A MERRY LIL’ CHRISTMAS

Eli’s had a busy and blessed Christmas!  He received double chemo on 12/21 and suffered from very few noticeable side effects other than some fatigue and nausea.  The girls were able to attend clinic for the first time and despite my telling them it would be fairly boring, they had the time of their lives keeping Eli occupied!  They played games and read him books, enjoyed snacks and drinks and kept the nurses entertained.  It was a pretty fun morning together;-)

A selfie with nurse Karen;-)

And, of course, Allie’s Angels were there putting on their very own Christmas shopping extravaganza with personal elf assistants.  They escorted the kids to the lobby, which was transformed into a shopping bliss, and encouraged them to pick out something for each of their family members. All gifts were wrapped and tagged beautifully.  It was very sweet;-)

We were able to spend an evening with one of our fav fams… the Browns! We had a fabulous middle eastern dinner in Dearborn followed by a VERY chilly evening at Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village.  We were able to enjoy a model T car ride as well as a horse drawn wagon ride with caroling!

Curtis and Eli LOVED the trains…especially when it dumped candy at them on its way around the corner!  The rest of us loved the train building because it was oh. so. warm.!

Curtis, Eli, Emily & Lexie in front of the chapel at Greenfield Village.

We were fortunate to attend the MSU vs OU basketball game to cheer on our team!!  With an overtime, MSU was able to win 99-93!  Woohoo Sparty!

Curtis and Eli cheering our team on while enjoying MANY snacks and using the popcorn container as a hat at times!

Ms. Lisa joined in our shenanigans from the other side of the court during halftime!  We love her!!

Christmas Eve was spent with Mr. & Mrs. Coe and Ms. Lisa…all VERY special people in our lives.  We were able to enjoy church, a meal and a gift exchange after;-)

Eli has an obsession with nutcrackers…he seriously loves them!  Papa & Gigi graciously bought him one and he was THRILLED;-)

We had an awesome time at Grandma & Grandpa’s yesterday.  The food was fabulous, the company sweet and the games competitive!

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

Hoping your Christmas was filled with love from everyone special in your lives!

 

IMMENSE BLESSINGS

Eli continues to do amazingly well; thank you prayer warriors for covering his every need!!  He received double chemo last Thursday and his blood counts and levels continue to amaze his oncologists;-)  His hair continues to grow against all odds and his energy levels are good.  I continue to work behind the scenes in boosting his immunity and detoxing his little system.  He’s still struggling with some stomach issues which is causing some non-eating at times  but otherwise all is good.

He participated in the Christmas coloring contest at the clinic as well as watched the Minions movie while receiving chemo.  He was in the mood for a ham sandwich with no bread…

Me: “So just ham then Eli?”

Eli: “A ham sandwich, please.”

Me: “But with no bread? So then just ham slices?”

Eli: “A ham sandwich and an iced chai latte, please.”

Of which he demolished the ham, left the bread and shared his iced chai with me;-)  My kinda guy!

We’re staying busy and keeping him focused on life and Christmas right now.  I’ll give a quick run down on Eli’s festivities and honors as of late…

Some dear friends, Rebecca & Jessie, have a mama Leader Dog who recently had puppies and gave Eli the honor of naming the first puppy born.  It was a boy and Eli quickly gave him the name of Henry… in honor of his awesome friend, Henry Keating;-)  Below’s a picture of Ms. Jessie introducing Eli to Henry.  Eli spent an hour in Heaven loving’ on his new lil friend;-)

We were also able to go cheer on our cousin Adrianna while she cheered her school team on!  Awesome job, A!!

We were able to take a family tour of MeadowBrook Hall.  We managed to learn lots of interesting facts about the Dodge/Wilson family during our time there despite Eli;-)…. they gave him a scavenger hunt upon arrival which required him to search for the teddy bears in many of the rooms so that was his main focus!!

We had our annual cookie baking-fest.  Each child gets to pick the cookie of his/her choice to make and Eli chose ‘Melted Snowmen’ this year.  They turned out quite cute and he was very pleased with himself.

We attended Beaumont’s cleft team annual Christmas party (Eli was born with a cleft lip so requires supervision by this team of specialists.  Eventually some surgeries will be required but since he’s been home it’s just been an annual appointment) where the kids had a minute to sit with Santa and Eli told him he wanted “nothing”!  Crack me up;-)  Kids were also able to decorate some cookies, eat LOADS of candy, have their faces painted, although Eli would have none of that nonsense and fun fam pics in the photo booth!  Thank you, Beaumont!!

Four years ago December 5th, we met this amazing lil man who’s changed our lives for the better;-)  He was cuter than a button and melted all of our hearts the minute we laid eyes on him.  He didn’t know what to make of us, especially the two lil white girls smothering him but he took a chance on us and what a R.I.D.E it’s been!  We LOVE you, Elijah James Medford and are so proud to call you our son.  Happy Gotcha Day!!

Each year we celebrate with a cake, a special authentic Chinese gift and a walk through memory lane with a slideshow of his Gotcha Day and our time in China.  He LOVES this, as do we!  As he gets older, it’s awesome to hear the questions he has.  The blanket he’s holding is one my mom made for him; she took it to China with us when we picked him up so it has special memories to him;-)

A huge THANK YOU to Mrs. Munch!  Eli received this extremely special “I Spy’ quilt from some friends of my parents.  She’s a quilter and felt convicted earlier this year to purchase the materials for this quilt without knowing why or to whom it would go to. Late this fall she realized God had placed it on her heart to make this quilt for Eli; a child she’s never met but blessed with such a special keepsake.  Her hope is that it’ll keep him warm this winter during visits to the clinic where we can play ‘I Spy’ with him to pass the time during chemo treatments.  Little did she know while she lovingly sewed this gem together that Eli LOVES anything and everything ‘I Spy’!  God is so good; He cares about every little detail.  Eli couldn’t be more thrilled with this awesome gift!

Some silly pics, of course, with big sis, Lexie;-)

Some Papa time;-)

We took a quick trip to Chicago for some Christmas/winter fun and although it was Christmas-y there was nothing winter-y about it… it was 60 degrees!  Lots of memory making, nonetheless;-)  Instead of ice skating the Ribbon we played at the Maggie Daly park and took selfies at the Bean!

We hit a play, the Christmas Market, our fav French restaurant and the Lincoln Park Zoo for their incredible Christmas Light display, along with the rest of Chicago!  It was packed!!  Eli’s infatuated with Nutcrackers this Christmas so getting his picture with a larger-than-life-sized one was quite the highlight for him!

And last, but certainly not least, a big thank you to Mrs. McWhorter (far right) for running her first marathon and honoring Eli with Mile 6.  She dedicated her marathon to children with cancer and prayed over a specific child each and every mile!  Way to go!  Such an awesome feat;-)

Thank you again for interceding for Eli; he’s truly doing great right now!

“My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.” Ps 119:50

DIVINE APPOINTMENTS

We’ve had a great week around here!  Eli’s doing pretty well, other than his stomach bothering him (chemo related).  I was true to my word regarding some alternative detoxing treatments and Eli’s liver levels fell from 450 to 123!  Granted, the oral chemo ended, which helped to bring his levels down somewhat but I’m confident all my lotions and potions helped as well!  Although they are still 6x what the doctors would like to see, he was able to receive double chemo on Monday.  Bittersweet…

Fifteen minutes into an ionic foot bath.  The water started clean and clear!

Thirty minutes later= end product!  Couldn’t even see his lil feet in this mucky water.  Brown/black water is known for liver and cellular debris detoxing.  I know all you skeptics are scoffing but you need to try it sometime;-)

Next on the agenda was an infrared sauna stop!  Fifteen minutes of sweating out toxins (don’t worry…I was in there with him;-).

Next on the schedule was reflexology that was recommended by a friend; thanks, Amy!  We drove to the middle of nowhere, well, almost, and were greeted by the kindest woman ever!…Mrs. Lafferty;-)  She spent her career as a preschool teacher so you get the gist.  Lexie went with us and none of us wanted to leave her home!  It was like being in the presence of an old friend.  She broke out the hot cocoa for the kids, tea for me, had dogs to love on and knew more about herbal teas than anyone I’ve ever met.  She even gave me this great book…20,000 Secrets of Teas: the most effective ways to benefit from nature’s healing herbs.  Jody thinks we have way too much tea in the house now… he hasn’t seen anything yet!!

Eli couldn’t have been more at home… a lil dog to cuddle, hot chocolate to his right and someone massaging his feet;-)

This is 8-week old Ella;-)  She and Eli got along quite well.

Mrs. Lafferty even taught me a thing or two to perform simple reflexology on Eli!  Thankful;-)

We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with family.  The kids got to love on their cousins, which is always a highlight and Eli, being the youngest cousin by almost 5 years, gets LOTS of loving attention.  He adores his older boy cousins especially, Ashton and Shawn, because they are SO GOOD to him.  Thanks you guys…xoxo.

I don’t think his feet touch the ground much as the olders are always carrying him around;-)

Time with cousin Shawn;-)

A selfie with cousin Hannah!  He’s got this selfie thing down!

Over the weekend the Christmas festivities swung into full gear with tree decorating and cookie making!  I wasn’t feeling my best so the kids took on the role of trimming the tree without my “help” and I promised myself I wouldn’t rearrange anything after everyone went to bed!  So far, I’ve held good to that promise but the 15 ornaments on top of each other toward the bottom of the tree truly do call out to me!

I think I spent $42 on Eli’s sprinkles alone!  His decorating tends to be thick and well thought out.

Monday came and went with five hours spent at the oncology clinic receiving three drip bags… two different chemos and one medication to try and help with his stomach issues.  Oh and by the way, he’s finally chosen a name for his port (it’s highly encouraged by the oncology nurses)…drum roll, please…Pokey Monster!  Get it…because he gets poked there;-)!  We thought that was pretty creative!

He loves Cheetos so when the flight attendants (aka nurses) come around with the treat tray, he likes to snag those;-)…daddy prefers the chocolate chip cookies;-)

And last but not least in Eli’s week was the opportunity to join Kids Kicking Cancer karate class.  They meet once per week and it’s for children with cancer and their siblings.  The instructors were great and it was so awesome to see Eli have the strength to participate.

So serious!

The little boy, Logan, next to him was helping him with ‘the moves’!

Peace, Power and Purpose is this organization’s motto so thought this last picture was an appropriate way to end tonight;-)

And a special thanks to my sweet friend, Lona, who sent me this blessing of a quote from C.S. Lewis, “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own’ or ‘real’ life.  The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life– the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls ‘real life’ is a phantom of one’s own imagination.”

And in response to that quote from Bambi who blogs at Nursery of the Nation, “This is my real life.  The one God is giving me day by day is the one He expects me to live in, for His glory.  Imperfect, crazy, unpredictable and full of interruptions–make that divine appointments–as it is.  This is it.  I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it.”

Thank you for continued prayers for Eli and our family!  We appreciate all you prayer warriors interceding for us.  Your notes, emails, texts and phone calls are sweet reminders of being lifted up daily.  We’re just thankful;-)