Amazing Gifts . . .

Many kind people donated their time and services to give Ben an awesome birthday party. We all headed over to one of the parking lots at the hospital where the staff had put upa big awning tent and placed straw around it and brought in a couple of ponies for pony rides for Ben and his siblings.

Funny Benjamin

Nice outfit eh? Mine was just about as good yesterday. We went in to have a blood transfusion yesterday morning and he puked all over himself and me as we sat in the waiting area. My kind nurse managed to find scrubs for me and a hospital gown so we didn't have to wear our grody clothes for the next 5 hours!

This is Benjamin's latest food love. Guacamole! He'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and he can eat the whole avacado himself!

Benjamin was putting his popsicle to bed in this picture. He lays the popsicle, wrapper still encasing it, on the pillow and then puts the blanket on top. I'm not sure where he got this idea! The other funny part about this night was this is not his bed. Note the pillows on the ground...He brought his pillow and blanket into my bedroom and set them all up. Guess where he slept that night!

And here we have Ben's favorite movie. We watched it all day everyday last week. Apparently he wanted to watch it last night before bed... this is how he fell asleep! He really is a funny dude!

Blackberries Revisited & Mountains of Poop

I know...its a disgusting title but... it was a disgusting day. I weaned Ben off one of his antinausea medications and then got behind on the one I am still giving him so.....the delicious blackberries we picked and ate as we walked along the trail came up to say hello again. I wonder if Ben will eat them still? Then later Ben, who hasn't had a bowel movement in a WEEK, finally had a bowel movement. One bath, floor mopping, and a trip to the outdoor garbage can later.... That was seriously a weeks worth of poop! (I even threw away his undershirt!) What a fun day!

Free Again!

Not from the hospital...at least not until tonight! But free from isolation. Hooray! Now Ben can leave his room for walks or even visit the children's playroom. It was kinda funny because as soon as they said it, he was ready to go for a walk. Do you think he hears and understands what is going on?

He got his chemotherapy on Monday and Tuesday, took a break yesterday, and then got his stem cells today. Unfortunately he has thrown up once every day. We are continuing his antinausea meds. In fact, he is using two different antinausea meds this round. He is somehow managing to keep his weight up so we haven't had to have a feeding tube. All in all, things are going as well as can realistically be expected. Who wants to be realistic though?

Food & Fun

Ben's favorite food lately is popsicles. You would be surprised how many he can put down a day! He is also quite picky about the flavor. He no longer likes orange. I don't know if he got too much of it or if the medicines he is on makes them taste weird.... Jello, any flavor, is also off his list.

Here's the "fun"...I don't know if it was fun for him to do or just fun for mom to clean up! Whatever the case, he is obviously proud of his latest art work. Thanks to a little help from rubbing alcohol and baking soda, this art project is a thing of the past!

Ben is feeling good this week. Monday he goes back in to start the next round....

Yuck!

I asked Johnny if the last posting sounded pitiful...he said yes. Well, sometimes I guess I feel pitiful! Fortunately that is not always the case. The funny thing was that I found out my telephone in the apartment is broken. No one had been able to get a hold of me for a couple of days! Too funny!

Yesterday was not Ben's greatest day. It seemed to start out okay. He ate a few bites of pancake for breakfast and drank a little bit of milk. We even went for a walk to the park where we played until a daycare group showed up. His day went downhill from there. He was moody and clingy. He didn't eat or drink anything. And then the diarhea started. It sounded and looked a lot like baby poop. Needless to say we spent the afternoon on the couch just watching PBS and changing clothes and diapers....his and mine...clothes not diapers! Then just after five oclock he crawled off my lap and walked over to the now cold hot cocoa I had made trying to entice, force, coerce him to drink earlier. And he drank the whole cup! I started in on some dinner. I offered him his favorite soup with crackers and a bean burrito. He took a couple of bites but was fairly uninterested. Then he opened the fridge and started looking. He wanted eggs. I thought, whatever, I'll just throw it away if he doesn't eat it. But he did!!!!! He made me cook him a second and he ate that one too! Woo Hoo! I thought we were past the worries because the rest of the evening seemed to go just fine. Then when I went to go to bed, Ben woke up vomiting. By morning I had one bed he had thrown up in, another he had leaked diarhea all over, and mine he crawled into with his leaky diaper! Oh YUCK! Thank goodness for a washer and dryer in the apartment! Thank goodness Johnny got here at two in the morning and can help!

Bye bye babies

Elizabeth and Megan headed back to grandma's house on Tuesday leaving Ben and mommy alone in Seattle. A day is really long when you have nothing to do. Mommy goes running, Ben goes in for labs, and they both eat....Mommy more than Ben... We'd love phone calls!!!! Daddy says he'll come see us again this weekend. That will help a little, but what we really want to do is GO HOME!

Zoo Again

In an effort to find something fun to do while avoiding germs, we took the girls to the zoo yesterday. They really wanted to go to the aquarium, but that is indoors with crowds of people... so zoo it is! Look at this cute "chick" that just hatched!

Ben got to touch the turtle but note the lady holding the hand cleanser. We washed and washed and washed all day long!

The girls started fighting over who got to be in the wagon. They wanted to ride but they couldn't stand to do it together. Alaina and I were more than frustrated with their behavior so...we just got silly! Here she is pulling me and Ben in the wagon instead.

...And behind the wagon, Lizzie and Megan were pulling Mom's hair. That didn't last too long, but look...they are smiling!

Besides avoiding germs, Ben is also supposed to avoid the sun. Alaina bought him this great hat that pretty much covers his whole face! Sunscreen had to take care of the rest of hime!

Puke Bucket

Well so far Ben has only vomitted two times. Not fun for Mom who worries about him, but also not unexpected. For the most part Ben looks as happy and active as ever. The constant blood count checks begin tomorrow morning. Because the chemo drugs he is on right now are different than the ones he was on before, we really don't know what to expect.

Alligator Moons & Chicks

Ben is as energetic as ever. Here he is wrestling his blowup alligator. He is also riding "the rocket", doing puzzles, building blocks, and watching WAY TOO MUCH televsion!

I didn't dare put the moon picture on.... Ben's diaper needs to be changed about every hour or so because they have him on IV fluids. That means we go through a lot of diapers fast. Unfortunately the package of diapers they brought us are defective. The adhesive strips aren't securely attached to the diaper so we spent the day being mooned by Ben.

Here are the chicks! Alaina, Elizabeth, and Megan arrived in Seattle this morning and Ben is so happy! They spent the day in the hospital with us. We decorated flip flops, went swimming, and ate popcorn while watching a "chick flick" of course! The hard moment was bedtime. Alaina had to carry Megan out of here crying because she wanted to stay with mommy. Mommy was holding Ben who was crying and saying, "I want to go!". Mommy wanted to go too... We still long to be together as a family.