5 months....and counting!

Wow, it's been 2 months since I've updated. Guess no news is good news, huh? The months have been flying by. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already. That means Christmas is right around the corner. Am I the only one who thinks Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year? The stores around here are already playing Christmas music. I L-O-V-E Christmas, but the beginning of November is way too early for me.

The countdown is officially on. In April of 2009 Brendon will be all done with treatment. While that is extremely exciting, it also a little unreal. It makes me wonder what our life will be like without the huge amounts of daily pills, monthly labs and trips to Scarborough and all of the other parts involved with treatment. The staff at the Maine Children's Cancer Program will always be a part of our lives. Usually when we go to the clinic for the monthly chemo we end up visiting for a while.. Sometimes we are there for an hour, sometimes more.. We went last week and it was such a quick visit. We were in and out in record time. Brendon grew almost an inch in a month. They had to measure him 3 times to make sure it was correct. He's growing up so fast! His port is still really sensitive, even after all of this time. He was in pain when they were accessing it, but he toughed it out. He is so excited to get it taken out.

Health wise there is not a whole lot to report on. He's struggled with a cough/cold for the last month, but it doesn't seem to slow him down too much. This is the week with his 5 days of steroids so he's been a little moody. It hasn't been too bad, but he's definitely not himself. Tomorrow is the last day....Amen for that!

He has joined the basketball team at school, which he's loving. Thursday nights are very busy with basketball practice followed by band practice. I'm definitely not complaining because it is great to have him involved with activities that he enjoys. Tonight was his first game and it was so exciting! I can not explain to you how much it meant to me to watch him running up and down the court like a normal boy. I was clapping and screaming so loud for him. Andy wanted to move away from me... Not sure why?? :) The game ended in a tie which was a bummer, but Bren made 2 or 3 baskets. He's such a team player. I know that I am biased, but he has such a sweet spirit. He told me that one of his friends on the team was upset because he missed a basket and Brendon told him not to worry about it because they were still up by 4 points. That's my boy! I am so proud of him. Here's a picture of him at the foul shot line. It's kind of far away, but it's him. He's so stinkin' cute.. Did I already mention how proud of him I am??

School wise, Brendon is doing excellent. He's on the honor roll with all A's and B's. The only issue he has is that he likes to talk too much in class.. Huh. Must get that from his dad? Have I mentioned that he has a girlfriend? Yep, he does. Have I also mentioned that he's almost 11 now and loves to inform me (almost daily) that he'll be driving in 4 years?

In early October we went to a mud run in Livermore Falls. For those of you who don't know what a mud run is, it's when pick up trucks and other cars/four wheelers/jeeps/etc. are all tricked out with giant tires and stuff and they drive through the mud. It's kind of cool. Brendon and I had never been to one before so we stopped. My favorite part was when the wife of one of the drivers drove through the huge puddle (Can you call it a puddle? It looked more like quicksand to me. I'm not sure what the technical term for it is.) and she beat the boys' time. I was so excited for her! I'm thinking mud running might be my new hobby. Maybe I can get a really pretty pink sparkly truck? Here are some pictures from that:

After the mud run we went apple picking in Turner. They have an apple sling-shot which is our favorite part of apple picking. I am usually the photographer while the boys try to get the apples to fly as far as they can. It's a lot of fun. Here are my two favorite pictures from the apple sling shot (Look at the concentration):

Halloween was fun. Andy had to work until 6:30 so Brendon and I started out on our own and Andy met up with us later. We walked around the neighborhood. We met up with Bren's friend Dominique and we continued on. They both got a lot of candy. I didn't take any pictures. I'm horrible.. We were in such a rush and he was so excited. He missed last year because he was so sick. It's the small things that we used to take for granted that we now really appreciate. He was the scary mask guy from Scream. It was gross so he loved it. He's past the age of the really cute and cuddly costumes. Now it's scary or gross...or both if possible.

My Uncle Dan and my cousin Alan taught Brendon how to play pool at a family reunion last weekend. He really likes it. Now one of the items on his Christmas list is a pool table. He's also taken up golf. He hasn't been to an actual golf course, but he loves to go to Roy's and hit golf balls.

Brendon's braces should be coming off in another month or so. He still has a lot of his baby teeth so he'll probably need braces again when the teeth come out. It will be a wait and see thing. Right now his teeth are so straight. He looks gorgeous!

Brendon was baptized at our church on November 9th. It was such an emotional thing. We talked to him about the meaning behind it and let him make the decision. We were all so proud of him! One more event that happened was Youth Day for deer hunting. Brendon went out in the afternoon with his Dad for the first time. They had a good time, but they didn't see anything. They are going back out on Saturday. Maybe he'll get one then. It's still a little nerve-wracking to think of my son in the woods with a gun. Thankfully he has always been taught the proper way to handle himself around the woods. He has a great respect for guns and their safety. Here is a picture of the Great Hunters:
I think that's it for now.. I can't think of anything else really exciting that has happened. We are just enjoying the normal, everyday life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers as we get closer and closer to the end of this journey..
~Amber