Andy & Jessica

This past Friday night, the 3 little boys and I headed to my parents’ house to get ready for my brother’s future wife’s bridal shower.  It was dark by the time we were leaving home for the drive.  While on a stretch of rural highway, there was a motorcycle in front of me so I kept my distance more than I normally would.  I saw a deer jump out in front of the motorcycle and quickly jump back into the ditch.  I reduced my highway speed and was feeling thankful that I had narrowly missed that surprise, but then a couple seconds later the deer jumped right in front of me and I smashed into it.  I was still going at a decent clip.  It was a big deer and it smacked the front right side of our vehicle.  It rolled a few times and then ran away.  I kept driving, but pulled off shortly since Jude told me that Levi’s seat became unattached.  Sure thing, Levi’s car seat was no longer snapped in.  I have no idea how that happened (or if it was clipped in at all), but I’m so glad he did get thrown.  He slept through the whole accident.  I snapped him back in, assessed the damage (which I thought was minimal in the dark) and then we took off.  Asher dropped the iPad during the accident and then screamed for half an hour afterwards until I figured out why he was crying.  The damage in the light is really quite bad.  Now Jude is scared to drive with me in the dark.  On our way back home today he asked if it would be nighttime when he got home because he didn’t want me to crash again.

Asher’s nickname is Bobo. Levi couldn’t say Asher, so he tried to say Baby, but it came out Bobo. The name stuck.

Now Asher is learning to talk. He can’t say Levi, so he calls his next oldest brother Woddy (rhymes with body).

It’s cute, but I don’t think this one will stick.

Jude had one of his triannual MRIs and an appointment with his oncologist today and we got great news. There is no sign of tumor. The cavity that was created when the 2nd tumor was removed last June is still empty. There is water in the tumor bed area, which is the result of swelling from the radiation, but that will resolve itself. I am just so relieved. I feel like I am always just waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is so exciting. Now I can be relieved for the next 2-1/2 months. Then I will get really worked up again. The EEG looked good too. The oncologist is checking with the neurologist to see if Jude can start getting weaned off the anti-seizure meds prior to the appointment with the neurologist that is scheduled for June. That would be awesome. I am so thankful. My prayers were answers!  Meanwhile, Andy was not the least bit concerned.  He likes to remind me that the radiation oncologist who was always so confident said, “I can’t tell you that he’ll be cured, but he’ll be cured.”  Somehow, I guess I just have an earlier time remembering the scary one-liners and not the reassuring ones.

Tomorrow is Jude’s electroencephalogram (EEG). During the EEG, they test brain activity and try to determine if the various stimuli would have resulted in a seizure if not for the medicine Jude is on. It is a sleep deprived test, so it’s party night tonight, for me and Jude, that is. We haven’t developed our party plans, but he cannot go to sleep any earlier than midnight and he must get up at 4 a.m. and stay awake until after the test. If Jude passes this test and shows no tumor growth at Friday’s MRI, he can start getting weaned off the anti-seizure meds that we all hate so much. Praying!

Andy commented this morning about someone he has always followed on Twitter, “_____ is getitng more wacky every day. Actually, I don’t know if she’s getting more wacky or if I’m getting more sane.”

A lot will happen in the next week.  Tomorrow Andy and I are supposed to go on a hot air balloon ride.  Neither of us has ever gone of one before.  It’s been cancelled several times due to bad weather.  I’ve read some horror stories recently of air balloon crashes and burning the riders up so I’m now a little nervous.  Hopefully it will be as fun as I have always imagined.

On Sunday I’ll take the boys to my brother’s future wife’s bridal shower.  Should be fun.

Next week is the week I’ve been both looking forward to and dreading for quite awhile.  First, on Tuesday is Jude’s sleep deprived EEG to see if he can start getting him weaned off his anti-seizure medication.  Then next Friday is Jude’s MRI.  I’m always super worried about Jude’s cancer returning.  And, it turns out I was right to be worried after the first surgery since it did indeed return.  It has been long enough since Jude’s last brain surgery and radiation that if the cancer wants to return, it could be visible by now.  Super scary.  It really does seem too good to be true that he is really cured.  We are praying for a clear scan and if we get it, we will be super relieved for a few months, until it is time for the next scan.

It’s the middle of April and we’ve had 2 snow storms recently. Andy has vowed to not break out the snowblower since it is supposed to be Spring. As a result, I had to trudge through snow over the top of my boots and up to my knees to get to the bus stop this morning. Crazy, crazy weather.

When presented with the dinner I cooked for him: “Make me sick. Me hate it.” (He has come up with an argument that I really can’t argue with. And, that is saying a lot since normally I can come up with a counterargument to every argument.  I simply cannot guarantee that my cooking won’t make someone sick.)

This morning I received a call from Andy’s cell phone. It soon became clear that a little person was on the other end of the phone. The caller pretty much just said, “Hi Mommy, ” over and over and over. I could tell from the little, articulate voice, that it was my adorable 1-1/2 year old Asher (aka “Bobo”). I heard Jude and Levi playing in the background and wondered where Andy was. I chatted with Bobo for over 5 minutes when finally I heard Andy say, “Not a toy for Bobo.” Apparently when Andy went to the bathroom, Bobo confiscated the phone and placed the important call to his Mommy who he didn’t get to see this morning since he was sleeping when I went to work. Precious. He’s a techie boy, just like his Daddy.