Baby Shower (not what you think)

Tuesday feels like Saturday. Everyday that Joel is home feels a bit like Saturday. He arrived home from NM Sunday night. It is great that he did not have to stay the whole 10 days that he predicted. The problem is: he will be short hours this week. This job continues to be a frustration that causes stress in other parts of our lives.

I really try to just relax and enjoy the time that he is home. That gets harder to do. It seems like I am holding my breath when he is home. (It used to be the other way around.) I just know that he has to leave again too soon and there is so much that I need his help with when he is here. We rush through the to-do list and then collapse at the end of the day. Monday he is headed back to NM again. Until then, Jace and I will hold on tight.

Today was tough for Jace. He had to go for another blood test. The allergist found that Jace had a very low count of a specific type of white blood cells. She retested to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. The second number came back even lower. She sent the info to our pediatrician. They diagnosed autoimmune neutropenia. This means his system attacks its own white blood cells causing an increased risk of infection. He has not had any problems but we are trying to learn more and figure out what to do. That brings us to his 3rd blood draw in just over a month. They have gotten progressively worse. Today, he knew what was coming the minute they tied the band around his arm. We were at the Parker branch of Children's Hospital so I thought that they would do better dealing with the kiddo. Nope, the guy seemed super nervous (had he even done this before??). He ended up having to stick Jace twice to get a good sample. He cried and cried. It was awful.

Jace feel asleep in the car on the way home. He was lots better after the nap. This evening we talked about going swimming but decided to just relax at home. It was such a luxury to just make dinner and play at the house together. Jace found a little rubber ball in his diaper bag and figured out how to toss it and crawl after it. Jace loves to climb the stairs and we continue to work on going down them (safely on his tummy). He thinks the whole thing is a great game. He will climb up then crawl around on the landing at the top of the stairs. We wait for him to decide to come down. He will get close, turn around and put one foot down on the first stair then laugh and crawl away. He knows he has our attention cause we have to wait on the stairs to make sure he doesn't tumble.

Right now, Joel is giving Jace his bath and it makes me smile to listen to them "talking" to each other. (They are repeating each other's sounds at the top of their voices. It is great.)

Photos: Exploring everywhere. Even the shower.

Helping with the laundry.