We could get used to this.......

The following was written by Stacey and has been reviewed with comments and/or corrections have been made by Nick (shown in blue).

We woke up the morning they were sending us home and the line for her hats had broken, and fallen down....I think the hats were just as ready to be done as we were!

 Taking it all down....after we decorated for Faye's birthday last round we decided for this round we should do it again!  So we had made these little strawberries and swirlies!

 Dads contribution....this is just a little example, but he wrote Fayes name all these different ways and hung them up! 

One Last peekabo through the hospital bed! 

 Yeah last Hospital Chemo!

 A few families from church made signs and were waiting on the side of the road for us when we got home!  I had no idea, Nick knew what was going on!  It made me so happy.  It's a good thing I was wearing sunglasses.... Faye was so excited to see Mitchell (Mitchell was right at the front of the kids so as we drove past Faye saw him.  As we slowly we kept driving, she started to cry, so we stopped the car and got her out so she could see Mitchell.  We decided she was confused, she didnt understand why we were leaving Mitchell)...and then of course Nixon!

 Can you believe all this "STUFF"  we had in one little hospital room!  Me neither! 

 Our friends at church were so wonderful...when they welcomed us home (as if that wasnt good enough)  They had this big basket of treats, toys, and a few other things..........they are so wonderful!

Getting back into the swing of things!  Helping Dad clean out the car!

This is definitely one of my best pictures.

What would time at home be with out a fort?  The whole room rearranged, sheets tied to the ceiling fan....Dad really knows how to do it right!  The kids loved it!

 And of course what would a fort be without treats and a movie! 

Grandma was even nice enough to climb in!

 Plenty of bike rides!  It makes us so happy to see her riding a bike, because before all of this happened the idea of her using her legs to even walk, let alone ride a bike...unheard of!

 Little Miss Thing!

Faye always wanted to play wedding when she first got home!  Mitchell has decided he does not want to play wedding!    He had a really hard time at first, cuz he is such a sweet brother!  He said "I know I should just do whatever Faye wants to, to make her happy, but I just really dont want to play wedding!"  Poor Mitchell, Faye even found a ring box, put one of her rings in it and wanted Mitchell to give it to her.  We told her Dad would play wedding with her, but that wasnt good enough, "He's already married" she said.  So we told her that when Nixon gets a little bigger she could probably convince him to play wedding with her...she decided that was a great idea!  So now poor Nixon!
I feel like this is the most accurate game of marriage I have ever witnessed. There a few different ways to look at this.  1.  I told Mitchell that it's really good practice.  Marriage is all about doing stuff for your wife that you don't want to.  2.  The first reason gives some reasoning to Mitchells argument of not wanting to play.  If he is going to have to go through this later he should be able to enjoy the freedom while he's got it.  3.  What they both don't know is that them arguing about it makes it seem like they are neck deep into a game of marriage already. 
I think I will be playing out the third scenario once Stacey reads this.  I love you Stace.

 Oh, the talks we need to have with her are endless after coming home!  It is really hard coming from the hospital where we were happy to get her to eat whatever she would, sleep whenever she could, and do whatever to make her happy!  Now trying to get her to go to bed at night has been the biggest challenge!  She flashes that sweet smile at her dad and she can do whatever she wants!
I really don't see what the big deal is.  This is a strategic move on my part.  I am trying to bring her in as close as I can so that when the time comes for me to scare off boys and convince Faye that none of them are good enough for her she will believe and trust me! 

She gets frustrated easily when she doesnt get what she wants and storms off to her room, or cries!  It has been really hard for me to not get frustrated, becasue you think of all she has been through, but then also we have to get back to normal and she has to learn to follow rules, and share!  Its really is a bit of a challenge!
Again, my fault.  I still struggle with this in my 30's.  She's a four year old girl and it comes with the territory.  I think it has been just as difficult for us, er ...... me, to not give her everything she wants as it is for her not to expect it.

We went back to clinic last Monday, they had an art show on Sunday with art the cancer kids had drawn, luckily it was still up on Monday so we could see it!

 "Rainbow Princess"

(Faye made this in the hospital one day with dad)

Fence Post Girl, one day when we went into clinic Faye made this while we were waiting to be seen by the doctor!  We werent able to finish it, but Faye had all the stuff picked out, so someone else finished it for us!  We were happy to see this little girl in the art show too!

 This past weekend Aunt Holly was able to come visit!  It was a good weekend!
Is it just me or do both of my boys look more feminine than Faye in this picture? (Nixon's raised limp hand as if responding by saying "fresh" and Mitchell's bright pink shirt) 

Grandma and Holly left on Sunday, then Grandpa Mike came in that evening!  With him he brought this Hannah Montana wig...Faye was a big fan of this long hair!

The other day she comes into the bathroom holding two little elastics and tells me she wants her hair in ponytails.  She was dead serious, so I said: "Sure. 

We will see if we can get two ponytails in there". (She does have a few "longer" strands hanging in there)  Just as I was going to see what I could do she got sad, dropped the elastics, and went and sat on her bed.  I followed her into her room and asked her what was wrong.  Our conversation went like this:

 "But I dont have any hair to put in ponytails" 

"But you will one day"

"And is it never going to fall out again?"

"Well if your sick comes back your hair might fall out again"

"Ugg but it is taking forever"

"I know but one day it will be back and long and we could put it in ponytails, braids, or whatever you want"

"okay"

This conversation just broke my heart.  She has never cared yet that she doesnt have hair...or realized it I dont think.  But today she was truly devistated about her hair.  I wanted her to know that it might fall out again, so she would be okay with it if it happened again! 

And of course Faye puts Grandpa right to work, being her assistant while she paints her nails!

We went for another clinic visit yesterday!  Faye passed the time by writing her alphabet on the table!

"Hmmmm what letter comes next?" 

Counts:

WBC: 1.41

HGB: 10.1

Platelets: 141

ANC: 640

Everything is looking good the doctor says, so the plan is to go in next Tuesday for a bone marrow biopsy, and get her PICC line removed! 

When we were getting ready to go to clinic Faye was telling me we needed to get all her stuff in the car, I think she was confused when I told her we weren't staying!  After clinic we went to see our friends on the 9th floor, when we got up there Faye says "Now which room is mine?" 

We took this little picture up for the nurses to hang in the break room!  It was Fayes favorite thing to scare the nurses, and they were always nice enough to play along...even if they already saw her!

 She is having a wonderful time holding this brother of hers!  You can see he really likes it too!

Being home is wonderful!  It has occasional challenges but that just makes it feel somewhat normal again!  Fayes loves to play with her dolls, dress up, ride her bike, take Mitchell to school..and pick him up, or make "Recipes" (help me cook).

So I guess you could say " We Could Get Used To This"....or better yet "We Are Getting Used To This"