So on to the update…

The most important and exciting thing is that everyone is doing great!  We had a busy few months with William’s birthday in April, my birthday, Elliott’s 3rd birthday, Laurel’s pre-K graduation and first ballet recital in May.  That is on top of our busy work schedules, Elliott’s chemo treatments, and all our other activities.  Elliott is still responding well to treatment and kicking Leukemia’s butt and Laurel is full of energy and joy as usual.  William has been losing weight and getting fit and trim and I am almost a year out from brain surgery, seizure free, and on the road to no seizure medication.  Good news all around the Cody house.

Instead of making this a long post, I figured I would just post photos.  Additional photos can be found on William’s Flickr page.

We visited Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glenrose, TX during Elliott’s birthday weekend.  Such a cool place.  The animals come right up to your car and you can feed the animals from your car window.  The kids really enjoyed it.

Elliott chose some cool binoculars at Fossil Rim to get a close-up of the animals.

Laurel initially didn’t even want her window down, but she eventually enjoyed feeding the animals and getting a close-up look.

Happy 3rd Birthday Elliott!  He loves cake and cupcakes.

Rehearsal for ballet recital

Perfecting the moves in rehearsal.

The dancer with her gifts after the recital

Pre-K Graduate!

Proud family!

Wow.  This past year has gone by so fast.  After getting news of Elliott’s cancer diagnosis on Laurel’s 3rd birthday, we were immediately consumed with treatment, clinic visits, medications, hospitalizations, juggling schedules, sleeping on air mattresses, stress eating, and the list goes on.  I had no idea we wouldn’t blog for a whole year (except with updates on Elliottblog, but that really became our life).  This year, we are so excited that we are healthy and ready for a fun birthday weekend for Laurel.  She has been asking if it is her birthday since July 2nd, and the day is finally here.

So what is Laurel like at 4?  Absolutely, positively, full of energy and life.  She loves everything girly… jewelry, dress up, lip gloss, nail polish, shoes, dancing, dolls, hair, she loves it all.  She has a very vivid imagination and knows how to have a good time.  She loves to play with her friends and she is friends with EVERYONE.  She will make a random friend at the science museum (true story).  This summer, she has been in school, but she has also been taking swim lessons with her same classmates from last summer and also began taking ballet lessons.  She seems to really enjoy ballet, so we will see how long it lasts.  She took ice skating lessons this past winter, but she wasn’t super excited about it, so we stopped once her 6 week session was over.  I think she will stick with ballet and dance longer, but we’ll see.  She won’t have a recital until next May, but she should have more solid technique by then, so I will be super excited to see her and capture that moment.  I think she would say her favorite meal is chicken, french fries and lemonade and her favorite movie is probably Sleeping Beauty.  I am not sure why she likes that one so much, especially compared to the newer Disney movies, but it certainly is the most requested.  Her favorite things to play with are probably her princess dresses or her Barbie dolls.  If she is playing with Elliott, LEGO blocks would probably be the chosen activity.  We also have membership to the Dallas Zoo and Perot Museum of Nature and Science this year and she has very much enjoyed going to both places now that Elliott can get out and about as well.  Overall, she is a happy girl and knows how to have a good time.  I hope she always stays that way.  We need more happy people in the world.

We will post more photos after the party, but here are some from her impromptu party at home since today (Friday) was her actual Birthday.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY LAUREL!!  WE LOVE YOU!

We’re Back!

Given all of that, we still had a great time! We stayed at Disney’s Art of Animation Studios, which worked great for us. We had a Finding Nemo themed family suite, which gave us plenty of room and Laurel absolutely loved! The entire place featured art and imagery from Finding Nemo, the Lion King, Cars, and the Little Mermaid. If I had to guess, I would say Ariel better watch out. I think Anna and Elsa may be coming for her wing at the resort during the next renovation. Speaking of Anna and Elsa, we didn’t get to meet them at the park. Even when we woke up early and went straight there, the line was 420 minutes long. It was the only attraction that ran out of fast-passes ahead of time. Turns out Laurel was happy enough seeing the characters in the parades. We did, however, wait in line to see Tinkerbell, but that didn’t turn out like we expected. If you didn’t already know, Laurel is a huge Tinkerbell fan. She has seen all the movies… at least 20 times each. She would not stop talking about how excited she was and what she was going to talk to Tinkerbell about the entire time we were in line. As soon as she went up to meet her she claimed up. After an hour in line, she made a duck face in every photo. EVERY PHOTO!

I think Kyllan’s favorite part of the trip was watching all of the parades. Laurel’s was definitely Finding Nemo the Musical, especially after staying in a Nemo room. Kyllan and I were both shocked by how much Elliott enjoyed Its a Small World. In fact, he still perks up whenever he hears the music. My favorite was Kilimanjaro Safari in the Animal Kingdom.  I think our time at the Animal Kingdom really made the trip. The crowds, the heat, and the waits at the Magic Kingdom were  just too much for the kids to bare and the Safari and Finding Nemo the Musical were the two best attractions in the entire park.   We have tons of pictures from the trip. Here are a few below.