Jordyn's Journey to Disney-(MAW) Make a Wish Trip - Starting October 4th, 2013!!!

[Redwavess]

I love the lion king movie night!!! And I love the pictures!!

How cute!!!

And the grubs look just as cute and yummy with or without their "mud."

Keeping it simple is a great idea!! This will help you to do it more often and it will be so fun for the kids!!

Thanks for sharing!!

See you soon,

Madeline

 

[mommy2mrb]

joining in! Jordyn is such a little beauty and Jeremy is so cute! they have beautiful eyes!

so excited Jordyn was granted her wish to visit WDW, its such a magical place and know you will have a wonderful trip filled with happy memories!

love all the photos you have shared! so great Jordyn was able to dance in her recital and what an sweet place for making her wish!

your movie nights look so fun and you are doing a great job being creative with the themes!

 

[Jessicalynne]

Love the pictures of your children enjoying movie night. I think simple is better, the highlight is the movie.

I agree! The kids really love it, and the main purpose is to show the movie and get the kids really familiar with all of the characters and such.

Love your movie nights! Looks like fun! I think the dinner looks like lions! Better then I could do!

Thanks! I am glad someone thought they looked like lions, maybe I will dare trying another meal like this again.

I love the lion king movie night!!! And I love the pictures!!

How cute!!!

And the grubs look just as cute and yummy with or without their "mud."

Keeping it simple is a great idea!! This will help you to do it more often and it will be so fun for the kids!!

Thanks for sharing!!

See you soon,

Madeline

Thanks! I am so happy my kids seem to be enjoying it as much as they are! I think I will be less stressed out with it nice and simple as well.

joining in! Jordyn is such a little beauty and Jeremy is so cute! they have beautiful eyes!

so excited Jordyn was granted her wish to visit WDW, its such a magical place and know you will have a wonderful trip filled with happy memories!

love all the photos you have shared! so great Jordyn was able to dance in her recital and what an sweet place for making her wish!

your movie nights look so fun and you are doing a great job being creative with the themes!

Thanks so much! Jordyn absolutely loves dancing, so I was really glad she was able to dance at the recital, and so was she!

We are really looking forward to our trip. I think we will make some of the best memories we have had in years!

 

[Jessicalynne]

Jordyn is going to be in a dance class with her same amazing teacher, and she is so excited about it! She starts next Tuesday, and she is super duper excited! Jeremy is also going to be in a dance class this year. He is only 2 and a half, but he is always dancing all around the house and I think he will really love it, plus he will burn of a lot of his hyper energy, I am hoping anyway... This will be a nice change and a good chance to get out of the house.

We are also going to try Jordyn out in a preschool co-op... This makes me incredibly nervous with the fall and winter approaching. We tried this last year and it didn't last very long because of low counts and other kids in the co-op being sick all the time. I am hopeful, but have some doubts in my mind that it won't work. It doesn't help that we had a preschool meeting yesterday with the kids that we will be doing it with, and today, Jordyn has a stomach bug... One of her conditions can make stomach bugs more scary. They tend to make her acidotic which can be a very bad, scary thing. If she gets acidotic, she often becomes lethargic and doesn't get well for days. My fingers are crossed that her current illness is short-lived...

 

[Redwavess]

Jordyn is going to be in a dance class with her same amazing teacher, and she is so excited about it! She starts next Tuesday, and she is super duper excited! Jeremy is also going to be in a dance class this year. He is only 2 and a half, but he is always dancing all around the house and I think he will really love it, plus he will burn of a lot of his hyper energy, I am hoping anyway... This will be a nice change and a good chance to get out of the house.

We are also going to try Jordyn out in a preschool co-op... This makes me incredibly nervous with the fall and winter approaching. We tried this last year and it didn't last very long because of low counts and other kids in the co-op being sick all the time. I am hopeful, but have some doubts in my mind that it won't work. It doesn't help that we had a preschool meeting yesterday with the kids that we will be doing it with, and today, Jordyn has a stomach bug... One of her conditions can make stomach bugs more scary. They tend to make her acidotic which can be a very bad, scary thing. If she gets acidotic, she often becomes lethargic and doesn't get well for days. My fingers are crossed that her current illness is short-lived...

Hooray for dance class!! And so happy to hear that she get to have have the same awesome teacher!! And how fun that Jeremy gets to go too!!

I feel your worry about the winter months. Mallory also had to be careful of sick kids especially before and after surgery. She was so susceptible at one point that the doctors told us to not even let our family visit!!

I hope that preschool will go well for you guys and her counts stay high enough to continue.

If you would like I could send you some websites and Apps that you can use to help Jordyn get ready for kindergarten. I teach 1st grade and I'm a huge technology fan so I have tons of resources. Let me know.

Prayers for good counts and a great year of preschool!!

Madeline

 

[Jessicalynne]

Hooray for dance class!! And so happy to hear that she get to have have the same awesome teacher!! And how fun that Jeremy gets to go too!!

I feel your worry about the winter months. Mallory also had to be careful of sick kids especially before and after surgery. She was so susceptible at one point that the doctors told us to not even let our family visit!!

I hope that preschool will go well for you guys and her counts stay high enough to continue.

If you would like I could send you some websites and Apps that you can use to help Jordyn get ready for kindergarten. I teach 1st grade and I'm a huge technology fan so I have tons of resources. Let me know.

Prayers for good counts and a great year of preschool!!

Madeline

Dance really is a highlight for us, and I am super grateful that Jordyn had an amazing teacher to help get her through the worst parts of her chemo so far. I think it made a huge difference having one place she was actually able to go to once a week. Her teacher would go the extra mile and sanitize the bar and clean the floor just for little Jordyn to help keep her healthy.

We know keeping people away, especially family can be hard. So sorry that you have that to deal with as well... How often does Mallory have to have surgery? It is always interesting to hear others struggles and things their kids have to go through because I almost always think how I am not sure I could do the same thing, which is exactly what people tell me about Jordyn and how they don't think they could do it either. Anyway... I am amazed at you and other mommies on here and what they go through with such amazing strength. You are amazing!

We would love some website suggestions and apps to get Jordyn ready for kindergarten! I am sure she would love it as well, as she loves to learn and she loves her letters. Thanks for the offer! I worry that she won't be ready when the time comes, but I am not really sure I need to be so concerned, seeing as she already knows most of the things they want her to know by then, but it would be awesome to have resources to make sure she is ready.

 

[Jessicalynne]

I have been bursting at the seems with some exciting news that I decided to wait to share until a day like today! I was contacted by Teresajoy about two weeks ago about having been chosen as a family to receive The Big Give! We are beyond excited! Thank you so much to everyone who is helping with this and everyone who has helped with past Big Gives for other families! It really means the world to us families! Thank you will never be enough to show how thankful and how full our hearts are because you were willing to share your time, talents, and effort to provide such happiness for our families! It truly touches my heart to know that the world has people like you in it to serve and bless others lives with your thoughts, prayers, and kindness!

Jordyn and Jeremy received their first package today. Their highlight of almost every day is going out to get the mail, so you can guess how excited they were to find something for them in the mailbox!

This package was from Jen disboards name goteamwood. Thank you Jen! They absolutely adored them. Jeremy talked me into letting him take his nap in his outfit, and said, "I AM a car!" to his sister when she said he was wearing a car shirt, and Jordyn told me she never wanted to take her dress off. She also said, "This is the most adorable dress ever!" and "The princesses will think I am a princess too!" They loved the stickers as well. I got a few pictures of them with the stickers, but I must not have posted them. I will look and see if I can find it to post...

Hopefully I am not posting too many pictures, as I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites.

I love the look on Jer's face as he tears into his own special package!

Love at first sight!

Here is the back of Jeremy's outfit:

I couldn't resist posting this one because his face in it just cracks me up!

Jordyn had to show me how pretty she looked when she spun around and so Jeremy decided he needed a picture of him spinning around as well. You can see Jeremy's big sticker roll and some stickers at Jordyn's feet that were also in the package.

Thank you so much! I love them, and the kids love them as well!

 

[goteamwood]

I have been bursting at the seems with some exciting news that I decided to wait to share until a day like today! I was contacted by Teresajoy about two weeks ago about having been chosen as a family to receive The Big Give! We are beyond excited! Thank you so much to everyone who is helping with this and everyone who has helped with past Big Gives for other families! It really means the world to us families! Thank you will never be enough to show how thankful and how full our hearts are because you were willing to share your time, talents, and effort to provide such happiness for our families! It truly touches my heart to know that the world has people like you in it to serve and bless others lives with your thoughts, prayers, and kindness!

Jordyn and Jeremy received their first package today. Their highlight of almost every day is going out to get the mail, so you can guess how excited they were to find something for them in the mailbox!

This package was from Jen disboards name goteamwood. Thank you Jen! They absolutely adored them. Jeremy talked me into letting him take his nap in his outfit, and said, "I AM a car!" to his sister when she said he was wearing a car shirt, and Jordyn told me she never wanted to take her dress off. She also said, "This is the most adorable dress ever!" and "The princesses will think I am a princess too!" They loved the stickers as well. I got a few pictures of them with the stickers, but I must not have posted them. I will look and see if I can find it to post...

Hopefully I am not posting too many pictures, as I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites.

I love the look on Jer's face as he tears into his own special package!

Love at first sight!

Here is the back of Jeremy's outfit:

I couldn't resist posting this one because his face in it just cracks me up!

Jordyn had to show me how pretty she looked when she spun around and so Jeremy decided he needed a picture of him spinning around as well. You can see Jeremy's big sticker roll and some stickers at Jordyn's feet that were also in the package.

Thank you so much! I love them, and the kids love them as well!

I can see how it would be hard picking a favorite photo, your kids are adorable. I love making outfits for the Big Gives, the smiles make my day. I can't wait to see what else is headed your way!

 

[Piper]

A website that my PreK kids used all year long is www.starfall.com It starts with simple alphabet and sound recognition and progresses to actually reading. It also teaches them to use the mouse. You have to supervise for the first time or two, but they catch on so quickly!!! You click on the sparkles. It wouldn't seem like they would like it or that they would get bored, but they don't. The students would go back to the alphabet sounds even after they were actually reading! (There are simple games at the end of each letter's presentation.)

Until they actually learned the letters and sounds, that is what they were limited to, but I gradually allowed them to go to other parts as they progressed.

 

[mommy2mrb]

hope the kids enjoy the new year of dance, sure Jeremy will work off lots of energy my DD Megan (13) has been dancing since she was 2 1/2 and is her passion!

sure you are anxious about Jordyn starting school and all the germs, hopefully the teachers and parents be good about keeping sick kids away!

for getting picked for a Big Give, you will be getting so much in the next few weeks! better warn your postman

the princess dress and cars outfit are so cute!!! love seeing their happy faces

 

[GrammytoMany]

Hi,
I can't wait to see the excitement on the children's faces when they go on their trip.
Sheila Griffin
a.k.a GrammytoMany on the Disboard.

 

[Redwavess]

Dance really is a highlight for us, and I am super grateful that Jordyn had an amazing teacher to help get her through the worst parts of her chemo so far. I think it made a huge difference having one place she was actually able to go to once a week. Her teacher would go the extra mile and sanitize the bar and clean the floor just for little Jordyn to help keep her healthy.

We know keeping people away, especially family can be hard. So sorry that you have that to deal with as well... How often does Mallory have to have surgery? It is always interesting to hear others struggles and things their kids have to go through because I almost always think how I am not sure I could do the same thing, which is exactly what people tell me about Jordyn and how they don't think they could do it either. Anyway... I am amazed at you and other mommies on here and what they go through with such amazing strength. You are amazing!

We would love some website suggestions and apps to get Jordyn ready for kindergarten! I am sure she would love it as well, as she loves to learn and she loves her letters. Thanks for the offer! I worry that she won't be ready when the time comes, but I am not really sure I need to be so concerned, seeing as she already knows most of the things they want her to know by then, but it would be awesome to have resources to make sure she is ready.

Oh Jordyn's dance teacher sounds amazing!!! What a blessing!!

We do not know when Mallory will need another surgery. We take her to the cardiologist every 6 months or sooner if it seems like things aren't going well!! Thanks for the kind words!! I feel the same about you and all you have gone through!! I know what you mean... It's amazing what you can get through when you have no choice but to go through it. During times of crisis for Mallory I have always felt comforted and at peace (with the exception of the night we found out when she was 1 day old). I know the power of prayer and God's blessings and I am so grateful for that. I couldn't have done it on my own.

Okay my favorite (free) websites for kids:

http://www.starfall.com/
http://pbskids.org/lions/games/
http://www.ixl.com/

Favorite Apps:

Bitsboard
Kindergarten Learning Games
Abby Phonics
Build and Teach Sight Words Free
Splash Math Grade 1 (They might have kindergarten too!)
Free Phonics Write and Play

I hope this helps!! I love technology because it feels like a game to the kids. We are all about trying to make learning fun and engaging!!

It sounds like you have her ready to go already!! That is GREAT!!!

Talk to you soon,

Madeline

 

[Redwavess]

Jordyn and Jeremy received their first package today. Their highlight of almost every day is going out to get the mail, so you can guess how excited they were to find something for them in the mailbox!

This package was from Jen disboards name goteamwood. Thank you Jen! They absolutely adored them. Jeremy talked me into letting him take his nap in his outfit, and said, "I AM a car!" to his sister when she said he was wearing a car shirt, and Jordyn told me she never wanted to take her dress off. She also said, "This is the most adorable dress ever!" and "The princesses will think I am a princess too!"

Hooray for the BIG Give!!

Jen (aka goteamwood) what awesome outfits!!! You did such an amazing job!! How very nice of you!!

I love that Jeremy said he was a car!! That is too cute!!! And I'm glad that Jordyn is a Princess, just as she should be!!!

How fun!!!

Madeline

 

[Jessicalynne]

goteamwood: Jordyn and Jeremy were so sad when I made them take their outfits off to save them for the trip. Jordyn says it is her favorite dress ever, which is a big thing for her to say!

A website that my PreK kids used all year long is www.starfall.com It starts with simple alphabet and sound recognition and progresses to actually reading. It also teaches them to use the mouse. You have to supervise for the first time or two, but they catch on so quickly!!! You click on the sparkles. It wouldn't seem like they would like it or that they would get bored, but they don't. The students would go back to the alphabet sounds even after they were actually reading! (There are simple games at the end of each letter's presentation.)

Until they actually learned the letters and sounds, that is what they were limited to, but I gradually allowed them to go to other parts as they progressed.

That website sounds great! Jordyn would probably love it, and she has a great start since she already knows all the letters and sounds. Thanks!

hope the kids enjoy the new year of dance, sure Jeremy will work off lots of energy my DD Megan (13) has been dancing since she was 2 1/2 and is her passion!

sure you are anxious about Jordyn starting school and all the germs, hopefully the teachers and parents be good about keeping sick kids away!

for getting picked for a Big Give, you will be getting so much in the next few weeks! better warn your postman

the princess dress and cars outfit are so cute!!! love seeing their happy faces

I am surprised at how much I like the idea of my kids taking dance! I never would have thought that it would be so amazing! I am glad your daughter has been able to find something she is so passionate about at such a young age! Dance is an amazing thing.

We are super excited about the big give and my kids LOVE their first outfits so much!

Hi,
I can't wait to see the excitement on the children's faces when they go on their trip.
Sheila Griffin
a.k.a GrammytoMany on the Disboard.

We are super excited about the trip and I can't believe how quickly it seems to be creeping up on us! I just know our family, especially the kids, will have an amazing time. Thanks!

Oh Jordyn's dance teacher sounds amazing!!! What a blessing!!

We do not know when Mallory will need another surgery. We take her to the cardiologist every 6 months or sooner if it seems like things aren't going well!! Thanks for the kind words!! I feel the same about you and all you have gone through!! I know what you mean... It's amazing what you can get through when you have no choice but to go through it. During times of crisis for Mallory I have always felt comforted and at peace (with the exception of the night we found out when she was 1 day old). I know the power of prayer and God's blessings and I am so grateful for that. I couldn't have done it on my own.

Okay my favorite (free) websites for kids:

http://www.starfall.com/
http://pbskids.org/lions/games/
http://www.ixl.com/

Favorite Apps:

Bitsboard
Kindergarten Learning Games
Abby Phonics
Build and Teach Sight Words Free
Splash Math Grade 1 (They might have kindergarten too!)
Free Phonics Write and Play

I hope this helps!! I love technology because it feels like a game to the kids. We are all about trying to make learning fun and engaging!!

It sounds like you have her ready to go already!! That is GREAT!!!

Talk to you soon,

Madeline

It is hard not knowing when your child is going to go through a hard experience... Heart conditions and cancer definitely leave those dealing with them with lots of unknowns and fears for the future. I wouldn't wish either on anyone, but I am glad that Mallory has a mother like you to help her through it all. I know those around us can help us through challenges we never thought we could endure and make it through, and I think these kids are incredible for keeping going and having the positive attitudes that they do.

Hooray for the BIG Give!!

Jen (aka goteamwood) what awesome outfits!!! You did such an amazing job!! How very nice of you!!

I love that Jeremy said he was a car!! That is too cute!!! And I'm glad that Jordyn is a Princess, just as she should be!!!

How fun!!!

Madeline

We are super duper excited to have been chosen! Those outfits she sent are really incredible huh?

 

[goteamwood]

goteamwood: Jordyn and Jeremy were so sad when I made them take their outfits off to save them for the trip. Jordyn says it is her favorite dress ever, which is a big thing for her to say!



We are super duper excited to have been chosen! Those outfits she sent are really incredible huh?

Awwwww that's awesome. Hearing that makes my whole day and why I love the big gives. I'm so glad she likes it so much. I hope she feels like a princess on your trip.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Jessicalynne]

Jordyn had her first day of dance yesterday. She gets to be in a real class this year and not just her own class now that her counts are more consistent. She is so excited to dance!

 

[Redwavess]

Jordyn had her first day of dance yesterday. She gets to be in a real class this year and not just her own class now that her counts are more consistent. She is so excited to dance!

Awesome pictures!! What a sweet princess!!

Hooray for dance class!!

Madeline

 

[Jessicalynne]

I have been meaning to post some things, but I have had the worst headache the last half of the week, and so I have just wanted to lay in bed and close my eyes and hide for a while...

Jeremy also had his first dance class on Wednesday (Jordyn's was Tuesday), and I brought my camera, only to find that I had forgotten to put a card into it... So I don't have a picture of his first dance class ever... But it was fun, and I am hoping he will listen and do what he needs to in order to stay in the class because he talks about it all the time and really loves it, he just has a hard time not running all over the place all the time no matter who tells him what or what the consequences are... I think it will be good for him to have more than just me giving him directions and stuff, so that he can learn to listen to other people other than just me... Hopefully this works out for us. Fingers crossed!


Anyway... Moving on...

Jordyn had a clinic appointment that ended up being over 6 hours long... Last Thursday at clinic was a LONG day... The nurse couldn't get Jordyn's port to draw back blood, so they had to order some tpa(declotting med to get central lines working again) to get it working. The doctor talked with us and is concerned that she isn't getting the dose of chemo that he feels comfortable with, and would really like her to be getting more. The reason she is not is because her immune system tends to crash on higher doses. The oncologist suggested we try a different antibiotic because Septra (the antibiotic that she is usually on) can apparently suppress the immune system, and he thinks that might be why her counts have been so low. So we decided to try it, and we shall see, I guess. Jordyn's doctor makes sure he lets us know every time how good of a job we must be doing with the sunscreen, I guess a lot of kids come in burnt this time of the year, but we make sure to slather Jordyn up with sunscreen most of the time. We went to the infusion room and waited and waited.

They ended up sending us down to RTU (Rapid Treatment Unit) before she got her tpa so that we wouldn't be late for our appointment for her lumbar puncture. We got settled in a room down there, and then they told us they were going to send us back upstairs because they were running behind and they wanted to get her tpa going while she waited. So we went back upstairs and got the tpa going and then waited for about 45 minutes for it to get her line working, and then we sent her blood work off, and went back downstairs to finally get her spinal tap chemo.

We waited about 20-30 minutes to get her in. She woke up happy because she had the RTU's ipad still and was able to finish playing the games she played when she went to sleep. She really fought going to sleep. Usually the medicine takes her out pretty fast, but this time she fought it for like a minute and even when we finally got her to lay down, she was still trying to pop back up. It was strange to see her not just go out like the flip of a switch like usual. She asked for mac and cheese when she woke up, which they thankfully had. We went back upstairs for her iv chemo and for her iv antibiotic that we are trying out this month to see how her counts react to it. The iv chemo is just a push over 1 minute, but the antibiotic had to run on an iv pump over an hour. After that we were happy to go home and to spend the rest of the day relaxing!

 

[Jessicalynne]

Toy Story Movie Night

We did another movie night, but Jacob was more in charge of this one because I wasn't feeling well enough to help out much. He even took the pictures and everything. It was sweet because he brought the little 13 inch tv into our room so I could be with everyone even though I didn't feel well. Anyway... We did pizza for dinner, because of Pizza Planet in the movie

, and Jacob and the kids made alien cupcakes. The kids decorated their own with a little help from Jacob.

They loved it and had tons of fun.

 

[Jessicalynne]

We also got Mickey mail over the weekend, but I wasn't feeling well enough to post the pictures for that either until now.

Special thanks to mommy2mrb, DisneyBarlans, JohnsonsLoveDisney, Mickeyteacher, LoveMy3Kiddos, Jennifer, Fatima, Jeffrey, JJ&JHSMom, wdwmickey, Christine, PrincessNancy96, rloveW, morgansmom2000, 3pletPrincesses, KKBeaton! The scrapbook is completely amazing and I can't wait to use it when we get back from our trip! Thank you all so much!

Thank you all again! This is really incredible!