More than a Tumor: June 2014

For those of you that are new to our blog, we are currently catching everyone up to speed and this post will get you to June of 2014. We have a long way to go to get to present day, but it's important to us that you know our back story and how we got to where we are today. If you are new, you may want to start from the beginning so you don't feel lost. Thank you for joining us on our journey!

It's been a while since I posted, but it's only because we are busy living life! :)

After hearing the news that we did in May of 2014, we couldn't have asked for a better month of June. We were flooded with love and support from our friends and family. One of the pediatric brain tumor support pages allows you to honor your child by creating items with their information on them. Some of our support network ordered pins and T-shirts with Nate's picture and diagnosis on it. It's just one more simple way to spread awareness and show their love. A simple gesture that means the world to us. These are the things that get us through the most difficult days.

We also were honored to have a friend of the family run in honor of Nathan as a patient partner for the New Balance Falmouth Road Race. We were able to raise over $1,000 for Boston Children's Hospital. How special is that?!

We spent most of the month of June outside. We started up our weekly playgroup that we host for our friends and their beautiful children. This group of women are so incredibly supportive and are always willing to lend an ear. The boys and I are so very grateful for them. Nathan was getting more and more comfortable in the pool, even though sometimes he just didn't want to wait to get his bathing suit on! Stephen was able to play in our local Jimmy Fund golf tournament with his brother and cousins and spread a little Nate the Great love. He also won a different golf tournament later in the month in which Benjamin was so proud of. He was in love with the trophy and still has it in his room to this day.

Ben is so proud of his Daddy!

Despite all of the good that occurred in June, we were also reminded of the tough spots that we go through. One morning while out running errands, Nathan had a complete meltdown at the store. As a parent, you have to make a decision to tough it out and complete what you set out to do or do your best to quickly remove yourself from the store without too much embarrassment. On this particular day, I decided to tough it out. Well, it gave me a good opportunity to share our story after being stared at throughout the entire store by one certain individual. I stopped in my tracks and simply began talking to this person and filling them in on why there are times Nate acts the way he does. I can only hope that learned a little something and aren't so quick to judge the next time they see a parent struggling with a child in a store.

As of June 2014, Nate was still sleeping terribly. His schedule, or lack thereof, was still very inconsistent. He was continuing to get up 1-3 times a night as well as waking very early for the day. But, his attitude during the day was getting better, so we were taking what we could for sleep. It has to get better at some point, right?