Catch Up

I've lacked motivation in blogging lately and I'm not quite sure why because I have plenty to share.  For starters we got word last week that my dad is in REMISSION!  While Dad's form of cancer is incurable and they've prepared us that it's a guarantee that it will come back, remission is something that we've been praying for relentlessly.  With Multiple Myeloma, you are considered to be in remission if the cancer cells are less than 3%... and Dad has less than 1%, so just "residual" cancer cells left in his body!  The lower the percentage, the longer they hope he will stay in remission.  We are praying he will have a good 8 - 10 years of remission since his transplants knocked the cancer to such a low percent. He will continue every other week chemo injections for maintenance but we are so incredibly grateful that God has brought him through this and we standing on the other side of this disease.  Hallelejuah!

Collier turned 18 months old this month.  He's still such a mess and is a quite a little ham. The kid loves attention any way he can get it! He tries to repeat almost everything we say and is on the go non-stop.  He's down to one nap a day but is pretty flexible as to when he takes the nap.  He is wearing 6-12 month sized shorts, 12 month shirts and 12 or 18 months if its a one piece outfit.  He's still in size 4 diapers but they are big on him so I'm pretty sure he'll be in them for a while.  At his 18 month check up, we found out he weighs 21 lbs 14 oz (5th%) and is 33" long (75th%).  Long and very, very lean.  In fact, he's only gained 6 ounces in the past 3 months, but Dr. Crenshaw wasn't concerned because his growth chart has been consistent...and Noah is built the same way.  He has just recently become a very picky eater.  In fact, he rarely eats 3 meals a day! Most of the time, he'll eat his entire breakfast, rarely eats more than a few bites for lunch, and picks at his dinner.  He's very much into trying to feed himself and does fine with finger foods, however he isn't great at getting food ON to the spoon, yet he gets mad when I try to help him.  He's very opinionated and almost always shakes his head and tells me 'no' when I ask if he's hungry.  Thankfully he will snack on some healthy options, such as blueberries, carrots, but his favorites are the carbs... chips, vanilla wafers, ritz crackers and animal cookies.  Dr. Crenshaw assured me this was pretty typical of his age and as long as he's eating throughout the day and getting a variety of some healthy foods, then he was fine. Following his 18 month checkup, Collier fell asleep in the car without the comfort of his paci.  Since Dr. C had recommended taking the paci away at 18 months, I decided that day was the perfect time to start.  So we did just that and he went 24 hours paci-free with no problems.  Until my parents baby sat for us that next evening.  Unknowing that I had taken the paci away, my dad pulled it out of the drawer and popped it into Collier's mouth as he was putting him to bed.  Collier gave my dad the BIGGEST hug and was SO happy he had his paci back! Once we returned home, my mom told me that not only had Collier been uncharacteristically fussy that whole evening and also filled me in on what my dad done.  Since dad thwarted my efforts and Collier was battling a stuffy nose and cold, I just decided to worry about getting rid of the paci at another time!  Collier has just recently begun holding Noah's hand to help him walk... it is the absolute most precious thing I've ever seen. Makes my heart melt!  Oh how lucky these boys are to have one another... and how blessed I am to have them both!

Last weekend, Jamie had the honor of being a groomsman in one of his childhood best friends, Matt Rhodes' wedding.  Our weekend was consumed with wedding festivities and we had a great time spending it with all of his friends from high school and their wives!  And while the guys were at the rehearsal, Shana and I just had to squeeze a little shopping excursion in before we met them at the rehearsal dinner.  I introduced her to all the adorable and reasonably priced clothes that can be found at Target!

 Wes, Patrick, Matt, Kenny (in back) and Jamie

Matt, Kenny, Wes and Jamie

Our weekend was a busy one... and next up? Noah's 5th Birthday!