Jade Amarah... The Bravest Girl We Know: Less Cancer, More Birthdays!

There are few words to describe how amazing these past ten days have been for our family. Lil Jay was out of school for Spring Break and Jade was home on her own break before the start of the third round of chemo. We spent a lot of time playing video games, watching tv, dancing, piecing together puzzles, coloring and painting, jumping on the couch, reading... typical family stuff, which felt really good. And while we didn't get out much as a family (with the exception of last week's check-up at the clinic), Lil Jay -- thankfully -- didn't suffer from cabin fever. An awesome neighbor and friend invited him to a couple of outings with her children to a park/nature center and local farm; he had a blast!

The icing on the cake, however, was our celebrating Jade's second birthday with auntie, uncle, cousin, grandmas, grandpa, friends... something that I thought we wouldn't be able to do when she was first diagnosed three months ago, when I didn't know as much as I do now about acute myeloid leukemia, when nothing made any sense to me, when my faith was challenged. From Jade's genuine excitement, which sounded like "ooooooooooooohhhh" when she saw the giant Tinker Bell floating in the living room and the purple, pink, and green "bubbles" dangling above the table; to the thoughtfulness, well wishes, and generosity of family and friends up and down the east coast this was truly a divine weekend. I'll never again take celebrating a birthday -- or any of you -- for granted... We thank you and love you! Here are a few, okay a lot, of pics from Jade's birthday bash... Please continue to pray for Jade's strength and total healing as we gear up for an intensified round of chemo, which will begin Thursday, April 12th.