Whirlwind of a weekend...

It has been an action packed weekend! From the second Zach stepped off the plane to the second he stopped back on we played non stop.


Thursday March 15th: Ice Cream Truck and Mavs Game

Our "Adventure" list began. The ICE CREAM TRUCK was so much more than we could have ever expected. Thank you again to all those who made that special day happen! Atticus tells everyone that he "sold out!" That night, Eric Zach and Atticus went to a Mavericks game and not only had awesome seats but and awesome time!

 

Friday March 16th:

 LOTS of wiggle bike rides, Rocket and a Camp fire at Bishop Larsens

 

Playing outside. Two very happy boys!

 

Hair loss. He's almost bald in the locations above his ears.

 

Mr. Isaac

I could just eat him up I love him so!

 

Friday night we had a camp fire at Bishop Larsen's house and had SOOO much fun. He has the most beautiful property. Atticus was very excited about all the sticks and of course the camp fire!

Hot dogs and mallows... what more could two cute boys need?!
Isaac had a hot dog for the first time and was a big fan!

 

Lower right picture:

Atticus and Bishop Larsen doing "Beef Cake."

Saturday March 17th: 

St. Patricks Day, Forth Worth Stockyards, water fight, FC Dallas game

Atticus woke up to this note outside his door...
 

... then followed the leprechauns foot prints...

and found this...
I am so LUCKY to have three amazing boys in my life!

 

Water fight.... Zachy boy brought water guns and water balloons and they had one heck of a time! 

 

Forth Worth Stockyards....

It was so fun to see everyone in there green. Atticus had a hay day pinching daddy and Zach all morning. We stopped by the candy store, where Atticus filled his bucket, and enjoyed a longhorn cattle drive. 

Chunk was in awe of the longhorns...
 

But wasn't so sure about the horse being so close.
It was really cute to watch him.
 

LOVE SHACK...
Eric's favorite burger, "The Dirty Bird!" A must stop if you are in Fort Worth.
 

Saturday night we had tickets to the FC Dallas game! It was SO FUN!

My dad made the connection for this game as well as the Mavs game the boys went to Thursday night! One of the FC Dallas employees brought Atticus and Isaac goody bags with a soccer ball and t-shirt! He felt pretty important.

 

Sunday March 18th: 
Atticus got a very special visit from a very special Leprechaun! He is not so stinkin' cute! Seriously. This little boy is just a few months older than Isaac.

 

Our amazing Primary Presidency (the women over the children's classes at church) put together a "Pot of Gold" hunt for Atticus and at the end of the hunt was a rainbow made and signed by the primary kids with the most fabulous rainbow cake and "gold." They are amazing women. 

THANK YOU!

 

Getting in a little more play time before bedtime.

 

..Make a Wish..

MI-C-K-E-Y ... M-O-U-S-E

Our wish granters brought Atticus his special backpack hat and T-shirts for the family! We were all SO EXCITED. Lot's of jumping up and down and yahoo's! They brought a cake that said, "Your wish has come true Atticus" with a certificate declaring that very thing!  We are the first North Texas "wish" that  has been granted so quickly and we are very grateful. The Oncologist Team feel it best we go during his four week break and thanks to the hard working Make-a-Wish volunteers, its happening!

We leave Thursday March 22nd and come back March 28th.

7 days 6 nights of an absolute DREAM vacation!

We CANNOT wait. Brace yourselves for a million and one pictures!

 

Yummy yummy cupcakes!!

 

Monday March 19th: We met with the Oncology team in the morning. Atticus is doing great. His white blood cell count was a little low but nothing too concerning. After his appointment, we went to the mall to get the boys swim suits for Disney World when Atticus saw a Dicks Sporting Goods and asked if we could go in. I love him! Toy r us doesn't hold a candle to a sporting goods store!! We found this golf game on sale for $5. Watch our Tiger Woods. Atticus is back at it!

 

Monday afternoon Mrs. Cherry came by for some painting, stories, and racing. She surprised Atticus with special racers. She made a "cherry" racer and her sweet hubby an "Ohio State" one! 

 

Luggage...

Atticus got a special package in the mail! THANK YOU!! He was so excited and decided exactly what will go in what compartment! 3 days. Just three little old days. Can you tell we're excited. 

 

I have had a few questions that I thought I would comment on....

Q: Does Atticus still have his port?
A: Yes. His port will stay in forever. They will continue to access him at his weekly Oncology visits. It kind of looks like the lid to a 2 liter bottle, just under his left rib. According to Atticus though, the port is out. He thinks the port is the needle and tubing, that the actual port is just a bump.

Q: What happens now?
A. We wait. 4 wks exactly. 4 weeks from his last day of radiation they will do and MRI to see the tumor's status. The reason they wait is because the radiation can sometimes cause inflammation in the tumor and they don't want to get in incorrect reading.  The hope is that it has shrunk but if not at least stopped its growth. In 6 weeks we do a recheck with Dr. Munoz. Atticus starts chemotherapy April 9th give or take. The Chemotherapy is Temodar but Im not sure on the dose yet. He will take it every night for five nights then have a 28 day break. 5 days on 28 days off. 10 times. About 7-10 days after his fifth dose of Temodar his blood counts will drop. It will take up to the beginning of the next cycle for his counts to get back up so he will be strong enough to do it all over again. We hope he tolerates it as well as he did the first time, but as with everything associated with DIPG, we won't know and will play day by day. We are going to live it up as much as we can and pray that Atticus will feel good for as long as possible.

Q: What meds is he on?
A: All but the Temodar. He takes Prevacid and Decodron daily, RadiaGel 2x a day on and around his ears, and Bactrum M-T-W 2x a day. We tried  to go lower his dose of the Decodron but he started getting headaches and irregular pupil dialation so we went back up.

If there are any questions you have, feel free to email me and I'll answer them as best I can.

FUNNY things Atticus has said,
1. "What's the grand scheme of things?" He had me busting up at this one.
2. "Come on girl!"
3. this was last Sunday, he said the dinner prayer, "please bless the wish granters for coming to our house and please bless them for sending us to Disney World soon!"

Isaac has been doing a lot better with his fussiness. I think spending consistant time with Eric and I has been good for him. He is getting close to walking, I give it a month. He really really wants to. He is becoming such a big boy.

So, we're doing good. We are taking it day by day by day by day. And in 3 short days, those days are going to be extra FUUUUUUNNNNNNN!!