Long Break!

So sorry that I took such a long break from posting. For those of you that follow Chase's webpage, (http://www.carepages.com/ sign in: Weloveyouchase,) you know that I am even having a hard time getting on there and keeping everyone updated. (I used to write on there at least once or twice a day.) I have to say though, that it is wonderful to not have the same therapeutic need to blog about what is happening in our lives,that I did during those long, lonely days at St. Jude. I am so grateful for the therapy that blogging our experience was for me though and how much support so many gave us by leaving us sooo many encouraging messages. I am actually very excited to say that I have finally put together our experience into a book, which I am hoping will be ready to send off to the editors next week. I will let you know more about this project later.

So I write so much about what is happening with Chase, that I thought that I would let my other kids be the star of this page. I have to tell you that Brooklyn has grown up so much. In fact she is now doing "at home" preschool. Five other Mom's and I take turns being the teacher one week and then we get five glorious weeks of mommy freedom/daycare/preschool, provided completely free of charge. This week was my week to teach and it is amazing to see my "baby" in this learning atmosphere and doing so well. She is the only girl in the group and she happened to find the preschool materials the night before I was to teach and came running down the hallway, holding their floor mats in her hands, saying, "Oh, no Mom, look what they left!"... "My BOYS, they left these." I love that, she has only been going to class a few weeks and they are already HER BOYS! We already know that we are going to have to watch little miss Attitude, when she gets older. But with Brooklyn we also have no fear that she will put any of the boys that surround her, in their place.

Brooklyn also found her "Snow White costume that we bought for Halloween and of course begged to put it on (and to be honest has hardly taken it off since.) I took some beautiful pictures of her sitting in a Chair reading an oversized leather book and after I did this I heard on the TV show that she was watching, that you could send in pictures of your kids dressed as Princesses and they would show them on a special princess episode of Dora! For any of you that know Brooklyn, you know how "Dora obsessed" she is so I went ahead and did just that. Before I sent them though, I asked her if she would like a picture of her to be on TV with Dora. She thought it would be much better if she could just go herself, instead of sending the picture. She kept telling me, "Come on Mom, lets go. Lets do it. Lets be on the TV with Dora!!

Our little Jonah has also grown up so much that I hardly recognize him. I especially saw this when we went to Magic Mountain last weekend. Jonah was always the kid that would end up going on every roller coaster- but it always took some good convincing to get him on with us. This time he realized that he was just tall enough to go on every ride and after he went on the first one that he thought would really scare him, he told me he felt like he was definitely a "thrill-seeker" and was willing to go on even the most extreme rides. In fact I had to force him to put his hands down and hold on, on the two rollercoasters that are still terrifying even to me. He really is such a great kid that is showing so much maturity.

When I left for St. Jude last year, he was still just a little seven year old boy and now there are times now that Jared and I look at each other and say, he acts so much more like a 9 year old, going on ten. Where did that little boy go?

I am sure that a lot of this maturing has happened because of the "Big Bro." that Jonah gained this year. Our foster son Josh. He has been a wonderful addition to our family and though I will admit that adjusting to a whole new person in your home is not always roses. Having Josh with us has been a fantastic experience for Jared and I, and all of our kids. He is a great person, especially considering all that he has been through and is always trying very hard to get along with us and to make us all laugh. At this point, it looks as if he is on the fast track back to his Mom. Which we hope will be a very good thing. They both really want to be back together and she is doing well now. So we hope this works out for them both and that they will be reunited soon. Though I know that it will be difficult when that happens and that we will miss having him around.

And we are once again back to Chase. My little Supergirl will head off to St. Jude next week. So PLEASE, Please, Please keep her in your prayers! She is exactly one year past treatment and when these next scans come back clear- it will be a very good thing!... since all the good odds go way up when you make it past the one year mark. So we can't wait to come back from our visit to St. Jude with our "GOOD NEWS!"

Jared and I are doing well. He is still working hard because he has to and still enjoying what he truly does well. I will give you more details about the two of us the next time I update this blog-

Love to you all-
Season