Our summer trip to Ohio

We took a two week trip to Ohio in June, to visit family and friends. Daddy stayed in Vegas to work and get ready for the busy rush for July 4th weekend. Mommy and the kids traveled to Columbus and had a great time seeing everyone. We were able to go and do a lot of fun things this time. We went to the zoo and saw a newborn baby elephant, which the kids loved seeing. We also went to COSI (museum) and spent time learning some new things and enjoying an afternoon with family. We went swimming a couple of times with our cousins and played at the parks. We went to the Whetstone Park of Roses where mommy and daddy were married. The kids enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the roses. We had a great two weeks and Leila did well with all of the traveling.

Las Vegas 51's baseball game

Our family was invited to a Las Vegas 51's baseball game through the Candlelighters organization. The tickets were donated by Metro PCS and they chose Leila as the child to represent them and throw out the first pitch at the game. It was very exciting for all of us and Leila was very nervous about being in front of a stadium full of people. A friend of ours who is also a teacher at Leila and Rami's school, put together a large group of teachers and their families to attend the game that night in support of Leila. They made a huge sign that said WE LOVE LEILA and held it up during her first pitch throw. We all sat together as a group and enjoyed the game and snacks. It was a fun evening and we greatly appreciate the support from all of the teachers.

Viral Infection and Pinkeye

For the past two weeks we have been battling a virus and pinkeye in our house. It first started with Rami who missed three days of school and was very sick with fever, cough, congestion and pinkeye. We tried our best to keep Rami away from Leila during that time and even had her wearing a mask in the house.

Unfortunately it didn't work and Leila ended up getting it all. She started with the fever and congestion along with the cough and then the pinkeye set in. Of course it all happened to be on Memorial weekend, so we called Dr. B and told him Leila was fevered. He quickly told us to meet him at Sunrise Childrens Hospital so that he could look at her. He examined her and gave us a prescription for the pinkeye. He said he thought the fever was a virus and that we could fight it as an outpatient rather than admitting her into the hospital. That was a huge relief, but we spent the next three days at the clinic where Leila received IV antibiotics and fluids along with Tylenol and Motrin to battle the fever. Her cough and congestion continued for several days.

Leila missed a week of school, but is finally feeling better. She returned to school today to finish out the last few days for the year. She was very excited to return and see her friends.

Now Deena has the fever, pinkeye and all of the above. Once again we are trying to keep Leila away from her. This is our third week of this virus in our house. We are all tired of being sick and sick of being tired!

We are all looking forward to summer break!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY - APRIL 28th

It is hard to believe that today marks the one year date since Leila was diagnosed with Leukemia. As we remember that day and all that transpired, it is both an emotional and heart wrenching memory. We take today to look back at all of the ups and downs we have had with Leila. We realize how fortunate we are to have her here with us and how thankful we are that she is still doing so well.

Leila continues to do great in school. She enjoys going each day and has many friends in the first grade. Her hair has been growing out more now, so she is getting more comfortable wearing headbands and barretts.

She has reached another milestone this week! She has been working on swallowing her chemo pills, with a lot of practice with M&M's. Leila has managed to swallow her pills the last two days, so we are on our way to a much easier way of life. Mommy will be happy to give up the pill crushing for good. We have Leila's friend Olivia to thank for that. Olivia who is only 5 years old, just started swallowing her chemo pills. This helped to talk Leila into giving it a try.

On this day, we are also thinking of Leila's friend Oscar. Oscar is the boy that was in the hospital with Leila during her first week. Our friend Oscar is recovering from his bone marrow transplant in Oakland, CA. We have talked to him recently and he is doing well. We continue to pray for him to make a full recovery and come back to Vegas.

We also think of the children who have lost their battle with cancer. Here in Las Vegas, there have been 10 children since January, which is an alarming number. Three of the ten were boys that we knew who were in the hospital with Leila, and all of them received a bone marrow transplant. We think of these families and remember how lucky we are to have OUR LOVELY LEILA!

Spring Break 2009

This week was spring break for the kids and Ziad took the week off so we could all be together. We decided to go to Phoenix, AZ for a few days to get away and relax. We stayed at a Marriott resort that has a lazy river pool with rafts and a slide, along with two other larger pools. The weather was nice and warm and we had a great time swimming and relaxing in the pools. The kids loved eating in the restaurants and enjoyed the all you can eat breakfast buffet.

"A" Honor Roll

Leila has been doing very well in school this semester and managed to get all A's on her progress report card. Her school had an awards assembly for all of the children who made the Honor Roll. Leila was recognized and congratulated by the principal and given a certificate for her hard work and achievements. She has worked very hard since being back in school and her progress shows it. We are extremely proud of what she has accomplished in so little time. We are also thankful to her home school tutor Mr. Gardner. With his help and guidance through Leila's time away from school, he kept her ahead and well prepared for school.

Candlelighters event for Ace Ventura movie

On Sunday afternoon we attended a Candlelighters event at The Springs Preserve for the premiere of the upcoming movie Ace Ventura Pet Detective Jr. Leila, Rami and Deena were able to meet the celebrity kids who star in the movie and get their autographs and pictures. The main star of the movie is Josh Flitter who plays Ace Jr. Another actor in this movie is Reed Alexander who is best known for his role on iCarly as "Neville". We watched the movie and then spent time walking around the Springs Preserve gardens. I was a fun and busy weekend and Leila had a great time.

St. Baldricks Foundation

On Saturday evening we attended a fundraising event for a foundation called St. Baldricks. This is a head shaving event that raises money for the research and finding a cure for children fighting cancer. Leila's doctor (Dr. B) had his head shaved by one of his other cancer patients, which was an emotional moment for everyone watching. It was very fun and Leila also got to see one of her nurses (Mary) after she had shaved her head. We also had the opportunity to meet other families and see many bald heads!

First week of March 2009

Leila did much better this week. She made it to school everyday and had a busy week. On Wednesday night we were invited by Candlelighters to attend an event at the Red Rock Casino Resort. The event was hosted by a company called Illumina, which is a genetic DNA research company. They had invited kids and their families to come and enjoy an evening at a carnival that included games, food, crafts and entertainment. After the carnival, they had a magician for the kids and a Las Vegas show similar to Mystere. It was a fantastic evening and was so much fun that we didn't get home until 11 pm on a school night! The kids were tired the next day, but it was worth it.

Last week of February 2009

The last week of February was rough for Leila. She was on steroids again and was miserable with stomach pain and vomiting. She missed three days of school that week, spent a day at the doctor, made a trip to the hospital for an abdominal X-ray and took a lot of Miralax. After a week of misery, she felt better and was her old self again.

Leila's monthly Chemo clinic visit

Leila is now going to Dr. B's office every four weeks for blood counts and an IV chemo treatment. She did well this week and her blood counts were good. She has had some stomach problems and missed school one day this week. She is back on the steroids this week also, which adds to the stomach pain, back and leg pain and her emotional ups and downs. We are learning how to be more patient with her during these weeks. She also seems to be more tired and wants mommy to comfort her more often than usual. Although weeks like this are difficult, we are still very fortunate and thankful that Leila continues to do well. We know many other children whose battle is harder and longer, which helps us to appreciate every day that Leila does well.

Leila's first LIMO ride!

On Saturday night we met our friend Cindi Thurmond for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe at the MGM and then had a surprise Limo ride down the Las Vegas strip. Cindi and her friends who are from CA, were here for the weekend and wanted to plan a night out for Leila. We had originally met Cindi in August during our stay at the Wyndham resort here in Vegas. Cindi was at the pool with her grandkids when we were swimming. She noticed Leila, whose hair at the time was falling out everywhere; and asked us if Leila was taking chemo. We started talking and found out that she belongs to an organization called Chemo Angels. Since our meeting, she has been sending gifts and home made cards to Leila and our entire family. She has "adopted" our family and continues to think of Leila and what she is going through. We are very grateful to Cindi for her generosity and wonderful heart. Thank you Cindi for your love and support.

Annual Make A Wish Run/Walk

This past weekend we attended the annual Kendall Tenney Make A Wish 5K Run here in Las Vegas. Kendall Tenney is the local newscaster from Channel 3 who tells the stories of the Make A Wish children and helps to raise money for the Las Vegas chapter each year. We had the opportunity to meet him and have our picture taken with him after the event. Leila, Rami and Deena had a great day during the event. The Make A Wish foundation had a special area set up for the WISH kids and their families to hang out and eat treats and do some crafts. We were also able to meet Miss Teen Nevada and we had a special visit from Snow White. The kids also had time to play at the Town Square playground, which they love.

Leila goes back to school!

Leila started back to school last week and enjoyed being with all of the kids. Mommy stayed with her on Monday and Tuesday to make sure she was comfortable with the routine. She was welcomed by the entire school on her first day during the morning announcements. The entire staff and her teacher Mrs. Mammano went out of their way to make sure she felt good about returning to class. The kids in her class have been very helpful to her, especially the girls. They have all taken turns sitting with her at lunch, playing together on the playground and helping her in the class. Leila decided that she also wanted to ride the bus with Rami. This has given her more social time to see her friends that also ride on the same bus. Leila has been very tired when she returns home at the end of the day. When she does get home she needs to rest awhile before beginning her nightly homework. We are so pleased that she is adapting so quickly to her old and new life. It is wonderful to see her energy and enthusiasm return and to feel that her life can be somewhat normal again.

Leila's Christmas and New Year's

We all enjoyed Christmas day at home with just the five of us. The kids each had a few gifts to open and then spent the day playing, eating and packing for our trip to Ohio the next day.

On December 26, Leila was due for her blood counts and her monthly IV chemo. We had to go to the outpatient area at the hospital instead of Dr. B's office due to the holiday. This of course usually takes longer. Leila and mommy left very early in the morning and spent several hours getting the process done. Later in the afternoon we left for the airport to make our trip to Ohio.
After a delayed flight, we made it to Ohio late that night.

We had a great time visiting with our family including all of Leila's cousins. She had so much fun playing with them and having sleepovers with her cousin Sophia. On New Year's Eve we spent the evening at Ziad's brothers house, along with the other Shiblaq's and partied until 2:30 am. We were all dancing (including all of the kids) until the wee hours of the morning. It was one of the best New Year's we have had with our kids! Leila, Rami and Deena also spent time making gingerbread houses with their cousins Tawny and Kobi as well as sleepovers with them at Grandma and Papa's house.

The week went very fast for us and we did as much as we possibly could to make the most of our time there. Now we are focusing on the New Year and getting Leila back into school this month.

Make A Wish Holiday Party

On Thursday night we attended Santa's Open House, hosted by the Make A Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada. It was held at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino, and was decorated like a winter wonderland. The buffet table had holiday cookies, candies, chocolates, lollipops and brownies as well as other foods. There was also entertainment throughout the evening with singers, clowns, balloonists and games for the kids. One of the main singers was Meaghan Jette Martin who played "Tess" in the movie CAMP ROCK. Leila, Rami and Deena enjoyed getting their picture taken with her. There was also a visit from Santa Claus, who gave each child a gift after taking a picture with him. They also had a special room set up for cookie decorating and each child was given two huge cookies to ice and decorate any way they wish. It was a wonderful night and the kids had so much fun.

SNOW in Las Vegas

This past week was very different for Las Vegas. On Wednesday afternoon it started snowing and continued throughout the night. The snow storm left several inches of snow on the ground, so of course the kids were very excited! This was a small fraction of the amount of snow that we are used to, especially coming here from Minnesota, but it was a lot of fun. Rami spent hours building a snow fort with his friend, and Leila and Deena built a snowman with mommy's help. All of the schools closed on Thursday, which made the kids happy!

Shop With A Cop

On Saturday morning we were invited by the Candlelighters organization to attend the Shop With A Cop program at a local Kmart store. Leila, Rami and Deena all participated in the event that was hosted by the North Las Vegas Police Department. The officers had raised money to be used for each child to shop and pick out toys, bikes, clothes, electronics and anything else they could find. There was also a visit from Santa Clause and each child had a turn to sit on Santa's lap and have a picture taken with the officer who helped them shop.



It was a great time and it was well worth getting up before the sun and shopping at 5:30 am. We also got to see a few of Leila's friends from Dr. B's office.

Leila's 7th Birthday

Leila had a great time turning seven! We had a party at our house with about ten kids and then three of her girl friends stayed for a sleep over. They played games, made crafts, chased the boys around the house, watched movies, ate junk food, painted Ziad's toenails (yes they did) , swam in the jacuzzi, stayed up all night and destroyed the house. She had so much fun and it was all worth it!!!!!

We were all very tired the next day, but seeing her so happy was all we needed.

Make A Wish Firefighter calendar event

The Las Vegas Firefighters teamed up with Make A Wish to create a calendar which will be sold to benefit Make A Wish children in our area. Leila was one of the children who had taken pictures with the firefighters, so she was among a few of the kids who went up on stage during the kick off event held at the Fashion Show Mall. All of the firefighters who posed for the monthly calendar were there to strut down the runway and sign calendars. Leila enjoyed getting the autographs and pictures with the firefighters.