Chad...Cancer Checkup

It has been 3 months since Chad's last round of Chemo (notice the hair...Lookin' so handsome). He went in for blood work, a CT scan and an MRI on the 2nd. It was a hard week...anxiety! We went to the Doctor on the 4th and everything looks GREAT!!! We are so relieved and feel so blessed. We count our blessings everyday and there are many.

Zoo

Who would have thought that NOvember would offer such a great zoo day. Wade loved the animals and Ethan wanted to skip the animals and go right to the train. Good family fun!

Ethan's bustin' a move

This is Ethan in his dance class that he is taking on Wednesdays. He's awesome!!!

Cowboy Nap

Chad was outside putting our chairs away for the winter and he turned around to see this. Where does he learn this stuff?!!!

Halloween

I have rubbed off on my kids. We LOVE HALLOWEEN. Ethan was a cowboy and Wade was Mr. Bones. We had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi's house. Ethan was so polite as we trick or treated. He said Thank you all the way down the driveways but his favorite part was waiting for more "customers" to come to the door for candy.

Fall Leaves

Ethan loves to watch mommy build a pile of leaves so he can play. Wade on the other hand...not so much.

Wade potty training 101

Wade loves to play with the potty. He decided to climb in and couldn't get out. We got a good laugh.

Monster Mash

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Ethan turns 3

I can't get enough of this cute boy. I know I'm the mom but this little guy is really special. I can't believe he is 3. Ethan has quite the personality. He is always making us laugh. He loves to tell stories and is getting good at making them up. He is really into guns, swords, pirates and cowboys right now.
There is never a dull moment with Ethan around.

I saw him putting Wade's hand in his mouth the other day and I said "Ethan did you bite Wade" he said " I wasn't biting Wade I was nibbling on him."

"Dad when you are a little boy you can go to dance class like me."

Ethan: "mom I don't like lightning". Mom: "I can't turn it off it's outside". Ethan: "There is a switch outside lets go flip it".

"Peoples like t.v., I am a people, I should turn it on."

Ethan we love you!

Wade turns ONE!

My baby is one! I wish time would stop for awhile. My kids are growing up too fast.
Wade is a joy in our home. I can't image life without him. He has 6 teeth which he got all at once when he was 10 months. He also started walking then too. He is a great eater. He eats whatever he can get his hands on and he makes a very big mess. Wade is a lot different than Ethan. Wade is destructive, knocks plants over, pulls pages out of books, climbs as high as he can, throws tantrums and yet he gives great kisses and likes to snuggle.
Here are his latest stats...

weight: 21.5 lbs. 30%
height: 30.75 in. 80%
Head: 18.9 in. 90%

So basically he is tall and skinny with a big Buckner head. Blonde hair and beautifully blue eyes.
I love having my two boys. We love you Waderdoodle Michael Chad Buckner (according to Ethan).

A-choo

This is the newest game at our house. Ethan says "a-choo" and pounces on Wade. Wade giggles and giggles.

Crazy backseat driver

Wade is such a good sport. Ethan is trying to drive away from him yet Wade won't give up.

Zoolander

Check this out...my baby has done his first zoolander supermodel look. What a great pucker!!!

Ethan self pics

Ethan has discovered he can take pictures of himself so we get lots and lots of them.

Ethan swim lessons

Ethan took swim lessons from a lady in our ward. It was so fun for him. He is a little fish. The only problem was floating on his back. He doesn't like that one bit.

A Tour de France street dedication......

The other day Amy surprised me by sending in a text to the Nike/Livestrong chalkbot. What is a Chalkbot?


She received a message saying "Congrats, your message made it onto the course of the Tour de France"

The message is located in a small town at the foot of the Alps called Magland. Needless to say I was very touched. Thanks babe for all the support, I love you so much.

Happy Anniversary, Babe!!! Thanks for a great 5 years! Love you!

Chad update

Chad has advanced to the "watch and wait" part of cancer treatment. He goes in every three months for the next two years to get blood work and scans done. We hope and pray that nothing is found. As of right now everything is considered stable and the doctors are very positive.
Chad is finally getting back to being himself. He is doing little jobs here and there as he is searching for full time work. He cannot return to being a stone mason so we are venturing into new territory. His back seems to be holding up very well. He comments about tired muscles but no pain. Hooray!!!

Like Father Like Sons

Chad is starting these boys young. Shooting guns and driving/fixing snowblowers.

Great Grandparents

We must cherish these moments. Ethan and Wade are lucky to get some time with their great Grandparents. We love them!

Bunkbeds

Great Grandpa gave us these bunkbeds...my question is how many trips to the ER am I going to make for stitches and broken bones?!

Cousins

This is right before the cousins went back to Canada. They are very cute when they play nice.

Mad Ethan

These are two of my favorite pics. Ethan was mad at me and didn't want his picture taken. I love the hands on the hips...drama!!!

Buckner Family Camping

Here we are at the Buckner Family Camping trip. It was lots of fun. Ethan made lots of stone soup, Wade ate lots of dirt and overall it was a relaxing trip.

Chemo Farewell

This is the nurses and doctors at The Huntsman Cancer Institute wishing Chad farewell.

Cancer Sucks!!!

He did it! Chad finished his last round of chemo.

Chad we are so proud of you. Thanks for being so strong and positive not only for you but for everyone around you. We love you!

Chemo round 5

Chad made it through round 5. The doctors say things are going well. One more round to go. He got to stay in the suite at the Huntsman do to overcrowding. However the doctor said it was a frequent flyer bonus. Ha Ha Ha. He sure had a great view.
Ethan and I went up for a movie night. Ethan loves to talk to the nurses and check out their every move.

Church

These are my 3 handsome boys all dressed up for church on Father's Day.

Patty cake

Wade is a bit confused with the patty cake game. He won't use his hands but it sure is cute.

Summer Pool Parties

Gotta love summer pool parties. Ethan loves to soak Wade and Wade is such a good sport. They also love to splash Mommy.

Brotherly Love

Most days you can't tell that my boys like each other. I was glad to get proof.

Dirty Window

Gotta love the front door window that will never be clean.

what???

I can't explain this one...

9 months

My baby is now 9 months old. Time is going way to fast. As you can see in the video he can walk with a walker of some sort. He pulls himself up on everything which leads to so many bumps and bruises. He is a very happy boy. Loves to play with brothers cars and trucks. (if brother lets him) If we could get him sleeping through the night he would be perfect!!! :)

Air Show

It was so nice to go on a family outing in public. Chad's counts are picking up so we could finally be social. We went to the air show at Hill Airforce Base. Ethan wanted to fly everything. We could have left him in a cockpit and he'd been happy for hours.

My boys are sooooooo cute I just had to post more pics of them.






Now that Wade is crawling and pulling himself up on things the boys are starting to play together. Let the fun begin!

Bald boys

I finally let it happen...I really like hair and had a hard time letting Chad shave the boys heads. We did Ethan first and I said "NO" to adorable baby Wade's hair but...I gave in and they all look very cute!

Chad's permanent hardware

Top Left: Chad's collapsed vertebrae and pinched spinal cord.

Bottom Left: side view of 8 screws,two rods and 2 cages

Right: View of hardware from back

Round 2

Chad has officially finished round 2. We are halfway done with Chemo. Chad did even better with this round. He is very tired but it doesn't seem to be as bad as last time. He was much more alert today than his last day of round 1. His head is very tender which means what hair he has left on his head is going to be gone soon. Before round 3, which starts May 11th, Chad will get a Ct scan and a MRI to see if the Chemo is doing it's job. They will most likely up his dosage because he has handled everything so well up to this point. Honey you are the best. Keep up the good work!

Happy Birthday Amy!!!

I love you so much Babe! Happy Birthday. Another year younger huh? You are the greatest, I hope you have a great day!!! Love Chad

Bald and Beautiful

Chad got in the shower this morning and his hair just came out all over. He has been wanting to shave it off since day one but I told him he had to wait so I could get picture documentation but it was looking pretty bad so I gave him the ok to take it off.

Hair

Chad's scalp has been a little sore lately and as of Monday his hair started falling out. I started bawling. I knew it was coming but what a reality check. The top pics are from Monday and the bottom pics are from today Wednesday. It is falling out fast now. He can pull it out chunks at a time.

Fun in the backyard

We took the boys out in the backyard and couldn't get them to come back in. Ethan is a little monkey. Loves to climb and hang. Wade loved the grass and the swing. He tried to eat both of them.

Ethan is loving having his Daddy around all the time. Monday we went to Huntsville to find a chisel that Chad lost last winter. Ethan had a lot of fun using the metal detector, throwing rocks in the river, and petting the horse. And we did find the chisel.

Easter

Here are the two cutest boys ever. Can't you just see the love. Ethan is getting a little more interested in Wade. However, hates that Wade can crawl over and get his toys. Chad and I do a lot of laughing watching Ethan yelling for help to clean up his toys off the floor because Wade is on his way.





Easter was really fun. Ethan is a really good egg hunter. He has no problem opening those eggs and eating the treat inside. Wade just loves to crawl around and get into anything left on the floor. Thanks to the Grandparents for great Easter egg hunts and as always spoiling my kids.

Chad's Cancer Update

Monday March 9th we went up to the Huntsman Cancer Institute to find out what treatment Chad needs to destroy, obliterate and eliminate the 5% of his tumor that is left in his spine. The first step is the prep work. He has to get an MRI, Bone Scan, Echo cardiogram, CT scan, Catheter (Hickman) inserted in his chest, and some metal removed from his finger. All this has to be done before the 24th of March.

The 24th of March we go to see Dr. Schmidt at University Hospital. He will look at the surgery and if all is healing well and looks good He will give the OK to proceed with cancer treatment.

Wednesday March 25th Chad will be admitted to the Huntsman Hospital for Chemotherapy. He will receive a constant drip of Chemo through his chest Catheter for 3 or 4 days. He will then get to go home. He will get his blood checked twice a week for the two weeks following Chemo to make sure his blood counts are ok. The process will then start over. Chemo, home, Chemo, home, Chemo, home. In Total 4 cycles over 12 weeks. If Chad responds well to the Chemo this should be the end. If not adjustments will be made as necessary.

Of course there are side effects. He will lose all his hair. Which means he doesn't have to shave for a few months. He is very happy about that. Him and Wade will have cute bald heads together. There will be nausea and vomiting but they have heavy duty meds they can give him to help with that. And of course he will have to be very careful and try to avoid getting sick because his white blood cells will be down. The big one is fatigue. The nurse said he would get pretty frustrated because his body won't feel like doing anything.

All in all we feel really good about the whole process. Everything is going to work out for the best. We can handle anything for 3 months...even Chemo. Bring it on!!!

Ethan, always helping

You can hear him say "It's going to be loud daddy"

Wade

So...my baby is 6 months old. Someone please stop time. Wade is such a good natured baby. He is so chill. He loves to roll around. In the pictures you can seem him stuck under the futon and wedged between a chair and a rubbermaid lid. He loves to scratch different textures and play toys. He loves to scream and make loud noises. we spend lots of time laughing as we listen. He loves to watch big brother put on a show. He won't have anything to do with food, he just spits it out. He has a smile that just melts your heart.

Potty Miracle

Here is one of the many miracles we have experience in the last month. We have Ethan potty trained for the most part. Thanks to Grandma Hirschi who kept things going when I was not around.

picnic

We took Grandma and Grandpa Hirschi to the elementary school near their house for a picnic. It was a lot of fun. Ethan has no fear like most 2 year olds and just kept climbing. Chad got his excercise walking all the way. He is getting faster and stronger everyday.