Angels Among Us

Little people who endure so much and manage to keep a smile on their face are the angels among us. I have been following a blog about the grandson of a family close to mine. His name is Luke and he was diagnosed with leukemia when he was just six months old. He is now a little over a year old. He went through so much and endured pain, nausea, chemotherapy, anti-rejection drugs, more medicine than I could possible imagine and a bone marrow transplant. While following his moms blog there was only one period of time where this little boy wasn't smiling in every picture. When they got the results after his 100 days after his bone marrow transplant the doctors were sorry to tell them that the leukemia had invaded 40% of his marrow and that it was coming back with a passion. They suggested stopping treatment as they could only give maybe a 10% chance of the treatment working. So this family packed up and went on their first roadtrip with their youngest child in tow. He was able to feel the wind for the first time and they had a wonderful time, looking through pictures and reading her words makes me cry everytime. His battle isn't over yet as his blood counts keep going up, something that everyone who has followed his story is overjoyed at hearing as we all keep praying for a miracle for this little boy.

Then transfer over to Liam, who is teething right now. His diarrhea is so bad and so acidic that it is literally burning the skin on his little bum. The past week has been really hard for me, as I've watched his bum go from irritated to chafed to bleeding yesterday. All I had was desitin and it wasn't working anymore, so I finally broke down and took him to the doctor yesterday. The doctor prescribed a stronger ointment to help heal the skin that has already been damaged. But it's been hard having to wipe his bum to make sure I get all of the poop. Lately after wiping all the poop away, I'll get a warm washcloth and just rest it on his bum. He will scream at the initial touch but then I guess it's relieving because he will calm down just a bit... This morning was particularly hard because he woke up at 3 am just screaming, and so I got up to go to him and shortly after Jon followed, because changes are a two man job right now; Liam will squirm because it hurts and so one of us has to hold him down while the other does the dirty work. After we had finished getting him cleaned up, I put more ointment on his bum and then Jon held him while I went to make a bottle. Liam allowed himself to be held and rocked, which is an indicator of how much he needed it, and I came back to give the bottle to Jon and just watched them for a bit. It's so comforting to me to know that I have a wonderful husband who is willing to wake up at three in the morning just to help me, and to rock our baby to sleep. This is really the first time that I've been woken up this early in the morning to take care of Liam. He is usually so good and will sleep through the night, even when he was a baby. When he was first born he would wake up at six to be nursed and then sleep until 10. He slept through the night and I rarely had to wake up earlier. That's also an indicator of how this is affecting him. My poor baby... but when he isn't having to poop or be cleaned up he still smiles, and waves, and is as happy as can be. He is such a huge example to me of what The Saviour was talking about when he said we need to be Childlike. Even though we may be going through hard things we need to constantly be smiling and happy and show no malice towards others. If anything make sure that we are willing to call out for help and accept it when it's needed and offered.

I know it's been awhile since I've updated. We've been here, there and everywhere it seems and I feel as though we haven't had a moment to actually breathe. But life has slowed down for the month. At least until school starts for Jon, then everything will be hectic again!

Liam is going to be 13 months old on Saturday! Today was really sweet, Jon walked into the kitchen as I was feeding Liam his breakfast and Liam said, "Hi, daddy" then waved to Jon. Melted my heart!! He is so precious. He can now climb down the stairs with help but he likes to do the first step on his own. He loves playing outside in the dirt and grass and picking up sticks and running away from mommy. And he is as curious as ever and he will get into everything and anything that he can. He also discovered that there is space between the wall and the pew at church and so before I knew it he was half way up the chapel before I could catch him. He's really fast and very intuitive. He doesn't need to do something to learn, he can just look and deduce it himself. Such a funny little boy! He also went potty for the first time in the big boy potty today. I figured it would be easier then him having diarrhea in his pants and smearing all over his bum and hurting it. So he went potty in the big boy potty and it cheered for him! My baby is growing up!