Merry Christmas!

We hope you and your families had a wonderful day together!  We have so much to be thankful for, and we are so blessed to have our family healthy and  home for Christmas this year!  Kaylee continues to feel great, and was so excited about Santa coming.  Kyle is also feeling good and was excited about a visit from the big man as well!

Kaylee and Kyle were so nice and let Jamie and me sleep in until 10:00!  I heard Kaylee come up the stairs at 10:00, peek in our room, and then go back downstairs again without saying anything!  When I came downstairs a few minutes later, they had their stocking gifts spread out, but nothing opened!  But as soon as they started opening their stockings, they didn’t want to stop!  Kaylee was just so thrilled and happy to be opening gifts, and was so excited about each one.  Kyle took a little more time than Kaylee and enjoyed his gifts too!  Kyle’s favorite gift was a certificate to a cake decorating class this week!  He really enjoys watching Cake Boss and is looking forward to learning how to decorate cakes  When I asked Kaylee what her favorite gift was, she said “Everything!”  I think she was just so enamored by the whole Christmas season  She really enjoyed going to the tree farm to cut a tree down (they look so much smaller in the field than in our house!), and decorating the tree with lights and each and every ornament!  She was my little baking helper on Christmas Eve and decorated the cookies with every color sprinkle we own!   And that is the true joy of Christmas, watching our healthy boy and girl enjoy each little part of the season!

Grandma and Papa with the Trailer and Uncle Jesse joined us for dinner yesterday, and then Grandma and Papa through the Woods, Aunt Jamie and Uncle David, and Uncle Tom joined us for dessert.  It was a full house full of fun and laughter!  It was nice to have everyone together, sharing in our day.  And I think we will see Aunt Lynda, Uncle Rich, Declan, and Orion and Aunt Cherie, Tim, and Dakota in a few days!  The kids are definitely looking forward to seeing all their cousins soon!

Kaylee’s appointments to Cleveland Clinic are now once a month for a blood draw and physical exam.  Our most recent visit was the week before Christmas, and we breezed in and out of Kaylee’s appointment on our way to an echocardiogram.  I have not officially heard the results of her blood tests or echocardiogram, but I am assuming that we would have heard something if there were any issues.  Kaylee’s blood counts have been great for the past few months, so I am not expecting anything different.  All of her echocardiograms have been regular, so again, we are not expecting any issues.  Kaylee has an MIBG scan scheduled for Jan 11, as part of her three-month evaluation.  She also has a urine test in process, which measures a couple of proteins that are indicators of neuroblastoma.  So hopefully, by mid-January, we will have another set of good results and can move along with life for another three months!

She is adjusting to her hearing aids fairly well.  She has had a couple of ear infections in the right ear and then an episode with pink eye in her right eye a couple of weeks ago.  But during this last visit with Nurse Holly, both of her ears looked clear.  We do not necessarily put her hearing aids in on the weekends and during her time off school, for which Kaylee is grateful.  She does not like when I put them in her ears in the morning, and she usually asks to take them out after dinner each night.  But during her parent-teacher conference, her teacher, Miss Solon, seems to think they are helping.  Miss Solon also said that Kaylee was doing well in school, and is  right where she needs to be for math and reading.  Jamie and I both can tell that she likes going to school and being with the other kids and learning new things.  She is always singing songs and sharing her newfound knowledge with us!  It is amazing to us how easily she adjusted to school and the daily routine, after being without any consistent schedule or structure these last two years.

And Kyle’s knee is continuing to heal.  He did a great job at physical therapy each week, and then every other week.  His last visit to Dr. Saluan in November did not show too much change from the visit in September.  So Kyle was upset that his is still restricted from running and jumping, which we can definitely understand.  His next appointment with Dr. Saluan in January as well, so we hope to see some improvement.  If Dr. Saluan is not able to see any clear changes on the x-rays, he will schedule another MRI.  It’s a wait and see game right now, but we are all crossing our fingers that he will get the ok to start being more active again.  We have stopped physical therapy at this point because there is not too much more than can do for his knee.  Once he is given the ok to start running and jumping, we may start the physical therapy once again so they can monitor his knee, but for now we are done.

Kyle’s parent-teacher conferences went very well too.  His teacher, Mrs. Vrcan, said that Kyle is doing great and has set a great example for the other kids by reading during his free time in between classes.  Other kids have seen him doing it, and receiving a “coupon” from the teacher, so they started reading as well!  Way to go Kyle!    It was nice for Jamie and me to have such great conferences and hear positive things about both Kaylee and Kyle

So I guess our life is as back to “normal” as we will get.  Both Kaylee and Kyle are in school, Jamie is working full-time, and I am back to work everyday.  Our weekly/monthly schedule is pretty busy with Cub Scouts, Daisy Scouts, and PSR (parish school of religion.)  We add a few doctors appointments and some extra fun activities and the month seems to pass us by!  And that is a wonderful thing to have our life filled with “fun” things, rather than hospital visits and doctors appointments!

We truly thank each and every one of you for your continued thoughts and prayers.  Kaylee is 9 months into remission, and we want to keep counting!  We are so thankful and grateful for the continued support and friendship.  We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year!