Gabriel will turn 6 years old on Tuesday! He is such a lovely little boy.

I'm just a bit sad too see 5 fade away. It was such a sweet age and I really enjoyed this past year with him. Isabel's age 5 was marred by the start of her leukemia treatment so I didn't get to fully enjoy the sweetness that is age five with her. I really reveled in this past year and was able to really focus on him the way I couldn't when Isabel was in treatment.

Gabriel is reading already and loves kindergarten. He says creation station and math tiles are his favorite parts. He couldn't care less about Legos or Star Wars or superheroes but adores Hot Wheel cars, racing tracks, anything marble related and learning new tricks on his scooter. Gabriel can spend an entire afternoon blowing bubbles in the backyard and creating new games with complicated rules drawn on the ground with chalk. He is hoping for a finger board ramp for his birthday and can't get enough of video games. Alan is happy that he enjoys watching sports with him and they read Sports Illustrated Kids together. I'm glad he likes books, puzzles and gymnastics. He may not want to kiss me in front of his buddies anymore, but he still snuggles up close at night and hugs me all day long. I'm making him a dinosaur cake for his birthday party. *sniff* Goodbye age 5!

Here are some photos of the past few weeks:

Isabel made an Easter salad.

Lots of creative egg dying, of course.

Climbing trees

Gabe's a limber little guy.

A very fun birthday party.

The kids were delighted to dog sit their cousins puggle for a few days.

A successful trip to the Exploratorium.

Well, I took a little unintentional blog break. Isabel and Gabriel have been on spring break for the past three weeks and we've been busy enjoying the beautiful weather. Lots of day trips, sleep overs, birthday parties and general good times.

This is the first month without a blood draw or check up for Isabel! She only goes to the oncologist every two months now that she is one full year off treatment. It's wonderful! I thought for sure I'd be a bit more worried about not having the reassurance of her perfect blood counts, but I'm not at all. She's so happy and we've been too busy to think about anything but the next thing on our social schedules. It's been very, very pleasant to say the least.

This morning I got a new book in the mail, the 4th edition of Childhood Leukemia by Nancy Keene. She wrote me a thank you note:

Dear Paulette,
The book is finally out! Thank you so much for sharing your story. This book only exists because parents like you share this wisdom and experience to help those following in our footsteps on this difficult journey. Wishing you and your family good health and happiness. Hugs, Nancy

My blurb is super short but still! Yay! I love that I'm in it! This book was my bible through the first horrific year of treatment. I really liked being able to read what parents wrote in their own words about what treatment was like for their children. Now I have a little bit in there about Isabel! I hope this is the start of me contributing much more in helping other parents navigate childhood leukemia treatments.

One year ago, March 9, 2009, Isabel entered the hospital with her blood counts near zero. She stayed in the hospital for the next 11 days.

Her official one year off treatment anniversary is March 20th, when she was released from the hospital, after being de-ported (surgery to take out the chest catheter) and off all chemotherapy treatment.



Today is Isabel's one year off treatment check up and blood draw at the local hospital. She has completed a full year without relapsing. This is huge.

For the next year, we will only go to check her blood counts every two months instead of every 30 days. After we complete the second year, the risk of her ever relapsing with leukemia is slim to none.

We're one year past cancer!! ONE YEAR!! Her hair is so long and she is so happy and healthy. She is full of life and love and big ideas. It's amazing. Why am I still in shock that we're done?

Some more photos of our very fun snow trip, from our friend's camera:

We went to the snow! Our good family friends took us on a spur of the moment, three day trip to Truckee! It was wonderful. I kept exclaiming "it's like being inside of a snow globe!" I have only seen snow a handful of times in my life, so it was all very exciting.