Jeremy's Wedding and the Last Fling

had to get some updated photos up. 

more to follow soon.

This is why

Let's get the obvious out of the way.  I have not posted in forever and the readers are probably gone and moved on.  That's ok.  Below are a few pics over the last couple months.  I have tons.  I will keep adding them over the next few weeks.  One thing I did want to mention is the charitable efforts by one of our family friends, Jack Sullivan.  Jack is a young man raising money for St. Baldricks in honor of Matthew.  I continue to be amazed and speechless when it comes to gestures like this.  And there have been many.  Some I have mentioned...most I haven't.  Thanks, Jack.  This is a big deal.  Use the link below to help him out.

http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/JackSullivan

The above picture reminds me when I ask myself 'Why?'.  

Skiing in Galena

Lock and Load!

Claire horseback riding on Bailey

Pele, in Matthew form

Newspaper article re: lemonade stand

TribLocal article on the lemonade stand

Downers Grove Lemonade Stand 2.0

Caroline Vazquez and Grace Marino, the Team Matthew all-stars who last summer held an unforgettable lemonade stand are doing it again.  Proceeds benefit the leukemia research foundation.  The stand runs Thurs, Fri, and Sat (Aug 11, 12, and 13th)  12pm - 5pm.  611 Davis St. Downers Grove, IL 60515.  The links to two sites below have some extra dets.

http://msl-otg.eviesays.com/event/iid/4734740/name/Team-Matthew-Lemonade-Stand.html

http://triblocal.com/downers-grove/calendar/2011/08/11/lemonade-stand-for-team-matthew-2/

Matthew was not able to attend last year's lemonade stand but he is certainly looking forward to going this year.

foot hurts (from kicking so much ass!!)

Not sure where to begin.  I had hoped to deliver a blog post well before now but I was awaiting a bipartisan resolution to issues regarding my personal debt ceiling.  Sure hope there are some folks out there still listening.  For those of you that are...I am happy to report that everything is going well on all fronts.  Despite the weather this summer, which has been complete garbage, I have to say that this has been the greatest summer ever.  Matthew is, as the title of this blog suggests, kicking ass.  All of his tests have revealed no sign of cancer.  He is also off of his Cyclosporine, which is the nastiest of all his medicines.   We have, in the true spirit of living every day to its fullest, been taking full advantage of each day.  Not even sure where to begin.  We had an awesome 4th of July at our friend's lake house, took a road trip down to st louis to see my sister and BIL, Matthew has started pre-school and potty-training, and Claire has learned how to ride a two wheeler.  Below are some pics that hopefully tell the story better than I can.

everything but the kitchen sink

Preschool.  lets do this.

It's like he knows that one day, it will be his.

potty training is going well after some initial confusion

Matthew 3.0

Statistics: "Matthew, you have just over a 50% chance of seeing your third birthday."

Matthew:  "Statistics,  you have a 100% chance of being punched in the face...by me!"

Matthew had a great birthday yesterday.  For kicks, I went back and looked at pics from his 2nd bday.

The dude is def looking and feeling better.  He continues to remind us to make the most of every single day. 

pro bowl caliber

This morning Claire and I participated in the NCO fun run.  Despite some chilly temps, we had a blast.  Claire has an interesting running style, characterized by short bursts of blazing speed followed by long 'recovery periods'. Jay Cutler, the quarterback of the Chicago Bears was there running the race with his cousin who lives in the area.  No, Kristin Cavallari was not there :(

 

 

After the race, we kicked it over to our neighborhood easter egg hunt.  

  

 

Claire Biscuit 6.0

The month long celebration that is Claire's birthday continued last weekend with her b-day party at The Kid's Kitchen in Naperville.  Claire and her friends had a blast and made some pretty good looking pizzas and cupcakes.  I took about 1,000 pictures which yielded about 8-10 decent ones.  That seems to be about my ratio.  The one below is my favorite.

Claire is 6

Claire turned 6 last week.  Had an awesome birthday bash.  Claire let Matthew blow out her candles which was priceless. 

 

 

3/3

On Thursday, March 3rd, we celebrate the 4th birthday of our daughter Meghan Rose (sometimes affectionately known as our 'Angel Meghan').  None of you ever met Meghan but I would like to tell you a little bit about her.  She was stillborn on March 3, 2007, only 2 weeks before her due date of March 17th.  She was beautiful.  I remember vividly, sitting with Nicole in the hospital bed at Elmhurst hospital, holding Meghan after she was born, talking to her about how much we already missed her and how she will forever be an important part of our family.  Our puzzle has a big piece missing.  I am not one to think that Meghan is all around us or looking down on us.  Maybe I am too calloused, obtuse, cynical, angry, stubborn, etc, etc.  A friend of mine recently wrote that she sees her late mom in the faces of her little boys.  I liked that.  I am reminded of Meghan often when I look at Meghan's brother and sister...and her mom.  Meghan, we miss you and love you, now more than ever. 

PICC pics

OH MY GOD!!!!  Those were the words Matthew chose to scream when he woke up from sedation and looked at his arm to find that his PICC line had been removed.  He then demanded the 'tubies', as we took to calling them, be put back in immediately.  We pretty much give in to anything the little guy wants, except for this.  The PICC line is out and is staying out.  Today was Matthew's last dose of intrathecal chemotherapy (chemotherapy delivered to his spinal fluid) and a good opportunity to pull it out seeing that there are no more scheduled sedations.  Tonight he took his first bath in a long time without his arm wrapped up like a leftover breakfast sausage.  Here are some pics of the picc.

Matthew showing off his fine physique before bath time (as you can clearly see my cells have already made a noticeable difference to his chiseled torso) 

The PICC line.  Also called, the PowerPICC because of something having to do with the maximum flow rate.   

Team Matthew soundtrack - side A

Album name: My One Shot
A Mohawk Nation Production

• P.O.D. - Boom
• Black Sabbath - Iron Man
• Eminem - Lose Yourself
• Black Eyed Peas - Anxiety
• Linken Park - Shadow of the Day
• Eminem - 'Till I Collapse
• The Hitmaker - Don't Stop Believin' (The Amazing Journey Remix)
• Beat It (Single Version) - The Essential Michael Jackson
• Papa Roach - Not Listening