Terrible tonsils

Hello Everyone

My birthday party post with lots of pics and stories to follow soon, i promise!

Our vaccinations for tommorow, are cancelled , again!

Deqlan had a very restless night and woke up with a cold this morning and by this afternoon we decided to get to the doctor to catch whatever was brewing ..... well, well, there they where, the well known spots on the tonsils, again!

The doctor has given a new antibiotic to see if this one helps - if not, then we are off to the ear , nose and throat specialist to get to the bottom of the recurring tonsilitis

So we cant tax Deqlans immune system with vaccinations at this stage, till he gets better again - we are also going to have be extra careful again and try and build his immune system up and avoid getting sick wherever and however we can , just to sort this cause out!

Please pray for this antibiotic to work and for his tonsils to recover soon soon!

Post later, all our love , God Bless
Mark, Samm & Deqlan

Birthday boy!

What an absolutely fantastic, ,magical, memorable 2nd Birthday Deqlan had - it was wonderful and we think he had a great day celebrating!

Firstly thank you so so so much to you all for your stunning messages on the blog, phone calls, text messages, emails and more - we are so touched at how many love and pray for our gorgeous Deqlan - thank you so much, we are Blessed to have you as family and friends!

I woke up a little earlier then our monkey to get his cake and balloons ready before he woke up. Dada and Deqlan came wondering into the lounge and Deqlan was delighted to see two burning candles and his Mickey Mouse cake and immediately ran to inspect them. Deqlan enjoyed Dad and Mama singing happy birthday and took great pleasure in sinking his hands and feet into Mickey Mouse - he enjoyed licking the icing of his toes even more!

After opening some gifts and enjoying the smiley faces and cars on his birthday cards, we went off to Grandpa and Nanna where the celebrations continued! Nanna outdid herself and created the most enchanting birthday table with streamers and balloons and banners-was stunning Mom, thank you for the amazing amount of effort you went to! Deqlans favorite part of the morning was definitely the balloons! Nanna made the most beautiful bouquet of balloons which Deqlan ran around with for at least half and hour! Then Meggie and Keaton arrived with a Mickey Mouse balloon and you can imagine what joy that brought to our soldier . Great Grandpa also arrived and Grandpa felt ok enough to come and sing Happy Birthday to our soldier and we all enjoyed eating what was left of the Mickey cake!

Great excitment continued as Deqlan enjoyed opening his presentsthat and reading the most exquisite cards , thank you Darling Grandpa and Nanna, Great Grandpa and Nanna, Meggie Con and Keaton for my stunning presies and the most phenomenal cards that you put so much love and effort into, i love you so very very much!

After a while, Deqlan started getting a little tired and was happy to have a little nap! When he woke up he was delighted to see that Dada had returned home from work early to take us to the zoo! So off Nanna, Dada, Mama and Deqlan went to the zoo ! It was fantastic! We hired a golf cart to ride around as the zoo is a huge area to walk . This was definitely the highlight - Deqlan LOVED being the golf cart and grabbed every oppurtunity to hop off and run and even had a go at trying to steer the cart! We saw beautiful penguins, alligators being fed ( that was not good for me to watch) , the most beautiful birds including flamingoes and eagles, tons of different types of buck and deer, beautiful elephants, giraffes, hippos - we saw them for the first time out of water and they are ENORMOUS! Deqlan enjoyed a little of the elies and a little of the seals, but otherwise, it was all about the golf cart, we didnt mind it was his day after all and we all enjoyed the fresh air and outing ! We loved the tigers ,lions and bears , but were so disapointed that the gorillas and koala were all closed up and asleep by the time we got to them- i was so disapointed, but that just means we will have to go back soon to see them!

We then came home and watched our soldier enjoying all his new toys , but the highlight was definitely watching his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse dvds he got from Nanna and Meggie - at the end of each episode ( as Nanna has already explained in her comment to us yesterday) The hot dog song plays - well, this is the best thing since cars to Deqlan and he screams with laughter, runs around and around laughing and giggling, he adores this , and we adore watching him - i promise to try and figure out how to get it off my camera and onto the blog!

Tommorow, celebrations continue as we are having a little party for Deqlan and some friends - a Cars theme party ! Cant wait to tell you all about it on Monday !

Tomorow is National Childhood Cancer day and to mark it, after the party tommorow, we are going to a CHOC function where we will build a bear! We plan to call him N.E.D!

From Arden's Mom - a GREAT idea to mark tomorow 13 Sep National Childhood Cancer awareness day

My mom had a great idea, and I thought of a way wecan all participate on Saturday. Each family can geta balloon (or two, or five), preferably gold (whichis the color for pediatric Cancer awareness), andadorn it with the names of those children they knowwho have battled or are battling childhood cancer.We can decorate our mailboxes, porches, or houseswith these balloons for the day, and in the evening(at sunset,) which is about 7:00 pm EST, we canrelease them together. This will be an easy way forus to mark the day, raise awareness, and honor our warriors and angels.So. there's another positive, active thing we cando.

Have a wonderful weekend, God Bless, lots of love

Mark, Samm and our 2 Year old Deqlan

REJOICE IN THE LORD , ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE

Happy Birthday Aidan

Dearest Aidan

We hope you also had a fantastic 2nd Birthday yesterday,

wow you two boys are special to share the same birthday!

We hope you enjoy your party tommorow and hope to have

lots of play dates with you in the very near future!

God Bless, hugs and lots of love

Mark, Samm, Deqlan and Logan

Happy 2nd Birthday Deqlan!

p.sTo Our Most Gorgeous Darling Deqlan,

A very very Happy 2nd Birthday to you our gorgeous boy , gift from God!

We wish you the most magical, unforgettable, fun filled birthday you could ever imagine! We wish you many, many, many more Birthdays chicken, healthy healthy happy ones. May Our Lord Bless you today and continue to hold you in His Healing Hands always.

We think back to a year ago , I actually looked at the pictures today , and I am so grateful to Our Lord for letting us share a second Birthday with you, one where you are happy, healthy, with lots of meat on your bones, with rosey red cheeks, with energy of the sun, with laughter that's infectious, with touches that are unforgettable, for moments that I treasure , that you are NED, that your port is out and that you continue to get stronger each day.

You are our miracle, the light of our lives and absolute everything. You complete us. We are more then proud of you, you are are hero, our inspiration , our reason for being. You are loved beyond description and always will be beautiful boy

You have been through so much already , but you are wiser, stronger and healthier then ever.

You are loved by so many - do you know that you have an entire prayer army just for you? They check in with us all the time, read your story and pray for you every day - you must be very special , so many people love you dearly

You are loved beyond description, by Our Lord and Savour, He continues to take such wonderful care of you . Always look to Him for all you need.

We hope you enjoy all the celebrations and excitement of today - its all for you!

We promise to try and be the best parents we can be - all you need to know is that you don't need to worry about anything, just know Dada and Mama are always here no matter what, and that's all you need to know, we will take care of everything you need. You just need to guide us and show us !

We thank Jesus for you every minute of the day - we have experienced a love we never knew possible

You are our everything - we beam with pride and joy each time we look at you, or even think of you!

Always, always know how much we love you and we would do anything for your safety and happiness.

You are a true gift from God and we cant wait to see you reach all your milestones, goals and dreams.

I pray Our Lord lets us experience you learning to talk, making friends, having play dates, riding a bike,going to school, having speech festivals, soccer games, fetes, school plays, homework, sleepovers with Logan and Keaton,rolling in the mud, falling in love, going to high school, travelling and having holidays , long walks on the beach, splashing in the water, you being a part of our church and helping others get through cancer, having children and grand children of your own, many many many more happy and healthy years together.

We cant explain how much we treasure all the little moments that we have gotten to experience us your immune system strengthens - we love riding in the car with you, watching your absolute joy and delight, taking you to the shop is our outing and we are so excited to do it, watching you run outside, up and down the street, splashing in the jacuzzi and anywhere where there's water...all precious memories and we look forward to making so many more with you


Have a spectacular birthday our beautiful boy, our hero, our everything
God Bless, all our love, our hearts, all for you , we love you
Dad , Mama and Logan

p.s- Logan says Happy Birthday little brother! I am so excited to see you soon and will throw you a surprise party of own (oops, there goes the surprise) Miss you and love you and I am going to take such wonderful care of you and teach you so many new things, some naughty , some nice - just to keep Dad and Samm on their toes!


p.s.s Shelly, Stuffy and Blue say WOOF WOOF MEOW, Which Means Happy Birthday, we love being able to play with you again, and love following you around the garden, you are our best friend and we love you!

From the words of Celine Dion

To our beautiful "Miracle", Deqlan Ross, on your second Birthday ,11 Septemeber 2008

You're my life's one Miracle,

Everything I've done that's good

And you break my heart with tenderness,

And I confess it's true

I never knew a love like this till you....

You're the reason I was born

Now I finally know for sure

And I'm overwhelmed with happiness

So blessed to hold you close

The one that I love most

With all the future has so much for you in store

Who could ever love you more?

The nearest thing to heaven,

You're my angel from above

Only God creates such perfect love

When you smile at me,

I cry, And to save your life

I'll die

With a romance that is pure heart,

You are my dearest part

Whatever it requires,

I live for your desires

Forget my own, needs will come before

Who could ever love you more?

Well there is nothing you could ever do,

To make me stop, loving you

And every breath I take,

Is always for your sake

You sleep inside my dreams and know for sure

Who could ever love you more?

My Son Grows Up author: unknown
Life is fleeting, years rush past...

and little boys grow up so fast!

Let me take time out to be

thankful mine is still here with me.

And though I'm busy through the day,

let me take time out to play...

Let me take time out to smile,

to sit with him for just a while...

Let me take time out for walks,

for swings and sports and quiet talks,

for sharing giggles, tickles, and hugs,

for patching knees and catching bugs...

for running races, climbing trees,

for helping with his A - B - C's...

For hatching plots and planning schemes,

for listening to his thoughts and dreams.

Let me tuck him in at night, hear his prayers,

turn off the light.

And when my busy day is done,

let me thank God I have a son.

GET UP, STAND UP!

Well, i thought the STAND UP 2 CANCER programme was great and very informative. I can only hope that another segment is done on childhood cancer specifically to get more specifics on that and get more funds directed towards the kids, specifically. Hope you all caught a glimpse of our fellow nb warrior, Drew, Jennifer Garner read a little about Drew, unfortunately didnt mention neuroblastoma, but was wonderful to see Drew's smiling face with his Mickey Mouse ears on! Go Drew! Please do whatever you can to support them and especially organisations raising money for childhood cancer and neuroblastoma. I was so moved , and couldnt help sheddding tears of joy for our Deqlan and the other warriors that are doing well, tears of sadness for the angels who didnt see the cure, tears for our warriors that are still in the fight - but inpsired to hear that they are on the brink of so many cures - that they can feel the rain is just around the corner, please Dear Lord, may it be so for neuroblastoma. I shall also never complain about ageing - as a survivor said, she will never moan about reaching 50, its an achievement she has lived those years and continues to live each year

Speaking of Mickey, Deqlan has found a new love in the form of Mickey Mouse club house! He absolutely adores Mickey Mouse but especially at the end of the programme where Mickey and the gang sing HOT DOG - Deqlan is in the most beautiful state of laughter and he runs in circles with excitement, its the most precious thing to watch ...move over Dub!

Deqlan is doing great, still running around everywhere, still very active and still a cute as ever. His scar is healing nicely - he is terribly allergic to plasters and the dressing that they had on from the port removal has a terribly , red and itchy and bumpy rash now that circles the area of the wound - we decided to leave it open on saturday night, after a much enjoyed bath, and the wound is now healing and drying and getting a little better each day. Its looking really great and im sure by the weekend there will be a great improvement in the rash and in the bruising

Eating...oh boy...thats another story ..anything wheat no problem, cheese..bring it on, but vegies or fruit, there is no way Deqlan is going to even consider putting it in his mouth. So, we have started him on a supplement shake, once a day to ensure he is getting all his vitamins and minerals. He is growing great and his weight fantastic but we need to ensure he is getting the other essentials he is missing from his diet, and hopefully sooner then later will decide to at least give them a try!

We are preparing for our monkeys 2nd birthday and have some lovely things planned for his birthday on Thursday and a little family celerabtion with 3 friends on Saturday

Hope you all caught the opening ceremony of the Paralympics ? It was spectacular. The 12 year old who lost her leg in the earthquake earlier this year, that did ballet from her chair was breathtaking- her supporting cast, using their arms and hands as their legs, was unbelievable. We are so blessed - the 300 girls who were deaf and were in perfect time with the music, from watching the sign instructors tell them what to do....breathtaking. The cherry on the cake was the athlete in his wheelchair that got to light the olympic torch in the stadium - the strength and courage it took, to hoist himself and his wheelchair the entire height of the stadium is something i will never ever forget. I salute these athletes that have taken the 'restrictions' they have have and turned them into fantastic achievements - inspring and motivating to us all. Nothing is impossible to those who believe in Our Lord!

As you can see from the pics, we have a new addition to our house , a jungle gym which arrived a little early for Deqlans birthday! Deqlan loves it - especially the drum which he loves peering and crawling through , and because it has two steering wheels on either side and he can pretend he is in a different car each day! He also loves banging the drum making his own music - he wasnt to happy when i started banging on the drum, singing this old man, sorry my boy i know i have a lot of practice to do ! He loves the slide to, its a bit high and Deqlan not to sure footed on top of the slide, so we still have to have eagle eyes at this region, as Deqlan has no fear!

A MESSAGE FROM DEQLAN- Thank you Dada and Mama, Great Grandpa & Great Nanna,Grandpa and Nanna, Conrad & Meggie & Keaton, Kevin and Louise, Granny and Grandpa for the lovely present, i love it! I am going to practice all my tricks so when you come around i can show you how clever i am ! I am Blessed to have you all and love you all very very much, thank you for my beautiful birthday present!

Congrats in order for Bron and Kobus and Matt - they found out today they will be having a little girl! Thrilled for you guys, take it easy Bron and what a blessing she is going to be!

An update on Ruan, his actual stem cell transplant went great, and he had no reaction to the donor cells. He is doing great and now we wait for the cells to engraph and for his immune system to build up again! Please continue to pray for him, as he and Yolandi still have a long journey in the hospital germ free environment for the next 4 weeks

Great news on baby Declan, the stronger dose chemo is doing its job and he is handling it very very well! Please stop by his site to leave him and his wonderful parents a note of encouragement, please continue to keep this mighty warrior and his folks in your prayers, he is so so very brave and we know Our Lord has him safely in His hands!

Great news on baby Dyllan, after 77 days in the icu , he has reached 2kilograms and went home on Friday for the very first time, we are thrilled for you Louise and Roelof and cant wait to see the little guy! Grow strong and May God keep you healthy and His hands always.

Hope you are enjoying the songs on the blog still lots more i want to add - a bit more about each

- MIRACLE - i heard this song for the first time on Connors site and it had me in tears it was so beautiful - it is definitely my message to Deqlan and I just had to include it, thanks Debbie

- AMORE - The song Mark and I walked into our wedding , it brings back such happy memories

- CHASING CARS - Well, the cars part is for Deqlan, but the song IF I LAY HERE, IF I JUST LAY HERE, WOULD YOU LYE WITH ME AND JUST FORGET THE WORLD - this song seem to play just before or during Deqlans surgeries at Kloof and this is all i wanted to do was lye with Deqlan and hold him and forget the world

- FRAGILE - one of my ultimate favorite songs by my favorite artist Sting - we are all so fragile and so quick to forget it

- YOU RAISE ME UP - this song has a lot of meaning - My Lord raise me up each and every day. I dedicated this song to my Mom and Dee at our wedding as they Raise us up and give us the strength and help we need , especially during Deqlans journey

- FIX YOU - I used to sing it to Deqlan, I WILL TRY TO FIX YOU

- CANNED HEAT - another one of my favorites Jamiroquai - NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO DO BUT DANCE - everytime we get a great result or i needed cheering up , i pay this

- YO'U'LL BE IN MY HEART - a song that Megs and I dedicate to each other and the words apply to Deqlan - WE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE, JUST LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER

- NEVER GIVE UP - For obvious reasons in the song title -but also went we went to Ushaka Marine World with Deqlan for the first time - my beloved dolphins where jumping and frolicking in the water to this song - i was watching Deqlan laughing and smiling at them and the words are just to beautiful!

Hope to add more soon!

Have a great week everyone, please never ever stop the prayers for Deqlan and please continue to follow our warriors and pray for them and their families

God Bless and all our love

MARK, SAMM, DEQLAN

By Jesus Stripes Deqlan is healed

COMPLETE THE CURE

WATCH VIDEOS.
COMPLETE THE THOUGHTS.
HELP COMPLETE THE CURE.


September is childhood cancer awarness month. For every video you watch, our sponsors will donate 25 Us cents to Childrens Cancer research fund. Watch the videos and watch your contribution grow!

http://www.completethecure.com/index.aspx

Congrats Dalene and Chris!

Dear Chris and Dalene,

What fantastic news that you are expecting your own little miracle! Congratulations to you both and i wish you all the love and happiness in the world, which i know your little one will most definitely bring to you both!

Please stay in touch and let us know how you are and let us know when you find out what baby is...i see pink for some reason....

God Bless and love
Mark, Samm, Deqlan and Logan