Our soldier has a cold!

Hello Deqlans Army

Sorry been so quiet - been a very busy couple of days!

Our soldier seems to have a cold, noticed on Monday night after i took him out of the bath that his nose sounded a little blocked - Deqlan has been coughing a little, sneezing a lot and rubbing his watery eyes and nose , and this morning pulling on his ears, shame..I have started giving him vitamin c syrup for kids and acc 200 so that the sinuses dont get blocked, and of course my favorite, putting olbas oil on his clothes for him to inhale and help keep everything open. I thank Our Lord that this is the first real cold he has had in i cant even remember how long , Deqlan has done amazingly well for someone who still doesn't have an immune system that is functioning 100% - he has done amazingly well, thank You Lord! Please pray for Deqlans immune system to do its thing and get rid of the cold asap!

Ok, so lets back track a little to the weekend - we had a great weekend, Deqlan thoroughly enjoyed playing in his tunnel and tent - i even had a go , got a little stuck in the tunnel, ha ha ha. Then Deqlan and I sat in his tent and played with all the goodies he had dragged into the tent- books and tele tubbies! I had to leave the tent after a while as my neck was getting a little stiff trying to fit into the little tent, and my gorgeous boy came out to fetch me and pulled me back in - he was just happy for me to sit with him and watch him play !

Went to mass on Saturday night as it was Monseigneur last mass ever in our parish , before he retired yesterday - it was very sad to hear him say goodbye and the mass ended off with everyone giving him a good old clap - as i mentioned before he was a huge part in our journey with Deqlan and i was honored that he confirmed Deqlan and gave him so many special blessings while he was sick.

Then on Sunday , Grandpa and Nanna, Meggie and Keaton and I went to Monseigneur official farewell and they brought the Welsh Male Choir of South Africa out for the occasion - we really enjoyed the beautiful singing , meaningful songs and their amazing sense of humor which had everyone in fits of laughter.

Our little soldier spent the afternoon with is Dada and when i returned from church saw a huge pile of hair on the counter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i immediately ran to find the two monkeys to see what they had gotten up to , and there was Dada getting Deqlan out the bath, with is brand new hair cut! Awwww! All Deqlans baby hair is now gone and he looks like a real little grown up toddler! He looks to cute , but i cant wait for his hair to grow a little more again. I am amazed that Mark managed to buzz Deqlans hair all by himself, as our soldier doesn't normally sit still - well done my love excellent job! Still battling to get a new photo of him so you can see the new style - he doesn't sit or stand long enough for me to take it!

As you can see from the pics, Deqlan loves climbing up the stairs and another new favorite trick is emptying the dogs water bowls, all over HIMSELF! i had to snap just 1 photo to show you all, then had to take him inside to get him warm and dry again- Logan used to do the same thing and loved taking the dogs pellets out the bowl and feeding to the dogs one by one shame...

We went to speech and occupational therapy yesterday and it went very well - Deqlan doesn't even try to run away anymore or even play by the cars . He wants me to put him down and he runs all by himself down the passage into 'his' play room and starts playing ! Its wonderful and amazing to see - from screaming and crying to get out, he now happily plays ! Deqlan enjoyed doing a new wooden stacker puzzle and of course enjoyed his old favorites - a toy with different shapes and buttons that you need to press to get the animal to pop up, and of course, bubbles! He also tried to climb on top of everything he could and towards the end of our session Deqlan became a lot more clingly then normal - Anri turned this into a game which Deqlan soon got into and understood. But our soldier didn't seem to feel 100% because of his cold, and blocked nose, but he did very very well otherwise! Esedra suggested we try music therapy for our soldier - Deqlan LOVES music , and they say that music therapy really benefits kids whether they just need help in being more social to more severe disabilities, they all seem to get something out of the music therapy, so we have decided to give it a go and hope that Deqlan will love this to- will let you know when we start going!

If i haven't mentioned it before, Deqlan love BINNELANDERS.Its an afrikaans soapie here in South Africa - dont know what on earth atracted him to it, but when he hears the music, he sprints to the tv no matter where he is in the house - a few times, happens to be when we are in the bath and he cant get to the tv quick enough.I laugh each time and wonder what he loves so much about it? Its very strange come to think of it . When Logan was smaller she loved a soapie called SONG VIR KATRYN - she knew all the characters and could fill you in on the story line! Shelby, our beautiful spaniel, had something he like or disliked about Egoli, the most popular soap here in South Africa. Each time the music came on, he used to howl like a wolf! Shame, we got into a habit of muting the tv when the them music came on so it wouldn't worry our shelby!

Tomorrow, is Ruans golf day and we are all very very excited to go and support our dear friend. Thank you to you my love, Dee, Frans and Bob for all going to play tomorrow to support this amazing cause. If Deqlan is better and if the weather is warm enough, i would like to go past the golf day to say hello to Ruan and support Dada and Grandpa as they tee off! Thank you very much Dee for the fantastic contribution of very rare port and thank you Megs and Conrad for the cases of beer and cider and jack daniels and to you my love for your contribution as well as delivering for us- these will all be used as part of a raffle for the guys to raise money for Ruan - thank you thank you! We pray its an enormous success and we can raise so much needed funds to find the perfect donor for Ruan!

Now for all the notices and prayer requests and wonderful things i would like you to go and check out :

CONGRATULATIONS TO HEIDI AND JAMES AND HANNAH! Heidi has just found out that she is expecting their second little bundle of joy ! We hope you have a safe and easy pregnancy and wish you lots of love and happiness and I am sure Hannah is going to be over the moon with her new brother or sister!

Please go and check Charli Ann's web page out - they had a relay for life to raise funds for cancer research and Charli was the honory member! There is the most beautiful video clip of Charli crossing the finish line - you have to go and check this out - thank you Brenda and Chad for all you have done and continue to do to raise awareness and funds and most of all in teaching us TO EXPECT MIRACLES! http://brenda-chad.blogspot.com/

You also have to go and see Max's Birthday celebration here: http://www.mashedpotatoesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Max! We hope you had a fantastic Birthday - it looks like you had an amazing party! God Bless and prayers continue for your always, you are an inspiration to us all!

Some time ago, I introduced you to a beautiful boy, Jayden, who is also fighting neuroblastoma - his disease is currently stable and he even started the first grade this year - unfortunately no more chemo will assist him, but he continues to live each day to the full. We happened to come across an article in our local news paper about Jayden , and where shocked to hear that his Father and Jayden himself, received 3rd degree burns , Jayden to his face, after an explosion while using fuel to start a braai !!! ( bbq for our overseas friends) Please pray for his recovery and healing

Please continue your prayers for all our warriors, but please can we ask you to say special prayers today for the following nb friends

ISLA - having surgery today to remove her left adrenal gland and the peach size tumor as well as doing a lot of other testing on lumps on her liver, her bone and marrow to

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/isla

WILL - going to Vermont to get a game plan together for new treatment for Will

www.willlacey.com

KATIE - scans reveal nb has progressed and she is recovering from surgery http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katiekrize

MAX - vma/hma counts climbing and needs lots and lots of prayers http://mikulak.blogspot.com/

DAILY FAMILY - Joe Daily became an angel over the weekend after fighting nb for over 18 years - what an inspiration read the article about his amazing achievements http://www.mlive.com/flint/ then type in Joe Daily

Thank you for your continued prayers and support, please always pray for our Deqlan to remain ned always.

God Bless you all and let us know how you are

Lots of love

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD