when the weather was nice.

when it was 70degrees outside last friday, the girls played outside. all 5. corbin sat on a blanket by reese - then when there was too much ruckus, i moved sleepy corbin to the RNP on the patio. aidan and miller played on the swings. sawyer taught reese the duckface and peace sign.

it was perfect.

the giggles. ohhh the giggles coming from them made my week. within a few hours, the cold rolled through and by today, i was just happy we didnt get iced in this wkend.

i am so ready for this every day.

aidan turned 6.

my sweet oldest girl.

i dont know how to even explain, in writing, how caring and amazing she is. she loves unconditionally. she cares for her sisters without complaint - and is eager to help in any way that she can.

she wants to know whats going on with reese. she wants to go to dr appts. she wants to, just, be there. and i know reese is grateful for that when i see how happy she is when aidan is around.

i didnt get to wake aidan up with a birthday song. i didnt get to take those first "omg youre 6!!!" pics upon waking up. reese had her resection the day before aidan's birthday - but nonny and papa sure did a wonderful job of making aidan's birthday special.

last night, i took aidan out for photos. i wanted to capture her spirit. her silliness. her hilarious faces. she is one in a million and im lucky to have her as my first born. my sweetheart. my friend.

watching her grow up has been, simply, a delight. watching her turn into the smart little love that she is, warms my heart.

she can read. she is creative. she is an amazing dancer. she excels at everything she does.

my aidan kincaid. happy [belated] birthday. i love you.

the best 5 days.

so we have been doing our "new normal" for 5 days now.



5 days of wondering "wait, was that peeing out? did she breakthrough?" "did you mark down that 150ml drank?" "how much did that diaper weigh?" "are you going to wake her up while i get the meds ready?" and so on...

my best friend, ashley, from Lily Toes Photography yet again outdid herself by putting THIS video together of our going home. i cry every time i watch it.

you can see in the video how weak she is. i want to remind people that she is not actually... sick? i mean, she doesnt feel sick, really. she is just weak. she cant stand, cant walk. she can only sit for a while before needing to lay back. she needs help from going from laying down to sitting. as we were told, we trying to do things with her during the day -- she spent weeks laying down. while tv and relaxing is good for the soul and we do that often, sitting up, playing, trying to stand, and being interactive is best for healing.

she laughs. she smiles. she welcomes everyone that comes into the room with arms out and a holler of their name. she hugs miller all the time. she loves petting the dogs. she's been playing blocks and other toys.

on a PT front, things she didnt do until home - reaching forward, rolling over on her side, trying to sit fully up, stacking blocks. and, well, playing, in general. PT and OT had a rough time, but within a few hours of being home, reese was back to what she knew.

the last few days have proven that family and home is, indeed, the best medicine.

thursday night, we gave her a bath and put her to bed. PJs open so we could sneak her ddavp in later.

on friday, we played. lots of playing. sisterly love at its finest. with some cheese-cheese thrown in.

saturday morning, we brushed her hair as best as we could and put a clip in and set out to get her out of the house. she needed bigger shirts (as you can see bc this one fit her so we kept her in it haha).



what a happy girl she was all morning. just getting in the car and sitting in a stroller for a few mins had her smiling from ear to ear.

we got home and brought out all of the christmas decorations. i have been waiting for this for weeks. just the entire family getting ready for christmas. the girls were silly.

then, that night, i took my favorite photo of all time.



then i found aidan asleep like this. lol

on sunday, my brother and niece came over and brought goodies from his MIL. so later, A and S decorated gingersnap cookies while miller made a huge mess haha reese looked a bit more like herself :)

and reese snuggled.



then we had a cozy night :)

this morning was business as usually. i got aidan ready for school first.

we did the rest of the morning duties and then it was naptime, apparently.



well not the whole time

this afternoon we picked aidan up from school and then, before dance, aidan brushed reese's hair. reese so so loves that.

and then here we are. 5 days in. 5 days of having the skelte 6 under the same roof.

we have a long long road. we have 7 types of meds to give on various times, multiple times a day. which, by the way she hates. we have chemo once a week for 15 months. we have PT, OT, ST multiple times a week. and then we also have life. regular, boring, day to day crazy town life.

the prayer warriors that have been thinking and praying for reese for the past 6 weeks are nothing short of amazing. the donations, the gifts, the postcards... i cant say enough times how grateful i am for everyone. you look at life differently when you see the type of community you have around you -- full of love.

so now, ill go give reese more meds, wait for her ddavp shot, cuddle on the couch, and go to sleep - knowing that i'll see my baby immediately in the morning.

okay and maybe in the middle of the night ;)