Say Cheese!

Okay, it's official. Attempting to photograph 6 people, 4 of them small people, is incredibly exhausting! I appreciate my sister in law's time and energy today. We went at it for about 1 1/2 hours and did get some great shots! Of course I'm not going to spoil our Christmas card and share them with you, but I will share some of the extras:) The family picture proved to be difficult today, after all it is next to impossible for Matt and I to wrangle two kids each at once. We will try again on that another time.

Here are some sights from our house today!









Thanks Kristen for reminding me through these pictures how precious my babies are!

Woo Hoo for the Weekend

Ahhh, Friday is here again! I am ready for family pictures tomorrow. My sister in law Kristen has started a photography business and she will be using her talents on our crazy family. I think we will be her toughest clients so far, but I can't wait to see the results. You can check out her work here.

A few of you asked about Allie's doctor's appointment and any recommendations from the pediatrician about car sickness. We actually saw a different doctor yesterday, but did briefly talk with our doctor in the waiting room. Unfortunately neither doctor had any solution for the problem. One recommendation to try was switching her position in the car. I'm going to try putting her in the middle seat in the back row, middle position is supposed to be better, but back row is worse. Hmmm! There are medications for older children but they knock you out for 3-4 hours so that is not an option right now.

I forgot to mention that the doctor could no longer detect her heart murmur! This is an answer to prayer for sure! We do still have to follow up with the cardiologist in January, but that should be the end of it.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend? Anyone else digging out the Christmas stuff? I should probably put the scarecrow away first...

My Highway Adventure

Today was a definite day that reaffirmed our membership in the We are THAT Family Tree Society! As Brady, Allie, and I drove in the pouring rain to their doctor's appointment, I knew that Allie was going to throw up as we got onto the highway. And she did...everywhere...all over...everything.

So I pulled over, got out of the car, stood in the rain, and started cleaning her up. Once I realized she needed to be changed from head to toe, I decided to go back around to the other side of the van and get in so I could keep us all warm and dry. I said a quick prayer that God would protect us as we were pulled over with semis whizzing by at 70 miles an hour. I changed Allie, plunked her into another car seat, and off we went. While I was unloading the kids and getting soaked, I realized that I didn't have an extra coat for Allie. So she went without a coat and we probably looked pretty raggedy by the time we arrived.

After that fiasco, the doctor's appointment went pretty well. Allie continues to be in the 80-85th percentile for height and weight. She is meeting all of her milestones and exceeding many of them! She got two shots without even blinking a eye, no crying at all. We checked Brady's weight and according to the scale (which I'm convinced is the most inaccurate scale around) he is up almost 3 pounds. Although I don't think he has gained that much, I was satisfied that the doctor won't be quite as concerned for a while. Then the poor guy had to get a shot. I didn't tell him about this ahead of time and felt awful when he realized it was his turn. He made quite a fuss, but recovered quickly! My poor boy...he really has quite a lot of disdain for the medical community!

The weekend is here again! I was able to find outfits for the boys so we are all set for family pictures Saturday. This is an area for prayer:) Will the Williams Family be able to sit still, all 6 of them, long enough to get a decent family picture? Divine intervention needed!

Out on the Town Again

My mom and I took the kids on another adventure today. We headed to the Museum and were there until 3pm! Matt and I got a family membership the last time we were there. We are quickly learning with a family of 6 that often a yearly membership pays for itself in two visits! The Strong Museum is such an amazing place that we are so fortunate to be so close to!

Mom and I did really well handling all 4 kids just the two of us. Allie was in her stroller and the big kids walked, holding hands of course! They stuck together all day and outside of a few "Brady moments" the day was a big success! The best part of the day was that Allie didn't get sick at all! We were in the car at just the right times both in the morning and the afternoon so that she slept the whole time. I was so happy that she didn't' have to feel sick at all (Okay, I was also happy that I didn't have to clean up barf:)

Tomorrow is Allie's 1 year check up and Brady's weight check and immunization. I'm praying that Brady is cooperative and does okay with the shots. He just had a shot last week, so I know he isn't going to want to go back to the doctor. And for Allie I'm praying for no signs of her heart murmur and a solution for her motion sickness!

Mommy and Eli Day!

Today Eli and I went shopping...and shopping...and shopping some more! I had him out from 10am until after 3pm! That's a long time for a 2 1/2 year old who doesn't get out much:) He was a perfect, delightful, polite, adorable, hilarious, and lovable angel boy the whole time! I dragged him to 6 stores and to all of the big stores in the mall and he never once complained! We even had lunch a Friendly's complete with an ice cream sundae. I know I said this last week, but I LOVE enjoying my kids one at a time. No one is pulling on my pant legs and pulling my attention away. It's the best...

I let Eli bring his good pal Snuffy on our adventure. He dragged that thing around by the snout all day long, too cute! He even told the waitress, "This is my nuffy. He lives on Sesame Street and in my crib!"

Our mission was to find outfits for the boys to wear for our family pictures Saturday. Our mission sadly failed. It is SO tough to find boys' clothes, especially dressy ones. When I did find a few things, they didn't have the boys size and more than one of each item. So the search goes on...

Brady, Cara, and Allie had a fun day at home with Grandma. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents in our lives. Not only do I trust them completely, but the kids are so comfortable with them and I don't think they miss mommy much when they get to spend time with them!

That's all for tonight! Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week?

A New Look!

Well Steps for Brady was in serious need of a makeover. Actually, it still is and I'm working on it. At the very least I needed to update Brady's picture. I just LOVE this picture of him, however I'm trying to decide if Brady looks like he is missing his left leg. Gives steps for Brady a whole different meaning to our new readers, huh? (ha! forgive this housewife's twisted sense of humor!) Despite any confusion over the number of Brady's limbs, I love the picture and it will stay for a while!

I'm going to attempt to update things a bit in coming weeks. I do have a wonderful girl who contacted me online who wants to makeover my blog for free, but she can't work on it until February. Maybe by then I can figure out a few things too. I want the blog to remain a place for Neuroblastoma families to come and read about our experience. I want this blog to be a cyber scrapbook of our family's life. I want this blog to be a place where people can come and read about God's grace in the midst of life's trials. And I want this blog to be a place where I can just share about life, and hopefully be encouraging, or at the very least, entertaining! So I'm figuring out ways to organize all of this into a wonderful place to stop by once in a while!

Nothing too exciting happening this week. We are getting our family pictures done on Saturday (hopefully a Christmas card picture) so I need to get to a mall to pick up things to complete our outfits. It is such a chore to dress 6 people head to toe in outfits that look good together. Allie has her one year appointment on Thursday. Brady is coming with us to get his weight checked and to catch up on an immunization that he missed when he was on chemo. We also have to retest his urine levels. The lab wasn't able to get both the HVA and VMA levels with the last sample. Our pediatrician will be giving us a kit to take home. He will have to wear a bag overnight and hopefully we will have a sample and not wet sheets in the morning. He is going to just LOVE this (insert sarcasm here!)

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Small Successes

Another blog that I follow is Multiples and More, a site for moms of twins, triplets, or more. Today they discussed celebrating small successes in life instead of focusing on what didn't get done. I love this idea because I feel like I only ever get small things done, and maybe I'll feel better if I pat myself on the back about doing so:)


So here is my list of 5 small successes for the week. I'd love to hear yours too!

Megan's List of "Tiny" Accomplishments (in our house, our kids love the word tiny)

1. I tried a new recipe for pumpkin crumble, and it was well received both those wearing bibs, and those without.

2. I sorted through clothes that have been piling up for months in the kids' closet making consignment, garage sale, giveaway, and save for Allie bins.

----I'm pausing for a few minutes while I rack my brain...

3. I wrote out thank you cards for Allie's party.

4. I came up with a gift idea for all of the children on our Christmas list (all 16 of them!)

5. I mastered a plan for keeping Allie as clean as possible in the van knowing that she will get car sick.

That was harder than I thought!

I hope your weekend was a great one!