every captive thought

The other day James wanted to wear his apron.  Not because we were cooking or anything, he just thought it would be a good idea.  And what James does, Jude wants to do.  The bad news is that we only have one kid apron so I had to rig up one of my aprons for poor Jude.  That kid always gets the jip. He didn't care though. He was proud. Later James came flying at me with his apron turned around like a cape and shouted, "You are no match for the amazing Spiderman!!!!!!" That night I rolled over in bed and Brad pulled a rogue Spiderman sticker off my elbow and casually said, "you are no match for the amazing Spiderman...". True that. Last night before church I wanted a picture with all my kids. Easier said than done. After about a dozen tries we gave up and I have reconciled myself with the fact I might not ever have a picture with all of them looking at the camera and smiling at the same time.  I think you can tell from James' expression that a threat ...

Dr. Watt, Jude's oncologist, called me yesterday and as soon as her number showed up on my phone I froze.  A million thoughts ran through my head in the second it took me to answer...this is the moment we've been waiting for for 18 months, good news or bad news...here we go... NO CANCER CELLS IN HIS BONE MARROW!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Lord!!!  Of course we are beyond excited, grateful, joyful, and ever-praising the Lord for this good news.  So here is what it all means...Jude is technically "in remission" because there is a chance (a slight one) that the cancer could recur.  (We do not think that will happen!)  We will continue to monitor his blood and urine labs in Dallas until he is 18-21.  Dr. Watt reminded me that Jude is at risk for other complications due to his surgery, particularly if he were to have another abdominal surgery.  All of that is rather insignificant considering he fought cancer and WON!  My precious friend Penny told ...

We got home tonight from Dallas and I am happy to have all of our little family under one roof and in our own beds tonight. Let me get to the most important news first before recapping the last few days.  An MIBG scan is designed to detect neuroblastoma.  Jude gets a radioactive tracer injected by an IV the day before the scan.  The next day he is sedated and scanned for 2+ hours.  The radioisotope attaches to tumor cells and lights them up on the scan.  Jude's scan was clear...meaning no neuroblastoma cells were detected!  Thank you Lord!  While he was sedated, they did a bone marrow biopsy.  We are still waiting for the pathology from that as well as for the results from his labs.  We are of course hopeful that these are all clear and if so, we can go to only going to his oncologist every six months and maybe even not have to do anymore scans and only follow-up labs and appointments in Dallas.  THANK YOU for your prayers for Jude....

Jude has decided that his thing is going to be Elmo.  One day while watching Sesame Street he started singing along and dancing to Elmo's World.  This makes me happy because James was never into Elmo so there will be no competition for the Elmo toys.  But I found out that we totally missed the Elmo craze.  I remember a few years ago that all you could see anywhere you looked was Elmo.  I also remember how annoyed I was by this and how ridiculous I thought it all was because I did not have children and did not yet know the lengths I would go to to please my little loves...red monsters and all.  SO...Mom and I went to every. single. store. in the town to find Elmo stuff only to find it in short supply.  I would have planned ahead so I could order things if I had known what a rarity it is these days.  O-well.  We scraped together what little Elmo stuff we could find.  I will be having a big party for both James and Jude later but since toda...