Chase's 3rd Birthday

So my little boy is becoming quite the character.  He is growing up so fast and says the cutest things.  I can't not believe that he is three.  But I asked him how old he was going to be the night before his birthday and he said without hesitation, "28!"  It was pretty funny.  He also said something cute to me that same day. When he is crying every once in a while I will ask him why.  He tells me he doesn't know so I ask him if his tears are broken because he can't shut them off.  Well he came in to me crying and said to me, "Mom, my ears are broken and I can't shut them off."  I was laughing pretty hard.  The rest of the funny things he has said I can not do them justice by writing them down because it is the facial expressions and hand movements that he does along with them that make them so funny.
Our lives have been so blessed to have such a happy little three year old.  He is one three year old that has experienced more than a lot of three year olds have in their short life.  He has been exposed to things that some people aren't in their whole life.  He is one tough kid and celebrating his birthday this year was a stepping stone and huge celebration for us.  If it weren't for the medical treatment that we have now days there is a very good chance that we wouldn't have been celebrating a birthday at all.  I am so grateful for the treatment that Chase has been able to get so that we could celebrate his third birthday.  He keeps our family laughing and we can not imagine life without him.  I still remember the day he was born.  I was huge and so ready to have him.  I went in a week and a half before my due date to be induced and I was so glad that I did because we were blessed that day with a 9lb 3 oz baby boy.  He is has been a chunk every since and even through all his treatments he has kept his big round belly.

 Here is my little chunk at one year old.

 Here he is at two years old.

 This picture is from his two year birthday party.  He has loved Buzz and Woody since before Toy Story Three even came out.  I had to search online to find Buzz and Woody for his two year birthday.  They were no where to be found in stores.

And for his three year party I wanted to do something fun and big.  I had a few problems.  First, Leukemia kinda gets in the way and usually at the most inconvenient times.  Because of the fact that we mostly stay home Chase doesn't really have very many friends.  Usually they at least know some from church but Chase doesn't even go there.  So our first problem was that we didn't really have enough friends to have a friends party.  His closest are his cousin Cam and one of our really good friends has a son Chase's age named Cody.  Our second problem was that we got his blood results a few days before his birthday and that is when his ANC was at 400 so we didn't want to expose him to too much especially since we would be leaving very shortly after to go to Disney World.  So we decided to keep it low key, but make it seem to Chase that it was his special day.  We planned a family party at Grandma and Grandpa Prince's house with all the cousins.  We made little pizza's which is Chase's favorite food.  Kristin said she would make some cupcakes and Chase requested some blue ones.  Of coarse when she came in the door she had more than just blue cupcakes.  She is amazing and always makes the cutest cakes.  This is what she came up with and it was perfect.  Chase LOVED it!!!

 My kids love going to play with all the cousins.  Even though Abby is the only girl she honestly loves hanging out with all the boys.  Oh, and the big guy is not a cousin.  He just fits in with all the kids so well that we didn't notice he was even in the picture....hahaha!!!

Before going over for his party that night he was so excited for his birthday so we let him open presents from us.  He was in fact so excited that he kept moving the wrapped presents from room to room while he waited for us to get ready.  He was slowly tearing holes in them so I packed them up in the laundry basket and he pushed them around the house.  I had asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he told me he wanted a Buzz shirt and a gun.  We got him a new swim suit, big monster truck, and of coarse a Buzz shirt and a nerf gun.  He loved them all.  He was really excited about his Buzz shirt which was great because usually the clothes are the boring present, but since that was what he wanted he loved it.

 The little presents to the right are the ones that Abby and Chase decided to wrap up (things from their rooms) while they were waiting for us to get ready.  We were taking our time because they were entertaining themselves so well.  And it was cute to watch them play together while they waited for us.

 The Monster Truck and the Buzz shirt.

 Chase decided to use his gun to shoot the monster truck as it would drive towards him.

We had a party planned with Chase's other little friend Cody and his family for the night after Chase's birthday.  We had plans change just a little because of my sweet grandma's passing, but it all worked out in the end.  Chase just had a belated party and got to celebrate two weekends in a row.  It worked out nice because then my mom, grandma, and aunt were all able to be here for his other party.  He wanted to have a dump truck party so that is what we did.  We got our decorating done, and played some fun games.  The nice guy at lowes gave me two different sets of the build and grow things that they do for the kids at lowes.  He also gave me the aprons, goggles, and name tags.  It was a lot of fun for the kids.  Abby loved the "dress up" to build her stuff.  We also had a dump truck birthday cake which consisted of a real dump truck because I am not talented enough to make a cake look like a dump truck.  Then I made dirt dessert and put it in the back of the truck.  I am so glad that our friends and some of my family could come over the celebrate Chase's birthday with us.  We had a lot of fun.

 Chase's mouth was wide open every time he was hitting the nail.

 Every time Chase loves something he puts his arms like this and rocks back and forth and says  "It's may FAAAVORTIE!"

 Love's his Dad!!!

 Grandma Debbie

 Grandma Carolyn (my grandma)

 Aunt Robyn (my aunt)

Chase had a very good birthday.  He was in good spirits and enjoyed every minute of it.  I am so glad that we got to spend this special day with him and realize how blessed we are to have him as a part of our lives.  Life is so precious.  It can be taken away from us so fast.  I know life gets busy, but those are the times that we need to sit back and think about what is important in our lives.  We need to enjoy our kids while they are young.  There will be a day when they will leave us.  This will hopefully be a happy day when they are leaving for school or a mission or getting married.  But this is not always the case.  Heavenly Father knows how special these kids are.  The world is becoming a scary place and some of these precious spirits are too special to be here with all that is going on today.  I know that we all have a mission and we all have a purpose, but we do not know as much as our Heavenly Father does.  He knows every thing about us and he knows where we are needed the most.  I know that right now Chase is supposed to be here with us.  He has fought through all his treatments and he is winning his fight right now.  There are many who are not and we never know when something like that may be thrown into our lives.  We need to enjoy every minute that we are blessed with.  Love our family and friends and let them know that we love them.  Birthdays have always been a special day in our family, but with all that has happened in the last year they have taken on a new meaning.  It really is a day to celebrate because we have added another year to our lives.  I just hope that I can always look back on the past year and know that I have done something good with it.  I love you Chase.  Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

Science Fair

Abby put together a really fun science project.  She was so excited and it was fun to do with her.  She used white carnations and put them into colored water to see what would happen.  Her hypothesis was that the colored water flowers would die, but she came to find out that they still drank the water and it made them turn the color of the water.  Her color carnation project won her 3rd place.  She did a great job and we had a lot of fun in the process.

So proud of my little science fair participant!

First Clinic in St. George

We were able to get chemo for the first time in Maintenance here in St. George.  The trip went very slick and it was so nice to drive 5 minutes and be home.  It was also nice to pack a diaper bag and not a suitcase, bedding, and food.  I hate to say that we loved it because it was all to get poison pumped into his little body, but we really did love it and everything went so well.  They only downer is that later that day I got a phone call saying that Chase's ANC was low (400) and we were not to give him any of his oral chemo at home.  They checked him again two weeks later and he was still low (500) so we left for Florida with low ANC (makes mom nervous), but we didn't have to give him chemo while on vacation so that was one bonus.  Chase was again a trooper and I am so proud of him.  No three year old should have to know medical terms and what every piece of equipment does, but Chase does.  He knows what all the gadgets to so it takes out all the nervous crying.  He knows what hurts and what doesn't.  It is nice because I no longer have to warn him that it will hurt or tell him that it is okay because it won't hurt.  He already knows.  In fact we had to go to the hospital the day we got back from Flordia and he said he didn't want to go.  I asked him why and he said to me, "No shots in legs!"  He can remember those dump PEG shots that he got months ago and was checking to make sure that would not be the case.  I told him he was just getting tuby (his line that goes into his port).  He then got excited and said, "oh, just tuby and I get a sticker and a sucker."  He gets those at Dr. Thompsons office.  We have to go there first for the physical before we go to the hospital.  He has the routine down and as long as there are no shots in the legs then he is fine with it.

Always in good spirits.  Even while getting chemo.

You may think otherwise because of his finger positions but he is just pulling a silly face.

St. Patricks Day

Since we usually stay home and don't plan much I never know what the date is.  I usually know what month it is, but beyond that I am useless.  When I was shopping for Valentines day I found a ton of St. Patricks day stuff so I just got it knowing that I don't get out to shop very often.  I hid it and forgot about it until March 17th about 10am.  The problem with this is that we had a book that we needed to read the night before and make a trap for the leprechauns.  We missed that so instead we read the book and made a lunch for the kids to go upstairs for a picnic.  I told them the leprechauns are running around all day on St. Patricks so if they would stay upstairs we might just catch one.  Well, they came but we didn't catch one.  The kids were excited though.  Chase just kept saying, "they made a mess."  Funny that he notices a few tipped over chairs as a mess, but when he and Abby have toys all over the house then it doesn't bother him a bit.  We then played catch the leprechauns the rest of the day.  They would make me put on the hats we got and sneak around like a leprechaun and they would make a trap and try to catch me and then we would switch and I would try to catch them.  We ended up having a fun day even though crazy mom forgot what day it was.

Making their trap

The book says they like gold things so abby went to her jewelry box to see what she could come up with.

Enjoying the gifts from the leprechaun.

My littlest leprechaun.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

 I just needed to share this picture.  Ashton came and got me and said you have to come see what the kids did.  They had turned on the jets in the tub and dumped a bottle of baby wash in with them.  This is the result..... (keep in mind the water MAYBE goes to their belly buttons so it is mostly bubbles)  You can tell by the look on Chase's face that he was a little worried.  The bubbles were about to cover his head.

Disney On Ice

After Chase had his wish granted my kids all went with my mom and dad back to Cornish while Ashton and I stayed in Salt Lake for the dental convention.  It is the first time we have left Chase overnight, and we needed to just have some time to ourselves.  We had a nice time and it was nice to know the kids were in good hands.  After the weekend was over we headed up to get them and then on our way back we stopped in Salt Lake for Disney on Ice.  It was fun to see some of our cancer friends there because it was a Hope Kids event.  My kids loved it and I think Chase thought that was Disney World and his wish was over, but little did he know that life was only going to get better and his trip would blow Disney on ice out of the water.  I love Hope Kids and although we only get to participate in a few things they do, I am so thankful for organizations like them that give kids something to look forward to.

 Chase was so excited when he saw these guys come out.

 Isn't ham cute?  He would skate on all fours and then stand up once in a while. 

Wish Granting and Star Raising

I hate to say that we have been busy because that is just a bad excuse.  I am so behind on my posts so if I can find the time now I am going to have a blogging overload in the next few days.  I am going to start back where I left off.  We were able to go up north to Salt Lake for Chase's Wish Granting.  He finally got to travel to Salt Lake and not have someone poking at him, but had a fun trip.  It was a special night because we had a lot of our family there to share it with us.  My kids were so excited to find out if Chase's wish was granted.  Chase's wish granters have been amazing.  They have sent packages in the mail with little notes getting him excited for his wish granting (as if he wasn't already).  The whole Make a Wish foundation is amazing and we are so very grateful to have the whole wish experience.  Although it is not worth getting Leukemia for, it gave us a chance to focus on something other than cancer.
Once we got to the wishing place the first thing Chase wanted to do was throw a token into the wishing fountain.  He even remembered where the tokens were from last time and he was searching for the box before the Wish Granters could get him one.
After the token throwing we had to beg him to come back inside.  But once he did he was in amazement.  They had the room decorated for a party with balloons, and stuffed Disney characters.  They had Abby and Chase come up by the stage and opened the curtain.  Out came Buzz, Woody, and Bo Peep.  Abby immediately attached to Bo Peep and didn't leave her side all night.  Chase was a little scared and ran back to us, but by the end of the night warmed up to them.  They read him a certificate saying that his wish to go to Disney World had been granted.  My kids were so excited (and I wont lie, Ashton and I were very excited too).  We had pizza and then cake that they had made especially for Chase with Buzz Lightyear on top.
After dinner we went out into the hall and Chase raised his star to the ceiling.  It will forever stay in the hall of stars at the wishing place and he can go see it any time he wants.  We were also able to write in a scrapbook for him with his picture.   They keep the book there and it is just full of all the wishes that have been granted there.
The whole experience was amazing.  I get so emotional not only because of the underling reason for the whole thing, but because it is a once in a lifetime thing.  After going through so much pain, and doctors, and just feeling crappy Chase gets to have something just for him.  Something to let him know that life is fun.  He thinks the hospital is a vacation, but what he doesn't realize is that there are many  things that are a lot more fun.  Although we have already been on our trip I can look back to when his wish was granted and say that I have never been so excited for a vacation in my life.  To be able to see the look on my kids faces when they have this once in a lifetime trip is priceless.  It is something I know I will never forget.   I love the Make A Wish foundation and all the people who made it possible for us to go on this amazing trip.

Here comes a picture over load but it was such a special night that I don't want to leave any of them out.

 Grandma Prince and Grandma Debbie

 Outside at the wishing fountain

They had little bags with treats and gifts for all the kids.

 Grandpa Prince

 Abby is pointing to Chase's Picture.  This is a board that has all the current wishes that they are working on and what the child wished for.

 Abby loved Bo Peep.

 My brother Jody, his wife Lacy, and MaKye

 My Grandma and Grandpa Robinson

 My Aunts Robyn and Rachelle

 My brother Tony, his wife Natalie, Halle, and Taizlie

 My mom and dad

 I made someone take a picture for me because Chase is going to think I didn't come to anything.

 Chase getting ready to raise his star to the ceiling.

 This is the hall of stars where every child with a wish raises their star and it will stay there forever.

 Chase's Wish Granters.  They were amazing and we love them.

 They put together a little basket for each of the kids filled with stuff they could use on their trip.  I will say that we used every last thing.  Chase loved his Buzz hat and wore it every day on our trip.