merry christmas 2014.

there's a cloud. 

it's not a dark cloud really, but it is there. lurking around the corner. i know that the next few weeks wade between "nothing to do" and "things that are really important" and so worry flows through my veins and thoughts ever so often. i think about her chest MRI for port placement, getting her port, but mainly, just praying that the tumor hasn't grown more and that vinblastine is going to kick it to the curb.




yet, none of that matters today. because it is christmas. truth be told, it doesn't matter any days because knowing there's a cloud doesn't heal brain tumors. but some days, i am more aware - and some days i forget its even around.

EJ is upper respiratory sick - to where his chest hurts at almost every movement. miller has the flu and an ear infection. corbin has the flu. reese is on tamiflu as preventative. no one needs to be at our house to catch this - so it was the skelte-seven today, celebrating alone.

...which is funny that i even typed that; with 7 people in a family, no one is ever alone.

last night we went searching for pizza. we ended up at mexican. a win either way. i drank some wine and brought everything out to finally wrap presents. i love doing things at the last minute - and that is not sarcasm. i shop late, plan late, wrap late, but it makes me so excited.

reese was up early, as always. aidan and sawyer were the next to come down - already begging to wake corbin and miller up.

i took a shower. mainly because i remember how awful that was when my parents did that to me (lol). it made me giggle. but they were up cleaning their rooms making space for what santa had given them.

we really had no misses. my parents brought their stuff by yesterday, careful not to catch any germs. and between all of us, the kids loved, literally, everything.


2014 asrmc xmas from amanda skelte on Vimeo.
^ if you want to watch that, i made that for my parents so they could see some present reactions :) otherwise, pics will be below. my camera died by the time we got the trampoline out and such (omg they are so excited!) - but EJ started building that, until he just was in too much pain. poor guy. AMC wore their PJs most of the day, but reese said she needed "daytime clothes!!" on. and sawyer had to change into her tinkerbell dress the second her new heels came ;)

tomorrow is corbin's birthday - and i'll blog a separate one for she and aidan's big days. but it's amazing to me that my kids are now 8yo-1yo. no "____ months old!" just.... a year. no babies. no babies on the way. and then an EIGHT year old makes me feel so old haha

jan 2nd is reese's chest MRI. i'll have to somehow harass surgery scheduling on monday at the latest to get a port date on the books, so we arent pushed out for starting chemo any further.

so, merry christmas. christmas number 3 with this brain tumor, with the new found friends and prayers. christmas number, oh, 7? since i started this blog. seems so surreal to me to have so many years captured in the same place, but each one so incredibly different. they will continue to be so, since our new end date, for chemo, is now going to be in 2016.

this christmas, my kids took reese's new medical kit, that she got from santa, and had port surgery. reese laid on the floor and "got a new port" willingly from surgeon, aidan, and assistant, sawyer. she got up and said she was "all done!"

next christmas, i hope that she almost is... all done. for good.