Monday April 11th, 2011

Ella had clinic on Tuesday. Her counts were good, which made me feel better about bringing her to Florida. We also got to deliver posters for the kids finishing chemo- which the nurses loved! That was lots of fun.  Ella was able to receive her chemo and her regimen it is to stay the same for the next month. She doesn't go back in until the beginning of May. This time chemo hit her a little harder.  She was pretty tired and cranky for the next few days. She is also back on steroids (which ended on Saturday), so being cranky, moody AND hungry all week= no fun for Ella.
Our flight out of Chicago went very smoothly, except for the almost 2 hour delay getting out of O'Hare. I was very grateful that security didn't ask her to take off her bandanna- and so was she. Once we boarded the plane, the 2 woman behind us spent the majority of the flight discussing the people in their lives that have been touched by cancer. I am assuming that they saw Ella and this sparked their almost 3 hour conversation. I know it is rude, but I so badly wanted to ask them if they could PLEASE talk about something else. This trip was to get away from our reality of cancer and I really had no desire to know how many more people are affected by this "cancer". So, I stuck my nose in my book and Ella played her DS and I tried to take my mind off of it. It is amazing how well you can hear the people behind you on a plane.

Smile like this.....

 This is the face of a very happy girl. She has been to the beach, gone to the movies, played, snuggled, played some more, had a daily full belly laugh, eaten yummy food, gotten new clothes, books, and the 3 girls got matching shoes and pedicures today. I called it spoiling, but I don't really mean it and I know Ella is grateful for every little thing. If she just expected this, and we gave her all this attention because she demanded it, that I think would be spoiling. But, she doesn't expect anything and she is just so happy. I think seeing her be that happy makes me want to do more things that make her just smile like that.


Matching Pedi's and shoes that sparkle.

 We leave here on Wednesday, and we both miss Josh and Steve pretty bad. We are looking forward to coming back when everyone can be here together later in the year. I am pretty sure that Ella wants to go to the beach one more time before we go, and I am sure Grandpa and Grandma will oblige.

If you have been praying for Ella, thank you. Also, her buddy Noah is now 26 days in the hospital. Please continue to pray for him and his family.

Blessings~Katie