These Boys Are Growing Up

Joshua celebrated his 6th birthday this week. We had so much fun with it, we had two parties. Our family party and a friend party. At our family party, Joshua chose to eat Mexican food. Michael was more than proud of Joshua for his choice and declared that things were looking up in the birthday department when we actually agree on food.

When it came time to be finished with dinner, a crew of restaurant staff came running out singing Happy Birthday carrying a massive mound of sopapillas and ice cream. Apparently, it is a Las Palmas tradition to spread whipped cream on the birthday boy's cheeks. Joshua thought it was a grand idea.

As for the friend party, Joshua chose the exact same friends as last year. All church buddies and his cousin, Eli (who, to our delight, is also a church buddy). Joshua couldn't decide between Chuck e Cheese and a movie party. So, we said, "How about both?" It was a super fun night with subpar pizza, prizes and 3D Despicable Me.

Now for our other growing boy. Christian is now 7 months old. What a cutie! He is sitting up in the floor, in the bath, in the high chair or just about anywhere we sat him. I absolutely love this age everything is new and exciting and he doesn't move around enough to get into a wh

ole bunch of trouble. We are all enjoying some precious Christian moments right now.

Summer Time

I love the summer. The weather is hot and wonderful. Our schedule is freer than any other time of year and the kids are excited everyday to find out what event I have planned for them. Sometimes we walk to a neighborhood park and never even get in the car. Most days we pile in and head to the pool, the library, or for a play date with friends. No matter what we are doing, I try to remind myself that these days are fleeting and to enjoy them as much as possible. Even if it doesn't look like that from the outside, that's what I'm trying to do.

Here are a few photos I captured of some of our summer fun. Strangely enough, I rarely remember my camera on days that we doing something memorable. That is just one my reason I love summer though...everyday feels big when you have great kids to share it with.

Look who found his toes.

Hopscotch at a local park.

"Thank you. Thank you, very much"

Joshua has played a bunch of baseball this summer. You can tell by how often he is in his uniform. He has had a great season with lots to be proud of.

These are an impromptu photo shoot I had to take because my kids looked so classically summery with pigtails, sunsuit, and baseball uniform. Very Americana.

Finally, this is Andi's reaction to the house this week. She was surprised to see it still broken. We assured her that in just a few short weeks we'll be back and it will be better than it was before.

Davy's House

This is our buddy Davy. We've both known Davy for nearly ten years, Michael even longer. He's the kind of friend that we can sit and watch movies and play Scrabble with and the kind of guy that shows up at the hospital within minutes of your sons diagnosis. He is a great friend.

Now he has stepped it up to an even greater degree. While we are out of our house, he is allowing a family of 5 to live in his very nice bachelor home. We are so grateful to his hospitality and generosity. I just thought you all should have a chance to meet him.

His kindness extends to allowing our family to take over nearly the entire house. Here is Andi trying some of her new ballet moves in the living room.

Christian just started eating cereal. You all know what a mess that can be.

Joshua already knew that Davy was our cool friend with the Legos. Little did he know that we would get to live in the house where all of those Legos are stored. He is in la la land.

Here are the kids coloring with some of Davy's art supplies at the breakfast bar. It's a really good thing Davy is a kid at heart because he has certainly become one of our kids' favorite friend.

Still Displaced

Well, the flood cleanup in Nashville continues. It sort of has felt like over the past month that there has always been another thing to do at our house. The long and short of it is that we haven't lived there since May 7, and it's likely another month or so before we can move back in.

We've had a pump and pipe system installed in the interior to make sure it doesn't flood again. All the walls have been torn down. This week we will finally begin the process of rebuilding the inside.

From Joshua's perspective, it helps that our friend and host home has a Wii, X-box, and lots of Legos.

Andi has taken things a little harder. She's been a little needier and talks about going home more than her brother. Hopefully we'll be there soon.

Our House Today

Many people have been asking about how our house is doing. I thought pictures would more clearly show why we aren't living there for a while. Needless to say from the photos, we will have plenty of work to do putting all back together even after the floors and walls are fixed. Thank you for continuing to pray for us and all of Nashville.

The den with ServPro driers in action.

Our bedroom, bathroom and closet area.

All of our stuff from downstairs piled into our dining room and living room.

The playroom with more stuff from downstairs.

A closer look at our dining room.

Hardwood, carpet, and stuff that was lost in the flood, a small amount in comparison to many.

Even when the floods come, our sweet kiddos keep growing and changing. Christian turned 4 months yesterday and rolled over for the first time. What a huge blessing this little guy is to all of our lives!

Nashville Recovering

Boston.com has compiled a set of unbelievable photographs to display the devastation in Nashville. Our loss is not small, but the recovery is in sight, even if it will be a few weeks. These guys will be months or years from recovery. For many of them they will not ever be able to recover fully from this terrible flood.

Please continue to pray for our city.

(HT:Kristi)

Andi is 3 and Nashville is Wet

What a weekend! We were ready to go. Cake was bought. Balloons were up. Craft was ready. 25 people were on their way to celebrate our little girl's 3rd birthday. Then, at about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, I stepped out of our bedroom into a puddle of water in our den. Needless to say, we were not prepared for it.

Thankfully, some our sweet friends didn't get the text alert about the cancellation. They came, we celebrated and we averted any major problem by moving a few things with their help (or so we thought).

We went to bed thinking things might be better in the morning. But the rains just didn't stop. One friend came early to help find the source of the leaks. But the rains just didn't stop and we couldn't keep up with the water. We called in a neighbor, who brought more friends, and they quickly moved all the furniture from downstairs up to the dining room. Me and the kids bunkered down in the toy room and played lots of distracting games. Later on, even more friends came to fight off the water and try to salvage the walls and bathroom as best they could.

We were able to save most of the stuff from the basement, but all the floors and some of the walls will have to be replaced. We are very aware that we fortunate to have lost as little as we did. There are many others in Nashville who are without all of their belongings. We are also overwhelmingly blessed by the many people that came to help, offered to help, called or sent messages to check on us or offered us a place to stay. We, once again, feel very loved.

As for now, we are staying with a friend until the downstairs is livable once again. Please pray that we will have patience with one another and with those that are helping restore our home. And that by the grace of our Lord, we will choose to hold loosely to the things of this world and tightly to He that gives all things to us.

Ten Things I Learned From Losing My Voice...

1. Signing Time videos reveal their worth.

2. When I whisper, my kids listen better.

3. When my kids have to come closer to hear me, I get a lot more hugs.

4. I choose my words much more carefully.

5. Texting is ingenious.

6. Talking on the phone is impossible. Sorry if I didn't return your call today. Now you know why.

7. My kids get away with a lot more.

8. The Nashville Zoo with 3 kids on a Friday is not the place to be.

9. This blog becomes a way to communicate again.

10. Christian and I are on a more even playing level.

Road Trip

We took a quick trip to South Carolina to visit our friends, Rob, Holly, Trey and Jono. We had a great time, as usual. Even after a 7 hour trip turned into 8.5, we were still so glad we did it. Looking forward to many more to come.

Growing Up

Andi has been swinging in a big swing for a while, but she hasn't been picking out her own shoes for the playground until recently. How about those ruby reds?

Christian is six weeks old now. His face is starting to fill out and he's even giving us some sweet grins. For those of you that know my dad, tell me that second picture doesn't look a bit like Papa Joe. So cute!

And here's the big one we've been waiting for. Joshua left a tooth under the bed for the Tooth Fairy. He was so excited to find his very own dollar the next morning.

Fun Faces

With multiple snow days and a newborn around, we haven't gotten out of the house much. These are the sweet little faces I've been spending my days with.

That's a loose tooth everyone. Exciting times in the Kelley house.

Quick Recovery

Joshua went through his port removal like a champ. It was an early morning, but by 10 am, he was asking for pancakes and Doritos. He slept for several hours that afternoon and went to bed early, but he never complained of any pain. We are once again so proud of his bravery.

This major milestone now means that there will be no more ER visits if a fever comes and that there will be no more questions at swimming pool about the bump on his chest. Clearly, the first is a much bigger deal, but the second will be nice as well.

Here are a few photos from the day.

Michael and Joshua discussing why everyone is up at 5 am.

The last time for numbing cream on his chest. I teared up a bit here.

All done and enjoying a cherry coke Icee. Vandy knows how to do it right.

Here is Joshua giving Andi the stuffed animal the nurses had given him. According to Joshua he "too big" for it. Another tear, but for a much different reason.

Joshua's Surgery Tomorrow Morning

We've been chemo-free since late December. Tomorrow morning is sort of the final stage in Joshua's completion of his treatment as he's having a surgical procedure to remove the port from his chest.

When Joshua was first diagnosed with leukemia, one of the first things that happened was the insertion of the port. At least 3 times a month for the last 36 months, blood has been drawn and medicine given through it. It's attached to a ventricle in Joshua's heart and makes the taking of blood and receiving of medicine much, much easier.

Tomorrow it's getting taken out. And Joshua, for his part, is more nervous about this than any of the poison that's been put into his system over the last 3 years:

"They're going to do what to my chest?"

"With a knife?!?!?!"

Funny. But God willing, he doesn't need it any more.