to Paris Mountain. Greenville is down below and off in the distance.

We went to Reedy River Falls in Falls Park in downtown Greenville. (it is absolutely beautiful there, I can't wait to see it in the fall) I think we're only like 10 miles to downtown.

The water is really low though.

On the Liberty Bridge overlooking the falls. And notice the one kid on his cell phone!

Notice the other kid on his cell phone. Geez, so much to see and they're on the phone.

I told the girls we'll have to bring bread back next time to feed the ducks.

We walked the streets of downtown Greenville.

The girls found a really neat toy store.

We ate BBQ again at Sticky Fingers.

We rode the trolley. (It's free too so I think the girls may be riding this a lot)!

Then enjoyed Gelato afterwards.

Now I need to get back to painting!

Exciting News!

2011-07-22T19:44:00.010-04:00

No, we're not adopting again, I know that's what all us adoptive parents always think when we announce exciting news, lol

Guess what this means,

and this,

and this,

We're moving to South Carolina! Simpsonville to be exact, it's right outside of Greenville, up in the mountains. I've been looking for houses all summer, we've been packing and we are almost ready to go. After 10 years here in southern Florida a lot of hard work and prayer we have decided to move. We found a perfect house for us, it's in the town we wanted, it's on a cul de sac, has a fenced in back yard, has lots of big trees and has a REAL fireplace. (not the gas kind)

We are so excited and can't wait for all the new and exciting things to come for our family.

Oh, and we're moving next week, so I better get busy! Look for lots of updates after we move!

Happy 5th Birthday Taylor!

2011-07-21T19:03:00.003-04:00

We took Taylor to Downtown Disney for her birthday. As usual the girls had so much fun!

There are sometimes I snap a picture of one of the girls and after I put it in my computer and look at it, it just blows me away of how beautiful they are, this one does it to me with Hannah, just gorgeous!

Happy 5th birthday Taylor, we love you!

Taylors Birthday With Family

2011-07-20T18:53:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday night we celebrated Taylors birthday here at home with the kids. We cooked steaks out on the grill with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. She opened her presents and had cake and ice cream.

Zeus came to the party!

I don't know what happened to my flash.

Happy 5th Birthday Taylor!

Keeping So Busy!

2011-07-19T15:03:00.003-04:00

Oh my gosh, we are keeping so busy it is CRAZY! But I have a reason why we are CRAZY busy which I will share next week. (Sorry to keep y'all waiting but I've got other stuff going on this week I have to share first). Like Miss Taylor turning 5 on Thursday. Yes, 5 years old, I have no idea how they grow up so fast!

We have been swimming in the pool, but not so much lately as living in the tropics it rains most afternoons.

We have been going to the weekly movies which the girls just LOVE! So far we have seen, Muppets Take Manhatten, Shrek Forever After, Charlottes Web, Megamind, Nanny Mcphee Returns (this was so cute!), Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, Kitt Kittredge, (which was cute also), Astro Boy, Tale of Despereaux, Ramona & Beezus, (which I LOVED, too cute) and tomorrow it's Yogi Bear.

We met a new friend from China (we all were shopping in Target at the same time) so we got our girls together for the Kitt Kittredge movie and lunch. The girls all got along so well!

The girls and their new friend Lan. She was adopted just one month before Taylor was 2 years ago. He mother was in China in Jan. of 2009 and I was there in Feb.

Brandon bought the girls all IPods and then downloaded all their favorite music on them, he is such a great big brother. Thank you Bubba! They ended up falling asleep in the truck listening to the music, at least most of them did.

I took the girls over to my parents house to celebrate Taylors birthday with them. On Thursday we are taking Taylor to Orlando to Downtown Disney for her birthday. Look for pictures of that coming up at the end of the week.

Bubble baths are oh so much fun!

Oh, and Zeus will become a permanent part of our family! He passed all his basic training stuff and his physical, blood work and x-rays all came back fine too. He'll start his drug training the 1st of August and will train for 2 months on that, then sometime mid October he will start all the "on the road" stuff, chasing bad guys, taking them down, etc... and that will go for 4 months then hopefully he'll be all certified to go work the road officially.

Happy 4 Year Forever Family Day Hannah & Hailey

2011-07-09T15:05:00.005-04:00

Where has the time gone? Hannah & Hailey have been in our arms for 4 years now. They have grown so much and have brought us so much happiness, we'll be forever blessed! If Vietnam ever opens back up for adopting, Ted and I would go back there in a heartbeat!

Our referral pictures

Adoption day July 9, 2007

These were taken while we were still in Vietnam. Ohhhhh, look at those sweet little faces!

July 9, 2008

July 9, 2009
They also got a new sister that year

July 9, 2010

July 9, 2011
Sisters forever!

We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream.

We love you baby girls! Love Mommy & Daddy

4th Of July Weekend

2011-07-04T15:07:00.003-04:00

We had a great weekend!

On Saturday we took the girls to Bass Pro to paint bird houses.

The fireworks were being held at our local outlet mall so we got there early to get a parking spot, walked the mall and then had a picnic dinner and the girls played till the fireworks started.

On Sunday night we cooked out over at Bills house.

Bill always has the girls favorite chips.

We got to play with Zeus.

Brandon teaching Hannah how to light fireworks. (don't worry these are the what I call the kiddie fireworks.

Guess who showed up to our firework display, the fire department. Someone saw smoke and called them, well duh, it's the 4th of July! (fireworks are legal in Florida too)

And while the kids are all playing, there's poor ole dad carrying the coolers out to the truck.

On Monday we took the girls to the Sanibel 4th of July parade. (Hailey wouldn't get in the picture)

That night we did more fireworks back at home.

Our Newest Addition To The Family!

2011-06-29T14:46:00.005-04:00

No, we're not adopting again, I know that's what y'all were thinking.

Meet Zeus, our "grand doggie". (I know the guys in the family are going to hate me for that word)

Actually he is Bills new partner, yup, he got a K-9 position with the police department. Bill has been working with the K-9 officers for probably about 2 years now waiting for a position to open up and he got it.

Zeus is just 2 years old and flew in from Germany last month, he has been with a breeder in northern Florida for the past few weeks and Bill just went up yesterday to pick him up. The department has not committed to him yet as they will put him through some basic training to see if they want him. Since Zeus was born he has already been through rigorous training for K-9. These dogs run anywhere from $7 to $10 thousand dollars so they want to make sure that this dog is cut out for the job. If they decide to keep him, Zeus will become a part of the family and Bill will have him 24/7 and can keep him when they retire the dog.

Bill brought him over today for us to meet him and I pictured this highly obedient, well manner animal and I had even talked with the girls about approaching the dog and using a calm voice etc... and in comes this dog full of energy, wagging his tail, putting is paws up on my kitchen counter, eating the girls Cheerios up off the floor and running all over the house that I couldn't even get a good picture of him, it was hilarious! (I certainly hope they can work miracles on this dog, he may be a challenge)

Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-19T18:56:00.003-04:00

The boys all ordered out pizza for dad on Saturday night and gave him their gifts, the girls just love a party! (and I forgot to get a picture of all the kids with dad together, I'm slipping!)

Not too much else is new, I've been busy sewing a couple of things for the girls. I made these skirts,

and these skirts,

and these shorts.

The girls have mastered swimming without their floaties, yah!!!!!! (Thank you Mia for this, they wanted to be just like you)

We went to a birthday party for one of the girls friends in our homeschooling group.
They made crowns at the party.

We went to the water park.

The summer movies started up this past week so on Tuesday we saw Muppets Take Manhattan then on Wednesday we saw Shrek Forever After.

Hannah Loves Starbucks

2011-06-03T16:24:00.002-04:00

The 30 year old loves Starbucks and now has the 5 year old hooked too. Twice this week he has gotten her Starbucks. (These were both gotten for her when I wasn't around, meaning the adult supervision).

My Weird Kids

2011-06-01T11:12:00.003-04:00

Just as I was posting my Memorial Day post I come out into the kitchen and this is what I see, Hannah and Taylor coloring with their swim goggles on. (and Taylors goggles are even on upside down). Oh, and it's 11:00, they are still in their jammies and the hair, well we won't even go there. (this is just in case anyone thought my girls always looked perfect, lol)!

Memorial Day

2011-06-01T10:06:00.002-04:00

We had a nice weekend, there wasn't a thing going on in our city so we decided to take the girls up to Tampa for the day. We hit IKEA first, (my favorite place to shop) then took the girls to the St. Pete Pier, it's always so beautiful there.

We went to the outlet mall up there then went to the Ole Salty Dog restaurant for dinner on the way home in Sarasota.

Brandon had to try the "Ole Salty Dog", as seen on the Travel channels, Man vs. Food with Adam Richman.

Hannah being silly!

Happy Birthday...............to me!

2011-05-25T17:03:00.004-04:00

I took the girls to my parents today and we went to the country club for lunch, thank you mom and dad.
The girls out by my parents pool.

Then Ted and the kids all took me out to dinner tonight, what a great family I have, I am soooooo blessed!