We hope all of you had a wonderful holiday this week.  I know we sure did!

Kai did very well visiting with everyone on Thanksgiving.  He was snuggling up to anyone who wanted to hold him, I barely saw him all day!  🙂

Mark had several days off work so he  was able to spend a lot of time with Kai and  I was able to work on things for the craft fair and Christmas gifts.  It was a nice little break for me and Kai LOVED spending so much time with his dad.  No one can make Kai laugh like dad does!

We also got to visit some of our baby & momma friends over the weekend.  It was great to see them all.  The kids are all getting so big! I really hope we can do it again sometime soon.

Kai has still been pretty nauseous and is not eating very well.  Thankfully we received the Vitamix blender this week as  a generous gift from our family!  We can not thank you enough Padgett Family!  xoxox  I am still figuring it all out, but we have successfully fed him a few blended meals this week, including Thanksgiving turkey dinner! That blender just liquefied the whole meal!   I will be posting more of our blending adventures next week.

It’s hard to believe but 6 months ago today was when Kai was diagnosed.

I spent a lot of time this week thinking back to last year and how hard it was for us.  Kai was only a few months old last Thanksgiving and I was pretty overwhelmed.  I was actually dreading bringing him anywhere for the holidays because all he did was scream and spit up everywhere.   I know it sounds like pretty normal newborn behavior, and at the time I was still thinking it was, but I also  remember I could not wait until December when he would be three months old and the ‘colic’ should settle down.  Even at the time I didn’t really believe in colic (I thought there had to be a reason for this behavior)  but it was the only hope I had.  Of course December came and went with little to no relief.  It is hard to think back on that time, now knowing Kai was in a lot of pain.

So much has happened since then and I am now able to think back on all of this and actually be very thankful for where we are now.  Of course I could have never imagined his ‘colic’ would turn out to be a brain tumor.  As crazy and scary as it was hearing that diagnosis, I will admit, it was also a bit of a relief to know there was a real reason for him to be so fussy and unhappy.   At least then we could try to do something to help him.

Obviously this has not been an easy road, but we really do have so much to be thankful for today.  Kai is doing so much better than he was 6 months ago and I am so thankful for that!  He is able to sleep restfully.  He is alert and interactive when he is awake.  He is growing and gaining weight.  We are so thankful for  our amazing team of doctors, nurses and therapists that help us every week.  I am thankful for the support and friendship of all  the other ‘cancer families’ we have met along the way.  We are forever thankful for all of our family, friends and complete strangers who have helped us, thought of us, been there for us, prayed for Kai, supported childhood cancer research, and helped spread awareness.

The support and strength you give us allows us to be hopeful and see the good in all of this. That is what we are most thankful for this Thanksgiving. xoxox