Christmas with Nana, GJ, Uncle Rob & Amy

We had a great weekend with the family in from Minnesota. The four of them drove down Friday night and avoided the 17 inches of snow that fell back home...and of course brought the cold weather with them. No worries here though as we spent the weekend indoors!

Avery has greatly improved present unwrapping skills and she demonstrated them early by opening 2 of Grandpa Christiansen's presents while we were eating. Luckily she has an enormous amount of presents under the tree so we got her started on opening some of her own. Her last presents were the best ones of course and they included a Kitchen from Nana and a very cool wagon from Uncle Rob and Aunt Amy. She has since spent countless hours making coffee, putting food away, and flipping eggs and waffles!

Her counts are on the way up it appears -- still close to 0 but at least rebounding. Her platelets were low on Monday so we were transfused. My guess is she will need them again on Friday, but I think we are good on her hemoglobin. Her energy level is up and we are really enjoying the rambunctiousness of an almost 2 year old.

We'll be spending this weekend with Grandma Lippold and Uncle Jason and celebrating Christmas with them. More presents for the most deserving little rockstar! Then Grandpa Christiansen will be coming down for Christmas.

The next Chemo session is scheduled for the week in between Christmas and New Years. We'll be spending New Years at CMH -- good thing your social life revolves around early bedtimes and sing along songs once you have kids. We are excited to be able to spend it with our friend Quinten and his parents at least!

Jenn

New Time for the KFKF Interview 94.1

The interview was postponed last night to today. We will be talking with KFKF around 3 and they should air it sometime after that -- around 3:30-5:00pm. Tune in!

Radio Station Interview Today! 5-6pm

Kansas City Radio station 94.1 - KFKF is having their annual St Jude Telethon today. They have asked us to be on the show between 5-6 pm tonight while you all are on your way home from work. So if you tune in to 94.1 at 5 pm, hopefully you'll hear about our little Miss Avery, spoken by her mom & dad!

Right now is of course a huge time of year for many charities, including St Jude. Their annual "Thanks & Giving" campaign is going on now. You'll notice the St Jude symbol popping up in a lot of places as you are out shopping this year. One of the corporations that gives a lot to St Jude is Ann Taylor -- any of their stores are part of the campaign and will be asking for donations. Keep your eyes peeled for that well known silhouette symbol. Target is of course a huge supporter among a lot of others....Miller/Coors, The Fox & The Hound, Kay Jewelers, Chilis, Dicks Sporting Goods, CVS, Gymboree, The Melting Pot, Brooks Brothers, Auto Zone, Kmart, Williams-Sonoma, Dominos, New York & Company, Dollar General, Casey's General Stores, Fox Sports, Cinemark....just to name a few. I told Jeremy we may have to switch beers. You all are lucky enough to have seen where this money goes -- seen it put to use, watched a family be so grateful to not have to worry about food, rent, medicine, and hospital bills.


On the home front things are going well....I attempted to bake cookies today...we all know how that turned out. Mostly I just made a mess and got to wear my apron. Avery helped and is full of giggles and squeals. I didn't realize how much we hadn't heard those until the last few days when she just seems to be full of them!

We have another request of you all...more prayers -- for a new family. While waiting for our discharge orders on Monday I was informed that a friend of ours had just heard those devestating words that we heard last December....your baby has a tumor. As I waited for these friends to arrive at CMH downtown I tried to remember what the most comforting words were for us last year. I couldn't think of any. So instead as they walked towards me I put on the bravest face I could and squeezed her for all I was worth. Their son Quentin is 15 months old and has a tumor in his abdomen. Last night the surgeons removed it. They are now waiting for the pathology report and will start making the decisions about his care. Please add them to your prayers -- they are at the very beginning of a long road and can use all the help we can muster. In the mean time, we have offered the best thing we can -- our expertise in this journey. But like us, Quentin's mom and dad are strong parents and they will face this monster -- like we have, head on and with all gloves on.

Jenn