Mr. D and Mrs. M

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers.  An update for James is that yesterday (7/11) James had his sixth chemotherapy treatment, which is the final treatment of his first round of chemotherapy. Last Friday (7/8) he had an MRI and CT scan to check the progress of the chemotherapy treatments, which yesterday we received the results for. These results were our first chance to see how well the chemo is actually doing. Here were the options: 1) One round of chemotherapy miraculous got rid of all the cancer in his body (0% chance) 2) Chemo reduced the tumor's size to the doctor's satisfaction to proceed with surgery. Surgery will take place on Friday to remove the largest tumors and radiation to remove the smaller ones. After the surgery more rounds of chemo will be needed to prevent the tumors from growing back (pretty low chance of this) 3) Chemo isn't working as well as expected, as in the tumors didn't shrink as much as the doctors would have expected th...

James has kidney cancer.  As David and I were driving to baby Isaac’s newborn photoshoot (5/27) we were talking about how lucky we were to have three beautiful and healthy boys with none of them having any major health problems, whoo boy did we speak too soon. Six days later David found himself in the Seattle Children’s Hospital Emergency Department with James awaiting a diagnosis that would forever change our lives. James has always had a round tummy, as a baby he had rolls to rival the Michelin Man. As he grew to be a toddler, his rolls all went away, but his round tummy stayed. We always assumed that it was because toddlers often have large tummies until they grow taller and it slims out, that was our experience with Neil. However, James’s tummy was always larger and rounder than we thought it should be, but we never questioned it too much. At James’s 2-year appointment (5/9), the pediatrician examined James and mentioned that James’s large and round tummy might be due to bloati...

  Isaac’s birth story Labor was insanely fast for me. I guess my experience aligns with what they say that 3rd babies come a lot faster than first babies. I’d been ready to meet Isaac. I took the 2 weeks before my due date off (because both my boys had been more than 2 weeks early, so of course Isaac would be early too), and was pleasantly surprised when May came and then also happy when both May 5th and May 10th (James’s and Neil’s birthdays) passed by too, and I got to still be pregnant. I know most women hate the last bit of their pregnancies because they are so uncomfortable and ready to meet their little ones, but for me I was okay being pregnant because for me it meant one more night’s full rest and more likely Isaac will be just a little more fully developed and maybe fatter and a better sleeper. After Mother’s Day May 15th this year though, the day after my due date, I felt ready to have Isaac in my arms and a little foolish for taking what would be more than 2 weeks of tim...

Somehow David and I are looking to be 3 for 3 on babies with May birthdays! I think it's going to be a lot of fun having a birthday month for my boys. Neil was born May 10 (early, at just shy of 36 weeks), James was born May 5 (also early, but less early and just shy of 38 weeks), and as of today I am 39 weeks with expectant baby boy (due date of May 14)! I'm excited to still be pregnant and think it could be nice to have this baby around 15th so that I can have May 5th, May 10th, and May 15th birthdays. We will see what happens!  This year we celebrated Neil's 5th birthday early and he had the birthday of his dreams at a local bounce house called Kidz Bounce. Something funny that happened was kids from his preschool class kept wishing him happy birthday at his party and he kept telling them that the day wasn't his birthday. I recommend if you celebrate your turning 5-year-old's birthday early that you prep them for friends wishing them a happy birthday and teach th...

Our family had a great Thanksgiving this past week! After Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree and it was really fun handing the ornaments to James to hand to Neil and for Neil to put up the ornaments on the tree on the ladder. I am really enjoying watching James and Neil get older. I'm so proud of James for deciding he's big enough to walk around the neighborhood without the stroller and for the big helper my older son Neil is. Here are a few photos to enjoy:

  This past summer our family attended a reunion for my mom's family. We spent time all over Utah including Bryce Canyon national park and Capital Reef national park. We are looking forward to the next one!

Photos by Kylee Hatch at https://instagram.com/studio.k.photography/