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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 1:11 PM CDT

Well, we made it through the summer allright. We are happy to all be back on a schedule again. The kids had a fantastic summer. We played with our friends a ton and took a few short vacations. We went to North Carolina with Rob's family during the 4th of July and stayed at his parent's in the mountains. The kids had so much fun. The highlight of the trip was tubing in freezing cold waters. It was great and the girls did an awesome job, so independent in their tubes. In August my mom and I took them to GA to see my grandfather and play around for a few days. We went and visited one of our friends from NY while there and we went to this really cool drive through safari where the critters got right in the car with us. WHAT FUN!!! We just got back from Captiva Island with my family. SO we had a busy summer just lounging around and enjoying the east coast a bit.

The kids started school on the 20th. Payton is now in 2nd grade, Madison went to Kindergarten(how can that be????) and Ethan started a two day two year old program at Madison's old preschool. So, I now have 10 hours a week without kiddos!!! What a break. Having Madison gone until 3 everyday is a break in inself but then to send Ethan off two days a week I get kinda lonely. Starting October 1 though I will be going into the office those two days so I am enjoying my break while I can.

Payton is still doing great. We have another dentist appointment tomorrow to have 3 cavities filled and some baby teeth pulled to help make room for the adult teeth that are coming in.

Well, it is short but I need to go get the girls from school. I put new pictures in the photo albulm of the kids so check them out.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about out perfectly normal life!! We are SO blessed!!!
Rob, Gin, Payton, Madison and Ethan Bogert

Monday, April 16, 2007 9:57 PM CDT

SO, where does one start when she has not updated this lovely site in six months. Well, much has happened, of course, so I don't even know where to begin.

We'll start with Payton who is doing fantastic as always. Payton will turn seven in July, I can't believe it!!! We will achieve the six year mark from diagnosis this summer. Again, so hard to believe...it just seems like a lifetime ago. Payton is finishing up first grade in May and has been able to keep up with her class without a problem...which always shocks me with that hearing loss of hers. I guess I should just learn that Payton is an acheiver and she will most likely surprise me for the rest of my life. She has no idea that she can't and so she does. What a way to live!!! If we could all be so lucky! Anyway, she continues to do well socially and her speech is really coming along these days. I am hearing more end sounds from her. I think learning to read is helping her visually see what she can't hear so now when we try to tell her something about a letter placement in a word she can identify with that word. I expect to see continued growth in her speech in the coming months. For the first time I think she is realizing the need for the therapy and she is really trying to do better. With that should come great progress!

We are still working on that mouth of hers. We are hoping to be able to start bonding some of her discolored teeth come August. Her dentist wants to wait until the adult teeth are fully in before we bond them. We are ready to get it done though as they are a very yellowy color and she has had comments from the peanut gallery once or twice about them. But as I remind myself girls are girls and if it were not her teeth then it would be her hair, body shape, funny voice or whatever it is they could find to pick on her about so at least this is fixable. Around 16 she will have veeners put on all of her teeth to help with the discoloration but until then a bonding we will do! Did I mention the total price of all these braces, coloring wonders and other dental work she will need over the next 10 years. Basically, I could buy myself a new car. So when she is 16 and complaining about not having a car we'll just hook some speakers to her cheeks and send her on her merry way...it will be a slow car with only two feet but heck we'll own it and she can use it all she wants! :) Oh, don't kid yourself. We promised her a brand new car when she turned sixteen back in 2001 during some tortueous event she was enduring for something...I'm sure we'll stick to the promise...back then we would have done anything to actually get her a car so a car it will be I'm sure! :) We also promised a horse but she was too young to remember so PLEASE don't remind her! I can't handle a horse but I am sure one day she will say something about a horse and poof we'll own one of those little beauts too. :)

Currently we have added a lovely Cock a Poo to our home for Madison(don't ask long story but it relates to the cat tale below). He will be one in May and is just lovely. The children may not have any toys left before he outgrows his chewing phase but otherwise he is perfect in everyway! We'll keep him. He is just so fluffy and soft. He looks like a stuffed animal. I am rather attached to my "Bad Tiger". But sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and if anything he helps me to declutter as he eats their gadgets. Maybe the kids will get the hint and put their toys away when they are done. Ethan has it. He plays with his Thomas Trains and immediatly places them back in their bin when he is done for fear of another precious train being mauled by the vivious Tiger waiting by the tracks for a moment to come and eat Sir TopemHat!

And just to top the fun in our house Rob, not me, promised Payton a cat for her 7th birthday. This was 2 years ago but the girl can remember and so we will have a kitten to add to the bunch come July. I bet we don't make anymore promises anytime soon to these little manipulaters we live with. And it was all said to get her out of a pet shop where she was huggin a kitten she "had to have". :) Ahh, a tough lesson daddy learned and an inspiring one Payton taught me. Daddy is wrapped around Payton's fingers and mine, and Madison's oh and Ethan's too...poor guy. We have no mercy ! :)

Payton and I went to NY in March for her annual checkup. It went great. She grew 5.6 cm last year which is right on target and a slight extra growth to top her off! YIPEEE!!! She needs every inch she can get her hands on!
Her renal scan looked stable so we can't complain about that. We will return in another year for the full workup but until then we can be found in Sunny FL enjoying life to the fullest!

MAdison is about to turn 5. Ahh...Mads is 5!!! So sad. She will go to Payton's school in the fall. I think they are both excited about being together. Madison is an amazing child who is drawn to anything artistic. It is amazing to see how much she needs her crayons, paints, scissors and such to make her day whole. She is just fantastic. She can throw a holy fit but we love her anyway and each day closer to five I think we leave those terrible 3's & 4's behind. Just in time for ETHAN!!!!ARGHHH!!!! :)

Ethan will start a 2 day program in the fall at Madison's current school. It should all be fun...mostly because I will have a jolly 10 whole hours a week without one single munchkin! What will I do??? CLEAN! Ah, yes that is always a must when the kids are taking a break from destroying it! :) Madison is getting very big and grownup as well but she is still my little baby. Everyone needs a little baby...I surely am not ready to give up any of mine yet. Ethan is turning 2 in May and like all little boys he is in love with Thomas the Train and trucks, cars and anything he can brmmm around the house and say choo choo about. It is indeed a fabulous age and we are having much fun with him. He is just a buddle of personality. Aren't we all! Ahh, the joys of living in our home. It is indeed glorious...not a single true complaint. Life is good, as it should be and I just wanted to share that bit of news with any of you that are still checking in on the site. Thanks to Rachel who continues to pray for Payton weekly. She can always use prayers! I am impressed that you continue to come back when it appears that I have fallen off the face of the Earth with the lack of updates. I apologize but I don't expect that I will update much sooner this next time. We have a long summer of fun ahead of us so I would think that I will sit down when my babies head back to school in August. We are going to have a blast this summer just chillin out and hanging with our little friends. Should be a great time. So, thanks for stopping by. Thanks for remembering Payton and for those of you looking for life beyond NBIV it does indeed exist. Get those babies healthy and life can be wonderfully normal again. It almost seems surreal now what Payton endured...to look at her she is the picture of health but we all know that once she was an extrodiarily sick child who fought her way up through this beast and is now showing it how to live. For all our friends we have lost along the way we will never forget you and you are thought of daily...even the ones we lost five years ago. We still think of you. I am sorry to the parents who are coping(do we really cope?) with the loss of their precious children. In the Bogert house we often remember our little friends as we are smiling at Payton, when we are given the chance to see her in a school play it is bittersweet as I think of just how lucky we are and when I am angry with her about being too loud it is you that I think of, it is you who would do anything for one last annoyance from your child and so I smile and move on knowing that Payton is living and therefore I must allow her to live as she needs. For all of the children we lost along the way, you will never be forgotten, never!

Much love to you all!
Gin, Rob, Payton, Madison and Ethan Bogert

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 6:32 PM CST

Happy Fall everyone. It has been a long time since I last updated and for those of you still checking in on us I apologize. Life at the Bogert house is wonderful. We stay VERY busy these days running around after all the kiddos. We had a nicce Thanksgiving break and are now back to school and in full swing once again. While I enjoy the routine that school offers it is nice to have some time off to just play around. It is amazing the amount of homework that Payton brings home daily.

Payton is doing extremly well in school and continues to keep up with her peers. To say we are proud of her would be a huge understatment. She inspires us daily. Her zest for life and her carefree attitiude is wonderful. She lives each day fully and finds joy in all she does. I hope that this innocense stays with her forever. I adore watching how she views the world with such peer joy. It is truly amazing. We are also amazed at how well she manages to do in school. With her hearing loss I am sure that she must work harder to achieve the same results as her peers but you would never know it and she strives to do better everyday. She is now spending more time on her work so that she will receive an O rather than just an S. We are pleased with an S but she wants to do better and have the best score possible. Again, another testament of her strong will to be the very best, to live life to the fullest and to enjoy each moment she has been given. It seems amazing to me that she lives this way; almost as if she somehow knows how precious her life is! She is making great friends at school and recently joined a Brownie troop. What fun she is having as a Brownnie. Her troop is great as all the girls are in 1st grade at the same school and many are in her class as well. Anyway, Payton is doing splendid. We are so thankful.

Madison is growing up so quickly. It is amazing to see our "little" girl growing up so fast. She is doing great in school as well and continues to look forward to going to "Payton's school" next year. She has also had the opportunity to meet several other kids who will be going into kindergarten at the new school with her and she is happy to know other kids who will be with her. I am happy for her as well as she can be somewhat shy. I am glad that her first weeks of school will not be without some familar faces. In terms of school Madison is doing great and will do just fine in kindergarten. She can already do much more than Payton could do at 4. But once again I think that comes with the hearing loss. Watching how easy things come to Madison has made Rob and I realize how hard Payton must work to keep up. Madison seems to just pick up new things everyday. Madison is quite the little artist. She show so much detail in her art. It is great to watch her create.

Well, Ethan is getting fussy. SO I will have to quickly end. We got a new dog last week. A little peek a poo. He is darling and the kids adore him. Ethan is doing great. He is 18 months now and seems like a big boy himself. All my babies are growing up!

Anyway, if you are able please visit www.lunchforlife.org and donate the cost of one lunch out to The Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation in honor of Payton. This is an annual campaign and we love to watch Payton's tree colloect ornaments. It is so nice to know that so many of you out there still care and check in on us. I would love to see CNCF raise even more money this year so that we can give more money to Neuroblastoma research. Maybe one day parents won't have to hear their child has cancer and with hope one no child will have to suffer through the treaments Payton did!!

Thanks for checking in on us!
Rob, Gin, Payton, Madison and Ethan Bogert

Tuesday, September 5, 2006 11:38 AM CDT

At long last, I am finally sitting down to update this page. We are doing wonderfully around here. Life is good. Payton is REALLY enjoying first grade. She seems to be doing well. Progress reports come home this week so I look forward to seeing how she is progressing. I met with her teacher the other week and it seems that socially Payton is doing GREAT!!! The other kids adore her and she really likes all her friends as well. She was lucky enough to get in a class with a great teacher as well as many of her classmates from last year so she seems very pleased. We went for a check up this summer with our local ongolcogist and every thing looks good. We will go to NY in the spring for a check up. It is nice to just be home and living normally. Payton is reading now and working on addition and subtraction skills. She seems to be a bit stronger in math than literature but I also know that her hearing loss contributes to her struggles. We continue to work at home with all she is learning trying to reinforce what she gets at school.

Madison is really enjoying her class as well. She is in a four day fours class and loves it. She too, seems to be doing well socially and is with friends from last years class as well. Madison is working on her alphabet right now. She knows most of the letters and sounds. I'll start on some basic reading skills with her soon. She really wants to learn to read like Payton. Madison really wants to go to kindergarten but I am not sure that she understands that all her friends will not go with her to the new school. Most of her friends at school will go on to the Lutheran school's "big school" next year but we will stick with the public school system as it seems to be pretty good(and free!!!!).

Ethan is growing like a weed and starting to show his real self. he has LOTS of opinions these days but can't seem to voice them well so he just screams at me until I figure out what he wants. It can be LOTS of fun!!! :) Anyway, he is walking around now and keeping us all in smiles as he chatters away with his baby babble. It is cute! The girls adore him and he worships them so it all works out but on occasion I hear them yelling ETHAN!!!!!! He seems to get into their stuff at times when they don't want him in it.

Rob and I are also doing great. Rob spent the weekend with the kids as I had lots of work to do for Boys and Girls Club. This is my busy time of the year so Rob gets stuck with the kids alone. He took all three to Seaworld with his parents and the kids had lots of fun.

Well, I better run. I have just under an hour before I need to go get Mads from school. Thanks for checking in with us. Life here is wonderful!!!

Be grateful for all you have!!!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton, Madison and Ethan

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 2:13 PM CDT

Hello,
It has been a while since my last update. I find that with three that life is full and not too much time to fill in the world on Payton's wonderful health. We are doing great around. Payton finished up kindergarten and is moving onto first grade in the fall. She is lookng forward to starting first grade. Payton did fabulous this year. She suceeded, she worked hard and she had fun. What a great combination. She is so full of desire to succeed and that has helped her in so many ways. This year Payton was fully mainstreamed and did great with her hearing impaired teacher, speech therapy and FM system. She was well excepted among her peers. We are so very proud of her. Payton also lost a mouth full of teeth this year. Currently her top two teeth are missing. We will be going to her local oncologist in a week or so for a checkup. We will not be going to NY this summer. We plan on going back next spring for her check up with Dr. Sklar and a renal scan with dr. LaQuaglia. We are enjoying our break from our six month trips to NY. It is nice to finally feel normal again.

Madison turned four in May. Four, I can't believe it!!!! She too is doing great in school. She will attend a four day four year old program in the fall. One more year and then at last she will join Payton at school. She is very ready to be with Payton at school but she also enjoys having "her" school!!! Madison is showing signs of being interested in art. She spends LOTS of time coloring and drawing.

Ethan is already one now! I really can't believe that. He is doing great. One of the happiest babies in the world!! But what does he have to be upset about anyway! :) He will spend next year home with me. Then it is off to Madison's school for 2 day two's...if I can part with him!!! :) I won't know what to do with myself once he is gone for two days!! Maybe clean the house!!! :)

We had a pool put in this year. The kids are LOVING it!!! We have spents LOTS of time this summer in the pool and we look forward to a lot more time out there!

I can say with great pride that come July 31, 2006 we will celebrate 5 years from Payton's diagnosis. We are so excited to get to this milestone!!!

Well, better run.. Lots to do around here. Thanks for checking in!
Gin, Rob, Payton, Madison and Ethan

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:39 AM CST

Life here is WONDERFUL!!! The kids are growing and thriving. I will get a better update up here in a few days but for now please take a moment to write your congressional represenative and ask for their support for a new Act that is being proposed through Congress to help raise awareness and funding for pediatric cancer. The link is at the VERY bottom of this email. Or if you don't want to read it all copy and paste this into your computer.
http://capwiz.com/curesearch/home/

If for some reason this link does not work please email me and I will email you the link.
vbogert@cflrr.com


Hello,
I was wondering if you could take one minute (literally)) and go to the below link. Type in your zip code and send a precomposed email to your representative in support of an upcoming Cancer Act that will be voted on soon. It would mean millions of dollars pumped into our research facilities and also money to help make people aware of childhood cancer and its devastating effects on families and children. Childhood cancer is WAY under funded. Researchers for Neuroblastoma only receive a little over $1 million dollars a year from the government once all the money is distributed from the National Health Institute. With that said, think about what $1 million dollars will do today when in Oviedo alone a middle class home can cost almost that much!!! Please, send your represenative this email. I just did and it literally took just a few minutes from my day. It might save children like Payton from enduring all she has. It costs you nothing but time and for some children today they don't even have that! Also, if you know anyone else that might do this please pass it on. It takes just a moment and could mean so much to families like ours who have suffered through pediatric cancer
Thanks,
Gin
COLEMAN, COLLEAGUES, MINNESOTA FAMILY, AND NHL TEAM UP TO
FIGHT CHILDHOOD CANCER
Young Minnesota cancer survivor and family joins with Senate
and House members at Wednesday press conference introducing Conquer
Childhood Cancer Act of 2006


Coleman unveils Conquer Childhood Cancer Act at press
conference
March 8th, 2006 - Washington, D.C. - Senators Norm Coleman
(R-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Talent (R-MO), and Congresswoman Deborah
Pryce (R-OH) today teamed up with the NHL and CureSearch Foundation,
along with a New Prague, Minnesota family who has struggled with cancer,
during a Wednesday joint press conference where they introduced important
legislation encouraging the expansion of research programs aimed at
preventing childhood cancer. Cancer is the number one disease killer of
children, and more than 12, 500 children are diagnosed with cancer each
year.

The bill - the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006 - is
designed to provide funds to raise awareness about childhood cancer and
support children and their families who are suffering from this disease.
Cosponsors of the bill are Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jack Reed
(D-RI), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Jim Talent (R-MO), Thad Chochran (R-MS),
Jim Bunning (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Tom
Carper (D-DE), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

"I am proud to introduce the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act
with my fellow colleagues to fight this terrible disease," Coleman said.
"Cancer is the number one disease killer of children and until we meet
the day when every child can live a life free of cancer, we must continue
to promote awareness and strengthen our investment in childhood cancer
research. Our legislation will give a voice to the thousands of children
and families in the United States who have been touched by childhood
cancer. It provides the thousands of physicians, nurses and scientists
the tools they need to find a cure."

Each year, cancer claims the lives of over 2,000 children
while an additional 10,000 are diagnosed with the disease. The Conquer
Childhood Cancer Act of 2006, which will distribute $20 million per year
over a 5-year period. In addition to creating a biomedical research
program aimed at curing and preventing childhood cancer, the legislation
will establish a national childhood cancer registry to monitor the
incidence of childhood cancers, support a long-term survivorship center
and provide informational and educational services.

Wednesday's press conference was attended by families who
have been directly affected by the devastation of childhood cancer -
including Kris Rech, a New Prague, Minnesota resident, and her
four-year-old son Wyatt, who was recently diagnosed with a form of kidney
cancer.

"The introduction of the bill has strengthened my need to
advocate not only for Wyatt, but for other families who have a child
diagnosed with cancer," Rech said. "I never imagined that as a result of
sharing our story with Senator Coleman that this bill would be introduced
bringing increased awareness of childhood cancer and the need for
additional research. Wyatt, being only 4 years old, is unaware of the
significance of the bill. In the years to come I hope that he will be
able to look back and see the introduction of the Conquer Childhood
Cancer Act of 2006 as a beginning of possibilities for every courageous
child diagnosed with cancer and their families."


Please go to CureSearch's Take Action Alert and enter your
zip code to find your representatives and email them letting them know
that we need increased awareness and funding for childhood cancer.

http://capwiz.com/curesearch/home/

Friday, March 3, 2006 7:33 AM CST

Things around here continue to move in postive directions! We are happy to report that life here is good and healthy on all fronts. Ethan did have to have tubes put in his ears last week and he already has developed an ear infection since but otherwise we are doing well.

Payton continues to do well in school. She seems to be adjusting nicely and is really starting to enjoy what she is learning to do. I caught her trying to write sentences on the sidewalk with chalk the otherday and that made her very proud of herself. And of course, I was proud of her as well. Payton also has started reading which is a joy to see and hear. She is really making great strides and for that we are thankful. I am impressed with all she can do even with her hearing loss.

Madison doing well and is growing like a weed. They really start turning inot little kids between 3 and 4 and so here we are with a almost 4 year old. It is hard to believe she is growing up so quickly. She is a joy to have. Last week she told me she wanted to write her name on a birthday card and so I figured fine scribble away and handed her the card. To my own amazement she wrote MAD perfectly and then asked what is the next letter. After having helped with the S in her name she managed to write her whole name all by herself. Then she wrote Ethan's name and her friends name on the card. I was shocked!!! I guess that comes with being the second child, they learn quicker. Or maybe she's just a genius!! :) :) HAHA. Needless to say we are proud of her! She is amazing.

Ethan is just moving along. He FINALLY started crawling last week. Yes, I know 10 months is a late start but I guess with all of his ear infections it just set him back. But once he got started he was off exploring his surroundings and loving it!!!!

Well, better run as Ethan is fussing and I have my annual Parent/teacher conference with Madison's teacher today. I wanted to update you all on the little girl I mentioned last journal entry. She is doing MUCH better and has responded well to the first round of high dose chemo given to her. She just finished up a second round and is waiting for her counts to drop. Please stop by her site if you have the time and drop her parents a comment. They need all the support they can get right now and every prayer said counts as well!!! Her site is www.ChristiThomas.com

Thanks for stopping by and checking in on us. We are doing great!!!!
Love,
The Bogerts

Tuesday, January 31, 2006 8:44 AM CST

If you have a moment please visit www.ChristiThomas.com . Christi is 8 and was diagnosed with NB when she was 5, just a year afer Payton was DX. Christi has remained with disease since that day but has had an active and wonderful 3 years(but not enough by any means!!!). Much to everyones dismay it appears that Christi's disease is spreading rapidly. Everyday there are new signs and it is just so heartbreaking. Angela and Shayne, her parents, strongly believe in prayer and so I ask you to visit Christi's site if you have a moment and to pray for her family, for her comfort and for the miracle they so long for but fear will never be.
Thanks,
Gin


It has once again been too long since I have found the time to sit down and update Payton's webpage. We went to NY in January and had a lot of fun playing in the snow. Payton had a renal scan and also gave urine to check her NB hormone levels. All looked fine. Her renal scan has not changed, which at this point is the best we can hope for. Her right kidney is doing most of the work at 78hile her left kidney is only working around 22 Her kidney was damaged at some point from the tumor and by the time we caught it the damage was severe.

Payton is doing well in kindergarten. She struggles a bit due to her hearing loss but all in all seems to be holding up fairly well. I am hoping to find out today if she is falling behind in anything but as of the last report she was keeping up allright.

Madison is enjoying going to school 3 days a week. She is almost as big as Payton now and such a joy. She can make a mess though!!! She and Payton have become the best of friends playing together so nicely on most occasions.

Ethan is just darling. He has the biggest blue eyes and the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. He is sweet and flirts with everyone. He loves Payton and Madison to death and in turn they love him right back. He is not the best sleeper but we'll keep him anyway.


Well, Ethan is crying as Madison left him in his room to go watch TV. He hates being alone. I'll update again soon as life settles down. As always thanks for checking in.
Rob, Gin, Payton, Madison and Ethan

Monday, January 2, 2006 0:15 AM CST

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I can hardly believe that 2006 is already upon us. I have yearned for this year since Payton was Diagnosed in July 2001. I have wondered one too many times if she would ever see this year. I have thought that with the passing of her five year mark I too would be free from this dreadful disease. In just over six months our baby(not so much of a baby now) will have made it to that five years from diagnosis date. We have been the fortunate ones. We are the lucky. We have lost far too many friends along the way. I however am not free. I still worry. A bit less than in the beginning but every pain or odd happening within her body can send me into a panic. Every fever that is not occopied by a ear infection DX or a Strep DX is cause for a short moment of fear and wonder. Then I must face that children get sick and so will Payton. We are happy and we celebrate her life and we hope that her story can bring hope to others who are enduring the harsh treatments for NB right now.

We are doing well as a family. We continuously adjust to life with three children. It is fun, it is hectic but it is fulfilling in ways I cannot explain. When Payton was DX she was our only child. Today she is our oldest and a wonderful big sister to Madison(3.5) and Ethan(8months). I am so happy that she is here for them and that they are here for her. It is so nice to have a family of young children learning and playing together and everyday I remind myself of just how lucky we are.

Payton is in kindergarten, doing well. She is fully mainstreamed and uses an FM system in the classroom to better her learning. She is doing well. Keeping up. We are proud of her. I would be fibbing to say all is easy for her. She struggles a bit with certain things. We do have to work with her a little more at home that say the average joe mom, but we have never been average. We just have to make sure that we go over what she is doing at school more so than most as her hearing loss does slow her a bit. I think for Payton since she lost her hearing at such an early age she struggles to learn and hear things properly.

Madison is in pre K 3 and goes to school three days a week. She sits with Payton and I while we work onher schoolwork and Madison is taking it all in. She is able to work on some of the more basic Kindergarten skills and does well. She will do great in Kindergarten in a few years.

Ethan is just wonderful. He brings us the boys take on the world. It is wonderful to revisit all the things the girls did but in a little different manner. He bangs his toys more than the girls and he just seems to really enjoy playing, for example it is 1:25 and he is playing!! No, really he just went to sleep early and is up for a bit.

Well, must cut it short as Ethan is getting fussy.

Hope you are all well and thank you for stopping by to check up on our family and our status.

I'll try to post some nre pictures here tonight.

With Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton, Madison and Ethan Bogert

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 1:25 PM CDT

Hello friends. Once again it has been a while since I lst found the time to update. But once again I find it refreshing to report that no news is good news onthe cancer front. Payton started Kindergarten on August 1, 2005. She is completely mainstreamed and only pulled out for speech therapy. She has an hearing impaired teacher who comes twice a week to work with her as well but she stays in class with Payton. This year Payton was fitted with an FM system to help her hear her teacher better and all seems to be going great!

Well, I'd like to make this longer but Ethan is crying so I guess I better run and feed him. I'll try to update more soon but for now we are all doing great and the new picture above is Payton on her first day of school. I'll put a new picture of Madison and Ethan in the photo section.
Gin

Friday, May 27, 2005 1:28 PM CDT

WOW, it sure has been a while since the last update. So sorry about that but in all honesty life for us has moved to normal and with normal comes not as many updates. Which is a good thing!

Payton is doing GREAT! She graduated the Pre-K program last week and is all ready to start kindgarten in the fall. I can hardly believe she will be going to Kindergarten next! She will start Aug. 1, exactly four years to the day we left for NY to begin treatment. Wow, she has come so far. Payton is doing great in school and her hearing seems to be stable. For now our biggest concern is her speech. We continue with LOTS of speech therapy both at school and privately. With her young age at DX her speech has been really affected. You learn so much of your speech skills right as Payton lost her hearing so now we must try to teach her sounds she has never heard before. But we'll take that over the Neuroblastoma anyday.

Madison is doing great as well. She also finished up school this week. She will have the summer off and then start a three year old program in the fall. She is about the same size as Payton and the two are close as ever! I am so proud of both of them. Madison has truly grown into a wonderful and entertaining little girl. She is so loving.

Onto our newest member of the family. Ehtan Michael Bogert was born May 7, 2005 a mere 5 weeks early(He's not due until June 10). He is perfectly healthy and wonderful! He was 5lbs. 11oz. and 18.5 inches long. Currently he is not sleeping great but we are working on that. Last night he actually slept for four hours straight and today he was up for a total of 4 and half hours before falling back to sleep. We are hoping that this is the turn for better sleeping patterns. We'll see, keeping our fingers crossed!

Rob and I are doing great. Rob has been workign from home since January. It has been a long several months as he tries to work around all the noise of the house. his new office will be ready by July and hopefully he will be able to work in a better environment. It was an adjustment to have him home but now it will be an adjustment to send him back. We have grown to depend on him being home.

Guess that is about it. I will try and put up some new pictures of the kids here in a few minutes.

Thanks for checking in with us and I'll try to update sooner next time. But always know that no news is good news around here. Payton and I head back to NY July 14th and 15th to meet with Long Term Follow Up.

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton, Madison and Ethan Bogert

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 8:20 AM CST

Just checking in. Life here is good. No complaints, no worries. We found out yesterday that we are expecting a baby BOY in a few months! We are very excited. Well, Madison is throwing toys down the stairs so I must run. Thanks for checking in on us. I'll try to get a longer update up here soon.

Monday, December 20, 2004 7:52 AM CST

Just a quick update today, both girls are home for the winter break so time is short.

We had a wonderful time in New York. we had the chance to see Beauty and the Beast with both Payton and Madison this year. I think they really enjoyed it and had a good time. There were a few parts that were a bit scary but otherwise they were VERY into the show! We also had the wonderful opportunity(thanks mom) of going to see The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show. It was like nothing I have seen before and I am so happy we got to go! The weather was nice while we were there and we just got out and explored the city a bit.

Our two days in the clinic were uneventful and the girls just had fun playing in the playroom. Payton had her renal scan which went well and all looks about the same. We also met with long term follow up again. Nothing new there either. Her urine test came back normal so we are off for what may end up being a whole year. I just have to speak a bit more with all her doctors in NY and then make sure we don't need to be there. But it looks promising!

Payton had an IV put in while we were there and was very proud of herself for not crying at all. To be honest I was very impressed and proud of her as well. She also did her urine test for the first time without the use of a bag. It was a big week for us and with luck we will find that we won't need to sedate her for these tests for much longer. Payton really is turning into a big girl these days!

After returning from New York I learned of the passing of my grandmother so it was off to GA for her funeral. It was a sad time for us all but I know that she is happier where she is now.

With that we are all home now, healthy and preparing for a wonderous holiday with the family. Both Payton and MAdison are looking forward to Christmas and Santa. It should be a wonderful morning on Saturday as they wake to see what Santa brought them.

Wishing you all a joyous holiday!

Check out the photo albulm for the girls' new Christmas pictures.

With Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

We'll find out the sex of the new baby early next month!!!! We can't wait!!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2004 10:26 AM CST

Well, I promised not to go so long between journal entries this time but time seems to be slipping by and I never can find a moment to sit down here and update. We are doing great! Could not ask for a better life for any of us! Payton continues to succeed in school. She is really having a great time in school and she is learning so much now. She seems to really be picking stuff up quickly now and I am so confident that she will be ready for kindergarten in the fall. I worried for some time if she was going to catch up but at last she seems to have really started putting it all together.

Madison is doing great. Getting big and starting to become her own little person. Sometimes I wish she would let me do more for her but as she grows she is experimenting with doing things herself. She is pretty good at it but she still needs help her and there and does not want it! :) Gotta love the twos! She is also finally starting to get to the age where I can rationalize with her a bit more - she is understnading some cause and effect issues and in turn this makes talking things through with her a bit easier. Madison has really started to enjoy her two days a week at school and is making friends with her classmates. I worried about her for a while but it seems she just needed some time to adjust to me leaving her everyday. Now, she walks right in and joins her friends in play. It is nice to see her happy as I leave.

Rob and I continue to do well. I am finally getting some energy back after the first trimester of the pregnancy. It really beat me! But I am finally starting to feel a bit better. Rob is working too hard as usual but we do manage to have lots of fun on the weekends as a family.

Last week our friends from NY came to visit us. We had a ton of fun going to the Disney parks with them. Lauren and Payton had fun playing and Patty(the mom) even brought along Abby(Lauren's younger sister) so Madison had a playmate as well. We all had tons of fun but a few days of go go go with four girls and we were all beat-the kids included! I was so happy though to be able to spend time with our friends away from the hospital on a purely plesant trip. We relaxed and had fun! We can only hope for many more years fo little mini vacations together! :)

Well, Madison is a bit craby with a runny nose and head cold so I am going to go cuddle with her for a bit before her nap.

I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and if I don't get back before a festive holiday season. We are heading to NY the week of December 7th to meet with Long Term Follow Up and Dr. LaQuaglia. As usual, Payton will have her renal scan to check her kidney functions. We can only hope for stable results. We will also do a urine collection while we are there. I have gotten over much of my fear of this disease coming back but I think it is always there a bit and with the upcoming trip approaching quickly I feel a bit nervous about it all. I am sure it will all be fine. Madison, Payton, my mom and myself will be making this trip and we are hoping to catch Beauty and the Beast on broadway as well as the Rocketts show at Radio City Music Hall that week. It should be a great time for us all!

Thanks for checking in on us and happy Thanksgiving! Always remember all you have to be thankful for so there is really so much we take for granted!

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 1:29 PM CDT

WOW!!!!

It sure has been a LONG time since I last found myself here updating. Of course, no news is good news. We have been VERY busy around here. Bouncing back from all the hurricanes and the time off from school. It has really taken a beating on my house in ways I can't explain. The laundry is behind, the vacuuming is undone, the toys are scattered around the house. Hurricane PaytonMadison destroyed our home and it may take weeks to clean up the mess left behind! :)

We are all doing well. Payton is off school this week, on fall break. Madison did go to school yesterday and today so Payton and I had some good quality alone time. We really had a great time the last two days. Payton had a three month check up with the oncologist yesterday. Her counts looked great and she had blood drawn to see if she is ready for her MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine. Then she is done and all caught up with her vaccines.

We have some good news to share with you all. We found out a few weeks ago that we are expecting baby Bogert #3 in the spring. We really are looking forward to the new(and final) addition to the family. While this was planned it happened VERY fast but we are pretty happy about it all. I am feeling great-just kinda worn out as you do in your first trimester. The girls both want another girl. Rob and I would, of course, love to try our hands at a boy. But as the old addage goes, as long as its healthy! :) And I really do mean that!

Well, I guess that is it around here. Rob is taking Thursday and Friday off from work. We are going to go to Disney(as usual) on Thursday and we are going to the petting farm on Friday. It should be a lot of fun for all of us.

Thanks for checking in on us. I'll try not to go so long between updates again but with life getting so normal for us all it is easy to forget this world we once lived in!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, September 14, 2004 8:49 AM CDT

Good Morning to you all,
We are back in action around central FL. No more worries of Ivan slamming us! YEAH! What a great relief that is. I have always gotten a bit of excitement out of the hurricanes. they can be fun as long as they don't destroy things. Well, I have had enough of the hurricanes this year and can only hope we don't get hit again. The girls are back in school. Madison is not sure what she thinks about school. She seems to like it once she gets there and gets over mommy leaving but the adjustment to me leaving is hard on both of us. The last two days I have left her crying. Sometimes I just want to take her out but I know in the end it is good for her and her teacher says she loves being there after I leave. Payton of course still loves school and enjoys to be there. I picked her up about ten minutes early yesterday so we could go to speech therapy and she was very angry with me for making her miss the good bye song! She was still telling me how upset she was when she went to bed last night. Life here is good. Can't complain a bit. Payton is sleeping in her own bed all night long every night now! She got new tinkerbell sheets and comforter and is very happy with her room now. She wakes in the morning and calls out for us. It is nice to have our bed back. Madison is still in her crib but now at night seems to want to sleep in a bed so in a few months I may let her sleep in her own room but for now bedtime is easy with her in the crib.

I am not sure if you all remember last year in October I discussed Lunch for Life with you all and asked for a small donation($5.00-the cost of one lunch) to be given to the campaign. Well, they have started it up again and are asking for people to give up their lunch once again. They have a website now it is www.lunchforlife.org . I will put a link at the bottom of the page. You can make your donation directly on line if you wish and it even gives you the opportunity this year to make the doantion in honor of someone(hint, hint-Payton). So, if you have a chance and would like to give up a lunch in honor of Payton and all those who have fought to beat this monster please visit the website and make your donation. The money is going straight for grants for research into finding not only a cure but also better treatments that are not as harsh as the current protocols. My two favorite NB campaigns are Lunch for Life and Alex's Lemonade stand-both have generated lots of public awareness about NB and also the monies raised through these campaigns go directly to the researchers trying to find a cure for NB. Know your money will be used for research and just that!

I guess that is it around here. Payton has to go to the dotor and have her titers drawn here in a few weeks to see if she is ready for her her final immunizations! Wow, I can't believe we are almost to the last set of shots!!! It is a wonderful feeling to know that Payton has come so very far!!!

We have Thursday off from school so the girls and I are going to run over to Epcot to meet their newest favorite princess. They just started watching Mulan and are ready to go meet her so we are going to do that on Thursday. Then on Friday they will go spend the night with my parents. They can hardly wait!

Thanks for checking in.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 9:10 AM CDT

Hello from not so sunny FL,
We once again made it through hurricane #2. Ugh, how many more can we take???? The humor in it all is Ivan is on his way to FL. :) Too much, REALLY!!! The girls are out of school. Have not heard if we will go back tomorrow or not. Sure hope so. Payton is ready to get back! I'm ready for Payton to get back!! :) Frances was LONG and it rained A LOT!! We had constant rain for about 48 hours. We had a little damage from the water as it came in through the bottom of or front door and messed up our flooring. Rob spent yesterday trying to repair that. He still has some work ahead of him but he got some of it up and new flooring put down. My mom and dad lost their power on Saturday morning and are still without it. It may be a few more days before they get it all back but the good news is the house is fine. Other than that we are all well and I better run before the girls hurt eachother and I am not able to report such wonderful news! :) I'll update more when life finally settles back down...
Gin

Monday, August 16, 2004 8:54 AM CDT

We continue to be blessed in so many ways. This weekend the largest hurricane in over 40 years tore through Orlando and even through Oviedo. We were right in the middle of the eye of the storm. We watched the rain pounding against the windows as we listened to the wind roar through the streets. The trees that survived the wind were bent in half, our streets covered in debry from the forceful winds. We however, were unharmed, our house in great shape with only a few minor bits of damage. Our neighborhood looked great and after each family spent the day clenaing their yard our neighborhood was back in great shape. As I drove to my sister-in law's on Saturday to see how they had weathered the storm I truly realized just how lucky we were. Huge trees were down everywhere you looked. Driving was difficult as you had to wind around the trees lining the streets. Families were seen out cleaning in every yard you passed. Roofs were missing shingles, some down to bare wood. Tarps were draped over houses to protect them from the coming rains. People were working together to remove trees that blocked traffic. Our neighborhhod is the only one that I know of that never lost power. We welcomed friends and family into our home to escape the heat and have a decent meal. Today, many are still without power but I continue to hear of more people getting theirs back. In my wildest dreams I never thought a hurricane of that magnitude would ever come through Orlando, I always thought we were far enough inland that it would slow by the time it reached us...it did not. Well, it did but not as I envisioned. I am so thankful that we managed to do well through the storm, that we are all safe and that our house in fine.

I have to run as both girls are home-and cranky after the long weekend with lots of guests and excitment. School is cancelled through tomorrow. Hopefully we will go back sometime this week.

As always, thanks for checking in on us!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, August 12, 2004 5:06 PM CDT

Not too much to report around here. Both girls started school as planned and after two weeks seemed to have settled into a routine. To my suprise Madison really seems to like going to school and had no problems with me leaving. She is making herself right at home and enjoys her teachers. Payton of course was thrilled to be back and has adjusted to her new teacher nicely. She is doing more academic based things so I think that is good for her. She is being challenged and she she needed that. Her teacher is also a bit tougher and has high behavioral expectations so Payton is not getting away with so much this year. A good thing I think, it will better prepare her for kidergarten!

I booked tickets and set up appointments for our next NY trip. We will be going the first week in December. We also got ticket for the Rocketts Christmas show and hope to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. My mom and I took Payton last year but she had an ear infection and fever and fell asleep during the show. Hopefully this year she will feel better and enjoy the show more. Madison is also going with us so she will get to see some shows as well. Both girls really like to see the shows at Disney so I think they will enjoy the shows in NY as well. I only worry about Madison and her ability to sit through the length of the shows but I think she will do fine.

School has been cancelled for tomorrow due to Hurricane Charlie which is supposed to hit FL tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too bad around here. I am just expecting high winds and LOTS of rain.

Well, I better run. I have to get dinner started. Hope you all are well and thanks for stopping by. I hope to get some new pictures of the girls up soon!

Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Sunday, August 1, 2004 8:41 PM CDT

August 3, 2004

Sadly, Alex Scott lost her battle with Neuroblastoma on Sunday, August 1, 2004. She left a legacy behind her and I wish her family strength for the coming times.

Payton and Madison did indeed go to school yesterday. As expected Payton was thrilled to be there. To my surprise, Madison was also happy to be there. She went in with no problems and enjoyed her day. This morning I dropped her off and she joined right in with her teacher and when I left she did not even seem to notice! How nice.

Just wanted to give a quick update on our day.




I meant to put in our update yesterday but never got around to it. Three years ago yesterday Rob and I were dealt the worst news of our lives. Our 1-year-old baby was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and the surgeon here in FL deemed Payton's tumor inoperable. It was three years ago TODAY that we landed in NYC around this very time clutching Payton in our arms and fearful of what the doctors would tell us, but oh so hopeful all the same. It is the hope that got me through the rough year of treatment. It is the hope that still gets me through yesterday, today and tomorrow. I would be an idiot to say I don't fear the cancer returning or even worse fear that one of the drugs we gave her could cause another form of cancer or heart disease or one of the endless other "side effects" they warned us of. I live with hope that Payton beat the NB and will continue to grow and thrive as she has done over the last three years. Payton has come so very far. I am so proud of her and I feel such pride in having her for my daughter. She continues to work hard with her speech and is making great strides. Payton is also becoming more physically active and trying new things. She is coming out of her shell faster than ever these days. Talking to strangers in the stores, telling stories, joining in at story time in large groups. I also feel pride having Madison because while she has never been sick(Thank God!) she still lives in this house with the unknowns that come with surviving cancer. She is the one who gets left behind when I rush Payton to the ER for an exposure to chicken pox. Madison is the one who gets drug to NY, to ER's for hydration, to doctor appointment after doctor appointment. It is Madison who smiles, never complains and seems to already understand that Payton needs that extra TLC on occasion. My Madison is a wonderful girl with a tremendous smile who I believe often gets left in the shadows-even though I continue to try not to. I feel pride for both my daughters tonight and every night because they are who they are and the very fact that through it all they have maintained their smiles and love for those who surround them.

I don't know that when I stepped on that plane to go to NY on this very night three years ago I ever really thought I would bring Payton back home. I know that sounds horrible but it is the truth. One I am so thankful never came to be. I NEVER thought I would bring back TWO girls with me. But I did and my life has been forever blessed in ways I cannot describe in words. I have come far too close to loosing my baby. I find it hard to return to that day she was diagnosed-it is like my body won't allow me. I sometimes want to return just to remind myself of the pain I felt. I can remember it but I can no longer feel the gut wrenching pain the night they told us Payton had cancer. What I can feel is the sheer fear of knowing that life truly can be taken from you in an instant and I for one don't want to miss a moment of my precious babies lives. I want to be surrounded by them-to feel their youth and their experiences and desires.

That is what this summer has been all about. Enjoying my babies before they are too old to want me to enjoy them. I have put my house aside(I MUST clean as soon as I get Madison settled tomorrow) and I/we have had FUN. We have played hard. We have laughed, we have fought but we have lived and that my friends is the gift cancer gave me. It taught me to live, to love, and to NEVER take any moment or any person I care for for granted. It took away my comfort zone, it took away my babie's hearing, it took away so very much but it also gave me precious knowledge. Knowledge I am choosing to use-I needed to take something good(besides Payton, of course) away from this experience. And so, today Rob and I took them to Disney and once again I enjoyed watching their excitement and sheer pleasure as they met the princesses(AGAIN), Peter Pan, Wendy, Captin Hook, Mickey Mouse, The Beast and many more of their favorite characters. To watch them get so excited when they see them warms my heart it makes me know that this is why I had children.

Tomorrow BOTH my babies head off to school. Payton is READY READY READY!!!!! She can't wait to get back(which suprises me with ALL the fun we had this summer-Just this week we went to GAtor Land and MGM studios). But I think she misses the routine, the friendships, the projects, her teacher. Madison is another story. I chose to enroll her in school because when I dropped off Payton last year she said she wanted to go. WELL-now it seems she kinda wants to go but maybe not. We'll see how she does in the morning. She is excited to use her Cinderella backpack and lunchbox so maybe that will encourage her to attend. I'll let you all know how it turns out for us in the morning.

As I end this tonight I want to rememember all of my friends we met along the way who were not as fortunate as Payton. I remember the first little girl we knew to pass away. Hannah was this little girl who was so full of life, so very sweet and so very special. We will forever miss her even though we barely got to meet her Hannah touched our hearts in ways I cannot describe. We lost Dreau, a boy who actually lived only about 20 minutes from us a little over a year into our battle and right at a year into his. He was wonderful and sweet, he was five when he passed away. He will be forever missed by his parents and younger brother who was only 4 months old when Dreau was diagnosed. We lost Hunter, who fought bravely for three years. Aaron who never acheived a remission but hung on for almost two years. Akaida, who like Aaron, never acheived a remission. She was so dear and sweet and got along and played with all the kids at RMH. Sweet Robyn just passed away this summer. She fought bravely for five years. Matthew had Luekemia and passed away a little overa year ago after receiving a transplant. Nicky was diagnosed with NB while Payton was in transplant. Nicky passed away last summer. MY friend that I met in NY "Big" Peyton passed away in May. She was a delight. She had ambition, desires, goals. I will forever miss her. Her mother was so very dear to me while I was in NY. She forced me to leave the hospital when I was having bad days-she brought me yummy food on occasions. She made me laugh. Peyton and I would visit at night when my Payton was sleeping. Big Peyton was 25 when she passed away. My dear friend Dana, we shared a room with her and her daughter Temi one time in patient at MSK. Dana and I hit it off right away. Our girls were so sick but Dana and I laughed that weekend. We have been friends ever since. Temi passed away from a brain tumor in March 2002. Dana misses Temi so very much. I could go on but you get the picture. You see how lucky we are. You see what surrounds us. You see that everyday somewhere a precious child is dying from cancer. Why do children have caner????

Alex Scott is not doing well. Please keep her in your thoughts. She has reached $700,000 for her Lemonade Stand effort. It will take the rest of us to help her meet her goal. She will most likely not be here for anymore stands on her own. It is unfair. Payton is here, so am I. I think we need to get Alex's fund some more funds so I don't have to write anymore lists of friends we lost. They're gone, innocent children gone forever. Life continues on for everyone else but their parents, they must live without their babies. It MUST be stopped! What can I do? I was lucky enough to have a child who survived-should'nt I be doing something! I will.

Today, I am happy for my family, for my daughter who is a cancer survivor. Payton, YOU GO!!!!!!!

I Love my girls!!!

As always, thanks for stopping by. I needed to get it all off my chest. I needed you all to see some of the things I feel. I feel a lot regularly.

Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 12:12 AM CDT

Hello,
Well we had a VERY busy week last week. We had lots of fun and are really enjoying our summer break.

Monday we went to the petting zoo with Emily. It was a TON of fun. We saw goats, baby chicks, Madison and PAyton were able to ride a horse together. We pet sheep and geese. A goose pooped all over me and a baby chick pooped on Payton! Oh, the fun we had! They took us for a hayride and a train ride. We were all pooped when we left and had the greatest time

Tuesday our friends Casey and Riley came over and we went to the new pool in Oviedo. It has three cool water slides and it only gets about three feet deep but mostly it is about a foot so the girls are able to run all around and have tons of fun.

Wednesday we went to see Elmo in Grouchland with Emily. The girls really enjoyed the movie. After nap time(for Madison) it was off for another fun filled afternoon in the pool.

Thursday we went to go see a puppet show at a local theater. They performed Cinderella. We had a great time. The girls really enjoyed the performance and we all liked watching the puppets tell the story of Cinderella. Of course, after nap it was back to the pool to cool off and have some fun.

Friday, we finally took a break and stayed home in the morning. We just lounged around until after nap time. Daddy came home early on Friday and off to the pool we all went to have some fun.

Saturday was spent getting ready for the big birthday party. Rob took the girls to the pool in the morning while I got some stuff organized for the party. Payton saw one of her classmates at the pool and had a great time playing with he and his sister. Madison got tired about an hour into the trip and I came and picked her up for a nap.

Sunday was the long awaited birthday. Payton had about 12 of her friends over to help her celebrate her birthday. I can hardly believe she is already four years old.!!! We had such a great party! Around 8 AM they delivered her castle moonwalk. We bounced all day until they came back to get it around 7PM. Rob once again did a fnatastic job with PAyton's little mermaid birthday cake. Payton really enjoyed having all her friends come over to help her celbrate her birthday.

After such a busy week last week we were all pretty tired yesterday and we spent most of the day home just hanging out. If the weather is OK we are going to go swimming this afternoon but the clouds have been hanging around all day! :(

Friday, we have an appointment with her local oncologist for a monthly checkup.

Payton is really looking forward to going back to school. I questioned putting her in summer school but now I am glad I did because after the first week off she was ready to head back to school and asks me everyday if she gets to go back tomorrow. We start again on the 2nd of August-so just another week and a half and we are back in school. Even Madison is going to start on August 2nd. She will go 2 days a week. I hope she enjoys the activities she will get to be involved in.

Well, better run. Thanks so very much for stopping by.

I'll update again soon.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Friday, July 9, 2004 6:09 AM CDT

Hello,

I wanted to share with all of you that I got an email last night from Jay and Liz Scott, parents of Alex Scott. Their goal for the year of 2004 is to raise 1 million dollars for Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund. As of yesterday they had raised $600,000. They are well over their half way point and I think it is an accomplishment that deserves to be recognized. If you would like more information on Alex and her lemonade stand efforts or if you would like to send in a donation to her fund there is a link below to her webpage.


Well we have almost survived our first week home-Payton is offically on summer break. Monday, of course was a holiday so Rob was home. We went over to his brother's apartment and haung out with his kids and then went swimming in the pool. We all had a great time and MoMo and grandaddy were there to so that makes it fun as well.

I forgot to mention that on Sunday the weather looked pretty bad around 7 and by 8:30 it was just kinda starting to clear up. I had figured the fireworks would be canceled but right around 8:30 I saw the most beautiful rainbow and Payton and I figured it was worth the risk. So, off she and I went(Madison had already fallen asleep since she had not napped on Sunday). WE made it just in time and even though there was a slight rain coming down they sent the firewoks up anyway and Payton really enjoyed them.

Saturday Rob and I were able to get out and celebrate our five year anniversary. We went to see Spiderman II. Which was(for me) suprisingly good. Then we went to a great little resturant in Winter Park. There we had lobster bisque(a favorite of mine since we had it at our wedding)and lovely atmosphere and food. We really had a great time and MoMo watched the girls so they had fun as well.

Tuesday we met our friend Emily at the movies and watched the free Care Bears movie. The girls enjoyed it but not nearly as much as Shrek II. Then we had some lunch with Emily and her mom and came home for a nap and some quiet time.

Wednesday we took the day off and just lounged around the house and enjoyed our ralaxing play time. The girls had a blast playing together and when Madison went down for her nap Payton and I just sat on the couch and watched TV for a bit. We had speech therapy at 2 and after Emily came over for a bit in the afternoon.

Thursday MoMo came over so that I could get caught up on some work for my job. The girls had a great time with MoMo yesterday and I actualy managed to get a ton of work done! YEAH!

Today my mom is coming over and we are going to take the girls to Sea World for a few hours. After being inside for two days I think they need to escape the house and enjoy the heat. It should be fun. Then I think Payton is going to go spend the night with Mae Mae tonight. She is very excited about this.

Payton is also very excited about her upcoming birthday. She is having a little mermaid party with cake included. We ordered the pan on ebay as she requested a little mermaid cake(Thank gooodness they make mermaid pans). She also asked for a moonwalk for her party so she is getting one. We ordered a castle moonwalk for the party and she and all her friends will have hours of fun bouncing in the house. Then the company will come and pick it up. I am hoping that Payton does not get too upset when they take it back. I ordered a castle and she is excited about it.

We have a lot planned to keep us busy next week. We are going to a petting zoo on Monday with Emily and her mom. Tuesday and Wednesday we will most likely play with Casey and Riley. There is a free movie on Tuesday and Wednesday so we might go there one day and they opened a new little water park in Oviedo so we will most likely check that out one day.

Well, I better run. I have to get everything and everyone together for our trip this morning. As always, thatnks so much for stopping by. I'll update again soon.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:29 PM CDT

Hello,
I have added all new pictures so please take a moment to look at them. It is really amazing how fast both the girls are growing.

We have had a lot of fun this summer. Rob and I took the girls to the beach on Sunday with Casey, Riley, Fred and Sue. All the kids had a blast running through the sand and into the water. Afterward we went to Sue's parents house and went swimming in their pool. The kids all had a blast and that evening all four kids were in bed early!

Saturday Rob and I went out to dinner and my parents took the girls to go see Shrek II. This was the third time Payton saw it and the second time for Madison. I took them to see Garfield last week as well but they had a hard time sitting through it. But they had no problem watching Shrek again. Payton ends summer school this week and I am going to take the girls to the free movies that play once a week starting next week.

Payton is really starting to get excited about her upcoming birthday. Her birthday is not until the 19th but she is already bursting with excitment about the upcoming party. Today she had me make cupcakes for her to bring to school. Since school is out in a week they are allowing Payton to bring her cupcakes in a wee bit early. She is VERY excited. She has chosen The Little Mermaid as her theme and we went to the party store yesterday to get all her supplies for the party. This is the first year that she is really into her birthday and i have to say it is pretty fun!

Not much new is happening around here. We are just enjoying the warm weather as much as we can. We will go see some fireworks this weekend on Sunday and Rob has Monday off.

Saturday is mine and Rob's five year anniversary. I can hardly believe it has been five years and then sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago. We have been through a lot in five years but as I have said before there is no other person who I would rather have gone through it with. He has been so wonderful, kind, thoughtful and supportive through it all and he has had to deal with it as well. I am so thrilled to celebrate such a happy milestone with Rob.


Casey and Riley came over today to play. I took all the pictures today. You can tell they were all having lots of fun. We went and played at McDonalds and then had free icecream at the icecream place across the street. The kids all had a blast and Sue and I were able to chat a bit!


Well the house is quiet and I am tired so off to bed. Thanks so much for stopping by to check in on us.

Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Monday, June 21, 2004 10:01 AM CDT

Hi Again,
It has been a while since I last updated. Time is getting harder and harder to find around here. Payton started summer school on the 7th of June and goes everyday until 1:30. The time escapes me everyday. We are also doing speech therapy twice a week after school so it seems to get busier and busier around here.

We had a wonderful trip to NY. We met with the Long Term Follow Up Team and assuming that Payton shows no signs of problems we will not scan anymore. At this point we are most concerned with hormone levels as she grows, her overall mental devolopment and her physical growth. We discussed possible second cancers and theirs risks from the treatment and we also discussed some possible organ damage that could occur with time from treatment. In the end we learned that there is not much we can do but to be wtchful and observant and hope that we continue to be as blessed as we have been with Payton's life. I just hope that Payton can continue to function in school and not fall behind due to side effects from the chemo. She may have some problems with processing information but knowing about the problems ahead of time is the best tool I can have to help her. I will be a very proactive parent and may drive her teachers crazy but we will all figure out how to help Payton as things come up.

We were able to go to the zoo while we were in NY and we had a great time. The weather was unbelievable and that made it all the more enjoyable.

Payton's renal scan showed her kidneys are stable and her urine hormone levels(checking for active NB) came back within normal range. We really could not have asked for a more enjoyable and positive trip to NY. We will return again in six months. Until then we will enjoy being normal!!! YIPEE!!

Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund brought in just over $400,000 so far in about 2 weeks. What a wonderful tribute to young Alex who is fighting so hard right now for her life. Her parents said that the money and support that Alex has received gives her the ability and desire to continue her battel with Neuroblastoma. Her disease has recently starting progrssing rapidily and she just started a new oral chemo. The last I heard it seemed to have been shrinking some of her obvious tumors. Thanks to any of you who took a moment to send her a donation. If you have children who would like to hold a stand of their own and send in a donation(any amount is appreciated) you can visit her website(link is listed below) for more info.

On Thursday we awoke to a broken AC. We had a hot 36 hours but finally had air again Friday night.

Payton has been sleeping in her own room now for about 3 weeks. She sleeps all night by herself and I don't hear a peep from her until morning. This has been wonderful for Rob and my sleeping . SHe kicked us a lot. :) We have also gotten both girls to start going down by 8:00 and that has helped on many levels for the whole family! The girls seem less cranky and bedtime seems less hectic as we have a routine down. Rob and I get a few hours for ourselves in the evening. That has been wonderful as well.


I took Payton to the YMCA pool on Saturday and she was actually swimming with a float divice by herself. She was so proud as was I! We all went to SeaWorld yesterday and enjoyed Father's Day with Rob.


Well, I have some work to get done today and Payton needs to be picked up in just over and hour. Thanks for stopping by and checking in on us. I'll try to get the site updated a little sooner next time!

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, June 7, 2004 10:27 PM CDT

Good evening friends.

I want to start this journal out by sharing some more exciting news about a Childhood Cancer research event. Alex Scott was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma when she was 12 months old, just like PAyton. We have been lucky and Payton has acheived a remission. Alex is now eight and has never acheived a remission. But Alex has chosen to use her illness to help others. About 3 years ago Alex started having lemonade stands to raise money for cancer research. On Saturday, June 12, 2004 families across the country will join Alex in holding lemonade stands to help raise money for her fund, Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund. You can learn more about this effort at www.alexslemonade.com

I was planning on having a stand but then Payton's NY appointment was scheduled for this week and I am unable to hold my stand. I am asking those of you who still care to help me to send a small donation to Alex's lemonade stand fund. Please buy a cup of "virtual" lemonade from Alex. Alex is having a difficult time right now with her disease and I know that seeing the country pulling together to help fund a cure will help her spirit a bit. I had the honor of watching a segment on Oprah today. Alex was featured as a hero. She is this cute 8 year old with a huge dream and a bigger heart. She decided long ago that her money raised would not just go to beat NB but ALL childhood cancers-because in her mind no child should have a tumor. She is right, no child should endure all she has and all that so many do everyday. When I get back from NY I still hope to hold a stand but it won't be the same as joining all my fellow NB parents on June 12th knowing we are all doing this together. The Scott family has said there will be about 100 across the country on June 12. Kellogs gave Alex a check for $25,000 for her fund today on Oprah. She was also on the Today show last Friday even though she is sick from radiation treatment to try and slow the progression of her disease. If you choose to send a small donation in please let the Scott family know it is in Payton's honor.

They have also recently published a children's book about Alex's stand. It is entitled Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand [Hardcover] by Scott, Liz; Scott,
Jay... It is 15.95 and can be ordered through amazon.com. They had the artist draw cartoon characters of children in the book. There is a picture of PAyton in the book-though I would have to point her out to you. It is a lovely book with fabulous drawings and a tale to win your heart. They are also featured in this month's Better Home and Gardens Creative Kids Magazine. In this article I am honored to have several quotes. The Scott family has worked very hard to organize and get coverage for these stands and I am so disappointed that I won't be having one this Saturday with them. But in spirit I will be with them and so I am asking you to go get yourself some of that virtural Lemonade. Checks or money can be mailed to Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund
333 E. Lancaster Avenue #414
Wynnewood, PA 19096-1929

In our own family news we are doing well. PAyton started summer school today and we will be heading to NY on Wendesday. We will return on Sunday. I do ask that you take a moment and please visit the Scott's website. Get to know Alex. She is an amazing person and one who deserves a moment of you time. I will post a link at the bottom of the page for you if you are interested in checking out their webpages.

Thanks for checking in. I will update with any new news from NY when I get some.
Gin

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 7:49 AM CDT

Well, My entries seem to be getting further and further apart. We remain so very busy and my days are running together. Today, though we will stay at home and chill. How very exciting!!!!

Payton ended school last week. She missed the last day of school due to some virus of sort. So we have been home enjoying our summer since last Tuesday. Rob spent the weekend of last week putting in some new flooring on our stairs and in the hallway. While it was much needed it is taking a lot longer than Rob or I thought it would. He did manage to finish the hallway upstairs and he is working on the stairs-lots of cutting involved!!! So, the girls, my mom and myself will head to Disney on Saturday-this will be our last weekend before the blackout dates begin and last through August. So, we wanted to go one more time. Rob will stay home and attempt to finish up the stairs.

My mom and I drove with the girls to GA on Thursday afternoon. Both Madison and Payton were so good and traveled very well. We only had to stop two times on the way up and got into GA around 1:00 AM. We were happy to get there and PAyton managed to stay asleep the wole night. Madison woke for about an hour and then went back to sleep. We met Rob in Atlanta on Friday morning and went to the zoo where we enjoyed all the great animals. It was lots of fun.

My aunt came in on Friday night and Payton enjoyed dressing up for everyone and performing as only she can do. Rob, Madison and I spent the night in a hotel for Friday and Saturday while Payton stayed with my mom at my grandfather's.

Saturday was dedicated to visiting family and we left out with two tired girls Sunday morning. We stopped at Callaway Gardens for a bit and rode the train, toured the butterfly house and had some lunch. Once again, the girls traveled so nicely. They fell asleep for a little nap after we left the gardens and allowed us to drive for a little over three hours before we stopped. We got back home around 10PM on Sunday night.

Both Payton and Madison were rather tired from the trip so we spent the Monday morning crying and throwing fits and the afternoon napping as we needed. MoMo and Granddaddy came by last night and visited.

Payton is out of school the rest of this week and will return for summer school on Monday.

We leave for our six month visit to NY on the 9th. We will meet with Long Term Follow Up, Dr. Laqualia and have a renal scan on the 10th. The rest of our trip will be spent enjoying NY kids style-The Bronx Zoo, Toys R Us, Central PArk ect.

I did manage to scan new pictures of the girls in but I can't get an internet access on Rob's computer-once I do I will update the pictures on the site.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting us. Hoep you are all well.

Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 11:33 AM CDT

Hi again,
It has been a few weeks since I last update. Time sure seems to fly by lately. But of course the old adage no news is good news applies. We continue to just be normal. How lovely!

Payton and Madison both had checkups last week. Payton had her fourth round of immunizations and madison had her two year check up. Madison is looking great-she is in the 50n both height and weight. She got two thumbs up and does not need to go back until she is three or whenever PAyton is ready for her MMR and chicken pox vaccine as Madison has not been able to get hers yet either. So, at some point I will have to take them both in together to get those last two shots. But those are the last ones Payton will receive so it will be a few months.

My mom and I took the girls to Disney again on Friday as it was a day off for Seminole County. When I get some time I will update some of the pictures with some cute shots from Disney. We had a blast and even managed to "park hop"(not an easy task with two small children) to MGM to see Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid. Payton wanted to see the PlayHouse Disney show but it was closed when we got there. We are going to go do it before our passes start the sumer black out dates in June.

Payton is out of school next Tuesday for the summer. She'll be off for almost two weeks and then she is going to go to summer school for four weeks. I think she will enjoy summer school as her best buddy from school will be in her class. It is also a way for her to get to know her new teacher for next year since she is teaching the summer program.

We had Madison's birthday party this weekend. She is offically two years old! And acting just like a cranky two year old! :) She had a Mickey Mouse party-this was what she chose. She had lots of fun opening her presents and I think her favorite presents were the pool she received for outside and the paper and crayons-Madison LOVES to color!!!! Payton really enjoys the dress clothes that Madison got and I can hardly get her out of them. She slept in the Beauty and the Beast dress the other night. Madison also had her first two year molar pop through on her birthday night so she is not sleeping too well right now. Yesterday I noticed that she has had the second one pop through as well-poor baby, her teeth really bother her!


We are driving to GA to go see my grandfather for Memorial Day weekend. It should be a lovely trip. My mom and I are heading out of here Thursday night and driving in while the girls sleep(hopefully). Then Rob will meet us in GA on Friday. He has to leave on monday of next week for a business trip in CA. So, he is just flying into GA and will drive back home with us late Sunday evening. We are hoping to go to the zoo in Atlanta while we are there and of course the butterfly house at Callaway Gardens.

Well, that is about it around here. When we get back from GA we have a week off school and then Payton will go back on the the 7th. On the 9th we are flying out to go to NY. We will meet with the Long Term Follow Up team on the 10th, have a renal scan and meet with Dr. LaQuaglia at some point. The rest of the time we are there we are hoping to have a little fun...go to the Bronx Zoo, Toys R Us in Times Square and anything else that sounds like good kid fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to get the new pictures up later today-Madison is napping so I want to go get some cleaning done while I have a moment! :)
Gin

Monday, May 3, 2004 1:12 PM CDT

Hello,
Wow, what a week we had. Tuesday I attempted to send Payton to school. She left here kicking and screaming. About an hour later her teacher called to tell me that she was very tired and after about falling asleep at the table they layed her down. She fell asleep right away and was very hard to awake. Frightened I went to pick her up. Once I got there she seemed out of it falling back aleep very easily. I called the ped. but they ld not fit her in. I called our oncologist and they suggested we take her to the ER. Well, 6 hours later we found out she was dehydrated and would need some IV fluids. After a VERY long day in the ER we were released and cmae home. I kept her home on Wednesday and she seemed to be feeling a little better but still managed to take a nap so I figured she needed to stay home another day. In the end she stayed home all week. We met up with one of her classmated at McDonalds for their weekly playdate and then we went to Chuck E Cheese with Casey and Riley on Thursday evening. Friday my mom came over and the girls wanted to go do something so we ran over to Disney and Epcot for the day. It rained a few times but all in all we had a nice day. By Friday Payton was back to her old self.

This weekend we just messed around the house and played quietly around here while Rob and I tried to get some housework done.

Well, I just noticed it is time to go get Payton from school. Hopefully she had a nice day today. She did not want to go to school this morning after being off all week but after some kicking and screaming I drug her there anyway. I called about an hour later and her teacher said she was doing just fine all smiles and laughter!

Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, April 26, 2004 10:13 PM CDT

Hello,
It has been a while since I last updated. Life was a bit hectic last week so I have just found the time to sit down at the computer tonight.

I really don't know what all we did to stay so busy so I will just give a brief update tonight.

I do remember that Payton was exposed to the Chicken Pox on Wednesday at school so she and I spent a LONG evening in the ER trying to get a chicken pox immunoglobin shot so that she won't actually get the chicken pox herself. Hopefully we got the shot in time and we can escape her devoloping them. If she were to get the chicken pox we would have to go inpatient and she would need to receive IV antibiotics for the duration of the outbreak so we are hoping that she does not get them. I found out a few days to late that about 12 kids in the second grade had come down with them but she was directly exposed in class-so we got the shot in time for that exposure at least!

We did not end up going to Disney as planned last weekend. Payton decided on Friday night that she owuld rather just poop in a pull up so we stayed home and enjoyed the our own house during the weekend. On Thrusday night as she was getting a shot in each butt cheek she told me she thought she should get to go to Disney for what she was going through. I agreed(because I have no spine when it comes to her and discomfort:) ) and we went to Disney on Sunday instead. We did have a blast though so I am glad we caved in and got them their passes. Yesterday we got to meet up with Snow White(Payton's favorite princess) but more importantly the Prince was with her. This excited Payton greatly! Madison is really into Pooh and Cinderella. So we rode the Pooh ride for her(where she had a blast) and were going to go see Pooh but everyone pooped out before we got the chance to see Pooh and friends. But since we have the passes now we will make sure we see Pooh next time we go!

Payton stayed home from school today because she woke up in the middle of the night last night and vomitted. I kept her home just to make sure she was doig allright-she is doing JUST FINE!!! :)


Payton had an oncology visit last week and her counts were all within normal range we don't have to go back again for another three months!


That is about all I can think of for this update. I think we have to go next week for Payton's 4th month of immunizations and Madison's 2 year checkup. Madison's birthday is quickly approaching so I need to get organized for that. I did get her present already. I bought her some princess costumes on E Bay. Of course, Payton will benefit from this gift as well but I do try now to get gifts that both girls can play with.

Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, April 15, 2004 12:16 AM CDT

New photos in phot section.


Good Afternoon,
Once again I am here updating without too much to update. We had a great weekend. We went and saw the Easter Bunny on Saturday and Rob's parents came over so Rob and I could go out. We went to a resturant that we had a gift certificate for from Christmas. It was very good and I even got to have my favourite soup of all times, lobster bisque-hmmm...I LOVE LOBSTER BISQUE!!!!! We were going to go to a movie but it did not work out so we went to the mall and walked around a bit before coming home. The girls had a great time with Mo Mo and Granddad so everyone was much happier after a bit of an outing! The girls LOVEd visiting the bunny and were yelling about it all the way to the mall and as they were RUNNING through the mall to get to the bunny-waiting in line was difficult but they were happy to be there! We also went over to Payton's friend's Emily's house to have an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday as well. It was a fun filled weekend of hunting eggs.

Sunday we awoke to a visit from The easter Bunny!! Oh, he was good to the girls leaving them small toys and some money(about 2.00 in change-but it made Payton happy! :) ). Madison slept late so she was not so into the basket as by the time she got up everyone was here including her friends Casey and Riley. So, playing with them was more interesting than her basket-oh, well maybe next year.
We had a Easter egg hunt in the front yard with Riley and casey(pictures should be updated within the next 24 hours as my pictures still have to get devoloped). They had SO much fun. Madison was more interested in opening the eggs as she got them so she did not get too many...Payton was shaking the eggs and throwing them back if the sound of coins moving were not in the eggs. The best quote of the day was "Where's the money" from Payton as she shook her eggs(must be nice to be able to be so picky :) Lucklily we caought the quote on video so it will be fun to watch in the future!

The rest of Sunday we just rested and I worked on my reports for work.

This week has been quiet. I have made it to the gym twice this week( a record for me!). Yesterday we went to McDonalds after school with Emily and then to the icecream store for our free cones.
Today is a quiet day as Payton will most likely attempt to poop on the potty for two times in a row without using a pullup. Rob told her last night if she could do this he would take her to see the princesses(meaning go to Disney). He figured it would happen one day but not this weekend. Well, today she woke and told me she had to poop on the potty so she could go see the princesses-smart kid, maliputive too! :) So, most likely we will be at Disney on Saturday visiting our friends, Cinderella, Snow White, belle and Aurora. She is VERY excited. We were saving up for annual passes but looks like we may have to invest early-Rob has a big mouth! :) It should be lots of fun since Madison decided on our last trip there to like the characters. I had to pry her off of Cinderella last time! This will be the first time I have ever had to pay for Disney tickets! But I am sure we will love having the annual pass!

Well, as always thanks for stopping by. We hope you all had a lovely Easter and thank you for your continued support and interest in our family!

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, April 8, 2004 11:52 AM CDT

Hello,
Well it has been a couple days since my last update. Not too much to report around here. Payton has off tomorrow from school for Good Friday. She only has 5 more weeks left and then we will start summer break. We are really looking forward to Easter. Payton and Madison have been invited to an Easter egg hunt at Payton's classmate Emily's house on Saturday. Then sunday Casey and Riley are coming over for an easter egg hunt at our house. Rob's sister and husband along with my parents will also come so it should be a lot of fun.

Payton has made her Easter request. She does not want toys for Easter but rather money. When asked what she will do with said money her response is to count it and put it in a wallet. She is one smart kid-and so soon inlife-can't wait to see what she asks for for Christmas-I'm sure her disires will only get more expensive! :)

Rob made it back safely from CO. He had a great time. I was able to get some yard work done this weekend. It looks much nicer in the back yard now.

Well, I guess that is about it around here. Rob and I are hoping to escape this weekend for a few hours and go out to dinner. His mom is going to come over on Saturday to watch the girls for us.

Otherwise it will be a fun filled Easter egg hunting weekend. Madison and I are off in about 30 minutes to go and watch Payton have an easter egg hunt at school.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a fabulous Easter weekend.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 10:11 AM CST

This week I am going to start by bragging about Madison-yes, Madison! Madison decided last week that she needed to go potty-so as usual I sat her happy butt on the potty assuming nothing would come of it-well, my girl suprised me with PEE!!! YAHOO! No, of course we are not potty trained BUT we have since gone on the potty several more times and given mommy more presents! She is such a big girl now!!!

Payton also did something pretty amazing last week-My Payton left me-she went and slept ALL night in her own bed-more importantly-in her OWN room!!! YAHOO!!! Wow, is all I can say-some nights she sleeps all night in her bed-others I find her sitting in the hallway half asleep muttering to herself-and then there are nights like last night when I wonder, is it worth it? Should I just leave her in my bed??? Last night, around 2:00-I felt a slight tugging of my arm-upon close examination I found my child-bright eyed and bushy tailed-ready for play. But wait, it two in the morning-who plays at two in the morning-oh, that's right-my kids do! Oh well, after much urging(that's saying it nicely) I confensed Paytont that it was in her best interest to go to sleep-I was back asleep around 5AM-what a long night-but the bright side is she slept by her self in her own room from 9-2. And on some nights I get the WHOLE night to myself-to endulge in an entire half a bed-WOW, what more can a woman ask for?

Payton and Madison had a bit of a virus last week. It started with Payton being tired and cranky-then the fevers came. Payton missed Wednesday-Friday of school last week. I got her back up to Par and then Miss Madison, my dear sweet Madison, got the same bug-only Madison seemed to take it a bit harder-she's not used to being sick and sick make her feel yucky. She is extremely crabby-but oh, ow she deserves to be so! :) She is all better now-but we had a couple of days and nights that were long.

Saturday Sue and I took Casey and Payton to SeaWorld. Rob kept Riley AND Madison at home-all by himself. He said they were great and when Sue and I returned home with the bigger kids Rob was sitting on the couch-with both the younger girls ASLEEP upstairs! He is GREAT! We had a great time at SeaWorld!

We are heading out to the village this afternoon to go play with our friend, Lauren from NY. She is on her Make A Wish. Tomorrow we are going to meet them at SeaWorld. So Payton is skipping school tomorrow-she is VERY excited about this! ROb is also skipping work and going with us! :) It should be lots fo fun.

Rob leaves tomorrow for 5 days. He is going skiing with his buddies in Co. This was his christmas gift. I know he will have TONS of fun. There will be 5 guys who have all been good friends for many years! I am excited for him as he has well earned a break from work and from around here. I hope he has tons of fun and gets some nice relaxing times! :)

Oh, and the biggest news of all-I got a call last week from Payton's Dr. in NY. We are done scanning! We will meet with long term follow up and continue with our renal scans to ensure her kidneys are functioning-but we will NO longer look for a recurrance of NB! What a bittersweet moment it was to hear those words. I am still adjusting to not scanning and while I am thrilled beyond words I am also a bit nervous-but I just have to have hope and faith and believe that Payton was lucky and that she will neverhave to face NB again! :)


Well, better run. Lots to do today. Thanks fo stopping by.

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Saturday, March 20, 2004 7:03 AM CST

Check out the new pictures.


Good Morning to all.
We had such a fun and busy spring break week.
We started off on Friday with an attempt to get pictures of the girls taken for Easter-no such luck. I got three pictures but none were breathtaking so I'll have to try again. Maybe next weekend. Then it was off to the Cliett house to play a while. Rob and Fred took Madison and Riley back to our house and Sue and I kept Casey and Payton. All the kids had a wonderful time playing at eachothers houses and then they spent the night with one another. It was the first spend the night party we had and it was tons of fun. Madison and Riley stayed up a little late playing with
eachother and were up early but the bigger kids did a bit better.

Saturday found us just playing around at home after we left our friends.

Sunday Momo andGranddaddy(Rob's parents) came by for breakfast and then Rob and I escaped to go to a movie and dinner. Oh what a nice time that was!!! We saw Secret Window-pretty good movie. It has been a LONG time since Rob and I managed both dinner and a movie!

Monday Payton and I went to FL Hospital where she had an echocardiogram and EKG. I have not gotten back any results but I'll assume no news is good news. It was long overdue so I am glad to have gotten that test off my plate. Payton was SO very good during the test laying so still and just watching the screen. She really amazes me at how great of a kid and patient she is. My memories of echos in NY were so bad-she was young and did not understand what they were doing. She screamed so much. It takes about 40 mins so a screaming child is really not a lot of fun. I was happy she behaved so well. And in true Payton form she knew that a treat was in order for her good behavior. This time it only cost me 2.50. OJ and a donought from the cafateria. I can handle that!!! :) Madison stayed home that day with MoMo so it was nice to only have to deal with one child. Madison took a nice long nap for MoMo and so I think MoMo did not have too stressful of a time.

Tuesday we just kinda lounged around. Kim and Erica(boss and co worker) came by and we ordered in lunch. It was a lovely visit and the girls were so good and agreeable while they were here. Then Lisa and all the cousins came over in the afternoon to play. After they left it was an hour or so outside enjoying the fresh sunlight and lovely air. We LOVE the FL spring!

Wednesday we went to Melbourne to visit with a friend from NY. It was so great to see "big" Peyton and Peyton and Payton had fun playing together(well Payton had fun playing-or ordering around big Peyton). Once again the girls amazed me with how well behaved they were as we sat in a resturant and ordered dinner. It was great fun and memories I will cherish forever. Afterward we stopped by Mae Mae and granddaddies office to say hi and then it was off to home once again.

As if we had not been busy enoungh throughout the week we decided to go with Casey and Riley to Seaworld on Thursday. We had a ton of fun. The weather was perfect. Riley and Madison were a bit of a handful-Madison especially but we still managed to have a good time. Payton and Casey both really wanted to just watch the shows but the little ones were not doing well with the shows. So when we left PAyton was a bit upset and heartbroken over not seeing her "favorite" show. Rob is taking her back tomorrow to see more shows. Sue and I figure we'll take just the older two one day soon. casey and Payton sat in a little wagon the whole day and were so perfect!

Friday Payton and I had to run out to UCF for a hearing and speech evaluation. She will start another form of speech therapy in the summer. I am excited about this and I have high hopes for it really helping her with her articulation and receiving and interepting information. It was Mae Mae's Friday to be over so she and Madison stayed home and played while Payton and I were at the testing. When we got home we ran out to downtown Disney to get Riley a birthday present. After that Payton went home to spend the night with Mae Mae. What fun. Rob and I took Madison out with us to grab a bite to eat and then he and Mads were off to bed. Rob has been working such long hours this week and he is even working today(sat)!!! Poor guy. I took the time to just sit around and watch a little TV before going to bed myself.

This week I learned that we lost another little girl to NB. Robyn Brooks was from England and her family gave up everything to move to America in hopes of finding a cure for her. Robyn and her family arrived in NY right as we left to come home in May 2002. Robyn was a strong fighter and went through the same protocol Payton had. The main difference was she had already gone through the European protocol a few years earlier. Sadly, Robyn lost her fight on Wednesday morning. I know that her parents and sister will return to England broken. I can only imagine their pain and I hope that one day soon a cure will be found. So that we loose no more precious children. Robyn was a breath of fresh air who lit a room. She was sweet and cute and I am so sad that she is no longer with us. I wish her family peace as they learn to live in this world without Robyn. What a sad week it has been.

Madison and I are going to pick up Payton in a little bit. Then tomorrow it is Seaworld for Payton and Rob in the morning and Riley's birthday in the afternoon.

Payton will go back to school on Monday and I think she will is also due to go in and have her third set of immunizations on monday afternoon-that should be fun! :(

Well, better run. As always thanks for stopping by and keeping us with our busy yet oh so normal(thank GOD!) life!

Talk to you soon.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:21 AM CST

Allrighty,
I would like to start off with some cute sayings my daughter had this week. Last Friday she was talking to my mother and myself and told us she did not want to forw up. "I don;t ever want to gorw up", She said. I said you never want to grow up-you're going to stay little forever? Her response, "I don't ever want to grow up, I grow down". Ahh, the joys of being young! :) Last night we were all laying in bed(sans madison who gets stuck in her crib all by herself-oh, to be so lucky). I was trying to get little Miss to sleep and Rob, well, Rob WAS asleep. He sometimes falls asleep before us. He's a busy man though so I can't fault him. He had to be up by 5:30 this morning so a 9:00 bed time is not unreasonable. But, I digress. Payton and I were laying there and all of a sudden her eyes popped open, "Mommy, whats that"? "Daddy's snoring", I say. "There's a cow in the room mommy". I couldn't help but laugh. It took me a few minutes extra to get her to go back to sleep once she realized she was cute!

Our week was nice. Payton starts Spring Break tomorrow. We have a busy week ahead of us. She has a follow up echo cardiogram on Monday-just to ensure that all is fine. Then we have a hearing and speech evaluation on friday to get her into a speech program at UCF. Hopefully, we can get some therapy during the summer so we don't loose what progress we have made this year. And hopefully on Wednesday or Thursday we will get to see our friend Big Peyton. She will be here visiting that week and we are hoping to be able to meet up with them out at Vero again!

Last Sunday we went out to the village for Founder's Day. Rob stayed home and did some laundry while the girls and I went out for some fun. We were so lucky to be able to see the man who founded the village speak. He was wonderful and it was an awesome event. He and his twin sister were there. They are holocaust survivors and he was so very proud of "his" village. What an amazing man and an amazing story he has to share. I think they said he has an autobiography so I am going to try and find it. It should be a great read. There was lots of stuff for the girls to do there. They were able to go on a carriage ride pulled by these cute little donkeys. There were LOTS of clowns wo were making animal balloons for the kids. They had pretzals, cotton candy, popcorn, funnel cake, snow cones and corn dogs for the families. Not to mention a wonderful homemade cake which was a replication the castle at the village. The gentleman who made the cake spent 14 hours making it! We had a blast!!! The girls got their faces painted, made some paint art and enjoyed icecream and all the fun at the village!

I am taking Madison and Payton to Sears tomorrow for their Easter pictures. Madison is really getting so big now. She is such a little girl. Today I was able to put laundery away and go throught the girl's closets and she played so nicely upstairs while I did it all. She has decided that she enjoys to color. She has so much fun using all the crayons and making pictures. She uses lots of colors and creates beautiful masterpieces. She is far more interested in coloring than Payton ever has been and I hope that I will have lots of lovely pictures to hang on my fridge because of it.

Well, Madison is napping and with the start of Spring Break approaching I better run and get some stuff done around here. As always, thanks for stopping by. Hope you are all well.

Love,
gin, Rob, payton and Madison

Thursday, March 4, 2004 10:06 AM CST

Not too much to report around here. We are all battling this yucky head cold thing that makes us feel terrible but we are managing to get through it. Yesterday Payton stayed home from school because she seemed very tired and I thought she could just use a day off. Today she seemed a little better but I think she is still pretty run down. Hopefully she'll start feeling better soon. I know that I have had a major headache myself for the last two days and I am going to go lay down for a bit here in a minute.
This weekend we went over to Casey's on saturday for his 4th birthday. I can hardly believe he is already four!!! This means Payton's fourth is right around the corner as well. Sunday we went to Disney and we all had a great time. The weather was fabulous and the crowd was small so we managed to ride on all the rides in Fantasy land as well as seeing lots of characters. We even met a few we had not met before!
Monday I signed Madison up for preschool next year. She is going to go two days a week. I had planned on keeping her home until she was three but she always wants to go with Payton to school and cries when she sees them doing fun things like painting. So, I thought maybe she would enjoy a few days a week at school. This will also give me a few hours every week to keep things in order around the house.
This weekend Payton has a birthday party for a classmate and on Sunday the Give Kids the World Village is having a carnival for local oncoloy kids so we will go out there and enjoy the festivities.
Guess that is about it around here.
Hope you are all doing well and as always thanks for stopping in to check in on us!
Love,
Rob, Gin, payton and Madison

Tuesday, February 24, 2004 3:09 PM CST

Hello again,
We have had a busy week. On Wednesday Payton returned to school. Thrusday we had to go back to the doctor for Payton so she could get her second dose of her immunizations. She was not too hapy with this but a trip to Taget for another new toy seemed to please her. She and Madison both picked out new books this time.

On Thrusday we also found out that Rob's car was not doing too well and so we went looking for a new one on Friday before things got bad and we had no trade in. We were lucky that my mom was here on Friday so we were ableo go and look around at cars(after a long night of internet searching) without Madison. Payton left with my mom for Palm Bay and a sleepover Friday afternoon. Michelle, Rob's sister, came over Firday night to take care of Madison so we could go to dinner. Well, rather than dinner it was back to the dealership where we spent the evening purchasing a slightly used minivan. It is very nice, drives well and has low mileage-and we got a decent deal as well.

Saturday we went to Palm Bay to pick up Payton. Madison LOVED the ride over as the new van has a DVD player and monitor. She enjoyed watching TV on the trip over and Rob and I enjoyed an adult concersation!!! :) We had the chance to meet up with a friend from NY while we were on the coast and so we spent Saturday afternoon with Jeanie having lunch and enjoying the beach. This was the girls' forst trip to the beach and boy did they have fun!!! While I visited with Jeanie Rob was knd enough to take the girls down to the beach so we could finish our lunch(he is a GOOD man!!). He said Madison was trying to swim to Cuba(that kid has NO fear!). I will post some pics of us at the beach when I get them devoloped(hopefully tomorrow). We were not prepared to go swimming so the girls are in their clothes-or naked-depending on which kid your looking at. :)
Sunday I got a call from our friends who were just leaving FL from their Make a Wish and they had 1 day left at the Disney parks and generously offered them to us! We are so excited to get to go to Disney next Sunday. They are a family of five and so Casey and gang will be going with us!!! We can't wait to go. Casey thinks the village is Payton's Disney and he told me that he was going to take Payton to is Disney next weekend. He also said "his Disney" has a Grey Castle...hmmm sounds a lot like Cinderella's castle(he really is just too cute). On Sunday Casey will celebrate his 4th birthday. I can hardly believe Payton's best friend is already four!!! Payton is growing up too fast! On Saturday we are going over to Casey's for his birthday party. Payton is really excited about giving him a gift-though I had to talk her out of giving him a Disney Princess-she really thought he would like that!!! :) Madison and Riley will be celebrating two in a few months as well!!!
Well, I guess that is it around here. Seems like we keep ourselves pretty busy with all the things we have going for the kids.
Hope you are all doing well and thanks for continueing to check in on us. Life continues to be so very good to us!

Oh, almost forget, Payton has offically been scheduled to meet with the Long Term Follow Up Team in June!!!!! What a bit step it will be!!!! How good it feels to have made it so very far!
Much Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, February 24, 2004 3:09 PM CST

Hello again,
We have had a busy week. On Wednesday Payton returned to school. Thrusday we had to go back to the doctor for Payton so she could get her second dose of her immunizations. She was not too hapy with this but a trip to Taget for another new toy seemed to please her. She and Madison both picked out new books this time.

On Thrusday we also found out that Rob's car was not doing too well and so we went looking for a new one on Friday before things got bad and we had no trade in. We were lucky that my mom was here on Friday so we were ableo go and look around at cars(after a long night of internet searching) without Madison. Payton left with my mom for Palm Bay and a sleepover Friday afternoon. Michelle, Rob's sister, came over Firday night to take care of Madison so we could go to dinner. Well, rather than dinner it was back to the dealership where we spent the evening purchasing a slightly used minivan. It is very nice, drives well and has low mileage-and we got a decent deal as well.

Saturday we went to Palm Bay to pick up Payton. Madison LOVED the ride over as the new van has a DVD player and monitor. She enjoyed watching TV on the trip over and Rob and I enjoyed an adult concersation!!! :) We had the chance to meet up with a friend from NY while we were on the coast and so we spent Saturday afternoon with Jeanie having lunch and enjoying the beach. This was the girls' forst trip to the beach and boy did they have fun!!! While I visited with Jeanie Rob was knd enough to take the girls down to the beach so we could finish our lunch(he is a GOOD man!!). He said Madison was trying to swim to Cuba(that kid has NO fear!). I will post some pics of us at the beach when I get them devoloped(hopefully tomorrow). We were not prepared to go swimming so the girls are in their clothes-or naked-depending on which kid your looking at. :)
Sunday I got a call from our friends who were just leaving FL from their Make a Wish and they had 1 day left at the Disney parks and generously offered them to us! We are so excited to get to go to Disney next Sunday. They are a family of five and so Casey and gang will be going with us!!! We can't wait to go. Casey thinks the village is Payton's Disney and he told me that he was going to take Payton to is Disney next weekend. He also said "his Disney" has a Grey Castle...hmmm sounds a lot like Cinderella's castle(he really is just too cute). On Sunday Casey will celebrate his 4th birthday. I can hardly believe Payton's best friend is already four!!! Payton is growing up too fast! On Saturday we are going over to Casey's for his birthday party. Payton is really excited about giving him a gift-though I had to talk her out of giving him a Disney Princess-she really thought he would like that!!! :) Madison and Riley will be celebrating two in a few months as well!!!
Well, I guess that is it around here. Seems like we keep ourselves pretty busy with all the things we have going for the kids.
Hope you are all doing well and thanks for continueing to check in on us. Life continues to be so very good to us!

Oh, almost forget, Payton has offically been scheduled to meet with the Long Term Follow Up Team in June!!!!! What a bit step it will be!!!! How good it feels to have made it so very far!
Much Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, February 17, 2004 3:13 PM CST

New Pictures added to the photo albulm on Feb. 18, 2004.


Sorry it has taken me so long to update this page. Life is flying right by me these days!!!

We are doing well. Rob, myself, Snow White and Madison. Apparently Payton left us a few weeks ago without asking permission. So, we are raising Snow White. Rob, has unoffically been changed into a prince. It is nice to be married to a prince but I have to watch as Snow White appears to have eyes for him and threatens to steal him from me. I have even been told on several occasions to go away while Snow White spends her time with him. I have my work cut out for me! :)

We did manage to make it out to Universal last weekend where we all had a GREAT time. The weather was perfect and we were given passes so we did not have to wait in line so we managed to see almost all of both parks. Rob, my dad and myself got to go on all the fun roller coasters so that was nice!

Sunday was spent just lounging around and getting ready for another week.

The week was uneventful. Saturday we went to the Give Kids the World Village for a Valentine's day party. We had a great time at the village and enjoyed icecream, the train and of course the carosal.

One of our friends from NY came in for their Make A Wish on Sunday so Payton, Casey, Sue and myself went out to the village again on sunday to play with Elizabeth. We had a great time once again. Casey LOVED being there and Payton enjoyed having her friend there as well. I feel a little bad for the Villane family who came in from NJ this week to cold and dreary FL weather. If only they had been here last week-the weather was great then!!!

Yesterday and today Payton is off from school. She had a doctors appointment yesterday with the oncologist and everything looks fine. She is so funny. When we got there she said she was not going to cry and so instead of crying when they did her finger stick she LAUGHED!!! It was so funny to see this little kid getting excited about a finger stick!

Today the girls and I ran out to the mall and picked up Payton's new purple ear molds!!! Yes, purple-that is what she asked for and she got what she asked for.

Well, the girls are fighting and fussing so I have got to run...we are near chaos as Madison just dropped a biscuit and Dakota(the dog) ate it. Payton(yes, Payton-who really should not be involved with all this but is overlay tired is screaming at the top of her lungs!!).

Everyone take care! I'll update again soon.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Friday, February 6, 2004 8:47 AM CST

We are raising Cybil. Amazing, but true. Every day now I say come on Payton lets...and her response is always, Payton go away. Of course, at first this was a bit confusing but now I have been trained on what to do when this happens. I am to ask who are you then and she will tell me. I am Snow White, Mrs. Walters, Cinderella ect.I must then refer to her by whoever she is at the moment. It is tons of fun, really. The one good thing about it is that while Payton does not like to have her hair brush I guess Snow White does not mind so much. So the morning agrument over hair has been set aside as long as I refer to her as Snow White. And Mrs. Walter's being the agreeable woman she is often will clean up when asked and share with madison. So, while we love and adore our Payton some of her other personalities are often times easier to get along with! :)

Madison decided to be kind to me last night and for the first time in almost two weeks she slept through the night. Ah, how sweet of her. I am hoping that it is a sign that we are heading back into the normal sleep patterns of my beloved Madison.

Life here is good. We are going to Universal tomorrow with my parents and Rob's mom and our nephew Colin. It should be fun. Hopefully the weather will hold up for us.

Other than that it is the same old days as always. Not too much to report. Not too much complaining to do. Just glad we are dealing with normalcy.

I am hoping to update pictures today sometime so check back in for some new pictures of the girls. They really do chancge almost everyday. I was just noticing yesterday that Snow White's(Payton) hair is starting to get thick now and is really lookinglike big kid hair. Madison's hair is continuing to grow but as it gets longer it gets curlier so it is hard to see its growth unless you pull on the little ringlets(which have grown far more than I had thought). The girls are also getting along better now and playing more together. They love to go out back and play on the fort and slides. It is nice to see them as such good friends. I love watching them interact and laugh together.

Well, better run. My mom is coming over today and we have lots to do.

Take care.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, January 29, 2004 3:14 PM CST

Hello once again,
not too much to report. We have had a bit of a crazy week but for once it has nothing to do with Payton. Miss Madison decided on Sunday that sleeping was not a nessecity and so has gotten up every night this week around 2ish and stays up until 5 or 6. Who knows why but she does. I took her to the doctor today and she seems fine-no ear infection, teeth issues, UTI's. So who knows. We are just hopeful that it will resolve itself soon!! :)

Anyway, other than that not much is up here. I am getting ready to start working on another project for NB. In June I will hold a lemonade Stand along with families across the country in honor of Alex Scott who started her very first lemonade stand about 2 and a half years ago and has since raised over $150, 000 for research into NB. We are hoping to really have a large impact on the public as we hope to get lots of attention for NB with all these stands. Well, the girls are outside in the back yard playing so I better run. As always, thanks for stopping by.
gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Friday, January 23, 2004 8:48 AM CST

UPDATE SUNDAY JAN. 25, 2003

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY WAS A FRIDAY. ROB AND I TOOK PAYTON DOWN TO CHELSEA PIER WHERE WE HAD THE PLEASURE OF GOING ON THE SET OF BEAR IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE. I WAS PREGNANT WITH MADISON AND OUR GIRL, PAYTON, WAS BALD AS SHE COULD BE. SHE HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME MEETING ALL HER FAVORITE CHARACTERS AND WE DRAGGED HER AWAY THAT AFTERNOON WONDERING WHAT OUR LIFE HELD FOR US. AT THAT POINT I HAD NEVER SEEN HER SO HAPPY AS SHE WAS ON THE SET PLAYING WITH THE CHARACTERS-IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS A NEW PERSON LATER WE FOUND OUT THAT INDEED SHE WAS. WE WENT TO CLINIC THAT AFTERNOON WHERE WE WERE INFORMED THAT OUR DAUGHTER WAS NED(NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE-OR IN REMISSION). WE WERE THRILLED BEYOND BELIEF THAT WE HAD DESTROYED THE MONSTER THAT RAGED WITHIN HER BODY. BUT EVER FEARFUL OF THE COMING MONTHS AS WE STILL HAD LOTS OF TREATMENT AHEAD, INCLUDING A TRANSPLANT. TODAY, WE CELEBRATE PAYTON'S LIFE AND HER CONTINUED SUCCESS OF RIDDING HER BODY OF THIS HORRIBLE DISEASE. I HAVE TO SAY I DON'T KNOW IF I EVER REALLY BELIEVED WE WOULD BE SO LUCKY TO HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR...BUT TODAY I AM SO THANKFUL FOR ALL WE HAVE IN LIFE, INCLUDING OUR TWO PRECIOUS AND HEALTHY GIRLS!!!! JUST THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THIS WONDEROUS ANNIVERSARY WITH YOU ALL!!!!!





WOW,
Another week has gone by and I just find myself back at the site. Not too much to report this week. We had Monday off of school and so the girls and I enjoyed a leiserly day at home just playing and goofing off. Tuesday Payton went back to school and so Madison and I spent the time doing laundry and trying to catch up though I must say I don't think I will ever get caught up on all I have to do...maybe I'm lazy or maybe there just really is too much to do-who knows but I always feel VERY behind and I have no idea where to start...but enough about me! :) The week has been nice and quiet with the only major thing occuring was that Payton has finally started her immunizations again. That was a HUGE step for us. She has to start over so she got polio and DPT on Monday and will get some more shots in a month. She is on a fast track injection program so she should be fully immunized within a year. She was not too happy with the shots and complained of her leg hurting for two days...this of course cost me a trip to Target where she was allowed to pick out a toy. Madison reaped the benefits as well and each girl walked out with a new furry puppy the barks and moves upon touch. Really, it was a cheap trip as the puppies were only $12.00 each...we'll see what the next eight months bring us. Well, I guess that is it really. We are doing well and hoping for a nice quiet and relaxing weekend. Payton is going to spend the night with my mom tonight and then we will more than likely meet up with Casey and Riley sometime tomorrow for some fun. other than that it is home sweeet home-someplace we havnot spent a lot of time lately.
Oh, I did manage to get back to the gym this week. The girls are now enjoying going to the playroom so that was nice and I was able to run on the treadmill for two days this week. I almost hit my three miles each day so that is not too bad for having not been in about six months.
Well, gotta run and clean up around here-as always lots to do.
Thanks for stopping by and checking in...while we almost sound like a normal and healthy family :)
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:08 PM CST

Hello,
Just wanted to post a copy of the sentinel article on Payton. We had a nice flight home and even managed to catch a little snow on the way home. Payton wanted to make a snowman and throw a snowball and so she did.
I was very haooy to get home to Madison. Today we had a nice time spending some time together and playing. Payton stayed home from school yesterday since our flight did not get in until 4AM. She returned to school today. We are going to use or last Disney park hopper ticket tomorrow. So we should have another fun weekend. Sunday is Rob's birthday and he and I are going to go out for dinner in the evening. Well better run. We have lots to do around here! Here is the article. I was really a nice article with some very cute pictures!

--------------------
Magic give seats on their jet to 3-year-old cancer patient
--------------------

By Tim Povtak
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 14, 2004

She was one of the last -- and certainly the slowest -- to board the Orlando Magic team plane Tuesday afternoon, navigating each step up the ramp with slow, meticulous care, never letting go of the rail.

Payton Bogert, age 3, never stopped smiling. And neither did anyone else. She loves the stairs.

The Magic and Payton left for New York, where the team plays the Knicks tonight at Madison Square Garden, and she returns for treatment at the nearby Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

It's the Magic's first venture into the Corporate Angel Network, a public charity that tries to match medical travel needs of cancer patients with empty seats on private jets traveling around the country.

"We're like hitchhikers," said Bonnie Le Var, spokesperson for the charity who helped arrange the flight. "We're so grateful for every ride. We've never had a basketball team help us like this before."

Payton, her mother, father and younger sister live in Oviedo. In her first year, she was found to have neuroblastoma, a rare cancer of the nervous system that starts in the adrenal gland and spreads throughout the body.

She has been seeing a specialist in New York for most of her life. Her family spent 10 months living there during her initial treatment and surgery, but they returned home a year ago, still returning to New York almost every month. Payton is doing well -- for now.

After being at Sloan-Kettering most of today, she and her mother are scheduled to return to Orlando -- with the Magic -- tonight after the game. And she won't really care if they win or lose.

She normally would be flying commercial -- at a cost that is growing prohibitive for a young family. Private planes also reduce the exposure to germs, colds and flu, which could be a serious problem for so many cancer patients.

"This has become one of the most spectacular organizations there is for cancer families," said Payton's mother, Virginia Bogert. "I'm so grateful for something like this."

Based in White Plains, N.Y., the Corporate Angel Network has been operating since 1981, enlisting the help of 500 corporations, now transporting as many as 160 cancer patients a month. They have a staff of six who work with patients, physicians, corporate flight departments and leading treatment centers, working as coordinators on last-minute arrangements.

It's the first time the Magic have participated. It's also the first time any NBA team has been involved, according to De Var.

"I live in New York, but I hope the Magic win this game," De Var said. "This is a nice thing they have started."

Tim Povtak can be reached at tpovtak@orlandosentinel.com.



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Hope everyone has a nice weekend.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, January 12, 2004 8:58 AM CST

Update-
dr. LaQualglia said that the bump is intead a suture(yahoo!!!!). Check out the Sports section in the sentinal today. payton made front page news for her travels with the Orlando Magic. Good Morning america also called me today in clinc...but in the end decided they could not run the story. anyway, just thought I would give a quick update. We return to Orlando tonight with the Magic.
gin


Hello,
We had such a fun time this last week!!! Payton started back to school and is VERY happy to be back!!! Madison is missing her a bit though and fusses when she is taken out of the car in the morning. It is funny how they can love eachother and then be screaming and fighting. It is really a love/hate thing. The new pictures was taken during a loving time...they arefew and far between so I snapped when I could.
As a part of Payton's wish she received tickets to Disney and Universal Studios. We got three day park hopper passes(meaning we could go to any of the Disney parks wheneer we wanted with one ticket)and then universal passes for one day. So far we haveused two of the Disney passes and are supposed to be at Universal today but are just too pooped to go. I am going to call and see if we can have the dates changed for Universal, if not then we gave up our day at Universal. But the girls would have been miserable today so why go.
So, on Friday we went to Animal Kingsom and Disney. We had so much fun. Rob had to work so my mom went with us and we saw lots of the characters. Madison was unsure of them but Payton had a blast and insisted on stopping to see each one of them even if she did not know who they were. She had her little autograph book and I thought she did not care about it until the next day when I forgot it and she kept asking for her book. Anyway, Payton wanted to see Snow White as this is her all time favorite charater. Snow White is hard to find and I was a bit nervous about it as I did not want her to be disappointed. But early on we ran into Snow White and she did all Payton wanted. She had told me before we left that Snow White was going to hold her and she did!!!! YEAH!!! She even signed both their autograph books to them and kissed it! Snow White was tuly wonderful. Madison is in love with Cinderella and we found hre as well, she is easy to find. Madison was able to visit Cinderella several times. As the days went on she warmed up more and more and I have one more roll of film left to develop and hopefully that will have Madison with Cinderella. If so, I'll post them. Payton's Snow White pictures she was not looking at the camera...:( Oh well, hopefully we will see her next week and I can get a good picture of Payton and Snow White. We went to see Belle reading a story and Payton was chosen to go up on stage and be Chip in the story. She was really cute and had a great time.
On Saturday we ventured back to the parks and the girls had some more fun. Though the day was cold and they were a bit tired from Friday. We saw even more new characters and Payton finally got to ride the Tea Cups with Rob like she has wanted to since we went to teh Christmas party at Disney. She also rode in the race cars with Rob. They had a great time together.
Payton and I are going to go to NY tomorrow. She has a small bump on her belly that feel like a hard pebble. Dr. LaQuaglia, her surgeon, believes it is a suture that was supposed to dissolve under the skin but has not and is making its way up through the skin. He is not worried and has seen pictures of her belly that I sent but of course I am a bit concerned and just want him to look at it. I managed to get a Corporate Angels flight so we are leaving tomorrow around 4PM and then will fly back Wednesday night at 10:30...so we won't get back into Orlando until 1 or so but my mind will have been put to ease so I will feel better.
Well, enough from me. Hope you are all doing well. I added new photos in the photo albulm as well so take a look.
Thanks for checking in.
I'll update on Wednesday or Thursday to let you know how our visit with Dr. LaQuaglia goes.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Thursday, January 1, 2004 4:19 PM CST

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Wow, I can harldly believe 2004 is upon us already. The years are just flying by and I am only getting older!!! This year will bring me to the ripe old age of 30! EEK!!! Payton will turn 4 and Madison 2 and we won't give away Rob's age but he is older than me!! :)

I learned so much over the last year. My girls taught me plenty.

I learned to love Snow White all over again but this time through the eyes of my daughter.

I learned that some of the best time I can spend with my children is at 3AM when every one else in the US is sound asleep and dreaming happily.

I learned that life can go from wonderful to not so wonderful in a moment so hold tight to all you cherish for you don't know what the next moment holds.

I learned that crayon washes off of eggshell and semi gloss paint easliy but not off of flat paint(wow, that is a lot of walls that were written on this year!!!)

I learned that there is no other person in all the world who I would rather raise my children with and share my life with than Rob.

I learned that even the Teletubbies can be interesting if you allow them to be.

I learned that it is OK to let go and allow someone else to step in and help with your children. And believe it or not the kids might even like it-this goes from going to school, to spending the night outside of the my sight to just leaving them with the grandparents while Rob and I sneak away for a few hours. They have always been fine when I return and often times they seem to have enjoyed the break from ME.

I learned that quiet children, who are awake, are often bad children :) HA HA

I learned that it is OK to set rules and stick to them even if your kid did have cancer. Rules are needed...and help! :)

I learned that there are so many people out there who care about my children and my family(me included!)-I am thankful for you all!!!!

I learned the importance of being a friend to someone...because everyone needs a friend and sometimes all a friend does is just listen.

I learned that I have a voice and if used properly even I can make a difference in the world of childhood cancer.

I know I learned more but why bore you all.

This has been an exciting year for me as I have watch my children grow and change so much!!!

We had a great Christmas full of wonderful gifts and good family time. Payton is still home from school and the girls are really having a good time together!! They hae played together so nicely over the last two weeks. PAyton will go back to school on Tuesday of next week.

As always thanks for stopping by!
Love,
rob, gin, payton and madison

Friday, December 19, 2003 1:09 PM CST

UPDATE 12-24
First off, Merry Christmas to all you out there who are celebrating this joyous holiday!!! Just wanted to update quickly and let you all know that Payton's urine test came back normal!!! YEAH!!!! We will go back in June for what I hope is her last CT looking for an NB recurrance. We will also have another renal scan to check her kidney function. Following that if all is well, from my understanding, we will be switched over to the Long Term Follow up team! What a HUGE step that will be!!! So, until then, we will enjoy our six months at home and hope for continued good health for all of our family in 2004! Again, Have a GREAT Christmas...we will!!!!


Well, I promised a more in depth entry and here it is. We all had a decent visit in NY. Both girls were sick while we were there. Payton started running a fever on Saturday before we left. I kept her home from school on Monday and Tuesday and then off to NY Tuesday night. By Tuesday her fever was not occuring as often so I thought we were getting over it. I had them check her out in the clinic and she ended up having an ear infection so she got some antibiotics and that helped over time but she was pretty miserable while we were in NY. I am not sure if it was because she felt horrible or if she just hated being in the hospital but she surely was not her normal spunky self on our trip.
The flight up was a bit hectic as neither on of the girls wanted to sit still for the two and half hour flight so Rob, my mom and myself spent the trip juggling the girls between us and walking up and down the aisles of the plane trying to pass the time. We were a bit beat by the time we arrived in NY.
We settled into the room and were all alsleep by 12ish that first night.
On Wednesday my mom, Payton and I went to go see Beauty and the Beast. It was a spectacular preformance!! Payton really enjoyed the first act but ended up with a fever right around intermission and slept through the second half of the play awaking right towards the end to catch the final curtain. I do wish she had felt better because I really think she would have had a blast but I know my mom and I enjoyed ourselves!!!!
Rob left us to go to NJ on Tuesday night and Payton had her CT scan on Thursday. She was pretty groggy post scan so she and Madison napped in the afternoon and then we all attempted to go enjoy some of the Christmas lights and decorations the city had to offer. We did manage to make it over to Central Park where Payton whanted to ride a white horse and a white carriage around the park. So the four of us buddled up int he carriage and enjoyed the beauty of NY in the winter. After we got done with the carriage ride we drug the girls to see the tree at Rockafeller(they were getting cranky by this point-but we HAD to see the tree). It was pretty but I have to say I had thought it would be neater...oh well. A quick taxi back found us back at the house where my all time favorite Christmas party at Ronald was in full swing. A group called Holiday Express was there singing carols for the kids. it is full of life and excitement and this was my third year having the joy to see it. Every year it is always just as good. There are about 100 people who come and sing their little hearts out. They sing all the upbeat songs and the kids are dancing and singing right along with it. You can't help but leave with a smile on your face. Madison had a BLAST dancing on the floor and showing herself off. Payton, however, just wanted to be up in the room resting peacefully. The IV we had put in earlier in the day was really bothering her and I think the ear infection was still in full swing. So she and I spent most of the night upstairs while my mom and Mads enjoyed the show downstairs. I talked Payton into going downstairs a few times so I did get to see some of the fabulous show. Friday was our last day at the hospital where we had her renal scan done(results-kidney is still stable-can't complain we will do another kidney scan in six months). We also did her urine test(results still pending-hopefully they will come back today-I expect them to be normal, I'm an optomist!). Then the big moment of the IV coming out arrived!! YEAH!!! Payton was much happier. She was pretty tired from the sedation and went home and fell asleep. Madison and my mom stayed at the house on Friday as Madison started with the fevers Friday morning. She was pretty under the weather the rest of the weekend and until I got her to the doctor Tuesday where we found out she too had a double ear infection(poor baby!!).
Rob and I slipped away Friday night and went on a three hour cruise around Manhatten with his office for their annual Christmas party. It was a great time for us and a nice getaway. The girls were good to my mom and slept the whole time we were gone only awakening when we got home so that we all had a VERY LONG and sleepless night!!! :) Gotta love those sleepless Bogert nights!!!
Saturday, we all just tried to recoup from the night-My mom, Payton and I slipped away for a while and went to Bloomingdales to look at their windows. They were so great. Vera Wang was there so mom bought some perfume and had it signed by her new buddy Vera.
Saturday was quiet as we packed to come home and went to bed early(9:30 lights out!!). We slept through the night and awoke to snow on Sunday morning. We quickly finished packing up and escaped the city. Our flights suprised us all by only being two hours late and we arrived back in FL safe and sound around 7ish.
I will update as soon as I hear about her urine markers and until then I wish you all a joyous and happy holiday!!!! We have lost so many babies to this disease this year and I know those families will have arough holiday season. I will think of them this year and I wish them as much peace and comfort as possible.
Thanks so much for stopping in and if you get a chance sign our guestbook so we know you are thinking of us and visiting our site.
Love to all,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, December 15, 2003 10:08 AM CST

Just a quick update today. We arrived back in FL last night from our trip to NY. While in NY Payton had a CT scan and a renal scan. I am happy to report that her CT scan has come back all clean!!! Yeah!!! I am still waiting for the results of the renal scan. I will know her urine numbers by next Monday and will post it as I hear it all. NY was nice, cold but nice! Both the girls had little head colds which made them a bit miserable so we are all glad to be home!!! Payton went back to school today and Madison and I are just hanging around the house trying to get it straightened back up. I have lots to do after being gone for 5 days so will stop here. Just wanted to let you all know the CT results. We are so happy and thankful for such good results. I feel so lucky to continue to have Payton and Madison in good health.
Thanks fo checking in and I will give a longer update when time allows!
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Monday, December 8, 2003 11:06 AM CST

Hi,
Well, tomorrow we leave for NY. I am getting nervous for scans but sure hope they come back fine! Payton and I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas out at Disney on Tuesday. We had such a wonderful time, as you can see by all the new pictures. She LOVED seeing all the princesses and she enjoyed riding the rides as well. Her favorite ride was the Tea Cups. She rode it three times!!! It was really neat because there were no lines at the park for any of the rides we went on so we had so much fun and no boring standing in lines!!!
Payton is home sick today. She had a fever on Sat and SUn so I decided to keep her home today. Her fever seems to have gone away but she is CRABBY!!!! So, right now both girls are napping. Well, with that said I am off to pack and get things in order for NY.
Wish us luck this week and I will update the page as I hear info. Payton is also having a renal scan this week so lets hope her kidney is either doing better or has stayed stable so that we can keep it!!!!! I think if will be fine but I am nervous about that as well!
Madison and Rob will be making this trip with us as well as my mother so we should have a great time while we are there. We'll be back Sunday night!
Love, Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Sunday, November 30, 2003 9:17 PM CST

UPDATE 12-1
Just wanted to let you all know that we did go and get fitted for Payton's hearing aids today. I did not know what type of aids we would get but was just hoping for digital. Well, we got them and then some. Miracle Ear Children's Foundation provided Payton with a free pair of top of the line, brand spanking new digital aids. We could NEVER have afforded these aids as they are $10,000(we were going to have to scrounge up $3,00-5,000 for the aids we were looking to get her). These are their newest aids!!! I can never truly express our gratitude to Miracl Ear because to have seen my daughter hear sounds today that she has not heard in a long time was the best gift any person could have given me today!!!!!! She was so proud of her new aids and she seemed to be listening more intently and I definatly saw her head look around at sounds on several occasions today. I htink she was amazed to hear all the different types of sounds that were around her. She even sang a few words to a song from Lion King in the car on the way home. Payton has always struggled to sing with music as she could not hear the words(I think today may have been the first time that she was actually hearing individual words in a song) I am deeply appreciative tonight(and forever) that this fabulous organization provided our daughter with the equipment she needs to function in this world. I can't even tell you how excited I am that she has these aids and how blown away I was at the generoustiy of this company. By no means did they have to provide her with the best of the best but I am thankful they did!!!!! Just wanted to share our continued good fortune with you all. Payton and I are both very excited about our big day tomorrow and Madison and Daddy are excited to be spending some time together just the two of them.

Please, those of you who say prayers for Payton say a few prayers tonight for a little boy named Carl. I had the pleasure of meeting this family in NY and they found out tonight that Carl has relasped(just about 8 months post transplant). Please pray for their stregth, for peace for mom and dad and for a good treatment plan for Carl.
If you would like to visit his website or wish him and his parents luck you can go to
www.caringbridge.org/mn/carcar
This is going to be a very rough time for them as they get ready to throw themselves back into the throughs of treatment. Thanks for thinking of us and all our little friends who continue fighting this disease!!!

WOW,
it has been almost two weeks since I last found myself sitting here typing in an update!! Life here is good. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and then a wonderful three days following. Payton went over to my moms and spent Friday night with them. She had a great time. Rob's family came over for Thanksgiving dinner on Thrusday and then my family came by in the evening for games and dessert. Thank you momma for watching the girls while we played a board game. It was the perfect end to a long and tiring day!!! :)
Madison has had some stomach viris the last few days and I noticed a molar popping through yesterday so she has been a bit fussy but she has every right to be!!!
Payton and I are going to a petting farm on Tuesday with her class for a field trip. They will even get to ride a pony so I know she will have TONS of fun!!! Then in the eveing she and I are going to meet up with some friends from NY out at Disney for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas. They only let in a limited number of people for this so it is a way to go have some Disney fun without all the crowds.
On Saturday, Payton's oncology office here in Orlando is having their annual Christmas party. Sea World will be there with LIVE penguins for the kids to pet!!! Since PAyton has a pretend penguin friend I know she will have a blast!! And I think Madison will as well as she just loves any animal!!!
We are leaving for our three month scans on the 9th. I am starting to get a bit nervous as usual but I think I am coming to grips with all the unknowns a little better now. I believe in my heart that this scans should come back clean...so lets just hope they do!!!!!
I found out last week that a foundation called Miracle Ear Children's Foundation will be providing Payton with a set of free digital hearing aids!!! This is a big help to us and I am so thankful to Miracle Ear for their support with children who are hearing impaired!!
We go tomorrow to get fitted for the aids and hopefullyshe will have her new aids by teh first of the year.
Other than all that we are just moving along in this world living a normal life and loving it!!! The girls are both getting very big and are starting to really play together now!! It brings me much happiness to see them playing together and having fun with one another. Don't get me wrong we still have plenty of fights but in moments of serenity they are the cutest things ever!!!!
Hope you all had a nice and peaceful Thanksgiving weekend and As always thanks for checking in on us. It means a lot to me that we have so many people who still care about Payton and our family even though we seem to have gotten past some of the worst!!!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, November 17, 2003 8:13 AM CST

With Thanksgiving coming up I have been pondering some thoughts. What am I thankful for?
Well, the answer is that I am thankful that I was shown how sweet life is. I am thankful that both my girls are healthy today. I am thankful for their sweet hugs, wet kisses, and even their mind numbing cries. I am thankful that I learned, that while cancer is horrific and took many things from my family, how to let cancer give me a new outlook on life. Cancer showed me that life can be taken from you in an instant and that it is important to take every moment and savor it. For each smile that my girls send my way I am thankful and for each smile that my girls allow ME to have I am even more thankful. I am thankful for today as I know that I cannot change the past and that I do not know what tomorrow holds. I must live this day, this moment and savor all it has to offer.
I am thankful that Payton is well enough to go to school everyday and learn. I am thankful that Madison is and always has been healthy. I am thankful for Rob, for all he is and all he does. I am thankful for my family for their support and love throughout this ordeal. I am thankful for my friends who never tell me to shutup about something that consumes me(the fear of "IT" coming back). I am thankful for the wonderful doctors that saved my child's life. I am thankful for all my Neuroblastoma friends who understand me like no other. I am thankful for those of you who I have never met who continue to follow our story and wish our family well. I am thankful for all the prayers that have been said in Payton's name over the past two and a half years!!!
I am sorry that many children have lost their battles to this damn disease and how I wish I could bring them back so that their parents did not have to suffer this longing and numbness they feel everyday. I wish that these babies could run and play like they were supposed to. But I am thankful that I had an opportunity to meet so many of them before they left this world and I feel confident that they are looking down on us and watching over Payton and the rest of the children who are doing well. I know that they are there to meet the children who are not doing so well and I hope that they are guiding the doctors as they treat the children who are newly diagnosed. Wow, these angels have a big job to perform!!!!
I am thankful that I have changed in ways that I could not begin to tell. I am a more caring, compassionate and ralistic person than I was before cancer. I am thankful that I was shown how to be a better person-I WILL NEVER THANK CANCER- While it takes away a lot and I will forever hate it I must also acknowledge that it gave me many things in life. For that I am thankful.
I am also thankful that I have a voice that I can use to share all my thoughts of neuroblastoma and other childhood cancers. I feel that I have a new purpose in life-I MUST help find a cure or at the very least better treatment for neuroblastoma. I am thankful that I have the power and the energy to try and help raise both awareness and better treatments for neuroblastoma. I am also thankful that I have many other neuroblastoma families to help me do this. Together we WILL make a difference for future children diagnosed with this disease. And we do this for our own children as well as everyone of those angels above.
What are you thankful for? I am sure that if you sat down and thought about all you have in life you can find plenty to be thankful for. You see, no matter what life throws you there is plenty good it sends your way as well. I know that there are many people in this world who are suffering everyday for various reason but in the end no matter what our pain we have SOMETHING that we can be thankful for. I am just happy that my life at this moment is good and I cannot ask for more right now!!!!
Please take care of yourselves and remember to look back on your life and think about what you have to be thankful for.
Love,
Rob, Gin , Payton and Madison

OH, Payton received her redwood playfort last week and both girls LOVE it. We spent lots of time this weekend outside playing on the slides. Madison is not too fond of the twirly slide but enjoys going down the straight slide. Payton just loves it all and I am very happy that she received this as her wish. After all she went through this is a great gift for her. Thanks to New Hope for Kids for providing her with such a wonderful gift!!!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2003 4:50 PM CST

Hello all,
Well today we went for Payton's two month check up and all looked GREAT!!!! Blood counts were good and I am proud to say that it has been so long since we were there for a finger stick Payton actually cried like a NORMAL kid would!!! I was SO proud of her :).
Payton received two tickets to the Magic game for tomorrow night so she and Rob will go see a basketball game. It should be fun though we don't expect her to sit through the whole thing.
Found out today that our oncology office her is having their annual Christmas party for the kids on Dec. 6. We are excited to be able to go as they are going to have penguins there from Seaworld and the kids get to touch them. Payton will have SO much fun since she has her pretend penguin friend who still is always with us-sometimes he is the one who "made the mess, pushed Madison ect."
Payton got her first report card today and all seems to be moving along as it should. She has mastered some things and is working on many more. One of the parents of a little boy in her class was kind enough to bring in some cacooned caterpillars and the kids have been watching them hatch all week. Payton is having a blast with the butterflies and Mrs. Walters says the kids stand and look at the cacoons throughout the day. What a neat thing to have in the classroom!!!
Madison and have just been messing around lately. Trying to stay up with all the house cleaning and such. Madison has made me a few "presents" in her pants today so I need to keep an eye on her and make sure she is drinking enough.
Well, the girls are starting to argue so I better run.
Hope you all are well and I'll update again soon.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, November 4, 2003 10:16 AM CST

Hello again,
Well as you can see by the picture we had a GREAT halloween!!! Payton and Madison both really enjoyed trick or treating. Payton would even say trick or treat as she approached the door. One really nice thing about our neighborhood was that many families sat outside passingout candy. It made the whole halloween holiday much more social and family like. We had a great time and the neighborhood itself really seemed to have come together and had a good time.
Other than halloween life around here is pretty much just moving along at a normal pace. Not too much to report.
Madison is completely consumed by the Teletubbies and walks around the house all day saying Teletubbies...it is just too cute!!!
Payton continues with school and yesterday a new little girl joined her class...so we'll see how that works out. She did talk about her a bit yesterday when she got home so maybe they will grow to like one another. Mrs. Walters saids that Payton was just a tad bit jealous of the new girl in class. You know, now she has to share the spotlight!
Guess that is aobut it around here. We are hoping to go out to Seaworld on saturday as Jack Hanna will be there with all his animals and it was a great show last year. Payton's Make a Wish gift will also arrive on saturday. She asked for a redwood playset with a twirly slide and I am sure she will LOVE IT!!!
Well, better run. As always, thanks for stopping by and checking in on us. Hope you are all well!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, October 28, 2003 6:34 AM CST

Hello,
Wow, what a weekend we had!! Friday we got to go out to the Disney area and eat dinner with our Aunt Nell and cousins Claire, Charolett and Ellis. We had a fun time and even managed to get some time in at Downtown Disney for a toy or two.
Saturday we found ourselves at a Halloween party for New Hope for Kids, the organization that will be granting Payton her wish. We had lots of fun as Payton's and Madison's best buddies Casey and Riley came and played with us as well. After the party we all came back here for some more fun.
On Sunday, Payton, myself and my mom traveled all the way to Tampa to enjoy the music of The Wiggles in concert!!!! Payton had SO SO SO much fun. Her smile and excitement was a real treat that I will always remember. She had so much fun and even gave Dorothy the Dinosar some flowers. Next year we will go back again, but we will bring Madison as well so she can enjoy all the fun of a Wiggles concert. We just did not think she was quite ready for it this year.
This week Rob is out of town again for a few days. So it is just me and the girls causing problems around time. We are hoping to meet Casey and Riley tomorrow at the Pumpkin Patch for pictures and pumpkin picking. If this goes as planned then we hope to carve our pupkin on Thrusday in preperation for a fun Halloween evening!!! Payton LOVES halloween so much!!!
She has a huge pumpkin with three ghosts on top in the front yard. As well as a blow up spider(8ft) and another pumpkin with a witches hat. She has spider lights around the fron th door, an orange spider wed in lights in the side window and pumpkin stakes with lights around the walkway. Payton calls this "My halloween"> Everynight she "puts them to bed" by unplugging them all and watching htem deflate. But first before the unplugging she runs around the yard giving each and every halloween decoration and hug and a kiss. It is too cute and even Madison is starting to copy Payton and give out hugs to the decorations as well.

I got a letter from Dr. Kushner yesterday asking that I try again this year to gather the troops for the marathon fundraising. So, if you still feel the need to donate any money to a good cause Dr. Kushner will be running the marathon this weekend. It was a lot of fun the year we were there to go out and see the streets lined with people cheering on the runners and to see the thousands of people running!! We missed Dr. Kushner that year but I know he did well. He runs it under 4 hours and he is not a young chicky(don't tell him I said that!!!). So, please if you would like take a moment a send this guy a donation. All monies collected go to Ped. Cancer research at MSKCC. I have placed a link at the bottom of the page to his site for donations. You can donate any amount-but just $1.00 a mile comes out to 26.50. Wow, 26 1/2 miles!!!! I know I could not do it!!!
On our Lunch for Life effort we are just about $2,000 from $100,000. Not bad!!! I am still hoping to get an article in The Orlando Sentinal. She called and I missed her call and now we cqan't seem to meet up.
Well, as always thanks so much for stopping by.
I have to go get Miss Payton ready for school and start my day.
All our love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, October 20, 2003 11:56 AM CDT

Hello once again,
Payton headed back to school today. I think she was happy to get back and do something fun. we had a great week last week. Our only bad day was Monday and I think with all the sleep those two missed the week before it just finally all caught up!!! :) But by Tuesday they were back to normal and having fun. On Wednesday we just hung around the house and did not do too much. Thursday we went over to Casey's and Riley's and the four had a GREAT time playing together. On Friday we met up with Peyton and her family at SeaWorld where we all had lots of fun. We then went back to the Give Kids the World Village and had even more fun. I am always dragging Payton out of that place when it is time to go. She loves it so much. And even Madison is starting to enjoy it as well.
Payton met with her wish person the other day. So, her wish for a big redwood playground set is in the works. She wanted the yellow twirly slide so it will take up a good portion of the backyard but who cares!!! She and Madison will have so much fun.
Madison is taking advantage of the quietness around the house today and has been napping for several hours now! I even snuck in a little nap myself as I was up pretty late with Miss Payton last night.
About a week ago I got an email from a lady who works for a organization on the internet called quilting angels. They make quilts for children with life threatening illnesses. She wanted to make a quilt for PAyton. Of course I said PLEASE!!!! So, she asked what Payton was interested in and in the end she decided that this beautiful butterfly quilt would be perfect and so it is!!! It will be several months before we get it but I can't wait for Payton to see it I know she will LOVE it!!! I showed her the pattern on line and she yelped with delight!! Now she asks where is my butterfly bebe(blanket). The way they make the quilt is neat. Children are listed with their quilt design and illness with a little bio. The quilters check out the bios and sign up to make a square for the child's quilt. Each child has a due date(PAyton's is Dec. 15). The quilter mails the square in and then all the squares are quilted togther and sent to the child. How neat is that???? I think it is wonderful and only wish I knew how to quilt. Anyway, we are looking forward to our quilt. If you want to visit the site you can go to www.quiltingangels.org
You'll have to enter the site and then click on visit the children. Scroll down and you will see a listing of children with their pictures. Payton is listed on the first row. Click on her and then follow the directions to see her quilt. I am really excited about this!
Well, lots to do around here and just a few hours until I will need to pick up Payton so I better run. Hope you all are well and I'll update soon.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Wednesday, October 15, 2003 10:48 AM CDT

Hello once again,
Well not too much to report around here...life is good!!! Last night we had a great time going to visit a friend of ours from NY. We met Peyton, our friend, at The Give Kids the World village and all four girls had a great time riding the carosal over and over again. They had such a great time. We are going to try and go meet up with Peyton and her family again on Friday and go to SeaWorld. Peyton is just a few months older than my Payton and also had NB. Today she is doing well.
This week has been allright. I think Payton is a bit bored being home all week and will be more than ready to return to school on Monday. The girls finally had a decent nights sleep last night. It has been a while!!! :) But now we are feeling good again!!
Our Lunch for Life effort has now raised over $80,000! We are still continuing to see press coverage so hopefully our numbers will continue to increase.
I really guess that is about it around here. Not too much to report...oh, Payton's Make a Wish people are comeing out to interview her soon. So hopefully we will have her playground set soon. I know she is really looking forward to having her slide and fort!!!
As always thanks for stopping by and checking in on us. If you are still interested in donating to Lunch for Life or if you want to sahre it with anyone else their is a link to The CHildren's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation below.

Oh, I would like to share with you all a webpage that a mother, whose son has NBIV, created for all of us. I belong to a internet listserve. Parents who children have been diagnosed with NB subcribe and as a group we answer each other s questions about treatments, we grieve for the lose of children together ane we support one another when we sometimes feel alone inthis world wondering if anyone understands us. This group of parents has helped me to cope with Payton's cancer in a way that I cannot explain. It is always tragic when we lose a child on the list and I have often thought about leavign but I cannot do it. It has become my NB family and I find comfort from all my friends I have made over the years. This link is a beautiful tribute to our children. It shows you how many children are affected by NB. Please take a moment to look at their faces and if you have not made your $5 Lunch for Life contribution then really look at these faces and think about all they have suffered! I don't mean to be morbid but I just want you all to see how many children have NB...and really this is just a small sampling. Payton is listed. http://beebospage.users.btopenworld.com/NeuroblastomaCommunity.html
Take Care.
Love,
gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Thursday, October 9, 2003 12:00 AM CDT

Our TV debut was last night. Payton had a spot on the 5:30 news on channel 2 though in the end the story that was done was not exactly what I had in mind. They focused moreon her stroy and MUCH less on our Lunch fo Life story but she still looked beautiful and healthy so what more can I say. We are still continuing on with our Lunch for Life effort.
We are asking that everyone who hears of this effort donate $5.00 to the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer FOundation. The link is below on the bottom of the page under links. We are asking that you give up the cost of one lunch to help fund a much needed cure for neuroblastoma. Our response has been so great have decided amongst ourselves to extendour campaign past the ten days at least into next week so we can see some more media coverage.
On the omefront life contiues on in all its glory. The girls decided this week to see if they could kill me with lack of sleep. They obviously had a well thought out plan for this. In the end, they miss just enough sleepto enable then to be crabby and unhappy but not miserable enough to sleep while I try to regain any semblance of motivation and energy that I might have left in me to perform my day to day demands. Basically their little game started Sat.night with Madison staying up until twelve and getting up at 4AM. Then Payton stayed up until past midnight on Sunday-but they both slept until 8 so it wasn't so bad. Then Monday Payton got up at 3AM(for no apparent reason but to torment me!) she went to bed the following night after 10-with only a one hour napduring the day. They need to bottle her energy because it is a truly amazing site!!!! I of course, had the TV crew coming over so it was off to clean the house on Tues. night after getting up at 3AM with the girl. So this get us to last night where I basically passed out at 10PM only to find out that Madison slipped Dakota a special plate of human food or something so that he would bark wildly at 5AM and awaken her...you know so that mom continues to work on half sleep. I think they just figure if they wear me down enough I'll let them do as they please...well I'm there!!! Go ahead run all over your exhausted mother!! :)
Payton had her first spend the night party on friday. She left me Friday afternoon and went home with my mom where she stayed the whole night and into the next day! It was nice for all of us!
Well, I have lots of work to do and I have to go get Miss Payton in about an hour. She is out of school tomorrow and all next week for fall break so check back in and see how that is going.
In terms of Lunch for Life we are still collecting funds and doing well. The mail arrived in a SACk yesterday and Pat, the founder of CNCF says her phone is ringing off the hook! She said that she gets calls late into the night and as early as 4:30AM!!!! She has volunteers comingover to help man the phones now so it is really getting some attention!
If you still have not had teh opportunity to donate or want to pass on the word you can donate easily.
Methods to get donations to the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation.



Here is a copy of the flyer I passed around to try and get people involved. It has all the information you will need donate if you still wish to do so. There was a picture of Payton on it but I can't get that on the website.


Lunch For Life
Make a difference in a child’s life today

On October 1, 2003 a campaign to raise awareness and funds for children fighting neuroblastoma, a life threating form of cancer, was started. It is easy to help. All we are asking is that you donate $5.00 to the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation(CNCF). This is the cost of one lunch. Please donate your five dollars today, right now.

Around 650 children will be diagnosed with neuroblastoma this year. My daughter was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma on July 31, 2001, a day that changed our lives forever. After moving to NY and enduring 10 long months of chemotherapy and treatment she is in remission today. Sadly, we lost many friends along the way. You can visit Payton and learn a little more about this fight at www.caringbridge.org/fl/paytonbogert

If you are interested in donating to this cause you can donate in several ways.
Methods to get donations to the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation.

People can donate online at:
https://www.cncf-childcancer.org/donation.asp
(it is a secure site accepting Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American
Express)

People can call the CNCF at:
1-866-671-2623 CNCF direct line

People can mail their donations to:
Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation
P.O. Box 6635
Bloomingdale, IL 60108

Thanks so much for your continued suppert in all that we do! And thanks for checking in on us.
Take care,
All our love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, September 30, 2003 11:22 AM CDT

Update: October 6, 2003
The Lunch for Life effort raised $20,000 on its fourth and fifth day(this only counts donations which were phoned in-who knows how many checks were mailed)!!!! Thank you all for your support-please lets keep this going-spread the word-help fund a cure for neuroblastoma!!! Here's hoping for an even bigger number tomorrow! I am really anxious to see the final numbers for pledged donations and donations which have been mailed in. The $20,000 only includes those donations that we have been given credit information for and we have the money in hand. We are really starting to see the news picking us up all over the country. Check out www.sydneydungan.com and click on in the news if your interested in reading any of the stories which have been written. Also, if you are visiting this site for the first time please take a moment to sign Payton's guestbook.

Hello,
Wow have I been let in on a fantastic grassroots effort to raise money specifically for neuroblastoma(NB) research. I know this is the second entry in a week where I am encouraging you to join my battle against this dreaded disease but this effort sounds promising!
Here is the premise:
The name: Lunch for Life
It is easy, a father of a 2 year old currently battling NB has come up with the idea. Basically he is asking every person who hears of this campaign to donate $5.00 to The Children's Neurblastoma Cancer Foundation(CNCF). This foundation was set up by a mother who lost her son to NB several years ago. The CNCF has started having annual NB conferences for parents to attend in July and the best doctors travel to speak of upcoming promising treatments and current treatments as well. This is a great way for parents to get the best up to date medical news on NB. And also it allows parents who may feel isolated to meet other parents going through the same things and to know that they are not the only ones. We were lucky being in NY as we were surrounded by NB families(lucky in a sense)I never felt alone and had lots of support from these families but had we stayed here we would have been the only NB family. The CNCF also sends out a newsletter to all that request it for free 4 times a year. It shares stories of children surviving this disease as well as giving parents information about things they need to know. It also focuses on children who are enduring treatment and has their artwork and poems and just cute things they do. I look forward to my newsletter each quarter. The foundation also tries to give money to further research.
The father who has started this effort wants all the money raised to go directly to NB research.

His goal $10 million in 10 days. Can it be done? Maybe. But anything would be nice and to get the public to acknowledge that our children are suffering this dreaded disease is also important. He is asking that each person donate $5-the cost of 1 lunch directly to CNCF and that they also ask five people that they know to do the same.

This effort begins tomorrow, October 1. Please take a moment to donate $5 in Payton's honor and in honor of the many children we have watched go through this with us. I promise not to ask you to donate anymore money!!! I know money is tight but it is one lunch-I'll cook you a lunch if you'll donate the money-Here is the address if you would like to mail a check. This is a tax deductible foundation and is also a very highly regarded foundation within the neuroblastoma community-so I promise that your money will indeed go to NB research!!!!
Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation
P.O. Box 6635
Bloomingdale, IL 60108


You can also call toll free the CNCF at
1-866-671-2623
to make your donation.

You can also donate online at
http://www.sydneydungan.com/pledge_page.asp

I am hoping that this is not the only place you will hear of this effort but that by the end of the ten days you will see it on local news stations as well as nationally. The hope is that by the parents of these children standing together we can make a diference and we can help to fund the cure that is needed for these children.
I was looking on Sydney's webpage(the daughter of the man who is starting this effort) and there was a quote from someone who wrote Mark(the father) a letter. i found it very impressive and thought provoking

"The pebble you throw into the waters of eternity have a way of causing ripples far beyond your lifetime, so you may never fully appreciate the effects of your efforts. Someday, some child whose life was lengthened by newfound treatment may well do something that will forever change history."

Please think of this when you donate your five dollars. Again, I promise not to ask for more money-I promise to stay quiet. But you all need to understnad that everyday I sit here knowing that MY daugher is alive and I wonder why we were so lucky(Not that I would trade it in a second!!!). Why she made it and the numerous others did not. Why I can be happy and lighthearted when my friends are grieving and hurting beyond comprehension. And it is then that I know that if I was so lucky and so blessed that it is my job to fight so that no one else has to suffer. I know that I have to use my fortune and try to help find that cure and while I am not a scienctist I must seek out funding through congress, through donations, through awareness. That is my job now. I must make sure that in 10 years from now no parent must decide between their child's hearing and life, between fertility and life. My Payton will never have a baby and will never hear some of the most beautiful noises this earth has to offer all because she had chemo. This hurts me more than I can explain...To know she will never hold her own sweet child in her arms-it makes me sick with hatred for this disease! She may suffer long term efects such as organ failures and other cancers. We don't know what the future holds for her and much of that is becasue of the horrible chemicals we pumped into her body. I want their to be a cure so no other child has to endure what Payton did and no other parent has to go through what I do everyday!
Please join this effort!!! I want to see it be successful. I am going to donate my $5 tomorrow. I ask you to do the same.

On the homefront. We are all well and doing great. Payton continues to entertain us with her imagaination. We play school ALL the time and her friends come home with her often(pretend friends). Just the otehr day she was screaming from her carseat and Rob and I thought something was really the matter. I ask her what was wrong and she said frantically "Open the window"...so we did and she replied "come on in,Joey" I guess we left Joey outside and he must have been hanging onto the window while we were driving...poor guy! :)
Madison is wonderful. Full of life and happy as can be. We just purchased our tickets for NY in December and I am happy to say that Madison and Daddy are able to come with us.
Thanks for checking in on us and don't let me scare you away with all my muddlings about finding a cure. I am just trying to find my way in life. Cancer truly hurts all it touches!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, September 22, 2003 9:43 AM CDT

Hello once again,
Well just to let you all know I have updated the pictures on the page. The others had just gotten out of date and I wanted to share with you all how big and beautiful the girls are getting!
I heard from NY this week and all of Payton's tests have come back normal!!! What a HUGE relief it is to be able to enjoy life and know that all looks good. I asked Dr. Kushner if we could move her scans a little further apart and he agreed that it was a good idea so hopefully after December we can go six months between scans. We have to be in NY in December for a renal scan so I can't see why I should not go ahead and have her scans then anyway...but after that we should have further breaks.
Wow, I have to say I never thought we would get to this point but it feels so good and I will be forever thankful for all of our fortune!!!!

Payton stayed home from school on Thursday as she was just so worn out and needed some time at home. By Friday she was back to her old self at school and enjoyed the day.

Saturday we all ventured down to a local park and walked two miles with Light the Night. It was sponsered by the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and helped to raise funds and awareness for cancer. It was a lovely walk with LOTS of people. Payton carried a white balloon to represent her cancer survival and we all carried red ones to show support. It was a great night and the girls really seemed to enjoy the walk. Even Madison walked quite a ways. I think she may have walked even more than Payton! As we walked I often thought of all the children we have met along our journey with cancer and how far research needs to go before we can no longer have to put our children through such horrific treatments in hopes of ridding their bodies of this dreaded disease. I can only hope that with continued awareness that a cure will be found. Speaking of awareness, I wanted to let you all know that every year Dr. Kushner runs the NY marathon. If you would like to support him you can help sponser his run. All money he receives will be given to peds. cancer research at MSKCC. His goal this year is $5,000 and I would love to see him exceed it. So, if you are looking for a tax write off or if you just want to donate money to help fund a cure for childhood cancer please sponser his run. Dr. Kushner has spent a liftime deicating himself to finding treatments that will help cure neuroblastoma. He so deserves all of our support.

Also, I would like to remind you all that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Please help spread the word that cancer does afflict children and that we all need to work together to help fund research for these babies. People are under the impression that either children do not get cancer or it is easily treated. Neither of these are true. Treatment is horrible and leaves scars both physically and mentally. No child should ever have to endure the treatments Payton has. I am going to post a link to both Dr. Kushner's running page and a childhood cancer stamp petition. If you do anything today, please sign this petition and help educate the public about childhood cancer...OK now I will step off my soap box. Thanks! :)

We have a very quiet week ahead of us with no big plans...how nice! Madison and I are just going to hang around the house and play together while Payton is at school.

Guess that is it. Please check out the pictures and as always thanks so much for dropping by and checking up on us. We hope you are all doing well.

http://fredsteam.mskcc.org/fundraising/Controller?action=userHome&user_id=283&event_id=4
(this is the link to Dr. Kushner's home page-I will also post it on the bottom of the page under links. The run is in November).

Here is the link for the childhood cancer stamp. I have also added it to the bottom of the page under links.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/928701473?ts=1064243395&sign[partner_userID]=853546117&sign[memberID]=853546117&sign[partnerID]=1

Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, September 16, 2003 7:52 PM CDT

Please check out the new pictures I added this weekend of the girls!


hello again,
Well we made it home and we are happy to be back in FL. The weather in NY was fabulous and Payton and I enjoyed several long walks through the city.
We got back the CT scan results and she still remains tumor free! What a relief. Her bone marrow aspirates came back all clean so now we are waiting for the biopsies and her urine test to come back. Her marrow should be back by tomorrow or so and her urine test will come back on friday but for now all looks great!
We are looking forward to the steri strips falling off her belly so we can see how the plastic surgery went. I got a peek at her belly button yesterday and it is actually the correct shape again! What a huge relief that was. Her belly in general looks so much better. She was kinda distended looking for the last few months and now she looks normal...
Payton started back to school yesterday. i kept her home in the morning and took her in for lunch. She is still a bit tired and worn out from the surgery.
Madison and I have really been enjoying ourselves since our return.
Madison had her 16 month check up today and she is nice and healthy. She is 75n height for her age and 25n weight. So hopefully she will pick up some weight along the way. It is nice to be back with her as we both missed eachother a ton!
I got Payton tickets to go see the Wiggles in October in Tampa. I bought them yesterday and even managed to get us floor seats. I can't wait as I know she is going to have SO much fun!!!!
Well, better run. Both girls are sleeping and I want to take advantage of the quiet time!
Hope you are all well and as usual thanks so much for checking in on us. I'll update with the rest of the test results as I hear them.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, September 9, 2003 7:38 PM CDT

Hi everyone,
Well we made it through surgery and I hope that I am not posting with good news too early but it loooks like her new ureter held up great and is working as it should. dr. LaQualia also repaired her scar and it should look just like her original scar before the whole infection fiasco. I am really looking forward to seeing it and noe havign that ugly scar on her belly. While she was in surgery Dr. L found a hernia and he went ahead and repaired that as well so we are in the hospital tonight. She slept off the surgery all day and now she is sitting up playing in the playroom. She is such an amazingly strong person with a sense of life that cannot be described! I am in awe of all the strength and love for life she continues to show. She is playing and smiling right now! She was so excited about having Dr. L fix her belly...I think she disliked the scar as much as we did. Well I better run and play with my girl. She is playing with soem of the volunteers in the playroom right now.
Thanks for checking in! I cannot even begin to explain how relieved I am that it appears the surgery in May was successful, that Payton no longer has a horrible ugly scar and that this should, with lots of luck, be our last and final major surgery because of the awful cancer that ravaged her body! We will complete her scans this week and hopefully will come home knowing that she is stillc ancer free to live normally for another few monmths!
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton & Madison

Tuesday, September 2, 2003 11:05 AM CDT

I thought I would start this journal entry with a funny Payton story. This morning as we were getting in the car to head off to school she started saying "I need Bag Baa"
I said, "You need a baseball"? No, she replied and repeated the misinterepted word. I continued to try and gues what she was saying as she became more and more pissy with me. I was getting ready to just give up and call it a lose when I said to her, "Payton, I really just don't understand what you need". I had gone through my mental list of what she might need and couldn't figure this one out. So frustration she said, "A toy". Well, now we were communicating. She wanted a toy that sounded something like base ball. So, I took her out of the carseat and we walked inside and i asked her to show me waht she needed. We walked in and she looked for a second and then plain as day said, "Where is Big Bird"? Ahh, the puzzle was solved, she just wanted her Big Bird stuffed animal to take to school with her. I was SO proud of her for understanding that I did not know what she was saying and then trying another word like toy to try and help me!!! One day, we will communicate with great ease. For now, it is one word at a time...but I am so lucky that she continues to say it over and over until I figure out what she is asking for!
Anyway, on to our life. It is good. Payton had another great week at school and was ready to go back before her weekend was over. We went to Seaworld Friday night to see Shamu and the fireworks and then she conned Rob into taking her back on Saturday. Madison and I just hung around the house and I tried to get some work done while they were gone. Madison seems to finally be getting over her little runny nose.
I got us tickets to go see Monster's Inc. on ice this weekend so that should be fun. My mom and dad will come over Sat. to take care of Madison while we go.
Then Payton and I head off to NY bright and early Sunday morning. We hope to be back the next Saturday(13th) if all goes as planned...we'll see.
We will be doing scans(3 month) and haveing her stint removes and possibly some plastic surgery to her scar on her belly.
Guess that is it around here. We are goo, can't complain, except I wish I did not have to go to NY for scans-and mostly I just wish I did not have to leave my Madison behind!!! :(
Love to all,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, August 26, 2003 10:45 AM CDT

Well again not too much to report. Last week Payton had a sudden turn around with school and she now adores it again. Seems that she made some new friends and they dance and hug and kiss her so she seems pretty happy with that. She recently started a new game at home...she is Mrs. walters(the teacher) and we are the kids in the class. She makes Rob and I sit in a circle, sometimes some stuffed animals sit with us-other times it is our guest such as grandparents and such. She then calls roll and we have to raise our hands and say here and she is checking it off in her hand(too cute!!). The she does this chant, which I found out yesterday what it means from her teacher. Next, we put our stuff in cubby holes, lay on mats and close our eyes while she rubs our foreheads and sings to us. It is all very funny and she is just too much lately.
Madison is still enjoying her quality mommy time and the benefit of playing with what she wants when she wants without being hit or screamed at. This week she seems to be fighting a little head cold and has the yucky drippy nose again...funny how she gets all the gross noses and my immune suppressed child stays perfectly healthy...never thought I would say that!
We pretty much just stayed around the house this weekend and did some cleaning. Rob and I were able to sneak out for dinner Sunday night as his parents were kind enough to watch the munchkins for us for an hour or so.
no big plans for this weekend either, though I am sure we will find ourselves at SeaWorld for a little while with the three day weekend and all.
Payton continues to thrive at school and comes home with new comments and actions everyday. It is a bit of an adjustment for me not to be with her every waking moment but I know she is having a great time at school and learning a ton. Yesterday she wore panties all day from the time she got up until she went to bed with no accidents. Our biggest concern is that she is holding her poop so we'll have to figure out how to get her to poop on the potty too, but at least we are in the beginning stages of potty training and she is willingly wearing panties. I had been working on potty training but she would not give up the diaper . It seems that she will do anything for Mrs. Walters, like wear her hearing aids, potty and wear panties...hmm...sounds like someone LOVES their teacher!!!!
Well, better run...lots to do and I just got Madi down.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
gin, rob, payton and madison

Monday, August 18, 2003 8:14 PM CDT

Hi again,
Life around here continues to just remain normal.. Can't really complain. Payton recently deciced school was not as enjoyable as she previously thought and so the mornings are somewhat teary eyed as she is taken out of the car. From my understanding she perks right up after I am gone and is fine the rest of the day but it can be sorda hard on me pulling away and seeing her crying.
Friday night Rob and I took the girls to Sea World to watch the Shamu night show and fireworks. This is one of Payton's favorite things to do! And MAdison is really starting to enjoy the fireworks as well. The Shamu show is a hit for both of them.
Sunday Rob adn I took Payton to her first movie in a theater. We saw Finding Nemo and Payton really seemed to enjoy it. It was a bit long for her and she was up talking a lot but all in all it was a great experience for all of us.
I bought mine and Payton's plane tickets for NY last week...so we are getting closer to having to head back up that way. Not looking forward to the scans and surgery but hopefully it will all turn out fine and we will be back home for another three month break. Well, Madison is stil up so I better run and take care of her. Hope everyone is doing well and once again thanks for checking in on us!
With love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, August 11, 2003 8:56 AM CDT

Hello all,
Payton continued to LOVE school last week. She was very excited about going everyday and left me with no problems. She is pretty worn out though by the time she gets home and the afternoons can be a bit crazy with the girls picking on one another. Payton, Madison, my mom and myself went to GA this weekend to visit with my grandfather we all had a great time. We managed to squeeze in the butterfly house a t calloway gardens on Friday and Payton absolutely had a fabulous time. Madison enjoyed the butterflies as well but seemed to have more fun playing in the little water falls that they had set up. We had the joy of getting to see all our aunts from Franklin while we were up there. They were kind enough to come to us and that made the visit even easier. We flew back home on Sunday and both girls did a great job. They were both so good all weekend thogh Madison slep cycle was a little messed up. They both really took to my grandfather and we all had a great visit. This week Payton went back to school and was nice and ready to jump into Mrs. Walter's arms this morning. So now Madison and I are just enjoying or morning. Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for checking in.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, August 4, 2003 4:41 PM CDT

Well we did it, we made it through our first day of school and most importantly we had a BLAST!!!!! Payton had so much fun at school today. I drove her in and stayed with her for about twenty minutes and then snuck out. She never even saw me go and from waht I hear never really cared I was missing. She really likes her teacher, Mrs. Walters and played all day. She even managed to lay down and take a short nap while she was there. Madison and I had a quiet day here at home and now we are all just playing around waiting for Rob to get home. So, it is official now Payton is in school and it looks like tomorrow I will just drop her off in the morning and see how she will handle it. Other than that we had a quiet weekend at home. We did go down to Winter Park this weekend and Payton got two caterpillars that she is eargerly watching and waiting for them to turn into butterflies. Today, she and I planted some plants that are supposed to attract butterflies and I must say that one did come up to one of the plants this afternoon. We are leaving on Thursday to make a trip to visit my grandfather. We are going to geta chance to go and see some butterflies while we are there and payton is really looking forward to it. I am not sure how Madison will handle the trip but thankfully it is short so if she misses some sleep she'll be OK. Wel,better run and take care of the girls. Just wanted to fill everyone in on Payton's first day of school.
Love,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, July 29, 2003 10:20 AM CDT

Hello,
Well, it has been over a week...time sure does fly. Payton had a wonderful birthday and really enjoyed her cake and icecream. This was the first year that she understood teh concept of birthday. This past weekend we celebrated her cousin's birthday and she even understood that it was his party and not hers. She did however find herself a seat right beside him while he blew the candles out on his cake.
I spoke with Payton's teacher today and everything is all set for her to start school on Monday. I can hardly believe it is alrady time for her to go to school. Her teacher seems very nice and caring. One good thing is that Payton's cousin, Haley, was also in this same pre K program and had this same teacher for the last three years so they are familar with Payton's situation and seem to be VERY excited about having another Bogert in the class. Payton is still not happy aobut the whole school thing but I seemed to have found a way to make her not so scared of going off and leaving mommy. We are now calling it work and she is very excited about being able to go to work just like daddy. She even seems to understand that Madison and I will not be staying with her! We are going to meet with Mrs. Walters on Friday and then we will see how she reacts to the whole school thing.
Madison is teething once again so she has been pretty miserable the past couple of days. Hopefully once these last four incisors break through she will be done with the teeth thing for a while. I think the next set of teeth she should get are her two year molars. But for now she is very clingy and not too happy most of the time. I am really looking forward to having some time together with Madison-maybe we can get some stuff done around the house!
Well, I better run. Payton's speech therapist will be here any minute.
Hope you are all well.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Friday, July 18, 2003 11:35 AM CDT

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR SWEET PAYTON!!!!!!

Tomorrow we will celebrate life, health and true happiness! Tomorrow our daughter will turn three. Almost two years ago Payton was DX with neuroblastoma. Last year I just wanted to make it to two...this year with much joy and hapiness we celebrate three...I can only hope that we will also see thirteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty-one, ect.! What a joy Payton is, what an ispiration to all of us she has become. She is a FIGHTER! All that attitude she has sure has helped her. Cancer has not beaten her-she continues to fight-to stay on top of it all. I can only hope that everyone has learned the value of life and the wonders of childhood from Payton and all the other children who are faced with this dreaded disease we call cancer.
Tomorrow at noon we will begin our formal celebration(more commonly refered to as a birthday party). Payton has chosen to have a Shamu party with a Shamu cake baked and decorated by our own cake baker, daddy. We will have hamburgers and hordogs, cake and icecream and last but not least lots of presents. For us Payton's birhtday is not just a common three year old party but it is yet another milestone we have reached! Cancer has changed us all, made us more sentimental, more loopy than before. I just wanted to wish my princess a wonderful day-and a lifetime more of them. I also want to tell Madison how much we love and cherish her-all the normalcy and wonder she brings to our family. She is what keeps us grounded during all this. We love both our girls more than words could describe. Thank you all for continueing to follow us, for your continued support and love. For everyone who took a moment and sent Payton a card-thanks a bunch! She so LOVES to get mail and open her cards. With each one she said, Happy Birthday, payton as she was opening them. We have been so blessed through all this!
I would like to take this moment and ask you all to think of a friend of ours who lost his battle on Tuesday to neuroblastoma. He was only 5 and was such a sweet and wonderful child. His parents are so gentle and loving and I know that they are hurting beyond belief right now. We will continue to remember Nicky forever!
Much Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 10:15 PM CDT

Hello again,
Life here continues to be wonderful. Madison and Payton picked up some bug last week and have been with snotty noses and sneezes but other than that no complaints. Payton contiues with her swim lessons and is enjoying htme more and more each day. she seems to be making friends and is more involved now with the other kids. I think it is very good for her. This weekend we will go Dine with Shamu. On Friday we ventured out for Payton and Madison's first real firework show. They had a great time! Madison was a bit scared at first but inthe end seemed to have really enjoyed the sky lighting up. Payton enjoyed every minute of it and still continues to talk about the "firein the sky". I guess we will have to go see the fireworks at Seaworlld one night soon. Other than that life is just continuing at a noraml pace and we are really enjoying our summer...getting ready for school and loving life.
Thanks for checking in on us.
We hope you are all dong well.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, June 30, 2003 10:07 PM CDT

Hello again,
Just thought I would make a short post and let everyone know that Payton had her first swim lesson today. She was such a big girl(so much bigger than me!). I walked her over and she stood in line and with all the other kids and then left with no problems. She never even looked back for me! i was shocked. I guess I just thought she needs me more than she does. She did great in the pool. She was so cute and so big sitting out on the edge of the pol listening ot instructions and then waiting her turn to jump in with the instructor for a try at the new lesson. We go everyday this week so I'll fill you all in around the end of the week how she is doing. We did manage to make it out to Seaworld yesterday(our season passes were the best thing we ever got!) and spent some time with Shamu(Payton's best friend). We are going to dine with Shamu for her birthday on July 12th. She is really looking forward to it-though she says she is going to "eat Shamu" for her birhtday. Hope she won't be too disappointed to find out she jsut gets to eat next to Shamu. We are also having a Shamu themed party for her birthday. She is so into Shamu these days. tonight both girls were in bed by 9PM! I think Pay has been in bed and asleep by 9 for about 4 nights in a row(shh...I don't want to jinx it!). Well, better run. Lots to do tomorrow. Payton has her monthly check up with the oncologist tomorrow at 2 then it is off to swim lessons at 4. Thanks for stopping in.
Love,
Rob, Gin, payton and Madison

Thursday, June 26, 2003 10:34 AM CDT

Well here we are another week has gone by and I am happy to report that there is not too much to report. Payton finally got to go back to the pool again and is VERY happy about that. Here wound is healing very nicely and we don't even have to keep a bandage on it anymore. The downside to this is that she walks through stores, malls ect. holding her shirt up and saying"no more bandaid"...some of the startled faces we see can be humorous but all in all it is just a bit embarrasing for me. I think people think I beat her! HA-HA! After we get done swimming Payton always wants to go get pasta...so we go eat some pasta and on Tuesday she fell asleep on the way home. Amazingly enough she was in bed by 9:00PM. An all time record for my girl! Madison also enjoys to go swimming and loves to splash around in the water. She is so funny as she tries to swim and kick her legs. I signed Payton up for swim lessons for next week. So she will go everyday for two weeks. She should really enjoy this as she will get to be inthe water everyday. I hope to get her swimming soon so she can really have some fun in the water!
I got her all signed up for school. She suprised me with excellent scores in ALL areas except speech(not that I don't htink Pay is brilliant!). So she will only need speech services. This was great news as I always feared the chemo could have casused some damage at such an early age. Anyway, life here seems suprisingly normal.
I guess that is about it around here. Next week we are going in for Payton's monthly check up to see how her counts are looking. Other than that I think it is a pretty quiet week. Oh, no it is Rob and my four year anniversary on Thursday! Wow! Four years already. We have been through so much together in these last four years. I can think of no one better to have come along with me on this journey!
Thnkas for stopping by.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Friday, June 20, 2003 9:29 AM CDT

Hello, Hello
Life around here has seemed to settle back down into a somewaht normal routine. Payton and Madison are spending their days playing and fighting and I am the referee. Occasionaly I get in the way of the fight and get hurt as well...no really they get along pretty well as long as Madi sits in the corner and doesn't touch anything.
Payton has once again flipped her bed time around and is back to staying up late. Last night she went to bed at 11PM. Now at 10:30 AM she is still sleeping. Many of you are thinking the simple trick would be to wake her now and then have her go to sleep at a normal time tonight...maybe with a normal child this would work but not with dear sweet Payton. NO, if I wake her now she will be horribly rude and mean to her sister until I finally give up and force her to nap around 3 only setting her bedtime back even later. So my hope is she will sleep until she feels like waking up, get up play hard and then go to bed at a respectable hour, you know 10 PM...smile. What will I do?
Madison continues to be our good sleeper, down no later than 9ish and up around 8ish. She does get up around 6ish for a bottle but other than that we don't hear a thing from her all night. Madison had her one year checkup on Wednesday. She is 50% in both height and weight. She did very well with her appointment.
Rob and I have to meet with the Seminole COunty Student Special Services next week to see how Payton tested with her evaluations. I guess at that point we will write out her goals for the year and find out what school she will be attending in the fall(August4!). I can hardly believe I am sending her to school. But it will be good for her I am sure.
Well, I guess i better run. We will be home through August and are scheduled to return to NY Sept.4 for scans and surgery.
Thanks for checking in and hope all is well for everyone.
love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Thursday, June 5, 2003 10:58 PM CDT

well, we made it to NY. It was a quick and exhausting trip...we are glad to be back home. We were lucky enough to be able to get a corporate angels flight to NY. That saved us a bit of money!!! We had to be in Tampa at 7:00AM for the flight so we left Orlando at 4:00 AM. We made it into NY around 10:00 and took a car service into the city dropped our bags at Ronald and went straight to the hospital for her 2:00 renal scan. The renal scan looks fine. The surgery appears to be OK. We will do another renal scan in Septmeber when they take out the stint to see how the left kidney functions then and to see if this surgery was indeed a success. Her left kidney is not functioning as well as the right but together they are doing 100%. Wednesday was a crazy day as we had a hearing test at 10, met with Dr. L around 11:00, an ultra sound at 1:00 and even mangaged to grab a taxi to the airport and catch a 5:00 plane home. Dr. L took one look at Payton's surgical site and recommended plastic surgery to repair the damaged area where the infection was. So, when we go up in September to remove the stint we will have some plastic surgery as well. We will also do her three month scans at that time as well. I guess we will be in NY for about a week at that point. It seems never ending sometimes but I have no right to complain as we are not dealing with what so many other families are facing right now. I am happy that at this point in our lives the cancer seems to have taken a back seat and we are just dealing with it's horrible path of destruction it left behind. But I am thankful that that is "all" we are dealing with. Payton had another hearing test and it appears that things are not as bad as they were appearing here in FL. My gut told me they were wrong here and so I took her into the audiologist she is familar with and she did much better. She still has plenty of hearing loss and still requires hearing aids but is mild to moderatly hearing impaired in the upper frequency verses severe to profound as they were getting in FL. It was such a relief for me to see her do so well. We are still looking into exactly how we will be able to afford her digital hearing aids she requires. They run about $2, 500 a ear and our insurance does not cover them. It is so frustrating that the insurance does not provide such a needed thing for a child. I am going to write a letter and try to appeal the insurance but I don't know if that will work...if not then we'll just have to come up with the money. And of course we will...but once again I have to remind myself that we did have wonderful insurance which allowed us to go to Ny in the first place and that covered many of her expenses in NY -so I guess I should not complain-their are others in far worse off finacial states than us!
Other than all that we are just thankful to be home and to be healthy...being in NY is always a wake up call, a simple reminder of what was and what we hope will never be again. It is always so hard to see all the suffering these children go through and it is horrible to watch as their parents must remain strong for them even when they feel like they can no longer go on. Once again, while I was up there I learned of another child who has relapsed. I think I learn of a child relasping everytime I am up there. It always reminds me of how lucky we are to have our Payton healthy.
Madison is offically up and walking. She is all over the place going from room to room without falling. She is loving her new found freedom!! Madison is getting so big so fast. I can hardly believe she is already walking-before I know it she'll be grown.
This weekend we got to meet Payton's friend Emily from NY at Seaworld. The girls had a great time playing together once again. She was on her Make A Wish trip to Disney and was staying at The Give Kids the World Village(a special village created jsut for children on their Make a Wish trip). We had the opportunity to join them at the village, eat dinner and play all evening. It was great! They had a carosel that Payton and Emily rode forever. They were the only two on it and they would just go from horse to horse. They must have ridden it 10 times by the time we managed to talk them into going to play putt putt. It was such a great experience to ride a carosel all by themselves-a kids dream come true!!! They have a really cute Dino putt putt course where each hole makes a dinosaur do something. Payton really enjoyed this as well but a few holes were a bit scary for her. Next Em and Payton danced in the street and then went for a quick dip in the pool-a no no for Pay with her wound but who could deny her such fun...she and Emily were having so much fun!!! It is always such a great treat for me to see Em and Pay playing-healthy- with hair, smiling and enjoying their lives...lives they fought so hard for-lives that we all take for granted but that they came so close to losing...I am just so happy that they have made it so far!
Well, it is late, I am tired and I am sure the girls will be full of energy bright and early. I am taking them over to Casey and riley's house tomorrow to play. Madison will finally be able to keep up with everyone now so it should be tons of fun for both the girls. I sure hope you are all well. Give someone you love a big hug today and tell them how thankful you are they are here with you...be thankful for all of lifes beauty and all the wonders around you. Don't take today for granted...if you have children and they want you to color with them don't say in a minute because as I've learned so early in life there may not be another minute...Carpe Diem!
Love, Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Wednesday, May 28, 2003 2:43 PM CDT

Hello All,
Well, we are off to NY once again. Dr. L. called on Friday and wants to see payton next week so I have scheduled a flight with Corporate Angels for next Tuesday. One good thing is it looks like we will be able to come back by Thursday at the latest. We are still hoping to be back Wednesday if everything can be arranged and I can get a flight back. Life here is good...pretty quiet not too much to report. I have been busy working on my summer program work and the girls are playing together more and more. Madison is walking with assistance and and can take 3-4 steps on her own. She'll be running around here before I know it. Payton's belly is healing very nicely and it looks better everyday. By going to NY next week we don't have to go back until September. I am so thrilled that we will have such a nice long break. Payton's friend from NY, Emily, will be n her make a wish trip at Disney this weekend so we look forward to hanging out with them some before we head off to NY. Guess that is it. Thanks for stopping by.
Gin, Rob, payton and Madison

Friday, May 23, 2003 8:20 AM CDT

Hello,
Life around here has continued to be a bit hectic. Madison seems to have gotten over her virus but then had two molars come in this week. She is less than happy about all that is going on wihtin her. But we continue to drudge on with little sleep.
Payton went to the urologist yesterday and he said her wound looks good. We can expect about two months for it to heal so we have a long road ahead of us on that one. Not that we are not used to long roads...it seems that Payton prefers the long-least traveled roads. Which only gives us more time with the girls and extra practice as parents. Not that the long road isn't exhausting but it is doable.
ANyway, other than that we are just hanging around and trying to get some much needed stuff done around the house.
No big plans for the holiday weekend-oh wait, Uncle Todd and Aunt Michelle are coming over one night to give Rob and I a much needed escape...so that should be very nice. We have not had a chance to go out together since around December or so...needless to say we could really use some time away.
Well, better run lots to do-not too much time. Hope everyone has a wonderful relaxing weekend. And as always thanks so much for stopping by and checking up on us.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Saturday, May 17, 2003 8:25 PM CDT

Well, it has been a hectic few days around our way. Wednesday we noticed that Payton's belly was distended and hard so after calling NY we decided to take her into the ER fearing that she had a small bowel obstruction. Thanksfully, this was not so but we had the life scared out of us before finding out the casue of her distention. Upon having the doctor exam her we noticed a lovely fluid that was pouring out of her belly below her surgical site. I, of course, was in a panic...the doctor found the place where the fluid was coming from and bandaged her back up. All this bought us two days in the hospital as they tried to find the cause of the fluid leak. In the end, after several tests and lots of blood work, it was dtermined that it was an infection below her surgical site which was caught between her muscle wall and the skin-it had no where to go so it busted through the weakest part(her surgical site). We now have a nice urologist in Fl who worked with our Dr. in NY and decided to go ahead and cut the site to let the remainder of the fluid come out and then we packed it and wrapped it. It is really gross looking right now and we have to change the dressing twice a day but he promises it will heal fairly quickly.
On a lighter note, Madison celebrated her first birhtday yesterday. I can hardly believe she is already one!!! Last night she started getting sick with some vomitting and remained that way today-though she did manage to enjoy her Elmo cake daddy made her and her icecream. She is sleeping now and we hope she is feeling much better tomorrow.
Thanks for checking in on us.
Hope all is well.
Gin, rob, Payton and Madison

Monday, May 12, 2003 1:46 PM CDT

Well we made it home!!! My girls gave me the best Mother's Day present yesterday, they gave me themselves..they gave me health and smiles, they gave me life and light. May we all remember that life is precious, that it can be taken from us in a moment and that in that moment it can change another's life forever. I want to remember all my friends who have lost their babies to this dreaded disease and I want to let you all know how happy I am that I have two beatiful and healthy girls who bring more happiness and joy into my life than I could have ever imagined possible. I am so lucky and fortunate to have made it this far in our battle against cancer and all the other miseries of life. Yesterday, I was reminded of my fortune.
On Friday, Payton had her MIBG scan. We are still awaiting the final reports but our doctor did take a look and said they looked OK. We had a bit of a scare though as her left kidney lit up and possibly her ureter as well. I lost it...I thought it was back, I thought our life was ending but we were once again the fortunate ones and it appears to just be a surgical thing and we hope it will all turn out to be nothing. I am hoping to get the final word from Dr. Kushner this afternoon. I'll update as soon as I hear anything.
Payton is doing well, still a bit weak form the surgery but all in all in pretty good spirits. She is napping right now. Both girls are happy to be back home and in their own environment. Madison is back to her old self, eating well and playing happily. Being in NY in an unknown environment really threw her off.
While we were in NY we took the opportunity to take Payton's and Madison's bottle from them. It was a hard decision since Madison will only be one on Friday but one we had to make as Payton's teeth are really suffering from it. It was not as bad as we thought and both girls seem to be adjusting just fine. Madison still sneaks one in in the wee hours of the morning but that is really the only one she asks for. Payton seems to be sleeping better without the bottle and has not asked for one all day today. She did go straight to where we kept them when she got home yesterday and asked for one but we told her they went bye-bye and she seemed to be OK with that. even today as she was sitting at the table drinking out of a straw she looked at me and said, "BA-Ba went Bye-Bye". i agreed and that was the end of it. I thought nap time would be very difficult but she said I'm tired and I laid her on the couch and off she drifted...so I guess I was worried over nothing.
Well, better run. Lots to do around here.
Thanks for stopping by.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Friday, May 9, 2003 10:56 AM CDT

Got the results from Payton's CT scan and bone marrow biopsies and aspirates. All look good and show no sign of new disease. We are getting ready to do Payton's last scan before we go home. This is scheduled for 2:00 today and she has to be sedated in about 5 minutes. We got a flight for Sunday morning so we are excited about getting home a few days early. We will have to return in a month for a few scans to see how her kidneys are functioning but at least we will be home for a month. If this MIBG scan comes back clean we won't have to do another one as long as she stays clean with the other scans. It is nice to be getting somewhere away from all the scans and such. Anyway, gotta run and get Payton ready for this lst scan. hope all is well. Thanks for hecking in.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Wednesday, May 7, 2003 8:34 PM CDT

Hello-
At last we have been released from the hospital. Payton is doing much better. she is still a bit uncomfortable but with a little tylenol she seems to be much better. We had her CT scan today and her MIBG scan is scheduled for Friday. If all goes well and she remailns without fever we are hoping to try and catch a flight home this weekend. All in all the surgery and recovery went better than we had anticipated. Now we are just hoping for clean scans so that we can enjoy life without worrying for a while. Payton and I will have to come back to NY at the beginning of June for a renal scan and ulrasound to see how the surgery went. Other than that we are just hanging around the house and playing around. Today we walked up to the Disney store to get out. The weather is beautiful. Well, better run.
Thanks for checking in.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, May 5, 2003 4:47 PM CDT

Hello-
Payton continues to improve by leaps and bounds daily. She is doing so much better today and is MUCh happier. We have spent lots of time in the playroom and she even went down to the gift shop and walked all the way back by herself. They cut her pain meds in half today and will take her off the pump tomorrow. They say she needs to eat a bit more and feel a little better but believe she should be released from the hospital on Wednesday. She has really improved so much over the last 24 hours. She and Madison got to see eachother last night and were both SO excited to see one another. Her CT scan is scheduled for Wednesday...getting a bit nervous about that now. That about wraps up our day. Hope you are all well.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Sunday, May 4, 2003 3:49 PM CDT

Hello everyone,
Payton continues to do well. She has had most of her tubes and wires removed. She came off the breathing tube on Friday. they took out her NG tube today. That is a tube that came out of her nose and drained her bile from her belly. Yesterday they started getting her out of bed and making her walk. Today, she played in the playroom-well, she sat in my lap and watched me color and glue. Then she walked all the way back to our room. We are SO proud of her. We should get moved from teh POU to the 5th floor tomorrow. This is a good thing overall-but bad for us as we will have to share a room!!! UGH! Well, better run. I have to get back to the room.
thanks for stopping by.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Friday, May 2, 2003 9:37 AM CDT

Hello everyone,
well we made it to NY. Surgery was scheduled as 1st cse yesterday, may 1, 2003. We got bumped to second case which was hard on Payton as she could not eat and wanted something so bad. she went into surgery at 11:00 AM. They did her bone marrow biopsies for her 3 month scans and did some other things and the incision was made at 1:30. She got out of surgery at 8:00 PM. So, needless to say it was a LONG day. She was taken to teh 5th floor ped observation unit and remains there now. She is on a breathing machine and we hope that she will be taken off that within a couple of hours. She is really fighting everyone so they are keeping her sedated so that she does not pull any of her tubes out. she did pull out a draining tube last night which they had to put back in. She is our little fighter. The surgery went well. They were able to reconstruct the ureter as planned. They took her appendix to do this. When they took the appendix her secum lost it's blood suply so that came out and something else was used to fix that problem as well. One possible side effect from that is that she may have some loose stools, but for Payton that will be nice as she is always so darn constipated. Guess that is about it. I'll update ,ore when we go to the regular floor and she is more alert and awake. For now though all looks good.
Thanks for checking in.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, April 29, 2003 2:14 AM CDT

Hello,
It is late, I am up. Madison got up to play for some reason tonight around 12. Now it is two and she is asleep but me-wide awake. What to do? So, I figured I'd add an entry. We are preparing for our trip to NY. I am getting more and more nervous as the minutes get closer to us leaving and the surgery. I don't want to do this but when it is done we should have everything behind us. I just don't want to see Payton suffer again. But kids are amazing and rebound quickly so I just hope everything goes smoothly. We are leaving Wednesday morning on a 7Am plane. We then have to go to the hospital as soon as we drop our bags at the Ronald so we can meet with her surgeon and have some blood work done. Then the afternoon should be free for us to settle into our room and do something fun as a family before the surgery.
I am a bit concerned about whether or not the surgery will even take place as PAyton has a gross snotty nose again and if it does not clear up I am sure they will postpone the surgery. As much as I don't want the surgery I need it to go on so that I can stop worrying about it. Anyway, I called our doctor here today and he called in an antibiotic for her so hopefully that will clear it up. Madison has the same gross cold but she just has to suffer through it because no doctor will give her anything...they can be so mean to healthy kids HAHA.
Well, better run. I guess I should try to get some sleep tonight before my kiddies get up again.
Hope you all are well. Check back often over the next two weeks as I plan on updating with all of Payton's progress.
Love to all,
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1:51 PM CDT

Got word yesterady that Payton's surgery has been postponed until May 1, 2003. So after lots of time on the phone and moving many things around we are already to leave on April 30th now. This pushes our return date back a few more days as well so we hope to be back around the 14th. At first I was franic but now it seems that everything will work out for the best. My mom is coming to help with Madi and she will be able to stay a bit longer with two weekends falling in between now instead of just one. She will not be able to make it to NY until the 2nd so day 1 with surgery will be a bit more difficult but I am sure we can manage. Madison should be a nice distraction while Payton is in surgery. Other than that life around here is good. PAyton had her OT and PT evaluation for the pre-K program today and di great. She is right on target for her age group. A big improvement from October when she was at about an 18 month old level. She will have her speech evaluation when we return from NY. Hope everyone is well. Thanks for stopping by.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Monday, April 21, 2003 7:44 AM CDT

Hello all. Hope everyone had a great Easter. We had lots of fun with family and egg hunts. Madison slept right throught the egg hunt but Payton was on top of it and collected ALL the eggs. She had so much fun running through the yard looking for eggs and seeing what was hidden in the egg. It was another quiet week in medical terms but a busy week for socializing. Monday, we met up with our good friends Kristin, emily and Patrick and had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese...much better to go places like this on a weekday when all kids are in school. Wednesday, found us on the coast visiting with more NY friends. Thursday we sorda just hung around the house and played. And Friday my mom came over and it was off to Sea World so Payton could get paited like a butterfly. Payton's newest obsession is butterflies. It was a bit of problem when the butterflies washed off-lots of tears. But I think after a few days of dealing with her grief she is finally getting over the loss of her butterflies. I am sure we will be back at Sea World having more butterflies painted soon. We also continue to have speech therepy every Tuesday and Thursday morning.
This week should be pretty quiet. Rob and I are busy trying to get everything set up and ready for our NY trip. We leave Sunday for two weeks. Payton's surgery is next Tuesday, April 29th. I cannot believe we are less than a week from going to NY and right at a week until the surgery. I am not looking forward to this surgery and I am really beginning to get pretty stressed over the whole thing!!!! It seems that everyday closer we get the more nervous and anxious I get. Well, it sounds like my eldest princess has decided to meet and greeet the world so I better run...Madison(my other princess) has been playing around my feet as I type(even princesses can play on the floor!). We had an early start this morning and a late stop last night-Madi is one crazy girl!!! I am sure she will nap in about an hour-but me, I'm just hoping Madi and Pay will go down about the same time this afternoon. Hope you all are well and thanks for stopping by.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, April 15, 2003 10:10 AM CDT

Wow, what a busy week and a half it has been! Last week we made our monthly trip to the doctor for a check up and blood counts. Payton's blood counts looked great! All within normal ranges. Her hemoglobin(red cells) was the highest I have ever seen it! We are so proud of here. Friday Casey and Riley came over to play with the girls. We went to the park and played and had a great time. saturday the girls and I made a trip to my moms and played around...the pictures I sent everybody came fromt hat trip. Sunday, we found ourselves just hanging around the house and picking up. We did manage to squeeze in a trip to the Y so Rob and I get to work out and then the girls got to go for a swim. Both girls are finally getting over these terrible colds they have had for about 2 weeks. They have had the snotty noses ever! Madison's is still dripping some but looks better everyday and payton just has a small cough left.
Yesterday Payton's best friend from NY, Emily, came over. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and they all had a blast. Em and Payton still get along so well. It is great to see them both so healthy and happy.
Tomorrow we are going to go over to Cocoa to visit with some of my friends from NY. So, as you can see life here is busy, busy, busy.
Payton's surgery is scheduled two weeks from today. I thought I could not get any more nervous but with each passing day I find my self more and more of a wreck! Oh well, can't do much about that. I think it is a combination of me being nervous about the surgery and the scans. I am such a fool to have scheduled them all together but I was trying to save us a trip to NY.
That is about it around here.
Hope you are all doing well and thanks for continuing to stop by and check up on us!
gin, rob , payton and madison

Friday, April 4, 2003 8:35 PM CST

On August 4, 2001 Payton went into the hospital for her first round of chemo and her first official act on the N8 protocol...on April 4, 2003(that's today!!!!) she took her last accutane pill and completed her protocol. We are so proud of how far our baby has come...of all that she has endured and of all that she accomplished.
A recap...
Payton had 3 rounds of high dose chemo.
Then an incredible 10 hour surgery to remove her tumor which had wrapped itself around her vena cava and aerota(and had been deemed inoperable by our Dr. here-Dr. L-the surgeon in NY-is an amazing man!!!!).
Then she recovered in the ICU for 4 days(on our last day in the ICU I found out I was pregnant with our Madi girl) and then spent another 3 days back at MSKCC on the 5th floor...where she was released on day 7 post surgery(kids ARE amazing).
After that she harvested her stem cells, had a round of antibodies and then completed another 2 rounds of chemo(with another round of antibodies in between the chemo rounds).
In November 2001, Just for fun Payton decided to run a fever for 22 days and scare the living hell out of all us...in the end it was just a ureter issue(haha-just) which our surgeon(again the amazing Dr. L) surgeon fixed for then(she will have it repaired for good April 29, 2003).
This bring us to about Jan. 2002...
Jan. was a good month as we found out Payton was NED(No evidence of Disease).
We began preparing for her transplant...oh what a wonderful 28 days we had in the hospital. It was rough, Pay was so sick and I remember watching those chemo drugs drip into her and knowing that they were killing her bone marrow...and just hoping that she would pull through this horrible treatment.
On day +20 we were released from the hospital and sent back tot he RMH.
After all this we completed another round of antibodies, did radiation for 7 days-2 times a days and then got to come home becasue PAyton was exposed to the chicken pox.
It was nice to be home but we knew we had to return for one more round of antibodies...but Madison had other plans...On May 16(5 weeks early) we welcomed Madi into our CRAZY lives and Rob and PAyton went back to NY three days later. Payton had her central line removed in May and thus we started our new "normal" lives.
Payton then completed four months of oral VP-16(more chemo) while going to NY every month for more of those antibodies!!!
In October she started her last step in treatment and that was the accutane. She continued antibodies once a month until March 2003 when she developed the much desired HAMA and we were done with th antibodies for good.
Today, after 20 long and grueling months we celebrate life, health and the joys of putting cancer behind us.

May we always remember all of our little friends who we lost on the way...the list seems endless.
And may we always be thankful for the gifts we were given-our baby girl is alive-what a gift!
Thanks for going on this journey with us...it will truely never be over as I will spend the rest of my days wondering if this monster will return but I will also live the rest of my days being thankful for the life I was given with my children and my husband. But at least we are done with the treatment-hopefully FOREVER!
May we never know the horrors of cancer again!

Rob, Gin, Payton(who deserves all the praise for her strength and bravery) and Madison(who deserves acknowledgement for being put aside at times as we worried about Payton-may she always know the love we feel for her as well!!!)

Monday, March 31, 2003 7:42 AM CST

Wow, it has been a whole week since I last found myself sitting here typing an update. Life is still good. Payton seemes to have adjusted to the accutane and her moods are a bit better. Friday is our last dose! Then we can have our real daughter back!!
This week we spent a lot of time at the YMCA pool. Payton LOVES to go swimming and asks to go often. Today, it is not open so it is always fun when I go work out to pull her out of the Y kicking and screaming...one day she'll figure it all out.
Yesterday i took the girls over to Casey's house to play. Payton and Casey always enjoy being together. They were playing ring around the rosie. It was just too cute. It is so weird to see our little babies turning into kids and playing kid games. Casey sang the song for Payton and then they would just fall on top of eachother. They even held hands and walked in circles. It was an unforgetable moment!
Last night I started trying not to put anything in Payton's bottle but water. It seemed to have gone allright last night-though she was up early this morning. I am hoping to at least get all the liquids out of the bottle that are decaying her teeth. I just hope I am strong enough to stand up to her when she throws a fit because she wants something else besides water in the bottle.
Madison continues to grow and do well. She is so charmed with the animals. She really loves animals so much. Just the site of Dakota will make her laugh. Last week we went to the petstore with them and Madison went crazy over all the animals. On Tuesday my mom came over and spent the night with us since Rob was out of town. Payton really enjoyed having her here when she woke up. We ended up at the pet store for Payton but in the end I think it was Madison who got the most out of it. I did not think anyone could like animals more than PAyton but Madison seems to win on that one.
Sadly, our dear friend Matthew lost his battle with Leukemia on Tuesday. I feel so bad for his family and wish there could be a cure for cancer so that children and their families would not have to suffer any more.
I am begining to get more nervous about the upcoming surgery at the end of April. I really wish there was a way out of this but there isn't so I guess I will just have to suffer through the next few weeks and see how it all goes. I am hoping that once the surgery is over with our days of dealing with cancer will be over and we will just have our quarterly scans.
Well, better run.

Hope you all are doing well.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, March 24, 2003 8:10 AM CST

well, we started the last round of accutane this weekend and are already seeing the mood changes. Payton has been a bear these last two days. This morning as already brought about 3 fits(and it is only 9:00)!!!! It is going to be a LONG two weeks! But at least after that we will be done with this stuff!!
This weekend was eventful. Rob and I joined the YMCA and they have a swimming pool. The day we joined Payton stood at the window asking to go swim. So, after getting a swimsuit for her she went for her swim. Yesterday she had to go back and swim some more. So, I guess we will be doing a lot of swimming at the Y with Payton. Even Madison went in yesterday and had a ton of fun in the water. We have another slow week ahead of us. Rob leaves for a business trip tomorrow and will return late Wednesday night but other than that life should just be normal.
Guess that is it around here. Hope you all are well.
Gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Friday, March 21, 2003 8:28 AM CST

life here continues to go well. We had a nice and boring week! Can't complain about that. The weather here is already so hot but fortunatly the afternoons are still nice enough to go outside for a few hours and play. We start Payton's final round of accutane tomorrow! Yahoo!!
Payton's speech is really starting to improve daily now. She is talking so much and shaes lots of her thoughts with us. Just the other day as I was putting her in the car to go have their pictures made at Sears she looked up at me and said "daddy is working". I was so amazed that she was able to put the sentence together much less that she did it without me asking her a=or telling her! it may not seem like that big of a deal but for a kid who did not speak several months ago and is battling a hearing lose it is a great step! This morning as I was putting on her diaper(another issue I plan on tackling soon-maybe even next week) she looked at me and said-"no, monkey. I was rather confused until she got up-butt naked and went to get the diaper with a picture of grover and a monkey on it. I guess I had chosen the wrong diaper this morning. She is so funny with all her opinions. And she has plenty!!!
Madison continues to grow and is getting around very nicely lately. Her newest thing is clapping and bouncing to music. It is very cute when she does this. She does have to watch out for her big sister though-who is constantly doing something to hurt her. They have a real love-hate relationship. One day thought Madi is going to turn around and hit her back. Then the fun will really begin.
Well better run. Madi is sleeping so I better go get some stuff done while I can.
Thanks for stopping by! We love reading all the guestbook entries.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Monday, March 17, 2003 12:34 AM CST

Life here is still wonderful for us all!! Payton and i were scheduled to be in NY today for her antibodies and it is so nice just to be home and able to keep up with all the things that have been put aside for so long.
Payton and Madisonm had a great weekend withtheir grandparents. On saturday they went to the zoo in Sanford with my parents andhad a great time seeing all the animals. Sunday rob's mom came over and they played at the park and around the house outside. They really had a nice time getting away from us and we were able to get lots of stuff done around the house. It was a great time for all of us. This was the first time we have let anyone take the girls out without us. It was really a big step for me. But one I am sure I will take again.
Today, Payton went over to casey's house and enjoyed herself so much. She and Casey are such good friends and play so well together.
We don't have too much scheduled for the week...so that is very nice. we'll just sorda hang around and relax.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love,
gin, Rob, Payton and Madison

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 8:57 PM CST

Run through the streets, hoot and holler. Celebrate like never before because our wonderful Payton is at last done with antibodies!!!!! We got word today that she is HAMA(+). It was more of a relief and fabulous feeling than I could have ever imagined! So, now we only have to go to NY every three months for scans. We still will be heading up April 27th for her surgery and three month scans but until then it is home sweet home for us all!!!! Payton even said today"NO more antibody"!! It was so cute. Her speech is really coming along. today I was calculating how long we have been at this and when we finish up with her accutane next month(and are at last done with our protocol-finished with treatment) we will have been in treatment for 20 months! That is a very long time, especially considering when we left for NY we thought we would be done with treatment and back home for good in 6 months. What a rough and long road it has been but what a wonderful feeling to know we are almost done. I am almost scared to say that-scared to jinx us...that is how insane this disease makes you.
Madison had her 9 month check up today. She is 75% in height and 50% in weight...so different from Pay who is about 5% in height and 50% in weight...so one short and chunky and the other tall and lean! But, both are healthy and that is ALL that matters! Madison also had a CBC today and I had her titers drawn to see if she did indeed have the chicken pox a few weeks ago. Madi did better than Payton with all the sticks. Payton hates to see Madison get stuck. Well, my typing is waking up MAdison so I better run. Today is a wonderful day in the Bogert house!
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Sunday, March 9, 2003 10:49 PM CST

Hello again-
Another fun week at the Bogert house. Not too much to report. Payton started a new fun habit-BITING! And poor Madison gets it all. Poor baby gets bit like 3 times a day but I am proud to anounce that we made it through today without any "attacks" from Payton.
We sent off Payton's blood work on Thrus. We will find out Wednesday if she is HAMA(+). I sure hope she is so that we can be done with antibodies. We finished up round 5 of accutane this week as well. So we are off of meds for teh next two weeks. Wow, we can pretend we're a normal family!
Today I took the girls over to play with Casey and Riley. Payton and Casey had such a great time together and Casey's cousin came over as well and all three(all within 4 months in age of eachother) played so well together. I was pretty impressed. No one(including us moms) had any melt downs. Not bad for two and three year olds! Payton is really starting to talk now and has little converstaions with Casey. I heard her say "Come on, Casey" several times today. It was SO cute.
We don't have too mauch planned for the week. Madison has to go in for her checkup. So of course we will be getting shots this week(poor thing!). I can't take payton with me because she freaks out when the doctor or nurse touches Madison(it is OK for her to bite Madi but God forbid that anyone else try to touch her). So Rob will be looking after PAyton while MAdison and I go in for the checkup. Other than that it should be a quiet week around here.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Thanks for checking in!
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Sunday, March 2, 2003 10:50 PM CST

This week has been pretty uneventful except for a few fevers amongst all of us. I think Payton and I caught what Madison and Rob had while we were in NY. We are slowly recovering but it is really kicking our butts.
We only have a few more days left of accutane for this round and then the next round is, at long last, our final round of the accutane!!! We cannot wait to get our normal Payton back. This accutane makes her so moody and miserable as well as it dries the heck out of her skin. It is always nice to get one more step behind us and closer to that "normal" life we have not seen in so long(and oh, how we long for it!).
We are hoping that the girls are feeling better next weekend because Jack Hanna is going to be at Seaworld and we want to take them to see his show. They are both great lovers of animals!!! It should be fun.
I guess that is about it around here. Thankfully we don't have much to report. Hope everyone is well.
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:32 PM CST

Hello again,
Life here has been hectic since we returned from NY. Madison is still battling the chicken pox-though she seems pretty happy most of the time. She did get sick today a couple of times so I am a bit worried but hopefully the nap she is taking right now will help settle her tummy. Payton had to go get a shot to help her not get the chicken pox yesterday so we spent a long evening in the ER waiting for the shot and we did not get home until after 10 last night!!! UGH, it is always something around here! Today Payton had another hearing test to get her ready for the pre-K program next year. It looks like her hearing may have gotten a little worse but I am just hoping it was her lack of interest in the test and that next time it will look better. It is so hard to test a 2 1/2 year old for hearing issues. She is going to start public school next fall to help ensure that she is ready for Kindergarten when she is 5. I am so nervous about sending her off to school full time at sucha young age but Payton has never followed the norm and I am sure this will be good for her. She needs to get out of teh house, play with other kids and just be normal!!!
I think with her being exposed to the chicken pox she will not have to return to NY until her surgery in April. That will be so nice to be home for such an extended period of time. Payton and I have not been home more than 4 weeks at a time since she was 12 months old. I can hardly believe we have been battling this monster for so long now. Well, that is about it around here. We are just hoping Payton does not come down with the chicken pox as she will have to be admitted to the hospital in isolation for the entire duration of the illness for antibotics if she does. That could be a long week or so!!!! Hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton & Madison

Saturday, February 22, 2003 11:02 PM CST

Hello to all-
We made it back to FL safe and sound this afternoon. The plane ride back was a bit bumpy but not too bad. We barely made it into NY this week. Right as we landed the snow started falling and it fell until sometime Tuesday afternoon. Payton had some pain with the antibodies on Wed., Thrus., and Fri. It was not our easiest week but not our hardest either. We came back to FL to find Madison covered in chicken pox!!!! Poor baby! We are just hoping that Payton does not get them as well. It is nice to be back home and hopefully we won't have to go back for antibodies ever again(but I am not holding my breath). We'll find out in about two weeks if we will neeed to return for anotehr antibody treatment. After discussing Payton's surgery with Dr. Kushner I went ahead and scheduled it for April 29th. I guess it will just be better to get it over and done with. We are a bit nervous about it but when it is all done it won't be hanging over our heads anymore. We should be in NY for about 2 weeks for the surgery. We are planning on bring Madison with us on that trip. Payton had her urine markers checked while we were in nY and they came back in normal range so that is another good sign!!!!! Well, it is late so I better rune.
Love,
The Bogert's

Saturday, February 15, 2003 4:26 PM CST

Hello to all! We had a nice celebration last Wednesday in honor of Payton's one year anniversary for her stem cell infusion. Her cousins came over and played, ate dinner and then we topped it all off with homemade cake and bananna splits! Needless to say we were all pretty stuffed by the end of the night. On Thrusday Payton, Madison and myself met up with our friend Emily and her mom Kristin at Seaworld. The girls had a great time together and Madison had fun with Emily's brother, Patrick...he is missing some skin from a finger which got too close to the teething Madison!! Emily is from South Carolina and she and Payton were the best of friends in NY during their treatment. It was great to see both girls doing so well-and with HAIR!!!!!! On the topic of hair, today brought about Payton's first official haircut(I don't think the "chemo" cut counts). She did very well and is very proud of the card she received with her hair taped to it. She looks very cute-I'll put a picture up soon(hopefully before I hit the road tomorrow). It was a tough call on my part but I finally gave in and got the trim as her eyes kept getting in the way of her hair! Payton and I head off for NY tomorrow. We will be back next Saturday. We are leaving daddy with a very unhappy Madi. Today has been especially trying for her. Those teeth are really giving her a hard time...hopefully Rob will get some sleep next week. Guess that is it around here.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton and Madison

Tuesday, February 11, 2003 7:45 AM CST

Hello to all-
We contiue to do well around here. Payton and I are getting ready to head back to NY on Sunday for another week of antibodies. Madison and Daddy will stay back in FL so Rob can work. She will be in good hands with grandparent and aunts taking care of her while we are in NY. It is always hard to leave her behind but I just think it is easier for her to stay here with her own toys and her own crib and surroundings.
Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of Payton's stem cell transplant. I can hardly believe that she was SO sick last year at this time. Her counts had already reached zero from the chemo and we were playing the waiting game for her stem cells to find their way to her marrow and engraft themselves. We are going to have cake and icecream tomorrow in celebration of a new healthy life!
Madison got a new tooth this week and continues to pull herself up on everything! We figure she will be up and walking in just a month or so. She is such a happy little kid and she and Payton are already best friends. They each give eachother the biggest smiles in the morning when they wake up. Every day when Payton goes down for her afternoon nap she asks for Madison to come with her. But, of course, Madison has to sleep in her crib and this is always upsetting to Payton. I look forward to the day when they can share a bed...it may be long nights for us as they are playing together but they will be so happy. Well, that about wraps it up here. As you can see there is not too much going on around here(thank goodness!). Hope this finds everyone well.
Rob, Gin, Payton & Madison

Thursday, February 6, 2003 7:44 AM CST

Thanks for stopping by Life is Good!!! Payton just finished her last dose of accutane for this month on Tuesday. Only two more rounds to go!!! As I am sure everyone already knows all of Payton's scans and bone marrow biopsies have come back clean!!! We are so happy. Next week will be Payton's one year anniversary of her stemcell transplant. we continue to battle some of the side effects from her treatment. At this time we are working extensively with her speech and hearing issues. Madison and Payton have become fast friends and love to play with eachother. They are already wrestling with eachother and just goofing around. Madison is getting so big so fast. Before we'll know it the girls will be outside chasing eachother around. I have set up this web page as a way of tring to keep people updated a little more. It seems I often forget to send out updates and many of you ask about both Payton and Madison often. With this you all can check in whenever you like. I will also have the ability to put pictures up for everyone which can also be updated whenever I want. So, hopefully this will be a better way to communicate. There is also a guest book where you can leave messages if you need to. Payton and I will be heading back to NY in another week for antibodies. We are hoping to be done with the antibodies soon...but who knows. Thanks for visiting with us.
Love,
Rob, Gin, Payton & Madison

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