Celebrating Hamilton's third birthday

Today I'm grateful for...
Getting to sleep through the nights for the last week
Family helping Lulu and I emotionally
Sunny weather returning
Appreciation for my wife's strength

After the very stressful medical trip to SF, Lulu and I were looking forward to enjoying the next few days with family. We celebrated the New Years with family and friends at the local bowling facility, Coconut Bowl. We rented a private area with four lanes, and celebrated the Puerto Rican New Years at 8 PM (in PR the time is 4 hours ahead). As the clock struck 8 PM, I kissed Lulu and whispered into her ear that 2010 will be a great year, and that she deserves it. Everyone really enjoyed themselves (even the non-bowlers). We returned home and watched movies until late in the evening (I wrote in my journal for a hour or so). I was really excited about this new year, and a little nervous about what it was to bring?

Today is Saturday the 2nd of January, this is our third child's birthday, Hamilton. He's turning 3 years old today, and we are having a Mickey Mouse celebration with again family and friends at the local My Gym. He has been prompted by Mommy that the big day is approaching for the good part of the month of December, so he's quite wound up about this day. Before we leave to the party, I wanted to take all the kids to Circus Circus for games and circus shows. With five kids in tow, Pancho (my brother in law) and I paraded around for a couple of hours shelling out dollars so the kids could try their lucky at winning various stuffed animals. We were pretty successful and returned home with 15 or so critters. As little as 5 years ago doing this kind of thing would come to my mind as enjoyable, but as I grow older (and you would hope wiser), I find this kind of entertainment enjoyable. I even find myself taking pictures or video of every moment I can. I just enjoy life a little more these days, and I don't let a moment pass by without finding a way to enjoy it. I could just sit down on a rock outside and find some way to enjoy the experience. There's so much we have in front of us, and I think that many times we don't recognize most of it?

All the family leaves tomorrow, and Lulu has a ready told me that she's saddened by the thought of their leaving. It's so nice to have them here for us, but the negative is that at some point they will leave. We don't have a plan for when any of Lulu's family might be returning (that's probably the saddest part). I can't convey just how much their visit means to both Lulu and I. I guess that one of the positives about this breast cancer, is it bring the family together more often? We're left wondering what kind of support we'll need in these next two months with the continued care that Lulu's to receive?