Dan has Leukemia

Pictures are from Fourth of July 2010.
I have not posted in months due to a whole bunch of stuff going on. Homeschooling, new office for our Farmers Agency, Kohl's (quit 3 weeks ago =), cleaning business, new niece & nephew, daily crazys and just life has been quite busy for us this year.Well, it just got even busier.

Dan, as most of you have heard, has been diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

He has not been feeling well most of this year. He had a real bad ear infection in beginning November and had some treatment for it. Then he continued to feel tired and not well, so he went back to the doctor and had blood tests done. His heart rate was rapid at the time of the visit and he had petechia. The blood tests showed his White Blood Cells were critically high and his Platelets were critically low. Saw an Oncologist the next day (12/7).

Dan was admitted to Banner Desert Hospital immediately and started tests and procedures right away. Including, Bone Marrow biopsy, CT scan, Muga Scan, cultures, blood labs, Spinal taps and so on. Bone Marrow showed B-cell Leukemia. CT scan showed enlarged spleen and Kidney Stone. Spinal Tap showed normal fluid but to be safe he is getting spinal chemotherapy also.
Started chemotherapy on 12/11. We are on day 4 of chemo with one spinal chemo.

Dan is ok. Not good, not horrible, just ok. He is really uncomfortable, nauseated, tired, exhausted, and just wants it all to end quickly. He wants to go home. He will continue treatment and continue to be tested to see how low all his cells go for the next several weeks.

Please pray. Please pray for Dan to recover soon. Please pray for our family who misses Dan. Please pray for our babies, Zak & Layla.They miss their daddy very much.Now that I am balling... I shall end this with a thank you.

I appreciate all your love and support and donations. I truly know that we cannot climb, yet another mountain, with out all of you, right here behind us. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers.

Love, Laci xoxo

Where do the days go?

Well, I wouldn't say I'm back to writing on here but I am back to see what everyone's been up to! I had a great time reading all the updated blogs this morning. I totally agree with Lindsay, that I feel like I just caught up with everyone, but I didn't really. Makes me kinda sad I haven't had the time to post. As soon as a get a few mins I will definitely work on posting more. So till next time... Keep on posting and ill keep on texting! haha!

Layla's Birthday was a blast!

Thank you for all that wished Layla a Happy 1st Birthday! We had such a wonderful time seeing everybody who came!! We even had a couple surprise visits! It was a perfect day!

There were two people that could not make it that I kept thinking about all day but I kept myself busy so I wouldn't lose it. Nancy is in my thoughts everyday but on Layla's Birthday I missed her so much!! Another, special person I was thinking about was a high school friend of mine whom I still hang out with once in awhile. I received a call last week that her Mother passed away from battling breast cancer. The news was especially heart breaking for us to hear because of our loss of Dan's Mother last year. Diana and her family are in our prayers and we hope she knows we are thinking of her. Losing a Mother is the hardest thing Dan and I have been through together, still going through. It has almost been a full year since Nancy's passing but it still hurts so much. Especially on the days that we share with family. It really isn't the same with her gone. But ya know what? While I was playing and cleaning and partying, I could feel her spirit. I could feel her sitting on the couch watching Zak and Layla open the presents and sing Happy Birthday and stand next to me while I finished up cleaning the party dishes. It is a very special feeling of happiness when you feel loved by someone who isn't in this life anymore. She is watching over us but by also being with us in a way I never thought possible. I love you Nancy. We sure do miss you a whole lot. You are an angel.


Layla ate 3 pieces of cake!! She was so happy!! One little thing I thought was kinda cool was when my neighbors came over by me while I was getting ready to cut the cake, one of them said to me..."Where did you buy that cake? It is so pretty and simple!" I gave her a side glance with a smirk and said, "I...made...it!!" Her eyes got so big, it was so cute! The other lady commented saying how much do you charge? I'll pay you to do my sons graduation cake! ;) When I met Nancy I had never baked a "professional cake" before. Nancy made such beautiful cakes! Her specialty was wedding cakes!! I watched her make a couple and envied the ones I saw completed. So since I have become a wife and Mother I have tried to perfect her cake art but still have yet to be satisfied. Dan says i do a good job, while my mom says my cakes look Awesome!! But she hasn't seen the perfection Nancy has made. So we'll see as time goes by, and the more practice I get. Maybe one day I could do wedding cakes. ;)

Our littlest love is turning 1!!

Yes! Layla is turning ONE this Saturday! We can't believe it! Layla is 3 days old in this picture! So precious! I miss her being a tiny baby! Well, 8lbs 11oz isn't tiny but tiny compared to her now! lol! ;)

If you haven't responded to the e-invite I sent you, please take the time to check your e-mail, even the junk mail, find it and let me know if you can make it! We will be having a ton of food and dessert. We hope to see you there!!


As I watch Layla and Zak play together I can't help it but to smile. Even if they are fighting. lol! I smile because a little angel was sent to us from heaven. But also I cry a little. I cry because we also had another angel return to heaven. Nancy hung on long enough to have the chance to meet her newest grand baby. We took Layla to see Nancy when she was just 3 weeks old, this was a Sunday. That following Friday is when Nancy couldn't fight anymore and returned to be with our Heavenly Father. Nancy got the chance to snuggle with Layla. Dan held Layla next to Nancy's cheek. Layla even moved her face closer to Nancy's cheek as if to look at her and while she did this she had her little tongue sticking out a little and ended up licking Nancy's cheek. It was a perfectly sweet moment. And that moment is the last one I have of Nancy. That was the last time I got to be with her. I miss her so much. But I know she is watching Layla grow and play from Heaven above.

Layla's first birthday will be a wonderful celebration of her birth. She gave me the strength to make it through Nancy's passing. Layla also gave me the strength to deliver her as I wanted to. I am so very proud of myself. Layla fulfilled my goal to give birth completely natural! I even "caught" her myself! And to top it off she is a booby baby! Well, a one booby baby! lol! I think I have posted some of Zak's birth story before. I had a real hard time when he was born. With the delivery and with breast infections and abscess. Nothing went as planned, thanks to my "wonderful" Doctor. OOOoooh I hate that guy! My sister is expecting a baby girl! Yay! But when she went in for her first OB appointment she had to sign a paper that consented 3 other doctors to deliver her baby if her doctor was unavailable and HE was one of those doctors!! I just about grabbed her hand and escorted her out of there! All in all she now is seeing my Doctor, the one who helped me deliver Layla. So I'm relieved and excited! She's going to try her best to go natural with me as her coach. I'll post how she does way later! Baby is due October 4th! I pray that everything works out for her.

This little rocking chair is the same rocking chair my Grandma gave to me to sit in when I was just 4 years old. So I gave it to Zak when he turned 4! He loves it so much. But when he sits in it and Layla is crawling around, she goes over to him and stands in front of him with her hands on his legs and tries to push him. Like she's trying to give him a ride. Zak gets so mad! So because he can't see his movie anymore he gets up and moves to the floor so she will stop bugging him. But she then takes off with the chair and walks it around the room. Zak sees this a gets even more angry. lol! So they were so happy when they Both got to sit in the chair together! ;)


Anyways!! I'm going to stop chatting and start my daily crazyness! Hope to see you Saturday!! ;)

Too many tissues!!

Hey strangers! Well, if you follow myspace at all you probably already know that we have been fighting off the flu, sinus and ear infections the past 2 weeks. I actually went against my will and bought a warm mist humidifier and a cool mist humidifier because none of us could breathe. For those of you that don't know about our catastrophe last...September was it?... we were running our nice Hunter warm mist humidifier in the livingroom over night because Layla was sick and it decided to burn up and almost catch fire at 4am. We had to leave our house for 10days!! The smoke damaged our furniture and carpets so we had to have professionals come in and clean! It was horrible! My couches still reek! So after all that I never wanted another humidifier near my house again and yet I bought 2!! :( Oh well, I just pray they don't catch fire! So we are still on the mends of this crappy sickness. We are on our last day of antibiotics so hopefully this weekend will be more pleasant than the last 2!

Update on Dan's new Insurance Agency!
My wonderful husband has been such a trooper these past 2 months with being sick twice and still managing to satisfy his costumers and help others purchase better quality insurance. While the stock market and economy continue to fall, Dan is working hard to save those in need of better reliable insurance. We are trying to prepare our friends, family and community from what disasters this economy might bring them. By saving them money but providing them more insurance with a reliable company. We are so grateful to be a part of the Farmers Family.

Easter is almost here!! And our "Easter Bunny" is slacking this year! We haven't done our Easter shopping yet. Every year we usually get new sandals, a book, and a chocolate bunny. But this year I think we are just spoiling the kids. I already spoiled myself with the Twilight series from Costco. Which I absolutely love! I just finished Twilight for the second time and started New Moon again last night. I wonder how many times I will read the series before I'm sick of it. Probably never! lol! As for Dan, he's not much of a reader but the easter bunny might just get him a new movie! ;) Most of all we can't wait to get together with our family! We miss them so much! That's the best thing about holidays is spending them with the people you love! Oooo... I can't wait!! ;)

Anyways, my kids are getting grumpy, it's just about time for lunch! Hope you all are enjoying spring! Soon enough it will be 110 degrees! Yuck!

All my ladies

Both my kids are taking a nap and I started doing my normal one hour, "cleaning catchup," and because the house was so darn quiet my mind started wondering...

I'm really not the religious type but I do believe and have faith that god gives you the opportunity to be a mother because he knows you can handle it. God never gives you more than you can handle. It's what my mom always tells me when I think life isn't fair. It hurts my heart to know that there are some of my girl friends that really want the opportunity to be a mother and they would be great at it but have not been blessed with a child. Then I hear about other moms who get to have a child even though they never wanted one. Some give their baby up for adoption because they had unprotected sex and cannot provide for the child. Some decide to keep the baby they didn't want but still smoke and drink while pregnant even though god has given them an angel to care for. Mother's like that do not deserve to be blessed with a child.

There is one soon to be mommy that I am so proud of! She is the strongest girl and has been through a lot in her life and never ever planned to have kids. Ever! And she made a huge mistake and now she is pregnant. She of course is keeping the baby. And she is saving every dime she makes and is eating healthy and taking care of herself. She is scared and still can't believe this is happening to her but she is keeping her head high and is hoping for the best! Now that's what makes me smile! She never wanted to have a baby but she does deserve to be blessed with a child and I know she is going to be a wonderful mommy! ;)

Have you heard about the "Octomom?" Her name is Nadya Suleman. She has 14 children now. She is going to school but does not have a job. She has 6 children already and then decided to have one more and that one more turned out to be 8 babies. Thank god they are all doing well! Three of the 6 children have disabilities and who knows what kind of problems the Octuplets will have. I have nothing against this Mom wanting to have children and being blessed with so many and not having any complications. But my only protest to her being able to keep and care for these children is the way she chose to be blessed with so many children. She decided after her divorce to save some of her eggs. Well she got excited about being a mom and had a couple fertilized and implanted. She ended up pregnant and had one baby. She did this 4 times and had 4 children. Each time being implanted with 2-3 fertilized eggs. All while going to school and living in her mother's home. Then she did it again and got twins! Now there's 6 children all in 5 years time. One after another. She did not want to waste any time or for that matter any eggs. So after the twins she got the doctor to implant the rest of her frozen eggs, 6 fertilized eggs at one time, which is very dangerous and something doctors do not do regularly, and 7 little baby's were formed. Then to everyone's suprise an eighth baby came along. So 6 plus 8 is 14! Crazy!!?!!! I think she is a very selfish mother! She didn't want the eggs to go to waste so she just implants them all at the same time?? How dare she put those babies at risk like that. And now her 6 children at home 3 with disabilities won't be given the care they need if there are 8 babies at home. And being a mom of 2 there is no way this mother can take care of 8 babies all by herself. She does have her mom helping her and some friends but they can't be there 24-7. What will she do when she's had no sleep, no time to eat, or pee for that matter?? She's nuts and I pray those babies are taken care of. It just boggles my mind how she could do that to those angels from heaven.

Wow, I really went off on a tangent. It just breaks my heart that some woman try and try to have children and decide to dothe invetro-fertilization thinga-ma-bob and get implanted with 2-3 fetilized eggs and end up have one or twins or triplets and then they stop. They feel so blessed to have had the chance to have one pregnancy. And this crazy lady doesn't want to waste any children so she implants them all. Why not give her healthy eggs to another woman who can't have children. Then they wouldn't be wasted and they would be brought into this world with a mom who probably could support and care for them. There I go again...

Anyways, I pray someday my friends will be blessed with their own little angel. And I do hope I can be blessed with more children later down the road as long as I have no complications. I can't help but be a little selfish in wanting to be complication free during delivery! The darn doctors keep messing with nature!! But it scares me to death to be at home and not be able to have a transfusion to save my life if I needed one. Eek! Maybe at home if the 3rd is complication free. Maybe! Don't worry, I'm not having anymore for a long time! I might think about it in 5 years!! When Layla is big enough to fold laundry! lol! ;)

I love you girls and moms. You are strong and beautiful! :)

Long Time No Post!

So, I've been keeping up on Myspace and E-mail but lacking in the Blogger department. Sorry about that! Life has been crazy busy these past few months. Life has also been so hard without Dan's Mom being here. We miss her dearly. Because we have lost her we are trying our best to live each and every day to the best we can. We try not to let the little things get to us. Even though we are so busy we try to visit and keep in touch with our loved ones as much as possible. We love and miss you guys!

Dan has been training day and night, working hard to become a Career Agent with Farmers Insurance. Still no commissions yet. He has to complete and pass all the training then he will be able to produce quotes and insurance which will start briging in some income. It's been real hard "floating"with the little savings we have. I did our taxes as soon as I could and got our return within 10 days of filing so that is helping us out. Dan and I can't wait for the day to come when we have our own Agency and have a steady income again. We are very blessed to be given this opportunity.

Zak turned 4 on January 21st! He is such a wonderful boy. He is such a character too. We started preschool at home which has been a success. He is improving his speech. And is starting to spell. Zak is also the best brother ever to Layla. He is a big help with her. He keeps all the small toys off the floor so she can't put them in her mouth. And helps me vacuum and sweep everyday. Layla is so fast and finds all the little things on the floor to eat. We call her the wild woman! lol!

They have so much fun together!! Our last adventure, we took my mom up north just a little bit past Payson to play in the snow. We all had a blast! Layla didn't know what to think. She's not a big fan of the cold. Here are some snapshots of our snow day.

Zak and I making snow angels! lol!

This is our Snow Dude. I even brought a carrot for his nose! Awesome huh?

After we were finished taking pictures Zak asked to punch the snow dude, so we let him go at it. He puched and kicked him, it was hilarious.

Well, this is all you get for now. So much has happened but I would be writing a book if I told you everything that has happened since my last post. So my goal is to post more often.
;) Until next time...