Another long one, so let's jump right in!

I had mentioned about Isaac's friend, Isaac who finished his treatment.  We went to his "No more chemo party!"

Lots of treats, great conversation, and best of all.  The greatest celebration!  YAY Walker family!  We couldn't be more excited for you!

We have been outside as much as we can!  I want to soak in as much fresh air as possible before it gets too cold.  We have been taking Jordyn out as well.  She LOVES being outside!  She doens't cry when we set her in the grass, and of course, everything goes in her mouth!

I think she likes dirt?!

And of course, the other kids like being outside as well.  Just not eating dirt!  Possibly playing in it though!

I also stole some photos from Jacob's phone.  He had some great ones of Ike's first day of school!

Fall always inspires me to bake.  Which means only one thing.  COOKIES!  I love watching the kids create.  Laney is actually getting very good!  And Jordyn, well, she just likes to lick the frosting bowl!

I am sure you all saw this picture already, but Jacob was trying to make Gabby eat her dinner.  I think she won.

Ike is my child with a love for all technology.  He was listening to music on my phone and he knows how to get to the camera.  And, well, I got some great self portraits!

We also got to babysit baby Owen!  I always laugh because I spend most of the time keeping my kids from loving him TOO much!  He doesn't seem to mind the harassment.  Ike took some pictures of me and I was laughing at what was going on in the background.  It looks worse than it really was.  Gabby was just hugging him.  Although in the pictures he looks like he is being mugged!

And Jordyn.  What a GREAT baby!  She is getting her two front teeth and is just miserable.  But always quick to smile!  She will be 9 months next week!

Sorry some are blurry!  Jordyn does not sit still well!

Laney is adjusting to school.  Her teacher has very strict rules, and that has been very good for Laney.  We finally had our first week without her ending up in trouble.  Everyday she tells me how she hates the work, but loves school!  I think it really helps that her cousins go there as well!

Ike is also adjusting to school.  We are trying to figure out how he will act with taking steroids. 
It seems by the end of the steroid pulse, he is just tired.  So we are thinking of keeping him home that day.  Only three more months of worrying about that!  January 14, 2014 could not come soon enough!

Gabby is LOVING her few hours alone three times a week.  We work on her writing and speech.  The speech is coming along, but still a bit difficult to understand at times.  But her fine motor is crazy good!  I guess each kid has their strengths!  Gabby turns 3 next week!

Joyful Jordyn is just that.  Joyful.  She waddles around the house exploring everything!  Her favorite thing to do is hide.  Behind chairs, under blankets, and in rooms by herself.  

She cries a little when it is time to go to bed.  And that is about it when it comes to whimpering!  She is crawling and getting up on her knees  Not quite pulling her self up yet.  But, I am ok with that.  She can stay this age forever if you ask me

And that is pretty much life at the Quist house!  

Until next time!

Linda

I do have an update on life, but today will be about Ike.

A week ago I received the travel dates for our Make-A-Wish.

When planning this trip, we decided to hold off until Ike's Chemo was done.  (And we wanted to go last year, but had a surprise baby instead!)

When we decided this, the trip seemed SO.FAR.AWAY.

And, here it is.  5 months away.

I can hardly believe it.  

This last clinic appointment was surreal for me.

Ike had a spinal, so we had to be there early.  His IV was in with one poke, and we waited to go down and get his sleepy medicine.

After his spinal.  I began to think.  Only one more.  That's it.  One more scheduled spinal.  I sat and chatted with Ms. Jen in the play room about a possible "no more chemo" party.  And found my mind wondering to thoughts like, "Is this really happening?"   "Am I really talking about this?"  When Ike was diagnosed at a 1 1/2, I thought, "He is going to be in SCHOOL, for heavens sake, when this is over!"  And here it is.

I had to talk to Ike's pre-school teacher about steroid week and chemo. Leukemia has just been our life for so long, it was really weird to talk to "new" people about this journey.  Childhood cancer is awful, but I forgot what it feels like to not be living this way everyday.  I had to remind myself how I felt when a friend we knew whose child was diagnosed with cancer, how DEVASTATED I was!  (This all before we knew ANYTHING about Ike!)  That this really is such an awful thing to have happen to your child. 

Just another reminder of the journey.  We do our best to not talk about Leukemia because we want Ike to be treated like everyone else.  We don't want cancer to have any power over our family.  We try to keep things as normal as possible, and his teacher is right on board with us.  She mentioned it may be hard, but she wants what we want.  Since he is at Tri-Unity which is a christian school, she asked if she could bring him up at prayer time.  I jumped at that with a "Yes, please!"

There are never enough prayers if you ask me!  Especially with treatment ending in January.  We sit and watch to see if all the years of medicine has tricked his body into not making any more cancer cells, and if the ones that were in his blood are gone.  That is a post for another day.

Yesterday when picking Laney up from school, I was talking to Laney's teacher for just a second.  (Keep in mind, what I am about to write is supposed to be funny.  I really think I need to write a sitcom based on my family.  It would be a comedy of course.)  I asked her if the teachers talked to each other.  Mostly because Laney can be a little tricky.  Mrs. T said she did talk to Mrs. G and that we go to her church.  So, nonchalantly, I said, "Oh good, so she told you about Laney's brother."  She looked puzzled.  So I said, "Oh, that he is in treatment for Leukemia."  As I said this, craziness ensued with car-pooling, and I was pulled away saying "Oh, well, he is fine!"  As she sat there as if a bomb just went off in her face.  Of course that is how it happened.  I have yet to email her the whole story.  I am sure she thinks I am a lunatic.  So is life. 

I am not used to moments like this any more.  I am not really sure how to handle these situations.  Do you say something or not?

We are doing our best to navigate this new season.  Working out the kinks, and seeing what Ike can handle.  He did come home from school today because his legs were tired.  But most days were without incident.  And Ike LOVES school.

I'm excited to think that next year, (the Lord willing) Steroids and Leukemia will be a thing of the past.  I'm not trying to wish time away, and yet, I kind of am.

That is my update.  And stay tuned!  I might have a guest blogger, (Ahem! Jacob!) on here!

That is all!

Adios!

Whew.

Last week was SO BUSY!

This school every day is a new thing for me.  And it is EXHAUSTING!

But, before I begin the school posts.  I want to start with Renee's visit!

If you are new to my blog, Renee is my sister who lives in the state of Wyoming.  We haven't physically seen her in over a year!  To say my kids were excited is an understatement!

Renee flew in on Wednesday at 10:15 at night.  I had Ike and Laney go with me to greet her when she got off the plane.  They were crazy of course!

Renee loves penguins.  She sent this to Gabby for Christmas.  Laney had it waiting at the door for when Aunt Ne-Ne arrived.

 Making faces in the airport bathroom.  That's how we roll!

My dad grilled out and had the whole family over.  I only got one picture.  But an important and sentimental one for me.  My Grandma and Grandpa DeLano took care of me for 9 months while Jamie was in treatment for Leukemia.  At the time, Helen Devos did not exist.  So Jamie was treated in Ann Arbor.

Jordyn and MY papa.

We then went to the North Shore beach!  It was perfect!

Gabby is fearless.  She jumped into every single wave.  And even when they smacked her and threw her down, she jumped up and dove in again!

 

Renee brought bags of skittles.  Enough said.

 

Although the water was warm, I only went in for a second.  I'm still nursing if any of y'all can relate.  Being cold is not cool.

Renee was also here for Laney and Ike's first day of school!

Ike is at Triunity with Mrs. Smith and Laney is still at Byron Center Charter.  More on that later....

While Laney was at her first day of school, the other three kids, Jamie, Renee, and I headed to the Children's Museum.  Part of their birthday present was a membership renewal from Aunt Renee!  We love it there!

 For whatever reason, I love this picture of Jordyn!  Such a world of possibilites.  Or maybe trying to escape?!

Gabby was SO determined to get that bubble up around her!

 

Then it was time to leave.  :(

My dad took Renee to the airport.  So we snapped a few more pictures before she left.

Her trip here went by in a flash!  When she is here, it is as if she never left.  But, oh how my heart aches when she leaves.  The day after is the worst.  Waking up knowing she isn't here anymore just sucks.

We miss you!

And on to school.

The first day for Laney was a big 'ol flop.

She hated it.

I had to fill out a survey of questions that Laney had to answer.

It went something like this:

Who brought you to school?  Mom and Dad

What did you wear?  A kitty shirt and polka dot pants

Who did you play with?  The girl with brown skin. I don't know her name

How did you feel when it was time to go home?  VERY VERY HAPPY!

Why?  BECAUSE I HATE SCHOOL

What will you do tomorrow?  GO TO SCHOOL AND HATE IT!

Oh, Laney.

 

The second day went MUCH better

 

She got to play with her cousin Ava at recess as well as her friend from pre-school, Alysson.

Lydia is the girl with brown skin, and Laney ADORES her.  She told me Lydia was adopted and Laney thinks that is totally RAD!  They play with Ava at recess. And everything in the world is wonderful again.

Now, Laney loves school.  Such an answer to prayer.  And Lydia is an answer to prayer.  She sits at Laney's table.  And every time I see Lydia, she is singing some song and talking away with Laney about what they are going to do at recess.  I love it.

While Laney is away, Ike rules the roost.  He loves to set up "movie theaters" in my house.  Jordyn is crawling, so she joins in as well.

And when Ike and Laney are BOTH gone, I get some special time with Gabs!  I love it so much!  I never really got much time with her alone considering she was 3 weeks old when Ike was diagnosed.

We have been doing "school."  Which consists of flash cards to work on her speech, and writing.  This girl has some crazy good fine motor skills!  She is not even 3 and working on drawing people?!  Maybe this is normal. but Laney never did this!

The biggest person is Laney.  Then Gabby drew a horse and everyone in our family.  I never have worked on this with her, nor even showed her how to hold a pencil!  Gabby is my artistic, mercy child.  I love that about her!

So, that is about as up to date as I can get! 

Here is to new routines!  I pray we can continue!

Adios!