All About Connor...

Finally the day had come for our baby Connor's Bone Marrow Biopsy. I have to say I have dreaded this day for a long time now. The whole idea of what was to happen to him scared me but even more I think I was terrified of what they might find. I don't think Greg or I slept at all the night before. We arrived at the hospital in plenty of time to sit and wait and wait because the anesthesiologist was running late. Sitting around in an oncologist office is so very depressing. Connor enjoyed playing in the really nice playroom but watching the kids that come through for their chemo or radiation was the saddest and most terrifying thing I have ever been through. At the same time it made me feel blessed. We know we can get through anything because we have each other and our family and friends. Connor played with a really nice little 4 year old who was there for his chemo treatment. As he went back for his treatment his mother who had asked what Connor's diagnosis was told us Good luck, we are praying for you! Wow, her sweet little boy who had no hair left and was rather skinny but had the cutest smile was going into a treatment that is so hard on him and she was wishing us well.
Finally, it was Connor's turn for surgery. The doctor and the anesthesiologist and the nurse came out to walk us back. We got to take him to the operating room and kiss him good-bye and then the nurse took him so they could hook his IV up. All the way down the hall I could hear my baby calling for mommy. Talk about breaking my heart. So, of course, all the way down the hall mommy cried and Daddy kept telling me it would be ok.
Not too long after the doctor was back out in the waiting room telling me to come with him and that it went really well. As I entered the room I could hear my Connor snoring! Really loud snoring! Boy, was he getting a good nap. I sat down by him and held his hand until he started to wake up. Then the nurse started trying to dress him because he was getting cold and he got really upset. He kept trying to sit up and started crying. He was so confused and sleepy. I am so relieved that the biopsy is over and the good news is the doctor called us a few hours later and said he had looked at a stain of marrow under the scope for about 30 minutes and he thought the marrow looked great! He was sure he saw no abnormalities or luekemia! That was a big prayer answered. He also said his white cell count numbers were higher than they have ever been! Another answered prayer! Next week we will recheck his blood and then he felt sure we could start the special shots that will help him produce more white blood cells to protect him. We still have to wait for the official report from UTSW but the doctor felt really good about what he saw.
I know in my heart that all the many, many prayers that went up on Connor's behalf had everything to do with the positive results we have gotten so far.
Are we out of the woods yet? NO, but we sure feel like we are headed down the right path now.

A few days ago we couldn't find Connor anywhere. Greg found him in our bed, with my reading glasses on, pretending to read my book! Is he a teachers kid or what!!!

Too Scary for Words

When I start this blog I have to start by saying what a trooper my little boy is! I know I tend to overstate how good he is but really I'm not. He amazes us with his attitude and his calmness. This awful disease my sweet Connor has is so scary to me because of how quickly it comes on and how fast he is completely taken over by whatever it manifests itself into that particular time. This last time was two days after Christmas and only a few days to our all important Bone Marrow Biopsy for him. I began to notice Friday afternoon some of the "signs" we see as he is getting another illness. He had a sore on his cheek and was not eating well that day and sleeping too much. That was Friday afternoon! Saturday morning he woke up and it was like he couldn't catch his breath and he was coughing and running a fever. I told Greg the night before I thought we might be headed to the doctor the next morning but we were running to the doctor. Our regular doctor told us it appeared to be Pneumonia but they thought we should go straight to the ER and get him admitted! She also said,"Don't go by home and pack anything, go straight there." A little frightening. After we got there the admitting nurse happened to be a good friend of ours from Jack's soccer and football team and that made me feel more at ease. She took such good care of us. After only a few minutes in the ER they told us we were definitely staying and they would work on admitting us. They hooked all the IV's and other monitors up and we sat and sat and sat. For a while they said his chest X-Ray looks OK, and so we think it could be asthma. We don't know where that would have come from. Then they would come back and say it was probably some type of viral lung thing and then it was a bacterial lung thing. We were very confused and scared because he appeared to be getting worse. Finally, late that evening after being there since 10 that morning we got to a room. Don't get too comfortable! The nurse couldn't figure out why we were in the isolation ward with lots of RSV kids if Connor had neutropenia. So, an hour later we got moved to a new room about 1/3 the size of the first room. These first two pictures are of Connor the first night. He couldn't sleep and layed out on his back against one of us all night. He cried, but not a loud cry, a scared little whine cry all night. It broke my heart. There was no bed so Greg and I traded off sleeping on the floor. Everyone keeps asking us why we both stayed and one didn't go home and rest. Honestly, because we were scared and he was really looking bad that first night. Neither of us wanted to leave him.

Around 5 a nurse came in and I told her I really thought his breathing was worse and he was grasping for air. She listened and said she would get his other nurse to check him. About an hour later he came in listened for maybe two seconds and said he thought he sounded OK. It happened to be the 20 minutes or so he had fallen asleep on Greg and Greg was also out. So, I sat for a few more minutes and got really upset. I woke Greg up and told him what happened and that I really thought we needed someone to listen to him. I guess about then was a shift change because the new two nurses came in and as soon as they hit the inside of the door they were asking if he had sounded like that for long! I was so relieved to have someone doing something other than just taking his vitals. They immediately got the doctor who in turn called the respiratory therapist and that room got hopping. Come to find out there had been a mix up between the ER and our new room and the breathing treatments he was receiving in the ER were not continued in our room all night long! It honestly could have been a really horrible mistake. So, we started with a 4 hour breathing treatment and then every 4 hours another one. Just after the first long one we could tell a difference. They got him started on tons of antibiotics and steroids to help his lungs recover.

This is Connor the second day. Already feeling better but couldn't go home because his breathing still wasn't under control. "Pops" as he calls them were the only thing we could get him to eat, but boy would he eat a ton of them. So, we kept giving them to him. Red, purple, orange any color he wanted.You can see almost as much down the front of his gowns as in his mouth.

We snuck Jack and Bailey into see him on the second day, they were really worried about him.

Finally, New Years Eve we got to take him home that afternoon. The other two kids were at Gretchen's so after we got Connor settled and into bed for the night, Greg and I went to sleep around 9! Happy New Year!!!

Where are we in the process of Connor's illness...

We had to put off the Bone Marrow Biopsy until the steroids are out of his system, because it would skew all the tests and give false amounts of white blood cells. We were going to call last week and reschedule it but then mommy got to go to the hospital too! It seems that while I was nursing my baby I caught something in the hospital and I am now home after 4 days in the hospital recovering from a bacterial infection in my lungs too.

Our prayer now is to keep Connor well long enough to do the biopsy and get him started on the right treatment to kick this disease!

Our Last Stop for Christmas 2007

Our last Christmas event was Christmas with Memaw and G-Dad in Sulphur Springs. We got there in the early afternoon and not too long after, Ok only a few minutes after, the kids started asking to open presents! We were so blessed this year we all got so many of the things we asked for and also so many surprises too. Greg and the kids stayed the night and I headed back with Sean that night because my sister and I planned out a fun day of after Christmas shopping! Yes, I hate crowds but I absolutely love shopping the day after Christmas and so does my sister. We make a pretty good team. We were actually at Target by 7 the next morning in the rain! Dedication. I really did pick up some great things for next year and then just had to buy a new tub to put all the new things in.

We were truly a lucky, blessed family this season! We enjoyed spending time together and continuing some fun family traditions. We also enjoyed starting a few new ones!

Cue the ominous music now...

Here is where it all goes down fast...

Our Granny

Christmas morning after playing with all our goodies for a while we headed out to Mimi's and Papa's for a quick visit with our Granny. We had a few surprises for her and she had her surprises for us. Connor didn't stay still very long, but the other two enjoyed seeing her and helping her open her presents from us.

After our visit, which was way too short, we headed out to celebrate Christmas in Sulphur Springs next!

And Finally Christmas Morning...

I know it has been weeks since Christmas, but I do have a really good excuse for not blogging sooner! More to come on that later.
Christmas morning around here is so fun. The kids actually slept until after 7 and then came into our room to get us up. Greg always goes to check and see if Santa really came and then we let the mad rush into the playroom to see what he brought them. Jack, my really big boy, got all his really cool new electronic toys this year! He loves his Nintendo DS and all the fun games Santa brought to go with it. Boy, they hit a certain age and all they want are really expensive electronics! He also got a new fun game for the family to play and some legos and a few other boy things!

Bailey as you can see is always thrilled with everything she gets. She laughs and yells and ooh's and ahh's over everything! She has such a great way of making you feel like no matter what it was she loved it! She got a lot of High School Musical "stuff", dolls and notepads. She got some more Princess dolls and makeup. Her big thing was her new TV with a DVD player built in. She loves it! Now I love it because if there are any fights she can go to her room and mellow out all by herself and watch a movie!

Connor, sweer Connor, really just enjoyed being with everyone as they looked at their stuff. He did finally get excited about all his new things. He got a lot of Little People things. An addition to his barn, a few more animals, some trainsand dinosaurs of course, his big thing was his ATV riding toy.When he figured how to hold the handle down and go, he was riding around the house all day long.

Bailey so proud of her new TV.

This is what my big boy did all morning! Found a quiet place and played his game and played his game and played his game! I guess mommy will need to set some limits!

This is my favorite picture all Christmas morning! Connor needed a bath and I turned my back and he was off to the races!

Christmas Eve

Here are the highlights of our Christmas Eve at Mimi's and Papa's.
All five of the kids acting silly!

Connor enjoyed every minute of it!

Bailey got so many fun things.

Jack loves his new Razor!

A rare family photo.

Pajamas, Hot Chocolate and Christmas Lights

Sunday night after a busy day with our Brantley Family Christmas at mom and dad's house we took our kids home and changed them into their pajamas, loaded up in the van, went to Starbuck's for hot chocolate and drove around to look at Christmas lights. I had seen this fun tradition on a friends blog last year and decided then it was the one thing I really wanted to add this year. We always look at lights, but in PJ's with hot chocolate in hand was really fun. All three kids were oohing, and ahhing at every house we passed. Connor kept yelling at Ro Ro everytime we saw a reindeer and yelling EAT!!! at all the Santa's we saw. I guess I should explain the EAT. Connor's favorite show is Rudolph and he loves his Ro Ro. In the movie Mrs. Claus is always telling Santa to EAT, nobody wants a skinny Santa! So, Connor thinks his name is EAT!

The Nutcracker Ballet

Bailey had expressed an interest in seeing the Nutcracker Ballet and so mommy got two tickets and after school was out last Friday we headed to the Eismann Center to see it. She enjoyed dressing up and going to a "fancy" place with mommy. Bailey sat on the edge of her seat the entire time and clapped very loudly after each section. During intermission we shared a drink and a snack and took a few pictures with the nutcrackers. After the performance we headed out the doors and to our surprise there stood the dancers and Bailey's favorite, Clara. She hugged Bailey and talked to her for a few minutes! She loved it.

Hang On, Here We Go...

This month is packed full of fun things! Two family birthdays, anniversary, Christmas, New Years Eve, tons of parties and book club!
My birthday was so fun! My kids let me sleep in and had breakfast fixed when I got up. Then gave me some wonderful gifts. I love my new stand up jewlery box, my new pajamas, and my Starbucks gift card. I have such thoughtful kids.

Then my family took me to dinner at my favorite restaurant on Thursday.

Next, was our weekend in Ft. Worth. (so fun, love you Greg)

This last Monday night I headed to Steph's house with my friend Anne for Book Club. We had a fun, festive night. With great talk about our book.

Tuesday night Greg took me out to dinner for our actual anniversary.

Thursday was our last day of Sunshine School for Connor. I can't believe he made through December and has not been sick. We feel so blessed that he has been able to stay healthy this month. Now we just have to keep him healthy until January 2nd for the biopsy.

The picture is of Connor at his school party. I was in charge of the craft and we made cute reindeer plates with their hands. They turned out so cute. Thanks Krista, for the wonderful idea.

Doesn't he look so old all of the sudden? He is not my little baby anymore, well, actually he will always be my little baby!

This month is such a whirlwind and hang on we still have more to come...

A Weekend Away!

Greg planned a weekend in Ft. Worth for our anniversary! Of course, it was a really wet and cold weekend, and we had to have our brakes fixed the day we were to leavc. So, after waiting for our car and finally deciding to take Larry and Joy's van we sat in horrible traffic for almost 2 hours! Once we got there we checked into our wonderful hotel suite and changed to go out to Sundance Square and walk until we found a place to eat. Well, since I like the cold so... much we didn't walk far and I said just pick a warm place to eat. While we were waiting at a red light to walk to the restaurant, we looked up and we were caught up in the middle of a Santa's Helper Toy Drive. Troy Dungan from Channel 8 was standing next to me and looked over and said Hey, how are you doing? At that moment I realized where we were standing and that cars were pulling up and everyone around us was reaching into the cars and pulling out toys! So, we moved down the street a bit and crossed. After a good dinner at Risky's Bar B Que we headed back out and now it was raining. Of course, I forgot the umbrella so we walked very fast one block south and one block east and stopped at the biggest Barnes and Noble I have ever seen. After some nice hot chocolate we braved the cold rain again and headed back to the hotel room. The room was very large and truly romantic and we both enjoyed each other's company with no little voices calling for us or little feet jumping into bed with us.
The next morning we walked down to the Corner Bakery for a quick muffin and hot chocolate and then back to do some quick Christmas shopping and then headed to The Stockyards. After a yummy lunch at Joe T. Garcias we walked the Stockyards just long enough to find gifts for the kids and then we got into our warm car!
We topped it off by stopping by Grapevine Mills to do a little shopping for me! Greg spoiled me this weekend and I loved every minute of it!
Somedays the last eight years have flown by and somedays not, but I have loved being Greg's wife every single moment!

My Three LIttle Elves

I saw this on a friends blog and thought it was so cute.
Take a look...


http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1265309524

A Few Of Our Favorite Things...

With Christmas upon us I usually scrapbook my kids likes and dislikes at this time in their lives. I thought I would blog them this year.
Here goes...

Jackson
likes his Gamecube, basketball, his friends, buying his lunch, the Mavericks, his Ipod, soccer, Christmas movies, reading, did I say basketball!
dislikes food that is good for him, not getting to play his Gamecube, anyone being disappointed in him, shirts (loves to go without his shirt), chores.

Bailey
likes her brothers, school, writing, drawing, singing (loudly), anything Hannah Montana, anything Christmas, soccer.
dislikes her brothers, chicken, milk, being told no, cleaning her room.

Connor
likes Jack and Bailey, Rudolph (Ro Ro), his dog and cats, playing outside, coloring, fruit loops, juice (juuu), football, soccer, mommy and daddy.
dislikes veggies!, being told no, being left behind, sitting in his feeding chair, sitting still.

Santa's Village

Bailey's class went to Richardson's Santa's Village today and I had agreed to go too. That was before I got bronchitis this week! I felt like a BIG Truck ran over me Wednesday, but got some antibiotics and lots of sleep (8 pm-7am) and was feeling somewhat better Friday morning. Our school is only about 5-6 blocks from Santa's Village so we walked. It was a nice, warm day and the kids had a blast. We got to see everything and then we walked back to school. Needless to say, this mommy was really tired by the time she got home.

Family Fun Night

We have a tradition in our family of taking one night a week and having a "Family Fun Night". It can be as simple as playing a game of Scene It? Disney Edition (the kids favorite game right now). We might just curl up on the couch and read to each other as Connor tries to knock the books out of our hands. Sometimes we just order pizza and pop popcorn and watch a fun movie together. Lately we have been watching all the fun Christmas movies on TV. We love Rudolph and Frosty and The Grinch! Well, last Saturday was our annual visit to North Park to see Santa. This is the "real" Santa to my kids. We have gone to see him since Jack was 6 months old. Greg and I decided to make it a special night for the kids. First we went and got our number to see Santa. (They were on around 200 and we were number 260 something) So we then headed to Maggianos for dinner. The kids were so impressed with the "fancy" dinner. They were so well behaved. They used all the correct manners and Connor didn't even throw one piece of food! All my friends know that Maggianos is my very favorite special place to eat and it was really fun to share it with my kids.

After walking the mall, shopping, and seeing a crazy singing group who scared me a little bit, we headed to wait in line to see Santa. Connor entertained himself on Greg's head! The other two just watched everyone else get pictures taken. After about 4 hours of being at North Park it was finally our turn. Again, well worth the wait. I am not a patient person and Greg is definitely not patient, but we always agree that these are such good pictures that we don't mind to wait.

Again this year all three were perfect. Connor wasn't the least bit hesitant and the other two couldn't wait to tell Santa exactly what they want. I just love the traditions of Christmas and hope to pass them on to my 3 special kids. Bailey is already a lot like mommy. She stayed on Daddy to get the lights up early this year. I never had to say a word she got him to get them up the first weekend of December! And he added some to a front window along with outlining the whole house. So, I guess you could say the French House is ready for the Holidays.

Finally...

Well, it finally happened...
Bailey lost her first tooth! She was so brave and so excited as Mommy yanked it out. She had been telling us for more than 6 months that she had a loose tooth so I just laughed at her when she got out of bed and said it was loose. For some reason though, I decided to check it and sure enough, it was really loose. She was extra excited to see the gold dollar under her pillow the next morning. Now, she has three more that are loose! I can't wait to see Bailey without all her front teeth.

Turkey Trot

The last day of school before Thanksgiving is the Turkey Trot at the kids school. They were also having an Olympic Gold Medalist come to talk and to hand out the ribbons. Connor, Mimi and I went up for the talk that Gold Medalist, Bob Beamon gave that morning. An hour later Connor, Daddy and I went back to watch Jack run his mile. He did really well. He started out really fast. You know what comes next, he started out too fast and lost his energy by the back stretch. He still came in 12th out of all 2nd grade. This mommy was cheering really loudly. Someday that might embarrass him, but this day he was thrilled! After Connor, mommy and daddy caught a quick lunch, we headed back up to watch Bailey run her mile. I wasn't so sure what to expect out of Bailey. She has not always enjoyed physical things. She gets really tired after two quarters of a soccer game, so I really expected her to walk! She started out how I wanted Jack to start out. She had the most elegant, smooth run, at an awesome pace. Surprisingly, at the back stretch, Bailey hadn't walked yet. Her pace was still smooth and she didn't really look tired. On the last turn she thought about stopping and her sweet teacher ran up beside her and encouraged her and she didn't stop. She came in 15th out of all Kindergarten! Honestly I would never have expected Bailey to do as well as her rather athletic brother, but she took me completely by surprise. Way to go Bailey!

Disneyland Highlights!

Here are just some of the many highlights of our fun day at Disneyland!
The grounds were beautiful and very clean!

We met many, many fun characters. Buzz was one of Jacks' favorites when he was younger.

Both Jack and Bailey were chosen for Jedi Training Camp! It was so fun to watch them fight Darth Vader and Darth Mal.

The highlight for Bailey was getting to meet all the Princesses.

This was how Bailey rode most of the rides! Eyes closed. This was the Indiana Jones ride. Jack and Daddy and I loved it. Bailey had another opinion.

Jack and I rode most of the rides together because Bailey wanted her Daddy to ride with her. I think Space Mountain was our favorite, Jack and I couldn't stop laughing the whole ride. Bailey said The Matterhorn was her favorite ride. I really enjoyed seeing my sweet kids enjoy everything about Disneyland!

This is for Garrison!

Here are the kids in front of the Queen Mary. Lots of legends surrounding this ship. Some say it is haunted. Garrison really wanted a picture of it with Jack and Bailey in it. It was really hard to get them in the picture. It is a BIG ship. There is also a Russian Submarine docked by the Queen Mary. Both were just a few blocks from our Corporate Apartment. The pier and boardwalk were really fun!

Hollywood

This was the highlight of my day in Hollywood!

We also saw Uma Thurman and one of her kids.(She has red hair now)

We saw someone from the show Prison Break. ( I didn't know them but Greg recognized them)

We saw Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) and Cedric the Entertainer.

You never knew who would pull up beside you at a stop light!

You Know You Are In Hollywood If...

You know you are in Hollywood if the mall "fast food" is Kirbys Steaks and sushi! If the boutiques have adorable $60 t-shirts. Or if you see Brittney Spears buying fancy coffee at the local Starbucks! Our time in Hollywood and Beverly Hills was the most fun for me, not so much for the kids.
We drove into the Hills and got really close to the Hollywood sign. The homes built into the mountain and the views are spectacular.

I wanted to take the kids to see the footprints and hand prints at Graumans Chinese Theatre. Well, we couldn't get to the prints because they were having a movie premiere. We actually stood behind the barricade across from the red carpet. The premiere was "Fred Claus" I love Vince Vaughn and actually got to see him up close. This picture below is of Paul Giamati, who plays Santa in the movie.

This is Oliver from Hannah Montana, the kids were thrilled and jumping up and down hoping to see more Disney stars.

During premieres, I guess, tons of impersonators come out. We got our pictures taken with everyone from Elmo to Jack Sparrow!

After the premiere was over we walked Hollywood Blvd. and then drove Sunset Strip and Rodeo drive. After a rough start this day ended up being a great day for all of us.