A trip to the casino for the State Finals Basketball Championship:

Hours spent dressing up the world’s most humiliated dog:

A fever that quickly went away and only cost us a few hours at clinic and a dose of IV antibiotics:

Newfound drawing skills. Titled “Mommy and Baby.”:

I’m in no rush, but she’s slowly, slowly, slowly weaning:

Pure and simple, happy girl:

“Organe Juice Please.”

The girl. She climbs!

Easter egg hunting:

Bobo’s easter egg hunt motto: It’s not a real easter egg hunt, if there’s no danger involved.”

Finally, flashback to January 13, 2011:

For awhile, I was planning on taking the blog down. It’s just too much of our life out there and the internet is too sinister a place for us (mostly, for E). However, lately, I’ve been getting quite a few emails from families saying, “Thank you for writing all this!” So I continue onward, cautiously. It would be a shame not to have this place to document this upcoming October (!!!) when this part of our life becomes just another part of family lore. “Hey, remember that time our kid had cancer?”

IV vincristine, spinal Methotrexate, a 4 hour IVIG infusion, and 5 days of steroids are always a reminder that we are still doing this, though. Maintenance Cycle 5 got off without a hitch. Good counts, an easy port access, a complication-free spinal tap followed by a well-deserved breakfast, and approximately 500 episodes of Curious George. Elsa was Brave with a capital B at clinic, which she now proudly announces. Treatment is very different now than it was two years ago. She’s a kid getting chemo instead of a baby and the whole transition has been pretty wild. It wasn’t easy managing a baby with cancer, but I have to say that  I’m glad the majority of the experience is behind her and happened before she could talk. As she gets older and as our conversations grow more complex, it’s pretty  draining to hear her fret over how tubey is going to hurt or how she’s sick and needs to go to the HOPsital. She worries now.

If there were one picture that could sum up steroid week, it would be this:

Despondent to the max. And if I couldn’t use that picture, it would be this:

A constant buffet of choice snacks and the glazed-over look of a kid who has been watching TV for HOURS.

Thankfully, it’s only a week. One week of TV, sleeplessness, and 24 hour grumps really isn’t so bad compared to the 10 straight months of it that we lived once upon a time. The week passed and, when it was over and behind us, we tried to drink up the idea that we only have two more big chemo days. Maintenance Cycles 6 and 7 and then leukemia is history. Woah.

We fit in one very uneventful clinic day for E’s IVIG. Counts were good. E’s mood was one of being generally “over it,” but she was cooperative enough. There was much TV watching. What can I say? She’s kind-of a pro at this now (both the cancer AND the TV watching).

February brought us much time spent indoors, mostly in what E now calls “my Hooooouse.” This is a favorite picture of mine – father and daughter, cramped in a tiny, overturned Ikea tent, leaving mama alone:

Once the 3 feet of snow melted a bit, February brought us a few sneak peaks of spring to remind us that there are some desperately-needed, glorious days just around the corner.

February brought us time spent with friends:

And trips to the kid’s museum:

February also brought us a suddenly very picky eater, which we are trying to just ignore and hope it’s a passing phase.  Thankfully, she still doesn’t realize that spinach, carrot, apple, mango, avocado Vita-Mix smoothies are “healthy” so we’re drinking them for three meals/day now in an effort to combat the goldfish/hotdog diet she’s trying to promote. Snapped a picture at her friend’s birthday party just as she was perfecting her look of despondency that Goldfish were not on the menu . . .

February even brought J and I two whole nights away! We went skiing with friends while Elsa was living it up at Nona and Bobo’s. The time away was perfect.

Here’s the funny thing about not doing the 366 project anymore. Prior to writing this post, if someone had asked me about February 2013, my knee-jerk reaction would be that it was a 5/10. Maybe even a 4. Now, after sifting through our photos and smiling about E’s ridiculous faces, and all the fun stuff we did, I feel like February was total win! I miss the 366 project for that – every day gave me a moment to reminisce about a nice moment during the day and, cumulatively, it left me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Glad to be back on the blog.

THIS year, there was planning. There were decorations:

Elsa chose the theme which was “Balloons and Bathing Suits.” There was a house absolutely full of family and friends and the very special brand of chaos supplied by 6 kids under 6:

Last year, aside from putting a bucket of wings on the table, I didn’t have much to do besides take copious pictures of Elsa. This year, even if I hadn’t been busy chatting with friends  and putting food out enough to feed 26, I wouldn’t have gotten many pictures of the kids anyway. Elsa was much too busy running wild with her gang of friends, destroying her bedroom (and arguably the house), and playing a very complicated game of pretend that involved a lot of jumping on the bed.

Like a lot of our life these days, this birthday was about planning ahead and having a good time, cancer-be-damn. I think we’ve finally gotten to a place where we are just living our almost-normal life and accepting the fact that, if we get derailed again, then we cross that bridge when we get to it.

While I’m sad to see the 366 part of the project end, I’m not abandoning the blog just yet. This story is not done yet – technically it won’t be until we crush up that last dose of 6-mp on October 10th and enter the [terrifying and wonderful] land of Off Treatment. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that we are now in 2013. 2013 is our last year of treatment. Back in July of 2011, 2013 was unfathomable. Even after October of this year, we’ll continue to visit the 5th floor on a pretty regular basis to monitor blood counts and any after-effects. Once/week posts seems like a reasonable goal for the time being. So, that’s the plan folks.

You’re not upset really. You just seem . . . done with it.

(If I only had a real camera and not just an iphone, then that picture could be in focus!)

Thankfully, your case of the grumps turned into a nap.

IVIG went in without a hitch. Counts continue to be a little on the high side, so they increased the methotrexate to see if that will bring her back down into the acceptable range. Counts re-check in 2 weeks to make sure nothing is amiss with the new dosage. Moving forward.

And just like that, the year and the 366 project came to an end. I didn’t quite get 366 photos out of it, but I keep seeing the farmer in Babe looking at me and saying, “That’ll do pig. That’ll do.”  See you in the New Year!