Surprises both good and bad...

9:37:00 PM Atticus Army 0 Comments

Hey Army

We are OUT of the cancer unit!!! At least for this week

Sorry, its been awhile so ill update you on several things that happened this last week! Overall Atticus handled his first cycle of Chemotherapy like a champ! He had trouble with nausea and threw up a few times but once we got that under control he did amazing! He walked all over the cancer care unit floor and kicked his ball everywhere!  In fact, they have a contest going that you get a little foot cutout on your door for each mile you walk, and Atticus got 4 of them!!!

Its so comforting as parents to see those happy, real kid moments with him playing and doing things he should be doing as an almost 2-year-old. Atticus's little giggle is contagious along with his smile! Many on the cancer floor were able to interact and get to know Atticus and his fun personality! They always waved and many already know him by name!  We are beyond grateful with his recovery and how well he handled this last week!

Mommy got a very special surprise visit from her best friends, Jessica and Aubrey on Friday afternoon! They showed up at Atticus's hospital room! It was a very emotional and joyful reunion. Daddy stayed with Atticus while mom went to dinner with her friends! It was a much-needed break from the hospital and a chance to feel normal for a minute in the outside world! We went down to University Village and ate dinner at a really yummy all American food restaurant and then got cupcakes and brought them back to the hospital room and ate them together! We laughed, cried and had the greatest time being together! It was by far one of the best and most memorable surprises of all time! I don't think my friends will ever know how much I needed them at that time! Our time and their surprise trip will forever be treasured! Thank you Jess and Aubs for pulling off the BEST surprise YET!!





We were released from the Seattle children's on Saturday at 1:00PM! one thing Seattle has always been good at is being on time for their discharges! They say a time and we are out!! It is always the best feeling in the world being released after a week stay! Even though we know we will be back every other day for appointments it's so nice to be home sleeping in our own beds and especially to all be under the same roof as a family! Its been so fun to be home and make the kids lunches, get them ready for school, walk them to and from school. These are things I LOVE doing as a mom and I cherish the time I get with my kids!

The weekend was so awesome, I was able to spend some more time with my friends! I almost forgot what being normal feels like! If there is such a feeling of "normal" anyways! I just don't know if normal is really a thing anymore! We were able to go down to Pikes place, public market! We Ate lots of yummy food from the Beechers cheese Factory to the french bakery's! We had the best time ever! We loved every minute of it! Thanks to my amazing supportive husband who helped plan the surprise with my girlfriends and for letting me go spend time with them! Caleb has always been so incredible and supportive of me having my girl time with my friends!

This is a GUM wall, Super gorss!!

Jessica and Aubrey brought some special surprises with them! Jess and Aubrey had bought Atticus Army camo bands and had been selling them to raise money for our family! She brought the donation from the money raised from the bands! We cannot thank them enough and the whole entire St. George Utah Community for their love and support! It means the world to us and you have no idea how much this helps our family! It is incredible the support we have received from so many! We wish we could individually thank and hug each one of you! Also, I worked at a Hair salon in St.George for over 10 years and the people i worked with are some of the most kind, giving people i have ever met! The whole salon wrote us a beautiful personal card and we just want to thank you for that along with your donations for our family! Caleb and I have cried many tears of gratitude for all these incredible people who love us and support our family!
Thank you to the WHOLE UNITED HAIRLINES FAMILY! We love you all so much! We hope you know how much your appreciated and have helped our family! Thank you for your kindness, your continued prayers and support! We also received a very special package from Wendy Vernon and family! Thank you so much!

We have received so many different packages, cards, money and more from so many people! We hope each and every one of you know how much it means to us! We truly wish we could give each one of you a big hug and personally thank you! Please know that each package or card is treasured and so special to us! It means more than you will ever know! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

SOME BIG GREAT NEWS!!

Monday September 26, 2016
So we started this week off with clinic and labs on Monday! They had a bit of trouble drawing blood from his Hickman line and thought maybe it was clogged! Thankfully it was not and later that day they were able to draw the rest of his blood for labs! His labs looked pretty good on Monday so good news! numbers will start dropping this week.. He had a dressing change for his Hickman line on Monday which has to be changed once a week! It is a little tricky because it has to be a sterile procedure! Thanks to dads muscles and helping hold Atticus we were able to have a successful dressing change!

After that we were able to get the final results from cytology on his LP (Lumbar Puncture) It was super exciting news and came back with ZERO Cancer cells which confirmed the MRI results that there are not metastasis present!! Seriously such a miracle and blessing from when before there were spots showing up on his MRI! We definitely have someone watching over us and our sweet Atticus!
MORE SURPRISES AND SOME NOT SO GOOD NEWS TOO......

Tuesday wasn't to exciting, as we had the day off as far as appointments.  Since Atticus's blood values were pretty good on Monday we decided we better take him out of the house while we could.  So we visited a few stores and ran a few errands.  The biggest thing Tuesday was that we had to say good bye to my mother.  She had been here for the last 2+ weeks helping us get settled, and watching our other 2 kiddos while we were at the hospital.  We can't begin to express how helpful that was and how much she will be missed.  Luckily we still have my sister here that has been super helpful and someone which we will have to continue to rely on throughout this whole crazy cancer whirlwind.

Wednesday September 28, 2016

Today we had clinic and labs again! His Hickman line performed beautifully and they were able to draw blood great today! Must have been a fluke thing on Monday! Ok so lab results from today were:
Hematocrit (HCT): 28 -normal is 31-48 Hematocrit measures red blood cells which are responsible for carrying oxygen to the body!
Platelets (PLT): 102-normal is from 150-500- They are responsible for clotting blood when bleeding
White Blood Cell (WBC): less than 200-normal is 500-12,000- responsible for fighting off infections.

Atticus at his first out patient blood draw.  He wasn't to impressed...

We found Mickey at the hospital.

SO, having his WBC and ANC this LOW can be very scary! This means basically he has not much of an immune system right now! We have to be super careful and cautious! We are home bound and washing and sanitizing everything! We are trying to do everything possible to avoid germs and infections! If Atticus gets a fever we have to rush him to the ER at Seattle Children's and we will be admitted for a minimum of 48 hours and he will be given iv antibiotics! The words FEVER and CANCER never should go together!

We are on close watch for Atticus, but we got the coolest new thing called the FEVERFRIDA!! We feel like ALL parents should own one of these! Its a tiny monitor that attaches on his side under his arm and stays there! It connects to your phone and alerts you when his temperature reaches certain levels you set! It is also tracks and records his temperature throughout the day! Now we can sleep worry free knowing that it will alert us at any sign of fever!!

Today we also got some not so fun news... our sweet boy has been loosing weight even with us trying to get him to eat everything we can! Most the time Atticus doesn't feel up to eating, he likes to snack but when it comes to actually eating good food he doesn't feel up to it! So today reviewing his growth and weight charts he started out in the 80% for weight and is now in the 20%. They say their eating habits only get worse as the chemo goes on so they feel its best to insert an NG-tube (feeding tube) in Atticus!

It was very hard news to take as parents! It was like the realization of how the Chemo is already affecting his tiny body is already taking a toll! I was emotional for a bit but then quickly realizing there are many benefits of the tube as well! It will be so nice and comforting to know that he is getting the proper nutrition! Also, being able to give him medication through his tube rather than by mouth will be really nice! Needless to say we didn't venture out and do much today! It looks like we will have many days ahead of just being home and steering clear of germs! But we are okay with that, our sweet Atticus is here and doing so well! Even though there will be many bumps along this
journey, we can take them one day art a time and work through them! Attiucs is so strong and such a little fighter! We will be strong with him and we are all fighting and cheering him on! We have a whole ARMY behind us!

Day 1 of Chemo. Another tender mercy, and what the..... are we doing???

9:34:00 PM Atticus Army 0 Comments

Hey Army,

Well, we have officially started Chemotherapy as of 10 am this morning.  The chemotherapy treatment is made up of a whole onslaught of different medication.  Fun Fact, Chemotherapy literally means to treat therapeutically with chemicals, so really giving your child Tylenol is a form of Chemotherapy, however, it is typically accepted to imply the treatment of cancer. 

Be that as it may, Atticus will go through 2 primary phases in his chemo treatment.  The first phase will consist of 3 cycles that will that typically last 3-4 weeks each.  During this cycle, the chemo drugs that he will be given are Vincristine, Etoposide, Cyclophosphamide, and Cisplatin.  On top of this, he will be given a few different prophylactic drugs for nausea, and to protect his bladder and kidneys, and for an immune system stimulant.  I think, rather than spend the time right now explain each of these and the side effects I will kind of hit on them as time goes, and then create a separate page with each of the explanations.  I am sure that there will be a LOT of information that might not make sense at first but as time goes on we will have an ARMY of experts!!!

So onto some AMAZING NEWS.  If you recall on the post " And now the whole story of a whirlwind of personalities, and tender mercies" ( you can click on it to recap if you wish), Emmie and I were the recipients of such an amazing miracle with the disappearance of the masses at the base of his brain stem.  In that same radiology report where they found those masses, they also found metastases all down his spine.  After the tender mercy we received they were inclined to do another full body MRI to re-evaluate his spine as well and double check the brain stem.  Well, that was our MRI we had yesterday.  I am now so VERY thrilled to let you all know that he OFICALLY HAS NO METASTIES ANYWHERE!!! 

Emmie and I are just so beside ourselves, and so amazed that we have been afforded two amazing miracles, and we know it is thanks to the amazing army we have behind us.  So ATTICUS'S ARMY, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We are so humbled at the faith and strength of this army.

Well, now on to the day's events.  As already stated Chemo started this morning at 10 am, and continued until 5 this evening.  Each time we come in for the beginning of a cycle, his routine will be about the same.  Chemo during the day, and control of symptoms the rest of the time.  Atticus, for the most part, did really well throughout the day.  They did have to start giving him steroids again, so we did start to see his ROIDER rage come out a bit.  Hopefully, it won't be to bad this round as he doesn't have to be on it near as long or as high of a dose as he did after his surgery.  But other than that we saw some fun glimpses of our cute, outgoing, strong willed little boy that we so adore. 

Atticus was quite attentive when we started chemo this morning.

After chemo started we got a fun visit from Grandma, aunt Ashley, and his brother and sister.  We just love, love, love having all of our children here and are so happy that we stuck to our guns to ensure our little family unit stays together.  If you all could see precious little Atticus's face each time they come you would immediately understand.  It just lights up with excitement and makes him feel at home.  Atticus, of course, wanted to play with them so off we went to the halls again.  While we were out touring and playing soccer, we ran into some clowns that go from room to room at times with musical instruments.  They pulled out some bubbles and of course Atticus liked them right away. 




After that, We had a little nap but then it started.  Atticus was fast asleep and then out of nowhere he sat up spit his binky out and threw up all over.  We felt so so bad for the little guy.  He just looked up at us like what the heck was that.  We could immediately tell he didn't feel well at all.  It is so hard as a parent knowing exactly what is causing your poor little child to be sick, but have to make the choice to continue giving him the thing that makes him sick.  Later in the evening as we finally got his nausea under control (for the time being) I looked at Emmie and said, " What are we doing here hun?  How did we end up here?"  And it's true.  We were so excited about our new adventure, we had the kiddos all registered for school, even had a back to school special dinner night and everything.  Then our of left field we are living our of suitcases in someone else's home hundreds of miles from our own.  And to top it all off we are making our little one feel like..... well you know. 

We, of course, see the bigger picture and understand the necessity of the treatments.  But if any of you find a way to explain that to a 21 month old, to make it all better??? Please Please share. 

Mom, Dad, and Atticus all snuggling just before bed.

Another thing that Emmie and I are just sick about is that our two other kiddos are starting school tomorrow.  Which in the big picture we are very happy about.  They definitely need some structure and normalcy in their life.  But we are just so so sad that we don't get to send them off.  We always have a special breakfast, take first day of school pictures, wait anxiously for them to get home and talk all about their first day of school.  On top of all of that it is Ryker's first time going and they have all day kindergarten.  I know that they are in good hands with Grandma, and aunt Ashley.  But it just isn't the same with out Mom and Dad.  I sure hope they do well. 

Super special post today that just couldn't wait, "I SEE AN ARMY"

12:17:00 PM Atticus Army 1 Comments

Hey Army,

We are still awaiting the final results from our MRI that we had yesterday evening.  But I in the mean time I just wanted to take a moment and thank EVERYONE that has helped support us.  We have had so many people help in countless ways, from family support here at the hospital, all the kind thoughts, words, and prayers we have received.  We have gotten many fun packages that Atticus has loved opening and we have cherished each and every one of them.

Atticus waking up from his 5th MRI.  I love his cute little smirk.

Emmie has had a wonderful group of friends that has been with each other through many hard and difficult times, as well as all the happy ones.  I have seen the way they lean on and support each other throughout our wonderful 10 years of marriage.  It has been a very difficult thing for my lovely bride to have to leave them while we have pursued this Veterinary school adventure and ESPECIALLY during our most recent struggles.

In spite of these obstacles, they have been so supportive in many different ways.  Most recently in the form of poetry.  I just want to say thank you to Brielle and Jess for their heartfelt words and sincere emotions that we felt as we have read these words many times over.

I See An Army

I feel that this is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.  While it is true I may be somewhat biased by the event as of late, but such a heartfelt testimony of a lasting friendship that has matured through trials and love.

All the words I have is,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Please take the time to comment below and tell us what you see?, and share if you feel so inclined.  Let's help our little soldier grow his army strong. 

Click here to comment. I SEE AN ARMY

Another surgery, and the begining of many hard times to come.

11:50:00 AM Atticus Army 2 Comments

Hey army,

Well, the week has finally arrived.  We got a call last Friday from the schedulers here at Seattle children's, and she informed us that we needed to check in Monday morning at 7 am and that we would be admitted for 5 days!!! 

This is not a place you EVER see your self having to stay

We, of course, are VERY happy that we ended up here at Seattle Children's, and have been so so impressed with the quality of care we have received.  Without it, we would not have our little Atticus with us today.  Having said that, the prospects of Chemotherapy is somewhat disheartening.  As many of you know, I am in Vet school so I feel like I have somewhat of a grasp on many things the doctors have come to speak with us about.  Having that knowledge has been a boon in many circumstances.  I think, though, that this is not one of them.  I am so grateful for modern medicine and the things that can be done are just miraculous.  I fully understand that we need the treatment that Atticus is about to undergo.  I don't know, I just think there are some hard times to come. 

Well, sure enough, Monday morning came, Emmie and I woke up pretty early to get our bags packed and get ready for the week.  We made it to the hospital shortly before 7 am to get checked in, and we of course were in the wrong area.  Those of you that might have been to Seattle Children's may know, but for the rest of us, it is a pretty big hospital.  We, of course, went to the wrong area of the hospital to check in!!! ARGG...  It may be true that we weren't told, or with all the phone calls we got last week, I very well could have forgotten.  In any case, we ended up on the surgery floor right around 7:15.  We got Atticus checked in and right around 8:30 they took him into surgery to get his Hickman Line placed and get an LP (lumbar puncture).

Momma getting loves before he leaves for surgery.

 Atticus was so funny after they gave him is pre-medication for the surgery.  It took about 10 or 15 minutes to start to kick in and we could for sure tell!!  Just prior to this Atticus had his full grump face out.  But slowly he started to get a little happier and started laughing.  We started to ask him to say things and the funniest one was Dad.  For some reason whenever Dad came up he had to yell it.  Everything else he would say normal but Dad had to be loud.  It was quite comical



The Hickman Line is what they will use for the duration of his treatment.  It will be used for the Chemotherapy drugs, fluids, and blood, plasma, and platelet transfusions.  The Hickman line is a little bit different that the typical port many people think about when you talk about chemo.  Our is what is called a dual lumen Hickman line catheter.  It is pretty nice in that it allows them to do multiple things at the same time.  It enters on the right side of his chest, and the surgeons tunnelled under his skin up towards his neck.  The line enters his right jugular vein, then travels down the vein and stops just above the base of the heart. (fun fact, the base of the heart is the top, or closer to the head.  The bottom of the heart is termed the apex)  Here is a fun little diagram that kind of explains it.








So, finally around 12:30 Atticus was back in our room after receiving his Hickman line, and doing the LP.  They are doing the LP so that they can see if there are any cancerous cells floating around in his spinal fluid.  As you may or may not remember, any primary brain tumor is restricted to the CNS (central nervous system).  So the only places we look for the cancer is in his brain and spinal cord.  So by doing the LP it gives us a good idea if there is a possibility of metastases down the spine.  Today (Tuesday) they will do another MRI - number 5 - and between the LP cytology and the MRI they will determine if there are any or the extent of the metastasis.  That will determine the intensity of the treatment we will start later this evening or tomorrow. 

The rest of Monday was uneventful as far as procedures.  We just got settled into our new room.  Atticus roamed the hallway, and we played soccer a bit.  We meet a few of the other kiddos here at the hospital receiving treatment and many of them have little cars or trikes they roll around in the hall.  It is actually pretty cute.  We are thinking of getting him a little car he can push around the hospital.

Playing soccer

Tuesday

Atticus did so well last night sleeping.  We were finally able to get a bed again and it is so much nicer to have him be able to sleep.  At first, he was having to stay in a crib, and he was up until like 3 in the morning every night screaming and crying.  Enough was enough!!! He is much happier laying next to mom or dad.  In fact, he slept so well last night he didn't even wake up for his vitals check, or when they drew some blood for labs.  It was great. 

This morning we had an audiology screening test.  Some of the medication that he will have to get for his Chemo treatment can cause permanent damage to his hearing.  So prior to starting Chemo, and prior to each of the 6 cycles he will go through they will do the same screening test.  If he starts to lose his hearing they may have to amend his treatment protocol a bit. 

I think that Emmie and I realize that there can, and possible will be some consequences to some of the treatments and medications that he has to go though.  But if you sit back and suppress the frustration, and at times outrage, it is much better to have a son with some hearing deficits, than to not have a son at all.  And quite literally that is the choice we are faced with every day.  There are very few if any things in life that can compare to that choice. 


That about sums it up for the morning, Atticus is laying next to me snoozing away.  They should be starting fluids here in an hour or so, and we will have our MRI this afternoon.  We will let you all know what happens.

Family week continued.

2:08:00 PM Atticus Army 0 Comments

Hey army,

Thank you all so much for all of the support and continuing to read up on Atticus's story.  Let's continue the week.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we got up and went to Pike Place Market.  It was so fun.  There was so so much to see and look at.  Right when we got there a gentleman was setting up his piano there and he put on quite a show.  Atticus was enthralled with it and we sat for a good 15 minutes watching him.  After that Atticus got to see them throwing fish over all the counters, he loved seeing all the flowers and got to eat lots and lots of yummy fruit from all the stands.  This week has been so great for our family, to be able to act somewhat like we are on vacation and do a lot of fun things together before the craziness starts next week.



After that, we walked down to the water front and went to the Seattle Aquarium.  We have found through all of this that Atticus is in love with fish tanks.  There are at least 6 large fish tanks at Seattle Children's Hospital and we frequented them quite often with Atticus.  He really doesn't like being in his room so we do quite a bit of walking around the hospital.  But, I do have to say his favorite parts are the fish tanks, so it was no surprise that the aquarium was a big hit for him.

Ryker peeking over at the Otters.

We saw many sea friends at the aquarium! I think Atticus's favorite fish is the clown fish, or NEMO!! He loved the sea otters, the octopus, the jellyfish and the seagulls! We grabbed lunch at the aquarium cafe! Atticus is still obsessed with eating french fries. Although since the surgery he is is eating so  much better! His new favorite foods include, grapes, apples scrambled eggs, pancakes, peanut butter protein bars, goldfish crackers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!  It was an amazing day!


After the aquarium, he had a Physical Therapy Appointment and a Speech Therapy appointment! The PT Doctor was very impressed with how well he had progressed since surgery. Before we left the hospital after surgery,  the PT team came in and evaluated Atticus and said that they predict he would walk again someday but that it would take a long time given that his left side was so weak. That is hard news to take as parents! All you want for your kids is to be healthy and happy! Atticus loved being mobile and exploring so it was upsetting as parents to hear those words from the Physical Therapists! Again those blessings and tender mercies have filled our cups once again as our sweet boy is walking again and moving all over! We have witnessed so many miracles with Atticus the last few weeks! It is nothing short of a major miracle that he is even still here with us and Caleb and I will forever be grateful for the medical team and surgeons for their care and keeping our sweet boy with us! His speech therapy appointment went amazing as well. His newest words are Go, Bubbles, and Grandma!! We couldn't be any more proud of Atticus and his progress!

Thursday

We went to the Woodland Park Zoo. We spent the entire day at the Zoo, 8 whole hours to be exact! When we first entered the Zoo they had this really cool interactive animal exhibit where you could touch and feed the animals! Atticus was a little hesitant at first but then daddy was able to get his excited about feeding the goats! We have always laughed that Kezzie is the goat whisperer! The goats always love her and chewing on her hair too! Right after we left the petting area, a really nice lady stopped us! She said I'm so sorry to bother you but my little girl has that exact same scar as your little boy! We told her she did not need to apologize for stopping us! We were so grateful to meet her! She explained her story and how her daughter had to have surgery at only 6 weeks old and that her tumor was half the side of her daughter's brain. She had a rare cancer tumor as well but not the same as Atticus. She had been through it all too, chemo, the ups and downs etc. It's somehow always comforting to meet these cancer parents who have been there and we can relate too! She was seriously the kindest person! She told us about all different kinds of organizations and help for our family during this difficult time! She even gave us her phone number and wants to come visit us at the hospital and bring us drinks and food! The world is so good! There are so many kind people! It was so neat for us to see her sweet 17-month-old little girl running around and healthy! Once again another blessing that came our way! No doubt in our minds that Heavenly father put her on our path that day! We wished we would have taken a picture with her and her family but hopefully we will get one later!

He is really wanting to walk everywhere.  We are of course a little nervous, we don't want him to get hurt.

After that, we went to this really cool bug and insect house! Well, mom didn't think it was so cool but the kids loved seeing all the cool spiders and different insects! There was this HUGE spider in the bug house that was just chilling sitting in its web but out in the open with NO cage! It was crazy! Ryker was in heaven he loves bugs and insects!

The zoo was huge and we saw so many fun things.  Caleb was able to participate in the raptor show and have a falcon land right on his arm.  He was of course in heaven as he LOVES birds of prey.  It was a lot of fun.  After that, the kiddos wanted to go and feed the parrots.  They have this huge indoor aviary where they can just fly around and you can get these little sticks to feed them and they will fly right up to you and eat it.  The kids loved it.

Atticus was a bit tired, but can you really blame him??

The Zoo was a big hit!

Another part of this whole thing which we haven't really mentioned is that Atticus has had to be away from his furry siblings.  We have to amazing dogs, a whippet named Nigel, and a chihuahua named Olive.  They have been with all of our kiddos their whole lives.  Atticus especially loves Nigel as we will often find him laying on Nigel in the living room and giving him hugs. I would really like to thank a few of the members of my Vet school class as they have taken them in and have agreed on "joint custody" while we are away.  I know they are in good hands but we sure miss them and so appreciate fun pictures they send us!

Nigel is the one in the front, and olive is in the home made sling! (she can't be expected to walk the whole way)

Again Nigel in front, and Olive in arms.

Olive showing her support for her little brother!! #atticusarmy

Family Week

11:06:00 PM Atticus Army 1 Comments

Hey Army,

Well, it has been quite the week.  When we were discharged the doctors told us that we should use this week off to do some family things. Caleb and I have always said we wanted to come to Seattle for vacation, we joked on the drive up to the ER how this was definitely not the way we wanted to have to come to Seattle. However, we will make the best of this week and enjoy every second we get with our family! They said that once treatment started that we couldn't be any further that about 45 minutes from the hospital at any given time.  And, not to mention that Atticus probably won't be feeling too well.  So, that is exactly what we did.  While staying at the SCCA house we were able to get some free tickets to a lot of the attractions here in Seattle, and we had SO MUCH FUN with Atticus this week. 

Sunday

Sunday we went downtown Seattle to Gas Works Park, it was a way cool park right on the water! We watched planes land right on the water in front of us! We saw cool boats and ships too! Atticus even got to chase some geese with dad too! We met up with Caleb's sister and family and were able to spend the day with them! Then we headed down to the space needle! Super cool sight to see! The kids had a blast playing at this awesome park there too! There is a giant maze and musical instrument pipes that Atticus loved playing with! It was the perfect day to spend as a family! We loved every minute of it!

Found a fun shirt with a big A for Atticus Army!!!

Thanks FAM for such a fun day.

By the time we got to the space needle  Atticus was so tired.  Poor kiddo, Mom, and Dad are running him all over.

Atticus loved playing the giant pipes.

Monday

So Monday, we had a few doctors appointments so we didn't do to much things.  As parents, we dread every time we have to walk through those hospital doors! We often wonder if it will ever get easier with time! I'm sure it's because we know all too well what goes on behind those doors! Atticus had a wound check, weight check, head measurement, and vitals checked. They talked to us about how he was acting, eating, talking, moving around etc. The Dr's are so impressed with his progress and recovery! Caleb and I are so excited and proud of our sweet boy's progress too! Everything looked good according to the Neuro Team on monday! HOOray! Monday Evening we went to the University Village shops! It's an outdoor mall near Seattle Children's Hospital. It has been so nice to just feel normal for a minute and do normal family things outside the Hospital world! We had an amazing day!

Thanks grandma for playing with me.

Tuesday

We took the kids to the Pacific Science Center! The kids were in Heaven! In fact, we spent just over 7 hours there! Grandma Cathy has been right there along with us! We are so grateful for all her help and time she spends with us! We have had amazing family support! The kids were able to see all kinds of experiments, a butterfly room, dinosaurs, reptiles, build machines, touch sea urchins, and many many more things.  We really had just a wonderful time there.  Grandma had such a fun time as well and she was just soo amazing with the kiddos.  She ended up buying us an annual membership which will be so fun for those times that we are stuck in the hospital that Grandma or Nana can just bring them there for the day. 

We all know how much Atticus loves balls, so this activity was bound to be a big hit for him.

Ryker LOVED doing all of these different electrical, and circuit building activities.  We may have an electrical engineer on our hands.

They had the coolest butterfly room.  There were hundreds of them just flying all over.  We even got to see one hatch.

We got a full grump face from Atticus with the pigeons.  He wasn't to sure about them at first.

This was Atticus's favorite activity.  It is just like one of the penny funnels that they usually have at the mall, but this one was with small ping pong like balls.  We easily spent 15 minutes here letting him throw them on it.  So much fun.

As you can see they were all very tired when we finished the 7 hour day at the science museum.  This was about 5 minutes after getting in the car.  We hadn't even pulled away from the curb yet.

Well that is it for now... The rest of the week to come.