The Feast of St. Nicholas 2021
We arrived home at 10:30 at night on the eve of St. Nicholas, but thankfully I plan everything in detail ahead of time--when I'm no longer needing to fight for my son's very life!--so a week prior I had baked low-sugar gingerbread cookies for the kids and frozen them (5 gram sugar per-cookie, Thomas-friendly recipe here) and in the last five minutes before we departed on our weekend trip, I had gone back into the empty house to set up the whole St. Nicholas morning.
The family woke up the next morning to discover the traditional gifties of St. Nicholas' Day--oranges, gold coins, and candy canes (and I'd found low-sugar versions of everything for Thomas)--but they also found . . . drum roll please . . . SUPPLIES FOR A NEW PUPPY!
Our family has been discussing whether or not to adopt our first puppy for well over a year and, yes, this definitely has to do with Thomas's medical journey. Yes, we know this is nearly like bringing a newborn into the home during a time when we are already stretched very thin. A puppy will bring great joy, hope, and focus outside of ourselves as well!
We had five days to anticipate picking up a 9-week-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, during which time I helped teach our kids all about puppy training and care. It also gave us five days to go through ridiculous rounds of bickering about name choices!
Scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see pics of us meeting our new pup!
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The week was somewhat relaxed because some of us caught a new round of colds, which kept us home-based, and we also had the Feast of the Immaculate Conception off of homeschooling: an entire day to watch puppy training videos, write Christmas gift lists, and decorate the outside of the house with lights!
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Joseph (8) baking high protein muffins for us |
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Two brothers wearing their cancer tee-shirts |
Prayer Request: Thomas is experiencing a new "hiccup" in that we've discovered his blood sugars surge dangerously high. This may have been going on for a long time, but we were not checking until a week ago. I could write a several-page essay on what we've learned so far and the hypotheses being bandied about already, but I'd rather not discuss at length until we have more true information, which will be obtained after we meet with Thomas's endocrinologist this week and get Thomas a continuous glucose monitor. In the meanwhile, I've added to my Thomas care routine to check his blood sugar about a dozen times per day and to manage his carbs even more strictly.
Picking Up Our New Puppy
I could look at the picture of Thomas's smile all day long!
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Thomas (6) |
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Joseph (8) |
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Mary (13) |
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John (15) |
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Margaret (10) |
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David (4) |
A name will be announced when it is decided upon!
Oh my, what a surprise! So much joy in a such a cute little package. your kids will thank you forever for this. Make sure the kids do take part in the care of the pet - you don't need any more on your plate!
ReplyDeleteThey are AMAZING DOGS! My in laws have had them for 30 years - smart and gentle with all babies. Quick learners and so snuggly too. Can't wait to hear the name!
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