Sam Doing Well

Just a quick update on Sam Turner. He had his port placed last Friday without complications and completed his first round of chemo Tuesday and Wed. He has done great! No side effects from the chemo to this point. Beth said he didn't even cry when they accessed his port. Tough guy! He goes back to the doctor in 2 weeks for blood work and will have his next round of chemo in 4 weeks. They plan on completeing six rounds and will laser the tumors most likely after 5 rounds if they have become small enough to do so successfully. Please offer praises for this great report and continue to pray for continued blessings. Thank you!~Haley

Sam Turner Surgery

Just an update on baby Sam. He had an MRI on Monday--all clear minus the tumors they already knew were present! Big praise! He goes in tomorrow morning to have his port placed and starts chemotherapy next Tuesday and has another dose on Wednesday. These will all be done on an outpatient basis. Just wanted to keep you up to date. Please continue to pray. Thanks and Love~Haley

Barrett Potty Training

Hard to believe my first baby is now just two months shy of being 3! I remember thinking that the first week of his life went by so quickly and in only 51 more bursts of the same he would be a year. I knew his little life was going to fly. It has gone by even faster than I envisioned!

I am determined for him to be out of diapers by the time he is 3. We started potty training last week, putting him in big boy undies except to sleep and for outings. He had only one accident each day until yesterday which was his first accident-free day!!!!!! Yea!!!!!!! I am so proud and am feeling otpimistic at our progress thus far. He is even complaining if his diaper gets wet when he has worn them and is going to the potty at mother's day out! He is proud of himself too and enjoying the M's, worms, and Reese cups for rewards!

Jace 6 month check-up

Jace went for his 6 month check-up 5 days short of being 7 months :) Here are his stats: weight 18 lbs. 0.4 oz. (50-75th %); length 26" (25th %). He got his shots and didn't even cry--crazy tough!

Just a picture of him overall right now. More for me to remember than of interest to you :)
He is sitting well on his own now. Stands and bounces in your lap. Likes to hold onto your hands and walk now. Waves bye bye backwards and does the same when he wants you to come. Becoming more and more verbal. He says "hey" and "mama", but I won't pretend he knows what he means yet. He is very smiley and loves to be around people and activity. Content for the most part.

Eating 2-3 meals of baby food now. Not fond of any green veggies at this point. He did eat broccoli and chicken puree for dinner last night and he'll eat mixed veggies which contains green peas--we are working on this. I fear we will have the same issue we did with Bear at a year--the doc thought he was jaundiced and had liver issues, but after some blood tests he discovered it was simply that he ate so many yellow and orange veggies (betakeritinosis--sp?). "You are what you eat."

As far as sleep goes, he takes two naps--one short and one fairly long--and he either wakes once or sleeps through the night.

He is in size 3 diapers (which are very hard to apply due to his rolly-polly self) and wears 6-9 month and some 12 month clothes. He appears to be slimming down some now that he is not nursing exclusively and becoming more mobile--not quite so "chubs".

Pray for Sam!

Sam Turner, our dear friends Beth and Brandon Turner's nearly 5 month old son, was just diagnosed with retinablastoma yesterday when they discovered 3 tumors in his left eye. Beth had the cancer as a child and recently had genetic testing performed after her oldest son Brooks also fought the disease around the age of two. Several months ago they discovered that it was indeed related to a gene Beth carried and that Brooks also had the same gene. They just discovered last week that Sam also had the gene and had an 85% chance of being diagnosed with retinoblastoma as well due to having that gene. After going for a routine eye examination Tuesday, the tumors were found. They will be performing an MRI soon to make sure the cancer has not spread and will formulate a plan for treatment in the coming days. Please be in prayer for baby Sam and their family. I will keep you updated.

Holidays

We had a blessed holiday season. Santa visited our house a day early this year. We celebrated as a family of four for the first time on Christmas Eve. Then we headed up to TN to visit with both sides of Adam's family and my parents and brothers' families. We had a great time visiting.

Barrett was at such a fun age for Christmas this year. It was so fun to watch his eyes light up that morning. And Jace seemed to enjoy his first Christmas, at least the spoiling that occurred over the holidays. He thought his tush should never touch the ground and naps should be taken on people rather than in beds. After a week home, I think he has readjusted to the lack of 24/7 attention. Seriously though, I am so grateful for a loving family whose love just keeps growing to love and welcome each new member well. I love you all!

Here are a few pictures. My apologies for not taking more. I will have to steal some from Grandaddy and Yeh Yeh :)

Our Christmas tree before the presents had been discovered.

As expected, Jace was more interested in bows and wrapping paper this year, but he has enjoyed the toys once out of the boxes. Barrett has enjoyed having 2 sets of new toys to play with and is keen on playing with Jace right now ;)

Bear tearing in

Jace playing with Grandmother. Precious. Makes my heart smile.

All the cousins on my side.

From left: Lucas, Jace, Kirsten, Griffin, and Bear



Barrett enjoyed playing with Liam--not only a cousin, but a friend now too!