It's that time of year...

...for Christmas PJ's and Santa hats! (click photos to enlarge)

Yes, he's wearing CARS Christmas PJ's.. wha?

Little Miss Curious!

turns into...

Caroline has been getting herself into a lot of "whoops" lately! We took her to the ER Sunday night for a bump on her head. She is doing fine, but we were glad she went because we found out she had an ear infection. She is so curious all the time... getting into things she shouldn't. I have decked our house out with child locks, again... and baby gates, again. I cannot turn my back for one second. She's quick, curious, and too smart for her own good but man-o-man do we love her!

Enjoy the short video of her bouncing... Thanks to our great friends the Arnold's, we are borrowing a jumperoo! Don't know how we lived without it!

Boomer Sooner!

Saturday, Tony and Tobin were blessed with Tickets to the OU game! Since Tobin was born, Tony has wanted to take him to a game! Tony and I went in October and the whole time we were there Tony kept saying how awesome it would be to take Tobin. Well, someone called Friday night and said they had two extra tickets... so who went? You guessed it! I snapped some pics before they left for the game. They were so excited!

okay- can't get them in the right order... the first pics below Tony took from his cell phone at the game.

view from their seats!
So excited!

Tobin in the stadium!

Tobin's seat!

These are the pics I took of them before they left...

Tobin got so scared of the shotguns shooting and the fireworks and the screaming fans, that I had to pick them up early. Poor baby was crying hysterically unless they were out of the stands. He was terrified! So, we finished watching the game on the TV! That was not how Tony envisioned his first OU game with Tobin would turn out. Oh well, there's always next year!

Platelets are producing!

I just wanted to update everyone...


Today I went in for my weekly Labs. My platelet count today was 249K! I went 5mg down on the steroids this week and my platelets went up 20k! Praise God! This was the first time that I went down on the steroids, and my platelet count didn't go down. This is great news! This means my body is producing platelets again, and we are trusting God fully for healing. Keep praying for full remission!

on another note: I thought this was great! the Platelet Disorder Support Association has really helped me understand my ITP and has so many great resources of support. I thought this was funny: A stress ball that is shaped like a platelet. What's so funny about it you ask? Stress causes your platelet count to go down. Teehee! I told Santa I need one for Christmas... we will see.

Fall Day with Friends

Our friends Greyson and Ava came over to play today. We walked to the park and had such a great time playing in the wonderful Fall weather. It was a little windy... no! It was a lot windy! We had a great time! Come back and play soon!

ITP update and requests

Monday I went in because I had some more bruising and they ran my labs again just in case to check my platelet levels. My platelet count was 234K which was 100k less than last Thursday, just 4 days before. My count was still in the normal range, so they weren't concerned and sent me home. Today I had a check up with my Hematologist and he had them run my labs again just to make sure everything was still normal. My platelet count today was 227K. Only 10K less than Monday. Since they've been weaning me off the steroids pretty quickly, my doctor thinks that is what caused the huge jump last week. He is pretty positive about my platelet count leveling off and staying within normal range. There is still no way of knowing for sure that my counts will stay in the normal range as the steroid mg that I'm on keep going down. However, we are praying and trusting God for the important word "remission". I am continuing to go in weekly for blood tests and will update then.

My biggest daily obstacles are all the side effects from the steroids. My face is so swollen and round with little tiny pimples all over(although just cosmetic and should go away once I'm off of them completely). Weight gain is frustrating considering the last 9 months all I've been trying to do is get healthy and loose weight...which now I feel has all been in vain. I have lots of energy most of the day, but cannot sleep at night when my body is physically tired. That's the worst part- needing to sleep when I cannot. I know I have no right to complain, considering that these steroids are saving my life and I am so blessed to actually be alive at all. Forgive me, I guess I just needed to vent. All you ladies know that how we look and feel about ourselves affects our daily lives. I guess I just don't want these things to bother me. Maybe that's a prayer request-that these side effects won't matter to me.

Tobin is back in pull-ups again, and refusing to go to the potty. This whole things has really affected him. He is needing more attention every day. He is insecure every time I leave him with a babysitter, and even Tony. He is afraid I will go to the hospital again. Please pray that peace will overcome him and his sweet little sensitive self won't worry about his mommy.

Thank you for keeping up with me on this journey. We are praying that it will all be over with sooner than later(especially with $50 co-pays adding up quickly). We are continuing to pray for God's ultimate and permanent healing and trust him for my full recovery. Thank you for continuing to pray for my healing, our family, our finances, and daily life.

1st Happy Bathtime

Since Caroline was born, she has HATED bath time! Every time she gets in the bath, she screams bloody murder! I am not exaggerating one bit (just ask my mom about when she gave her a bath when i was in the hospital last). I have tried everything- baths in the sink, taking baths with me in our big tub, in the bathroom sink, in the baby bath, in the big bath with Tobin... and she still hates the water.

Tonight for some reason she didn't scream. She had so much fun splashing around. I guess it took nine months, but she finally realized "If I'm gonna have to take these, then I guess I better enjoy it". I yelled at Tony to grab my camera, because I was not missing this opportunity for a decent photo. Maybe next time I'll get one of her smiling!

Best Buddies...

... and a little envy. Tobin and Caroline have been playing so well together lately. Caroline is at such a playful, fun, curious age and she is into everything! Tobin loves his little sister and loves playing with her. He also loves taking toys from her and doing everything she does that gets attention in any way. They are both such sweet kids. We are so blessed by them each and every day!

And LOOK who's STANDING UP!!!

Video below is where I caught her pulling up for the first time! You can see the jealousy from the attention that Tobin implies by trying to pull himself up on the block.

Bouncin Around

Click to play video below...

Normal Platelets

Today I went in for my weekly labs. My platelet count was 364,000! Which is right smack in the middle range of normal! PRAISE BE TO GOD!!! They have been quickly weaning me off the steroids- which by the way is good and bad. Good that I can get off them and away from the nasty side effects but bad because my body is responding by having terrible withdrawals! My body is so confused! Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone and let you know that my body is producing platelets, and hopefully when I am off the steroids, my body will keep producing and I will be in remission.

We are praying for Complete healing and total remission! We have faith God has a plan and we put our whole trust in him. Tony and I always say, "If you don't believe in God- hang out with us a while". You're welcome to follow us around any day of the week. We give him full credit for my quick recovery and know that this will all be over soon enough.

Please continue to pray for my body's healing, side effects from steroids, and that my platelets will continue to produce as they take me off the meds. I'll post another update in a week when I meet with my doctor and get my counts checked once again.

Thanks again for the prayers! We could not make it without them!

Nine Months

Our little princess is nine months old today! Where does the time go?

She is so curious... Such a giggle girl

Wants to be where the fun is!

Such a happy baby! Loves crawling and sliding around on our new floors!

Still working on growing those teeth...

Little miss. drama

full of character

always thinking, "What can I get into?"

LOVES her brother and Daddy!

Beautiful blue eyes!

Center of attention

a few fits here and there... and there

So proud of herself

Have I mentioned she's the center of attention?

Enjoy these two videos I took today of her crawling.