Don't touch the baby

"Sometimes what you think is the harder road turns out to be the only one worth being on."       - Aristotle. Oh, wait, never mind. Panera Bread commercial. But could have been Aristotle. Or Toby Keith.

Howie Mandel and Theo Von punching cancer in the face for Team Liz:

Holly, you rule.

It's been a long few days with a whole lot of hand washing and 'encouragement' for the big boys to stop coughing in Eli's face. Time will tell if our attempts to prevent Liz from getting Jensen's (and then Cohen's) cold work out. We said that her room now has an imaginary red stop light at the door, so no one can go in without me. Jensen ran downstairs, drew a red almost-circle, and hung it on the door "so mom doesn't get our cold." At least he's good at coughing in his sleeve. He's also good at using it to blow his nose. But I digress.

Jensen's red light. And yellow. With just a little green.

In spite of the big boys' sickness, we've had a good few days with Grandma and Grandpa both at home. Grandpa (the baby whisperer) had to leave a couple of days ago. Jensen has made a few 'phone calls' on an old iPod to tell Grandpa to come back soon. Cohen had Grandpa and his big truck to himself at church. Eli had Grandma to himself. Or vice versa. Glad she's still here.

Chemo is cumulative, so this last week hasn't been fun for Liz. But she came outside with me last night for a short walk down the sidewalk and back, so maybe she'll be able to get up and about more this week and next. We change bandaids every day to cover her missing and soon-to-be-departed fingernails. Reminds me of wrapping a boxer's hands before a match. The fingernails will grow back, the hair will return. She's a fighter. She is strong.

Jensen snuggled up to me yesterday, looked me in the eyes, and said, "You know what, Dad? I love you." Cohen, not to be outdone, yelled across the room, "I love you too, Dad!" To which Jensen responded, "Dad, you're my best friend. And mom. And Cohen, and Eli, and Grandmas, and Grandpas."

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Go Team Liz.

P.S. We got our Blue Lily family photos back last week. You can't even tell that my gorgeous wife could hardly walk with neuropathy pain. Again, she's a fighter. I love this family.