Grandpa opening Will's card...it folded out really big to show how much Will loves Grandpa!
My Dad and I! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!
Since it was March and still rather cold outside, there were not a whole lot of animals outside. These were a few of my favorites!
Here are the penguins. You can also see them swim inside the water from below.
Here are two adorable penquins!
Josh, me and Will.
A lion
Four Wild Things!
I found Will sleeping in this weird position...pillow in the middle of the bed, feet over the bumper, head slightly off the pillow, multiple pacifiers. What a life!
Where is all of our silverware??
There it is!
We found Will in the middle of the kitchen amongst clinging and clanging...
Sassy boy!
Will loves to have a Schaefer Family Movie Night! We break out popcorn, smoothies, and car blanket. Will LOVES popcorn! He munches and munches, dumps some out, and munches some more. It was one of the first things we did to get him to sit and snuggle with us. He also loves Daddy's smoothies. Daddy makes the World's Best Smoothies! Will loves to play car blankie fort. We all hide under the blanket and laugh and giggle. We are hoping Will starts to adore car blanket so it is a good transition from his crib to a big boy bed when it is time to transfer!
As most of you probably know, my dad has been battling cancer since 2002. He has Non-Hodgkins Disease cancer of his lymph nodes and as a result, his blood, too. This last round of treatment was pretty tough on my dad. The most noticeable effects to us were his loss of his hair, his "port" sticking out of his chest where they put the chemo so it wouldn't ruin his veins, and his frequent icy-hot sweats/chills.
My dad has been getting Chemo pretty much every other year since being diagonsed, so this year the doctors recommended a bone marrow transplant. After testing his brother and sister (siblings are the best hope for a match), his brother Dean turned out to be a perfect match! Luckily one of the siblings were, otherwise, he would have had to be in a database search to find a random person who matched! We are so grateful my uncle is agreeing to the procedure. Hopefully this will "cure" my dad's type of cancer!
He is set to have the surgery at the beginning of June. He will be in the hospital for 2-4 weeks pending on the results. From there, he'll have to see the doctor 2-5 times a week until they say otherwise. He will also probably have to take a year off of work for recovery/infection prevention.
I am so thankful for modern medicine! 20 years ago, this would not have been an option for my dad! Today, best case scenario, he could be cancer free!
Please continue to keep my dad in your prayers!
Will is now old enough to go to nursey at church during the second and third hour of church. This is great for Jordan and I because now we can enjoy our meetings without having to walk the halls with Will. The second hour, Will gets to play toys with the other kids. Third hour, they have snack, a little lesson, and normally sing songs or color or something. Will has gone pretty much every other week for the last month since every time he goes, he ends up getting sick. :( Notice Will's adorable "Uncle Kevin" clothes?!? Thanks braja and Auntie Mary for the adorable clothes!
The first time Will went, he did very well up until Jordan and I peeked in on him to see how he was doing. When I looked, they were trying to get Will to actually sit on a little chair. He was standing on it and wouldn't bend his knees! It was so funny to watch his leader's patience running thin as she kept calmly telling him to sit down while she pushed his shoulders down! Will does not like to sit! When Jordan peaked 10 minutes later, Will saw him and cried for a while because he wanted to leave. He was sitting in his chair, though! When Jordan picked him up, the nursey leader said she would eventually corale him into submission! That'll be the day!
The second time he went, we did not peak in because she asked us not to. I did hear him cry a little from the next room, but when Jordan picked him up, she said he was fine until a different parent peaked in and he wanted to get out since he saw the door open. She said Will would rather sit on the table instead of coloring. She handed Jordan a blank sheet of paper that Will "colored." Jordan saw other kids' papers and they had two-three different colored markings on them. She also said she might bring her little playground jungle gym for Will. In all her years doing this calling, she never had to bring it in!
The third time he went, I walked by after second hour and heard a kid screaming his lungs bloody-murder. A different parent was peaking in, so I looked over them and asked if that was Will since I didn't see him. The leader said it was and to take him for the rest of the day. He was in hysterics...all blochy, tears streaming down, boogers dripping down, and eyes as wide as a ghost. He only looked like this a few times: When he was first born, and when he was running such a high fever I had to rush him to the doctor. He was obviously very tramatized. I asked what happened, and it was the usual, "he wanted to leave." He got so worked up over it. We'll see what happens this Sunday...let's hope he doesn't get sick this week first! This might end up being a weekly column on our blog!
