No More Roids!!!!

As you can see the steroids have really made Blake puff up this week. The first picture is of our last day out at a friend's place. Blake really enjoyed hanging out there, but tired quickly, so we headed home after a short visit.

Since that day we have not gone out other than a walk we did in the morning on Sat and Church and a visit with Great-grandpa on Sunday. Whatever we do, we make sure to leave or not to go if Blake is miserable. We do not want our poor boy to suffer any more than he already has to suffer.

The day at the clinic was a shorter one than expected. Blake was done with chemo quickly and did not need any transfusions. We stayed in the back room for most of the clinic visit because Blake was not feeling up to socializing. He just relaxed in the recliner and watched his shows.

Now that we are home he has napped quite a bit. I hope that his energy levels increase soon. It is very difficult to watch a boy who is not even 3 yet in so much pain that he doesn't even want to get up and play. He is still very good natured though and likes to play games that don't require him to get up and move around too much!

Thank you all for your prayers and moral support!

The Parracks

Clinic Day

We are preparing for another long day at the clinic today. Blake is scheduled to get 3 doses of chemo and may need blood or platelets. We are very unhappy with the way the steroids are effecting him this time around. He doesn't want to move. It breaks our hearts to watch him in so much pain. He has been very sleepy, so we have spent the last few days "hiding out" at home, just recuperating. Today is his last day on the steroids for quite a while, so we are looking forward to his recovery from the side effects.

It is so difficult to watch our baby go through so much, but we know that the cure is better than the disease and that we must continue to do as the doctor says. We are lucky to have a medical staff who genuinely cares about Blake and the rest of our family and who let us know when it is okay for Blake to do things and when it is not. We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives who visit to check up on Blake and who pray for him to feel better when he isn't doing so well.

God has blessed us beyond measure and though Blake has his hard times during the treatment, most of the time he behaves as a normal 2 1/2 year old would and seems to enjoy life. He is such a loving, caring, well-behaved boy and we are so glad that God chose to give him to us!

Thank you all for your prayers, we have really needed them during this phase. We still have a few weeks to go during this phase, but we are coming up on maintenance!

Blake's Long Day

Blake had a long day at the clinic today. We went in at 10 am and there were many people there, so there was a bit of a wait to be checked in. Once Blake was checked in he waited a while to have blood drawn for labs. We had to wait a while for labs to come back, so while the chemo only took about 20 minutes to run, we didn't get to leave until after 3 pm.

We enjoyed the clinic today though. Even though we were there for 5 hours it was still fun for Blake to play with all the clinic toys and Alexia enjoyed staring at another baby and playing with her toys on her blanket.

A Parrack 4th of July

The first picture is of us on the 27th of June when we took Blake to see the fireworks show put on by our Church.

We spent the day at Travis' dad and mom's house. We really enjoyed the day. It was by far the chilliest 4th of July, but it was fun and it wasn't too chilly. Travis got to his parents' house early in the morning to start his new smoker. It had to smoke for 4 hours to cure it, so it wouldn't make the meat taste funny. Once it ran for 4 hours he started the ribs. The ribs cooked for 5 1/2 to 6 hours, but they were well worth the wait.

We enjoyed spending time with Travis' parents and sister Ryleigh, along with Travis' brother Tommy and our sister-in-law Val along with their daughter, our niece Taylor! We had a really nice time, very relaxing! Then Rodney showed up! ;) He livened things up a bit for us by bringing fireworks.

We had a very enjoyable 4th of July! The whole family thoroughly enjoyed it!

Blake's Fun 4th of July

Blake was very excited to go see Aunt Ryleigh and Papa Tom and Mama Jodi for the 4th of July! He had so much fun playing basketball outside with Daddy and Papa Tom. He tried putting together a puzzle with Aunt Ryleigh, he danced, he "napped" and he saw his cousin and Aunt and Uncle for a while as well! He enjoyed the day so much that he wanted to go back on the 5th as well!

Papa Tom, Mama Jodi and Aunt Ryleigh hung out with the kids on the 5th while mommy and daddy went to see a movie to celebrate their 2 year anniversary! Blake got to swim with Aunt Ryleigh and he made cakes with Mama Jodi! They finished the day by watching Mary Poppins! What a fun weekend for the kids!

Alexia's First 4th of July

Alexia really seemed to enjoy her first 4th of July. We spent the day at Papa Tom and Mama Jodi's house! Alexia enjoyed watching her big brother play with Aunt Ryleigh and also enjoyed watching her cousin Taylor play a bit! She napped a few times and seemed really interested in the fireworks!

Our Blake

On Tuesday we took a family trip to Cabella's, so daddy could get some things for his smoker! We are really excited for him to make ribs for us! We also enjoyed a relaxing day at home as a family. It is always nice to have an entire day just for us.

Blake is being such a trooper about his steroids. He is such a joy to be around and does not complain about anything at all. He had a pretty long day at the clinic on Wednesday which included an x-ray on his tummy and a dose of chemo. Once we were done at the clinic we went home to rest up and had a nice visit from Brianne. She has been such a blessing to us, not only throughout mommy's life, but she has been there for the kids through everything! It is so uplifting to have her around.

Thursday we enjoyed a play date with Blake's friends Luke, Bo and Vance. They are such sweet boys and are so much fun for Blake to play with. He requested to hang out with them again after they had so much fun at the sprayground (that didn't have any spray) so we set up a play date and he really enjoyed it. They played in the splash pool and enjoyed eating lunch together. It is so nice to see Blake enjoying life and being carefree!

Blake has the next 7 days off of steroids and we are really looking forward to a steroid free 4th of July! We can't wait to spend time with the family and try out Travis' new smoker! We are really excited to taste those smoked ribs!