Are you aware???

Did you know that....

- 1 in 330 children are diagnosed with cancer by the time they are 20 years old (alexslemonade.org)
- childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the US (alexslemonade.org)
- EACH day 46 children are diagnosed with some type of cancer (kidsofchildhoodcancer.org)

I never new what these numbers meant until 3 years ago when my son became a statistic. He's been poked and prodded, looked at and examined my doctors, had more spinal taps than I can count at the moment, he's been put under sedation over 30 times in 3 years. Still he smiles and still he LIVES.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. This is a cause that is so very dear to my heart. Braxton is a SURVIVOR and above all, that matters the most. I have seen him literally on the brink of death, at a point when he could have gone into cardiac arrest... still he smiled. I've seen him so very sick with a temp of 105 literally having to be iced down, but still he smiled and begged to play.

I am happy to say that today Braxton is 8 months into remission and there is NO sign of disease in his body. He BEAT the monster. BUT there is no cure, so he will never be able to say he's cured... only treated with no evidence. Braxton is only one of many many many fighters under the age of 20 that are battling different monsters everyday. Some of them will not win. Some of them will. Either way it's not fair.

There needs to be a cure. That's why funding is essential and sadly our government doesn't see it extremely necessary to provide funding that's why it's left up to mothers like me to raise a few nickels and dimes to throw into the pot.

These kids fight like there is no tomorrow. They fight because they want to play just like all the other kids. They fight because they want to live above everything else.

If ever you want to know a glimmer of what we go through as moms of cancer kids. Go sit on an oncology floor, just sit in the waiting room and watch all the bald, smiling faces, "pole surfing" past you and that should make you want to give a $1 the next time the opportunity arrives.

Donate because it could be your kid but it's not and then thank God the entire time you are digging through your wallet. Thank God as you place the dollar in the bowl and thank God that his mercy and grace is new everyday.

6 months into treatment 2 1/2 years of treatment to go (2010)

Tomorrow we are going to be hosting our very first Alex's Lemonade Stand. Braxton has a small goal of $200 and we are hoping to hit that mark. I am praying that we can see the compassion of our community and surpass our goal beyond our wildest dreams.

The day he had his port removed (May 2013)

 

Happy Healthy 5 year old

 
 

6 years old on his first day of kindergarten 2013

Suddenly I have a Kindergartener

So as I sat in the car rider line at Braxton's school the other day I was suddenly in a melancholy way... I thought "at what point did I become that mom.... the one who sits in "car rider lines", in a mini van, goes to PTO meetings and volunteers as the Monday Mom????

 

Suddenly it feels like my life is in hyper speed and I would really love for it to slow down just a bit.

 

Some day's selfish me feels like I got jipped a few years with Braxton, those sweet formative years, those innocent toddler moments and now he's in Kindergarten and he carries a book bag and lunch box and uses words like recess and little sayings that he has picked up from his new teacher like 'hand on hip, finger on lip" and "I didn't drop my star".... oh, where has my baby gone to?

 

I guess, too, I look at him knowing all that he has overcome all before he even started school and he just seems so big, so beyond his years. I never take a moment with him for granted. I never take a moment with any of them for granted but with him, its a little different.

 

 

The difference a year can make from Preschool to Kindergarten

 

 

With all the hustle and bustle of the month of July I haven't had a chance to update. Braxton had a birthday on August 4th and turned 6. He had a LEGO themed party at the local splash park. He had all of his best friends there and Gammy, Charlie, Karlos and Aunt Ginny came in from NC.  . I don't know who was happier, me or him.  We had the best visit. I hated to see them go. I felt like I needed my mom and sister just a little bit longer. Papaw and Nana came from OH, as well.

 

I also wanted to take a moment and say a very happy (belated) birthday to my mama. Her birthday was yesterday and I hate that I couldn't be there to give her a kiss and hug. She is one of my very best friends, she is the reason that I have so much respect for single moms everywhere. She is never selfish, always so giving. I do love my mama.

 

 

 

While they were here my dear sweet friend Anna did some pictures for us. I wanted some pictures of us all together and of the grandkids all together. AMusing Photography She did a fabulous job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now I am in the world of elementary school moms. Life with 3 at home all day has proven to be rather peaceful (well, a little less chaotic anyway)

 

Zoe and Caleb prove to keep me on my toes.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

SOOOO... we had a baby, and then.......

We suddenly got SO busy.... 

We live for chaos of some sort in this house. I tell people it keeps me young and always keeps things exciting. July has come (and almost gone) and we have been so "normal" that I hadn't updated caringbridge or my personal blog. 

Braxton's last clinic appointment went very well, and today he had another one month check and he is at 6 MONTHS post chemo. Oh!!! it's so exciting to be counting UP now instead of down to the last treatment :) 

We are not taking any moment for granted. 

On the 4th of July we met up with some friends and although it was raining we went to the Dayton Air Force museum and finished out the rainy night at Joe's Crab Shack on the river... it turned out to be a really fun time. We laughed and ate good food and made memories. 

After the 4th we have been traveling far and wide. We went to Gatlinburg, TN for a week with Nana and Papaw and had the best time. Braxton loves his one on one with them, but it made it super exciting that Aunt Stef came too and brought 2 of Braxton's favorite people, Charlee and Garrett. The cabin was always bustling with ninja moves, and noise, noise everywhere until the wee hours of the night.  Thanks so much Papaw and Nana for the trip.

At the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge

Cabby loves his Nana

Cabby and Nelleigh Belle... those 2 are a hoot together

With the best papaw EVER!!!

Then after Gatlingburg, we were home for 2 days and then we went to Tulsa, OK for 5 days for PEAK (a youth church event with young people from all over the country) we felt that at his age it's important for Braxton to see all the people that love and serve Jesus just like he does. Needless to say that Alex, at 6 weeks old, is WELL traveled now. 

Love my family

This past weekend we went to a youth meeting that is about an hour away in Noblesville for 3 days. The kids had a blast getting to see all there little friends that, for the most part, they only see a few times a year. 

This week, we are all SOOOO excited (probably me more than anyone) Gammy and Aunt Ginny and Liam are coming!!!! Braxton's 6th birthday is this weekend and they are coming to celebrate with us. I may just kidnap them and keep them from leaving. 

Braxton has also been to the urologist this month. We are trying to get his night time bed wetting under control. So we are trying some new things, working with his fluid intake and the things he drinks and we are going to try the alarm. Hopefully we will see some results in the coming weeks. 

So this weekend we are going to have a Ninjago LEGO party at the splash park and have a SMALL sleepover and just have FUN!!! Because being a cancer SURVIVOR, deserves to have a SUPER FUN BIRTHDAY.  

I have been very thankful this week, a little teary but over all thankful. I am so blessed that we get to celebrate another year with Braxton. We are super thankful that he is a SURVIVOR and I will never, ever take that for granted. God has been so good to us. 

AND then on Monday next week..... BRAXTON STARTS KINDERGARTEN!!!!! We have been school shopping and he has his book bag and lunch box and today he was able to get a few of his booster shots (he was NOT happy about this). 

So, the Adkins family is trucking along, enjoying the rest of the summer and all the fun things that we have planned. Again and as always thank you for all the prayers and thoughts. 

Clifford WAS a runt too....

I have to say that the first couple of days being a mommy to 4 was.... well..... a bit scary. 

I believe that I was mostly worried about Caleb and how he was going to react. He did prove me right, however. I knew that the 17 months between  them was just not enough. I knew that Caleb would still want to be my "baby" and in many respects he still is. 

It was a little difficult introducing Caleb to Alex and as I had thought, he doesn't seem to be too fond of him. I am sure that with time it will become easier. But for now I will  embrace having 2 babies that really do need me. 

I am sure that with time they will grow to be best friends, right now, not so much.

Zoe had been at Nana's for a week and boy! was I glad to have that little booger home. I really did miss her. She came back a tad chunkier ;) and a tad sassier but none the less still so sweet and spunky. I missed my little side kick. We are greatly out numbered in this house of stinky boys so we must stick together. 

Alex went for his 1 week check up today... can't believe that he is a week old already. 

He is doing beautifully! He is back up to his birth weight in only a week and the jaundice (the mild case that he had) seems to have cleared up. While he is little I can see the potential of him growing quickly and becoming a big boy. I can't help but think (in my mommy wisdom) that Clifford was born a runt and grew into a BIG RED DOG, that is rather famous among the preschool nation :) 

We also did his newborn photo shoot, my dear sweet friend Anna, took his pics and we had so much fun. I can't wait to see the finished product. {please, remember her, she lost her dad a couple of weeks ago suddenly and could use the added prayers}

So Happy One week to my Alexander the Great. Mommy is looking forward to watching you grow in the coming weeks. 

I am loving these summer days. I vowed that my kids would be outside as much as possible this summer. At the beginning it was a little hard seeing that I was so miserable, but now, MAMA'S BACK!

The past couple of days they have played and played and played until they were dirty and sticky and disgusting. All the signs of a good time. Braxton and his little friends have played in the water and had water gun fights and played in the dirt and just had a good ole time these past few days and at night with in no time they are out cold... I'm loving every moment.

Cabby loved those Popsicle's probably ate 4 of them. He was a mess by the time we came in.

Braxton and his good pal, Westin, obviously mine is the mean one with the gun pointed at the photographer. 

You know they have had a good fun filled day when the bath water is extremely murky and they skip lunch 

Happy Summer Y'all.

Happy Father's Day

Growing up my dad was never in the picture. As I've gotten older I know that I was better off without him. I always envied all my friends that had "daddy's" but given the circumstances I know that somethings just are for a reason. 

My mom, was fabulous with us girls. As a result I have a HUGE amount of respect for single moms. She worked multiple jobs to provide for us. And while sometimes we didn't have exactly what we WANTED we always had what we NEEDED. My mom is wonderful and today my mom and sister and I are amazingly close and I wouldn't take anything for that. 

When I married Eron I "inherited" a fabulous dad. Eron's dad immediately took me under his wing and I just think he is amazing. As do my children, who are amazingly blessed to have such a fabulous Papaw. He has patience and loves being with them. He plays Candy Land with them at midnight and takes them to Walmart for a "toy run" at 8 in the morning. He buys them ponies and works extra hard so he can give all 7 grand children their hearts desire. He is selfless and just awesome. We love you dad/Papaw!

Now, for the man in my life... my wonderful husband. From the very first time that he found out he was going to be a daddy I have watched him transform into a new man. I could instantly see the wheels turning in his head thinking of all the things that he was going to do with his children. With each addition he has become more and more amazing. He's firm but they don't doubt the love that their daddy has for them. Our kids think their daddy is the coolest and he is for sure their hero. He is rough and tough with the boys and sweet and gentle with his little princess. 

When Braxton was his sickest I can remember hearing him pray through tears in the middle of the night, a fervent prayer. He teaches them Godly principals and always puts church first. He makes sure that they use their manners and he for sure "takes the bull by the horns" when he has to. He works extra hard to provide for our family so that I can stay home with them. He is all together wonderful.

Today I am so thankful for the amazing man that God has blessed me with. My soul mate, my helper, a WONDERFUL father, a fabulous provider and my amazing best friend. 

Watching him daily with our children has made up 10 fold for me having an absent father growing up. I love watching him with them. I consider it a special blessing to have him in my life. I hope that one day my children will really appreciate all that he does and look at him with eyes of wonderment (even more than they already do).

Our memorial day trip to Louisville

Teaching Braxton to ride a bike

We love you Eron... hope your Father's Day is amazing!

The first thing that Alex heard was a prayer from his daddy

A BIRTH-day, Birthday and Anniversary

Monday morning I went to the hospital after contracting all through the night. By 8am I was so tired and miserable that I thought for sure something had to be going on. So, off to the hospital I went. After being put on the monitor and getting a bag of fluid it was chalked up to pre-labor and I was sent home and told to follow up in the office on Tuesday. 

SO... Tuesday I saw the doctor and after he checked me (I was still just one) he decided that because I was so miserable with back pain that I should probably go ahead with an induction since I was right at 39 weeks.  This was something that I really didn't want to do because after 2 inductions I decided that they were not my favorite thing to do and that I would have much rather labored at home and went in when the time was right. But doctors orders are doctors orders. 

Sometimes, we just have to listen to the little "pushes" that we get in life. I only prayed for a healthy baby and that God would place his hand on us. 

We got to the hospital Friday morning at 6am and they started on me right away. I was put on the monitor, checked (still only a 1) and the pitocin was started. I began the long process of laboring.... stuck in the bed... laboring. Dr. Brown came in and broke my water about 7 and then we waited... and waited .... and waited. 

OK, probably didn't wait that long but it seems like forever when you are hooked up to machines and you want to meet this little person that you have been "growing" for 9 months. 

8 hours later....

After pushing for 3 minutes, he entered the world.... nameless, but none the less, here. 

I love my doctor, he's so cool and calm and collected, but my experience in OB taught me that when the doctor starts talking to the nurses under his breath that something is out of the ordinary. Come to find out my sweet little boy had the cord wrapped around his neck 2 times. It was loose enough that it didn't cause him any distress but still .... scary to know. I keep thinking what would have happened had we waited. 

Eron and I have "debated" literally for months over a name. We thought that for sure we would have something figured out by the time that we had him. Well, 6 hours after he was born we still had NOTHING!! I am assuming that the more kids you have the harder it gets to name them.  That is the case with us for sure. 

As he was leaving the hospital I got a text from him and so our nameless "baby Omega" was properly named. :)

Introducing ... Alexander Blake Adkins

born June 14th 2013

at 3:15 pm

Weighing 7lbs 1.6oz

19 1/2 inches long

He is truly a blessing and in many ways a miracle. 

I am glad that I listened and that with the guidance of a MIGHTY GOD, he was born with no complications. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday was a big day in our house....  It was also our anniversary.... 10 YEARS!!!

It's so hard to believe that we have already been married 10 years, that we now have 4 beautiful children and that we have literally grown up as much as we have. 

SO, to the love of my life....Happy Anniversary and thanks for being such a wonderful, husband, father, provider and leader of our home. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND... it was also my wonderful Mother-in-laws birthday. Through the years she has truly become one of my dearest friends. I love her so much and I am blessed to have her in my life. Thanks for sharing your day yet again mom, hope it was a wonderful birthday. 

We love you.

The proud big sister, the one and ONLY princess in this house. 

She looked down at him and said "we shall call you Peter Pan", she is so funny. 

She is spending a few days at Papaw and Nana's, she needed to get away from "stinky boy territory".

OMEGA

3 weeks till my due date... Woo Hoo!!!! 

I am in the end. I could go into labor at any moment (ha, yeah right! so not that lucky, usually have to kick these babies out)

Looking in the mirror the other night, something that I DO NOT do often, I realized that this is the last time that I will ever have a big ole prego belly. I will admit it was a little bitter sweet for me. 4 is definitely my limit. Sometimes the most wonderful blessings come from surprises and I am ready to meet this little guy for sure. But 4 is for sure my stopping point. 

Even in the moments when life is so chaotic that it seems hard to breathe I never want to forget just how wonderful God has been to me. Each of my sweet monkeys brings a different joy, a different spark to our little family. 

Braxton and Zoe are enjoying some much needed time with Papaw and Nana. I have not felt wonderful so they have kind of been stuck in the house.  They are hoping that Papaw's horse has her baby while they are there. (I'm a little jealous that the horses chances of going into labor are greater than mine right now) 

They are getting spoiled as we speak. I am going to go down later with Caleb and pick them up. I wish so much that my mom was closer. I miss her and my sister everyday, but I am glad that they at least have one set of Grandparents that are a little closer. 

Yesterday, I felt really bad that I have not been able to take the kids out to enjoy this super nice weather, so I thought I would take them to the local splash park. All morning the monkeys were so excited. I had to run into a store really fast for sunscreen and poor Braxton must have been a little too excited because he opened the door a little too fast and I'll save all the details but lets just say, he's shy an entire toenail today, UGH! And on top of that when we got to the splash park it was closed... poor kids.

It's just me and Cabby today and we are having such a good time together. One on one time is so important when you have a slew of children. He is loving that he gets all the toys to himself. He's quite the stinker these days but still so sweet. 

We are still trying to figure out a name for baby #4, whom I have dubbed Baby Omega (because that is just what he is) It's probably the most stressful part of this whole journey. I keep saying that it would have been easier had we had another girl, we used all our good boy names already. 

Oh yeah!!!  Let me insert a little about our Memorial Day fun.... We are discovering Indiana and I'll have to say it's a very pretty state. We decided to take the kids to a place called French Lick. They have a railway system there that takes you on an 1 1/2 train ride through the Hoosier National forest, we saw Larry Byrds childhood home, who would have guessed he was from this little tiny town in the woods of Indiana. And at the top of the mountain there was a gun fight between cowboys! The kids loved it!! On the way home the kids were so excited that the cowboys rode back with us. Afterward, we ended up down by the OH river outside of Louisville. And it was breathtakingly beautiful. So we snapped a few pics, and headed back home. We love Zaxby's Chicken and there is only ONE in IN and it's about 2 1/2 hours from our house and just happened to be on the way home. We were in HEAVEN! We truly made the best of our family day.

Family Portrait  ;) Gotta love it!

These 4 special people, kinda make my world go round ;) 

So blessed.