1 year check up

Lucas did not like his check up one bit!! He was fine and dandy until the sweet little nurse came in to prick his finger. You would have thought she slit him open with a knife the way he screamed! He was wary from then on and did not trust being lain on the table to be measured. Then with the doc came in Lucas was having nothing to do with the stethoscope. I mean really son, you are going to cry about the stethoscope?? We calmed him down just in time for another nurse (I guess the first one was too scared to come back) to come in with 3 shots for my poor little guy's legs. Once again SCREAMS ensued and we had to calm him down again.

He is 95th percentile for head circumference (gets that from his daddy), 90th percentile for height, and 30th percentile for weight. He moves so fast crawling and creeping that he has really shed that baby fat...*tear* The doctor says he couldn't be more pleased with Luke's development...Praise God!!

After the doctor I took Lucas to my grandmother's for the day (we are having daycare issues) for him to be loved on all day. He had a good time at her house. Just what the little guy needed!

I have misplaced - NOT lost - the cable for the camera to download pictures. I will do a post with just pics as soon as I locate said cable.

Busy Weekend!!

To say that the O'Neals had a busy weekend is an understatement. Like the last post said, Lucas turned 1 year old on Friday!! What a sweet day! I know it is so cliche, but it is true that time does fly! This has been the best year of our lives thus far and we know that the best is yet to come!

On Friday, we left around 1:00 to head down to Auburn to mark of the tailgate spot and buy Eric and Lucas new game day attire. We then left from Auburn to go to Columbus, GA to Eric's sister, Melissa's, house. We went to eat at a great Mexican restaurant where I enjoyed my first Margarita in FOREVER (it was delicious - on the rocks with salt) and then headed back to the house to celebrate our precious boy. Eric's mom, Cheryl, had bought cupcakes and balloons for us to celebrate. We stripped Lucas down to his diaper and let him have at the cake. He did not disappoint! He got cake and icing everywhere and loved playing in all the crumbs. It was a crowd at Aunt MO's: Cheryl, Eric's grandparents (Mamaw and Papaw), Aunt MO, Uncle Keith, and cousins Jackson and Langdon. Jackson and Langdon enjoyed the cakes too. Sweet Langdon (Langdy Bug as I like to call her) had purple icing all over her sweet smile too.

Note to self: Do not give Lucas a cupcake at 9:30 at night!! Makes for a long restless sleep for everyone in the room! We would do it all over again though to celebrate our little man though!

The next day Eric and Keith left early to set up the tailgate, while Melissa, Cheryl, and I got the kids ready at home. Langdon stayed at home with Mamaw and Papaw and was of course spoiled rotten and loved having two peoples' undivided attention and not having to share the spotlight with 2 crazy boys. Cheryl, Melissa, and I loaded up Jackson and Lucas to go to the Auburn game. We had a great time tailgating with great friends. There were 5 kids at the tailgate with ages 4, 2, 2, 1, and 10 months. My how the tailgate has changed!! It looked more like a daycare! It was fun though to catch up with everyone that it seems we only really get to see during football season. Lucas did great even though he only had 1 nap all day - Thanks Nana for taking care of him during nap time. We went to the game and had a really good time. We left at half time since Eric had a race the next day. Lucas was about done by that point too.

On Sunday, we left to go cheer Eric on at the Callaway Gardens Triathlon. He did great!! His goal was to finish in 2 hrs 20 min. He finished in 2 hrs 7 mins!!! Go Eric!! You can go to his blog for his rundown of the race.

Eric left from the race to go to Atlanta for the NASCAR race. Keith works for Aflac Racing (Carl Edwards' team) in marketing and Eric watched the race from the pits. He was excited and even made it on TV when they were interviewing the crew chief. Thank Keith! Eric had a great time.

On Sunday during dinner Lucas was cruising around holding on to the wall when his little bare feet came to the air grate. Well, he did not like this at all so Papaw went to him and held out his hands for Lucas and he took 2 steps!!! We all started screaming and clapping. Lucas had no idea when he had just done, but he loved the attention! We have tried to get him to do it since, but he hasn't. He is doing of great job of standing for longer periods of time though! We are getting closer. We are going to work on it this week in hopes that he will walk by his party this weekend. (Watch...he will walk 30 minutes after everyone leaves Saturday!).

On Monday we left to come back home after stopping by my parents' house to see them and let them get their Lucas fix. We were exhausted by the time we got home. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but we had a blast! Thanks MO and Keith for having us. Thanks Cheryl, Mamaw, and Papaw for all the help! Thanks for loving Lucas and us so much!!

We go for Luke's 1yr check up tomorrow morning so I will post his stats then.

Posts Below!!

Head Over Teal

Here is some information about Head Over Teal, which is an event to raise $$ for Ovarian Cancer Research. If you would like to join my mom's team: Teal for Toni (isn't Dad clever) just follow the links below. We are trying to raise as much money as possible to assist with the early detection of ovarian cancer and treatments. We would love for you to join us for the day!! It is going to be a lot of fun and VERY family friendly!!

Hello everyone!

We hope all of you are doing well. Toni is doing pretty well right now. She’s very tired all the time, but still manages to keep her big smile and laughter through it all. Praise God!

You may remember me commenting in her Journal that currently there is no reliable early detection test for ovarian cancer. Most patients are diagnosed in the later stages when it’s more difficult to treat. Well, I’ve joined a group of people trying to do something about that! A few months ago, I joined the Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation, whose mission is to fund research to find a reliable diagnostic tool to detect ovarian cancer in it's earliest stages. If it is caught early, it can be successfully treated.

We’re raising money for that research and I’m writing today to ask for your help. I ask that you please consider participating in our First Annual "Head Over Teal" 5k, 1 Mile Fun Run and Family Day to be held Saturday Sept 18th from 9:00 am until 3:pm at the Preserve in Hoover. There will be numerous fun activities for families with kids of all ages as well as the serious runners. This is a pet friendly event so bring the pooch! The Alabama and Auburn games are scheduled later in the day, so don’t let that stop you!

There are several ways you can help!

• You can support or join our team, “Teal For Toni”, here. Click on the green “Register Now” icon. Register and select “Teal for Toni” in the Team drop-down list.
• You can Create Your Team here. Recruit friends and co-workers. You can also register as an individual runner. It's simple and fun.
• You can Donate online here.
• Or, you can simply donate by check, payable to The Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation. Please send it to Dave Keyes, 523 Highland Park Circle, Birmingham, AL 35242

The Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax deductible.

I have attached the Registration Forms and other information about the event so please download and read the details.

I have also attached a sponsorship form if your business or employer would like to help sponsor this event. Please think about asking others you know to help support us by being a business sponsor.

Please register today and plan to join us. If you can't come, register anyway and we will send you your T-shirt and Goodies Bag.

Thank you all for your continued support of the Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation. I hope to see all of you there. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks for supporting us to help find a way to detect this cancer in the early stages to give folks like Toni and Laura a chance to fight it, to beat it, to live without it!

God Bless!

Dave and Toni

Update on Mom

Here is an email that my dad sent today:

Hi folks,

Just wanted to give everyone an update on Toni. A little background - while on the chemo drug Doxil for two monthly treatments, she's been doing very well and was feeling pretty well, just really, really tired as you know. She's pretty wiped out most afternoons from normal activity.

In spite of looking very good and feeling ok, her CA125 blood marker number has really shot up the last month or so. That's the blood marker test that indicates if the cancer is active or not. The normal range is 35 or below. At diagnosis in 4/2009, Toni's was 285. Through the various chemo mixes, it dropped to 13-14 in 11/2009, but then started rising again. It's jumped around, but in the past few months it's gone up sharply. It went from below 100 to 120, 170, and it was measured at 242 last week, almost as high as the original number. Since it's not unusual for CA125 #'s to jump around sometimes, Dr. Yeilding did a CT scan to learn more. We got the results today. Fortunately, it still is not in the organs, but there's a little more fluid in the abdomen, around the liver, about 8 oz., a little more than the last CT scan in June. It's not in the liver, but in the fluid around it. This Friday, they're going to drain some of the fluid around the liver to test it. It's done outpatient at Brookwood, so that's good.

Dr. Yeilding believes the Doxil is not working, so he's moving her to something else, a combo of Cisplatin and Gemzar (Gemcitabine). She's had Cisplatin before briefly and experienced nausea, almost daily. The Gemzar evidently has some similar side effects - low blood counts, etc. If that test on the fluid doesn't cause him to change the treatment plan, Toni will start the new mix on Tuesday, 9/14.

This is not a really big negative. In fact, it's great to know that it's not in the organs. Toni asked the Dr. today "I'm still in good shape, correct?" and his reply was a hearty "Yes", and he's still positive, especially since the organs haven't shown any cancer. Dr. Yeilding says we still have several options.

I'll keep you posted on progress, but I wanted you to know about this latest change.

Please keep her on your prayer list - I know you haven't stopped! - and thank you for that blessing and support.

Happy Birthday Lucas!!

My precious little man turns 1 year old today!! Mommy and Daddy love you Lucas!!