Breakfast in Bed

This morning, Chase told me to stay in bed and that he would bring me breakfast. He got the kids up, and then I heard him busy in the kitchen. After a while, he and Coleton came in with a beautiful tray, filled with a delicious breakfast of eggs scrambled with ham and green pepper, pancakes, pineapple with cottage cheese, and grape juice. Coleton was dressed up like a waiter, and visibly excited about their surprise. He came in and said, "Breakfast is served." What amazing men I have!

It Was a Merry Christmas!

Chase and Coleton went sledding on a big hill! Even Sarina went down once, piled on a sled with Chase and Coleton...not the best idea. Chase had to hold onto Sarina to keep her in the sled, but the sled was in need of brakes. They ended up going super fast, ending in a wipe out, with Sarina face down in the snow. Well, that's one way to introduce her to the snow. She had her cry, but was fine. No more sledding for Sarina.

On Christmas Day, we were at my family's house. We had a snowstorm, starting Christmas Eve morning, and lasting through Christmas. Because Chase is in the snow-removal business, he had to work, so Coleton, Sarina and I spent a few days with my family, enjoying a relaxing Christmas celebration, but missing Chase. On Christmas Day, Coleton and I played out in the snow, and here I'm teaching Coleton how to make a snow angel.

Coleton loved playing in the snow. We had about a foot of fresh snow to play in.

Before my dad read the Christmas story to us, we dressed Coleton and Sarina up like Joseph and Mary.

Our snowman, made by me, my sister, Jennie, with a little help from Coleton. Like the stylish hairdo?

On Christmas night, Chase surprised us all and showed up at my family's house. I was so excited and surprised to see him! It was the best Christmas present! (Coleton has this new thing of sticking his thumb in his mouth and one finger up his nose. It makes for great pictures. :) Hope you all had a special Christmas!

A Long Overdue Update

Wow! Has it already been two months since we blogged?! Well, here are a few updates from the past two months...

Chase got a "monster buck", a big 10-pointer, when he went hunting up north with his dad, brothers, uncle, cousins, and friends for their annual hunting trip. It's his biggest buck yet, and he was really excited about it! He also got a 5-pointer. Most of all, he enjoyed the camaraderie with family and friends.

While he was gone, I (Sarah), Coleton and Sarina enjoyed spending time with my family at their house.

In November, we had the opportunity to take care of Chase's sister's kids for the weekend. Clayton and Connor are two and a half and 16 months old, so we experienced having 4 kids under the age of 3. It was wild, but fun. We were grateful to also have Chase's sister, Lydia (now 9 years old), spend the weekend. She was a huge help!

Clayton and Coleton love their Auntie Lydia!

Coleton turned 3 on November 23rd! We enjoyed a small celebration at home as a family, and look forward to celebrating with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins after the holidays.

Chase helped Coleton put the star on our tree as we decorated the house for Christmas. Coleton really enjoyed helping us this year, bringing me branches to set up the tree, putting ornaments on the tree, and of course drinking holly nog - a family tradition for Christmas decorating.

Coleton's treatment continues to go very well, and we'll try to keep this blog updated as he progresses through it. We are still so very grateful for all your prayers! God bless you and Merry Christmas!

A Day to Celebrate

We met with the doctor today to discuss Coleton’s progress and plans for the next step.  She is very excited about what is happening, but feels we should stay the course for now with giving factor daily and keeping up with the current immune suppressants.  We will be cutting back on the amount of factor, which is good for a couple reasons: It means the factor is working well, and it will help keep costs down.  So, we are praising the Lord for where we’re at, and we had the opportunity to celebrate with Coleton this afternoon.  He will tell you that we got to have doughnuts.  By the way, we highly recommend “A Baker’s Wife” in Minneapolis (near Lake Nokomis), where we enjoyed cake doughnuts.  It looked like they had some other amazing treats there as well!  Thank you all for your prayers!!!

Awaiting the Next Step

We want to thank you all for your prayers for Coleton and our family!  Things are going great! On Friday, we went into the clinic and, for the first time, Coleton was taken off the two meds. that were to help in case of an allergic reaction, and everything has gone well with that.  He is still on two immune suppressants (one that is given daily orally, another that is given by i.v. over the course of 6 hours in one day out of the month).  Our next appointment is on Thursday, where we hope to discuss the next step with Coleton's doctor.  From the sound of things, everyone on the hematology team is very excited and surprised by the progress Coleton is making, and did not foresee things going this well.  We are also very excited, but not surprised, knowing that we serve an all-powerful, living God who can move mountains and part seas.  We know that if it's God's will to take away the inhibitor, He can do it with the snap of His fingers (actually, He doesn't need to DO anything, but you know what I mean).  We continue to give Coleton factor daily at home, and Coleton is being a trooper for his daily pokes, which he does not look forward to.  But, is has been a blessing to see him bruise-free for once in his life!  Even though Mom and Dad have had to put a lot of their energies towards Coleton, Sarina doesn't allow us to forget about her.  I guess she is a typical second-born (I can tease her about that, since I am one myself.).  She's an on-the-move kind of girl.  Unlike Coleton, who at her age could sit for almost an hour and play with cars; Sarina doesn't like to sit still for very long (unless there's food in front of her) but would prefer to explore the entire house all day long, not stopping to smell the flowers.  It has been so nice to be home more now, and able to spend time with her, though we are so grateful for family who have taken great care of her while we've been away at the hospital or clinic appointments.  Love to all!

Yeah for Daddy!

Today, Chase accessed Coleton's port for the first time.  I (Sarah) have been doing it every time so that I could get a lot of experience under my belt.  Chase did everything today, from mixing the factor through the entire process, while I just watched.  He did a great job, getting it right in on the first try.  I usually miss the first time and have to maneuver the needle a little to get it in the center of the port.  He told Coleton that it was just like bow hunting: aim the arrow for the bullseye.  Yes, hunting is on his mind these days... actually, I think it's on his mind year round. Each time we've been accessing at home these last 3 days, Chase and I have both been here; but we've been practicing at making it a one-person job, because there will probably be many times when Chase will be leaving for work before Coleton gets up, and we want to be ready for that, and also for other circumstances when only one of us is around.  It's pretty amazing that Coleton, not yet 3 years old, will sit still enough by himself for us to access him.  He has been crying a little (especially since we stopped using Emla cream - a topical numbing agent - since his skin was reacting to it), and he tends to want to put his hands up (in essence, to pull our hands away from putting the needle in), but he does obey when we tell him he needs to put his hands down and be very still.  I think at this point he knows what he needs to do, he just fights the urge to stop us for the few seconds it takes to get the needle in.  If he didn't obey us, it would be impossible to do this without two of us.  It just reminds me how important it is for me to take time to train my kids in obedience at a young age.  Yes, I'm motivating myself as I write.  Look out, kids; Mommy's been inspired!

God Is Good!

Coleton's treatment is going very well.  Today we started home treatment as being more the norm.  We won't have to go into the clinic until Friday, and probably only once a week from now until ???  There's still no sign of an inhibitor, and we're starting to cut back a little on some of the meds.  Coleton's doctor is very excited about how things are going.  We praise the Lord for what He is doing, and for His more than sufficient grace that has gotten us through thus far.  We are so thankful for your prayers and overwhelming support!

Coleton enjoys one of Mr. Delaney's famous ribs.  Thank you to all those who have blessed us with meals!  We have had so many delicious suppers, and I've hardly had to cook at all these days.

Coleton and Sarina love to play with Daddy when he gets home from work!

When Chase got back from scouting, Coleton had to try on Daddy's cool boots.