A SMALL BREAK

The last couple days we finished up some appointments at St. Jude, enjoyed a quiet day at home with Caleb, and ran some final Christmas errands.

Caleb did not have to take a dose of chemo on Wednesday, but he did have to go to St. Jude for one final day of appointments before Christmas. A couple blood draws and a check up with his clinic were on the schedule. It’s been hard getting into a routine since we came back from our break at home. We have 7 days of no appointments ahead, so I think it will do us some good to re-group with Caleb and talk to him again about why we are here. He had a rough day Wednesday and just seemed like he didn’t want to be there getting poked and prodded. I really don’t blame him, but he usually takes it all so well. I also think he was tired! We had a long break in between appointments, so I crawled into a booth in the back of the Cafe and I laid him on my lap so he could fall asleep. At first he was restless, but there is a piano in the Cafe at St. Jude and someone started playing Christmas carols. He started listening and immediately calmed down and fell asleep. We were both so comfy and relaxed at that point… I fell asleep too ha ha!

Knowing that Caleb had a bit of a rough day the day before, I planned a quiet day of rest at home on Thursday. Nana and Grandpa made it to town, and we spent the day playing with Caleb. We spent hours outside playing ball, driving his remote control car, and playing with his scooter. Even though it was cold and wet outside he did not care one bit (we tried out his rain boots, but you can tell by his sad face he wasn’t a fan!) He loves to play outside and I think that he was thrilled he didn’t have any appointments. He took full advantage of having all Nana’s attention and loved every minute!

Friday we started the day the same way as the day before and just had a lazy quiet morning around the apartment. Then Nana and Grandpa joined us for (hopefully) our last trip to Walmart before Christmas. I know the place will be a mad house this weekend and I want nothing to do with it, so hopefully we have everything we need now!!! Tyler was so excited for today because it was his Pajama day/Christmas party at school. He was beyond excited to show us all the Christmas crafts he made and all the goodies he got at his party. His teacher had asked each child to send in one stocking stuffer, and today the kids received their stocking with all the goodies. He showed us his favorites and then we came home and played outside until it was too dark and too cold!

All in all the last few days have been good ones. When I first found out we would be in Memphis at Christmas I thought I would never be able to get into the spirit this year. But I am actually really excited about it mostly because the boys just love Christmas, and you can’t ignore that joy in their eyes. We decided not to do any gifts for the adults in the family, and only focus on giving the kids a great Christmas. So I have actually felt a bit less pressure this year because there were less presents to buy. We are only focusing on what is really important, which is spending time together. We are still going to keep up some traditions, like our annual sugar cookie decorating, and I have some other crafts for the kids to do too. Do I wish I was at our new home spending Christmas there instead? YES! Do I wish all of this had never happened? YES! Of course I do, but every day that Caleb is healthy those bad feelings go away more and more. I miss home but I am content here, for now. It WILL be a good Christmas and I am looking forward to it!