Homeward Bound

After one month and two days, we are finally headed home from the hospital. Soooo thankful that I get to sleep in my own bed tonight, with my husband and ALL of our little ones. Ty will be back in the hospital on Friday for five to seven days. After that, there are no "scheduled" hospital stays. Thanks to everyone for all the emails, calls, cards, visits, etc. Thanks especially for all the prayers. Please keep the prayers coming. We're just at the start of this very long journey.

Please Pray for Rhett

We have a blogging buddy named Rhett. :) Rhett also has Down syndrome...some of you may recall my pleas for prayers in behalf of Rhett before. Well, Rhett needs our prayers again. He is having surgery tomorrow and his family is asking for extra prayers. Please visit his blog here and say a little prayer for him. Then spread the word. :)

Grains of Gratitude

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't feeling much like posting this tonight. But, as I sat here thinking, I realized that despite the utter chaos our lives are in right now, I do have much to be grateful for. I have come to realize in my life that focusing on my blessings can make the difficult things seem smaller. So, here goes....

1. I am grateful that Brent and I are married. I can't tell you how much that man means to me. There simply aren't words. He is my soul mate, my best friend and my eternal companion. He is the greatest Daddy to these beautiful kiddos of ours. He is committed, compassionate and simply incredible. I can't imagine doing any of this -- the good and the bad -- with anyone else.

2. I am grateful that Tyler is receiving such wonderful care. He is in a fantastic hospital with a wonderful team of doctors and nurses caring for him. I have no doubt that he is in the best place he could be.

3. I am grateful that we live within five minutes of the hospital. I have met several families who live long distances from here and have to sacrifice so much to be with their child. What a blessing it is that we are so close and that we can both be involved with Tyler's care.

4. I am grateful that my mom has been here to help out. She has been here for a week and will be here until next Sunday. I so wish her visit were under different circumstances but it is such a blessing that she is able to be here now, helping with the kids, etc.

5. I am grateful that I have been able to spend time with Emmalee and Nathaniel each day. I miss them so much when I am at the hospital and it has been nice that I get to go home each evening and spend time with them. Plus I stayed home all weekend and it was great to be home with them.

6. I am grateful that we are half-way through this month of in-patient treatment.

7. I am especially grateful for Tyler. There simply aren't words to describe how incredible he is. He is strong in ways I can't even comprehend. He loves unconditionally and even through all of this, his perfect spirit shines through. It is an incredible privilege to be his mommy.

8. I am grateful to all of our family and friends for your prayers, love, support, cards, emails, phone calls, gifts, visits, meals....the list goes on. There is simply no way we could get through this without all of you!

Adoption Is A Miracle!

Two of my dearest friends have adopted in the past week or so. Teri, Howie, Nicki and Gabi welcomed home baby Ellie. She was born this past Friday.

Shawn, Sue and Alex welcomed home baby Cullen. He was born on Tuesday.

The most amazing thing about this is that Teri and Sue have been friends since Gabi and Alex were tiny. The girls were both adopted through Adoption STAR, (our same adoption agency,) and were born just a couple months apart. They are best friends. Now they have Ellie and Cullen, born just a few days apart. It is just incredible how adoption has brought these families together.

I am so blessed to know them also and to have them as my friends.

Congrats again, Teri and Sue! We love you all!!

Website For Tyler

I have set up a new website for Tyler so everyone can keep up with his progress. It is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tylergardner

Our New Reality

Cancer. Cancer is our new reality. Our simple life is gone. Our child has cancer. Leukemia, to be specific. Tyler has leukemia. There. I said it and didn't even cry that time. I said it without breaking down and sobbing. Our perfect, beautiful, happy little boy has leukemia. Our lives will forever be changed. I know more about leukemia today that I ever thought possible. And yet, this is just the beginning. We've only just scratched the surface. There are still many, many unknowns. The biggest unknown of all is why. Why did this happen? Why did this sweet, innocent child develop this horrible disease? Why?

And so it begins. This new reality. This horrible, awful, wish-it-were-a-dream reality. So much for not sobbing.