A Full House!

well, i normally have my 4 kids plus doug's sisters two kids, but today we threw a infant into the picture. i had the pleasure of watching my cousin's baby....benjamin. we had so much fun, and he definitely didn't lack attention. he never got two squeeks out before someone was asking to hold him. kelsey at first was trying to tickle him and talking "baby" talk to him, and kaylee just took over his boppy toy. here is a slideshow from today:

while i had all 7 kids, we went to the police station. my hubby has been selected for jury duty! he had to write a letter to see if he can get out of it since he is the only one working and supporting our family of 6. if you are selected for jury duty, you only get paid $10 a day. are you kidding me???? like we could live on that. so, i guess i would say to pray that they let him off the hook. he wouldn't mind doing it, but we just wouldn't be able to make ends meet. they said you can be asked to serve for up to 15 days! the clerk said that we will know in a couple of weeks whether he is dismissed or not. you should have seen the looks i was getting while all 7 kids were with me. i'm not sure if they were sympathy looks or disgust looks :). no one asked if they were all mine though, i think people were just dumbfounded...lol.

as you can see, i started making a list of some of the blogs that i read. i am still missing several, so please comment me and send me your blog addresses. there are a few that i really like that i am still missing. i can't find my slideshows anywhere as i can't remember what program i used to make them, so i am still bummed out about that. i guess i will have to make new ones.....ugh.

well, that is all for tonight. we have a balloon festival coming up this weekend so look for pics from that. also, my parents have landed in n.c., so i'm sure there will be pics of grayson for everyone to see too. the girls thought that ben was grayson, and they were super excited! they liked ben too, but called him grayson for the first half hour.

i also have been meaning to update on brendon dunn, he has had a pretty major setback (remember we just announced that he was in remission). he started having the same pains he had when the lymphoma was discovered, so they checked and found a area in question near his heart. PLEASE keep him and his family in your prayers. here are the last two updates from his mom (one from friday and one from today):

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2007 11:59 PM, CDT
Please pray for Brendon.

Bren has been complaining of neck and shoulder pains for the past few days, which has had us very nervous because these pains are what started the whole diagnosis back in April. We went to the doctor on Wednesday to have him checked out. They gave him an x-ray which looked fine. His doctor examined him and thought that maybe it was a blood clot that was causing the pain. They sent us to Maine Med for an ultrasound. That came back fine. No clots. So they scheduled us for a CT scan which he had today at 3:40. When we arrived home there was a message on the answering machine asking us to page the doctor on call to discuss the results of the CT scan. When the doctor called back he told us that they were concerned about the results. Brendon has had excess tissue on the right side of his heart that they thought may have been residual tissue from the tumor. When they compared the CT scan Bren had in July to the one he had today they noticed that the tissue had grown. It hasn't grown significantly, but enough to cause concern. He also has fluid around his heart and in one of his lungs. They are concerned because nothing should be growing because of all the chemo he is getting. Where it's Friday night they don't really have a game plan yet. They are going to do another PET scan, an EKG and maybe a biopsy to try to figure out what is going on. The doctor said that we could admit Bren to the hospital if it would make us feel better but they wouldn't really do any tests until next week. We have decided to keep Bren at home for the weekend and try to stay out of the hospital as long as possible (as long as he is safe). He is really only in pain at night when he lays down. We are trying to remain optimisitic, but we are very sad and scared. We don't know what to expect...

I'll update more as soon as I know it.

Thank you for your prayers. We need them right now.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2007 10:23 AM, CDT
Things are going ok. We have not been admitted to the hospital. Brendon is going for an EKG today at 2:15pm and then he has a PET scan tomorrow at 10:30am. We are hoping to have answers by Thursday as to what is going on. Brendon has not been complaining about pain and he has not needed any pain meds since Saturday. When I spoke to the doctor Sunday afternoon I asked him what he was most concerned about and he told me that it was the growth on his heart. He said there are 3 things it could be and they are an infection, scar tissue or another tumor. Hopefully these tests will tell them what it is without them having to go in to do a biopsy. We are trying to prepare for the worst, but keeping the faith that it's not another tumor. When we told Bren that it might be another tumor he said "Oh well, if it's a tumor it's a tumor. I've had one, so what's one more?". He's such a tough kid. We will be so glad to have some answers.. Not knowing is VERY tough!

Anyway, we have been keeping pretty busy to try to take our minds off of everything. Our family from Alaska left last week. Brendon's Uncle Jon left on Wednesday and his Aunt Angie and the kids left Sunday. Saturday we all went to the aquarium in Boothbay Harbor and had a great time. I have put some pictures up of the aquarium visit and other pictures.

Brendon had an exciting night on Sunday night. We went to the wrestling match in Portland. Brendon got to meet his FAVORITE wrestler Kane and get his autograph. He also met 2 other wrestlers. He was on cloud nine!! I took his picture with Kane, Batista and another guy (I can't remember his name). My cousin Ashley and her friend Allyson talked to one of the security guys and told them Brendon's story and they brought Bren back to where all the wrestlers walked out to get into their cars. We (Aunt Sherry, Uncle Dan, Allyson, Ashley, Bren and myself) were the only ones that were able to be close to them. Everyone else was across the street behind barricades and police tape. It was awesome! Brendon was beaming from ear to ear. He also got to meet Batista one on one and get his autograph. Bren was so nervous. Those guys are HUGE! It was a great night and he is still talking about it. Everyone was so nice to us! It was an awesome pick-me-up for him. Especially with all the things he might be facing. If you check out the pictures you'll see how happy he was. He couldn't stop smiling! It made me cry to see him so happy and carefree!! Those guys made his night!!

That's about it for now. I will update as soon as I have more info.. Thanks for the e-mails, prayers and well wishes. They have helped more than you'll ever know. We love you all!! ~Amber

P.S. Ellen, your blog is not listed on your profile, so even though you left a comment, i can't get your blog address! :) Please send it via email!