D-Day Celebration

Celebrating Chelsea's D-Day. One year ago she was beginning her first round of chemo, she was so weak, she couldn't walk. Instead of lying in bed though, you could find her trotting down the hospital halls on her hands and feet in her memorable bear crawl (pole, pump and chemo following behind!) I will likely reflect on our experiences over the past year in the coming weeks. If you've been with us since the beginning, I hope I don't bore you. It sounds crazy, and you would think one wouldn't want to relive something like cancer. For me, it's therapeutic to talk about it, write about it, and remember. We've come so far, and we will not take a single day for granted.

During the strength training portion of class, Chelsea joined in with her weights in the back row. She LOVES to Jazzercise! She will for sure be a life long member once she's old enough to officially have her own ticket!



Who knows, maybe she'll be the first instructor with Down syndrome! Our final song was "In My Daughter's Eyes". All of the instructors joined me on stage and Chelsea got up there and showed her stuff. If you haven't heard that song, I would recommend checking it out on itunes. Beautiful song, and so extremely meaningful. Any of you cancer moms out there who has seen their daughter go through treatment will find it especially heart felt.



One of our instructors' sister fought lymphoma the year before Chelsea. She had a stem cell transplant and is now in the survivor club. We were so honored to have her in class, and we love her shirt! (It reads cancer sucks!)


Daddy with Chelsea, enjoying her smore by the bonfire! She was a mess.


I love this picture. Chelsea kept sneaking around to the table with the marshmallows, then she took off running after she snuck one. I caught her in the act. Priceless!


The kids playing school in the dark. Chelsea's helping Lizzy be the teacher and the boys are being surprisingly obedient!


We had a good time just relaxing Friday night, enjoying our two healthy kiddos with a few close friends and family. We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate on this day, just one short year after diagnosis. It's amazing what medicine, along with lots of love and prayers have done for our once sick little girl. You would never, I mean NEVER know. I hug and kiss her all day long, each time remembering the way her skin feels up to mine and thanking God for giving me one more day with her. She is truly a gift from God, sent here to bless all that she encounters. Her smile, her laugh, her charisma, makes my heart skip a beat. I'm so in love!

Lastly, remember this little blogger contest from earlier in the month? Since I love my blog readers so much, and only 9 of you responded to the post, I've made a CD for all of you. Please email me with your address ASAP so I can get them in the mail. Congratulations, I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do!

Kaci, Michelle Riggs, Randi, Micah, Chandra, Rachel Dominguez, Sarah, Renee Garcia, and Amy Stapp