Two Posts in One

As promised, I have new pictures and video. The pictures are from Halloween. Steve and I got to take Alexis trick or treating on the downtown square. This was her first year to go, so she had no clue what we were about to do. She just loved her new dress - a princess costume.

When we first got to the square, she was quite confused. She kept looking at all the other children dressed in their costumes and wasn't much interested in anything else, for example - candy. However, by the time we had hit the third business (the downtown businesses had tables set up outside with candy for the trick-or-treaters), she knew what to do. She'd whip open her treat bag as fast as she could, watch while candy was dropped into her bag, say a sweet "Thank you", close the bag, grab my hand, and pull me off toward the next one. She was the cutest one out there. Being with her makes me feel young again.


All dressed up and ready to go... Beautiful, Princess Alexis


Mom telling Alexis to be good for Grandma and Pop Pop.


Pop Pop and Alexis heading down the street for more candy.


She didn't even seem to notice this woman's attire. She was all about the candy by this point.


The Denison Fire Department.

And now for the video portion of this post. For those who have not read Brianna's caringbridge page, here is the background. Steve and I bought a toy parrot several years ago. We saw and heard it at a store and thought it was funny, so we just bought it on an impulse. The bird repeats - twice - things it "hears".

Well, the novelty of it wore off a long time ago and it has been tucked away in a spare closet for years. Steve found it a little over a week ago and turned it on. The batteries - miraculously - still worked. Steve thought he'd "surprise" (or scare) Rochelle with it. And, Rochelle was a little startled when the parrot repeated something she said. But, Brianna thought it was the funniest thing ever.

In no time, Brianna figured out how to get the bird to talk. Now, it is her absolute, hands down, favorite toy ever. We need to stock up on batteries.

Make sure your volume is turned up when you watch this one.

Brianna Walks?

Well, sort of. It's a start.

Check out Brianna's first time in the walking harness. She had a blast.

New Wedding Ring

I know, I know... I said I wasn't going to post again until after this weekend but...

I had to share what happened this evening.

Steve and I went to Gordon's Jewelers to get my engagement and wedding rings re-sized. Since losing the weight, the darn things were about to fall off my finger. Anyway, the salesman that was helping us mentioned, not pushy at all - really, that they had some rings currently on clearance. So, we took a look.

And, bam, before I even realized what was happening, Steve said, "Pick one."

So, check it out...



My beautiful new wedding ring from my super, wonderful husband.

I am so blessed!

Dallas Weekend

I'm so excited! Steve and I are going to Dallas BY OURSELVES this coming weekend!

Kelli booked us a room at the Hyatt Regency for two glorious nights and she's going to come to our house and take care of Brianna while we're gone.



She said that she just wanted to do something nice for us to thank us for all that we do for her all the time. Hmmm..., I suspect she wants to spend some alone time with her girls - but, that's a good thing too.

I'm nervous - but not because I don't think Kelli can handle Alexis AND Brianna. She can. And even if she does have a question or need help, we're only a phone call away. And, Rochelle's close by too.

No, my fear is that something will happen BEFORE this Friday that will prevent us from going at all. I didn't use to be gloom and doom. I think I'm just anxious and wanting this so bad.

Cross your fingers that the next 48 hours are smooth and no big catastrophies occur that would put a halt to our weekend plans.

Hopefully, my next post will be to tell about how great our weekend was!

September is Over...

I have to preface this post. It is certainly not my intention to upset anyone. You must know that my own mother was a breast cancer survivor. My aunt was a breast cancer survivor. My sister-in-law is in treatment right now for breast cancer. For all of these people's lives, and the lives of so many others, I am very thankful. Still, I wonder how far along breast cancer treatment would be if not for the massive amount of awareness and money that is poured into it. It is October, and PINK IS EVERYWHERE! But, where was the gold in September? Where was childhood cancer awareness? Where is the funding for pediatric cancer research? Who cares about the children?

Anyway, the following was written by a cyber-friend who is a breast cancer survivor and who lost her eleven year old son to brain cancer. It is long, but well worth the read. Her words say it all...

"The end of September is approaching and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month has passed, largely unnoticed by society. The rush to shower us with pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month is reminiscent of the crowding away of pumpkins and scarecrows by Christmas trees and snowmen. Except there's no pushing gold aside. The way is clear for pink.

Even the American Cancer Society -- the outfit that professes to represent all cancers and provide support for everyone affected by the disease -- the organization for which we all come together and raise funds by holding a Relay each year -- has chosen not to recognize Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Go to www.cancer.org and what do you see? The banner at the top of the page is pink and touts the ACS' commitment to fighting breast cancer.

Of course, I, among all people, am grateful for the focus of so many foundations and researchers on breast cancer. I know I wouldn't be looking at a future that is likely cancer free (or free of breast cancer, anyway) without the research and the focus on breast cancer during the past decade.

Still -- I'd rather have my son.

What if the focus that remains on breast cancer was turned to pediatric brain cancer?

I know millions of women are affected by breast cancer. But almost all of them are effectively treated.

Only thousands of kids are affected by brain cancer. But many -- perhaps most -- of them die.

This is so politically incorrect, I am hesitant to write it. But, as I write, I am without breasts and sans colon.

And one son short a full house.

If anyone can speak to this issue, I think I can.

I am grateful for the pink that signals the arrival of October in our day and time. I just wish there was a wave of gold -- more in terms of funding for research, but also in terms of awareness -- to usher in the pink.

If you are reading this, you know. You have traveled this tragic journey with us and you are aware of the impact of pediatric cancer on families.

Will you spread the word to someone who doesn't know today? Send an e-mail. Copy this to your blog, your facebook, your twitter. Write a letter to a corporation or a legislator. Or to an editor.

Christine Reid, a colleague and fellow OCU Law and Hatton Sumner alum is editor of the "Kingfisher Times and Free Press". She was astonished at the lack of attention given to childhood cancers and wrote a fabulous article on this subject earlier this month -- for which we are most grateful.

Here is an excerpt:

September is a disease awareness month, which you probably recognized by the gold ribbons displayed on all the corporate advertising on TV and in magazines and the special media reports.

What’s that? You haven’t seen any? That’s because, for some reason, this class of diseases attracts hardly any public attention.

If I said “pink ribbon,” you would have immediately thought of breast cancer. “Red ribbon” might be a little trickier, but eventually you would have come up with heart disease.

But the gold ribbon is nearly invisible. It represents childhood cancers.

Today, as you read this, the equivalent of a classroom full of children will be diagnosed with cancer in the U.S., more than 12,400 a year. About 4,000 child cancer victims will die this year, making cancer the number one disease-related killer of children under 14.

While 75 percent of childhood cancer cases are curable, for some forms, a cure remains illusive.

Only one new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use over the past two decades. For some of the rarest, but most deadly, childhood cancers, no new treatments have been introduced in more than three decades.

For every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS, 15 children are diagnosed with cancer, yet available funding dollars designated for research are vastly disproportionate: $595,000 for each AIDS victim and only $20,000 for each pediatric cancer victim.

Federal funding for breast cancer research is more than double that for all 12 major groups of pediatric cancer combined.

Those statistics are staggering, particularly here in Kingfisher County where we can superimpose the faces of so many amazing children over those raw numbers: Zach, Morgan, Colby, Logan and Shaelyn are just a few that come to mind.

Those portraits in courage, whose resilience and tenacity – sometimes against all odds – have inspired us all, make it even more important that our gold ribbons are not invisible this September.

For the full article: http://tinyurl.com/n64s4u"

Remodeling? I wish!

I love watching HGTV. I get so inspired, but also depressed. Oh how I wish we could afford to remodel. There are so many things I'd like to do...

First of all, we have the tiniest master bedroom. I think the only reason it is considered the "master" is because it has a bathroom. However, the bathroom is also very tiny with a toilet, a little sink, and shower all squished together. Really, the bathroom is no bigger than a normal coat closet. Still, there is a bathroom connected to our room, so it's the master bedroom. I'd love to bump the entire room out toward the back yard, install french doors leading to a back deck (that we'd need to build), include a walk-closet in the room, and enlarge the itty-bitty bathroom. Only a dream.

Next, our kitchen is sorely in need of an update. We've got the oldest working appliances ever and our counter tops are, I'm pretty sure, original to the house (which was built in 1962). The counter tops are off-white Formica with lots of scratches and discoloration. Needless to say, they're pretty ugly. Granite would be nice, but I'd settle for anything really... just so it's better than what we've got now.

I also wish our house was better suited to meet Brianna's needs. Our hallway is very narrow, the door openings are little, and the main bathroom is almost impossible. Eventually, I don't know how we are going to be able to get Brianna in and out of the tub because there's just no room to maneuver around in there. And, let's forget ever taking her wheelchair into any of the bedrooms or bathroom because there's no room to make the corners. Besides, I don't think her chair would even fit into the bathroom. The doorway is not wide enough.

In my dreams, I fantasize about turning our garage into Brianna's suite. It's definitely big enough. We could put in a fully accessible, handicapped bathroom, a lift system, and enough storage for all of her supplies. And, we'd still be able to make it cute for her. I envision lots of textures, lights, and toys. She'd have the best room in the house. I think she deserves that. Of course, I have no idea what we'd do with all the stuff that is currently in our garage. Build a storage building, I guess, which would be another project.

But, all of those are dreams. Realistically, if we had the kind of money it would take to make any of those changes, we'd probably just look for another house. However, there is one change that I think we should really try to figure out a way to pay for, and that is repairing our driveway. It is truly an accident waiting to happen. Now that Brianna has her chair, we like to take her for walks. But, just getting down the driveway is a big challenge. Basically, we have to carry her to the end of the driveway before putting her in her chair. No big deal now, but eventually she's going to be too big for us to do that. Not to mention that one day we hope to have a van for us, her and her wheelchair. There's no way a lift will ever be able to lay flat enough on our driveway to get a chair on it.

Check out the pictures and let me know if you know anyone who does concrete work or driveway demo and replacement for cheap. Seriously, this is something I really believe NEEDS to be done.

Brianna Sits!

Brianna sat today several times unassisted!

She can't get into position by herself, but she is figuring out how to stay in position once we sit her up.

The first video is super short. Steve was in the garage, and after Brianna impressing me with sitting by herself for almost an entire minute, I finally got the camera. I was nervous about not being right beside her (in case she was to fall), so I only got a few seconds of it. Then, I went and got Steve.

The second video was taken after she'd been doing this for several minutes, so she is pretty tired. Still, she's impressive.

We are so proud!!! I just know this is only the beginning.

I love you Brianna!