It's Gone for Good!!!

Today was the highly anticipated surgery day!!! We told Simeon we would wake him up at 6:15am to get ready to go-he was up and ready to go by 5:00am. He was excited and nervous, but really just wanting to go and get it done.
We got to the hospital at 7am, and went to check in. We were greeted with a fun surprise-the receptionist was Simeon's Wish granter. She had been following Simeon for over 2 years. What a treat that was to see her smiling face that early in the morning.
A nurse came out to get us and told us that Rebecca couldn't go back to the prep area, so dad stayed out with her.
In the prep area Simeon changed into a gown and pants, they checked vitals and got him all marked and tagged up. They even made Shadow a name band. They were so nice and friendly. They went and got the mask that Simeon would go to sleep with so that he could get comfortable with it. He practiced having it on, and putting it on Shadow. He was so calm and comfortable talking and joking that we all decided that he didn't need any premeds to calm his nerves. Our nurse in that area found out that Johann was in the waiting room with Rebecca and she promptly went and got them which was so nice to have them with us.
When it was time for Simeon to go back to the OR, he decided that he wanted dad to go with him. So dad suited up with the green outfit and big floppy blue hat. I was glad to not need to go back to the OR as much as I wanted to see the new rooms, as I didn't want to see Simeon go to sleep. I watched him when he got his port placed and cried, and then this past summer I was with Ammon as he was put under and he really fought it, and I struggled with it. It's so hard to watch your child be put to sleep.
I took lots of pictures but one I didn't take and will be forever ingrained in my memory is when they walked down the hall to the OR. It was a wide white hallway with a double door partway down. The double door opened and there were people walking down the hall. On the right was a tall slender man dressed in green scrubs with a blur floppy hat, then Simeon to his left dressed in a blue gown, pants and blue floppy hat. He looked so small compared to the tall guys walking with him. You could see Shadows tail sticking out under his right arm. Next to Simeon on the left was Johann dressed in green with a blue floppy hat. Next to Johann was another man very tall and more husky dressed in green scrubs and again a blue floppy hat. All four of them walked down the hallway in a row in silence, then they turned to the right and disappeared from view as they entered the OR. I stood in the hallway with Rebecca in her stroller and watched them go. I didn't know where to go so I just stood there watching where they disappeared to.
After about an hour, they came and got us. Simeon was in recovery and waking up. We were given his port fresh from surgery. We were surprised by what it looked like.
After another 20 minutes they brought Simeon to the room. He was groggy, but able to talk. He was sleepy, but was hungry for a taco from Taco Bell.
Simeon really doesn't like IV's. He's really sensitive to them and he kept asking when they could take his IV out. We needed them to draw blood to check for counts, so after the blood was drawn they took out the line, and he was ready to go home.
We were home by 10:30am.

To say we were amazed with the mature way Simeon acted before and after surgery is an understatment. He is wise beyond his years and very mature about medical things for his age. We are so proud of Simeon and how he faces each new experience with strength. We are also excited for him to have this stage of treatment done.

Christmas

For the past years we've had a tradition of inviting a few families over for dinner and games Christmas Eve. This year we decided to not do it for many reasons, the biggest that Johann was out of town and we weren't sure he was going to make it back by Christmas because of a BIG storm that was coming. He thankfully made it back.
So since we didn't have anyone over Christmas Eve we let the kids open their siblings present. The boys gave to each other and the girls to each other. They were very thought out gifts with some steering from mom. (I must add that our tree had gone down this afternoon and all the presents were now under the Christmas Piano. The tree was still in the room, but not getting any attention.)
When it was time for Rebecca to open her gift from Corrine, she turned and grabbed another present by her ripping some of the paper off. For some reason she had been drawn to this particular gift when ever she was near them.
We watched Mr Krugers Christmas and put the kids to bed. The few weeks before Corrine had been resisting going to sleep. She'd lay in bed for an hour or 2 before falling asleep, and she'd keep calling out to us. Christmas Eve she went right to bed and was quiet so we assumed she was asleep. About 10 pm I walked by her room and I hear her say "Has Santa come yet?" "No Corrine go to sleep". I walk by an hour later thinking she's asleep when I again hear "Mom, has Santa come yet?" I reply "Corrine He won't come until your asleep." She finally falls asleep about 11:30pm. And I go to bed to midnight-Christmas Morning is ready.
I'm awoken in the night to Ammon's excited voice: "I got a new toothbrush!" I put on my glasses, look at the clock it's 2:45am. I walk into the front room to find Simeon & Ammon pulling things out of their stockings (Santa does the stockings). I calmly tell the boys "Go back to bed!" They listen and head back the their beds.
7:00am dawns and I'm awake but not the kids-strange. I get up and Simeon and Corrine follow close behind-Ammon is out cold on his bed. We get him up and head to the front room where it's obvious that we had some awake kids in the night as stocking goodies are on the floor. Simeon suggested we ask Santa to bring Rebecca food and that's exactly what she got. The older kids got sour spray that only Santa brings!
The opening started slowly with everyone watching, until we got to the present from mom and dad. We got them only 1 present this year as they were nicer gifts.

Ammon got to go first. He got a Turbo Tank from Star Wars that he'd been drooling over in the Toy R Us ad for weeks. A sneaky story about it is he was with us when we got it for him. We went to Toys R US, looked at it, he played with it, then we moved on. Johann took him to look at something else while I went and bought it. He had no idea what was hiding in the back of the van. We also got Simeon's present that day. I wrapped them and hid them that afternoon-it was mid September.
Simeon got a Diji handheld game with 3 different games. Sonic-spelling, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. He just got a Nintendo DS from the hospital so we weren't' sure how much attention this would get. Come to find out they both have their pros and cons, but we find him playing with his Diji about as much or more then the DS.
Corrine got just what she's been wanting and what she thought was in the box-An American Girl Doll. She told us months ago that she wanted Rebecca just like her sister. Now she has 2 Rebecca's to take care of.
Rebecca was the hardest to get for. We got her Violet that talks to her and says her name. Something about Violets voice draws Rebecca in. Oh the present she was trying to open before-it was a nice soft and warm fleece blanket from her Great Grandparents. All the kids were given a blanket like this when they were babies.

In the afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Smiths house where more presents were opened. A highlight for each of them-Corrine got an Easy Bake Oven and clothes for her Rebecca doll, Simeon got a Wii Football game and race car track, Ammon got the Gunship from Star Wars and star wars pj's, and Rebecca got a Laugh and Learn Home and some new clothes, along with many other nice presents.

The kids fell asleep that night surrounded by new treasures and some great memories.

Oh Christmas Tree

It was a calm afternoon, Johann had Rebecca and the boys in the front room, Corrine was in her room and I was in the kitchen when the sound of presents crinkling, ornaments shaking, then seconds later Rebecca screaming filled the house. Thinking she was hurt I ran into the front room to find Johann setting Rebecca on the ground and the tree laying next to her. Simeon was trying to explain what happened when I saw that some presents (including Corrine's American Girl Doll) were soaking.
We quickly set the tree up, grabbed a freaked out baby, and the wet presents and ran to our room. We unwrapped them, made sure they were alright and went back out. When we walked back into the front room the tree was again laying on the ground. Sigh
We tried our best to straighten the tree, got covered in sap, moved the presents by the piano, then gave up hope and leaned the tree against the wall. That was the end of it's beautiful life. The kids tried to make it look better by putting the ornaments back on it in one area, it helped, but it still looks defeated.


You can see the circle where the tree stood before, pine needles all over and a dark wet spot where some of the water spilled, and the blue towel soaking up the BIG water spot. Currently the sap spots can't be seen, I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks.

A while later Simeon and Johann re-enacted what happened. Ammon & Simeon were playing football( an illegal game I might add). Ammon told Simeon he had to run into the hallway to make a touchdown. Simeon changed directions at the last minute, stepped on the side of a present and went sprawling (entire body) into the tree.
We were able to laugh about it now.
Rebecca eventually forgave the tree for scaring her and reached out to grab it once again. The presents stayed by the piano and everyone was told to keep a distance from the tree just in case it fell again.
Lesson learned-NO balls or running of any sort near the Christmas tree, which already was the rule before this happened, but hopefully now the kids understand why the rule exsists.

End of Chemo Celebration

It's time to Celebrate!!! Today Simeon got his LAST dose of IV chemo EVER!!!

All the kids and mom headed to the hospital to celebrate a day long in the making. When we got there it was clear that everyone in the clinic knew we were celebrating today. Simeon had a drum roll as he walked down the hall, he got high fives, congratulations and applause.
When we got to our room there was a sign congratulating Simeon, a giant cookie with "Way to Go Simeon" written on it and 2 piles of presents. Simeon had a pile of his own, and Corrine, Ammon and Rebecca had a pile too. Simeon had gotten each of the siblings a 'thank you' gift so they all had lots to open.




Simeon got a Ninetendo DS and Mario game, a K'Nex motorized Ferris wheel and a 3-D building dinosaur book. Corrine got a 50th year anniversary Barbie and Littlest Petshop Club House. Ammon got a quad rider and a Diego Leapster game. Rebecca got the book The Hungry Caterpillar, The Red mitten book, a rattle and Wiggles video. It was an early Christmas for the kids!!

Simeon got accessed for the LAST TIME EVER!!! He was so excited that he'd never again have this done. Then the resident came in and did the normal interview and exam, then we waited. 4 kids, 1 mom, LOTS of new presents, a giant cookie and nurses coming and going in one little room for 2 hours was very loooonnnggg.

Our room was at the intersection of 2 hallways. Both had fun activities on the walls. Simeon was down one hallway, Corrine & Ammon down another and Rebecca was in her stroller at the corner with me so that they could all play the games and I could still keep an eye on them.

Finally Doctor Rolla came to see us. The first thing she asked me was if Simeon had been sick. I told her "No. Why?" Come to find out his white count had crashed and he had almost NO immunity to keep him from getting sick. She said the surgeons might not want to do surgery to remove his port (5 days away) unless his counts came back up. This was a stress I was not prepared for. He was taken off all oral chemo and to take his steroids hoping that his counts would rise.

We left the clinic as I tried to stay positive that his counts would rise, and surgery would be on Monday as planned. We had a healthy lunch of McDonald's and went home to enjoy being one step closer to being completely done with Simeon's long battle with leukemia.

A Sweet Nativity Scene

Sharing time for Ammon's Sunbeam class happened to be the Sunday before Christmas, so his teacher Sister English decided to have the kids act out the navity story.



Ammon was given the part of Joseph and was very excited for it. A Sunday a few weeks before their sharing time Sister English was walking into the building as we were. She had a couple of boxes. Ammon was watching her bring them in, very curious about what was in the box. After church that day he told me that they acted out the Navity story and he got be Joseph.

They practiced for the few weeks leading up to sharing time. Ammon was so excited about it that he practiced at home with Corrine being Mary and Rebecca being baby Jesus.

Ammon was such a reverent Joseph walking in and standing in his place during the sharing time. He waited patiently during the time between sharing time. He really learned the nativity story and why it's so important.

Sledding at Longfellow

Today we took the older kids to Longfellow to go sledding. The hill was covered in very slippery ice. The ice made sledding very fast and the walk back up the hill very tricky and slippery.



One time going up the hill Ammon was really slipping. He found a small stick that he'd stick into the ground to help him climb up. I took ahold of his hood and helped him get up. He told me he was my puppy.

We ended the afternoon by going to McDonalds for lunch.

7 in a row

We had a new cousin addition into the Smith family on Nov 24th, and tonight the kids got to meet her. Audrey Lorainne Smith, little sister to Jonas and Ian.



We were quite successful in getting a fairly good picture of the 7 cousins all together. Ian was in love with Rebecca and wanted to hold her hand-which she liked.


Simeon 8, Corrine 6, Jonas 4, Ammon 4, Ian 21 months, Rebecca 5 months, Audrey 2 weeks. (Jonas and Ammon are about 10 weeks apart and Rebecca and Audrey are almost 5 months apart.)

In search of a Christmas Tree

Today we took our annual trek out to Barnes Tree farm to search for our Christmas tree. This year we were favored with dry ground, blue skies and the sun shinning, but that didn't help make the wind (which we couldn't feel at the house)any warmer.

For weeks Ammon has been asking to go to the tree place that has hot apple cider, candy canes and cookies that they get after we've picked out our tree. They look forward to the hunt of finding the perfect tree.


Once we found our tree (which was the 1st one we looked at, but walked away from to look at another dozen trees), Simeon was a great helper helping to cut down the tree. Corrine and Ammon were tree catchers, and Rebecca was trying to stop the wind from getting on her face.

When we got home Ammon could hardly wait to get it decorated. He had ornaments on the bottom before we even had the lights on the top. The kids were very careful to put Rebecca safe decorations on the lower branches to help keep her safe.

Rebecca was asleep when we decorated the tree. When she woke up she was still sleepy and whining. When we brought her out to see the tree the 1st time lit up, she stopped crying and just stared at it in fascination. She didn't want to touch it, or grab any decorations. I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks.

Meeting the BIG guy

Tonight our ward had their Christmas party. On the invitation it said that Santa would be coming for a visit. I was talking to Ammon about it and how this wasn't the real Santa, but it was one of his helpers. Later he told dad "It's not the real Santa dad. The real Santa is at the North Pole making toys for Christmas. This is one of his helpers dressed like Santa."


At the dinner he kept asking when Santa was going to come. He patiently waited through a good part of the program, then wandered off with a friend. He came back to me just before the big guy made his entrance. When Ammon first saw Santa walk in, his eyes lit up and he had a sweet soft smile on his face. He kept trying to see him around all the people in front of him. Santa asked the kids if they wanted to meet him. Ammon turned to dad and said "Yes I want to meet him."
They waited in line patiently for his turn to sit on Santa's lap. Santa was working his magic and knew most of the kids names. Ammon told him he wanted Star Wars stuff for Christmas. Rebecca just looked at him, not scared at all.


Corrine went up with her friends Mia and Lauryn. Corrine told him she wanted an American Girl Doll.

Simeon went up with his friends Jonathon and Cameron. Simeon told Santa he wanted a helicopter, cell phone and BYU season tickets. Santa then gave the kids a stocking with some goodies in it.


We don't go and see Santa, so this was a treat for the kids to get to meet him and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

Rebecca is 5 months

I feel like I just wrote about Rebecca being 4 months old-and now she's 5 months. This past month has flown by.

Our sweet little Rebecca is still a great sleeper, sleeping 7-9 hours at night and taking 3 nearly consistent naps a day. She is starting to fight going to sleep when there are people around, so she may miss a nap, then take an extra long one later on.
She is sitting up all by herself, which should help more bald spot on the back of her head, but honestly she sleeps 15 hours a day so that spot may stay for a while. She is growing some hair and some pieces are fairly long-there just aren't alot of them yet, but it is staying brown.
She also likes to play on her tummy for longer time now. She can grab toys and play with them and can turn herself in a half circle. She rolls from her tummy to back, and back to side, but won't go onto her tummy from her back.

She has a love of tags and strings. When she nurses she grabs the tie on my sweatshirt and holds onto it. When she's cuddling with me, the tie ends up in her mouth. She puts everything in her mouth. If she can get ahold of it, it goes into her mouth. She has been sticking her fingers in her mouth alot lately, and she ends up crying at least once a day from biting down on them. When she gets teeth, she's going to really hurt her fingers when she bites down.
She is quite the drooler and certain time spits up alot. She can go through multiple bibs or tops in a day because she's wet and with the colder weather I want to keep her warm and dry.
She is still loving to eat. She now eats full puffs, Ritz crackers and graham crackers. She can eat 1/3 cup of baby cereal mixed with peaches in one sitting. So far she has liked everything we've given her. She likes her sippy cup, but NOT the liquids inside of it! She gets a funny look on her face and spits it out.
She continues to give the sweetest smiles. She gives a hint of a giggle, but would perfer to smile then laugh. She talks to us alot. She'll move her mouth as if she's having a conversation, but no sound comes out. It's really cute to watch.

She is still the most lovable, huggable, sweet baby and we are all so in love with her. The kids all want to hold, touch and help with her all the time. She is such an easy going baby that makes life so much brighter.
Simeon loves to go see her 1st thing in the morning and to sit and read to her, Corrine is her little mother getting her dressed, carrying her around and playing games with her and Ammon is her entertainer and protector. She is never wanting for someone to play with her or to give her something she needs. Dad has given her the cute nickname of Rebecca Doodle, Ra-doodle with she smiles at, and we all call her to some degree. I just can't enough cuddle time with her, she is such a sweet baby and it warms my heart to be her mom.

At last check she was just over 15 lbs and 24". She is into 6-9 months clothes, but has small feet like her siblings.