Life just keeps on keeping on

It's been a little while since our last update, so here's a quick glimpse at what's been going on with our family:

Kol recovering from chemo:

Kol has been under virtual "house arrest" the past two weeks, as his immune system took a big hit from the chemotherapy. Fortunately, his blood counts are back up again (as of Wednesday morning), so he'll be able to get out of the house again - go to rehearsal for "101 Dalmations", church, shopping, etc. Other than that, he's weathered this first round of chemo pretty well. Provided that his immune system continues to recover, he's scheduled to start the next round at the end of October.

Birgitte's journey:

Sometimes it feels like we could start a second blog to talk about Birgitte's issues. We've finally gotten her weaned off the clobazam, and in the last week we've seen a lot more of the "old Birgitte" - her eyes seem brighter, she laughs more naturally, she's been less impulsive, she's listening better, she's started reading again. She's still not totally back to her old self, but there is definite improvement. She's completely off any medication at the moment, and will likely stay off for at least a few more weeks before we consider trying a different drug. There is a higher risk of her having seizures, but we're relatively comfortable with that risk for now - it's been so encouraging to see her old personality start to return.

This old house:

I don't know if we've mentioned this much on the blog, but we've been in the middle of renovations and repairs in our basement most of this year - actually, the renovations have been ongoing for many years, but we had flooding in our basement just before Christmas that set us back a ways. The end is finally in sight for the lowest level - the electrical work is finally done, the flooring is coming together, the drywall should be done soon, and with any luck we'll have the two oldest girls moved down to their new bedroom before the end of the month - nearly a year behind schedule, but better late than never! Once the basement is done, we'll start working on the next level up - we're hoping to put in a reading/homeschool room, a new office (so the current office can be turned back into a bedroom), and better storage space. We're really looking forward to being able to live in our whole house, not just the top half!

Family matters:

Our family has been through a lot of change and stress this year, with Kolbjorn's diagnosis and Birgitte's medication-induced personality changes and behavior problems, with the new baby (who just turned 8 months old, where did the time go?), with crazy travel schedules, with all the kids homeschooling, with us all crammed together in half of our house... The cracks are beginning to show. There are lots of short tempers, lots of easily hurt feelings, trouble falling asleep and trouble getting out of bed, lack of motivation, focus, and energy. The fact that we're aware of what is happening is a good first step, but we're not exactly sure what the next step should be - family counseling perhaps? I'm sure that our kids are at least as worried and scared as Kristen and I are about all that has happened, and all that might happen - we need to find a way to work through this all so that it doesn't poison our family relationships. We're just not sure where to start looking for help - any suggestions would be welcome (in the comments, or email Kristen if you don't want to share publicly).

Prayer requests:

• For Kolbjorn's continued healing, and for him to tolerate the next rounds of chemotherapy well
• For Birgitte's continued healing, that she doesn't have any seizures while she is off medication, and that we will be able to find something that works without adverse side effects
• For our family's emotional well-being, that we can all find healthy ways to work through our fears and worries
• For the completion of our basement renovations!

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement, and hopefully we'll get back to posting more frequently!