Atlanta

We went to Atlanta this weekend. We were hoping to leave on Friday, but had to wait and leave later b/c Iz and Tre' were sick. They both are on antibiotics and feeling much better. We missed out on seeing Grandpa Mike Mike and Granny Liz b/c we had to leave later and we hated that. We'll get back up soon though. We were able to go to the circus at Philips Arena. Iz loved it. She was really tired that afternoon, and as you can see, fell asleep before it was over (how she and Chip could sleep through all that noise, I have NO idea!!). Even though she dozed, she loved the show. This evening she was on the phone w/ GaGa and was telling her about the elephants, horses, little horses, tigers, clowns, etc. It's so funny to listen to her tell a story. :) She really did have a big time and I think us grown ups enjoyed it as well! Thanks Dennis for getting the tickets!!

We were also in town to have Izzy scanned. She's doing just fine, Dr. Claire just recommended that we scan once a year until she's 5. The scan was perfectly normal. :) WOOHOO!!! Even though we weren't seeing anything concerning, it is always nice to get confirmation. We saw Dr. Claire and had a nice visit with her. It was so nice to see her and we ran into some other folks as well. As we were leaving and heading to the parking deck, we also ran into Dr. Hudgins (Catie's neurosurgeon). We hadn't seen him since the day Catie died when he came to say goodbye, so that was a nice surprise.

Iz had a rough morning as she turns out to be a really tough stick (took 6 tries). She cried and kept telling them no, but she didn't fight them. Tre' and I were really proud of how well she did.

Being away from all of the medical stuff for so long, it was odd to be back. It was only for a day, but I saw everything in such a different light. When Catie was sick, it was what we did. It was our life. There was no choice. We took it , ran with it, and just made the best of it. We lived well and lived full and didn't spend a lot of time focusing on all the "stuff" that had to be done to manage her illness. I didn't do a lot of thinking about how it must have felt to be her. Sometimes I wish I'd given her a chance to talk about that more. As we went through the familiar routine yesterday, I was struck by how much kids with cancer and other chronic/serious illnesses must deal with each day. So many procedures and sticks and pokes and prods... It was all new to Izzy and that made me focus a bit more on just how much a child has to go through just for a simple MRI and a quick clinic visit. It really is amazing what must be endured to fight cancer.

Thankfully, all was well, and today all is back to normal for Ms. Izzy. Normal for her usually starts out something like in the picture at the top of the page. There's her crazy morning hair. :) Still as we enjoy what is now our normal, we think of those whose normal is what we did yesterday...

(The other pics are of Chip and then Izzy w/ Dr. Claire, both kids passed out before the circus ended, Izzy goofing off at the circus, and her first taste of cotton candy