Pictures of the Birthday Girls!!

Riley's new birthday buddy, Jans Ky Henke

Is she not the most precious thing...

The birthday girls


Awww...kind of makes me want to add to our family. Not!!


Riley was in absolute heaven when the nurse let her keep holding Jans while she checked her vital signs...it's the little things!


The little mother hen

After loving on Jans we went to eat at Tokyo Grill, where they cook in front of you...Riley has been begging to go there for a while.

Our cook guy kept trying to interact with Riley, but Riley decided to be shy.

Ha! This was when he lit our grill...they make a really big flame.

Happy Birthday Riley!!

Today our little princess turns 5 years old!!! I really don't know how that is even possible?! I was even able to arrange for the best present a 5 year old girl could ask for...a baby to share her birthday with!! Aunt Carol is working on this, as we speak...so, at some point today Riley will have a brand new cousin & birthday buddy all in one shot!! (technically the baby will be Josh's cousin, Riley's second cousin...but that's just minor details!)
It's a little surreal, sitting here at the same hospital on the same day...only 5 years later. If we had only known what those 5 years would have had in store for us...but it has definitely been 5 years that I would not trade for the world!! Happy Birthday Riley...we love you!!!

The Birthday Girl!!

Carol is working on Riley's present...

**Update - IT'S A GIRL!! The sweet baby girl was born at 11:10 am...they haven't for sure decided on a name. Riley will be SO excited to have another little girl to play with. Yay!!!

You have to give a little...laugh a little....

Today is Riley's check-up day at the Cancer Clinic, and it also happens to be her procedure day. So, as we sit here waiting for her turn in the procedure room I was doing a little web surfing and discovered two things that make this momma very happy. Gap & Old Navy (where I love to shop online) are having their Give & Get Campaign, where you get to shop with a 30% off coupon and they will give some of the proceeds to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It's a win-win for everyone!! Just click on the link below, and shop away...well, the campaign doesn't really start until Thursday so just pick out what you want and then Thursday you can shop away!!

Give & Get Campaign

In the meantime, I will sit here feeling sorry for myself...I am STARVING, but can't eat until after Riley has her spinal tap. Yes, she is also STARVING but seems to be handling it way better than I am.

Oh, and guess who is having a birthday tomorrow....

This sweet girl is!!!

Weekend pictures

Friday night we went to the Gaslight Theatre in Shiner to see the Wizard of Oz.

Rynna, Katie and Riley had a great time!

Daddy was fishing in Clay all weekend, so Saturday we met him there for the kids to swim and fish in the Brazos River. We didn't stay long, though...it was HOT!!

Dayton and Riley fishing...these 2 are going to be some trouble makers in the future, mark my words!!

They really do love each other!

The kids love to play hide & seek with each other, and Hayden is finally starting to find some great hiding places. Although, he always gives himself away because he has a hard time sitting still and staying quiet.

Of course, once one of them discovers such a great hiding place they will both use it. Such originality!!


Are they not the cutest kids EVER?!

Sunday afternoon a guy from the auction barn came to pick up one of Pop's calves...the kids were absolutely heart broken that they would allow this to happen.


Hayden and Molly, still trying to figure out why Pops would let them take his calf away.

Jinxes-schminxes...

I have always classified myself as being borderline superstitious...if there is such a thing. I know I am not as bad as some people, you know who you are - spitting out the window after a black cat crosses your path...but I have been known to not step on a crack, so I wouldn't break my dear mother's back. I am, however, a very firm believer in jinxes and Karma. More times that not, I always tend to jinx a situation just by bringing up the "what if" question...just ask my sister Shelby. She and I went to Houston together to pick up her wedding dress one Saturday and on the way up there, out of the blue, I ask her "What if we get there and the dress they bring up isn't what you ordered?". You guessed it, the dress we went to pick up was not the dress she ordered...luckily, though, it was a dress she loved even more than the one she had originally picked out. Another example, is when I thought I had jinxed my daughter to have Cancer. My family has been fairly lucky in that everyone has stayed somewhat healthy...no major diseases or illnesses for anyone to overcome. I, however, have always known in my mind that I was going to be the one to break that winning streak...I was going to be the one to get Cancer. For some reason I mentioned to my Mom, one day in passing...and you guessed it, a few weeks later Riley was diagnosed with Leukemia. Coincidence? I blamed myself for Riley getting sick for a long time...but recently decided it was nothing I could have caused. Or is it?

Why am I telling you all of this? It was actually my way of allowing myself to get past my fear of jinxes, and tell you all about Riley's newest milestone. Just so you know this goes against everything I believe in, but it's just too great to not share. One year ago today, Riley and I visited the ER at Texas Children's Hospital due to Riley running a fever. Her counts were low, and she was admitted to receive antibiotics. We were all in a frenzy because Shelby and Justin's wedding was only a week away, and we didn't want it to happen without our precious little flower girl. By some miracle, Riley's body recovered and we were released just in time for the wedding. Wanna know what the best part of all of this is? That was the last time Riley has had to be an inpatient at TCH!!! Other than 1 other ER visit for fever, Riley has gone 1 whole year without having to go to the hospital for anything other than her clinic appointments. Isn't that fantastic? If she can keep this up for another 5 months, she will be home free!! She has been doing great, and feeling great...so hopefully it can be done. Unless of course I just jinxed it for everyone...I'll keep you posted!! :-)

I have some cute pictures from our weekend at Nana and Pops' house that I will try to get up later today. Have a great week!!

Picture link

I finally got more of the beach pictures up, over on our picasa web page...go check it out. You can also, FINALLY, see pictures from Relay for Life on there. I put the link over on the right side of this page, under Riley's picture...just click where it says Pictures of Us. Or you could just click HERE.

Enjoy!!

Port Aransas pics

Here are some of our beach pictures from last weekend...I am working on getting the rest of mine and my sisters up on our picasa web page for everyone to see. I will let you know when that happens. Oh, and I want to apologize for the quality of some of these...seems my camera lens got a little foggy, oops!

Me and my babies

my seesters

Daddy helped make a sand castle

Digging for seashells

feeding the birds

Riley wrote her own name, well everything but the R

Hayden liked filling his name up with water

Summer Lovin'...

Things here are still trucking right along...everyone has stayed well, and we are keeping busy. We are currently trying to recover from another fun filled, and action packed holiday weekend. We spent the weekend at my parent's house in Brenham, along with some extended family visiting from California...my Dad's cousin Mike, his wife Julie, and their beautiful girls Hannah and Claire. Everyone had a great time...the kids got to ride horses (Hayden's dream come true, the boy is obsessed with horsies), went for a ride in Bob's airplane (technically Riley and Hayden only taxied, although they don't realize they never left the ground...but Hannah, Claire and Mike got the real deal and flew over Somerville Lake, etc.), there was also swimming, fishing, gator-riding...you name it, this crew did it. For the 4th we enjoyed watching the parade in Chappell Hill, and had plans to finish up the day in Independence but decided to stay home instead. There are a ton of great pictures from the weekend, but none of them are on my camera...so those will come soon, promise!
We are now busy unpacking bags, washing clothes, and getting ready to re-pack for the beach!! We leave tomorrow for Port Aransas to enjoy some sand, sun, and lots of water!!! My family is joining us there...so we are excited to get away and enjoy lots of family bonding time!! Yay for summer!!

I am going to leave you with some new prayer requests. As our family's cancer journey is thankfully coming to an end, I have learned of 2 new families just beginning theirs. Even though I have never met either of them, my heart breaks for them. I know all too well how dark and confusing it is in the beginning...not knowing what your future entails. Now, like us, they are quickly learning that they are not alone on this journey...people are pouring out in groves to offer them prayers and words of encouragement. I am happy to help them in any way possible, even if it is only recruiting them more prayers and words of encouragement.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate - Kate is 5 years old and lives in Arizona. Her family found out last week, that Kate has a very aggressive tumor growing on her brain. She underwent surgery last Friday, but only half of the tumor was able to be removed. They are still waiting to find out what exactly they are battling, and what their course of action will be.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/autrey - Autrey is the 15 year old niece of a lady who used to work at the hospital I work at. Autrey found out a little over a week ago, that she is now battling cancer. They found a tumor on her hip, and are waiting to find out what they are facing. Autrey writes her own updates, and it amazes me how strong and spunky she continues to be. It also gives a peek into what a person truly feels and thinks after learning they have cancer.

Hope everyone has a great week...we'll be thinking of you while digging our toes into the sand!!

Happy 4th!!