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Allyson returned to school today! She was excited to go. During breakfast she named all of her friends at school and was ready to go play. When she saw me packing her backpack, she got very excited! Brad and I took her in together. When we walked in the door, she was fine. When she saw Nurse Caren, she started to get a little upset. We decided to take her to her daycare room first because that is what she’s used to. She looked around and started to get worked up. She kept calling, “Mommy, mommy!” This tiny little hand kept pulling on my coat and calling my name. It was so hard. I kept trying to tell her I’d pick her up right after preschool. She could have cared less…she was upset. Ms. Robin took Allyson to the rocking chair and snuggled her as we left the room. I felt terrible, but I knew she’d be ok. - A little after 9:00, Robin called Brad to let him know Allyson had calmed down while they were in the chair. They read a book and laughed together. When it was time to go to preschool, she lined right up and went right to class. — I picked her up at noon…Ms. Regina said she had a good day. She participated in music, painted, played in the End Zone…We were all so glad (relieved) she had a good start back. Some of the parents made a point to say they were glad to see Allyson back. I really appreciated that. — Tomorrow is the big class day. Allyson has a tendency to be a little quieter on those days (I know, those of you who know Allyson are thinking, quiet? Yes, she tends to be quieter at school; I am hoping tomorrow will go as well as today. - We are so thankful to everyone at United Services for being so kind and helpful throughout all of this and especially regarding Allyson’s return to school. They are wonderful people!
Benjamin is one big pile of drool these days. His poor little gums. He has about four teeth breaking through right now. His top molar is just popping in, one of his bottom teeth just broke through the gum, and his two molars on the bottom are ready to come in. His poor gums are soooo swollen where the bottom molars are. He’s a bit on the grouchy side right now too. I can’t blame him with all those teeth coming in at once.

Benjamin says many words now. Dora the Explorer was on tonight and he pointed at the TV and said, “Dora!” I’m amazed everyday when I hear him say new words. Today he told me, “DONE!” when he was finished eating his carrots;-). He wanted cookies!

This mommy is exhausted. I expended so much energy getting Allyson to school…not physical energy but mental/emotional energy. I’m glad the first day back is over. Tomorrow will be a great day, I’m sure.

Today Allyson and Benjamin got up at the same time. So we all headed down stairs for breakfast. After breakfast we all played until Benjamin got tired for his nap. We had hoped that Allyson would also take a nap but she was not tired at all. After lunch we put the kids in the car and headed out to run some errands. We had to run by Khols to get Allyson some new cloths that would fit her better. After Khols we headed to good ole target for some of the essentials. Other than that it was a very nice Sunday.

Tomorrow is a big day for Allyson, we are taking her back to school for the first time. Lisa and I are going to go with her just to make sure she is ok. We are going to bring her to her day care room around 8:30 and then they are going to take her to preschool at 9. Allyson is only going to stay for preschool and Lisa is going to pick her up around noon. Check back tomorrow to see how she did.

Until tomorrow..

We all woke up and were moving around by 7:30 this morning. We had breakfast and packed everyone for the day. Benjamin stayed at Shawn and Jessica’s to play with the kids…Brad, Shawn, Allyson and I headed to Helen Fitzgerald’s for the St. Baldrick’s event. Allyson lasted all of about five minutes. We got in the doorway and it wayyy to loud for her (she cannot take amplified noise at all), and there were LOTS of people. She freaked out a bit, so Shawn was nice enough to take her back to the house and then come back to be with us for a while. — Six men from Rodgers Townsend (Brad’s work), shaved their head’s for Allyson. We got there just as the six of them went up to the stage to get shaved. It was so touching for me to know that these men were there to honor Allyson, and that so many of his co-workers there were there as well. We thank the men for their sacrifice;-) and for the almost $5,000 they helped raise for children’s cancer research. It was really cool to see all the people gathered there for the event. I believe the total amount raised for St. Baldrick’s at Helen’s alone was somewhere around $150,000. TOO COOL!  (Be sure to check out the pictures below…remember to click on each on to enlarge.)

Allyson and Benjamin had a great time playing with Ollie and Bella. Both kids were worn out by 6:30. I gave Benjamin a bath over there…we left around 7:00 and both were asleep by the time we got home.

Oh…Dex, the lovely drug that makes Allyson crazy does rear its ugly head throughout the day. For the most part, Allyson is pretty happy, but when she melts down, she melts all the way down…there’s no calming her until she’s finished. Two days down…five to go…

It’s Friday and that means a trip to the doctor’s office. Today she had a blood draw and some chemo.  Allyson did awesome, and nurse Heather was very fast. Dr. Bob stopped in to check a rash that Allyson has (which he said was nothing to worry about). He also had to give us a script for the dreaded Dexamethasone.  After the appointment Allyson and I headed to the Walgreens by our house. What should have been a quick trip turned into a 2 hour event. None of the Walgreens around us had the right dose of the Dex. Amy at Walgreens was nice enough to call around and finally found it a the Walgreens in Chesterfield. So Ally and I jumped back in the car and headed to that Walgreens. Of course they only had half the prescription, so we have to go back on Monday to get the rest; it is never a dull moment around here.

When Lisa got home with Benjamin, we had to decide if we were all going to Julia’s birthday party tonight. Allyson was having a good day, so we decided to all pack up a go. Both Allyson and Benjamin had a great time at the party. Benjamin ran all over chasing is cousin Trevor. Allyson was content to watch everyone play the Wii.

Tomorrow is the St. Baldrick’s event.  So many Rodgers Townsend people are going to be there to show their support for Allyson’s Army.  Benjamin is going to stay with his Aunt Jecka, and the rest of us are going to go.  Hopefully Allyson will be OK; sometimes she gets overwhelmed when there’s lots of noise and lots of people.

Here’s the website to tell you all about tomorrow’s event:  http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/team_info.html?TeamKey=2008|1822

Today Brad and I decided Allyson should go visit people at his work to thank everyone for their support. Rodgers Townsend has gotten together a team for St. Baldrick’s, an organization that raises money for childhood cancer research. They have raised over $5,000 and the event is this weekend. (Several people have volunteered to have their heads shaved…others have pledged money to support them.) We are so thankful for everyone’s support of the team as well as providing support to us in other ways; we felt it would be nice for Allyson to go down and say thank you in person.

Well…we had all good intentions…Allyson was excited to go down to daddy’s work, but once we got there, it was another story. We tried to take her around to say thank you, but she got overwhelmed. (She’s been there several times before, so this was NOT a new experience for her.) We did get around to visit some of Brad’s co-workers, but Allyson started to get fussy, and then she started crying. We left the office and went downstairs, thinking we could maybe have lunch, but she wanted nothing to do with it. We couldn’t calm her, so Allyson and I had to leave and go home. — She just hasn’t been out very much in the last few months - either she hasn’t felt well, it wasn’t safe for her to be around people, or the weather was horrible. Most of the time, she goes to the doctor when she goes out. I think she’s just afraid of people she doesn’t recognize now…I think she thinks they are going to poke her or examine her. Poor kid…Usually she’s happy as a clam there, running the halls and saying hello.

She played lots today…doing puzzles is a big favorite once again. She always asks to play the Wii too…constantly!

Tomorrow is not going to be fun day at the docs. She gets a dose of a yucky chemo drug…the same one that messed up her legs. She also begins the drug (for a whole week) that makes her have significant mood swings. Someone told me never to pray for patience because God will only test you…So, I won’t pray for patience, but I am going to ask you all to pray for it for us ;-).

On a side-note…my mom passed away three years ago today. I cannot tell you how much I miss her. MaryAnn, my principal, asked me the other day where I get my strength. I know I get it from my mom…