Babies, Babies, Babies....

Kevin and I have tons of friends expecting babies soon. This weekend we were lucky enough to get to go to Oklahoma for two baby showers. One was for Trinity...one of my college roommates and one was for Dan and Susan...Dan was in Kevin's fraternity. Sadly I forgot my camera at Trinity's shower but I did get a few pictures at Dan and Susan's. We had a great time and are so thankful that Aunt Amy and both of our parents gave up part of their weekend to stay with Bryce and Laney. It was the first time Kevin and I have been gone overnight since they were born. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and getting a good night's sleep! We stayed with Amanda and Travis and got to spend some time with their son Carter this morning!! He's such a cute and smart little boy...thanks for having us guys!!

Amanda, Susan (& Baby Jackson), me and Mandi

Hearing Test Results!

Laney had her sedated hearing test this week and had great results!!! They said that her hearing has not been impacted at all so far. All of the brain waves looked normal!!! They will repeat the test after each round of chemo and 6 months after she completes treatment to determine any long term issues. We are so thankful for the good news...I felt more nervous about it than I had expected to! Thanks for praying for her. I will say that she had a very rough day with not getting to eat for almost 12 hours (which is not ideal when she's very nauseous), missing her naps, getting stuck about 10 times trying to start her IV and having people poke and prod her continuously for several hours. She was certainly glad to be home and so was I!

On Wednesday she went for blood work and her white blood counts were too low to start the next round of chemo. We were actually relieved that she will get a week break with no treatments, tests, blood work, etc. In fact she won't even have one doctor appointment!!! Amazingly neither will Bryce...what will we do with all of our spare time! They'll check her counts again next Wednesday to see if she's ready to be admitted on Thursday to start Round 3.

Bryce's First Haircut!

On Saturday Grandmom and Granddad came over to hang out with Laney so that Kevin and I could take Bryce to get his first haircut! This past week he had his exit appointment with Cranial Technologies so no more head shaping band! Now he desperately needed a haircut. Here he is right before we walked in!

He sat up in his chair with no problem at all! They did have a belt around him just in case though! Farah was the sweetest lady and just loved Bryce. She did a great job while he was moving his head all over the place looking at what was going on. He did a great job and didn't cry at all!! He spent most of the time eating the cape. :) What can you do when it's keeping him happy?
She had an airplane that made noise for when she wanted him to look down. Worked like a charm!

The final product...He looks like such a handsome big boy!

Laney Update- She went for the last treatment of her second round on Friday!!! That means she's half way done! Who hooo!!!!!! This week went much better than last. She didn't cry for even a second and didn't get sick at all. She's done really well since she's been home too. Thankfully she's gone back to only waking up once a night. She seems happier and of course so are we! She also continues to gain a little bit of weight each week. She'll be up to 13 pounds before we know it. On Tuesday she'll have a sedated ABR (hearing test). As she sleeps they look at her brain waves when they make noises around her. We're looking forward to those results. Then she'll have a blood draw to check her counts on Thursday. This will determine if her white counts are high enough to be admitted on Friday to start round 3. They're guessing that she won't be ready but we'll see! As always, thank you for being such a wonderful support system for us! We appreciate it more than we can say!!!

Monkey See...Monkey Do!

Aren't these just the cutest ever! Grandmom & Granddad bought them for Bryce and Laney a while back and they just now fit. :) Thanks Grandmom & Granddad!!

Also, Laney had her outpatient chemo on Friday. She did really well at the beginning but was pretty sick by the end. I got her home and she took a good nap. After she got up and ate she was doing much better! We know a few things that we're going to try next time to hopefully help her out a bit. Most of her blood counts came back great...it's just that her white count was pretty low. So, we'll be extra careful to watch out for fever. She's having a good day today so far! Oh, and she's still gaining a little weight! She was 12 lbs 9 ounces and 24 inches. Bryce went to the doctor for a check-up last week (everything was good) and he weighed almost 18 lbs. :)

Laney Update

Laney came home from the hospital right on time on Friday! As I mentioned before, this round has been a little harder on her but she's doing better every day that she's home. She'll go for an outpatient round on Friday and then another the next Friday. At that point she'll be half way through!!!!

One funny thing...they had their first experience of both wanting the same toy at the same time! Kevin happened to set a toy between them and Laney of course reached for it right away like she always does. Well, Bryce decided that he also wanted that toy and tried to grab it too. They had a little tugging match and Laney won....and that made Bryce cry! Oh the days to come... :)

Round 2

Yesterday we brought Laney back to Children's to see if her white blood counts were high enough to be admitted this time. The counts looked much better and they checked her in!!! We were excited to get going on Round 2. She started with lots of fluids and then they gave her the chemo from 8:30pm to 12:30am. Laney and I brought in the new year with her getting a blood draw right at midnight! She did pretty well with the chemo overall. It was a little harder on her than the first round. They said that was typical though as she gets a little more worn out. Mostly she's been fussier, spitting up more and overall just seeming like she doesn't feel as well. She does have plenty of happy times too, though. If all goes well Kevin should be bringing her home tomorrow! Then she'll have 2 more weeks of outpatient chemo before she's half way done!! She's been such a sweet girl though all of this. She amazes us! Happy New Year!!

Bryce and Laney's First Christmas!!

Bryce and Laney had a great first Christmas!! Laney was feeling well and they managed to be awake and happy all 3 times they opened presents. :) We didn't get to spend time with the cousins since Laney can't be around kids but there's always next year! Here we are at Grandmom and Granddad's house for Christmas Eve. This was Bryce and Laney's first Chirstmas gift to open!!!

Granddad and Bryce playing with his new toy while Laney took a nap!

Grandmom and Bryce in his Christmas pj's and hat!

He just loved his new toy!

Laney and Bryce first thing on Christmas morning! Aren't we mean parents making them match and wear hats!!!! They were so cute we couldn't resist!

Playing with their new toys from Mom & Dad and Santa!

And then Santa showed up at our house...good thing since we couldn't make a trip to the mall to see him! He looks a little bit like Grandpa Paul!