The end of January already?!

Riley in her Steelers clippies I made for Super Bowl Sunday!

Riley modeling the Cardinals clippies I made for her cousin Gabi


I don't know why it is I can never remember to update this site, I'm going to have to tie a knot around my finger as a reminder (but then I'll be spending all my time trying to remember what I needed to remember!!).

Can you believe Riley is already eight and a half months old? She is developing so much, it seems like each week she masters something new! Currently she crawls SUPER FAST! One moment she's there and the next you hear this excited giggle from 10 feet away when she realizes she's succeeded in making a break for it (I don't think she realizes yet that she gives herself away with that excited giggle!). Crusing the furniture is an absolute breeze for her too, she's starting to circle the living room. Her memory seems to be developing quite well, she knows where the dog food is in every house she goes to, she loves the water bulb in the plant at her Smoochie's house (by the way, Sharice had a CATscan done today and everything looks GREAT! Just 3 more days of chemo and she's done!), and for some reason the coin jar in our bedroom is absolutely fascinating to her.

She's standing up by herself now, once she gets to about 30 seconds she freaks herself out and sits down really fast. Oh! And she also loves somersaults! I hold her at her hips and say "hands down", both hands hit the floor and then I say "head down" and she gently lats her head on the floor just waiting for me to flip her feet over and have her land on her back. She really seems to be a dare devil, she loves riding in her wagon, being thrown in the air, crawling over our dog Bosco (not Peyton, JUST Bosco) and she's getting quite the hang of climbing.... The other night she got herself onto a box but couldn't quite figure out how to get off and she also got caught climbing her baby gate - her little fingers were in the holes as well as her toes, just stuck on the gate with nowhere to go! I love the personality she's developing, it's so much fun!

I always swore that if I had a girl she wouldn't be all 'girly' with dresses and bows, I think my 16 year old self would be highly dissapointed in me now. I have become ADDICTED to making hair bows for Riley, it's turning into my 'relaxation time'. In fact I've made so many (and starting to realize that my first bows looked AWEFUL!), and given away more than I think the receivers wanted, that I have started selling on my own website. It's on a community website called Etsy where folks sell all things handmade or vintage and my new sites address is www.jarrettcreations.etsy.com. I'll be working on getting better photos taken this week so it looks a bit sharper but I'm sooper excited and hope to be able to sell some of this stuff to pay for my new addiction :) On that note, be prepared to see more photos of Riley with my silly bows in the weeks to come!

Riley's 1st Christmas

Riley sittin on presents because we were running out of room!
Santa Baby!

What am I eating? Nothing.....

Sweet Riley baby with her 'baby's first Christmas' hat

How we spent Christmas morning at Childrens Hospital... Poor sickers Riley!

Christmas already? It's hard to believe Riley is already nearly 8 months old! We celebrated her 1st Christmas in what was meant to be our 'traditional way' but ended up being quite non traditional in nearly all aspects!

Christmas Eve we headed over to Smoochies house for munchies and presents, Riley actually did quite well pulling on the wrapping paper and had fun with all her new toys (but mostly Smoochies old toys!). We spent our time with Smoochie, Grampa Chuck, Ryan & Mysty and then headed home for some much needed sleep... that we ended up not really getting. Riley ended up waking up several times throughout the early morning sick to her tummy, when things seemed to be getting worse and not better we packed ourselves into the car and headed to Childrens Hospital (quite non traditional, eh?). The nurses and Drs were really impressed with how calm Riley was and how she let them do whatever it was they wanted to, she was such a big girl! Someone had donated some 'pillow pals' to the hospital so they gave Riles this huge pillow duck, she loved it! That was her first Christmas present of the day since she was too sick to even want to look at hers at home.

We didn't stay at the hospital long, they gave her some anti nausea medicine and pedialite and then sent us on our way. Since we had missed our traditional family breakfast with Dave's family we still swung by Aunti Di's (Riley's babysitter and Dave's sister) where she got to cuddle with her Auntie and open a few presents there. We had a good couple hours at home and then went to David's moms for Christmas dinner. Riley was in pretty good spirits and had fun opening a few presents, then she got tired so I ended up behind a WALL of presents for her that I got to open and play with :) Riley is much better now, and was even nice enough to give me that tummy bug of hers - it sure packs a punch (that's why we're a few days late with this blog!). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the couple pictures and had a very Merry Christmas & have a great New Year!

Hopefully the last hospital update on my mom!

Hopefully today or tomorrow my mom will be released from the hospital! Whoohoo! I know she's going stir crazy in there!

Her chest tube should be removed today and if all goes well she could go home this afternoon. I stopped by and spent some time with her last night and I think she's actually doing pretty well. We went for a walk trying to see Christmas lights out of the window (which was a bummer we couldn't see any) and just had a good time talking between the two of us. I called her on my way home from work and I could tell she sounded bummed so I took a detour and headed back towards the hospital; after I left the nurse that came in to take her vitals said that she could tell my mom just lit up when I got there. I'm so glad I was able to help put a smile on her face and ease the annoyance of being stuck in the hospital for days on end!

I'm so excited for her to be getting out!!

Sunday update

Hi All!

So the good news it my mom is doing good. They removed the probes that were her constant supply of medication which seemed to cause some pain, but, after they found a happy medium she seems to be doing okay again. She is still having some leakage from her lymph system ( I think that's what it is anyway!) but they think it's getting better. They're letting her have liquids today and possibly food tomorrow, so it looks like the soonest she'll be released is Tuesday.

David, Riley and I went for a visit yesterday - mom says that Riley is the best medicine & she certainly proved to be when she couldn't stop giving her Smoochie kisses!

Hope all is well with everyone, time to go finish the Christmas decorations!

WooHooo!

My mom called me again this morning sounding FANTASTIC! She's feeling good, sounds good and the best news..... The tests came back and she is CANCER FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sounds like they'll still do some chemo in about a month after she has healed just incase there are some microscopic pieces in there; I'm so glad they're doing everything they can to get rid of every last bit! Chuck told me that her eye looks great (woohoo again!) and the Drs are really impressed with how she's recovering.... She was so sleepy after her surgery last week but now she's more alert and feeling so much better.

I think Riley is sooper excited that her Smoochie is going to be around much longer :)

Day after surgery update....

Hi All!

So this morning on my way to work I got a, quite surprisingly, cheery phone call from my mom. She sounded great, still a little tired, but she just sounded really good. Her calling me was deffinitely a plus! She's been so drugged up the last week which has been pretty tough on her memory and ability to stay awake, I think she's really looking forward to conciousness!

Her hospital room is full of flowers and stuffed animals - I know that they have given her plenty of smiles so thanks to all of you who have sent messages, made phone calls and kept her in your prayers!

As always, feel free to call or text my cell for any information! 303-981-7004

Ooh, I almost forgot! I've had several requests for St. Josephs information so here you go, but please be considerate if you call to keep your conversations short so she can get the rest she needs and head home as soon as possible (still looking like Sunday/Monday depending on pain).
1835 Franklin Street - Denver, CO 80218 - 303.837.7111. If you need specific information like how to spell her last name or her room number I can give that to you in a seperate e-mail (for privacy reasons!).

Smoochie Update

Today my mom had her 2nd surgery to remove the rest of the tumor that was unable to be removed last week. Her surgery started at 8:30 and ended about 5 hours later. Her surgeon removed a part of her first rib, was able to navigate around the nerves and is confident that they were able to remove all the cancer. They needed to separate a nerve in order to get to the rest of the tumor that he thinks may result in Horner Syndrome, a slight droop of her left eye lid. His theory is giving her life by removing the tumor is much better than stopping at the nerve to stop a little droop.... I have to say I agree with him!

Her epidural was removed since it wouldn't affect the new area that this surgery was performed in, but they did insert some probes that will deliver anesthetic automatically for the next 72 hours. The hospital will release her probably over the weekend or next Monday, depending on her pain.

She seemed in good spirits this morning before the surgery, I'm sure she's ready to have all this done and over with! Thank you to all who kept her in your prayers, I'll keep posting as I have updates!