Four Years Ago...

Just sitting her reminiscing about how far our family (Erin, in particular) has come in the last 4 years. At Jessica's graduation, it occured to me that on that exact date 4 years ago, Erin was in-patient at Fairview University Children's Hospital, and she had already undergone radiation and chemo in preparation for her bone marrow transplant on May 11th. Whew! Heavy thoughts. I remember that radiation, more than anything else, REALLY shook me to my core. It took about an hour to do her radiation treatment (15 minutes for each "quadrant" of her little body -- upper front, lower front, upper back, lower back). Those 15 minute sessions physically made ME ill as I sat and watched that poor little thing, laying there alone in that room clinging to her little stuffed bunny for all she was worth! Though there was no visible evidence that anything had happened after her radiation appointment, I realized at that point -- more so than at any other time in the entire process -- that there was absolutely NO turning back. We had, for all intents and purposes, destroyed her immune system. The thought of it today still makes me ill. All I can say, looking back over the last 4 years is "Thank You God, Thank You God, Thank You God!" We are blessed beyond anything we deserve, and life is just so good! This is one grateful mommy!

Kevin got his new puppy (Sooky), and as a result, we are all pretty sleep-deprived right now. Honestly, I don't remember my new-born babies being so labor-intensive during the night!! Sooky is an Austrailian Shepherd. Kevin found out about a family that had a litter of puppies for sale, so we went and took a look at them. (I have a question - - has ANYONE every gone and just "looked" at a puppy without actually purchasing one?? It's got to be nearly impossible!) They are just so darn cute when they are little. Sooky has bright blue eyes (the bluest I have ever seen!), and she's really adorable. She's just accustomed to being with her 4 siblings and mother at night, and sadly, that's not an option at our house. We (Kevin and I) have taken turns sleeping on an air mattress near her kennel (which she doesn't even sleep in most of the time!) so she's not alone at night. That seems to make her happy. The real reason for the "sleep-deprivation" is we still have to get up a couple of times each night to take her outside to "potty." She's remarkably good about not going in the house, and for that, I am thankful. She figured that out faster than any dog we've ever owned!! Speaking of other dogs we have owned -- Sadie and Zoey are not too overjoyed about the new addition to the family. They are both smallish (Shih Tzu and Shih Tzu Poo), and they are strictly indoor dogs. In the week since we picked Sooky up, she's already grown to the point where she's bigger than Zoey, and will likely be bigger than Sadie (who weighs about 10 lbs) in another week or two. When Sooky wants to play with Sadie and Zoey, you can almost see them "brace" themselves for impact. Sooky is like a runaway train full of joy and energy. I try to keep a pretty close eye on things, and if things seem to be getting a little too physical, I put a stop to it. So far, Zoey (who will be one year old in August) seems to enjoy interacting with Sooky. Sadie just wants to dominate her. There is not much love there -- but I'm sure it will come. Zoey seems to be enjoying herself. Kevin just loves the puppy, and that is kind of cute to watch (this big guy gently carrying this tiny white and black ball of fluff around the house).

Other than that, there isn't too much to report. Work continues on the neighbors house. It's really coming along. On the inside, it reminds me of cabins we have rented in Gatlinburg, TN, so every time we sneek over there to check on their progress, I tell Kevin that it feels like vacation to me. What's not to love about that?

We've started re-doing some of the landscaping in the front of our house. As the weather warms up, Kevin's enthusiasm for all things "outdoors" ramps up significantly. We had an absolutely beautiful weekend about a month ago, and we made the snap decision that we wanted to make some changes to our landscaping. We got a decent start on it then -- but the weather has not been cooperative since that weekend, and now we're getting antsy to get back to the project. We need to remove some sod and move some landscaping stone work. It will look fabulous when it's done, but it's been a slow-go making progress. We are in for a decent week of weather, so if we are productive in the evenings, we might just get some of it done. I don't think it's safe to count on a weekend day to do yardwork. Lately, if the day of the week begins with an "F" or an "S" -- chances are it will be raining. Dang...

One other HUGE development on the home front - - Katie got her temporary driving permit last Saturday! She's been old enough to take the test since late last year, but she just hasn't been overly interested (...which, frankly, thrills this mom!!). Kevin did take her to the license bureau about 2 months ago, but the computers had crashed, and they were not able to administer the test. So, they got up bright and early last Saturday and attempted it again, with much more satisfying results! Now that she has her temps, she's a lot more enthusiastic about driving. I have to get on the horn and make some phone calls (adding her to our insurance policy, and scheduling her "drivers ed" class). Man ... I feel so old all of a sudden.

And that's the latest from this neck of the woods. Jessica's graduation from college, Erin's 4-year transplant anniversary, Katie getting her drivers license temps, Kevin getting a puppy. It's all good at our house.

Thanks for checking on us. Until next time...