Good Evening Everyone,

We have had a very fun and busy week.  Monday we ran back down to camp meeting for the morning meetings, since the girls loved them so much, and then we ran back for the first day of swimming lessons.  We have had swimming lessons everyday this week.  Sharmi started out timid and scared on Monday, to the point that I had to get in with her.  But today she climbed into the pool by herself and held onto the sides.  She has also really learned how to kick.  With Sharmi under one arm and Chantel under the other we kicked and swam all over the pool retreiving toys that we threw. It was a blast!

Tonight we are trying again to get Sharmi to go to bed by herself.  She used all of the tricks to postpone it, including “I forgot to give mommy a hug and a kiss”, “I have a boogy”, and “I need sockies, I am going to get burrr cold.”  However, she got funnier and more clever when Dean was finishing up putting her socks on.  I have asked him to tell you the story since I wasn’t there…  (Dean writes)  In an effort to close all opportunities for excuses to get up again, I reviewed with her that she now had, water, given hugs, gotten rid of all boogies, and new sockies on to keep her warm.   I told her there were three good reasons why she should stay in bed, “#1 Mommy Loves you, #2 Daddy Loves you, and if you want to get your surprise from Mommy you can’t come out again.” She Giggled and laughed and said, “If I don’t get the surprise tomorrow can I have it the next day?”   I told her again, “if you come out again you will not get your surprise tomorrow.”  She giggled again, and I could see a big grin behind the binkie.  She then whispered “Two reasons I can get up,  Mommy loves me, Daddy loves me”.”   I wanted to laugh so bad!   I told her that I did love her very much but we need her to stay in bed and go to sleep.    Wow! What a little negotiator!…. Since that time she did negotiate one more potty break and she appears to have finally fallen asleep.

We are finally going to bed ourselves. Good night to you all.

Cheris

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you had a good week.  Ours was better than last, but Sharmi relapsed with her cold and so Chantel hasn’t been able to kick hers and my body eventually gave in and got sick also.  I fortunately haven’t had it bad but the constant headache and other symptoms have slowed me down even more. 

Good news though is that both of the girls slept all the way through the night last night.  Neither of them made a peep.  I think that is a first!  I of course kept waking up wondering if they were OK. 

Sharmi did OK with the steroids last week, but she really bloated up and her tummy looked like she swallowed a beach ball.  This is not uncommon, however she hasn’t been this bad for the past few months.  The one thing that I did differently was that I didn’t make her eat half of a grapefruit every day.  I am suspect that this was part of the problem.  She didn’t have the grapefruit to help cleans her body along the way.  I will definitely try them again next month and see if there is a difference. 

Last Sabbath was a special day for Chantel.  Much of our family came to participate in her baby dedication.  My Dad did a lovely dedication and Mom and Dad sang a song.  The song was really special because mom wrote the second verse just for Chantel.  It was lovely.  However, Sharmi was a little concerned.  Before the dedication mom leaned over to me and said, what are you planning on doing with Sharmi.  Do you want her to stay here or go up with you.  Sharmi overheard us and added.  “Mommy, I don’t want to give Chantel away.  I like her.  I want to keep her!”  We laughed and I assured her that we would keep her.  I thought I had been careful in how I explained it to Sharmi, but apparently she still picked up on “giving her”  to Jesus. 

Wow,  this has been an horendous week.  Sharmi had a doctors appointment on Monday and she did really well.  Her counts are in the 1800’s which is within target.  I haven’t traditionally talked to her about the procedures and the anesthesia because I haven’t been able to tell how she felt about it.  However, she asked me about when they were going to take the sticker off (last time we just did labs so they didn’t put the bandage over the port.)  It hurts her and she crys when they remove it.  I told her that she would have to have the bandage, but this time they would take it off while she was sleeping.  Several hours later when we went into the procedure room she told the nurse, “They are going to take off the sticker while I am sleeping so it won’t hurt.”  I also thought it was interesting that even before they gave her the anesthesia she laid her head back on my shoulder and said, “I’m getting sleepy.” We have never actually told her that they give her medicine to make her sleep.  Kids are amazing.

Monday night was the highlight of the week.  I laid down with Sharma when it was time for bed and we somehow started talking about heaven.  We talked about it for more that a half hour.  I couldn’t believe how many questions she had.  We talked about the fact that all of the animals will be nice, and that there will be no more sickness or medicine.  We had talked about those characteristics of heaven before, but then she kept asking questions. We talked about the mansions we would live in, our wings and how we would get to heaven.  She talked about doing puzzles with Jesus and she demonstrated how they would play ball together.  She was also worried about not coming back to this house, because she would miss bali and foxy, so we determined that they would get wings and fly to heaven also.  She was going to watch me swim with the dolphins.  We talked about Jesus coming in the sky and she looked out her window to the clouds.  She kept asking “what else will be in heaven mommy?”  I told her that she would have a grandpa and great grandpa’s and great grandma’s in heaven.  Then I thought it strange for a little girl, but she asked, will soilders come to try and keep up from getting to heaven.  We discussed this for quite some time.  She was sure that the soilders would come to our house to try to keep us from going to heaven.  I assured her that she would be safe.  She then said, “maybe my angel will come and pick me up and carry me to heaven to take me to Jesus.”  I was amazed at what thoughts went through her little head and I assured her that her angel would keep her safe.  The whole conversation just left me amazed.

The week took a down hill turn on Tuesday.  Sharmi had a low grade fever that morning and seemed especially tired and cranky.  That night she slept poorly and Dean was leaving at 5:00 for Portland that next morning.  In the middle of the night Sharmi woke up complaining of a sore throat.  The next day Sharmi had a full blown cold.  Wednesday and Thursday nights were probably the worst nights the girls have collectively had since Chantel was born.  I literally went from one child to the other all evening and all night long.  Sharmi was high on chemo and steroids with a cold on top. (The only thing worse than being sick is being so wired on steroids that you can’t sleep.)  Chantel has been battling tummy aches, her second tooth, and her sisters cold.  I think I have averaged about three hours of sleep that last two nights. 

I am amazed that I am still functioning at all.  Right now the only way I am getting a chance to write this is that I have the TV baby sitting Sharmi and I put Chantel in her swing so that she would talk a long nap.  Talk about lazy parenting, but I don’t have any strength to do it differently.

This weekend will continue to be busy.  We are going to have a baby dedication for Chantel and all of my family is coming.  I hope her cold is better so that she can enjoy the attention.  She is such a special little girl I hope she will be able to tell that the day is about her and that she is cherished by us.  She is so different from her sister at this age.  She is such a lover.  She wraps her arms around me and gives me the biggest hugs she can give.  Today I took a shower with her and she kept hugging then kissing me on the mouth and then hugging and kissing and hugging and kissing.  She is such a joy!

Well I need to go make food for tomorrow.  I hope you all have a happy Sabbath.

God Bless,

Cheris

Hi.  I’m sorry it has been awhile since I have posted.  I have escaped to my parents again to try and get a rest, but so far I haven’t rested much. 

This past weekend was a wonderful time.  My brother came up to my parents and brought Julie and their new baby boy Roegan.  He is such a quiet little thing compared to my strong willed children.  Sharmi really loved him.  She would hug him and touch him whenever she got the chance.  Chantel was also intrigued, but being 9 months old she just looked and looked. My aunts and uncles were also here.  It was a houseful of babies and baby lovers. 

Sharmi has been having her ups and downs in regards to her mood.  It is my constant prayer that these drugs don’t shape her character to be grumpy and impatient.  But if any of you have ever been on steroids and/or chemo you know that this is something you just can’t control especially when you are so little. 

She had an appointment last Monday to check her labs to determine if we needed to increase her chemo, but her counts had come back down with an ANC of 1400.  I was glad to hear this on two counts.  One, I was of course grateful that we didn’t have to increase her chemo.  Two, I was pleased and comforted that my intuition was right.  When we were at the doctors two weeks earlier and she had high counts I told the doctor that I thought they were high because she wasn’t feeling well.  The doctor said, ”5000 is considered normal for a healthy kid, so it doesn’t indicate that she is fighting an infection.”  I told her I knew it was normal for healthy children, but I felt based on Sharmi’s attitude and her eyes that she was fighting something.  About ten days later I saw her skin color yellow out and her eye lids turn whitish again and I was pretty sure that her blood counts were back down.  Sure enough I was right.  With so much uncertainty is it very comforting as a mom to have assurance that your intuition is correct.  Many times that is all we have to go on. 

Who is the boss?  I hope this is normal for all families with three year olds, but this is a hot topic in our household.  For months I heard my two year old say, “I am the boss.”  However, shortly after her third birthday I saw a glimmer of hope.  We have a big walk in shower and many times it is easier to take a shower with the girls then to keep them happy with their own activities.  So, I  put Chantel in her little tub on the floor and Sharmi alternates between giving her toys and taking them away. :(  Well one morning I had taken Chantel out of the shower and I was getting her ready.  Sharmi, since she is older and can stay in the shower by her self was left in there to stay warm.  She hates being last all of the time and she was determined this morning that I should leave sissy in the shower and get her out first.  I was tired of trying to explain the reasoning to her so I said, ”Honey, mommy is the boss and I told you and I am going to take care of sissy first and then I will get you out.”  Out of the shower comes a challenging little voice clarifying, “That is not what the horsey said!”  (She talks to the rocking horse in her sisters room so I knew who her source of information was from.)  I said, “Oh really, what did the horsey say.”  She confidently answered, “I was talking to the horsey and he said ‘I am the boss’.”  I was a little confused so I asked did the horsey say he was the boss, or did the horsey say you were the boss.  She repeated,  ”I was talking to the horsey the other day and he said ‘I am the boss’.”  I concluded that the horsey meant that she was the boss, and trying to keep a straight face I said, “Honey, the horsey is mistaken!”  She stopped and looked at me with a surprised look and said, ”Oh, I need to go tell him!”  She then quickly opened the shower door, ran down the hall dripping wet to sisters room. Through the monitor I heard her correct the horse,  “You were missacken, Mommy said she is the boss.  I am not the boss.  Mommy is the boss….”  Then as quick and she left, she ran back.  As she passed me on her way to the warm shower, she said, “I told the horsey that you are the boss.”  At this point I was rolling in laughter, and she smirked with a sheepish grin knowing full well how funny she was.  I was hopeful that she would remember this great realization but she hasn’t.   Many times since she has again believed that SHE is the BOSS. 

Cheris