Blake's 3rd Birthday

August 30th was Blake's 3rd birthday and although we are having his big party on Tuesday the 1st of September, we had a small family get together at Travis' parent's house! Blake had a lot of fun. We did mostly video of the day, but here are a couple of pictures.

Blake really enjoyed all of his gifts! He is currently learning how to read, so the hooked on phonics electronic notepad from his grandparents will help a lot! He also got lots of jammies and toys and a pair of shoes! What a great birthday! Of course Blake did not want to leave, but we will see them all again soon!

We will post a video or two from this party and will post about his other birthday party soon!

Travis' 27th Birthday Party

Travis' Birthday cake and for those of you non-golfers out there, the 18 means 18th hole, not 18 years old!

Travis and Desiree!

Travis with his dad and Uncle Tim

Travis with his old roomies

We decided to surprise Travis this year with a "real" birthday party. Steve and Emily and I plotted and planned. Some friends of theirs own a place and let us use the upstairs for the evening. Travis had absolutely no idea, but lots of friends and family were there to help him welcome in the next year of his life. He will turn 27 on the 2nd, but in order to surprise him we planned the party on a different day!

We all had a lot of fun and Travis got to catch up with some old friends. Thanks again to Papa Mark and Mama Corinne for watching the kids for us!!!!

Good news and Bad News

Well, we have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that Blake's ANC was down to .08 at his appointment on Tuesday, so we are keeping him home and making sure he doesn't come in contact with anyone who is sick.


The good news is that as soon as Blake's counts come up he will be on maintenance. While maintenance is no walk in the park and Blake will still be getting a lot of chemo. He will be undergoing almost all of his care at home while on maintenance and his counts will be much better!

I'm sure he will miss the clinic, he will hopefully only have to go once every 4 weeks for counts and if he needs blood or platelets. He is scheduled to have a spinal tap on Wednesday next week, but chances are that he will not get one, his counts have to be at 750 and right now they are 80. It would take a real miracle to make his counts go up that quickly. We are guessing that we will be starting maintenance sometime during the week of the benefit for Blake, so it will also be a celebration of sorts!

Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and encouragement. Every prayer counts and Blake is doing amazingly well.

First Steps

Miss Chayne took her first steps yesterday! She is such a big girl! We were hoping she wouldn't start walking too early, but walking is just around the corner now. :( She is such an amazing girl and we are so blessed to have her!

She and her brother are the lights of our lives and we would be lost without either of them! It's hard to believe she is already 7 1/2 months old! She charms everyone who comes near her and is already a social butterfly, although she will only tolerate being held by someone other than mommy and daddy for a short amount of time!!!!

We are counting down the days until Alexia is able to wear her Hawkeye Cheerleader uniform! Aunt Brianne gave it to us as a baby shower present last November and Alexia should be able to fit in it by Sept 5th!!!!! Yay!!!!

Little miss cuteness is 7 months old!

Alexia with Aunt April at Ryan and Jana's Reception

Alexia with Mama Corinne

Alexia in the wagon at the Clinic

Alexia walking on stage

Alexia loves daddy

Alexia loves mommy

Alexia usually loves Papa



Alexia is a busy girl. She is very close to taking her first steps, but we are putting it off as long as we can! She is very good on clinic days and has charmed all of the nurses! Last time we were there Claudia gave her a doll!

Alexia is definitely a girly girl, she loves anything foo-foo and girly. She gets really excited about clothes shopping and loves dolls! Tinkerbell is her favorite right now! She loves mommy and daddy and follows her big brother Blake everywhere!

She was very well behaved at Great Papa Bill's visitation, funeral and the following luncheon. We are so blessed to have such wonderful children! She has been a dream and we are very excited as more of her personality continues to emerge! She loves to do baby gymnastics and is still pulling up on EVERYTHING! She is growing up so fast! Hard to believe she is already 7 months old!

Great Papa's Funeral

Great Papa Bill was the second great grandpa who Blake was close to that has passed on. He was very close with his Papa John and was just as close to Great Papa Bill. He spent quite a bit of time playing with Papa Bill and being silly with him. He always gave him hugs goodbye and was sad to see him sleeping in his bed the last few weeks.

We are not sure that Blake understands death, but we did explain it to him. We didn't go too in depth about it, but he will understand in the future.

The morning was rainy and somewhat chilly so we took our umbrellas and put on our jackets and went to the funeral service. Blake was very good during the service and we were proud of him. He did wonder where Daddy was though because he was a pallbearer and sat by Papa Bill's coffin.

Blake had a nice nap on the drive from the funeral home to the cemetary and cuddled mommy during the graveside service. Luckily there was an awning and it had stopped raining once we got to the cemetary and Blake was very calm and peaceful the whole time.

Blake really enjoyed the luncheon after the funeral. He liked running around in the room and really wanted to play the drums (we didn't let him though, but I think we know a good gift idea once he gets older). He was very sweet and well behaved and everyone loved him!

Blake has the rest of the week off chemo, he gets one Vincristine push next Tuesday and is off the rest of that week as well. We have two more 4 day weeks after that then once his counts are up again we start maintenance!!!!!!

Clinic and Visitation

Blake sleeping in the wagon bed he wanted mommy to make for him at the clinic

A different angle of Blake sleeping

Blake and Alexia in the wagon

Silly Blake, I love how he manages to stay happy and chipper even when he gets 3 doses of chemo and a blood transfusion all in one day.

Well, Tuesday was a long day at the clinic for Blake, Alexia and Mommy. We were there by 10:30 am. Blake had to get his blood drawn for labs to see what his counts were. He has been looking a bit pale lately, so we figured he would need a blood transfusion and he did. He also had to have the peg shots in his thighs and a vincristine push in his port.

At about 2:00 pm he started his blood transfusion and was given benadryl to make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction since he was getting blood and the PEG shots which both can cause allergic reactions. Although Blake has never reacted to anything, it is better safe than sorry when giving him two things that cause reactions because we would not know which he was reacting to. Once Blake was given the benadryl he asked mommy to make a bed for him in the wagon. We stuffed the wagon with fluffy pillows and blankets and he was asleep rather quickly. Alexia also took this opportunity to nap, so mommy enjoyed rocking her and watching both of her babies nap peacefully.

Blake had to get the PEG shots, which was not fun for him, but luckily he was still so sleepy that he fell right back asleep after drinking a cup of milk. He was such a dear sweet boy through the entire day.

Once Blake woke up he was ready to be unhooked and we were released from the clinic! Mommy asked Blake if he wanted to go to Great Papa Bill's visitation ceremony and he said yes. Amazingly he was a bundle of energy, even with all the chemo, the nap did him a lot of good because he really enjoyed seeing Mama Corinne and walking to Bayliss park with her. He also enjoyed racing his truck back and forth and charming all of the people who were there to pay their respects to Great grandpa.

We have learned so much from Blake and continue to learn from him daily. For him to be able to have such a rough morning/afternoon and still have energy to keep going into the evening is just amazing! We were home by 8:00 and enjoyed the evening with Daddy!

Grandpa Wilson

Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa with Alexia

Grandpa and Grandma with us at our wedding
Who is going to ask Alexia if her dresses are his shirts, or try to steal her shoes and socks from her? Who is going to sing her the classic old songs? Who is going to whistle to her everytime he sees her and let her style his hair? How do we pass these things on to our children, who don't even know they are missing out?

One of my fondest memories of Grandpa Bill is him singing "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dina" and "I've been working on the Railroad". We spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa through the years.

When we lived in Manhattan Grandpa and Grandma moved there as well and we spent lots of time at their house with our mom and dad. I remember gardening with Grandpa and singing silly songs. He would constantly ask if my dresses were his shirts and he would try to wear my shoes and socks. I like to think that I got my ornry nature and my sense of humor from my grandpa Bill. I always thought he was the funniest man in the world.

Once we moved to Cincinnati and Grandma and Grandpa moved back to Council Bluffs I remember our visits to their home. At their house, next door to the pomeranian puppies, I would sit with Grandpa in their beautiful backyard and eat the cherry tomatoes that Grandpa planted and tended himself. It was also at that house that Grandpa got me to try pickled pigs feet, they were really good!

When we moved back from Cincinnati we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in their huge new house! It was like two houses one on top of the other! The upstairs had it's own kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room and three bedrooms and the downstairs had it's own kitchen, a HUGE dining room, living room, bathroom and two bedrooms. There was also a laundry room down there. I loved staying there with Grandma and Grandpa and helping Grandpa with the gardening and yardwork. I missed living with them when we moved to Lincoln, but we still visited quite often!

Grandpa was still as silly as ever and always brought a smile to my face. I loved to cuddle up with Grandpa and ask him questions about the War and what life was like when he was younger. He told great stories about when my dad and his siblings were kids.

Due to Alzheimers the last few years have been different since it was really hard for Grandpa to remember things. No more tomatoes, no more pickled pigs feet. Grandpa rarely remembered who I was, but I did love that he always remembered my husband Travis and our son Blake. I know it was frustrating for Grandpa to not be able to remember things, but he still teased his grandkids and asked Blake if he could have his shoes.

The last few months Grandpa was very sleepy, and unsure of where he was. He was not very mobile and kept asking to go home even when he was sitting in his own living room. Well, Grandpa finally got his wish. He went home on Saturday evening and will suffer no more. We love Grandpa and are so happy for him that he gets to spend time rejoicing with Jesus now and praising God all of his days! We miss him, but we know that where he is we will also be in the future and we will see him again.

We love you Grandpa (and Great papa).

Growing up too fast!

Our little lady is growing up so fast! Right after she started crawling she started pulling up on things and today she stood up all by herself without holding onto anything for the first time! She is just an amazing little bundle of energy. We love this little lady and she sure is in a big hurry to grow up. We wouldn't mind if she relaxed a bit and enjoyed babyhood before starting to walk, but she sets her own pace. We adore her!

A quick update on the past few days of treatment for Blake

Tuesday was short and sweet. We were there at 7:30 am. Blake went in for his spinal tap at 9:30 and was much more calm about it this time around. We requested that the nurses wait to suit up until after they put him under and it worked! He recovered quickly and we were on our way out of the hospital by lunch time! We had a very busy day after clinic though because daddy had the day off and we had lots of running to do, but luckily the chemo Blake got today didn't slow him down one bit. He was charming everyone we saw everywhere we went. It is so nice to know that other people see how amazing he is too!

Oh, we also found out that his friends in CARES are going to do something special for him to celebrate his birthday next time we are there! What wonderful friends he has made all throughout the hospital!

Wednesday we were in and out of the clinic in record time. I think it was a total of 30 minutes including the parking riding the elevator up to the clinic. The ladies and gents in Hem/Onc are very good at what they do! Blake got to see his friend Michael as well, they played soccer at the clinic together a while back and Blake talked about it for a month! Well this time Michael won the hospital BINGO game and gave his prize to Blake. He is such a good friend to Blake and Blake really looks up to him. Everyone who has come over since Blake got his truck has heard "This is my tow truck, Michael gave it to me! He is my friend!"

We got back in for another iv push today and one more tomorrow, then they will take the needle out of Blake's port and he will have the weekend off. Next week we will have another spinal tap and 4 more days of chemo, but the light at the end of the tunnel is even closer. We are so close to maintenance we can feel it. I know maintenance is anything but a walk in the park, but I hear it sure beats what Blake has endured the past 7 1/2 months of his life.

Blake is excited to see Michael at the clinic again today, oh and he missed doing puzzles with Gene (one of the volunteers who Blake met right after diagnosis and has become attached to) because we got to the clinic too late, but being able to visit with Michael and his family kept Blake from being too upset!

Fun times with Daddy's side of the family

Alexia's first time in a swing

She really enjoyed herself!!!

We didn't push her high because mommy was afraid she would fall out

Watching the dog and hanging out with Sara

Alexia had a great Monday, she went to her grandparent's house, but they were not there! Instead she got to go play at the playground with her cousins Sara and Nissa! She really enjoyed her first time in a swing, I think it gave her butterflies in her tummy because she just giggled the first few minutes. Even though we barely pushed the swing at all she really seemed to enjoy it! I hope this means she will be a roller coaster lover like mommy and daddy! Only time will tell!

After the park we hung out briefly at the house. Alexia LOVED watching the puppy run around and she squealed with delight every time she saw her! She also enjoyed spending time with Sara and Nissa! They are great with the kids and we always enjoy hanging out with them!

Fun times with Daddy's side of the family

Blake kept making Nissa go down the slide with him.

Happy Blake in his Spider Web sunglasses

Sara and Blake's names in the sand

Blake and Nissa took turns burying each other with pillows

Sara and Nissa getting the kids ready to leave, they had a blast Monday was our free day of the week and some of Travis' family members were house sitting for his parents, while they enjoy their trip to Disney World, so the kids and Desiree went to visit with family. Travis was at work, so he missed out on the fun.

We went to the little park by the house and Blake LOVED it. He went down the slides with Nissa tons of times, Sara pushed him in the swing and he kicked sand in the air for a while! He has always loved spending time with Sara and he really took to Annissa this time around! He wanted her to go everywhere with him! It was too cute! Both girls are SOOOOO good with the kids and Alexia loved cuddling Sara and watching the puppy run around the house.

All in all it was a very good day, we had lots of fun and were able to relax quite a bit before our big busy week!

Blake Pics

Our Tough Guy

He can take his pole with him!

Just hanging out waiting for a spinal tap

Look at our big boy! In his new jammies from Mama Jodi and Papa Tom

Yes he is!!!!!! Small but Mighty!!!! Thank you for the shirt Aunt Cheryl!

Alexia Pictures

Alexia and Mommy, love love love!

Alexia's BFFAE Caylee

Alexia and mommy again (At Great-Grandma Donna's house)

Mommy's cousin Justin with Alexia, see she shares

Just hanging out!

So much to do so little time

One of our days at CARES by 7:30am tired daddy, tired baby!

Blake and Alexia play nicely together at the clinic

I have never seen such a good big brother or such an adoring baby sister

Helping Aunt April make people chow! yum yum!

He is our tough boy! Wearing a hat from Ben and a shirt we've had for a while!

Alexia beating up mommy's cousin Charles while Victoria immitates a cat in the background

Alexia dancing with Aunt April
Phew, we are super busy and time is flying by. Instead of trying to post different information on all 3 blogs I decided to post all of the info on this blog tonight and post pictures on the kids' blogs.

Blake started his 4 day a week phase of treatment last week and boy did that hit us hard in the schedule area. We managed to fit in time to see family and friends before and after clinic visits, along with mommy and daddies work schedules. The plans for Blake's birthday are finalized and the tickets are being printed for the benefit dinner to help our family out. We cannot thank our friends and family enough for putting this all together!

We enjoyed a family get together on Sunday (the 9th) in honor of Great-Grandma Donna's birthday and the kids really enjoyed themselves. It is so nice to have such a great close knit family so nearby to us. We always have a good time when we are all able to get together. :)

We've been having a rough time as far as communications between our Realtor and our Bank go on the house, so they let one offer slip through the cracks and are now working on a different offer from a different buyer.

Blake is scheduled for another spinal tap and long day of chemo on Tuesday the 11th (Great-Grandma Donna's Birthday), so prayers are much appreciated that day!

We have some fun times with cousins planned for the next week and Blake has been feeling well enough to enjoy himself so far. We always play it by ear and if Blake is not feeling up to a scheduled event, we reschedule. We adapt our schedule to meet Blake's needs and to make sure he is getting the care and rest he needs. We are just so happy to have him here with us that we don't mind scheduling everything around what he may need at the moment! He is such a ray of sunshine in our lives!

Hopefully I will be able to post again in the next week or so!