History

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 2:48 PM CDT

WOW can't believe Christopher would be in 2nd grade this year. Tyler started kindergarten this year. Time goes bye to fast. It still seams like just yesterday we were still setting in the hospital holding my Little Man

Miss you LITTLE MAN

Saturday, December 27, 2008 10:50 PM CST

Christopher has a new little sister to look after. Kylie Jane Peters was born dec. 17 @ 4:38am. 8lbs 11oz and 20 1/2 inch. She is a bundle of joy.

Friday, November 7, 2008 8:49 PM CST

Time is going by so fast. It seams like just last week we found Christopeher was going to be a big brother. Now there is only 5 weeks left tell we meet our new bundle of joy. ITS A GIRL. We are very excitied once again.

We are always thinking of you Christopher....

Saturday, June 7, 2008 2:38 PM CDT

Hello!

So I see it has been quite some time since the last journal entry to this page and, quite frankly, it's been a very long time since I've (Mike writing) made an update.

You know what is crazy? Or better yet - very intertesting? Christopher would be starting school this coming up fall. He would be on his first day of kindergarten in September. This would be the last summer before things changed drastically in his life. Wow! What a thought!

With his school in mind, I thought it would be neat to do some things for him at this changes in what would have been his life. For example, I'll bring a notebook and a pencil to his gravesite. First day of middle school, I'm working on that still. First day of High School I need to figure out. On his 16th birthday, I'll bring a set of car keys. 18th birthday maybe we'll play a game of poker or 21 at the grave site. And for the 21st birthday, you better believe he'll be having a drink with his Dad. Maybe we'll even invite Mom along....

I thought that would be neat to do. He is still very much apart of us and I miss him dearly. Even 4 1/2 years later.

But Lisa and I have another child on the way and we are VERY excited about that. OK, well maybe not Lisa right now (she's not been feeling good if you catch my drift).

Maybe I'll have to come on here and update it more often with the way things are progressing with Lisa and new baby.

Thanks for still visiting our CaringBridge site! It still means the world to us!

Monday, December 10, 2007 10:59 PM CST

Happy Birthday Christopher. Today you would be 5 years old. WOW time has gone by fast. It seams like just yeasterday we were celerbriting your 1st birthday. Wow that was fun...

Sunday, November 25, 2007 3:54 PM CST

Just hoping everyone had a good thanksgiving

Friday, August 17, 2007 1:21 AM CDT

Cant beleive summer is almost over, wow time goes by so fast. Hope everyone is well.
Its getting to that time of the year for LIGHT THE NIGHT, the walk we do in memory of Christopher. If you would like to donate just let us no. The luekimea secity helped us out a lot when we were in the hospital with Christopher.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 1:27 AM CDT

Wow time goes by fast. It has been now 4 years since we all steped foot into Childern's hopsital with Christopher. Not know what was to come with the future.
We are all doning great, tyler just started tot swiming, and loving it. Has a mind of his own, most times but still doing good in swimming.
Christopher's great grandma Smith is over coming the battle of reapilation from having a stroke. Lost the movement of the left side of her body, recovey is coming slow but still coming. changes happend daily, and great grandma hockel just left the hospital from falling. But we all know that Christopher, Judy and Phillip are watching over them.

talk again soon...

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 10:58 PM CDT

We all still alive and doing good. Not much has change in life. Hope everyone had a good easter, Tyler loved the easter bunny. Tyler is still crazy, I requrt everything that cause stress on my mom. By back is not fun. Tyler is just crazy. You know when he says wee he going to make another dareing move. He loves to jump of things and run his little cars and power wheel up and down hills. Right side up and wrong side down. He doesn't care how it happens, but what ever looks good lets try it thats his way of life. Right now we have 2 cats, Jack and Nermals, and 5 fish. Other than that life is great...

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 11:48 PM CST

Time has gone by fast. I seams like just yester day was Jan. Not much has change in the Peters house. Tyler still running around like crazy, loves water. Any time he can get into water, he is there. Everyone just got over the long running cold, some friends and family out side of the house still have the cold.
Got the change to got to Childrens Hospital and had to go for a visit had the chance to go though the 8th floor. things have changed staff wise, everything else looks the same.
Talk again soon.

oh forgot about a exceting new on a new kitty, his name is Jack. Tyler loves Jack, Nermal getting better. It was a rough start.

December 13, 2006 8:39 AM CST

It has been 3 years since we lost Christopher. He would have just 4 years old. For our birthdays every year we go to the cemetary as a family and sing happy birthday and put orniment on there christmas reaf. For the last 2 years we always put care bears out. This year Tyler andI couldn't find care bears, so Tyler pick out a cookie monster orenment for Christopher. Tyler is getting so big. He love's to walk around the house and look at all the photo's we have. He is always looking at Christopher, all he says is "baby". Its so cute, some day he will understant more. We are all doing great, life changes for the best all the time

Lisa

Thursday, November 2, 2006 10:23 PM CST

How is everyone doing. Life has been crazy around the peters's house hold. We have been married now for over a month. We spent 1 week in Maui for our honey moon. I know be are waiting to see the photo's from the wedding we are getting there. Just befor the wedding, Lisa found out that she was losing her job due to dealship closing. It was final 1 week after getting back from Maui. She has relocated to a different dealership. Totaly new car companty, closer to home. There is also a different work schudle. We will be a family on the weekends. We were not able to make the 'light the night' this year, since it falls on the same day as the wedding. We will still be doing the walk next year in duluth. We want to keep the tradtion going.

Sunday, September 10, 2006 4:08 PM CDT

wow it's been a while since we updated last. Every one is doing great. Man time is flying by fast. There is only 6 days left till the big wedding day. Man is it going to be fun.
Tyler is 20months old now and running all over the place. Mike keeps saying that there is only 2 speeds on the boy. fast and stop. Stop is when he is sleeping. I can't hardly keep up with.

Lisa

Monday, July 24, 2006 10:56 PM CDT

Time has gone by so fast. Christopher, Phillip, and Judy got there head stone in FINALLY. Tigger is included on the stone chasing a canser reseach butter fly. Its so cool.
There is less then 2 months left untill the wedding. WOW time goes by to fast. I remember staying in the hospital like yesterday. Hope everyone is doing great.
Tyler is now 18months old and just a crazy little boy, not really afread of anything. He's to fast for his selt, one sec. he's here you blink and he's gone.
I don't know what to see, theres so much to talk about and not a lot of time.

talk soon,
Lisa

Monday, April 24, 2006 12:11 AM CDT

Ya we are still around. Things are busy around the house. We are getting things ready for the wedding there is less then 5 mounths left, lots of little things left to do. We are all forward to the big day. Hope everyone had a good weekend. I hope to write more often. Don't know if any one is still checking the page or not or even who is. I want to keep this page open for people who are not close to see how we are still doing. To keep in touch with everyone. Since it is 2006 and everyone lives off the internet.
Hope to talk to you soon,
Lisa

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:05 PM CST

Ya, we are still around. Tyler just got 2 new teeth, that bring the count to 10, wow they are coming in fast. There is only 6 months left till the wedding. Man time is going by fast. It seem like just yesterday when we start planing. Well hope to hear from everyone soon...

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 1:40 PM CST

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! Today things are going great in the Peter's house hold. Except Tyler has a slight cold, went to the Dr. and they said what they always say. Let it run it course then all will be well. I would also have to agree with Grandma Betty, I think that the other 1 year moler is coming in. This will make tooth #10. Last week it was a slight diaper rash, this week cold (running nose, cough, and fever.) so will see what happens the rest of the day. Hope everyone has a good valentines day..
Happy Birthday Grandpa

Monday, February 6, 2006 2:08 PM CST

Hi, everything in the Peters home is going great. We get out to see Christopher as much as poss. it gets kinda cold out there in the winter. We are planning on wedding things right now, while tring to remodel at the same time. Its amazing how fast kids grow. Tyler is growning so fast. You just blind and he gets bigger.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006 0:16 AM CST

Hello everyone. Tyler is NOw the big #1. We had a great time at his birthday party. We went out to eat on the 3rd the to Grand Rios for the weekend. We sent at least 6 hours in the water park doing water slids and just playing. I didn't know any one that age could spend that much time in the water park. We were there for 2 hole days. It was so much fun though.
Everything is going good with the 3 of us. Wedding planning is still going good, there is only 8 months left, WOW does time fly.

Thursday, December 8, 2005 8:59 AM CST

Hello,
happy holidays to everyone. Things at the Peter's are going great. We are looking forward to the wedding in Sept. and getting together with the family for christmas. Tyler is getting so big. He loves climing stair and beating up mom.

Wednesday, November 2, 2005 1:57 PM CST

Yes it has been a long time since we updated. Since last time we talk a lot has happened. We want to thank everyone whoe supponsed us for the walk for luekima in Duluth. It was a fun time. While we were in Duluth, Mike, proposed. And of corse I said yes. Now we are planing the wedding, no a boring day goes by.
Tyler is now crawling very fast, he uses toys to push around as a walker. He loves to push the walker around as long as he is not in it. He also figured out how to climb up starts. He did 1 stairs the other day all by him self. (dad sat next to him to make sure that he wouldn't fall.) Thing are going very well with us and hope the same is for you.

thank again soon.

Lisa

Friday, August 12, 2005 12:41 AM CDT

It's that time of the year. Mike, Tyler, and I with other friend and family are doing "Light the Night" walk in Dulth. The walk is Sept. 17, 2005. We are looking for any donation. The Leukemia and Lymphnoma Socitey helped us with Christopher while he was in the hospital. They help pay for test and other work done in our 6 mo. stay. We enjoy doing the walk and raising money so that others can get the help and get closer to finding a cure for Leukemia and other blood fighting diease.

Make payable to: Leukemia and Lymphoma Socitey

Thanks again,
Lisa

News on Tyler, Mike and I went out of town to We Fest the 1st weekend in Auguest. We come back to Tyler rolling over, to sit and if there is anything around he will pull himself to a stand. Grandma Betty awoke to Tyler standing at rail of the cribe by himself while she was sleeping.

Friday, July 29, 2005 8:10 PM CDT

Hi everyone. Tyler is now almost 7 months old. It's kinda crazy thinking that someone so small like him could be walking or moving around with a 5" IV pole. It's weird thinking of all the things that we missed with Christopher now that we get to enjoy with Tyler. Like just a couple of weeks ago Tyler got his frist teeth. The 2 lower ones. The loud painful crieds for about 2 days. With Christopher they know when the teeth were going to poke thought with all the CT's and all. The would tell us and give a little more pain meds for the time.
Everything is going well, talk again soon...

LISA

Thursday, June 9, 2005 11:59 AM CDT

Hello everyone once again-

Just thought I would update everyone about Tyler, Lisa, Christopher and myself.

Tyler is now 5 months old. He is reaching for everything and everything is so funny to him! He is growing up so fast, it is unbelieveable. Just a few months ago, he was our brand new baby, weighing in at just a little over 7 pounds. Now, he has doubled that. All I can say is WOW!

Tyler did catch a little rash and he is just getting over that now. It is called Rosiolia. I'm not sure if that is how it's spelled, but it's close enough for me. It starts out as a little fever then a rash and then it will go away. It's currently going away right now. He is getting back to his normal self.

I'm sure some of you want to know how Lisa and I are doing since we don't see everyone all that often. Lisa and I are doing fine. It's getting warmer outside and now that I don't need to work on my off-road truck every weekend, I'm looking forward to taking my bike outside. Perhaps a ride around lakes in Minneapolis. We'll see.

Just as a reminder, we are coming up on 2 years since Chiristopher was diagnosed with cancer. Say a little prayer for him.

Bye for now.

Mike and Lisa

Monday, May 23, 2005 1:32 PM CDT

Everthing on this side of the fence is going great. it is a busy time of the season, wedding, graduation and ect. Tyler just passed his 4 mo. check-up. shots when great. we also just had him baptized. He is just a happy little boy. He figured out that he has a set of lungs and they are used to scream. Boy ofh boy does he like to scream. He is a lot like Christopher in so many ways, but still so different.

Lisa

Sunday, May 1, 2005 5:06 PM CDT

It's been a while since we up-dated. Everything is going great. Tyler is getting bigger, and vey playful. He loves to talk. Like Christopher, his favorit thing to do is stand with someone holding his hands. His also a mom's boy (only when mom wants to go out and he has to stay home). There has been a couple of time that we had to ground him from Perkin's. He will cry untill we get to the parking lot. Then, he will start laughing. Then when we leave parking lot he will start to cry again. Some nights have been longer then others at Perkin's. It is like our home away from home.
Tyler for the most part is a very good baby, rarly cry, sleeps in bed with mom and dad, loves baths, and pulling girls hair.

Sunday, March 20, 2005 4:00 PM CST

Everything is going fine. Baby is getting soo much bigger, starting to look his older brother. They are so much alike. Tyler like to stand with someone holding him and he loves his baths. Unlike Christopher he would rather have a bath by himself. As many of you know Christopher loved to take showers and baths with mom.

Last weekend we stopped up at fairview to see some of our old nurse (family) we were said to hear that a lot of them had moved on. We got to see Karing Katie, she was so glad to see Tyler. We got our pitcure taken so that the rest of them could see that we were there. Its sad but the only real family photo that we have with christopher is at the hospital, and now we have one with tyler at the hospital. The good thing is, he is there to visit...

Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:33 PM CST

Lisa made it though the 1st week back to work. It started off on the wrong foot, but it turned around. Tyler is doing great. He enjoys his day with Angie and Lilly while mom and dad are at work. He spends sometime at Perkins playing cards with all his friends. Tyler also enjoys going on walks with mom, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith. Great Grandma Hockel kidnaps him sometimes. Everyone enjoys his company. Tyler also had a date on Valentine's Day with his Great Aunt Gretchen. He even bought her flowers and brought them to her work. She enjoyed them a lot.

Thursday, February 10, 2005 5:52 PM CST

Its been a few weeks now since we've been home. Everything is going great. Grandma Betty tries to get a hold of Tyler as much as possiable.
You can tell the differents between Christopher and Tyler, but simular in some ways. They are both night eaters and sleep all day. We have seen a lot of people in the last couple of weeks, but it doesn't seem like we have seen everyone. Uncle Charles, and Robert and Aunt Amy enjoy every minute with him.
Lisa is not looking forward to going back to work on Wen. the 16th. She has been off work for 4 1/2 months now. She enjoys her days playing with baby

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 5:57 PM CST

Hello-

Well, Tyler is a week old now. Wow, what a week! Have had a lot of visitors. From family to friends. It has been a good time though.

If you haven't had a chance, Lisa's Grandfather put a picture of Lisa and Tyler in the photos section of this Web site. I encourage you to check it out. In fact, check it out!

Well, Tyler is doing pretty good. Although he is a snuggler and we like that, it is not the best thing at 3:00 a.m. So, he sleeps in bed with us, for now. We are trying to get him to sleep in his bed but he just wants to be with mom and dad.

Well sorry to cut this short, but I must go. Will update soon!

Mike and Lisa

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 5:46 PM CST

Hello Everyone!

Well it is into the new year now. Welcoming the new year is a new baby boy. That's right. Tyler James Peters was born on Jan 4th, 2005.

Tyler is 7 pounds and 4 ounces. He is 21 1/2 inches long. He is a beautiful baby boy everyone. That's all I can say. I really don't think I can express into words how Lisa and I feel right now. The best word for it is joy. But I don't think joy covers all that we feel.

Well, I must get going everyone. I need to keep this short. I need to play with my new baby boy! God bless.

Mike

Friday, December 31, 2004 0:08 AM CST

Happy New Years. It has been a long year. We are still waiting on the arrival of Tyler. He is now 2 days late. He can come out at any time. Lisa is waiting to go back to work. It has been 3 months since she last worked. She passes time by sleeping and painting.
Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Ours was a lot happier this year then in pass.

Monday, December 13, 2004 2:03 PM CST

Hello everyone-

Today is December 13th. Today is the day, one year ago, that Christopher went to heaven. Today is the day that Christopher passed away.

I know that one year ago, as I was writing on this Web page, I had tears in my eyes and it was hard for me to write and inform what had happened. Today, on the one year anniversery, it is a little easier. The pain has gone down and the tramatic experience is not quite as near. However, the experience is still as fresh in my mind as it was one year ago.

Christopher is now an angel and will be looking over the shoulder of Tyler for his entire life. Tyler will be safe and secure as long he lives for he will have an angel on his shoulder. He will have his big brother for life watching over him, and hopefully keep him out of trouble.

I would also like to take a moment to brief everyone how Lisa is doing. Lisa is doing good. She is still pregnant, but sometime soon that will be changing. On her last visit to the doctor, they mentioned that she could go at anytime. So, sometime soon, Tyler will be born. I don't know about everyone else, but Lisa and I can't wait any longer, especially Lisa. I am quite sure she wants to not be pregnant any longer.

Please, sometime today or in the following days, say a word or two to Christopher. I know I will be. Also, please pray to keep Tyler safe and tell our angel to keep an eye on him.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 9:41 PM CST

It has been over a month since we updates. Everthing is going good. Lisa is not working at this time do to not engough work. Spends days playing on the internet and games on the computer. There is only a little more then a month left and Tyler James will be here.

Monday, October 11, 2004 11:14 AM CDT

Hello Everyone

I just wanted to give an update on how everything is progressing. So far, Lisa is doing pretty good. She is having some back pain and therefore she will be going to a back specialist at the end of this week for an assessment. From there, we will see what she can and can't do at her job and personal life. Other than that, she is doing well.

Everything else seems pretty quiet. Nothing really new to update everyone on. We are just waiting for the great moment when we will have another son. Until then, it is just some planning as with any new baby.

As this new baby comes into play, I know that everyone is excited for us. Please don't get me wrong as I realize this experience is an exciting one. The thing that I want everyone to not forget is our first one, the reason for this Web site. Please continue to keep Christopher in your thoughts and prayers. I know I will never forget him and I will cherish my one year (and 3 days) I had with him, as I know Lisa will as well.

I want to extend a thank you for anyone who still is checking up on us.

Mike and Lisa

Friday, October 1, 2004 8:48 PM CDT

Sorry for the delay on the update. I just want to thank everyone for the donations for the Light the Night walk that we did on Saturday Sept. 18, 2004. We rasied $1,171 for the total of about $20,000 for the whole Dulth area. It was a beautiful walk. A little on the chilli side but that is Dulth for ya. There was 11 people that walked in memory of Christopher, each one of us had a red ballon by the time we returned to the start/finish line we had lost 6 ballons. Most do to the wind, some just by hitting them out of each others face.
I'm doing very good, along with Mike. I know that this pregancy is going very different thean Christopher. Everything is going great. Mike traded in the Mustang and got a 2002 Jeep Liberty, it is a beauitful truck.
Thats that for now

Wednesday, September 1, 2004 3:13 PM CDT

Hello again. I'm hear to update the web page. As most of you know Christopher will have a younger brother. Tyler James. He is still expected to arrive on Dec. 29, 2004. We are hoping before Christmas. Everything is still going ok.
Sept. 18, with family and friends we are going to take a drive to Duluth for Light the Night, this is a walk to help with Luekima and other blood cancers. If any one would like to donate you can call Lisa or Mike (Gretchen, Amy, Betty should also have information).
We will keep you updated with the outcome of everything...

Friday, July 30, 2004 4:28 PM CDT

Hello all once again

Sorry I did not update the Webpage on Tuesday as I said I would. I did not have access to the internet for a few days as I was sick and not at work.

We did have the ultrasound on Tuesday for the new baby. From what I could tell, there was arms, legs, head, spine, etc. Everything is there. That is good. Second news is, its a boy! He looks great, even when he was squirming around.

Well Lisa is doing good. She is sleeping a little bit better and she is showing a little bit more. Due date is now Dec 29th.

Well, since it has taken me forever to write this since I keep having to do work at work, I should go. We shall let you all know more as more develops, literally.

Mike

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 3:28 PM CDT

Hello everyone-

Well here is the update so far. Well, nothing much has changed recently. Lisa is starting to get a little tummy. Even though she will get mad at you if you mention it. So.....shhhhhh......

She has THE ultrasound on July 27 at 10:30 a.m. to determine how everything is progressing and to find out if we have a little boy or girl in there. We shall soon find out. Don't worry, everything will be posted on here when we find out results.

Lisa is starting to feel a little better. Each day it gets a little better. Hopefully, come toward the end, she will feel good. With her, who knows...

Well, that is all I have for right now. We shall talk to you all later. Have a great day and thank you for taking the time to visit Christopher's Web site.

Mike

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 2:52 PM CDT

Hello everyone once again,

I think everyone has had a chance to either hear about our news or read it on here. If you haven't, you may want to check out the past journal entries.

Here is the update as far as we know it. Everything is going fine so far. Lisa is doing well. She is not sleeping very well though. She is up all the time because she must pee. I bet you all wanted to know that, huh? One of these days, I will get the ultrasound picture on here. When? Not quite sure on that.

Well, I am sorry to cut this update short, but I need to get back to work. I just thought I would drop a quick note so all will know how everything is going.

Mike and Lisa

Monday, June 7, 2004 4:25 PM CDT

Hello all-

I know it has been a while since I last updated but the piece of information I have wanted to share, I was not ready to. Now though, both Lisa and I are ready to disclose some information.

For those of you who keep checking our Web site, we have some really exciting news. I know, usually this page, especially for the past 6 months, has been pretty non-eventful. However, with recent news, we are about to change that.

Are you sick of wondering what this piece of information is? Since I keep dragging this out as far as possible as I am just trying to lure everyone into what I have to say. I will leave this as simple as possible. Christopher will have a brother or sister come end of December into early January.

Here are some FAQ we have received lately. This way we can reduce the amount of the same question:

People have asked us, are you OK with this?

We say yes. What better thing is there on this Earth than a child? We cannot think of anything.

What do you want? A boy or a girl?

Lisa and I have discussed this and we have to say we don't care. Honestly, we don't. All we care about is this one surviving. We have gone through a lot in the past year and WE DESERVE THIS!

Have you thought about names?

Boy: Taylor or Tyler(don't quite know yet) James(Guess where this comes from?) Peters

Girl: Kylie-Anne Jane Peters (something like that anyway)

Does a car seat fit into your new Mustang Mike?

Yes it does. I test fit it a while ago. Just nobody over the height of 4 feet can ride back there.

When are you going to marry her Mike?

Honestly, I am sick of that question. IF ANYONE ASKS ME THIS AGAIN...............

For now, this all I have to say. I think this Web site will now serve a dual purpose. To serve as a reference point for the life and times of Christopher James Peters and will now serve as a site to gather data and learn how Lisa and I are doing with a pregnancy again. Ok, well mostly how Lisa is doing. We shall see how many times we go to Dairy Queen with this one.

Monday, April 26, 2004 5:05 PM CDT

Today indeed is a very sad day. It is an anniversery. Not a anniversery that warrants celebration, but rather sorrow. April 26th, 2003, Judith Smith left us in the worldly form to enter the kingdom of God. She had almost a year long fight with a brain tumor.

One of the most amazing things about the human brain is how we remember events. Events that are tragic seem to stick out in our minds better than the good times. Trust many of us, there were plenty of good times with Judy. Despite this, none of my memories are clearer than the day she left us. It was a calm, clear and warm spring day. I was grilling some steaks for Lisa, Charolette, Ryan, Christopher and myself. We recieved a call that Judy was on her way to Methodist Hospital. Christopher and I stayed back at home while Lisa raced to the hospital. During transit to the hospital, Judy passed away. I remember sitting at my kitchen table while I was consumed with emotions. From grief to relief, it was all there. I could only imagine the feeling that Lisa had to go through at that moment. Luckily, we had Christopher at that time and despite many things wrong with that day, he could always bring a smile to our faces. I am glad we had when we did.

Judy was a great person. In her death, I have come to realize what type of person she was. I can sum it up in one phrase: ruled with an iron fist but had a heart of gold. For those who knew her, they can relate. She would give you the shirt off her back, but just don't cross her or mess with her tremendous tweleve at Perkins.

On this note, I will be saying my goodbyes for today. Everyone have a good day and please pray for Judy. May she rest in peace.

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 10:21 AM CDT

OK, I know it has been a while since our last update, so I will make one today.

All in all, there is not that much that is new going on with Lisa and I. Spring time is coming and the days are getting longer. That means that summer is right around the corner. Lisa is excited to finally be able to drop the top on her Jeep Wrangler. I am just excited to finally being able to stand outside for more than 15 minutes. I think Christopher is finally listening to his Dad to bring in some warm weather.

April 19th I turned 23. What a fun time this is. Another year older. I am excited. My birthday wasn't as cool as Christopher's 1st birthday, but it was still pretty fun. Lisa didn't make a tigger cake for me using syringes or anything, but I did get some clothes and some badly needed hats.

Well, I must get back to work. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 5:32 PM CST

Well I decided that since our nice weather is gone, I should update our site and not enourage people to visit the outdoors. Sometimes, Minnesota weather can really make me upset. QUIT TEASING ME!

If you are unable to tell, I cannot stand the winter. Some people like it and more power to them for liking it. I must say though, it is spring's time to shine.

Alright, I will stop ranting about the weather as it makes me upset. I really do not have any further updates right now. Lisa and I visited Christopher, Judy and Phillip on Sunday as we try to do every Sunday. The snow is all gone off his grave and it will be nice when it is all leveled out and looking good. Hopefully that will happen soon. The horses on the bottom of the hill were outside running. The lake no longer is frozen, and best of all is we don't have to walk through 2 feet of snow to visit their sites. However, the mud on top of the hill is pretty bad.

Hopefully next time I will have more to say but I have no further information right now. It is almost quitting time for the day at work, so I must do a little wrap up. We shall speak to everyone later and thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 11:59 AM CST

Hello to all again. If anyone has not been outside today, I strongly encourage you to go outside. However, if you are at work, you may not return. I had thoughts about keeping on walking as I went outside. It is nice outside! Christopher has finally brought us some good weather. Thank you Little Guy. Your Dad appreciates it.

In earlier posts, I forgot to mention that Lisa's friend Krista had her baby. She gave birth to a baby girl. Her name is Kaylie(spelling?) James(After Christopher, that was his middle name) Carlson. She is cute. Lisa and I were at the hospital when she delivered. Although we were not in the room. We were in the waiting room playing cards. After she gave birth, and everything kind of settled down, we were allowed to go in. This moment was bittersweet. Holding a newborn is in itself a special moment. However, both Lisa and I miss holding our own. Holding her brought back so many thoughts of Christopher and holding him. Despite this, we are happy for Krista and look forward to babysitting her child. We wish her luck on this new path of life.

Well, once again, I am writing this at work so I must get back to doing just that. Everyone have a wonderful day and enjoy the weather.

Friday, March 12, 2004 10:12 AM CST

I cannot believe that it has been since Feb. 28th since our last journal entry. I apologize for that. It is hard to do when we do not have internet at home as of yet. So I must sit at work, and get paid to write this.

As said in earlier entries, Lisa and I have moved back home, are sleeping in our own bed, and living day by day. I can say that if anyone were to walk in Christopher's room, we would probobly lose them as we have not unpacked everything from hospital life. We are still in that process. Although, I know it will be done, someday. Right now, we are just trying to enjoy ourselves to the best of our abilities. Even though that entails going to Perkin's on a nightly basis for some coffee and cards. It's a good time and we enjoy it though. Yes, we have heard we are boring incase you are wondering.

Well, since I am on the clock, I should be getting back to work everybody. Please pray for all the children all over the world fighting desperatly for their lives. We lost our son, and no other parent should have to go through this.

Saturday, February 28, 2004 8:12 PM CST

This has been a sad week. On Friday Feb. 20, 2004 another child from the 8th floor passed away. Christie Blackwood. We had the chance to go to the wonder funeral. At the funeral we ran in to Noah's parents.
We still need to pray for the family of Christie. Leni is still doing ok.
And the the high light of the week, we finally moved back in to the aprt. It has been over eight months since we have been at home. Our kitty has missed up dearly. It is very nice to be back home with Nermal.

Thursday, February 12, 2004 11:38 AM CST

It has been almost 2 months since Christopher has left. It is harder somedays then others. One of are good friends, Krista is having a baby any day now. So we can kidnap it since she always kidnaped Christopher. We are still staying at Mike parents house at this time. We haven't moved back home since we left in June.
The rocking chair from KDWB was donated to U of M children's. Now we just have to find it to take pictures of it.

Please Pray for Christe, and Lisa cousin Leni

Monday, February 2, 2004 3:53 PM CST

As everyone know we have got a lot of snow. I think that we have Christopher and Judy to thank for that. Christopher was a winter baby, and on the snowy days we would go and pick grandma Judy up and take good care of her. See always said the more snow the better. Christopher and Judy are probably enjoying all the snow.
Grandpa Phillip finally ate his snow man candy, or Judy ate it for him.
Drive safly
Please pray for Christie

Monday, February 2, 2004 11:51 AM CST

Hello all. I cannot believe it has been this long without an update to our son's Web page. As these days are slower than the previous 6 months, Lisa and I still find ourselves with lack of time. But then again, there never seems to be enough time in the world.

These days are getting better. Lisa and I are still not in our place yet. When Christopher was at the hospital, I turned off our cable and now I need to get that connected. Need to have T.V. as we do not get reception where we live. The reason it is not, well that was described in the first paragraph of having no time. But, I know our kitty misses us, so we must get over there one of these days. Until then, we are still living with my parents.

Well, since I am updating this at work, I must get back to my job. We will talk to you later and keep everyone in our thoughts. We love our son and pray that he keeps us safe and well. Now if he could just work on making it summer, that would be great!

Tuesday, January 20, 2004 1:35 AM CST

We have both been back to work now for 2 weeks now. Things are going well. Not much of a change. We take a visit to Christopher every Sunday. Lisa wasn't able to make it this Sunday, Mike and Ariann went. Christopher ate his candy finally that grandma Betty left on Christmas day. Judy ate hers right away, Phillip is still working on his.
Thank you for all the prays,
Lisa

Thursday, January 8, 2004 11:41 AM CST

With a New Year upon us comes new thoughts and ideas. If anyone is having difficulty with a New Years resolution, I will provide a few that I find fitting in the situation Lisa and I are in. With all that has happened to us recently, these resolutions may not seem life changing to yourself, but you will help others. Helping others is a better resolution than any weight loss program, quit smoking program, etc.

1. Give Blood, give blood and give more blood

2. Give Platlets. Amy(my sister) has a good time doing it and it will help out anyone who needs it

3. For all those who have children, hug them a few more times, look at them in a different light as they will be with you always.

4. As Lisa and I need, take a vacation. Nothing is better than getting away from it all. Remember take lots of pictures so you can be the envy of your workplace especially if you go somewhere warm now.

5. Volunteer. One thing that I have vowed not to do in the past but I have changed my views now. It is a great thing.

6. Donate to American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Childrens Cancer Fund, etc. It all helps.

That is my list. Of course I will be trying to do some of these. My name is already on the list to donate blood on the 12th of this month. That is the biggest help to us all. The Memorial Blood Bank has reported a shortage on the following blood types: A-, A+, O-, and B-. Christopher seems to have taken all the A+.

Thanks to all!
Mike and Lisa

Monday, January 5, 2004 11:24 AM CST

Happy New Year. It's now 2004, let's start this year on a good foot. Nobody is allowed to go to the hospital. This means Lisa's Uncle Greg has to get out soon.
We stopped up to the U of M to visit some of the nursing staff on Friday. It feels like we should still be there and not back at home. For as long as we were there it feels like that was our home and we are just visiting Mike's parents. It feels like Gretchen is still at the hospital watching him and we should go back at any moment. It's hard to think that he is not here anymore. I know that we all think and talk about him a lot. Well, at least we do.

Today, back to work for the two of us. FUN! Well, our pocketbook will like us better at least. Have a great day and don't forget to say goodnight to Christopher.

Monday, December 29, 2003 1:10 AM CST

The holidays went over, we got to open some gift for Christopher. We also went to see him on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We brought his gifts to him, so that he could play with them for ever.
It has been over 2 weeks now, since Christopher has left. Today Mike and I spent the day cleaning our place. Since we haven't really been home for the last 6 months it can get kinda dirty. Nermal our cat was glad to see us, we spent a lot of time playing with her like back in the day. We got to go thought all of his old clothes and talk about when he wore them. It was a lot of fun. I thought that it would be hard, remebering the good time, but I think that it was good for the both of us. I did think a cute little boy could have so much clothes until it is all together. Our next step is to put his room back in to a nursery. Since we have thing all over, crib and who knows what at Grandma and Grandpa Peters. While we where out of the hospital we would spend our time at there house. There would be more people around, just incase something did go wrong. Like when he pulled out his NG tube (feeding tube that goes in the nose.)
Thank you for the prays,

Wednesday, December 24, 2003 2:00 AM CST

At this time last year, Lisa and I had a newborn baby boy that EVERYONE wanted their time with. We were visiting with relatives throughout this time and we nearly had to fend off members of both of our families. The holidays last year were a time of celebration. We had a newborn baby boy with a lot of family that wanted to be with him. Dispite all of the stress from last year, we enjoyed every minute of it. We were proud parents of an adorable baby, who of course kept his good looks until the end.

This year however, will be a difficult time. Not because of trying to make it to all the Christmas parties at hand, but because we are missing a part of us. The part that we are grieving for. This goes beyond Christopher of course. Those who know us, and know Lisa's family, know that we lost Phillip Smith and Judy Smith(Lisa's parents) earlier this year. That is three people in one year. Three of the closest people to Lisa and I may add I was close to Phillip and Judy alike. This Holiday season will be a difficult time, as I can already tell. However, we know and realize that they will be with us, just not in the earthly form.

On a lighter note, one thing that we failed to mention in previous journal entries from Christopher's funeral is something that sent chills up our spines. On the day of Christopher's funeral, it was a gorgeous day. As we were in the funeral procession, many people took notice at 3 clouds in the sky. The 3 clouds were right next to eachother and inline. They resembled 3 crosses. My first thought were they were signs of Christopher, Phillip and Judy and I will still believe that.

As I write this, it is Christmas Eve and we are still in the Holiday spirit. Lisa and I went shopping today, with all the other "last minute" gift buyers. Ridgedale was packed! We both look forward to spending some time with our familes through the next few days. As mentioned, we will continue the Web site for anybody who wants to read this. Of course it won't be as exciting as it was when we proclaimed new teeth or new Chemo, but I hope we are able to keep eveyone interested. Happy Holidays to all!!

Mike and Lisa

Friday, December 19, 2003 9:48 PM CST

Today was a beautiful day. Christopher now rests in peace with grandma and grandpa Smith. He overlooks a lake and horse. The funeral was very peaceful, and there were a lot of people that showed up. Thank you to every one who came.
This morning Lisa received a call from KDWB. Leni, my cousin Matts wife e-mailed KDWB for Christmas wishes. She told them what a bad year Ive had. With my mom and dad passing a way in the spring, and now at the end of the year Christopher. She thought that it would be nice to donate a rocking chair to one of the hospitals that we stayed at in the last 6 months. They are going to have Christophers name engraved on the chair with a plate. We will keep you updated with what is going to happen with the chair. The chair is for moms with little children in the hospital, so they can just sit there and hold their little one and just rock. It means so much to us. This year hasnt been the best year for Leni either. She has been battling with Lupus, a blood cancer (kind of like leukemia). Thank you so much Leni and the staff at KDWB.

Thanks to all the nurses and doctors at both Fairview University and Childrens Minneapolis for making our stay with you very warming. It is sad to say but I think we both miss the hospital life. Seeing all the great nurses that we have had in the last 6 months. Also thanks for coming.

We would also like to thank every one who could show up, and found the wonderful cards, and flowers that we have received.

We will keep this web sit open, to keep you updated with what we still have to overcome and battle.

Thanks again,
Lisa and Mike

Friday, December 19, 2003 0:29 AM CST

First, we would like to thank all that were able to visit us today during Christopher's wake. There were a lot of people from all walks of Lisa and Mike's lives. We had numerous, family, friends, co-workers and hospital staff. It was great to see all come and visit. Christopher brought so many of us together even after his passing. Most importantly however, is the fact that this was to many, the last time we were able to see Christopher in flesh and blood.

To all that were not able to make it tonight, I will have to say that Christopher looked peaceful and healthy. It was good to see him this way. It brought joy to us as we now know he was cured of his disease. I may add, that his suit that we purchased, looked great on him! We are glad that this will be the last outfit he will wear on this Earth.

Tomorrow, will be Christopher's funeral at Wayzata Community Church. Once again, anyone is more than welcome to come and visit us during this time. The address to the Church is:

125 E Wayzata Blvd.
Wayzata, MN 55391
Phone number: 952-473-8877

We look forward in joining our family and friends once again tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Thank you all for your support through this difficult time in our lives. Only with the support that all have given us, are we able to manage through this point in our lives.

Monday, December 15, 2003 5:44 PM CST

It has now been two days since Christopher passed away and little has helped all our family and friends to comfort our thoughts. To be honest, neither Mike nor Lisa have been spirtual people in the past, but we have found a lot of comfort in the word of God. I will use an entry that I have found a lot of comfort in.

And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Luke 18:15-17

Since his passing, we have been able to set up times and dates for funeral services. The wake will be held at David Lee Funeral Home in Wayzata from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, December 18th. The address there is:

1220 East Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391

The funeral will be held at Wayzata Community Church on Friday, December 19th. The services will start at 11:00 a.m. with a gathering of family and friends after he is brought to his gravesite. Wayzata Community Church is located at:

125 East Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391

Anybody is welcome to join us at either or both of his services. We would like to thank all who have supported us through this tough time. We appreciate your support.

Saturday, December 13, 2003 9:41 AM CST

Today will be the hardest journal entry to write to date. Instead of trying to break it easy, I will get straight to the point. Christopher James Peters, born December 10th 2002, passed away this morning at 6:45 a.m. He was in the arms of his mother and his father was sitting beside the two. Christopher is now at peace.

I would like to take this moment to share some thoughts I(Mike) have had since we found out Christopher was terminal and did not have long to live. I briefly mentioned this in an earlier journal entry so it may be redundant but I feel is fitting for a time such as this. Christopher was a great person. He has brought Lisa and Mike's family closer together and asked for so little. He has taught every person at least one thing, and quite a few things to his mother and father. He did all of this in the one year of his life and did it without saying a word.

Christopher put up a great fight against this terrible disease. A mother and father could not be any more proud of him. To us he was the smartest and strongest man in the world. He was the smartest because of all the accomplishments he has made stated above. He is the strongest because no matter what type of procedure they were going to do to him, he bounced back like it was nothing. Throughout all of the chemotherapy he recieved, he never once complained all that much. He was a great little guy and will be missed deeply by a lot of people.

Christopher is now with his Grandma and Grandpa Smith which he loved very much. I am sure that they were the ones to open the gates for Christopher. God has welcomed him home with open arms. For that, we thank him for ending his suffering and pain. Christopher is now at peace with his body and his soul.

Friends and Family have asked about funeral services but right now we just do not know. Please come back to our site as we will post this information on here and in the Star Tribune soon. We thank you all for your support and right now, all of us could use a little support.

please if there is any nurses out there will you just say HI in our guestbook, we are just wondering if you are checking up on christopher too...

Friday, December 12, 2003 5:36 PM CST

December 12, 2003

Today has been a day for family and friends. We have had a lot of support for the past few days from all of our family and friends We appreciate all of the support and the prayers. They have made Mike, Lisa and Christopher stronger through these trying times. I cannot describe all of feelings that have past through all of our minds. All we are able to say is that we appreciate all of the support everyone has gave us.

Christopher is having a tougher time breathing today. We have to keep the oxygen close to his mouth so he getting the correct amount of oxygen. Also, he has an increase in his tempurature this morning, but by this afternoon it has gone down to 101. The doctors have increased some of his pain medication but have taken him off theTPN. The TPN gives Christopher all of the nutrients he needs however, he is able to live for at least 3 weeks with it off. If Christopher will need it at a later date however, they will put him back on the TPN.

Christopher has been an inspiration to us all and always will be. Like I have stated in an earlier journal entry, he has brought so many people together without saying a word. He has taken the Chemotherapy that would kill a person in their 60�s and bounced back right away from it. The only thing that has gotten to him is his cancer. This is his kryptonite. He is a very special and a very loved little boy. He will always hold a special place in all of our hearts.

Thursday, December 11, 2003 12:03 AM CST

I apologize for not writing sooner. We had a big day yesterday. Yesterday was Christopher's first birthday! We made through his birthday without incident. It was very nice. We had cake(Lisa decorated the cake like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh all by herself), presents, music, balloons and lot of people to show their support for Christopher and more are coming today as we only have so much room in our little hospital room. It was a great birthday, worthy of being Christopher's.

Guess who shows up this morning, Bad News Brenda. That is what mom and dad call her because she has been the one to break all of the news to us at Fairview. So we named her. Anyway, she comes in today and tells us that Christopher has a positive blood culture for bacteria in his blood. Lisa and Mike already suspected this because his heart rate was high, blood pressure is high and his temp was up. These are all the things that he does when he has a positive blood culture. They will start him on a different Antibiotic to take care of this bug. Also, she informs us that his breathing is getting worse. We already knew that as of late last night. His breathing was not the greatest last night and isn't this morning so far.

With all the bad news lately about him, There are a couple of good things going on. Last night, he was playing with his cake and made a huge mess. Also, this morning he ate a lot of ice cream. Go figure, he gets more and more like his mother everyday. For those of you who know Lisa well, she has to have her ice cream.

Here is todays daily update on Christopher. Hopefully we will be able to tell you some more good news tomorrow in regards to Christopher's health. Have a wonderful day!

Monday, December 8, 2003 2:29 PM CST

Yesterday, in the afternoon, Christopher and Mom were playing and little man started to laugh. The 1st laughter we have heard in weeks. Latly he hasn't been himself. The swelling in his tummy has gone down some which is great news! We can keep praying for a miracle. Christopher was brought in to this world as the miracle child, and his time is not up.
He was also playing in his JEEP walker yesterday, the doctors explained to us that this is a good thing. When he is playing, that means that he is comfortable. The doctors talk a lot about keeping him comfortable. They just want to make sure that he is in no pain.

LETS KEEP THE PRAYERS GOING WITH THE HELP FROM EVERYONE, THINGS WILL WORK OUT IN THE END...

Thanks again,
Lisa, Mike, and Christopher

p.s. only 2 days until the big, 1st birthday and mom's 22nd (Remember Christopher and Lisa have the same birthday).

Sunday, December 7, 2003 2:32 PM CST

Today is the day that I was praying would never come. Having to type on here and let all know some very horrible news. As of today, everyday Christopher James Peters is alive, is a miracle. Leukemia has invaded his liver, kidneys and spleen. Leukemia has also spread and has formed tumors on his skull. The Liver, Kidneys and Spleen have enlarged and are pushing up on his lungs causing him to breathe very shallow. As was stated before, radiation is done and this is the reason. With his breathing the way it has been, they are unable to admistor anesthesia for fear he will now awake from it. Also, since his counts are at zero, they are unable to perform any chemotherapy.

Mike and Lisa are trying to cope with this situation the best that they can. However, with the present knowledge we possess in regards to Christopher's state, it has been very hard coping with the fact that one day soon our little boy will be leaving us to join hand in hand with his Grandma and Grandpa Smith and God himself. As each day passes, we are more and more thankful that we have had the chance to know this precious soul. He has taught the whole entire family the meaning of family without saying a word. He has brought so many people together from all walks of life. To accomplish this in one year is a feat that is unmatched in our opinions. He is an amazing child that can never be replaced by anything or anybody.

Many times families, friends and coworkers are faced with this information we have presented to you all. Many times people are able to pull through, amaze the greatest minds in medicine and it is proclaimed a miracle. As of right now, that is all we have left. We will continue to pray for that miracle as he is our Superman and always will be.

There are angels among us

Thursday, December 4, 2003 7:24 PM CST

Christopher's 1 year birthday is next Wednesday 12-10-2003.
Done with Radiation today, white blood count is zero. Keep praying for a mircale.

Wednesday, December 3, 2003 0:56 AM CST

Thanksgiving was great. There was a lot of people that came up. There are only 7 day until 1st birthday. December 10, 2003. Mom will be 22 and Christopher will be the big 1 years old.
Counts are down to 300 today, the average is 5,000-10,000 for a little guy like christopher. It will take about 3 weeks after the last round of chemo for counts to go back up. Then start all over hopfully.
Thank you for all the prays, and don't stop now. There is still a long road ahead to over come. With the help of god and grandma and grandpa smith we can get through this.
Thanks again,
Mike, Lisa, and christopher.

Monday, November 24, 2003 1:32 PM CST

We are sorry we did not update this sooner to let all know what is going on with Christopher. A couple of new development have happened with Christopher. He has developed another tumor. Yes, I know this may sound bad but do not give up any hope! In fact, I am somewhat glad that this has happened. Here is my reason why:

Christopher has been really crabby and irratable since a few days before Halloween. Everyone should know that if you have been reading on here or visiting him in the hospital. They have been unable to determine what is causing his pain. Finally, they did an MRI and found something in his head. They did surgery to find out exactly what it is. Well, we did find out it is a tumor once again. This can potentially SOLVE questions with him, not raise more like we all know Christopher is good at doing. The doctors believe that this is the reason why he has been crabby and irratable. For those of you who saw him back in June, he has been acting the same way as he was right before he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Also, look how he returned to normal after the tumors shrunk. We were pleased back then and we will be once again after radiation.

The type of tumor he has crumbles with radiation. He will be getting about 10 treatments of radiation to take care of this tumor. The radiation will be very low doses with very few potential risks. This tumor will shrink like a grape in sunlight when hit with radiation. We are confindent that this therapy will bring our little boy back to good spirits. Keep your faith in God that this will work as we are confindent that it will help Christopher.

Wednesday, November 19, 2003 1:11 PM CST

Fevers are back, sometime in the next 24 hour we are going to be starting TPN or install the feeding tube. If it were up to me, I would say the feeding tube. TPN affects the kidneys and liver. TPN is one of the issuse we had with starting the new chemo. With the feeding tube he can drink formula, and it will help increase his tummy. He really isn't eatting a lot. Maybe, 5-10 oz. a day. The average for his age is about 50oz.
We still have a full head of blond hair. White blood counts are down to 6,000. When we started the new chemo there were at 10,0000. 5,000-10,000 is normal. There had been a lot of progress that we can see. Christopher is not a very happy camper at this moment. They think that the counts in side his body are all goofy, causing him to not feel good. His potasium, sodium, and magnisium level were. The white, red, and platlets are always goofy, with chemo and all the other med. that he is on.

Monday, November 17, 2003 1:20 PM CST

I know, it has been a while since we had an update and I apologize for that.

For those of you who have seen Christopher lately, you know that he hasn't been feeling himself. He has been irratable and sleepy. Well, that hasn't changed. All that we know so far is that the Decitabine(the chemo he currently is on) is doing something good. His White Blood cells are dropping after just a couple of days of chemo. The first drug he recieved at the U of M didn't do this until the chemo was done. The doctors are liking the results so far of how everything is going health wise. I think all can agree that we want the little boy that we knew and loved just a few weeks ago. The one who was willing to play a lot and just a lot of fun. Then again, as with most illnesses, you have to get worse before you can get better. That is what is keeping us going. We will have our playful little boy back someday, but until then, keep Christopher in your prayers and never forget that God is with us all.

Wednesday, November 12, 2003 0:24 AM CST

Monday was the big day. At 12:45 pm we finally started Chemo. Bilirubin was down to 1.5 Sunday it was 2.3, Saturday was 4.5, and Friday was 4.0. We have also been infection free now for 9 days. Just a temp every day nothing too high. Christopher only thew-up 1 major time over the weekend, very good.
Sunday he took a 20 min. bath, and today 1 hour bath all by himself. Just sitting there enjoying the warm water running on his hands and legs. It was time to come out when he started to fall asleep. All the doctors came in and exaimed him while he was in the shower, weird.
Today was also the 2nd day in a row that that he woar clothes. Every other day it is nothing but stilling mom's blanky to keep him warm.
GO CHRISTOPHER

Thursday, November 6, 2003 11:41 PM CST

Christopher is starting to feel beter. All day temps. stayed below 100. This is the 1st in a while. It was a pretty good day. He was eating, and talking. He has this new thing. Mom can't go to sleep unless baby is sleeping with her. THat's ok mom sleeps though every thing except a throwing up baby.
Tues. night spiked a temp of 104.2. All week before going to bed, christopher and mom would have to shower, and go for a 3am walk. No one to get in the way at that time.
We are planing on starting Chemo this weekend if everything goes well. We pray that it does....

Friday, October 31, 2003 12:00 AM CST

Happy Halloween!!

Here is an update on how everything is going. The liver tests are coming down to within normal range so hopefully we can start chemo once again after this nasty little infection goes away. He is getting a nice buffet of antibiotics right now including a new antibiotic that is having some really good effects on him. However, he is not in very good spirits. He is really crabby and irratable. The doctors did start him on some pain killers that seems to be doing an OK job. He is still crabby but that could be due to his little fever that he has. We have been unsucessful in giving him Tyelonol for that. Anything he eats, doesn't comply with gravity. Whatever goes down his throat, comes right back up. We are hanging in there though. Hopefully this will pass. It has been a rough week for him, parents, and Gretchen who stayed with him on Monday and Wednesday.

Like I stated before, hopefully this will be cleared up soon so he can be back to being his playful, goofy self. We like that. Happy baby equals happy parents. Stay tuned for further details as we come closer to starting Decitabine.

Wednesday, October 29, 2003 0:02 AM CST

As most of you know, Christopher is scheduled to begin a new phase one study drug. This drug is called Decitabine. This drug has only been tested on about 30 kids with pretty good success rates. Hopefully Christopher will be on the good side of the success rates. However, we have been unable to start this new drug yet. The Liver test are coming back to high to start chemo again. This means we have to wait for the liver results to go down. Nobodys seems too worried about this though. I spiked another fever over the weekend. My temp was 103. I also had reaction to platlets. That was scary. However, the nurses were all over it and everything was fine a just a short while.
This week I have 2 new teeth. They are the ones right next to my two front teeth. That makes a total of 6 teeth. (4 all the way though, and 2 just starting). Still like to chew on everything, but I am very very crabby.
Friday, I stayed up longer then mom. At 9am I had a VER test for my eyes. So I had to wake up at 4 am, I was wide awake at 2am. Mom and I stayed up all night, mom passed out at 8am. I was still wide awake and still willing to play more. Total sleep for Friday was probly about 5 hours in a 24 hour period. Great Grandma Hockel took care of me while mom was sleeping.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003 8:52 PM CDT

Today we got the results back on the spinal tap, clean (good). Went to eye doctor to check out eye sight, Christopher was too crabby to check. Hadn't eaten since late last night, could not eat any thing until 1:30 pm after MRI. At about noon, they came in to do vitals, temp. was 103.2 a little on the high side. They had to cancel MRI, to do labs (blood test). Also got platlets today. The platlets don't really want to grow, slowly but surly they are coming back.

Friday, October 17, 2003 3:04 PM CDT

Today Christopher went under for surgery. He had his Hickmen (IV line), a spinal tap, and bone marrow test. We also unfortunetly learned the meaning of "fast news is bad news". The bone marrow test results came back postive for leukemia. Which means that he is not in remission. We don't know the exact percentage yet, that will take about 72 hours. On Monday, mom and dad have an appointment with dr. Bostrom, a dr. from children's, to figure out what the next step will be. They still have options on what they can do. The only bad thing is that this will be round #4.
If you don't get it into remission the 1st, or 2nd time by the 3rd time it gets even harder. We are praying that the 4th time will do the trick. This means that we will probably be in the hospital for even longer, and we are not going to transplant yet. You can not do a transplant when there is still leukemia cells in the bone marrow. The good thing is that there is still no cells in the spin at this time.
We need to keep telling Phillip and Judy that they can not have Christopher, we need him here on earth more then they do up in heaven. He is the most important thing to us. Grandma and Grandpa Smith can wait another 100 years.
WE PRAY FOR OUR LITTLE MAN.

Monday, October 13, 2003 7:59 PM CDT

This was another tuff weekend. Spiking temps of 103, not as crabby. Temps were cause by reaction to meds. They got it undercontrol. Tonight Christopher's hickmen line burst. They had to repair the line, good thing it was fixable.
We are still waiting for counts to come up. Then he will be a lot happier then he is, and he is really happy. Then the plan is to get another bonemarrow test, to make sure that we are in remission. Then off to get a transplant.

Monday, October 6, 2003 8:59 PM CDT

This weekend was a long and hard weekend. Friday night little man started to be crabby and we could not figure out why. Saturday was even worse, temp went to 102.8, they had to do a spinal tap to try and find out why, poss meningitus. This is commom with counts very low, but deadly. Spanal tap came out clean. They did not find any infection. The think that poss. cause of temp was a bad reatction to one of his med. Then the question is why is he so crabby and not eating. They are pretty sure that the cause of not eating and crabby is the sores inside his mouth. This is very common when counts are very low. Now, he is getting pain med. every 4 hours. It is kinda like morphine, the only difference is morphine can cause rashes.
The only thing keeping him happy this weekend is all the baths. Then grandma Betty brought up the kick and play, a vibrating chair that he just loves. We stuck him in the chair at 6am this morning and the only time he got out was to take another bath, with mom. He loves his showers. Don't blame him, most people do when they aren't feeling good. We hope the sores in the mouth go away sooooon.
We also had blood and platelets this weekend.
p.s. thank you for helping us through the weekend Gretchen

Tuesday, September 30, 2003 3:30 PM CDT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and the donations we received for the walk we attended up in Duluth. We raised over $1300 for the walk and walk the itself in Duluth brought in $13,000. This is great. This money will be used for research for leukemia and it will also benifit the families of patients. Once again Mike, Lisa and Christopher thank you for your support.

As far as an update....no change. Undergoing Chemotherepy and still the happiest baby in the world!

Wednesday, September 24, 2003 12:40 AM CDT

Today everything is going good so far. Get more chemo on Friday, Get a blood transfusion. Still happy as can be...

Sunday, September 21, 2003 8:19 PM CDT

Chemo was started on Friday, everything is doiing great.
Mom and Dad, and a couple of friends are going to do the walk for Leukemia and Lymphoma. If you would like to sponsor you can mail money to Martha's or contact Mike or Lisa or someone that you know will see them. If you have any ?, please write. The walk is Saturday Sept. 27, 2003 in Dulth, MN. The money raised helps people suffering for leukemia, lymphoma, hodgkins disease, and myeloma. Right now Christopher is getting grants right now to help pay for his experimental drug that is going with his chemo. Checks can be made out to: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Thank you for your support.
Mike, Lisa & Christopher...

Thursday, September 18, 2003 10:16 AM CDT

Today Dr. Bostrum stoped by to see how everything was going. I've been temp. free for 48 hours. They are going to start Chemo tonight or Friday morring. Mom and Dad are doing great. I'm still very happy, always smiling and laughing. Last night mom and I were up to 2 am. Mom wanted to go to sleep, but I wanted to play.

Friday, September 12, 2003 4:53 PM CDT

Today I got to go home again for the weeken. Gretchen came to the hospital to help mom take me home. We didn't tell anyone that I was coming. When I showed up they were all
suprised. Dad asked was we were doing. He thought that we were out on pass. Then mom said that we were home for the weekend. I go back monday morring, to start chemo again. I have be soooo happy, mom says that she has never seen such a happy baby in her life. I hope some day I will get to meet a lot of you. That write. we will talk later

Thursday, September 11, 2003 12:53 AM CDT

Today, I felt it necessary to add a journal entry. My reasoning is because of the second anniversary of the Sept 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers, Penatgon, and of Flight 93 which crashed in rural Pennsylvania. I would just like to say that we shall always remember that day as if it were yesterday. Please, today just take a moment out of your day to reflect and remember.

Since I am adding a journal entry, I thought I would post what is happening with Christopher. As described in yesterday's entry, we are now at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Specifically, we are at Fairview Hospital. Here is where Christopher will undergo more testing. The reasoning behind this is of Christopher's leukemia type. Two-thirds of his cells are marked as C-33. These are cells with the 21st chromosome. This is why the chemotherapy is having a tough time killing the leukemia cells. This new chemo drug is made to attach itself to this type to get rid of it. Then if this is the true case, he will go in for bone marrow transplant. This is only what the doctors theory is. A couple of factors are not being consistant with 28eukemia cells in his body.

However, if his testing comes out to be not what I described above, then we will go back to Childrens to finish Chemo. Right now, this little guy is confusing a lot of people. We shall overcome this though!

Wednesday, September 10, 2003 1:53 PM CDT

Tuesday morrning, I was a great baby. I didn't cry when I was hungry, every night before mom goes to bed she sticks a bottle in my cribe so that when I do get hungry it is right there. This time I found it and dranked my self. Mom looked over and here I was with my bottle, when I was done I put it next to me and when back to sleep.

We are now at Fairveiw, (U of M). We will be there until Monday at least by the sound, Bone marrow test 7:30 Thur. then they are going to compar with last test. Find out what is going on. Start Chemo at the U if leakiuma is take around. If it looks good then we will be going back to Children's. That is all we know for now

Tuesday, September 9, 2003

Today there was something great happen, I got a nother tooth. That make 3. 2 bottum and 1 top. I can bit hard. I bit my mom. Now she won't stick her fingure in my mout

Good new or Bad we are not sure yet. On Friday, Sept.5 we went to the dr. There they did blood work. There we talk about my counts. There was 28last, 1uekima. The dr. doesn't think that these number go good together. To top it all my counts are going up, with no cancer in blood. That is a good thing. When you have cancer the counts should go down. All week there were telling us that by Friday I would need a Platlet transfusion. Since my counts were going up I didn't. They also said that we are going to the U, if everything is looking good then we will be going back to children's. If we stay at the U that is a bad thing. We don't want that.

I also decided that I was sick of my feeding tube. This tube goes in my nose to my tummy. They hook it up to a meachine and it feeds me farmula. I decided to pull it out. Then mom called the dr. and they said that since I was eatting good that I didn't need to have it any more. Good for me :)

Wednesday, September 3, 2003 10:51 PM CDT

Today I went home. This morning, I had a bone marrow test to see ho many leukemia cells were present in my marrow. The doctors found out that I currently have 28% leukemia cells in my marrow. This is not good news at all. Since I have already gone through the second round of chemotherapy, it should be under 1%. The doctors still seem optomistic though. The third round of chemotherapy is supposed to mild in comparison to the first two. However, this has changed. They will be doing a stronger chemotherapy session. Since I am such a good boy, this shouldn't have any negative effects on me.

I also received word back on my eye test that I was given on Tuesday. The results so a DRAMATIC improvement in the right eye and a slight improvement in the left eye. This news is really good! My parents are very happy to learn of this news as so am I. Hopefully, with time I can regain my eyesight. Wouldn't that be nice? Well time to get back to my Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Amy. Stay tuned into what is happening next in my crazy life!

Saturday, August 29, 2003 1:17 PM CDT

Today mom and dad talk to one of the dr. it seams like only 2 days ago they said it would be about 3 weeks before I would be able to leave. Now they are talking maybe Wed. Then I would be able to go over to grandma and grandpa's house for a week. That sound like a lot of fun. Before I go I have to have a boone test, spial tap, and v.e.r (vision) test. Everyone have a nice weeken and I'll talk to you later

Wednesday, August 27, 2003 10:58 PM CDT

Today my mom and dad had a meeting with the dr. and nurse. They were told that everything was looking good. Only one more chemo treatment. I was very happy today, just playing in my cribe with dad.

Wednesday, August 20, 2003 10:34 PM CDT

Today I had another CT, one of my doctors said that the everything was looking great. Don't know much more then that at this time. I also was eating baby food, rice ceral and banans. I loved it. The family is all doing good. I'm injoying the nice A/C that we have here in the hospital.
I do miss going out for Jeep rides, top down crusin with mom on nice sunny days. I also miss my cat Nermal. A lot of the neruse are saying that they think that my eyes are getting better. I'm reacting to light better. That is a good thing.

Wednesday, August 20, 2003 10:34 PM CDT

June 19, 2003

Where it all begins
My mom was diagnosed with Toxemia, so I had to be induced 11 days early. I was born December 10, 2002 at 2:10 p.m. on my mom�s 21st birthday. I was a healthy baby boy, 7lbs. 1oz and 19 � inches. At all my check-ups I always checked to be o.k. I was always happy and slept though the night.
When in was 4 months old my mom and dad notice a bump on my head right above my left eye. They had thought that I had just bump my head and thought nothing of it. The bump was getting bigger and they notice a lump on my left legs. So June 11th mom brought me in to Urgent Care. The dr. said that he thought it was just a calcium deposit, he didn�t specialize in children so we should make an appointment with the Pediatrician.

August 1, 2003

By now I have had many MRI, CT, and VER (bone marrow tests, spinal taps, and vision tests). I have one tumor left so the chemotherapy is working. It is shrinking the tumor. The one on the outside of my skull, one on my leg was almost gone. The tumor in my sinus that was the size of a walnut on my optical nerve was almost gone, the other one on the side of my skull was going down and the one on the back of my head was also.

July 27, 2003

Today I throw up my feeding tube. Every time they turn the feeding pump on I would throw up but today the tube came out.

Friday, June 26, 2003

The doctor said I needed to get fatter. I was in the 72 percentile of my age group. In length I was 27� and 15 lbs. 1oz. They stuck a feeding tube in my nose to fatten me up.

Friday, June 20, 2003

On Friday June 20th the doctor said that I had AML (Acute myelogenous). I was at 77% which wasn�t quite in the blood yet. They started chemotherapy that night. That�s were it all begins. The CT and MRI showed three tumors in my head and one in my left leg.

Thursday, June 19, 2003

On June 19th Janis and Kristen were baby-sitting me. Janis thought there was something seriously wrong. I was just really crabby. My eyes were weird. She talked to my mom and said that she was bringing me to the doctor. My mom was going to meet up with Janis their. When my mom arrived at the doctor�s office, the doctor told her that he didn�t know what was wrong with me. They were going to send me to Children�s Hospital in an ambulance. During the ride I would just stare into nowhere. The EMT drew blood and I didn�t even twitch, I had no response, they could slap my face and I wouldn�t even blink. After arriving at the hospital they took blood tests. My white cells were at 61,000 and red cells and platelets were normal. They called the cancer doctor into explain what he thought was going on. He thought that I could possibly have Leukemia but he was unsure at the time. I then had x-rays and a CT for further diagnosis.

Sunday July 15, 2002 Father�s Day. Grandma Janis was telling my mom that she should take me to the dr. she thought that there was something wrong, I just didn�t seem normal. Mom explained that she had early in the week and the dr. said that it wasn�t anything to worry about. I was being crappy because I was teething or something. Later on that night my mom and dad decided that couldn�t deal with a crappy baby and more so they took me to the ER there we wait to be seen. I weight in at 15lbs 1oz and 27�. They had told the dr. that my left eye look to be swollen and there was a bumped that seamed to be getting bigger. They also pointed out the bump on my left leg. The dr. checked it out and said that it was soft, measured it and the bump was 2cm. She thought that it was just a calcium deposit, she told them to watch it to see if the bump on my head got bigger. If it did to Bering me back. She said that the lump on my leg was probably just from shouts, it was no problem at this time.

Friday, June 20, 2002

Monday, August 04, 2003 10:32 PM CDT

Today is my frist day back at the hospial, I got out for 4 days. I spent them at Grandma and Grandpa Peters. I had a lot of fun. I was so happy to be back, I missed all of my friends at the hospital.

Monday, August 11, 2003 10:30 PM CDT

Latly I've been kinda crabby, I have a bad dipper rash. It is not good. I also throw up on the neruse my bad. Other then that I'm doing pretty good.

Friday, August 8, 2003 5:07 PM CDT

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