Yahoo! News Article on 10 Year Cancer Patient

Wish comes true for cancer-stricken 10-year-old inducted into Army

By Zachary Roth

Most kids might hope to get an Xbox or an iPod Touch for their 10th birthday. Brennan Daigle got a reception from a formation of soldiers, a ride in a camouflaged National Guard Humvee--and induction as an honorary member of the Army.

Since October 2009, Brennan, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has been battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma--a rare form of cancer in which muscular tumors attach themselves to bones, reports the Fort Polk Guardian. Last month, doctors told his family there was nothing more they could do, and gave Brennan just weeks to live.

Brennan has always loved the Army.  His mother had created a Facebook page--Brennan's Brigade--to keep family and friends informed of his condition. People from around the world, including soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, have left comments of encouragement and support. One group of soldiers in Afghanistan posted a picture of themselves holding an American flag, and told Brennan: "We're flying this flag in honor of you; we're here to back you. Stay Army strong."

Becky Prejean, who runs a charity for sick kids called Dreams Come True of Louisiana, heard about Brennan's illness, and got in touch with his mother, Kristy Daigle. Brennan's greatest wish, Daigle told Prejean, was to meet some soldiers in person, before his illness worsened. So the two women contacted the Fort Polk Community Relations Office, which put out a call for a few soldiers to attend Brennan's tenth birthday on Feb. 26.

Forty showed up.

Brennan had been told he was going fishing with his father. But when he got out of his dad's truck, he was greeted by a formation of 1st MEB soldiers, standing at attention in front of a National Guard Humvee. After a moment, they all shouted "Happy Birthday, Brennan!," and broke into applause.

Brennan was speechless, according to his mother. "All he could do was giggle," she said.

Brennan and his best friend Kaleb were invited to check out the Humvee, and Brennan sat behind the wheel. Then soldiers took the two boys out for a spin. Afterward, Brennan and Kaleb put their heads out the hatch on the vehicle's roof, while the crowd snapped pictures.

But it wasn't over. Brennan got out of the Humvee and was led to the front of the formation, where he shook hands with each soldier. He was inducted into the Army as an honorary member, then given a coin symbolizing merit and excellence, as well as a military jacket with his name on the pocket, and other Army-themed gifts.

"Brennan, you exemplify what personal courage means," Pfc. Kamesha Starkey, 1st MEB, told him.

Finally, the mayor of Sulphur, La., gave Brennan a key to the city, and the title of Honorary Mayor of the Day.

"Words can never express what I felt seeing all those soldiers there, knowing some of them had just come back from Iraq and still took time out for just one little boy," Kristy Daigle said. "Just to know that they care enough to give their all, to give their love and support to a little boy is phenomenal. It says so much about our men and women who serve our country in the armed forces."

Some of the soldiers said the event helped put things in perspective for them. "It was good to be able to give back," Pfc. Kyle Frederick said. "It opened my eyes to a lot of things: How I take my kids for granted, how lucky we are, how we complain on a day-to-day basis and we really have it good compared to others."

As for Brennan, it took a while for his new honor to sink in. The next day, he asked his mother, "Am I really in the Army?"

"You most certainly are," she answered. "They don't swear in just anyone."

"That's awesome," said Brennan.

(Photo: Capt. Gabriel Araujo swears in Brennan Daigle at Fort Polk, Louisiana. www.thefortpolkguardian.com)

This article is from a town very close to my hometown, so I found it that much more touching. It reminds us of the blessings that we have and what we should be thankful for. Enjoy!

*Article taken from Yahoo! News @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110308/ts_yblog_thelookout/wish-comes-true-for-cancer-stricken-10-year-old-inducted-into-army

A to Z: H-N:

H- Herb Roasted Potatoes
I- Indoor S'mores
J-Jalepeno Cornbread
K- Korean Spiced Kidney Beans (over Rice)
L- Lime and Ginger Grilled Salmon
M- Mexican-Style Pasta with Chicken and Peppers
N-Nutty Cheeseball

For this week menu plan, I am doing a roast with the potatoes. Beef rice and gravy with the S'mores. Chili with the Cornbread. And Shrimp and Veggie Skewers as the 7th dish.

Last week, I did end up making ALL of what was on the A-G list. I made my very first cheesecake, and it came out amazing. The Burritos were kick booty. My husband compared them to Chiptole's, which is pretty awesome! It was my first attempt with Crab Cakes, and I thought they came out "O.K." I definitely think I could improve them, for sure.  The Garlic Lemon Chicken was super good, too. I don't think I had made that good of Garlic Lemon Chicken in a long time. It was so juicy and fresh.

*Please excuse me for my crappy blogging skills. I am super exhausted and nonfunctional. 


Don't forget about this! It ends March 13, and the winner will be announced March 14.

May I?

May I be exhausted and enjoy these last couple of weeks of being pregnant without blogging? Will you readers please allow that?

Today, I had my 36 week appointment. Baby A is fully engaged and ready to rock 'n roll. Now the waiting game.

Other than that, I am exactly what I said above - exhausted! Feeling like I just want to sleep all day everyday. However, this little body with this big baby makes that a little hard to do.

Don't forget to enter the English Giveaway! Right now there are only a couple of people that have entered, so if it stays that way, then they both will get a box of goodies!

Recipe: Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes:

Ingredients:

1 to 1 ¼ cups Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, divided
1 egg, well beaten
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
¾ to 1 pound white lump crab meat (I used 2 of the 6oz. cans of the white lump crab meat)
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs, 1 beaten egg, 3 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper. Mix until completely combined. 

Fold in (2) 12-oz. cans white lump crab meat (or ¾ pound fresh white lump crab meat). Shape crab mixture into 6 equally-sized patties. Dredge each pattie in the remaining Italian breadcrumbs that have been placed in a shallow bowl.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook crab cakes about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. 

Remove from skillet and drain on paper toweling. 

This would be amazing served with Coleslaw and Roasted Corn on the Cob. If only Mr. Man liked Corn on the Cob...... :) 

Hope you enjoy! 

Contractions: AHHHH!

I guess I actually have something exciting with this pregnancy to do an update, so I thought I would take advantage and do it.

When my pregnancy begin, it seemed that everything happened so fast. The changes in my body. However, I never experienced the typical pregnancy hormones. You know the ones that everyone just hates, but it seems to last forever. I never experienced those. So as each week went on, I felt like my weekly updates were boring so I kept the videos for ourselves (Mr. Man and I) and rarely updated on what was going on. Fixing up the nursery and traveling was much more exciting than what was going on with the pregnancy. I stopped doing updates on my blog because I did not want the pregnancy to take over the blog, but I also wanted everyone to know what was going on. Needless to say, there were some weeks were pregnancy posts did take over the blogs and others where I felt like I had absolutely nothing to blog about. This week is a different story and another week!

Today I reach my 35 week mark. I believe I mentioned somewhere in all my blogs that they moved my due date a couple of times. It was frustrating because it was hard to tell where I was at. I was measuring 2 weeks below, but other signs showed I was farther along. Of course, they went with my measurements. Now, I am 35 weeks (by measurements).

At 32 weeks, Baby A began to move down. Since I am a First Time Mom, I thought this was really soon. But in the end, I knew it was different for everyone. I had the very few aches and pains in my low back and sides. They lasted a couple of days until my body got use to it. It did not slow me down, but it was differently noticeable, especially in my "Pouch Pictures". At almost 34 weeks, I noticed she began to move down even lower. Mr. Buttons began to act weird. (See this post!) It slightly creeped me out because I still felt like it was early. Most everything I read and heard from people stated that their babies did not begin to move down until 34-35 weeks. She had already moved down twice by 34 weeks. Once again, I just told myself everyone is different.

Here I am 35 weeks and things are different. No longer is it just the Braxton Hicks. I can tell the difference. 35 weeks today, and Baby A has decided to take the plunge and move down even lower. Along with it came the true pains and exhaustion of baby carrying. This morning (Tuesday) I woke up and immediately had to use the bathroom.... TMI, but not just tinkle. I just blew it over because I had not felt much pain at this point. Not until I started walking around and doing stuff for the day. As the day went on, I have had contractions on and off. I keep telling myself maybe they are not contractions, but at the same time, what is it? Yes, I know sometimes when baby is low and moves it can be uncomfortable and even painful. But this is full blown tightness, pressure, and not always only when baby moves. Mr. Man said that every time I flinched from the pain in my lower stomach and tightness, he could see my stomach tighten up really hard. I have never looked down and noticed, but I took his word for it. I told him maybe it was me tensing up because some of them are really strong and painful, but they last only a few seconds. I thought as the day went on that they would ease up... Wrong! However, they are not regular. I'm not timing them or anything. I'm just sucking it up and moving on. Yes, I think about how I am only 35 weeks and maybe I should call the doctor, but I did not want to waste my time either. Chances are they would monitor me and send me home. I did not really want to waste my time. (But if they do get worse or more consistent then I would go in.)

As I sit here and think about all of this, I begin to realize that in less than a month we are no longer going to be "Mr. Man and Mrs. Ma'am", we are going to be "Mommy and Daddy". As excited as we are and so ready for this, it's still hard to imagine what it will be like to have a child, to have a daughter. We are beyond excited. Mr. Man is so ready for her to come out. He keeps asking me when it is safe to do something to get her to come out, and I just laugh at him and tell him a few more weeks. As much as I can't wait to meet her and have her here, I know I'm going to miss my "Pouch". I know I'm going to miss feeling her wiggle around. I know I'm going to miss having the "cute belly bump." I know I'm going to miss all this. So for now, I am trying really hard to take it all in and enjoy it. Plus, I know she is measuring small and we want her to come out big, healthy, and strong!

Can you believe that in 3-4 more weeks we are going to be parents?! Boy how time flies by!

Just a reminder- Don't forget to enter the English Giveaway! It ends Sunday, March 13th.

A Day in the Life of Us: Pre-Parenthood

I decided to write a blog post on what it is like on a typical week day for us before Baby A arrives. Since we are starting to get very close to her arrival, I would love to document the way our lives are before she gets here. After she is here, I will do one of these every so often as she reaches milestones and our lives change.

I chose a typical day where we did not have much to do. I thought it would be fairest way to see how our weekdays are on average versus a really hectic day going nonstop.

The day chosen is: Monday, February 28th, 2011

The only difference about this day is the simple fact that Mr. Man had to work the weekend, which means it was not a Monday for us. More like a Tuesday.

10:00am- Wake up.
10:15am- I start cooking breakfast and dinner. For breakfast, I made fried eggs, bacon, and biscuits for egg and bacon biscuits. For dinner, I made the Asparagus Chicken. When I first start this, Mr. Man generally takes Mr. Buttons out and lays on the couch for a bit. He watches a bit of TV until about 10:30am, then hits the kitchen with me.
10:30am- I am still cooking, and Mr. Man puts the dishes in the drain board away and unloads the dishwasher from the day before.
11:00/11:15am- We eat breakfast together while watching some TV. The food gets put on hold until after this. I normally work up to a stopping part. In this case, the dinner had to go into the oven for 30-45 minutes. That is when we ate breakfast.
12:00pm- I put the dishes in the kitchen and clean up the kitchen. Mr. Man turns on his UFC game on PS3 and plays one round. I also take out dinner at this point.
12:25pm- While dinner continues to cool, I sit and watch TV while eating a snack before the gym. Mr. Man begins packing his bag for the gym and work.
12:45pm- We both get ready for the gym.
1:00/1:110pm- We both leave (in separate cars) to go to the gym.
1:30pm- We work out.
2:30pm- Mr. Man is still working out, and I am due for lunch. I grab a panini or wrap with a side salad from the gym before heading out.
3:00pm- Mr. Man is finished in the gym and goes to the locker room to shower and get dressed for work. I leave and go run errands before heading home. I had to go to the post office.
3:30pm- I get home from base. Mr. Man leaves the gym for work.
4:00pm- Mr. Man begins his shift at work. He works until midnight. I work on school work until 7pm with snacks in between.
7:00pm- I take shower number 1 to get clean. 30 minute showers ROCK!
7:30pm- I sorted through some baby things that we received in the mail and finished putting up the clothes that were left from Sunday.
9:00pm- I take a bath to shave my legs. I take a long relaxing bath, too. GUILTY! An hour and a half!
10:30pm- I come back downstairs put away everything, take Mr. Buttons out one last time before bed, and turn off all the lights.
10:45/11:00pm- I go lay in bed and watch TV until I fall asleep.
Midnight- Mr. Man gets off of work.
12:30/12:45am- Mr. Man gets home from work. He eats again, takes a shower, plays a round on his video game, then meets me in bed.
2:00am- Bedtime for Mr. Man.

Only to do it all over again at 10:00am the following day!

I think as time goes on, it will be fun to look back and see how our lives and schedules have changed with a child. Hopefully, I can continue to do these just to show how things change and the milestones that we reach as a family. I hope you have enjoyed viewing our life for one day!

Also, Don't forget to enter the English Giveaway! It ends Sunday, March 13th.

A-Z: A-G

This week I thought I would include my menu plan along with my A-G plan for the week. Since some of the recipes in the A-Z recipes are not meals, I thought I would combine them both so you can see what we will be eating as well as what is on the menu to complete the A-Z to help countdown this last month of pregnancy.

Our recipes for this week include:
Asparagus Chicken
Buffalo Wings
Crab Cakes
Deluxe Burritos
Mardi Gras Shrimp Scampi
Sausage Jambalya
Garlic Lemon Chicken

This week was a fairly easy week because 5 out of the 7 that are within the A-Z recipe planning were actually meals. The other two were a dessert and a breakfast food.

The A-G recipes for this week:
A- Asparagus Chicken
B- Buffalo Wings
C- Crab Cakes
D- Deluxe Burritos
E- Easy Cheesecake
F- French Toast
G- Garlic Lemon Chicken in the Crockpot

Mr. Man and I do cook breakfast for us. Since he is on swings, I get up and cook our dinner for him and also breakfast for the both of us. We normally do this every other day or depending on how I am feeling or what we want to eat. I love to cook, so I sometimes have all 4 burners going at once bright and early in the morning . But I never look back because we love our food.

As I mentioned before, we may not do the A-Z through the weekends depending on what our weekend consist of. Sometimes Mr. Man gets called into work last minute, so we will grab something that may be quicker to cook as I tend to save the longer meals for the weekend.


Just a reminder- Don't forget to enter the English Giveaway! It ends Sunday, March 13th.