Family – Page 9 – xangelle.com

Lynn Headwaters

There are adventures that we’ve had that I don’t want to forget about and so in between the posts about New York, I’ll be sharing some of our recent adventures…..if I don’t, then I’ll get too far behind and when that happens, then I don’t even want to post about them…but the New York posts are coming…I promise!!!!

Last Saturday, before we headed out to the airport to pick up Geli…..Jon and the boys and I headed into North Vancouver for an adventure.

We had thought about going to Lynn Canyon, but I didn’t think we’d be able to navigate the trails with the stroller and I didn’t feel like carrying 30lbs of Judah around and so we went to where there were trails…

Just before we hit the trails, I grabbed Jeremy in for a quick squish, this way there is at least some photographic evidence that I am in fact on this particular adventure.

This is an “in motion” photo…..these little boys are ALWAYS MOVING! We had to park in the first overflow parking lot as the parking lot was full…..so we hiked up the road a little till we got to the headwater trails…

We stopped and had a bathroom break before we headed out because a certain little boy has a bladder the size of a…….well, I was going to say pea, but somehow that just doesn’t sound proper and so lets ust say that he ALWAYS has to go and just leave it at that…

While we waited for the big boys to finish up the paperwork, Siah was showing me how he was gonna go all ninja on any bears that he saw….

We crossed the little bridge and the boys were so excited, Jon had to hold them back from flinging themselves into the rushing water below….okay, well not quite, but we both felt a little stressed at how excited they were and how big those gaps were in the “fence”…

We walked up the path and turned right…..we really had no plan and we were mostly killing time while letting the boys run “wild” out in the bushes where they really can’t “wreck” anything…..and so we took our time and climbed on top of the rocks and took pictures of them doing anything and everything….

We walked down the path a bit more and came to this cement tube and before we could say or do anything, Josiah cimbed feet first into and slide right through and out the other end….it’s not a big tube but he fit – thankfully – and didn’t get stuck!!!! He was a little dirtier than we had planned and we still had to go and get Geli….so we told him…no more exploring like that…..if you look very carefully, you can see his little face peering up from the bottom of the tube.

Judah wasn’t really sure why he had to stay in the buggy. He really , Really, REALLY (with a lot of screechiness and general upsetedness) let us know that he really wanted to get down and play in the dirt too!

Jeremy showing us that he is the “king of the world”….

I really, love BC…..I love the trees and the woods and……well, it’s JUST! SO! BEAUTIFUL!

We did let Judah get out while the older boys were “exploring” in the trees. He really liked the rocks. He’s in a bit of a throwing stage right now…it’s fun…sometimes!

When it was time to move on, this was about how happy Judah was that he had to get back into the buggy….and so we ended up carrying him anyway. So silly!

I don’t know why exactly, but I LOVE this next photo.

I think this tree looks like a Shrek House and aren’t my boys cute!

After this, my phone died and I didn’t get any more photos, BUT….basically, we turned around and headed back to the van because it was time head into Vancouver to go to the airport to pick up Geli….

The boys were asking to go back even before we left and so I’m hoping we’ll have another opportunity to get back into Lynn Valley before the summer is over!

Round Up

So, I have a few photos and videos to share with you….and so I thought I’d try to throw together a montage….or basically just a list of pictures and videos with some (less than) witty banter kinda wrapped around it…..

Last Sunday, my brother Tim and my sweet nephew Max popped over for a quick visit….Max is just SO darling and he’s smiling and coo’ing up a storm. He is just one of the most darling little men in my life.

Earlier in the week…..like possibly on Monday or Tuesday, Jon and I took the kids for a walk and when we got to the boardwalk there were young owls up in the trees. It was SO cool to see them so close. They were screeching if they felt scared and we tried to be as quiet and respectful as possible, but between Jeremy and Josiah…..we weren’t as quiet as I’d have liked to be….

I think that it was Wednesday that Jack came over for a quick visit while Debbie ran some errands. Judah and him were having so much fun pulling the diaper wipes out of the container. They just kept coming and coming and coming…

On Thursday, the boys and I went for a walk. We go for walks to entertain the boys, to wear them out, to keep them from destroying the house……and to keep me from getting any fatter…..

Just across the bridge, on the path close to our house I came across these mushrooms. Aren’t they cool looking? Anyone have any idea what kind they are? We didn’t touch them, but they were too pretty to not take a picture of!

We live in one of the most beautiful places, don’t we? This is literally 5 mins from my door. I LOVE British Columbia!

We went to one of the many parks around our house and I watched Josiah climb this thing over and over and over. Every time he did it, I would panic a little (after all he’s only 3), but this kid is part goat (ha ha ha) and has been climbing since he was very little and hardly EVER falls….and so I try not to freak out and wrap him in bubble wrap and keep him tied into the buggy sitting beside me….

I forgot to put shoes on Judah and he was going all howler monkey on me at being stuck in the stroller and so I just let him play in the rocks……

Those rocks…….GROSS! Judah was FILTHY when I picked him up to walk back home. He looked like he was a powdered doughnut….only covered in dirt and dust and who knows what other filth. So disgusting! But he enjoyed himself and that’s what’s important, right???? I’m still not so sure of that, but oh well!

I also find that the days we go out for walks….the kids sleep SO MUCH BETTER! Case in point…..

We had sat down to watch a quick video before bedtime and within 5 minutes of snuggling with daddy he was GONE! I love it when bedtime is that easy.

On Friday, my brother came over to finish my hallways and stairs, and Daisy and Max came for a quick visit too….I love sleeping babies….probably because mine hardly ever sleeps…..

and with that…..we’re finished this session of Round Up!

Tuesday Morning Update

Well, we are still here. Angelica’s counts have been coming up VERY slowly. The good folks at BC Children’s want to make sure that when they send Angelica home, she won’t end up getting sick and having to come right back… They want her immune system to be strong enough.

Its hard though, because Angelica is not sick. She is completely healthy. The concern is not about her current health, but her immune system strength. It feels so frustrating to be sitting in the BC Children’s Hotel and just hanging out, knowing that Patti could really use a lot of help at home, and not being able to go home and help.

Alexandra turns 13 in two days and has a big party scheduled for tomorrow. We should all be at home today and helping to plan the party, but instead we are waiting to hear from the doctors to find out if they are going to “risk” sending her home.

So please pray that we get to go home, that Patti doesn’t stress too much about the party, and that Alexandra’s day turns out fantastic tomorrow.

Jon

She Needs…..

I know that a fever is not that big of a deal….well, most of the time a fever is not that big of a deal. And really, it’s not the fever that’s got me so upset….it’s the timing of it all.

It seems like every time something goes wrong….a few more things all jump on top of us, and we are left under the mountain of crap trying to not be squished. Frankly, I’m tired of it all. I just want to have things go really, REALLY good for a long time. Is that seriously too much to ask?

The fever is not that big of a deal, but it means that I cannot go in to see Jon or Angelica and because I cannot go in to see them, the other kids cannot get in to see them. It’s possible that I could drive us all in and I could hang out in the car for a couple of hours with Judah while they visit, but that really doesn’t sound all that fun, does it? So not looking like it’s going to happen like that.

Jon and Geli are doing well, but they are BORED. She feels fine and yet…they must just hang around.

She seems to be doing amazing. There are a few things that need to happen in order for her to be discharged.

– She needs to have negative blood cultures over 48 hours (that’s up tomorrow at 1pm)
– She needs to be fever free for 48 hours (that’s up in the wee hours of Saturday morning)
– She needs to actually have a neutrophil count (that won’t happen until her WBC is over .5 and today she was at a .3)
– She needs to have one blood test trending downward instead of upward….it was at a 25 today and needs to hit lower numbers.

Basically we are looking at the earliest of Saturday morning before she would be discharged. I’m hoping and praying with everything in me that they do get to come home then.

It was a tough day today and yet I supposed it was a good one, in spite of it all. I have really low expectations on what constitutes a good day, ya’ll! Ummmm there was no puking. Very little fighting. Everyone was sleeping by 8pm….and um…ya….everyone got fed. So ya…..it went okay, I guess!

Well, I’m headed off to bed myself….two night with very little sleep are….well….ya….that…..

Night!

ps. Could ya pray for Judah? He’s still feverish and I’m not sure how the night is going to go and I could really use the sleep and he could really use the health……m’kay??? Thanks so much!

Which is your favorite?

On Tuesday, I briefly mentioned that we had Family Photos done a few weeks ago and that you could go and see a few of them if you went over to the Red Handed Photography Blog.

Tania had posted a bunch of pictures of the kids. On Wednesday, she posted a few of Jon and I together. And today she posted a bunch of our entire family.

I am SO thrilled with these photos. I love to be able to capture my family in pictures. I love to be able to catch moments or scenes from the different points in our lives. Some of those times are amazing and some are a bit tougher, but all those pictures go together to tell a story! Our Story!

As many pictures as I am able to take of the kids, or even of Jon….I am never able to get pictures of Jon and I together and none of our entire family. For Cara to volunteer her winning photo package to us as a family and for Tania to take the photos……I am so SO blessed.

This is such a gift. SUCH A HUGE GIFT to us. I am so thrilled to have photo’s from this time in our lives.

To see pictures of the kids, of Jon and I, and of our family all together, please go and visit Tania’s website.

Red Handed Photography

And if you are thinking about getting pictures taken, I would strongly encourage you to contact Tania. She is fantastic. The shoot was so easy and comfortable. Her ability to deal with all 7 of us and to not get stressed or upset, was amazing. She made this entire process so fabulous!

I’d love it if you would check them out and let me know which one(s) are your favorite?

I love this goofy shot of the kids……

Strawberry Shakes and Pictures

Angelica’s counts came back too low and she’s scored herself some blood. So, her and Jon are in for a LONG and boring day at the hospital today.

I have more to update on how Geli is doing and what’s up in our world, but time is tight right now…so, I’ll just send you over to RED HANDED PHOTOGRAPHY to see the Family Photo‘s that Tania took of us a few weeks ago.

They are AMAZING!

Tania, BABE!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

Tinkering

We’re working on shaking things up a bit. Making things look a bit newer, a bit fresher….a bit……well, a bit something?!?

It’s kind of a work in process because we don’t have a massive chunk of time to work it all out at once, but keep watching and little by little we’ll get it all sorted out.

********

Siah went camping with my parents this past week and had SO MANY grand adventures. He came home excitedly telling me about the horse he rode and then got bucked off…..

Here is my mighty cowboy.

I’m looking forward to sharing some of his other stories with you! Maybe I can even convince him to share some of them with you…..we’ll see!

Hope you have a great and relaxing Sunday! Today we are celebrating Max’s Birth! Angelica is doing the decorating! She loves to organize and plan parties!

Family, Babies, Sunshine and Cake….what could be better?

Max

We had a Family Breakfast on Saturday.

I love it when we get together as a family. And when there’s food involved….it’s even better. Seeing as Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, it only makes sense to have everyone over for breakfast….eggs, hashbrowns, bacon! MMMmmm, BACON!

After breakfast was over, I pulled my camera out because I wanted to get some pictures of Max -Tim and Daisy’s little guy and the newest member of our family. He is absolutely just the cutest little guy ever!

He is so relaxed and content. He has these HUGE eyes and he just takes everything in.

It’s hard to believe that Judah was that small once. I LOVE this tiny, newborn stage when they eat and sleep and poop and eat and sleep and poop; and you can just cuddle and snuggle and hold them all the time.

And he’s just starting to smile……look at that little grin.

Congrats, Tim and Daisy! He’s beautiful and we love him and you both, so much!

You can see more super cute adorable pics here.

Once More…with Love! (and MANY pictures)

Earlier this week we had our last and final head shaving party.

Angelica’s hair (which had started to grow in so SO cute!) was just in the beginning stages of falling out. She still had a head full of short hair, but we could see evidence that it was getting ready to fly, fly away! There was hair on her pillow and lose hairs on her neck and on her clothes….she was definitely shedding.

She could just wait and let it fall out on it’s own but there is something just kind of nasty about waking up in the morning and rubbing your face in a pillow full of short hairs. Even worse is when you wake up with a bunch of tiny hairs in your mouth and up your nose. BLECH!

My sister, Michelle – isn’t she pretty?

So, when my mom and sister came over to get their heads shaved, Angelica had already decided to preemptively shave her head too.

We’ve joked around that Angelica has a future in hairdressing with all this head shaving that she’s done over the last year.

Chelle had brought her kids with her and my other sister had dropped Jack off for a visit and so we had the 3 bigger girls helping to watch the 3 little boys. Cousins!!!!!!!! So! Much! Fun! Jack and Zach are already walking like little men, but Judah is still clinging to the walls and the furniture….look at those thighs – SMOOSHY BABY THIGHS…NOM! NOM! NOM!

As always, Geli’s kind of goofed around when she’s done the head shaving…she decided that Aunty Chelle needed a mowhawk this time around.

Because there was hair ALL over the bathroom floor, we put Zach and Judah into the bath tub to keep them contained….it was a good idea, until Judah grabbed the taps and turned the bath on. Yah! They were dressed…..Oh Well, they had fun playing in the water. It kept them occupied until we were finished.

Zach wasn’t so sure that he liked playing in the bath WITH Judah…..

…..but he is just SO DARN CUTE, isn’t he?

In the meantime, Geli finished up Aunty Chelle’s hair and they did the final check. It’s awful to get your head shaved and then to walk away and find out later that you have a few scraggly long hairs that didn’t get taken care of…usually you end up with a few behind an ear or sticking out of the top of your head. There is an art to “rockin’ the bald look” and it requires some effort! Ha Ha Ha!

Then it was Aunty Chelle’s turn ~~to get back~~…, ~~to get revenge~~…, to help shave Angelica’s head!

Jack was helping out by taking care of Aunty Chelle’s necklace. He did such a good job, too! Love the steely blues, man!

Aunt Chelle figured that Angelica needed one triangle patch on the top of her head. It was very modern looking, no?

Becca gave me a great big CHEESE face! Silly goose!

While Brianna went in for the close up…..

While everyone else was going bald…..Judah was practicing his best “greaser” hairstyle. Looking pretty good, buddy! Looking pretty good!

Aunty Chelle finished up on Gelica’s hair….

And then it was Nana’s turn.

Geli wanted to try out a Mowhawk for Nana too. She looked pretty cute with a punk hair style, too! But we didn’t figure that the mowhawk would look amazing for Aunty Brynn and Uncle Chris’s wedding in August and so Angelica shaved it off.

After they were finished, we headed down stairs to get a few good pics of the baldies outside.

Aren’t they pretty? Who needs hair? And this way, we’ll not have to do our hair over the summer, how awesome is that?

Three Brave, Bald Beauties….

Josiah and I shaved our heads this morning….I don’t have any pics of him, yet! but here is the most recent photo of me. I took this picture this morning and put it on Facebook with the caption “Bald Once Again…for the final time!”

This is IT! After Geli’s hair falls out this time and when she’s done this last half of this stage….it’s done! Her hair will start to grow back and we will be moving on away from this past year. It’s exciting to grab ahold of these times, knowing that they signal the beginning of the end.

Shaving your head is not easy. It’s not something that I enjoy doing, nor do I want to continue doing it. I’m “okay” with it, but i wouldn’t choose to be bald for no reason! My hair was close to 2 inches long. I could actually style it. I was liking that it was starting to grow out and yet…….to stand with, to support, to love, to create a safe place for my daughter….I’d do it a thousand times. To see her bravely confront her chemo induced hair loss and chose to deal with it proactively, knowing that “it’s okay to be bald”, makes my heart sing.

I believe that she sees herself and her beauty regardless of whether she has hair or not. Her hair is not what makes her beautiful, therefore her lack of hair does not speak of a lack of beauty. She is beautiful! She will always be beautiful and her beauty shines from the inside out. Her confidence in herself illuminates that beauty a thousand times more.

While this time has been tough….in fact it’s been brutal. There have been SO MANY GOOD THINGS that we choose to embrace as we acknowledge the tough times. Angelica’s understanding of and confidence in her true beauty is something I’m so thankful for because that is something she will carry with her forever.

For the Fun of it

Jon just posted a status on Facebook that said something about Geli heading into the hospital for her second dose of chemo and the other kids having today off school (it’s a Professional Day) and then he said something about us all going into town together “for the fun of it”.

Which, if you’ve ever taken 5 kids ranging from 14 to >1 anywhere, you know that the “fun” that is spoken of is less “fun” and more “stressful” than anything.

I guess if you are going anywhere, Children’s Hospital is a good place to go, in case anything goes wrong or…you know, for kids to be able to just be kids?

Not that I’m expecting anything to go wrong, but wrangling children is almost as fun as I’ve heard wrangling sheep is, and if it weren’t for the fact that we need to get passports in order to be able to even apply for Geli’s Wish, then we’d be staying home today.

In the Wish package, we were given a coupon for Blacks to get Passport photo’s taken and the closest (or most convenient to us) Blacks Photography is……..in Metrotown. Sweet!

So, we wake up this morning and prepare for chemo and pictures….how fun!

We’ll be hitting the hospital first and hopefully we’ll be in and out of there within an hour. We do have to wait for Geli to get a blood count so that we know if she needs a transfusion or not, but I’m not guessing that it’s necessary. It usually isn’t after only the first week of chemo….but as every week goes by, the likelihood of her counts going too low increases…..the actual chemo doses should only take less then 10 minutes…it’s the waiting…..oh the joys of waiting…….

And so today…..we head in and I’m really hoping that it’s more fun than it should be!

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