So much to share, where do I start?

Samantha & me at Relay for Life 2009

Connor enjoying the Gatorade cooler at Relay for Life

Stacy, me, Sam, Samantha & Connor on a VERY windy night at Relay!

Samantha about to get her hair styled for dance pictures, sporting her hot pink cast

At least the cast matches one of her costumes, right? LOL

I guess the only explanation for my lack of posts is feeling completely overwhelmed (is that a good excuse? lol) In the past month, my schedule went into overload with the addition of DAILY visits from various teachers/therapists and varying appointments. It is coming to an end now (the home-bound schooling part anyway) now that school is almost over...hopefully I will be able to get more computer time in now :) And come August, Connor will be a school-boy! I can't wait to see how much it helps him develop.

Sam has traveled the country the past month-Tampa, St. Louis a couple times, San Antonio...now he is home for a bit thank goodness! He missed all the fun of the various teachers, therapists-not to mention ANOTHER broken arm for poor Samantha! YES I DID JUST SAY THAT...While we were in Atlanta doing Connor's 3rd chemo treatment, she fell down Aunt Laurie's stairs and fractured her elbow :( She was put in a long-arm cast, but luckily was able to get it taken off in time for her big dance recital. This time she opted for hot pink and even had her professional dance pics taken with it (insert lots of jokes here about covering it with sequins, etc)

Connor is thriving right now and is so alert-it is such a blessing to witness his curiosity of the world around him! Constantly pointing to ask "What is this?" So I tell him what various things are hundreds of times a day-thrilled he is doing so well and that his brain is functioning well enough for him to be this curious...Most 3 year olds ask questions constantly-this is just his way of doing it with the pointing, so it is good to see (and hear) him acting like any other child his age...just quieter still-but he is trying to form some words. We contribute this most recent "burst" of learning to the treatments he has endured the past couple months-and also prayers being answered, so keep praying! It is working!!!

Let's see, his new words are:
La-La (for Aunt Laurie) he is actually calling her by name now!
Help (he pronounces it bup, but he uses it appropriately)
Flower (kinda garbled, but we know what he means)
Moon (he is good at this one, although the Nike symbol on shoes is NOT a moon Connor, lol)
Wa-Wa (for water of course)
Thank You (he signs this and it is not understandable at all, but he is trying)
Boo-Boo (for owies AND Samantha since that is her nickname...means baby in Arabic and it stuck)
Moo (for a cow sound)
Tea (his favorite drink!)

This is all since he began the Rituximab 5 weeks ago-Amazing!

Relay For Life was last Friday and our team raised over $7,000!!! My favorite part was seeing the kids have such a good time...running around, cotton candy, playing in our tent, etc...Can't wait until next year to do it again! Thanks to everyone who donated and came out on Blanchard night at the restaurant-ya'll are awesome!

I also wanted to post this video that was made of Connor and his OMS buddy Makhi by a lady on u-tube. Makhi's mom just happened to stumble across it...I think it was very nice of her to take the time to do this video, I'm for anything that helps spread awareness. Here is the link if you want to check it out-Connor appears about halfway thru the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeT1vx26_2g

If you get a chance-check out my friend Samm's blog (Deqlan's mom) Her fundraising project "Scrub A Dub Dub 2009" (to benefit kids battling cancer by providing them with personal hygiene items, toiletries, pajamas, etc. A lot of times these kids arrive at the hospital with only the clothes on their backs-so the need is great) It was a HUGE success thanks to her hard work and dedication. Way to go Samm! She has posted some awesome pics of all the beautiful hampers filled to the brim AND the beautiful balloons her sister Meggie created to honor warriors , survivors and angels (including Connor) Thank you Samm for inspiring so many to give back as you have!

Tomorrow is Samantha's Kindergarten graduation and Friday is Ryan and Stacy's awards program at middle school. I can't wait for summer to get here, it will be so good for everything to slow down and for us to get to enjoy things together.

Love to all!
Deb