Her Bike

It was almost a disaster upon arrival here... Addie's bike was not in the playroom!!! She has taken ownership of this little green John Deere tricycle here at the University! She refers to it as her bike and it is also how she keeps this hospital apart from Covenant... "My green bike hospital!" Before we left last time another little girl about her age was riding it and Addie didn't love that... She is still saying, "Mom, that girl ride my bike!" 
The nurses went on a bike hunt as soon as they saw just how important this bike was and in no time Veronica brought it to our room... She is now one of Addie's forever favorites :) 
We/she now make sure to keep it in her room at all times!  It is literally how we spend 85% of our free time!!

Daddy is the tower master!! So coordinated, finally those athletic skills put to good use!!

This Naughty Nancy brings lots of smiles as she cruises down the halls!

So much love to her Mommy... "Mom, I love you so much!" I never tire of hearing those words!

Our sweet little hospital visitor! Always a smile, always bringing happiness

Round 2

Here we go round 2... One more round closer to having Naughty Randall gone!! We will be in Iowa City until Saturday if all goes as planned!  Nothing major for this week, just chemo and a hearing screening.  The chemo she gets this round is the same as round 1 so hopefully she will be respond the same as last time!!  After this round we have a lot planned.  She will have her first round of scans, another bone marrow biopsy and her stem cell harvest!!! 
Lots to pray for... Pray that her little body stays strong for another round of chemo, that the chemo is killing this awful cancer, that her stem cell harvest goes as planned, that we avoid any bacterial infections, that she feels good and is her normal crazy self and that her scans show MAJOR improvements!!  They told us that we may not see any major differences yet and it may take four rounds before we can really see a difference on the scans but God is good and I think He is already shrinking it!!  She has been pain-free and that is such a blessing and a good indicator that at least it isn't growing and hopefully it is shrinking!!  I want total destruction and cancer free for an eternity :) let's go Miracle Maker... Please Jesus!!!  
So much to be thankful for, we had such an amazing week at home... Crazy just how normal it felt!!
Thanks everyone for your support and continual prayers and a special thanks for all the delicious food and gifts!! 
Lots of Love

Happy Haircut

Look at this little cutie pie!!! She had a great hair cut team... Thank you big sister and Daddy!!

Swing Swing Swing

Yay... We have a swing set!!!
Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for an early birthday present, Aunt Erica for making a phone call and to KT's Backyard Adventures for helping us and making it all possible!!! 
We truly are blessed!! Happiness is possible even when you think it couldn't be... It is the small things that you often wouldn't even realize that make the biggest difference in times like these!!  God is always here and He is good!!

 

No more shots

Life is good here at the Brenden household!!! If it weren't for gobs of hair everywhere you wouldn't even know our little Miss was sick!! We have went through a few lint rollers!! 
She has been doing so good since we have been home... Praying that continues!!!
We did bloodwork at home Thursday and the results were amazing!!! Her immune system count was 15000, which was 5000 more than we even needed!!! Woot woot... No more shots!!! Praise The Lord!! God is good!!! She was so excited, we danced!!! :)

Home

We are home and it feels so good!!! 
I had the worst night I have had in quite some time, prayed, prayed and prayed some more and here we are, HOME!!! Thank you Jesus!!! 

Rode her bike all the way to the car

Mommy and Daddy got mani/pedis

Covenant

Fever free today and yesterday!! Yay!!! If her blood work comes back good tomorrow then we will get to come home! Fingers are crossed and prayers have been said!!! We head back to Iowa City on Monday for round 2 of chemo. We are hoping to have a few good days at home all together before it is hospital time again! She is back to her sassy self and ordering Reed and I around!! Covenant has been absolutely wonderful and I can't say enough positive things about the nursing staff and the care we received... They dedicated the whole back wing to Addie Bean so that way she could leave her room and ride her bike!!! They put caution tape down and everything, just for her!! She was spoiled rotten today by Emily... She adores her!!! Thank you ladies for making our stay as positive as possible!! The hair loss has begun. Addie doesn't seem to mind and loves to yank and hand it to us. The only time it bothers her is when it gets in her paci, haha!! Looking back, I think The Lord knew it would be best for us to be in the hospital for this time, he knew Reed wouldn't be able to handle all that stray hair around the house!!! He just hates hair!!! Comical he was blessed with all girls... He will be surrounded by hair for his lifetime! I have been struggling a bit during this stay in the hospital, just letting my fear and anxieties get the best of me! The NMYC amplification really bothered me... It all bothers me!! I try and remind myself that the diagnosis and the statistics mean nothing (Reed reminds me of this, he has been so strong and so positive), we have no control of these things (or anything) and to worry about them is a waste of time and energy! I need to TRUST that He will carry all of us through this storm and that Addie can be His miracle... He can HEAL her!! Please Jesus, heal my baby!!