The One Side Effect

The chemotherapy Taylee has been on is supposed to come with some pretty major side effects. Most likely kids experience sore jaws and legs. They get clumsy and have trouble walking, low energy from low blood counts often resulting in blood transfusions, constipation, nausea, trouble grasping and of course, hair loss. We have pain medicine, anti-nausua medicine, stool softeners and so on and have barely needed to use any of them. Why can't they come up with an anti-hair loss medicine?? From these pictures you can see she still has hair, but it is so so thin. She bonked her head on my parents BBQ the other day and you could actually see the scrape on her head. Good thing she is two and has no idea that she has less hair and could care less. Lacey requested these pictures to show how much hair she has left.

I thought I would also add in some updated pictures of her belly all healed up. I know I posted pictures of her scar right after surgery, but I think it is good to see how well she has healed. The surgeon did such a good job!

Spring Fair

I had only been to the Spring Fair a couple times, but I didn't remember it being so much less of a fair then it is in the fall. We did still get to get a taste of all the best stuff though!

Makay and I took Addi and Tay late afternoon and tried to get them to ride as many rides as we could get them on. I thought they would be nervous, but they wanted to ride everything they saw. Unfortunatly, they aren't quite tall enough yet, but we were able to sneak them on two rides anyways. These crazy girls walked all the way up to the top of this slide with me following behind. I thought they were going to take off without me!

Makay took them on this roller coaster and they were so unafraid I say them putting their arms up in the air.



This was the one ride they were actually allowed to go on and they loved it too. I think they rode it three times.

The other best part of the fair is the food. Now they are sharing boring french fries, but I had just scarfed down a Krusty Pup. Those of you who are from Puyallup know what that is and how yummy they are. I meant to get a caramel apple or an elephant ear before we left, but we did something a little crazy instead.

This is the 15oft sling shot ride they have at the fair.

Who do you think is crazy enough to ride this ride? Me or Aaron?

Makay is the other passenger and doing this was her crazy idea!

The guys met up with us after work and ate dinner with us and then watched the kids as Makay and I, yes me, got shot up into the air and bounced around like crazy. Don't tell Makay, but I had my eyes shut for the beginning! I am not quite as daring as she is!! I did finally open my eyes and I have to say this was so much fun even if I was screaming the whole time.

Taylee and Addi

Taylee and I have loved all the time we have been able to spend with Makay and Addi. Sometimes I think Taylee drives Addi nuts because she is a little bossy and in her face, but overall they play good and I am so happy they have had some time to get to know eachother.

One day we went to the mall and were coming out of the bathroom and we turned around to find this.....

We get asked all the time if they are twins. Aren't they so cute!

Taylee's Imagination

I don't think I realized that at two my daughter would be playing pretend so much. She is so good at imagining things up and letting that totally entertain her. Her most recent kick has been about crocodiles living on the floor at gradma's house and she has to make sure she is on a "boat" or off the ground to avoid them. Randomly she will say, "quick the crocodiles gonna get you" and will run and jump up on something screaming and laughing. I can't even list all the random things she comes up with in her head, but I am so fascinated by her little imagination.

I am not really sure what she is trying to be in this picture, but it reminds me a little of Aunt Lacey's "nunery days". Taylee and Lacey will have to compare pictures someday!

Easter

First I will start by saying my blog posts might be in a random order for while because I am trying use pictures from other people's cameras or that have been sent to me to keep udated on what has been going on. I was finally able to dowload some pictures of Easter.

Coming upstairs to find her Easter basket, she looks thrilled doesn't she?!

Tay finding her Easter basket. Don't mind the plumber's butt!

Checking out the loot. The Easter bunny can do pretty good when her mom is around to help fill the basket!



Broden and Taylee. Broden had to come over and check out what the Easter bunny brought Taylee. These two are quite a pair. They either love eachother or can't stand eachother, but I guess that is what you get when you make two two-yr-olds live together!

Taylee in her Easter dress.

I tried so hard to do her hair cute, it had a ribbon in it and was curly, but we didn't have time to get a picture before church, but you get the point. I can't wait to really be able to do her hair again so she doesn't constantly look like a little rag-a-muffin like in all the pictures above. And when do they start smiling normal instead of these huge cheesy grins. Oh well, at least she is smiling!!

All About Tay...

So this blog is more of a record for me to remember some funny things about Tay. If anyone else gets a kick out of if that is great too! Oh and by the way we are on the countdown!! Only one more chemo, two more port accesses, one more surgery and one more round of scans before we can go home! We go on the 20th to draw blood and get counts, on the 1st is her final chemo!!!, on the 15th she gets her scans and then her port comes out the week of the 18th! It is just a day surgery and we will be out of here!

It has been nice to be around family we don't see too often and provide Tay with opportunities to see her grandparents and cousins that aren't by us. It has also been a great faith and testimony building experience to see the Lord's hand in our lives every step of the way. Thanks again for all the support we have received and for all the prayers we are so very grateful.

Ok on to Tay... First, just some of the funny words she says.
Bleeve = bleed, or blood
Paradium = parade (we had gone to aquarium earlier that week and were heading to a parade, I think she was a little confused :)
Lips= zips or zipper
Chuck E. Cheese = Taco cheese (do I not speak clearly??? :)
Hairplane = airplane
I lub you =i love you
I sink =i think
packback= backpack
nember = remember

...I know there is more, I will have to add as I remember.

She likes to play doctor... I wonder why? She gets Broden's Handy Manny tool box and uses them to act out either a doctor (or chiropractor) or a hair dresser (like her aunt Makay).
For instance, the hammer is a blowdryer, the srewdriver a curling iron, the pliers -scissors, the saw- a hairbrush. Or she uses them as different doctor equipment.

Her new favorite song is Book of Mormon stories which she yells, by the way she yells most of the songs she sings unless she thinks no one is listening, then she sings "pretty".

She has gotten very independant. She puts on her own pants and undies and socks and some shoes and with a little help her shirt. She is now potty trained for the second time!! and likes to be independant in the bathroom too.

She is bossy and sweet and has so much personality. SHe is stubburn like her mom (so Aaron says) but tries to listen and be a good girl. She is getting more independant at saying her prayers with less and less help and likes to hear scripture stories.

She needs some reminders to try and talk nice. She resorts to yelling for some reason and one day she was trying to get something in a drawer and grandpa was standing in the way. She yelled something at him and I told her she needed to say"excuse me" so she gets on her best glare and yells, "excuse me". I guess I need to be a little more clear on how to say things to :)

She likes to try out new words now too. She sasy, "that's silly moma" or "guess what? ... I lub you" or "i play a couple minutes" or "just a sec" or "sometimes I get married" (meaning someday) or she says, "I do that alot alot alot" or "first me" or her biggest and longest kick has been about riding on a school bus. A school bus drove by my mom's house and I told her when she gets big like Ryker she could ride a school bus. So she says," I big, but when I get bigger, bigger I ride a school bus like Ryker. She talks about it all the time.

Oh the other day we were talking about going home and I told her it would almost be summertime when we got there. I was telling her about all the fun stuff we were going to do this summer like ride bikes and go to the lake and the Water Park and play in her swimming pool, well a little bit after this conversation she says, "mom, I go to summer?" like it was an event or place to visit! SO cute.

I was getting ready to go to the temple last week with Aaron's mom and Tay was going potty (this is where most of our deep conversations happen) and I told her I was going to the temple. She was quite for a minute and then very seriously said, "mom, you going to get married?" She was so confused. Of course she would think that, that is what I tell her she is going to do at the temple!

Oh and speaking of temples, she calls my engagement ring a temple.

Taylee is getting to excited to go to Sunbeams and start Primary. Even though I keep reminding her she has to go back to nursery for a while first, but every Sunday she talks about when I bigger, after my birthday, and after Christmas I go to Sunbeams. We were walking the halls at church today and she insisted I lift her up to watch in the Primary room window. Everytime I tried to put her down she demanded that we keep watching. I hope she really is excited when the time comes since nursery was such a nightmare for her, but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Well, I am being called to play games so I will add more later. Honestly, I don't know where this girl came from, but I love her anyway!