Post-Chemo Round 4....

When I get to a break, my brain goes into slow-down mode.  As in, slow-down ya jerk...you're killing us over here!

So please pardon the lack of blogging, for those of you who are following along and looking for updates.  My brain wants to relax, and the less I do on a daily basis, the more relaxed it gets.

First, I wanted to share a CRAZY shirt I got for Christmas from my sister and her family.  Those of you who saw my family pictures on FB already saw me wearing this.  But it was nutty enough that I wanted to share here as well.  The Garza's bought both Shelley and I cat t-shirts....mine is by far the nuttiest.

Anya was her animated self for the most part.  She doesn't stop talking, moving or thinking.  How she pauses to sleep still amazes me.

For all of Christmas eve, Amie had very little energy.  Much like the previous week.  She had no real interest in opening gifts either.

Anya got two entire Doctors kits, and really loved each for their different items they contained.  Being the good sharer that she is, she talked about how her and Amie could both wear them, when Amie got bigger.  I love the fact that the reality of what's going on with Amelie, and the negative outcomes that are a possibility, really aren't a concern for her.

IT'S A PUZZLE!  That's the face of happiness.

I've been told that the official name for a self-portrait with a cell phone is a "selfie".  Well...here's a selfie of me and the girls.

This is a bag that was given to us that I blogged about a few weeks ago.  Shel has been using it religiously for clinic and for our admit into the hospital.  Thanks again incredibly cool and anonymous person!

A few blogs ago I talked about the teenager who donated his brain to research when he got a fatal diagnosis of a really rough brain tumor.  The article talked about how they had mounted his signed Les Paul guitar in the hospital.  I sought it out and took a pic.

This kids' generosity, his amazingness is just inspiring.

So this post finds us just finishing up round 4 of Chemo.  It was a weird round. They swapped out one drug for another, so no new hearing damage, but they're getting us ready for a whole lot more transfusions.  The night that I stayed there, Amelie was such an angel and slept the entire night through.  The two nights that Shel stayed there, she was a wreck, and cried for hours.

Either I soothed her and I'm the WINNER, or Shel got the crap pile and the unlucky draw.  Not sure which it is, but either way, I got the better hand by far.

So, unless Amie gets sick, we're out of the hospital for the next 3 weeks.  Shel will still be going down for 3x weekly blood draws, and most likely 3x weekly transfusions.  That's a lot of hours sitting. I needs to get her more books. 

Did I mention that our kids, before this started, watch virtually no Television?  Anya was getting an hour or so a week, and Amie was getting 0 minutes.  Ever.

So, with that being said, we've had to really embrace the kids watching more TV.  Amie has no energy some days, and the only thing that will keep her settled is giving her the iPad and letting her Netflix some Dora.  We've gone from 0 minutes to hours a day some days.  She's ornery and restless.

Anyway, a nurse at Mott's said the first crappy thing to Shelley in that the nurse wouldn't be allowing her 2 year old to be watching as much TV as Amie was.  Shelley was totally shamed and angry at this woman, and we put it on our comment card.  In the end, she's right, but she's also TOTALLY wrong.

Yes, kids under 3 should be watching very, very little TV.  All the brain science research is saying the same thing.  But there's a massive difference between ideal and extremely, really un-ideal circumstances.

Ok all.  We're home, we're relaxing, and the girls are going to play together like mad tomorrow.  

Hope tomorrow brings festivities for all of you, and a great New Years Eve!

...and Amie wants you you to know that in life, why suck just one Pacifier when you could suck two.  

CARPE PACI!