We got to come Home!

Workup week is done, quite a relief! We took the shuttle on the last day, Tyler likes riding the bus and it saves on parking fees too! It's usually about $9 a day to park. It's hard to lose that freedom of going when we want to though. It can be tough timing the shuttle with appointments, plus Tyler doesn't do well with all that extra wait time. He doesn't understand why we have to wait 15-20 minutes for the next shuttle to come. There's a giraffe inside the rotating door at the hospital that Tyler likes to watch go around. The Child Life lady who was putting balloons around the hospital decided he was cute and needed a balloon. He was so excited to get one!

 Tyler usually doesn't sit still the whole bus ride. He starts out riding in the back, he thinks that's the cool spot to be. Then at the next stoplight he'll run over to me and sit either across from me or on my lap.

 Tyler was so excited when he saw this! It was go-kart day at RMH on Monday. We went out there not knowing what to expect. They had a go-kart, Lightening McQueen and a battery powered toddler ATV also. Tyler wasn't allowed to drive McQueen, but I asked if I could sit him in it to get pics. Dawson did drive this one. Well, he pushed the gas pedal, but didn't understand the concept of steering. Thankfully they don't go fast.

 So a nice girl gave them both rides on the ATV. They loved it! I was happy that she didn't mind me posting these pics too! :)

 Gabriel took a little nap on Daddy's shoulder. He looks so little in this pic!

 Tyler got a ride on a real go-kart! He was so excited when it took off, it was faster than the ATV.

 Tyler and Daddy watching other kids go around the path.

 Tyler had just thrown a ball to Daddy. This is the path they ride on, it goes in a circle, and also out to the parking lot, though the whole playground area is fenced off.

 Tyler was pretty excited to be home with the toys that are too big to bring with. He was supposed to be admitted to start the transplant process on Tuesday, but things were pushed back because of a stool virus.

 He wore himself out good that first day! He's been taking naps now, it's pretty nice.

 Dawson was happy to see his own bed again.

Dawson got out of bed a couple times that first night. He's used to sleeping with me, or Becky if Dan is staying with us. I went to check on them and found him sleeping with Tyler. Doesn't look like Tyler minded at all. :)

BMT Workup Week

This past week was so busy, I really haven't had time for much of anything extra! Tyler went through a ton of tests, scans, meetings, infusions and bloodwork to make sure his body is prepared for transplant. I started with our pics from home since I didn't have a chance to post those either! We were too busy having fun. :)

Dawson has been so protective over Tyler lately, it's so cute! If you look at Tyler's neck, you can see his line that's in the vein in his neck. It has taken some getting used to, his last line wasn't that visible under the skin.

 Dawson has been giving lots of kisses and helping Tyler up when he falls.

 Playground! He really didn't get a chance to play on the playground before he was admitted in April, since I was pregnant, then he broke his leg, then he was admitted for chemo! They were so happy to run and play together. This is one of their favorite parks and thankfully it's not very populated.

 Gabriel seemed to like being outside too, he was in a great mood.

 I put him in the swing, just to see what he'd do. He was very amused! I think he also was wondering where his feet went, he's been obsessed with those lately.

 Dawson had so much fun playing. He does get outside more than Tyler, but he seems lonely without his brother to play with. It was great seeing him so happy while we were at home.

 Dawson was typing to Grandma on msn chat.

 Tyler playing with his earned prizes for doing so well with his CT scan and chest x-ray. He was excited to find a truck and a train.

 Tyler and Daddy passing the time during a 30 minute GCSF infusion.

 The new hospital! It's so pretty, it changes color with the light and different angles it seems. This is the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. Tyler's room will be in that building on the 4th floor. The entire outer wall is all glass, so it really has a bright, open feel to the room, even though it's smaller than the new rooms at Mpls Children's.

 Feet! He's obsessed with those things lately, though he can't quite get them to his mouth, he has too much chub on his legs.

 Gabriel has perfected "the face". It gets even better than this too, but he gives us those eyes and then sticks out his lip. If that doesn't work, he'll reposition the lip and stick it out even further. I have no clue how he learned the lip trick, but it's just not fair!

Tyler likes the Oreos they have in the clinic. He only likes the frosting though! He also likes the crackers and cheese spread, but again, only eats the cheese.

The lobby has these cool holes in the wall with glass on the inside, so he can look down at the 1st floor from the 2nd floor. I was around the corner taking the pic.

 At RMH, Gabriel was sleepy from his long day at the clinic! He looked so comfy in there, I was a bit jealous of his nice nap!

 Dawson loves pet therapy day! Every Tuesday they have therapy dogs come in for the kids to pet.

 Sometimes Daddy is best! Especially when Tyler isn't allowed to eat and Tyler wants to nurse. I gave him to Dan and stepped out. It's so hard to just walk away when Tyler wants me, but it was for the better. He quickly settled down once I was out of sight, out of mind, then he fell asleep. He had woken up extra early that morning, so we went for a 2 mile walk down the river and back at 6am. It was very peaceful and it took up enough time that we were able to leave once we got back.

 Tyler was watching cartoons. Thankfully the clinic rooms here have a tv, some have dvd players too.

 Another day of working hard at the clinic. :)

 They have a play CT machine in the waiting room for Radiology. I thought it was a great idea, though Tyler knows what that is anyway and wasn't interested in them, real or fake! They have the newest version here though, it has light-up images of stars and other things. When they moved Tyler into the machine, he said "ooooh!" instead of screaming. It was a very nice change!

I'm go glad that week is over! It was long and frustrating. Currently we're at home having fun until Tyler gets rid of a stool virus, so transplant has been pushed back a bit for his safety.

Fun at the Fair

We debated going to the fair or not and we decided to go. Tyler wore his mask and did pretty good with keeping it on. He had so much fun, I haven't seen him this happy in quite a while. Dawson loved the fair as well. He remembered it from last year and was very excited about the rides. Tyler wouldn't go on rides last year. We put him on one and he cried because it wasn't moving right away and he was a bit scared, so they took him off. This year he was much more patient and loved them.

 Tyler's favorite was the merry go round

 Dawson's first time on a ferris wheel! He loved it, talking and pointing at things all the way around. It didn't seem to bother him at all.

 Gabriel was watching the ferris wheel. Apparenly he agrees that Dawson is a bit nuts!

 Having 2 boys walking around the fair was a very fast-paced experience! They didn't walk the whole time, but they did great with listening most of the time and we didn't lose either of them, so I guess I can say it went well! ;)  It really wasn't very crowded.

 I showed Dawson how to put his face in the hole, so he did it long enough for me to get a pic. :)

 Tyler was waving "hi" at everyone as he went around

 They also liked the train

 We had to ride with Tyler on some of the rides, like the train, so we took turns.

 Daddy and Dawson on the ferris wheel.

 I was sitting on the ground nursing Gabriel while they were riding, I thought this was a neat pic.

Unfortunately my camera died after that, but we had lots of fun! I took Dawson on the Scrambler too. I was nervous about how he'd do, but turns out he did better than me! He jumped up and was grinning when it was over and I was a bit dizzy! This was actually 2 days worth of pics. We went Saturday evening and I was talking with a friend online that night who said that rides were 1/2 price the next day! Dawson woke up and requested we go on rides. We hadn't gotten time for some of the things we wanted to do, so we decided to go back. We got some food, bought some more tickets. While in line for food, a lady came up to me and asked if I have kids doing rides and gave me 10 tickets because she was leaving! We went for a 2 mile walk at the end of the day, so we were all pretty tired at the end of the day! Dawson woke up asking for rides again, but I told him that they are all gone and thankfully he was ok with that answer! I'm so glad we happened to come home the same weekend the fair was going. Such great timing!