Our princess

Birthday Fun!!

It's another year...another birthday!! Today we celebrated Katherine's 4th birthday, and gave thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior for the blessing that she is in our lives. She's a wonderful little girl. So full of energy, giggles, laughs, sayings and just perkiness. There are those moments when she doesn't have a smile on her face, but even those moments somehow make me smile looking back! We have had such a wonderful year. She was a great 3 year old, so smart and despite all the meds and chemo, she's been really in good health. We look forward to seeing her develop and grow as the beautiful little 4 year old we put to bed tonight. I have to tell you that she was a bit disappointed this morning when she woke up and realized she could NOT touch the ceiling. She told me she was sad, because she wasn't BIG. She really thought she would wake up on her birthday morning and have grown super tall--her imagination is beyond me. She LOVED, absolutely LOVED that today was ALL about her and celebrating HER birthday! She LOVED every single birthday wish call that she received, and every single birthday wish that was communicated to her via FB or email. Thank you all for your kindness and thoughtfulness to call her and make her day even more special.

So, we started our day mighty early. The kids had slept pretty well during our drive back from Houston yesterday and through the night, that they were early birds this morning. Both kids were up at 6am!! So much for US waking the birthday girl up singing Happy Birthday. Anyway, both Dan and I were TOO exhausted to get up at 6, so the kids went and watched TV for an hour or so. About 7am we finally came in with the traditional chocolate cupcake in hand, and four lit candles atop the muffin! She was ecstatic, and with a huge grin on her face waited patiently to blow out the candles! Joshua on the other hand, was ansy to help blow out the candles, but we managed to get him to sing with us before he help his big sister with the task.

I spent the morning birthday shopping for my princess, while a dear friend watched the kids. Upon my return home, I asked Katherine what she wanted for her birthday lunch. She promptly said, "mommy I want ham and cheese, soup and a bagel from Panera"...so...off we went. We had lunch at Panera, followed by an hour or so at the park, and then it was time for a birthday cookie from Merritz (for those that are not in tulsa, Merritz is a bakery where they have some really yummy treats). Then it was back home for some late naps. The kids were beat, and slept about 2 1/2 hours each before daddy came home from work. We finished our day with dinner at Chick fil A, another choice made by the birthday girl, and the unveiling of her gifts. It was so much fun to watch her little face light up and ask "mommy, can I open this one now?" I have TONS of photos, but I'll have to post some tomorrow. I'm beat and need to get some rest tonight.

Thanks again for remembering our little girl's bday and calling her today!! You truly made her day! At one point she even said "Everyone is calling to sing Happy Birthday at me!! :)"

Home Already

What a relief. Out of the hospital and able to enjoy a bit of the sunshine this afternoon. Katherine seems to be feeling well, and we're happy to be home. Marleny had a photo shoot this afternoon- so she was relieved that we were going to be let out so quickly.

The weather is so amazing here, I was able to get out for a quick run while the sitter was still here with Joshua. Katherine enjoyed getting to play with Kinsey- one of her sitters from church.

Thanks for all of your prayers. Hoping you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

The Marshes.

Hospital Update

We just spoke with the Oncologist on call, and Kateli's counts are good and the Flu-test was negative. Her fever is gone, so it looks like we may be able to actually get out of here TODAY. That would be the fastest hospital trip yet!

Katherine and Joshua are currenty enjoying grape popsicles and living it up on this beautiful Sunday morning.

Please continue to pray that the remainder of the tests return negative, and that we actually get out of here today.

Thanks!

Busy weekend, and now we're in the hospital

Yep, we had quite the weekend...all fun, but we've picked up a bug and that's put Katherine back in the hospital this morning.

Friday evening we attended Katherine's second dance recital to date, and by far the best experience for her and for us. Despite the fact that I wasn't on top of my game and didn't realize they were doing a tap number to Frosty the Snowman, our little princess performed with her heart into the dance. It was amazing to watch her. She didn't mind at all that she, and 2 others, were wearing ballet shoes, rather than tap shoes, she tapped her little heart out and enjoyed every minute of it. I decided not to take my still camera, but rather my video camera because I had a feeling that would capture better...and I was right, except it's really hard to upload the video clip onto here. So, just close your eyes and imagine her dancing, tapping, to Frosty with a HUGE grin on her face, and following very closely the teacher's cues!! She got off the stage and the first thing she said to me was "when do we go again, mommy?" After the recital we headed to dinner with a few of our friends, and after dinner we had to stick around to watch the end of the recital performances, at Katherine's request. Joshua was NOT far behind in enjoying the recital, and the music mostly. As we sat there watching the last few groups dance their piece, our little guy was grooving and dancing along to the beat of the music. He'd stand next to us and boogey, then move up one row and dance next to an older lady, whom he didn't mind kept turning towards him and smiling! It was fun! The kids were exhausted and slept like babies!

However, the next morning, yesterday, Katherine woke up complaining of a very sore throat!! OH OH!! Yep, then she started with a runny nose, but seemed in good spirits. In fact, she and I went window shopping at antique stores, while daddy and Joshua worked on a house project upstairs. By naptime, she was asking for a nap (a rare occurrence), and unsuccessfully attempted to sleep for about an hour and a half. She was so stuffy, that breathing while laying down was nearly impossible. As naptime progressed, she got warmer and warmer and when I took her temp she was about 101.5. We reluctantly...yes, RELUCTANTLY, called the doctor, fearing that we would immediately be sent to the hospital, but were pleasantly surprised that we were not. Instead given the symptoms, the dr calmly instructed us to push fluids on her, give her one dose of tylenol, and wait and see if the fever subsided. However, if the fever didn't subside, spiked back up later in the night, or she started to vomit and not keep any food down, then we had to immediately call back. So we did just that...and prayed, of course we prayed. She got her tylenol, her fever subsided, her spirits and energy were back up until 3 hours after falling asleep. She and Joshua both woke up screaming about 1am. Turns out Katherine had woken up with another very sore throat, was screaming and startled Joshua awake--he was crying because he didn't know what was going on, and was a bit scared. So, we both spent about 1.5 hours upstairs, calmed the kids down and Joshua fell back asleep. Katherine was also running a temp, she was at 102 so we had to call the dr. She and Dan went into the hospital about 2:30am this morning. The dr said she was pretty sure it was viral, but we needed to take her in to do the normal routine of covering her with antibiotics, run cultures, and tests to make sure there was no bacterial infection and the like. I'm not sure if they were going to test for the flu, but both kids have been vaccinated for the seasonal and H1N1 luckily.

My prayer requests:
1.Please pray that it's just a mild cold, and doesn't progress to anything more serious.
2 Pray for her body to be strong, and her marrow to kick out those infection fighting cells, so that she can recover fast.
3. Pray for a fast return home from the hospital for full recovery.
4. Pray that despite being in the hospital we can celebrated Daddy's 37th birthday just the four of us. Today is daddy's birthday, and we're getting him a cake and gifts and moving our family party to the hospital.
5. Last year we were in the hospital for Thanksgiving; please pray that we are not there this year for the holiday.

Thank you again for keeping up with us!

Longer locks

Sorry for the lack of updates!! Kateli is doing great, she is growing and looking more beautiful each day. I wanted to share that her hair is growing so nicely, and the envy of lots that meet her. In fact I was in dance class with her the other day, and after Katherine walked into her class, the dad said to me, "her hair is so cute, I love it!" She has got the most fun hair. It's dirty blond, and has a bit of curl to it. It's easy to style, just wet it a little bit and set it in place. However, it's also easy to look like she just got out of bed :). She has been so excited the last two days, because Tuesday was the first day that I was able to pull her hair back into a ponytail!! She's been wanting one for the longest time, but her hair was just not long enough. It still needs go grow out a little, but we pulled it back, and used little clips all around (I think six total) to hold back the baby hairs that kept pulling out!! She looks absolutely adorable and so grown up. Her little face is so angelic, and her smile lights up an entire room--okay not literally, but does light those huge smiles of her light up my world!! I have a pic of her somewhere, I'll post it later, so you can see just how big our little girl is getting. She's gonna be 4 at the end of the month, and boy is she excited that we are in "nomember" As soon as we hit this month, she started asking "Is my birthday today?" so, what did we do?? We made a chain link to count down. We cut a link each day--of course we made one for daddy too, so that Joshua could cut links each day as well. Praise the Lord for being so faithful, and wonderful. He's given us trials for sure, but he's given us a huge blessing with such a wonderful, strong, and determined little girl who we are watching grow up before our eyes. We continue to pray that both she, Joshua and this baby will grow up to be the people of God that HE has made them to be.

Napping in our own beds...

WOOOHOOO!!! What a praise!! We are back home and Kateli is elated to be in her own bed napping this afternoon. While in the hospital she refused to sit on the bed, saying that "she didn't like that bed" so you can imagine how happy she is to be home. Of course we are happy to be home too!! She's fever free, but she still has a horrible cough--I'm sure it sounds worse than it is. Her runny nose is better than it was yesterday so we are praying she is on the mend. Please don't stop praying though, especially for wisdom for Dan and I, that we would ask the right questions and seek the right advise.

Your prayers requested...

We are well into the year, it's hard to believe that we're already in September. As the fall season sneaks up on us this year, I wanted to request your prayers for our family. Please pray that we all stay healthy through the season with nothing more than maybe runny noses, but nothing major. As it is, Kateli is in the hospital tonight because she's caught some bug, and has had a runny nose, a phlegmy cough and fevers above 101.5. The fevers started yesterday afternoon, and Dan and she headed out to their little resort stay about 3am. I was with her all day today, and she was fever free, so she maybe home again tomorrow. The good thing about being in the hospital, if there could be a good thing, is that they keep her well hydrated, and they have tested her to see if she's got the flu virus, or RSV. The test came back negative, so that's good, but she's fighting a bug. However, her lungs sound clear, so the doc says it's upper respiratory. Nonetheless, her numbers are super high with is a praise!! So, please pray for her more immediate healing of this bug, and for any subsequent illnesses we maybe exposed to this season. Both kids have had their flu shots, and we are waiting for the H1N1 shot which is more specific for the swine flu. Dan and I are pending getting our flu shots this season but it's on our list to do. Sorry if this post was more rambling than anything else....I'm really tired, and almost 5 months pregnant! :)

Thanks again for keeping up with our family and especially our little princess. We really appreciate your prayers and your coming back often to check our blog.

Random Fevers

So, this morning we woke up to random fevers at home, well, specifically with Katherine. She was running 101.3 under her arm. Last night, we went to bed and she was measuring 100.4. She ran 100.4 consistently through the night until this morning. Needless to say a call to the clinic was in order, and the nurse asked me to bring her in. The protocol is to have her come into the clinic, check counts, give her an antibiotic, and have her see a doctor. If her numbers were fine, and she showed no signs of infection we would be released. Well, after being there nearly 2 hours this morning, we were released to go home. Her numbers were high, she was at 3300 this morning, and she looks just fine. Where the fevers are coming from? who knows. The doctor that looked at her, said she looked great. Her ears were clear, her tummy felt soft as it should, and her throat was free from redness. So, we have to watch her for the next few days, but the antibiotic covers her for 24hours. So, if she runs a fever in the next 24 hrs, we are free to administer tylenol, but if she runs a fever after 24hours, well...that means another visit to the clinic. Please pray that she stays fever free, and that it was just a random case of them that has come, and gone now! Above is my princess...yesterday while I was working she came into the room and asked what I was doing and wanted to snuggle the baby. So, I took the oppty to ask if she would let me take a photo of her, and she agreed...anyway, when I get those moments I have to take advantage. So here is the image of her from yesterday afternoon. I know I have mommy goggle on, but to me she looks absolutely beautiful, and so grown up.

Which wish will she be granted?

A few months ago, the social worker at the Oncology clinic approached me and talked to me about the Make-a-Wish Foundation. I was always under the impression that this organization granted wishes for children that were terminally ill, but Jana (social worker) explained to me that that's not entirely true. While they do grant wishes to terminally ill patients, they strive to make wishes come true for children that have been diagnosed with a life threatening illness, such as ALL. So, she asked if we, as parents, would be okay with them submitting a referral for Katherine. We accepted, and her name/case was submitted. A few weeks later, I was contacted by the make a wish foundation to get a little bit of information from me as well as to get a little info on Katherine, i.e. her favorite color, her favorite book, what she likes to do, if she has any siblings, etc etc. A couple of months after this initial call I was contacted by the volunteers that had been assigned our case. It took a while to get a meeting lined up, mainly because I kept forgetting to call them back, or we just played phone tag--but we were finally able to set a meeting up for this past Friday. We met with the ladies, Sherri and Leah, who were super nice and very amicable with Katherine, Joshua and with us. Dan and I had been hyping up the meeting to Katherine, so that she didn't retreat into her shy-side, as she does when she meets strangers, and we had been probing her for ideas of what would be the wish that she requested be granted. Needless to say she was excited that she was going to get a wish, and a few times this week she would tell Joshua, "Joshua, I'm going to get a wish, because I'm super special..." She also asked us/me, once or twice, if Joshua would also get a wish. That was a hard question, that made me a bit teary eyes, and my response to her was "no, baby. He is not going to get a wish", when on the inside my heart was hurting and I thought, "no baby, we hope he never has to have a wish granted through the make-a-wish foundation".

We arrived at Braum's, where we agreed to meet, and Katherine was asking "were are Sherri and Leah...??" When we met them, she got a bit shy but quickly came out of that when she got a bag of goodies that the ladies had brought to her, filled with stickers, coloring books, and crayons. Joshua also lit up to see that they had brought him a little gift as well, and what better than another car for my little man. THe meeting went smoothly, Dan and I had to fill out some forms, and sign some papers before we got to the meat of the meeting. Leah turned to Katherine and asked "Katherine, if you were to wish for something, what would it be?" Katherine got a little quiet, and retreated into my arms, but with a little bit of encouragement, I got her to open up and tell them her wish. She looked at Leah, with a huge grin across her face and said "I wish to see Shamu, and Nemo and swim with the dolphins"...it's a loaded wish, huh?? This all came from her though, we didn't coach her or tell her what to say, this is what she wants. Leah and Sherri took notes, and then asked for a second/back up wish...to which we helped respond to since Katherine was stuck on her first wish. You remember that we were recently in the hospital, and that one of those times we came back from the lake to take her in. Well, our plan at the lake that afternoon was to ride in a pontoon boat, and she's been asking when we are going to go out and ride on the boat...so as her second wish, we said "she'd like to ride in a boat"...of course I had to interject more specific, "a big boat, maybe even a cruise"...I know, wishful thinking, but they did ask for a WISH right?? well, we will see which wish will be granted and when. Stay tuned...

In the comfort of our home once again...

YIPPEE!! We're home!! Kateli is home!! She was discharged from the hospital this morning. She has been fever free since Sunday late evening, and her numbers are back up. Her chemo treatment will resume once again tomorrow, following our regularly scheduled wed appt. She and I just got up from a nap, and it was so good not to sleep on a hospital bed, where every time you turn your bones ache. Thank you all for your continued prayer and support. Thank you for your phone calls, emails, and your comments left on our blog.

Back at our favorite resort

Yes, you guessed it...St Francis Children's Hospital. Our impromptu trip to the lake, which daddy planned totally spontaneous on Friday, was cut short when Kateli ran a high temp shortly after lunch. We called the doc and arrived about an hour later after the kids napped. She and I spent the night together, and while she slept pretty well, she did run fevers through the night. Actually, we didn't know how high that fever could go until this early afternoon. She actually ran a 39.9deg Celcius, or if you are like me and Farhenheit makes more sense, that was 103.8F. She was burning up, my poor baby, and feeling "yucky". She ran pretty high fevers through late morning, but this afternoon they seem to have subsided a bit. The good news is that her ANC count is way high. She is at 4000, but they don't know where the fevers are stemming from. So, the doc said that her labs show it may be some type of bacterial infection, so they are running all kinds of tests. They have given her an antibiotic that works against some type of bacterial infections in the meantime...which we have learned she is allergic to. She quickly started itching on her head like crazy--the nurse said it was a common occurence, and they administered benadryl which seemed to help. Katherine is now resting. She seems to be feeling a bit better, but the "yucky" feeling seems to come and go without warning. Please continue to lift her in your prayers. That they would find out what is causing the fevers, and be able to treat it quickly. If they can't figure it out, please pray that the fevers subside and that our baby girl would start feeling like herself again. It is not easy to see her lying in bed, saying that she feels yucky most of the time, or listening to her whimpering in her half sleep. Pray for strength for all of us, especially for me, as the pregnancy is enough to wear me out these days. Pray for the baby, that he/she stays healthy and growing strong despite any stress I may be experiencing. Grandma Marsh came in this morning to help us, so that is a blessing.

thanks again for coming to visit our page!

We are at home but not out of the woods yet...

What I mean is, Katherine was released from the hospital on Monday afternoon, however, she was/is still neutropenic (her counts are low, and she is highly susceptible to infection). We were elated to be coming home, however, both Dan and I were under the impression that Kateli's numbers had increased. The discharge papers were signed, discharge orders/instructions given to us, and Kateli's port removed, when I went to the desk to ask for a copy of her morning labs to have for our records. God was watching out for us, as he always is, because when I looked at the lab report, I realized that we were under the wrong impression, and I was so confused. Her numbers were not at 1000, not even above 500. In fact she was only at 300, still neutropenic mind you. In the past, this usually meant we didn't get to go home, much less resume chemotherapy, as her immune system was compromised. I was so puzzled, and asked. Luckily at that moment, Katherine's doctor walked up to the nurse's station and heard me inquire. He answered, giving me an explanation as to why her numbers had been so low the week before, but were up to 1200 both on Sat and Sun, only to drop again for Monday's lab. His explanation made some sense, but it still didn't explain why we were supposed to resume chemo at home. NOTE: In case you are curious, his explanation was that last week her numbers were low, but her immune system/bone marrow had kicked in with the fevers to make those infection fighting cells, now that she was done with the fevers, and maybe even fighting anymore infection, her bone marrow was now stabilizing to what it can normally make, so it had come back down and would build back up slowly. Anyway, so I asked if were really supposed to resume chemo...yeah...he looked at me a little confused and said "no, hold the chemo until her numbers are back up. Come back on Wed and see where she is at" He did say to continue the antibiotic, but the frequency was a bit different than what we have been doing for the last year and a half. With that we were on our way home, both Dan and I still questioning where the ball had been dropped. Had the discharge doctor not looked at her labs for that morning? Had he made a mistake in discharging us? Was the mistake in simply telling us to resume chemo, when clearly we both knew better? I was confused, but I can't lie and say that I wasn't very frustrated with the whole thing.

So, we did as instructed (by Kateli's doctor), and went to clinic this morning. Come to find out she is still neutropenic. In fact, today she was lower than she was on Monday morning. What is going on? I was utterly confused. If she is done with the fevers, has no other symptoms, and we have stopped her chemo, why is she going down rather than up. So, not the news we were looking to hear, but something we have to deal with. How?? We continue in the confines of our home, keeping her away from any possible exposure. Praying that the mysterious fevers do not return, and that none of us get sick in the meantime either. Hold her chemo another week, and this time also hold the antibiotic (apparently, it too can suppress her immune system). We go back to clinic next week, on Wed for counts again. Please pray with us that her counts start coming back up and that she is in her normal range next Wed. After this morning's appt, I was even more frustrated with the doctor who released us from the hospital--maybe not with him, but with his lack of attention to detail and giving the incorrect discharge instructions. At the same time, I was so thankful that God prompted me to ask for those lab results, so that we would know NOT to resume chemo at home. I don't even want to think about where her numbers might have been today, had we come home confident with the instructions we were given, and totally oblivious to the fact that by giving her chemo we would have been further suppressing her immune system.

How do we need your prayers?
* Please pray first and foremost that Kateli stays healthy while she is neutropenic
* Please pray that her bone marrow kicks into gear making all the infection fighting cells.
* Please pray that I can let go of my resent, if I can call it that for the lack of attention to detail by the doc.
* Please pray that we all stay healthy, especially this week

Thank you so much for coming back over and over to read updates on our little Katherine!

Just when we were getting comfortable...

with not seeing the inside of the third floor at the St. Francis Children's Hospital, God says, "not so quick"...

Katherine was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon and she and I had a little slumber party last night in her room. She was acting a bit tired, and felt warm to the touch in the early afternoon. When we took her temp the first time she was about 99.5. While were out running some quick errands, she came up to give a hug and she no longer felt warm, she was now hot. So, we promptly returned home, took her temp and called the dr on call. She was measuring 101.9, so we knew we would be going to see the nurses. Sure enough, the doc called back and said to take her in, he would call the floor so they would expect us. We ate a quick dinner, called some friends to watch Joshua while we got her all checked in, and well...

we're still there. She has not run a temp since yesterday, and her lab results were so encouraging. I was worried that her counts might be lower than on Thursday. On the contrary, thursday she was at 420, and last night she was back up at 1200!! Praise God! So, she is NOT neutropenic, but we have to stay in the hospital until she is fever free for 24hrs and the cultures come back all negative.

She's in good spirits. Enjoying being catered to, and eating all kinds of snacks she doesn't usually get at home, like oreo cookies, and popcicles, and "jugo yummy"...well, you get the idea!

Please pray that her fevers break, that the cultures are all negative, and that we are home soon--like TOMORROW!! :)

Thanks for keeping up with our little girl! Your prayers are appreciated.

Happy News

So, we have some happy news to share...

Baby #3 on the way

10 1/2 weeks along

Due 1/31/10

Please pray for healthy pregnancy, healthy baby, a dr that will deliver VBAC, and a fast and easy delivery

I apologize for the lack of updates lately, seems like the days just fly by these days. We just returned from our trip to Houston for tio Walter's wedding. It was an awesome, fun trip. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was fun, and our stay with family unforgettable. My cousins from Europe were able to fly in for the wedding as well, so we were able to spend a week with them and share fun memories. I will have to upload pics later, I have too many to go through :). Katherine was a beautiful little flower girl!! She did wonderfully and walked down the aisle, both during the rehearsal and during the actual ceremony. She was so excited to be participating in tio Walter's wedding, she talked about it a lot. Of course, I'm sure it helped that I had promised her a LOLLIPOP if she made it to the end of the aisle and sat quietly during the ceremony. She totally impressed me!! Both Dan and I were a bit worried about how she was going to do during the ceremony, when we realized during rehearsal that she would not sit with us, but with the bridesmaids, rows and rows in front of us. She was amazing. I could see her from where we were sitting and she sat there like a big girl. I did hear her "whispering" once or twice to one of the girls, but for the most part she sat quietly!! Then after the wedding she was excited that she now had a new TIA!! Welcome to the family Tia Martha!!

I'll update more on the wedding on our family blog, so stay tuned: http://marshy-corner.blogspot.com/

Now to update you about Katherine!! She has been doing very well. Treatment is going well and staying on track. Everyone except daddy weathered a cold not too long ago, and it lingered just too long with Kateli that I took her to the pediatrician before we left for Houston last week. Turned she had a sinus infection, so she had to take antibiotics for 7 days. We are done with the antibiotics, but the sinusiting caused her numbers to plummet just a bit. This morning her count was down to 420, so we are holding her chemo at home. We will be going into clinic again next week to see if she's back up. Chemo will resume as soon as her counts are back up to 750 or higher. She's still in good spirits, and happy as can be. Looking at her, you would never guess that her counts were low. However, the nurse said that based on Katherine's labs, her bone marrow is working hard to put out the good cells, so she wouldn't be surprised if her numbers were back where they needed to be next week. Nevertheless, please pray that they pick back up so that we can resume treatment and stay on track. Her numbers had not been low since November of last year, which has been a huge blessing. Thanks again for visiting our page, and keeping up with our family!

Completely into panties

Yep, that's our girl!! As of a few nights ago she is completely potty trained. She opted one night to go to bed in panties, and woke up the next morning dry. She pee peed in the potty ajavascript:void(0)nd was so excited that "mommy, I sleep in my panties all night, like a big girl" as she put it to me the next morning. Woohoo!! I just hope Joshua is this easy to potty train. We'll see.

She's grown up so much these last few days...

Forgive the lack of updates recently. We have been doing well. Kateli continues to do very well. We had clinic yesterday. Her counts were 1566, she had chemo administered in her port, and she started her 5 days of steroids for the month.

All, except daddy were sick late last week and into this week with colds. Joshua and I were the ones worse off, as we ran temps and were just feeling crummy. We both have lost some weight from lack of appetite, so as we recover we are trying to replenish our bodies with the nutrients that we need. Kateli had a mild cold, but ran no fevers, didn't lose her appetite and ended up with just a real phlegmy cough. However, in the midst of sickness Kateli made huge strides in developmental growth over the last few days. She is now wearing big girl panties, and has given up the pacifier!!! WOOHOOO!!!! She's been so ready for the potty, but we thought we could get her to go in the toilet, and had just put one of those little potty seats on there for her to sit on. She would sit, but very rarely did anything in there. So, Sunday I finally gave in and bought her her own potty seat, a little froggy that a friend recommended, and she helped pick out her own princess panties. As soon as we got home, we put her in panties and did that all day except for naptime. We tried sitting her on the potty, but she refused so we told her she could go on the toilet or in the froggy, but she may not have diapers. She held it all day!! The next morning Dan got up to change a really poopy/wet diaper at 4am. The next day, she wore panties as soon as she got up. However, when she had the urge to go potty she sneaked away from us, switch out the pantie for a pullup and went in the pullup--poop mind you. The girl has some AWESOME bladder control She's yet to have an accident. Anyway, on Monday she stayed dry ALL day, through naptime even until late afternoon when she finally couldn't hold it anymore and said she needed to go. We had been practicing all day, sitting on the potty by herself, so when she was ready to go she said, "I want to do it alone". A few minutes later, I had forgotten where she was at and she came into the room just elated as could be, with a HUGE smile on her face and said, "mommy, I peed in the potty" We were SO excited, and praised her, and celebrated. Yesterday morning, for the first time she pooped in the potty. I was upstairs getting Joshua, she ran to get me and here is our conversation:

"mommy, come look",
I said "did you poop in the potty?"
"come look, I show you"
We all hurried downstairs, and into the bathroom where she said,
"mommy, look, I made a snake!!"

I couldn't believe how excited you could get to see poop in the potty!!! She's so big, and she's doing so well. She has yet to have an accident. Last night, we went to church and I talked to her about going potty at church and when mommy and daddy are not there. She was worried at first, and asked me, "why not mommy or daddy take me" but when we picked her up from the nursery, she was excited to say that she had gone potty and that Miss Jamie had taken her!! Woohoo!!! The pacifier...well, we just decided it was time to go. I noticed a tooth was beginning to shift, and told her that the dentist would not like that, and that it was just not good for her teeth anymore. She complained a little bit the first night, but the dentist thing really did it, because she hasn't asked for one, even when she sees Joshua using one!! Amazing!! So now, we are healthy again, and we've got the potty training under out belt!! Let's just hope Joshua's transition is as easy!! :)

My little flower girl...

Kateli is going to be in my brother's wedding in July this year. I've been fervently working on her dress--I know, I get obsessed with projects, despite having about 4months till we really need it!! anyway, you can see her in her splendor here...FLOWER GIRL

Unveiling of a new style

As promised...here is Kateli's new do!! Cute, or what?? sassy is more like it, I guess. I love it. It is so her!!! I think she's going to be a little trend setter, with her cute short do, what do you think?

Before the haircut...

Praise the Lord that Kateli has been doing so well with treatment, and that we have managed to remain healthy through this season!! Katherine had a spinal tap on Wednesday this week, and while it was a bit harder for me, she did magnificent as always. It impresses me when she wakes up from that procedure and acts as if nothing happened. In fact, her procedure was a 10:30am, we got home about 1:00pm, took regular naps and then that afternoon were outside playing like a normal 3 year old and her 18month old brother--what a blessing!!!! The previous time when we went into clinic Katherine's blood count remained high, about 1500, so the nurse told me that if her numbers were high again this last time that they would increase one of her chemo dose by 25%. When her numbers came back on Wednesday, Diane, very excitedly informed us that "she was amazing!" She was at 1197!!!! above 500 and below 1500!! So, guess what?? no chemo increase!! Wooohoo!!! THank you all for your prayers for our little princess. I know that it's not just by chance that she is doing so well, but that she's got quite the protector taking care of her, and she has her prayer warriors shooting up those prayers daily!! So, thank you and please continue!!

This morning Kateli and I went out on a mommy-daughter date (which we need to do more often) to get a haircut. Yes, she needed a haircut!! Another praise!! Her hair has been coming in and was long enough that we needed to style it!! She looks precious! It was so funny! I was so excited that she had finally agreed to get her haircut, that we got in the car immediately and started driving without a clue where I was going to take her. So, I called my hairstylist, only to find out that she was not working today. I called a few other places, but I guess everybody gets their hair cut on Saturday because they were all booked. So, finally we went to JCPenney and had a "master" hairstylist cut her hair. The funniest part was in the parking lot, getting out of the car. Katherine looked at me, as I was unbuckling her from her seat and said "mommy, I take my pepe (paci) for haircut, so I don't cry" and guess what?? she conned me into letting her take in her paci to use while she sat in the chair. It worked. She didn't cry, she didn't squirm, she didn't even complain; and she was super excited afterwards to come home and show daddy her new haircut. I have yet to capture a photo of her with her new do...but I wanted to leave you with a photo of her before her cut. I'll try to take a pic of her tomorrow. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day

Probably not many people can remember vividly what they were doing, thinking, feeling this day last year. For our family, this holiday will forever be etched with memories of things not so sweet. I remember sitting on the couch, taking the call from Dr. K, having him confirm what was at the time our worst nightmare. It's hard to believe that a year has passed, since that day when we were told our daughter had Leukemia. It has been a difficult year for sure, but one that has brought new perspective.

I never would have thought that I would feel fortunate that my daughter 'only has Leukemia', but this year I have. When you are around families that have children with extremely rare conditions with unproven treatments, you feel blessed that treatment for kids Katherine's age with 'ALL' is as good as it is.

I had never thought about the families that frequent the hospital that is less than a mile from our house, or for those who stay at the Ronald McDonald house while their kids have extended treatments in the hospital. But now it's nearly a daily occurance as we drive, run, or bike along 61st street.

I would never have imagined that the new Children's hospital would be such a blessing to our family. We are so fortunate to live in a country that has such amazing medical facilities. I guess I already knew the blessing of living less than a mile from St. Francis Hospital, since that is where Marleny lived for 2 months waiting for our beloved Katherine to arrive. I thank God for the Doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers that make our visits to the clinic and hospital as pleasant as possible.

I've learned that we can't do it alone, and we're really not meant to do it alone. I like to think that I'm extremely self-suffient, but this year I have come to know that I am completely insufficient to battle this alone. We've been blessed by our friends from church, from work, and by countless people all over the country. Thanks to all of our friends, family, and countless prayer warriors that have walked with us over this year.

The Lord has been faithful to sustain us in strength, to draw us near during difficult times, and to show us mercy and peace that passes understanding.

It was all about the shoes

Today was a beautiful day. We saw the sun despite the yucky forecast of clouds and rain this afternoon. In fact, we actually got out both this morning and afternoon. We did storytime at the library, lunch at Mickey D's (we contributed our little bit to support the Ronald McDonald House today), before heading to the grocery store for diapers--I am embarrassed to admit it, but somehow our supply of diapers this morning was down to a mere single one!! Luckily both kids held it until we got home from the store :)--what a relief. Anyway, today was all about the shoes for Kateli. She insisted on wearing her heeled shoes today, this morning AND this afternoon when we headed to the bridge to ride our bikes. She was out there pedaling her bike in Heels--what a girly girl!! It was fun to watch. After a little bit of biking, we hit the swings--at which time I warned Kateli that if she walked in the sand, she would end up with sand in her feet and she wouldn't like it. Guess what happened?? Let's just say, a picture speaks a thousand words :) take a look...



On another note, and as an update to her health. Our last appt we continued with great numbers, so high in fact that the nurse thinks they may have to increase her chemo dose. Kateli's ANC has been lingering well above 1500 lately, in fact last week she was up to 9900 or so....I was a little worried, as that's above the range for her age group and asked if it was some sort of "red" flag--but was very confidently told that it was not, and that it just meant they may have increase her chemo next time around if she was above 1500. So, I'm not sure if this is good news or not, I mean the increase in chemo. It's definitely GREAT news that her numbers have been high, especially during this season when there is lots of sickness going around. Please continue to pray for our little monkey as she continues on this treatment. Thank you for your visit to our page!!

My little helper

I'm sorry for the lack of update on this blog in recent weeks. Just to give you a little update on Kateli's health. She continues to do well with treatment, and her health has been great over the last few months. We've had little colds, here and there but even those have been scarce. She continues to take her medications like a champ and doesn't complain about having to do it at least every night. I think I've mentioned this before but now that she's in maintenance, her clinic visits are every other week unless her counts are low the week of...in which case we are asked to come back a week later to recheck blood. Her numbers have been fantastic the last two months or so, she's remained above 500. In fact the last two times that we've been in, she's been really high but the nurse said they would wait 4 checks before they would increase any dose on her chemo. Kateli is growing, at her 3 year checkup she was 28.4 lbs, and measuring 32 inches (okay, I'm not 100% on the height), but nonetheless, she's grown. She's still petite for her age, as she remains in the 10-15% for height and weight, but she has that in her genes--she takes after her mommy, I guess. She's so grown up, not only physically but emotionally, and her mind blows us away most days. She's super smart, and she LOVES, absolutely loves music and dance. She loves to sing, and she loves to read books. She loves to pretend play, and has quite the imagination. Her favorite word right now?...hm, I have to say, hands-down, "porque?" ("why?")!! Everything is "why, mommÿ?"; I have to admit that I never thought I'd grow tired of answering her "why's?" but there are some days when all I want to say, and actually do a few times, is "because mommy said so" or "because God said so"...Sometimes that suffices, but most of the times she pauses for a second before following up with another...you guessed it, "WHY?" Anyway, she loves her little brother. She loves to play with him, she loves to hug him and she loves to teach him. She's a wonderful big sister. She's also a great helper. She helps do laundry, fold her clothes, puts her shoes away at night, helps pick up toys and messes, gladly runs into the bathroom if anything needs rinsing (she LOVES to run the water and play in the sink), she helps wipe the table after dinner, she helps put Joshua down for naps, and sometimes bedtime. Anytime I need help, she comes through and with a huge grin on her face. She is so proud of her accomplishments, it's great to see her growing up. Okay, so she sounds like a little angel, and she is, but she's also 3! So, I also do get some screaming, frustration and not so happy hearts from her during the day, but usually a calm talk help her work through things--and sometimes, just crying does the trick. I could go on and on and on about my little princess, but it's 12:30am and I should probably get some ZZZ'ss....more later.

A dancer...a ballerina

Over the last few weeks I've been trying to think of something that I could enroll Kateli in, that she would enjoy. Finally, I came up with "she loves to dance....why not a dance class" So, by chance, the first dance studio that I called was taking new kids and classes were starting the week that I called. We were invited to come try out the class in the evening to see if Kateli would enjoy it or not, so we went. Let me just say that once I told Kateli she was going to a "clase de baile" (dance class) it was all that I heard about for the rest of the day. She was really excited about the whole thing. When time came to load up in the car and go to class, she very sweetly informed us "I'm not going to be shy, mommy". So, here are some pictures of our little ballerina. The parents are kept in the dark as far as the on-goings of class, but I was able to peek through the side of blinds. I think this first picture turned out, considering the crack was less than an inch wide. The other ones are of her after class. Can you see the little dancer in her? :)