Top 10 Things I Never Thought I'd Hear my 5-Year Old Say

You've asked for it, so here it is again (as originally posted on Facebook):

Top 10 Things I Never Thought I'd Hear my 5-Year Old Say

10.  "Mama, I need some oxycodone!"

9.  "Let's snuggle.  But don't touch me because it hurts my skin."

8.  Upon returning home after a family dinner out at a restaurant she requested, and eating half her dinner before vomiting it all over the floor, she said with a laugh, “Well, that didn’t work out very well!”

7.   Gloating to her sister, "I don't have to eat broccoli because I already get it through my feeding tube."

6.  (Overheard between M and her 3-year-old cousin): “Michaela, why don’t you have any hair?” “Oh, it’s just a side-effect of my medicine.” “What’s a side-effect?” “Um, I don’t really know, but it makes your hair fall out.”

5.  "Maybe Emily has a diaper rash because she doesn't have any platelets.  We should give her a transfusion."

4.  "Mommy, next summer can I go to cancer camp?"

3.  "We should go to a movie while my counts are up."

2.  "Mommy, spending the day with you at the hospital is not my idea of 'special mommy time'."

1.  "I wish I didn't have leukemia!"  For a girl that's had virtually no self-pity, this was refreshing to hear!

As you can see, we are coping as best we can with all the changes to our lives since January.  Humor, honesty and love are the biggest themes we live by these days.  Michaela's health is still very precarious and we just take each day as it comes.  God continues to bless our family with an incredible support system as well as the following summer updates:

First, we were able to take a fabulous 5-day vacation to the Oregon coast.  A few pictures follow below:

Second, we've moved into a new home that has made life so much easier.  We are now much closer to Childrens' Hospital and we have much more space to spread out.   For the first time since we married, Jon and I have a master bathroom, Madeline has her own room, and we even have a separate "school room".  Pictures to follow on a later post, but for now we are working on getting unpacked and getting our old house ready to put on the market.

We feel so blessed by the amount of help we received with this move.  Thank you to all who made it possible, from helping with packing weeks in advance to showing up on moving day to pack the van.  We could not have accomplished such an event in this season of Michaela's care without an amazing amount of support.  We are so grateful.