Make A Wish: Part One!

Although I am woefully behind in updating this blog, I haven't given up on it.  Last year we printed out the 2011 entries as a Blurb book and I loved it!  I plan to do the same with this year's entries.  So...here we go!

Bright and early one Sunday in September a limo showed up at our door for this VERY happy little boy.

Straight to the airport we went, in style.  Once there Blake very proudly carried his own Passport for the trip to Ottawa, Ontario - home of the Kratt Brothers!

Moments after settling into our hotel room, there was a knock at the door.  A plate of milk and cookies just for us!  There had been gifts from the volunteers who met us at the airport, a surprise toy waiting at the hotel front desk, robes for Steve and I with a note, and now cookies.  The Make A Wish folks outdid themselves to make us feel welcome.

After a good night's sleep, we were TIRED, our hungry tummies led us across the street to the Scone Witch.

My choice, an orange cranberry scone with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam.  I'm drooling just thinking about it again!

Then, with our bellies full of scones, we felt adventurous enough to take our rental car on 1 hour adventure - into French Quebec.  Steve was just a little nervous about the prospect of getting completely lost in the countryside, especially since the route to our special destination took us off the beaten path!  But let me just say the destination was worth it...

Sunshine State

Blake had his port removed and eight days later we hopped a plane to Florida!  Never a dull moment around here.

Ready to hit the pool in his Spidey gear.

Dad and Blake are definitely buddies.  It's fun to become an adult and watch your parents play like a preschooler.  Building sandcastles was Blake's favored activity at the beach this year.

More Papaw and  Blake fun - capturing the tiny lizards that seem to hide under every rock in Florida.

Color coordinated and headed to church Sunday morning.

Posing with The Duke at everyone's favorite restaurant - Manny's Steakhouse!

And at least one picture to prove I was there too!  We had a great time relaxing in the sunshine.

Fireman Blake

For the past year, Blake's love of all things fireman has only grown.  Grammy and Grampa made sure he was outfitted with the latest gear to fight all of his imaginary fire emergencies.

So when one of my personal heroes invited us to tour the Wilmington fire house, we just had to make the trip back to my hometown.

Dave was my high school Sunday school teacher.  He is crazy and fun and always showed so much love to the goofy bunch of teenagers I grew up with.

Blake wanted to wear the suit, boots and hat because, "I want them to think I'm a real fireman - not a kid."  He kept this "act like you've been there" persona going throughout the visit.  This kid cracks me up.

Learning how to use the big hose.

 

Fireman Dave is a genius because he told Blake that firemen have to study, take tests and work very hard to get the job.  My boy can now be motivated to work on his letters with a quick reminder of Dave's words.  Bonus!

Drumroll Please...

At then end of the crazy, fun and exhausting birthday party for Blake all of my family ended up back at our house.  We were all worn out from the ER trip prompted by Blake's tumble off of a picnic table.  So, I'm sure they were all wondering why I made them go outside to pose for a group picture.

Until...Steve made our special announcement!  Becca was one of the first to figure it out!

Grandma is making sure she understands what is going on.

Squeals of delight followed!

Terry teared up and Mom couldn't believe I hadn't told her earlier that week when I saw her.

Dad saying he knew it!

Hooray for a new little blessing to love!

Our precious gift from God has a due date of February 14, 2013.  A Valentine's Day baby to remind us of the great love we've been given.

Final Chemo!!!

 On Wednesday, June 27, the amazingly strong and precious Blake Patient headed to the hospital for his very last round of chemotherapy!

 Papaw was there, but he was very confused about how to wear the masks we all don during Blake's procedure.

 His reaction to Papaw's confusion.

 One of our all-time favorite people, Dr. Keri Streby.  Blake loves her.

 Dr. Streby survived pediatric cancer at age one.  She has a gentle and kind spirit, and is a fellow Christian.  We so appreciated her encouragement throughout Blake's treatment.

 Some of our church family from Capital City Church were able to make it.  Pastor Brent and Blake have the same face going.

 The budding photographer had to take a few shots of his own.  Mamaw was able to attend many of Blake's check ups and visit during hospital stays.  She is a wonderful mom and grandma.

 Waiting to get that last chemo.

 All finished and ringing the bell, loudly!

 Some of the great staff in the Oncology clinic.

All glory and honor to the only wise King, who strengthened and protected our family during the last nine months.  Praise you, Jesus, for protecting our son and pouring blessings out on all of us.  We will tell the story of your faithfulness to anyone who will listen.

Time To Hero Up!

Blake was over the moon with excitement for his 4th birthday, and we were too!  I woke up to see this sweet sleeping boy cuddled on a makeshift bed in our room, since Nathan and Becca were in town and sleeping on Blake's bed.  Immediately I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that this special day had arrived.  Birthdays are a big deal after cancer.

Showing off his super strong muscles with Papaw, before the party.

 It was a beautiful, breezy day at the park.  Perfect weather for a hero party!

 I got a little busy and didn't get to take many pictures, but it was so fun getting ready for this super hero theme.  Bev sent a ton of great decorations all the way from WA too!  I'm hoping Mom took more ;)

 Uncle Nathan!

 Decorating his cape!

 Beautiful Sofie working on her "hero training" with Steve.

 Hanging like Spidey from his web :)

Sammy doing his best Spiderman pose.

During the party a sneaky villain kept playing tricks :)  Here he replaced all of the letters from "Birthday" with a bunch of letter V's...for villain of course!  The little heroes had to run around and find the missing letters that had been taped to all of the balloons.

After that it was time to hand out the mini superhero figurines we'd bought for the kiddos, but the Villain struck again.  Each hero had been frozen in ice, so the kiddos had to use squirt guns to melt the ice and free their action figure.

And just when we thought it was time to relax and eat some cake, the kids discovered that the villain had stolen the candles and hidden them in a pinata.  Jax was by far the most fearsome pinata buster!  I love the look in his eyes!

Once we recovered those candles, it was finally time for some cake!  Blake made a good pick this year, chocolate chip cake with a layer of oreo buttercream frosting.  It was good!

As the party was winding down, the villain showed up in person to steal Blake's presents.  LOL!  Run, Nathan, run!!!  Blake told me later that this was his favorite part of his birthday. 

Chasing down the Villain with their squirt guns :)

Victorious!

This picture was taken while Blake opened gifts, and right before he fell off of the picnic table backwards.  After lots of tears, a little blood, and a three hour trip to the ER he was pronounced "just fine."  Thank God for supernatural protection!  The bump didn't look too bad, but we knew he had a low platelet count and wanted to play it safe.  What a way to end a party.  As we entered the ER, he was in tears - but didn't want to remove his cape.  We heard lots of "Awwww"s as we were taken back to a room.

We arrived back at our apartment to find all of the family waiting for us.  Amazingly, Blake was able to rebound and open the rest of his gifts ;)  He stayed up until 11 pm, on a party high, playing with his new toys.

And finally, they may not wear capes, but I was so happy to have all of these heroes there to celebrate with us.  There's no one like family to stick with you, pray every day, give encouragement, love, and build your faith during a time like this.  This Wednesday will be Blake's last chemo, and we are thrilled to celebrate that milestone with family as well!