Jasper Turns Seven

Our little man is officially seven!!
He had a great day, getting spoilt and loads of attention at school!
He woke up at 6am (normal time - poor momma). We had presents straight away - in bed of course because it is winter here, and pretty damn cold in the mornings!

After a day at school (where he slacked off, and had to bring extra work home to do as he could not be bothered doing at the time!!), full up on chocolate cake, more presents from his best friend, then out to dinner with the Perth based family.

It was Jasper's choice of restaurant, and he picked The Hog's Breath Cafe - no real suprise.. it is a steak house, and he loves it there!

Here he is with his poppie (my dad).








and with his grandy (my mum).








They bring out a sparkler on the dessert and the staff all sing happy birthday.. he was a bit chuffed at that!!!
He did say that he wanted cake, but he had cake on Saturday for his dad's birthday, cake on Sunday at his best friends birthday, and cake at school on Monday for his birthday... I thought that was enough cake, and he was lucky to get ice cream with chocolate topping!!




Our big boy. He was doing his silly photo face. He thinks it makes him look cool....
He just looks damn cute!!!









Molly had her first trip to a restaurant. She was mesmerised by her best friend that seems to follow her around everywhere... She is forever staring at the ceiling at this friend.
We are not sure if we should be concerned not!!
See below for the photo of this friend that she seems to love so much...

yes, it is the airconditioning vents.. in the house, at the restaurant and even in the principal's office (yes, Paul and I had to speak to the principal...) she is mesmerised!!!






So now all the birthday hoopla is over for another year... well, that is if we can get away without having a party... not liking my chances. Jasper keeps asking, and we are thinking about it. There is no rush. It is about to be school vacation for 2 1/2 weeks, so he can have a party after that - maybe!!!

thanks for reading.

Brooke

Baby News and Big Boy Birthday

So, we have our miracle!!
Molly was tested for FA, and her cord blood was tested to see if it was a match for Jasper.
The results are in, and she DOES NOT have Fanconi Anemia, and she is a 5/6 HLA match for Jasper.
In short, this means that if Jasper goes into bone marrow failure (which is likely with FA), we have matched cord blood from a sibling to do a transplant with!
It was almost too much! It was what we had hoped and prayed for, but when we got the answers, we were just a tad excited!!
There were plenty of tears from this momma!

Here are some photos of our baby girl, and big boy. Molly is about 7 weeks here..









She had enough of the camera, and wanted a cuddle!!!









Jasper and I managed a great escape! Molly slept one afternoon after school - normally unheard of - so we raced into his room and played superheros on his bed... here is the pile of them doing "stacks on".
We also ran around the house pretending to be birds, but as birds do not have fingers or hands, there are no photos of that one!!













Molly's favourite time of day is bath time. She just chills right out and lays there kicking happily. The tears start again when I pull her out and dry her off!










This is the result of after a bath!! Not even the bright camera flash can wake her!!!








Tomorrow is Jasper's 7th birthday. He has been waiting so long for it! We are having a family dinner out, and maybe a party in a couple of weeks - we are still debating that one!
He would love any messages for his birthday!

thanks for reading

Brooke

The Baby is Here

I keep forgetting to update.. oops.

Jasper became a big brother on Tuesday 4th May at 1:51am. He was sleeping peacefully at my parents while Paul and I were at the hospital welcoming little Molly Ann into our family.
She weighed 6lb 9oz and is a delight.
The sleep deprivation is not the best, but that is why they make babies cute, right?? When you look at their perfect little faces, you can almost forget the exhaustion!!! (I said ALMOST!).

Paul was due to fly out on the day Molly was born, but obviously that did not happen. He was home for 2 weeks, which was really nice.

The labour was suprising and FAST. The midwife said on the Monday that they would book us in to be induced on the 12th May as I was nowhere near ready - my body was hanging onto that baby!!!
Hey presto, 24 hours later she was here!!! The labour was 3.5 hours and we only just made it to the hospital in time!!
They got a bag full of the cord blood and are currently testing it to see if it is a HLA match for Jasper. We wont know for a little while, but we will know at some point!!

Molly did not sleep for the first 4 days, and now she is almost 3 weeks old, we have some really good days and nights, and some not so good!! It will all happen in time, and on those bad days, I tell myself that it does not last forever.

Here are Paul and I with Molly, just an hour old.








Ok, so she slept a LITTLE bit in the first few days, just not a lot, or enough for Paul and I to get any! But see what I mean? Totally heart melting cute... and identical to Jasper when he was born!









Me with my babies








Japser is a very protective big brother, and never seems to stop kissing and cuddling his baby sister. He was a bit wary when he first got to the hospital, but was ok once he was with me and could hold her!!! This photo makes me smile. He looks so proud and is holding her all by himself. She was only about 15 hours old at this point!









Molly likes to have her hands free, and not be swaddled when she sleeps... she is truly a Camp Sunshine baby... we do a dance thing at Camp to the song "Hand's Up", so it is cute how she sleeps! (she is our Made In America baby!)










I have a million photos, but these will do for now...
thanks for reading.
Jasper is playing, and Molly is just waking up for ANOTHER feed!!!
Better go.

Brooke
xxx

Update

I cannot believe the last update I did was Christmas!!! And now it is mid April - wowzers!
Lots has happened, and there is a lot to still come!!

Jasper has finished his first term of Year One, and just this week started Term 2. He likes it so far, although there was a debacle this morning with the shoes and socks for winter uniform... It seems crazy they are in winter uniform already, but it is policy, and the shirts are short sleeved, so not so bad without the pullover.

In the 2 week vacation to Easter, Jasper had his bone marrow biopsy - just the annual one... it is a major operation, but we are kind of used to it now. It was the best one ever (if that is possible). He woke up out of the anaesthetic really well, and we were discharged by 1pm... normally we are still waiting for him to wake up at that point!!! There was no real pain, and minimal bruising. It was strange - good strange!

So far, all results we have are positive and good... just like we expect from Jasper - he is a trooper!

We have also had 2 teeth come out and be whisked away by the tooth fairy! It is all very exciting! They fell out within 4 weeks of each other, and there is already one adult tooth coming through!! Our baby is growing up fast!

Speaking of babies... I am still pregnant. 2 weeks to go til my due date, so we just hope that Paul is home when she decides to arrive.
Jasper is excited to have his sister arrive... we will see if that enthusiasm remains after she actually comes!!
Everything that can be ready, is ready.. we just need a baby!!

I can't upload any pics of my baby bump.. the card reader is not working, but here is Jasper with his tooth gap!!

He is pretty proud!!






Ok, I guess that will be it til the baby comes..
thanks for reading.

Brooke

Christmas 2009

Well, it is Christmas Day again.. as I am sure many people think, "where has the year gone??" I cannot believe it is nearly 2010.

We have had a lovely day today. It started yesterday, on Christmas Eve. Paul was at work til that night, but home in time for dinner.

After dinner, but before bed, we have a tradition for Jasper to be allowed to open one gift that we have got for him.

Here is a snap of him opening that gift.. Paul was teasing him about it and trying to stop him - hence the laughing face!

Earlier that day, we had to stop at the shop to get a few last minute things for dinner, and Santa was there - AGAIN!!

He was more than happy to pose for a photo - AGAIN with Jasper. If Santa was in any doubt about who Jasper was before this festive, he was under NO illusion this time. We saw Santa everywhere we went.

Before the shops (I am totally backward here), Jasper and I decided to escape the house and have lunch at the beach.. here he is running around in his underpants in the water..

Christmas Eve, Australian Style!

Christmas Day we went to my parents house. My uncle, aunt and 2 cousins were there, as well as my sister, her husband and their 3 kids. With the 4 of us (Paul, Brent, Jasper and I), we made a group of 15.

Here are Greg and Marlene cooking in the kitchen

Jasper with his cousin, Campbell.

When we have Christmas at mum and dad's with all the grand kids there, dad organises a gingerbread house for the kids to demolish. Here are Jasper and Campbell mid-destruction!

Campbell REALLY enjoyed the gingerbread house!

After a while from lunch, it was time for a swim. We have just started getting Jasper to wear earplugs when ever he is in a pool, as he has such narrow ear canals, and gets agonising ear infections.. he asked for a swimming cap and Santa provided one in his stocking. He looked too cute!!!

Here is some more fun and frivolity in the pool.. Jasper ended up shivering and shaking... I guess that happens when you basically have no body fat on you!!

Here is my dad with my cousin, Tashi. There were threats and violence happening - all in good fun!

Speedy Gonzales running on the hot paving...

This is my mum with my eldest niece, Georgia.

My other cousin Sarah with Jasper after a swim...

I told my mum and dad to look like they love each other... I dont think they were pretending!! Next March they celebrate 39 years of marriage!

After swimming, it was time for some more food (in case we had some room from all the food at lunch...)

... and then it was time for the traditional game of cricket! Well, some of the ladies piked it for a rest... yes, mum, Marls and Sarah, I am talking about you!!! The rest of us soldiered on in the beautiful sunshine for some great shots that ended up with tennis balls being hit all over the neighbourhood (GO TASHI!!!)

Jasper was about ready to collapse after all this, and got a bit cranky when it was time to go home. He has not had a sleep, and it is now well past his bed time (he was up and going at 5:30 this morning - seriously, who can sleep when Santa has visited!?!?)

He got thouroughly spoilt and we all had a lovely day. Tomorrow is it off down south for the day so the boys (Paul and his cronies) can play golf and the ladies (wifes of this cronies) and kids (and grandkids of before-mentioned cronies) can chatter and swim.. should be nice.

It is all over for another year, and it was a great one this year,

Hope it was good for everyone else too!

Next year is a big one for us, with the baby coming and Jasper being in Year One... Be prepared for updates!!!

I will post "bump" pics soon...

Thanks for reading.

Love

Brooke

Here I am again.

So much has been happening, now I just need to remember to post it all!!!

School holidays have started for Christmas for Jasper.

I have just resigned from my job so I can be at home for the holidays, and for the appointments Jasper and I both have coming up.

We have both been a bit sick, Jasper has had both ears really infected and was in a lot of pain. After a week, it seems to be getting better. We are starting the 7 weeks of vacation time off quietly at home just recovering and getting back to normal - then the fun will start!!!



Things with the pregnancy are tracking well. Our baby GIRL (as we found out just over a week ago) is just over normal size, and beats the crap out of me most days and nights!!! (normally I am just getting to sleep, then she decides the party now needs to start....) Just imagine what the next half of the pregnancy holds if she is like this already!!!

Jasper and I started the nursery yesterday. Patching the walls, washing the walls, and today comes the sanding. Then the painting!!!

Jasper is really excited and kisses my tummy a lot! He felt his sister move for the first time, and was amazed!!! he knows it is real now, and is getting excited.



Japser had a school concert at the end of the year. He was one of the Wise Men. This is a kid that gets SEVERE stage fright, and HATES people looking at him. Paul and I were a bit nervous how he would go. I bribed him with a trip to see Santa the next day if he did good.

Suprisingly he did what he needed to do, and sang all the songs with the other kids. He did not do the dance moves, but sang and participated really well! We were really proud of him.



We don't have any blood tests etc until April next year. We have progressed to 6 monthly blood tests now, so one in October, then one in April with his annual bone marrow biopsy.



We are all prepared for Christmas - well, except the food. We are having it at my mum and dad's place. It is expected to be over 40C (over 104F) on the day, so having my folks with a pool is GREAT!

All the gifts are sorted, and I just need to make a dessert and salad, then we sit back and wait for Santa!!! He get's off light at our place. Jasper knows he is only allowed to ask for one or 2 things, and nothing major (like the PSP, DS or iPod he wants to be like his friends - he is only 6 for goodness sakes!!). If he asks for too much, it means that other kids will miss out, and that is not fair. This year he is asking for a 2 wheel scooter (to replace the 3 wheel one he has had for a while), and some lego. Santa seems to think this is reasonable, and we are just waiting to see what happens on the big day.


Christmas Eve is our 10 year wedding anniversary. I cannot believe we have been married for 1o years. It seems like not so long ago... I remember it all clearly!!!

Lucky for us, Christmas is on a weekend, so Paul is home. He flies in from the mines on Christmas Eve, so we can have a nice dinner together at home before an early night.

So off for more school holiday fun.. lucky that Jasper is young enough that a trip to the park is a fun day out for him, and a fun and cheap day for me! The weather has been nice, so some beach time is in order.

Thanks for reading. Christmas pics next time!

Brooke

Lots of News

I have only just realised how long it has been since I posted, and now that I am... there aare 2 important pieces of news to report!



First and foremost, we have been told of Jasper's complementation group with Fanconi Anemia. He is what they call FANC-I. It is one of the rarer groups, and we join our friend Wesley as an "I" group member.



We are not sure what it means yet, and not sure if anyone else really does either, but at least we know now... we were going to use if for IVF/PGD... which brings me to our next news...



We are having a baby!!!

The day after we found out that Jasper was FANC-I, I discovered I was pregnant. It is very exciting and scary at the same time. We have a 25% chance of another FA baby, so there is testing etc to be done.

I will keep this site updated as details come to hand...



The funny thing is that the baby was conceived at Camp Sunshine in America this year... Gives a whole new meaning to the "Go Camp Sunshine" chant we do!!!



The baby is due at the end of April, so we are hoping for a cord blood match for Jasper that we can store for if and when we need it!



I think I will leave the news there for now.. they are the 2 most important things that we wanted to share.



Thank for reading!!



Love

Brooke, Paul and Jasper