Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden!

WOW, i've gotten really lazy when it comes to blogging! I guess I've been pretty comfortable at home and feeling like our life has returned back to how its supposed to be. Although I know we are still FAR away from that day, having our happy girl home gives us some hope that maybe that day won't be that far away!
So since I last wrote, we had our meeting with our doctor. She informed us that because of a few reasons (early blood work, the fact that she got steroids before treatment started and so on.. ) they have moved Hayden from Standard Risk A.L.L to High Risk A.L.L. I'm not going to lie..I had tears in my eyes before I even knew what that meant or why it was changed. BUT, we have been reassured that it only means her treatment changes a little bit so hopefully we don't have to worry about relapses later. High risk just means that she has a higher risk to have a relapse when treatment is over.. but thanks the all of the pediatric oncologists, and the childrens oncology group.. everyone agreed that this is the best category to have her in in order for her to have the best absolute treatment! We trust them all 100%.
Hayden has been at home (minus a few LONG clinic days) since our last stay. She has been happy and healthy, and cold and flu season has so far stayed away .. knock on wood.
On Feb 16th my dear friend Andrea and her husband Mark threw a fundraiser for Hayden at their restaurant Fitzrays! Jon and I took shifts being there, him doing the first.. and me the last. I sadly didn't get to see some people, as did Jon, but we know you were there and thank you for coming!!  There were some amazing bands that donated their time, and all of the staff and event organizers put in SO much hard work to make the day a true success!!! There were some amazing prizes that were donated from local establishments and suppliers, and from some amazing people who aren't local but still offered to donate a prize! Thank you to EVERYONE that put any sort of effort into that day. You are all amazing people, and we hope that in 2 years when this nightmare is over we can all gather at Fitzrays for a celebration when Hayden wins her battle!! We want to thank everyone for coming down to support Hayden in her fight. A lot of people traveled from a far to be there, and we truly appreciate the effort! One huge surprise of the evening was an extremely generous donation from my sisters friends (family) from her work, Service Ontario. They got together and donated $2,000 to Hayden, and we were blown away. Thanks to all of Jodie's friends for thinking of our sweet Hayden, and for rallying together to help make life a little less stressful for us!! "Amazing people" is really all I can say about them and my sister is truly lucky to have them in her life.  Also - just wanted to say one more big thank you to her friend Rich. He kindly donated $500 to Hayden for a "Fun Fund" and wrote the most touching card to her. His niece beat Leukemia, and is now doing some pretty amazing things in her life. Rich, your words in that card gave Jon and I both hope, and I know down the road when Hayden can understand this all.. she will appreciate your kind heart as well. When we get the word from the doctor, we will absolutely use that "Fun Fund" as it was intended! I also want to give a huge shout out to a dear friend that I FINALLY got to meet face to face that weekend, Naomi McCulloch. She is a teacher at a small town school called Minto Clifford Public School, and has a "Me2We" group that she oversees. The students that are apart of this group kindly all made cards of encouragement for Hayden. I've read every single card, and they all put smiles on my face and when Hayden can read I know she will have a big smile too. You are amazing kids for doing that for our little beauty, and I want you to all know that your thoughtfulness and big hearts will never be forgotten.  Thank you Naomi, you also have a huge heart.. and it's not hard to see that your little boy, Tavis, will follow in your foot steps and do great things. He has already sent Hayden a get well gift, and also a Valentine. A pretty special boy indeed.
This past weekend was Miss H's 2nd birthday, and I must say that she had a pretty amazing day! Our amazing families came down to help us celebrate], and I have to say she was spoiled ROTTEN! She got some pretty amazing gifts, lots of birthday hugs, and LOTS of happy birthday's via Facebook! When we left clinic on friday we knew that her counts were WAY down from the week prior (the chemo that she was getting did that as planned),  so everyone that attended kindly made sure they sanitized their hands for us, in hopes that all the bad germs stayed away! We had a HUGE birthday cake that was given to us from our dear friend Kaylee, and everyone brought some munchies and good laughs! I'd say all in all her birthday party was a success!! We got some great news the day before her party too.. Hayden's going to have a baby cousin come Labour Day!! Congrats again to Uncle Cody and Aunt Leah!!!   Also, Hayden also received her very first pet for her birthday.. a beta fish named Kelly Gruber from aunt Jodie.   The name came to us because my mom kept calling Mr. Grouper (from bubble guppies..she thought that would be a good name for him I guess) Mr. Gruber.. and I asked if she meant Kelly Gruber.. she got confused, but my sister insisted the name of the fish be Kelly Gruber!  We hope he sticks around for a while.. but just in case he doesn't.. any suggestions for names of future fish are greatly appreciated, because we clearly have issues naming them!
It's hard to believe Hayden is 2.  How do 2 years go by so damn fast?? I already think that in a day she has grown so much.. if that's possible.  One pretty cool thing about her birthday is that she shares it with Dr. Seuss (as well as others.. like Bon Jovi!!).. and last year on her birthday cake Kaylee wrote a quote on it for us. Its a quote that I want Hayden to always remember -

" Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You ". 

There is one more quote that Dr. Seuss wrote that came to us from the MCPS Me2We group that I also think applies to Hayden -

"I've heard there are troubles of more then one kind,
 some come from ahead and some come from behind.
 But i've bought a big bat, i'm all ready you see,
 Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me."

 Thanks again, for taking the time to read this blog! I will update it when there are new things happening in her treatment.. or something needs to be said! Otherwise I won't bore you when there isn't anything to report!
Last but not least.. didn't Ellen kill it at the Oscars last night? I love her and will one day meet her! And i'd be lying if I didn't say i'm trying to push Hayden to use her "wish" to go meet Auntie Ellen!! haha! Don't worry.. She will make her decision when she's ready too.. but there is no harm in giving her options!
Have a great night everyone! xo