Jordan - this one's for you!

I have this amazing friend, Jordan, who is a sewing genius. She makes beautiful items - from pillows and blankets to diaper bags and dresses. When I had Paige, I was lucky enough to get two handmade creations from her - a dress and quilt. I absolutely LOVE the fabrics she chose and couldn't wait for Paige to grow enough to fit the dress. Well, the day finally came and I must say she looks pretty darn cute. Of course she wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good picture, so here is a copied picture off Jordan's "Pikkle Designs" website that I stole so you can see all the cute details. Oh, how I envy this girl's talent - you are amazing, Jordan!!!

Breckenridge

Our awesome friends, Shauna and Doug, and Doug's parent's, Karen and Marc, invited us to their timeshare in Breckenridge last weekend. We had an AMAZING time with them! Karen and Marc were so nice and watched all our kids while we went out to eat for Valentine's Day and then watched our kids again the next morning so the four of us could ski together! While we were skiing, Karen kept the baby girls (Shauna has a baby one month younger than Paige) and Marc took the little boys skiing. The boys did great and loved hanging out with "Marco". Thanks Marc and Karen (and Shauna and Doug) for such a great time!!!
The boys loved jumping off this ledge and sledding off of it. But they tired quickly because they had to maneuver through knee deep snow to get up to the top.
Here we all are on the slopes. People looked at us like we were crazy as we trekked around with so many little kids!
The little studs tearing it up!
Paige was a great sport about being out in the cold and took a much needed nap on mom's back while the boys were skiing!
It was so nice to get away and hang out as a family. We are so glad Eric felt good enough for this adventure, it was so fun! Here are some video clips of Mason and Logan skiing. Eric took Mason up the big lift and I got a little footage of him coming down, but then the filming stopped because my memory stick was too full. But you get the idea - enjoy!

Eric's Lungs are Functioning!

We got the test results back and Eric's lungs are fine. Apparently, there is a slight decrease in his diffusion, but it is not significant. He got all parts of his chemo on Monday and is dealing with the aftermath now. The weirdest side effect to me is that for the 2-3 nights after he gets chemo, he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. The last 2 nights he has been up from 1-4 am. We've been told that steroids are responsible for keeping him up. We knew he would lose his hair with chemo and maybe be nauseated, but there are so many other little things that people don't talk about. But hey, the chemo is working so Eric's not complaining!

Eric Update

I've had a few people request updates about Eric's chemo. He has had four rounds of chemo so far (well, five if you count the first incorrect dose of CHOP) and is doing great. The chemo regimen he is getting is called ABVD, which stands for four different drugs. One of the drugs is called bleomycin and has serious side effects. It can cause lung damage and lung failure, so Eric has periodic lung function tests to make sure his lungs are handling it okay. When he went in for his last round of chemo, his doctor told him that his most recent lung function test showed a decrease in diffusion, so she witheld the bleomycin from his treatment. Eric did not seem worried about his lung function because he said that he thought the test results were wrong. Apparently, the nurses administered the test differently the two times he was tested so he thinks it is a discrepancy with testing, not his lungs. He goes in today for another lung test and hopefully we'll get good results. Eric really wants to receive all parts of his chemo because the combination of drugs makes it the most effective. But we appreciate that his doctor is being conservative and playing it safe. She told Eric that a young male patient did die a few years ago from what they call "bleo-lung" and that we really have to respect this drug. Can you imagine dying from the drugs that were supposed to be saving you? Anyway, we'll keep you posted about the test results.

Here are the encouraging and miraculous facts about Eric during his treatment:

1. He still exercises almost every day (and even sprints on the treadmill as his own personal lung test)
2. He works half days and even some 3/4 days when he feels good (the doctor in Minnesota told him it would be virtually impossible to work while on this chemo regimen)
3. He hasn't caught any cold or infection despite having almost zero immunity (and despite our sick kids coughing and hacking all around him)
   
4. He hasn't thrown up once
5. He has regained all the weight he lost and is back to his normal size
6. He looks awesome bald!

We are so blessed and know that prayers have been answered in our behalf!

star of the week

All last week Mason was consumed by the fact that this week he was going to be "Star of the Week" at preschool. Star of the week consists of displaying a poster about yourself, wearing a star around your neck, choosing which group you are in (three groups rotate between three classrooms) for activities and bathroom breaks, and bringing a snack that corresponds with the letter of the week. Mason and I made this poster about his favorite things: horses, sledding, rock climbing, the beach, fishing, his brother and sister, and mom and dad. He was so proud!

Here is the snack we brought: monkeys and milk. To make the monkeys, I made chocolate cookies, frosted them, and then added cheerios for the eyes, nilla wafers for the mouths, and little chocolate sandwich cookies for the ears. Mason was beaming with pride as he carried these into school today. Seeing his face as he presented them to his teacher was definitely worth the time it took to make them. We love this kid!