Thanksgiving 2011

Lots to be thankful for, over here. We've got gobs of friends who never seem to mind helping us out with the this-and-that's that come up so often. We've got family galore who are always helping us with kids and errands and borrowing us stuff and feeding us. In particular, Annie's Mom, Sandy. She watches our kids at least once a week. And often, when we come back from wherever, the pile of dishes has disappeared from the sink and the clean laundry has been folded. The kids love her and she is always so nonchalant about saving the world. (All in a day's work, citizen.) And I know she does the same for her other children all the time.

We love our neighborhood, and the good people who we get to be around at church and at school and at Dick's (those are our major hang-outs).

Annie and I love each other, we have fun together and we work well together. Our kids are beautiful and fun and good.

We met with the oncologist on Monday to get the results of Bud's MRI. The news is all good. She said that the tumor we've been watching for the last year-and-a-half hasn't changed and that there were no new tumors. That is exactly what we (and probably you) have been praying for. She told us that she wanted to move Jake from having MRIs every three months to having them every six months. That is a good thing for a lot of reasons; it indicates to us that they're comfortable that the tumor on the optic nerve isn't growing. It will spare us the emotional ramp-up that we do to 'MRI day'. It will save Jake and Annie and I (frankly) of the hassle of MRI day. And it'll save us some coin.

Then, on Tuesday, we met with Dr. Viskochil, the geneticist. He is very warm and nice. He actually reminds me of the Dalai Lama, if the Dalai Lama were a world-class geneticist. (Maybe he is a reincarnated Dalai Lama? Is that how that works?) Anyways. We hadn't told anyone this yet, but about a month ago we spotted some little bumps on Jake's tummy. There are about a dozen of them and they're about the size of the little sprinkles you sometimes get on a cupcake. Not the long sprinkles- if that's what your thinking- but the little spheres. And while you're thinking of it, make it a chocolate cupcake, not a white one. Anyways, Jake's got these little bumps on his tummy and we were worried that they might be first of the neurofibroma bumps. But, the oncologist, her assistant, and Dr. V all said that they're not. They each figured they are some viral thing that kids (having the sanitation habits of wolves) sometimes get. They're not contagious, they're not worth treating. They don't hurt, or itch and they'll just go away sometime. It was a relief to hear that. Not that bumps on the tummy are the end of the world, but this NF thing kind of has phases and we were thinking that we were years away from that phase.

Dr. V also felt all over Jake for bumps beginning below the skin. He told us all about how they first appear, and he said that he didn't feel ANY on Jake. So that was also a very good thing.

This week Alli took a dive and whacked her chin on the wood floor. She's got a nice bruise going there, but its going to be fine. It looks pretty tuff though. None of the kids on the playground are likely to try to start anything with her for the next little while.  She's smart and beautiful and fun.

Jake is always busy making inventions for his “man” out of legos, tupperware, rope and other spare toys. He has had the same little man, about the size of a lego man, which is from a GeoTrax set, for the last 8-9 months. He goes everywhere and it is nothing short of a miracle that he hasn't been permanently lost yet. That day may have come yesterday. While playing in a huge pile of leaves, Jake threw some leaves up into the air and his man went with. I searched and searched as I have through sand, bushes, dirt and rivers to find the same man, but I could not find him. Hopefully he will resurface. Luckliy he has more lego men that will fill the gap.  UPDATE 3/21/12:  Jake's man was found- thanks to the efforts of our neighbor, Velle Anderson.  Velle turned that leaf pile three times, but he found Jake's man.  Then...Jake lost the man again.  At Grandpa Holman's.  For three weeks.  Then he found him again, just last night.  So.

Linny made poop in the potty yesterday. I could go on and on about how that is a very good thing, but all that poop talk would make the internet a less civilized place. Linny is busy and funny and cute.  She is learning new words all the time and often when Annie or I finishes saying something there is the sound of a squeaky little echo rattling off our last few words. last few words.

Brooke has started caterpillaring her way around the front room. She'll be crawling before Christmas. Her red hair is getting longer, but not so long that it's not wispy and fun. She's cute.



Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.