Starting the Next Phase

Sorry it took me an entire week to write more, but with Christmas and everything... you know how it goes. First I just have to say how touched I am by all of you and your sweet comments and your constant prayers in our behalf. We feel so loved and so cared for by everyone we know and I can't tell you the difference it has made knowing how much love and support we have from so many people. Please know your prayers for Taylee have made a miraculous difference. Things could be so much worse for Taylee in so many ways, but as of now we have only gotten the very best of results and know we have our Heavenly Father to thank for that wonderful wonderful blessing. He has heard all our prayers and has been so quick to answer them so thank you all for making such a big difference in Taylee's life and in ours.

We got out of the Children's Hospital in Seattle last Sunday which was a surprise and a blessing to be able to come to my mom's. Taylee quickly started acting more like herself, but on Tues. we had to go in for doctors appointments and her first chemo infusion. The combo of being at the hospital from 11:30am to 5:30pm, no nap (which she desperatly needs now), no lunch (just snacks because we were in and out of waiting rooms all day) and all the drama she went through that day made it a very rough day for all of us. I thought if Taylee was going to be like this every day from now on I knew I couldn't handle seeing her that upset and in pain. Luckily with a good nights rest she was acting more and more like herself the next day and even better the day after that. The thing is, chemo does a lot of damage as it is doing its job. The chemo makes her constipated and nausous so she has drugs to help with that, but I just feel like we pump more and more stuff in her trying to treat symptoms for this with that, but then that drug causes this and it just isn't fun. I am sure we will get the hang of all this and know when her good days and her bad days are and how to best help this pain or problem with time. I guess I probably haven't even said yet that her surgery was amazing. They didn't find a trace of the cancer anywhere else in her body. It did not go outside the lining of her kidney and they didn't even see it in her lymph nodes which is such a blessing. They still do chemo more as a preventative measure just in case there is like a microscopic cell they couldn't see. We need to be sure everything is completly gone so we won't have to ever go through this again. She will be doing chemo for 6 months and then she should be done with all this so we just keep praying for the best results. They say she will most likely loose her hair, but my sisters are already telling me about all the cute hats they will get her so she can still look girly! We are still at my mom's right now, but are hoping to get to go home in the next few weeks. Depending on finances, the best thing would be for us to be able to do her chemo in Rexburg at the oncology center there, but the next option will be for us to drive to Salt Lake Primary Children's once a week for chemo their because they have the same kinds of programs that the Children's Hospital has here in Seattle, but at least then we could live at home. There are a lot of things still up in the air right now so we will be sure to keep you updated. Thanks again and again for everything. We love you all.

Another Big Day!

Today was another big day for Taylee. This morning she got to drink juice!! Then this afternoon more clear liquids like jello and soup (yuck) and now she has pizza sitting here waiting for her when she wakes up! She is now officially tube-less. They turrned off her epideral earlier today and switched her to oral pain medication and then when they saw that it was taking care of her pain efficiantly, they took the catheder out. Next, out came the foley (pee tube) and last was her IV! The worst of it all was removing the extremeley sticky tape that was holding all those tubes in place. That hurt her, but she is doing fine now. They are still tracking her heart rate and breathing so she has a few wires on her still, but no tubes! I asked my nurse today from a surgical perspective if Tay would be close to being ready to go home if they were just waiting for recovery from surgery and she said she would be super close. They just want to watch her on this pain medication a little longer to be sure it does the job and she needs to go #2 (sorry if that was too much info) but it is all those little things that move us closer to getting her to a place she feels more safe and comfortable. They also want to make sure she is handeling solid food ok and then from thier stand point she is good to go. Unfortunaltly we have the oncology team that also has to give the go ahead and they haven't gotten all her test results back yet that tell us exactly what they still want to do with her and those won't come till Monday so we will probably be here at least until then. If she does need chemo we are kinda hoping we can start it after Christmas, but if you ask grampa he says she won't need it! Wouldn't that be another major miricle! We are so amazed at the Lord's hand in our lives, especially at this time and feel so blessed by Him. I will try to post again Monday when we hopefully have more news! Thanks again and again to you all! We love you!

Go Taylee Go!

Well everyone, sorry it took me until today to let you know that Taylee's surgery went so amazingly well! The surgery only took 2 hrs and they were able to remove the tumor in one clean piece meaning they didnt see any evidence of the cancer bursting outside the kidney lining. They are never 100% sure until we get the pathology back but as far as they could tell everything looked good and went good. Taylee is doing ok. She is scared, but they have an ephideral (sp?) in her and a little morphine too so I don't think she is feeling too much pain right now. I just want to hold her but it is a little tricky with four tubes hooked up to her. We are just waiting for a few things to happen; she needs her bowls to start working again because they kind of go to sleep after surgery. When that happens, the tube down her nose can come out. Next, out will come the ephideral, then her folly (sp?) or pee tube, and last out will come the IV. They are saying recovery is about 5-7 days so we may even make it home for Christmas! Thanks again to you all and please keep praying for a speedy and completely healthy recovery. We will let everyone know when we have heard about any further treatment she will need. Love you all!

An Update

I am sure most all of you know by now that our sweet little Tay was diagnosed with cancer last Wed. They are pretty sure it is Wilm's Tumor which is a cancerous tumor on her kidney. It has grown rapidly in size and is just a little smaller then a canteloupe. She is in surgery as we speak. They started her sugery at 3pm and is estimated to last about 3 hrs but could go up to 7hrs. Everything is looking good for her. As far as tests show the cancer looks as if it is still contained inside the kidney which is great and hopefully they can remove the entire thing (including her left kidney). They will also take out the surrounding lymph nodes to test them and they will help them determine what further treatment (chemo) she will need if any. When she gets out of surgery I will try to post again letting everyone know how she is doing. I really want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers in our behalf and we have felt so much peace and hope throughout this whole process and I know that is because Heavenly Father is very aware of Taylee how could He not be with all the people talking to Him about Tay. We love you all and thank you again for all the support.

DECORATING

I was so looking forward to finally being able to decorate a house, little did I know that it would take me four days to do it! Not because I have a lot of stuff cause I realizd as I was taking stuff out that I do not have much, but because of things like lights not working, Taylee and too much other stuff to do. Now that it is done, I must say I love having it up. It makes it feel like Christmas time and Tay gets excited too. I was able to do most of the tree myself becasue Taylee actually took a nap!! But I did save a few things for her to put on and it took her forever to choose where she wanted to put them and it couldn't be where I suggested, the joy of the independant two year old! She even keeps reminding me that this is her Christmas tree (meaning she should be allowed to touch it) and I tell her yes, but the decorations are still not to play with! Anyways we are loving this time of year and are so excited to see family and friends when we come to Washington. Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season as much as we are!

P.S I think I am finally ready for a fake tree, I love the real ones, but want it to look perfect and that doesn't really work out!

Cute and Crazy

"Taylee, look at the camera"



"Please, put that down and look at mommy!"

"That's better"

"Now smile big!"

"Lookin' Good!"

I know I have been a little blog crazy lately, but I have found myself with a little more free time on my hands and when you have good pictures you have to share them so here is Tay lookin' cute after church and crazy after she woke up from her nap. The best part is when she lifts up her goggles, gets right in my face and says "here I am mom" (like I couldn't see her or didn't recognize her with the goggles on!) She can sure make me laugh.

Accessories Are All I Need!

"Grandma, how do you like my outfit?"

Tay did this all by herself. Grandma bought her these sparkly shoes and Tay just can't live without them now. She sneaks out of her bed at naptime to put them on and wears them all day long. As you can see they are all she needs (besides a purse to cover her bum)!

Tay and Her Babies

This is another sweet reason to love having a girl. She loves loves loves her babies and it is so telling to watch her play with them because she acts out things I do and say to her with her babies and it is fun to watch and see what she has picked up on. I have been asking her lately what her babies name is and she usually just says "baby" but today she named one of her babies "Baby Holland" (after her neice). I thought that was pretty sweet!
Taylee and grandma had wrapped up all her babies and a bear and Tay was rocking them in the chair. She talks to them and sings to them, it is so cute. I have noticed one thing though, almost every picture I post Taylee has some crazy hair-do. Her hair is so thin and fine that it falls out of her pig tails or whatever hair-do I choose and just lays flat and stringy in her face most of the time. I swear I try to make it cute and pretty and out of her eyes, but it is just no use. She just ends up looking like a ragamuffin no matter what I do!

Another New Baby!

This is our newest little nephew Isaac Daniel Alldredge! He was born on Halloween and I hear he is doing great! Sorry Makay, I stole this pic from your blog because we aren't there to get our own pics, but I thought everyone should see what a handsome new nephew we have! Congrats Danny and Makay! We can't wait to meet him!

Not so Terrible Two's!

Two is such a fun age! Taylee says and does some of the funniest things and I just love it! Some of the new things she says are "Let's get out of here" and "I can't believe it"

We are getting ready to start potty training so we went and got a princess potty chair and Strawberry Shortcake undies. The other day I was kind of just letting her get used to her potty so she was walking around with no bottoms on and was trying really hard to go pee-pee in the potty. She finally did and I told her everytime she peed in the potty she could have a marshmellow (her fav) so after that she would pee just a tiny little bit, go dump it in the toilet and come out and ask for a marshmellow. She would eat it then sit right back down, pee a tiny bit more, dump it out and ask for another marshmellow. She did this five times in a row. Tay cannot only control her bladder, she can outsmart her mommy to get as many marshmellows as possible! She's my little smartie pants!

Baby Holland is Here!

My oldest sister Tiffany had her baby girl, Holland Sara Crabtree, on Oct. 28th and she is home now and doing well. She seems to be a mellow baby which is so nice when she has 3 older siblings to keep her mommy busy. She is such a pretty baby and I just can't get enough of her!

Taylee likes to hold her too and is really gentle and soft with her which gives me hope for our future babies even though she gets a little territorial when it is my turn to hold the baby.

Holland's feet were turned in a little too much when she was born so she has to have casts on her feet for two weeks to help straighten them out. They go all the way up past her knees, poor little girl, but she doesn't seem to mind.

ISN'T SHE SO STINKIN' CUTE?!

Happy Halloween!

This year Taylee was a fairy for Halloween with the complete get-up. She had the wings, the fairy skirt, the sparkly shoes, the bracelet, the necklace and the wand all thanks to grandma! It was really fun having her actually be able to understand what was going on and to have such a cute costume for her to dress up in!

Just a quick melt down before going out the door.

(Her wing strap was falling down)

No worries, we're happy again and ready to go!

This Halloween was really fun for Taylee because we did all the traditional things; carving pumpkins, decorating the house, dressing up, eating candy and all the rest, but I must say for me it was a little disapointing. All the pre- Halloween stuff was good, but on Halloween night we got Tay all dressed up and kept watching out the window for our neighbors to start trick-or-treating. This being our first time in a house on Halloween, I was so excited to actually get trick-or-treaters and I bought a ton of candy to hand out and everything. So we waited and waited, but no one came so we decided to take Tay out quick. We got to our first neighbors house and quickly found out that the whole neighborhood does a trunk or treat earlier in the night and all the parents just call that good for trick-or-treating. We felt a little dumb, but went to a few more houses anyway to let Tay have the full experience, but I was pretty disapointed that I didn't get one single trick-or-treater at my house on Halloween.

Halloween Fun!

Since we carved pumpkins way back at the beginning of October, our pumpkin didn't quite make it to Halloween so, with the help of grandma's fun face parts we were able to put together another fun pumpkin for Halloween. Taylee picked out which eyes, ears, and mouth to put on each side of the pumpkin and it really turned out pretty cute and it was way faster and a lot less messy!

Even before this night Taylee has been really into making her "funny face" : ) She even tries to do it to me when I am rocking her at night. I don't know where she got this from but she thinks its really funny. She always says, "Watch me!" and then makes this same face every time. I guess this was a good opportunity for her to really show off that funny face!

This was our attempt at a Haunted Ginger Bread House, but it was kind of a joke cause the walls just kept collapsing! Taylee couldn't have been happier though with bowls of candy and frosting sitting right in front of her.

Show me those candy filled teeth!

Lacey's Baby Shower

My sister (Tiff), Lacey's sister-in-law (Alea) and I were able to throw Lacey a baby shower for her little baby girl the week-end before Halloween. The whole thing was hot pink, black and light pink ( sort of a bling-bling theme) and we had a good time making invitations, decorations and yummy food!
I am so excited for Lacey to be having a little girl after two boys, but she has spent enough time with Taylee to know that with a girl comes some serious attitude, but luckily Lacey loves Tay anyways! It was so fun to spoil Lacey and help get her ready for little baby Brynley (at least clothes wise!)

Sometimes Tay and Conner have a hard time getting along (its hard playing with a two year old girl!), but after Lacey's shower they were pretty much inseperable (mostly because Taylee kept following Conner around) but he let her, they were so cute!

Carving Pumpkins with the Cousins

Last week we went over to Tiff's and had a pumpkin' carvin' party. The kids were all really excited even though Taylee didn't really know what she was getting excited about. She did, however, love going to pick out her pumpkin and she held onto the stem the enite time it was in our shopping cart.
I didn't take her long to figure out that some parts of carving pumpkins aren't that great. Yuck!

I must have been in a weird mood because the pumpkin I carved was the only one that ended up with a mean face. Oh well, Taylee liked it and Aaron was proud because Halloween stuff is supposed to be scary.
We have so much fun having so many cousins around to do fun things with. It makes holidays and special occasions that much more fun and exciting. Thanks for having us Tiff -it was a messy project!

After we cleaned up the pumpkin mess we helped the kids decorate Halloween cookies. They were so yummy and Taylee's favorite shape was the kitty cat, big surprise. My favorite was the orange icing, it was so good!

Graduation Finally!!

I finally graduated from BYU-I with an Associates Degree in Professional Preschool Education in July of 2008! It took me way longer then it should have, but with a baby and getting married, school just took longer then I had planned, but I am done and it feels so good to know I finished!

After graduation my family and I went out for ice cream. It was so nice to have my parents, my sisters, Aaron's sister, my daughter and my husband all there to support me and celebrate with me! Hurray!

Makin' Cookies

The presidential debate was on last night and for all of you that know Aaron, you know he has to watch it so Taylee and I made chocolate chip cookies for him. She really can help pour things in the mixer pretty good, but the problem is keeping her fingers out of the dough. She has to try to lick everything. She licked the measuring cup after we had scooped out the flour (gross huh?), but she didn't think it was gross, she licked the measuring spoon after we poured out the vanilla (I tried to tell her it didn't taste good, but she thought it was fine), and she just couldn't help sticking her finger in the bowl everytime I walked away to get something. I couldn't help but laugh because it was like she just couldn't resist! She must get that from her daddy because he stole as many bites of cookie dough as Taylee and by the time we got back from getting her jammies on, 3 cookies were already missing!


Of course I had to let her lick the beater!

All done!

Taylee's New Hat

I don't put Tay in hats very often becuase I didn't think she would keep one on her head. I bought this one a while ago and was waiting for Taylee's head to grow so she could wear it. She found it in her drawer and really wanted to wear it. She kept it on pretty much all day. I must say she looks pretty cute in it!

BYU-I Gardens

After conference on Sunday we went up to the BYU-I gardens to walk around. I was trying to get a bunch of pictures of Taylee so I could have a good one to make into an 8x10, but after a couple pictures my camera died so we just walked around. They have added a lot to it since the spring and it is really beautiful. Taylee's favorite part was the stray cat that followed us around. I did end up getting a few cute pictures so I decided to share them!

This girl doesn't smile on command, sorry!

Taylee wanted to pick up just about every leaf she could.

It really was a beautiful fall day, this definatly is my favorite season.

Curly Sue

I usually put curlers in my hair on Sundays and as Tay always watches me get ready she was pretty excited to have curlers in her hair too. I don't make her sleep on them because I know they would make her miserable and uncomfortable (I don't know how you got me to keep them in mom :) I just give her a bath in the morning and then put the curlers in and let them dry until it is time for church. I did this the week before and it didn't turn out so good and I laughed every time I looked at Taylee because she looked so different and kind of weird, but I thought I would give it one more try since this is the only way I can get curls to last until we get to church since she got her Aunt Lacey's hair.

It gets so curly, but by the time we get home the curls have loosened up a lot and by the time she gets up from her nap it is like she never had any curls at all.

It is so fun being the mom of a girl and getting to play dress-up and accessorize and do fun things to her hair. I just can't wait until it gets longer!