Gwyneth has her first cold (which is amazing at 10 months old). Lot's of nose snot and eye boogies and a little bit of drainage and coughing. Fortunately, she was already scheduled for an appointment with her ped today...the doc said it's only in her head and not in her chest, so we'll just keep her nose clear and wait it out and let her build up some antibodies.

Also, Gwyneth was weighed today...11lbs 12oz!!! She has literally gained about one pound per month since January, which is great.

We're heading to Durham this afternoon. Tricia has two appointments at Duke tomorrow, one with her TX team and one with the cancer docs. We're assuming we'll be told what the next step is for her lymphoma treatment, but at this point (having waited over a month for this info), nothing would surprise us. With Gwyneth in tow, you may not hear from me again about the latest news until Wednesday night or even Thursday morning.

Thanks!

Nate

Nate

Yes, there are easier ways to remove tile, but not when it's been adhered to cement which has been tacked onto pre-existing vinyl...plus, a hammer is a lot more fun.


This is the partition that Tricia and I were arguing about in the video...and yes, there are better ways to remove it, but again, this is a lot more fun.

Nate

On Wednesday, I embarked on my first large toy assembly. Not nearly as complicated, frustrating or time consuming as I expected.










Good practice for laminate flooring, me thinks...

Nate

Thus it begins...


Nate

Here's a video tour of our new house. It was wet and dark, so we couldn't get any video or pics outside, and the lighting in the house isn't good, and the audio isn't great, but we thought we'd share it with you anyway.

This was filmed around 4:45 this afternoon. By 9pm, all of the flooring in the entire house had been torn out (thanks Dad, Michelle, Ramon and Mike!). There's still a lot of work to do, and we're taking lots of video and pics along the way, some of which we'll be sharing with you.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement...this has been a nearly four year journey for us, hunting for a house, and we're happy and thankful for where God has brought us.

Enjoy!

It's a rainy dreary day outside, but we couldn't be more excited! The next time you hear from me, we will be home owners!

We have lots to do today, but I promise to get some pics up at some point, even if it's late tonight.

Thanks!

Nate

If you remember me posting about The Stanfield Family a few times, you might be interested to know that baby Faith is on her way tonight.

The first time I posted about Kenzie was when her premature son arrived and passed away on January 23...it's hard to believe it was that long ago and everything has now come full circle. Wow...feels like yesterday and an eternity ago.

Click Here to visit the Stanfields' blog and leave them a note of encouragement. We're hoping for great news soon!

Nate

We sign our lives away to the bank this Friday at noon...sounds like everything is wrapped up and ready to go!

I'll be sure to post pictures when I get the time...outside of work and family, I'll be spending all of my time over the next several weeks slaving away with family and friends at the house, getting it livable for Tricia and Gwyneth.

Thanks!

Nate

This Sunday, November 16, 2008 Nags Head Church will be participating in National Donor Sabbath.

In the US, the weekend of November 14-16, 2008 will be observed as an interfaith celebration of the gifts of hope provided through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. We will be encouraging those who are members and attenders at NHC to consider becoming organ and tissue donors for the first time.

Please, consider talking with your church/religious organization leaders about participating in this life-changing event. For more info (including how to receive a box of info to help people in your church/religious organization become organ donors), visit the link below.

Organ Donor.gov

Thank you!

Nate

Q: How do you know you've arrived as full-time parents?

A: When the majority of your conversation over dinner at Outback revolves around the topic of Gwyneth poop...and it doesn't alter your appetite.

Nate

Today is Veterans Day.

To all our Vets, thank you for your service to our country.

If you can, at 11am, take a moment to pause and be thankful.

Nate

We finally heard something from Duke today. This might be confusing, so I apologize in advance...

The lymphoma is still present in Tricia's lungs, which we have known. The new mass around the lymph node in her chest (as I described in This Post) does not appear to be lymphoma. It does appear that it is an infection caused by a bacteria.

An infection is much better news than spreading cancer, but it is an infection none-the-less, which means Tricia will be on antibiotics for the next 30 days. This certain bacteria is something that Tricia has dealt with in the past with her CF lungs, so, at least, we know what we're dealing with. Because of her compromised immune system, this infection has grown faster than it would have normally. We'll know in a month if the meds are taking care of the infection. The bacteria (which wouldn't be an issue in a normally healthy body), however, could be more difficult to get out of Tricia's lungs.

We'll be heading back to Duke next week to meet, separately, with the transplant team and the cancer team. We've yet to hear any news about the next suggested treatment for the lymphoma that seems to have grown in Tricia lungs.

The good news is, over the past few weeks, Tricia has been feeling better than she has since starting the chemo four months ago. We've been taking advantage of this, knowing that this might be the last time she feels this good for a while as we're assuming that the next round of treatment will be the toughest yet. I've been spending all of my extra time with my girls, and we've taken advantage of any nice weather to have some fun.

Also, the closing on the house was bumped back again...we're told, "it will hopefully happen by the end of the week."

Thanks for your continued prayer. As always, we trust that God knows our future and wants the best for us, even when it doesn't feel that way.

Nate

Gwyneth and I were discussing today the fact that baseball season is still five months away AND it is the Redskins' bye week...we both came to the same conclusion...

Nate

First nice, dry day in a week, so we took advantage and went out to the beach to take some pics. Below is my favorite, but there are a lot more incredible shots over on My Photo Blog.


Nate

Good job, everyone!

Nate

Still no news from Duke.

Got word today that the house closing (which was scheduled for Friday/tomorrow at noon) has been pushed back to Monday. We're guessing we'll be in Durham next week, so we're hoping that it does happen on Monday, or else it may not happen for another week or more.


Nate

Just an FYI that we haven't heard anything yet from Duke. Hoping for something soon so we can figure out our schedule.

Nate

Too bad coffee tastes like dirt...and, even more too bad we don't have B&J's or KK...

Nate

I don't care who you vote for. Please, vote. Don't take this blessing for granted...many in our "modern" world who aren't as blessed would give much to have this opportunity.

Nate