Feb 9-16, 2011

I take an inordinate amount of photos with my iphone. Mainly because it's usually in my hand when there is a cute moment or we are out somewhere. So, because of this, I've decided to do a weekly post with just the photos from my iphone from the week before.
iPhone Photos Feb 9-16 2011:



Last Wednesday, the 9th, we went to a playdate with some of our moms from our MOPS group to exchange Valentines and let the kids play.

Mostly, it was Piper's age and younger, but Caleb had a good time teaching those younger kiddos a thing or two...

On Wednesday, a friend of ours mentioned that she had a dollhouse that she was going to donate to our kid's consignment sale and asked if we would want it. I, of course, said yes because we had looked and looked for one for Piper at Christmas time. The one house I wanted was sold out before I got to go buy it, and it just so happened that this was the very one that our friend gave us! We were so excited and Piper loves it!!

After all of our snow and ice the last couple of weeks, my car was just filthy. I had taken the kids to Dairy Queen the night before and we got a free car wash, so we decided to just go through and knock the dirt off. Both of the kids are terrified of car washes, Piper in particular. Jes had to get her out of her car seat and she sat with me the whole time we went through.

Caleb is still a bit afraid of them too but not as much as his sister, so he decided to hide under a blanket that we keep in the backseat. It was a good thing that we were only in the car wash for a max of 3 minutes because they probably would have both had a nervous breakdown had we been in there for longer.

We love to go to Cabela's in Forth Worth to look around and the kids love their huge fish tanks! We happened to hit it at just the right time this go around to watch feeding time of all the fish.

The director of the aquarium actually donned a wetsuit and got into the tank with all these fish. The feed for the majority of the fish in the tank are other smaller fish, so I was a bit concerned that the kids would be bothered by this but they seemed to be unfazed and were just in awe!

This may seem like a strange photo, and is, really, quite bad, but I wanted to record this for the future. This, my friends, is my non-milk drinking girl drinking milk from a cup that she requested. Piper hasn't had any milk to drink since we gave up the bottles, so I've had to be extra diligent about ensuring that she gets plenty of calcium from other sources. So, when she requested milk in the middle of school yesterday, I jumped up and accommodated her request. She drank around half of what I put in the cup, something that I deem a huge success!

Piper, like most girls, is fascinated by my hair products and makeup. She has one of my brushes just for herself to play with while I'm getting ready to go somewhere. Yesterday, while I was getting ready to go to work, she wanted to play with my eyelash curler so I got my phone ready and handed it to her. I've tried to catch her doing this in the past and she will say she doesn't want me to take her picture, but I was faster this time!

Caleb is coming along in his school work. This week, we crossed over into lesser than/greater than in his math lessons. This is a concept that was very difficult, for many reasons, for me to learn as a student, so I was sort of dreading it. All I had to do was explain it to him once and he got it. He really does have a knack for math, something he definitely got from his dad!

We have missed the last 2 dance classes because of the weather, so this morning when I informed Piper that we were going to dance, she promptly gathered up her "people" and off we went. In her left hand is Puppy, the little stuffed dog that Jes gave her for Valentine's Day. She hasn't let that dog out of her sight since she got it. In her right hand is Birdy. This stuffed bird was Jes's grandmother's and Piper just latched onto it at first sight. She has slept with, cried with, carried around, loved on Birdy for as long as we can remember! He's like another member of the family!

Snow

So, there's been an inordinate amount of the above here in Texas.

Texas, people! This, we don't know how to deal with. Give us 45, 100+ days in a row and we can deal, but we haven't a clue how to do this!

That photo was taken at the beginning of a major weather event (imagine your most animated, panicked, weather man voice when you read that) that lasted most of last week and it's snowing now as I type this.

Needless to say, we're all super tired of all the white stuff and are ready for it to go back from whence it came!

We haven't really had any issues in the Mathis casa from all this cold weather, however I know quite a few people who have had to deal with frozen pipes, busted pipes, loss of heat and loss of electricity. So, the fun has worn off.

Schools were closed last week, 4 out of the 5 possible days. This meant that the college was closed as well. Couple that with the fact that I missed the Thursday the week before (terrible, horrible, nearly death causing GI bug that my family and I fell victim to) that and you can imagine the mess that our class schedules have become. Missing today is going to be a big problem as will tomorrow, if they decide to close school again.

So, I'm off to try to manipulate my syllabus, once again, to add some time in that doesn't exist. Anyone have any idea how I can increase the hours in the day, just for a little bit?

Neglect

I had no idea that it's been nearly a month since I posted here...
I've got some posts swirling around in my head, one in particular, that I'll have done and up in the next week or so.
In the meantime, we've been recovering from a particularly nasty GI bug, nearly a week long confinement due to major amounts of ice and snow and are looking toward, but not forward to, more to come this week.
I've been in a near panic, trying to figure out just how I'm going to catch up on all the days we've missed due to weather, but my coworkers and I are about to come to a consensus on those issues. After we're clear on those things, I think I'll be able to breathe easy.
More to come. Stay tuned!

Dance

Sometime ago, I met a nice lady who owns a dance studio. After we talked for a bit, she mentioned to me that she had a 2 year old dance class that was a Mommy and Me class. This dance class sounded right up our alley and something that Piper would really enjoy, so I signed us up.
When I talked with Piper about it, she got super excited and acted like she would really love it. Piper and I took some time out, left the boys at home and we went to a darling little dance shop in downtown McKinney to purchase her leotard, tights and shoes. She was so excited and danced around and had so much fun!
Our class is on Wednesday mornings and this past Wednesday was our first class. I didn't get a whole bunch of photos since it is a Mommy and Me class.



Here's my little dancer before we left for class on our first day! She was SO excited just to put on her new dance outfit and got more and more excited as we went along.

We got to the studio a bit early, since it was our first day and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get there (it's in a neighboring town). This actually worked to our favor because by the time that class started, Piper was totally comfortable in her new surroundings.

Caleb even had his own area to hang out in that has a window that opens up into the studio that Piper and I were in.

I was a bit worried that Piper wouldn't do what was asked of her because she's never been in school or taken any kind of class and she tends to be super shy and distrusting of strangers. However, she surprised me and paid close attention to the teacher, trying and sometimes mastering what was requested of her. The dance teacher asked me a couple of times if Piper was in gymnastics and was surprised when I told her no.

At the end of the class, all the girls got a butterfly stamp and she hasn't stopped talking about that since last week! We can hardly wait to go back this week!

2 and a half

Dearest Piper,

Today, you are officially 2 and a half. This means that in exactly 6 months, you will be 3, the big girl that you proclaim yourself to be every single day.

You are right at 3 feet tall and 32 pounds, but you still are my pocket sized diva. You love all things girly, but are such an enigma, equally loving to play in the dirt and mud. You love to do anything that requires running, jumping, swinging, climbing and just being physical. We have caught you on top of various pieces of furniture without knowing how you go there. Your Daddy and I have to watch you like a hawk, lest you break your neck completing one of these daring adventures of yours.

You are still not potty trained yet, but you are working on it. You love to sit on said potty and have me read you books, but the actual act, on a regular basis, eludes you. I'm really in no hurry to get this task accomplished and you are pretty laid back about the whole thing too, so we'll just wait until you are possessed with the spirit of determination on this front.

Just a few months ago, we decided that you needed to give up your crib and move to a big girl bed. We set out to purchase a daybed that would grow with you, but you had other ideas. You, my dear, sweet, bold girl were afraid of the big beds, but managed to crawl into and cover yourself up in a toddler bed. You can probably guess what we left the store with and you sleep in now. You alternately love and hate that bed all at once and are still adjusting to the idea of not having your walls that they crib provided you. We're working on this.

You have the most fun, sweet and equally frustrating personality, all at the same time. You are most definitely a 2 year old, wanting to constantly do it yourself, but also wanting help and love when you try and fail. You love to run around in your high heels, princess dress and boa, while wielding your brother's Light Saber, trying to rid the universe of the bad guys.

Your most favorite color is pink and everything in your world has to be some version of this color. You know all your shapes, numbers up to 20 and then 10's, most of your letters and all your colors. You are well educated in all things girl and boy. I suppose that is the benefit of having a big brother to teach you.

Caleb and your Daddy are two of your most favorite people, but, truth be told, you are a Mama's girl. I cannot tell you the joy that that gives my heart. One of my dreams was to have a little girl and to have the same kind of relationship with her that I do with my Mama. We have that, little one.

I love you, my Pster! You are and always will be my most favorite girl in all the world!

Love,

Mama

Half Way Through

I've posted here many different times about our choice to homeschool, but it dawned on me this morning that I've not updated with Caleb's progress in the whole process.
One of the less academic, but needed things, that I was hoping for Caleb to learn during school, whether it was in a building or in my dining room, is that of self control. He is a very typical boy, busy, active, and yet super smart, but needed that ability to excel. During the past few months, we have watched our boy go from a kid who can't sit still for even a few moments or control his impulses to a boy who can sit through a whole church service quietly entertaining himself. I also just witnessed on Saturday Caleb holding a present in his lap upon my instructions to wait until we got all of them. He then opened one and waited me for my instructions to move on. This is a different, self-assured, controlled boy with an appropriate amount of confidence.
We are using My Father's World curriculum for K and supplementing with various other things based on his need and interest. The main curriculum provides 5 days worth of worksheets, with each week concentrating on a certain letter and topic. For example, last weeks letter was E and the study is over elephants, with the next few weeks contributing to this so that the whole month is study in non-farm animals (elephants, penguins, etc). It's really well organized and the work is very much on target for what it is written for (a kindergartner), so all in all we've been happy with it.
We only do school 3 (sometimes 4, at most) days a week and it only really takes us, at most, 2 hours to get through all the work that is assigned to him. At the beginning of the year I was pretty surprised at how fast we moved through his work, but we were able to ascertain that Caleb is quite ahead in some areas and we aren't dealing with 30 students here, so we can get done in a timely manner. I am firmly convinced that learning isn't all about sitting in the classroom at a desk, so we get out and make even ho-hum trips to Target a learning experience.
I usually combine Days 1 and 2 worksheets. Day 1 is introducing the letter and exploring the topic. The worksheet has the letters printed in both upper and lower case, prepping him for his handwriting lessons to come, as well as giving him some examples of other things that start with the letter of the week. These pictures are meant to be cut out, which gives him the practice he needs to master this task. When we first started, this was a big issue for us. Part of this was my fault because I wouldn't let him near scissors. Ever. Heh.
Day 2 worksheet is a handwriting practice on one side and a phonics practice on the other. Honestly, handwriting was one of the biggest things that I was worried about. Caleb wasn't even able to hold his pencil correctly before we started. After many frustrated mornings, many tears shed and me second guessing our choice, Caleb finally got it and is able to hold his pencil correctly and print well. Of all the things that he has accomplished thus far, this is the one that I'm the most happy about.
Phonics was a real issue, in my mind, as well when we started this whole process. Caleb started reading, by sight recognition, when he was 2 and would remember any word we told him from then on out. So, because of this, I was concerned that he would get a point where phonics would be lost on him. We've worked really hard just introducing the concepts of phonics that he needed to put it all together. It seems that he may have had a lot of the concepts needed for this all along, just needing someone to show him how to put it all together.
Day 3 and 5 worksheets are drawing, counting, and handwriting practice, while Day 4 is reading practice. All things he was doing well in (with the exception of handwriting) when we started this whole thing.
I have added some extra phonics and handwriting from Abeka that seems to be right up his alley. His most favorite, though, is math. I recently acquired a workbook from a friend of some 1st grade math concepts and we've been slowly working our way through that, ensuring that we don't get so far ahead that he's actually behind. As of now, we've made it all the way through addition and just started some simple subtraction.
This year, so I've been told, is more an exercise in learning what he needs and how he learns. I have to say that this is more true than I thought it would be. Caleb is doing really well and is enjoying the process, and I'm so happy and looking forward to the rest of the year.

Conversations with Caleb- Disturbed Edition

For the past couple of days, I have been fighting off some sort of mutant allergy attack that hit in full force last night. This morning, I made it very clear to the kids that we needed to take it easy today because mama didn't feel well.
We did venture out to grab lunch at Sonic because, really, what is better when you are sick but a bit of Sonic... After we got home, Caleb and I were talking during lunch and had the following coversation:

Caleb: Mama? Are you still sick?
Me: Yes
Caleb: *crying*
Me: Caleb! What is wrong?
Caleb: *still crying* I'm sad because you're sick. Are you going to have surgery again and go to the hospital again?

Hm. Maybe the events of this past summer affected him more than I thought.
I'm thinking we may need a therapist here...

The Boy Wonder (and his Mother) Needs Your Prayers **Updated**

UPDATED: So our visit with the doctor was this afternoon and he did a very (and I mean very) thorough exam on Caleb. With all our visits with medical practitioners through the years, Caleb has never had an exam where everything was looked at, all at once, with regard to his overall health, so this was refreshing and calming to a mama's nervous heart. It also gave the doctor the opportunity to evaluate Caleb in all aspects of his life, not just his basic health.
The overall result was that, yes, there seems to be some issues with the fact that Caleb's joints, most all of them, are overly flexible, but he has no other issues that would really form the diagnosis of anything super serious.
What we do have, for now, is a diagnosis of hyperflexibility. Basically, what this means is that his joints can dislocate much easier and he may have some real pain during growth. Frankly, I had significant pain during my formative years, especially those when I was growing large amounts at a time. One summer, I added 4-6 inches to my height and I remember that summer well because of the unrelenting pain that never seemed to end. I'm thinking that this was something, once again, that he got from me. Poor kid.
While I hate this for Caleb and I certainly don't want him to suffer at all, at least this way we will know what is going on. Since he has a diagnosis on the books too, we will have a fabulous doctor who will be evaluating him at every visit for problems and issues so that we can head them off at the pass.
Our doctor is going to consult with an orthopedist, just to make sure, but he was very confident that this was the issue.
I'll update if there is anything different that comes up in the coming days.
Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.


About a year ago, I noticed Caleb had a popping sound coming from, what I thought, was his hip area. When he was in the NICU, one of his more minor issues that we were watching was the fact that one of his hip joints was "loose". It wasn't a huge issue, completely overshadowed by the more serious things, and seemed to resolve on its own. That's why when I heard that, I intially didn't think much of it.
Back in August, I realized that the popping noise was actually coming from his knee, and seemed to be getting louder. Now, I have one knee that has been looked at by more than one orthopedist and they all said that my ligaments are loose, so I was thinking that the same thing would be said of his. I took him to the doctor last week, partially to get it looked at before the end of the year and also because my mommy gut kept telling me to do it.
Well, during the work up, our wonderful nurse practitioner noticed that Caleb is super flexible and wondered outloud if this could be something more. Needless to say, knowing what I know about the human body and what can go wrong, my mind has since jumped from bad to worse.
The NP told me that she would discuss with our normal doc and call me back and he wants to see him.
We are going today.
I'm a nervous wreck.
This could be nothing or something completely life changing and life threatening. I'm seriously praying for the former.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

I am well known in my family and close, close friends as being good at many things, but baking is something that I, historically, have been terrible at. Jes makes fun of me and calls me his cardboard queen. He also will just shake his head when the kids ask me to make cookies and run to the freezer to pull out the break apart cookie dough.
This Thanksgiving, however, I was aiming high and decided to try my hand at 2 different pie recipes and a batch of cake balls. Other than opening too many cans of pumpkin, it all went off without a hitch and each of my desserts was a huge hit! My mom even remarked that I should be in charge of desserts every year and my dad is already putting in orders for the next batch of cake balls.
Needless to say, I have had a huge confidence boost and decided to use up said opened cans of pumpkin and make pumpkin bread.
I'm recording this here, partially to share with all you guys, but more so to have to written in one place before I forget it. Please note that this recipe was taken from allrecipes.com, but altered to my liking. So, without further ado, pumpkin bread:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (can use margarine, but I'm against the stuff)- which is 2 sticks, softened
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin

Feel free to add in all types of things. I had chocolate chips, so I put a small amount of that in there (my kids will eat anything with chocolate in it). I also had part of a medium sized bag of pecans left from one of my pies, so I put those in there too!

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into creamed mixture until moistened (I call this step my bicep workout!) Stir in can of pumpkin (I had a whole can and another 1/3 of one, so I just added it all). Pour in 2 greased 9 X 5 X 3 in loaf pans and bake at 350 for one hour. I wanted to have serving sizes for the kids and myself, so I baked mine in cupcake form, filling up the cupcake papers to almost full. If you are making the cupcake version, you will need to bake them for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through. I had a yield of just under 3 dozen, so we had plenty to freeze for a quick, healthy breakfast!
The kids tried these out as their sweet with lunch and they just loved them! Next time, I'll put in a bit of flax seed too to boost the omega-3s! I hope you all enjoy!

Cancer and Competition

Have you guys ever noticed how competitive some folks are?
I'm pretty sure that everyone knows someone who when you engage in conversation with them they always have a come back about how they know someone or are better than your experiences.
I'm not naive and think that my experiences are far and away better than others or that they make me anywhere close to an expert on anything, but I do, however, feel like some of those competitive types of conversations should be taboo.
Obviously the title of my post being one of them.
A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to an acquaintance on a social networking website who had suffered from another type of cancer that, to look at her now, you would never know. Basically, she made me to feel, stopping short of actually saying, that my issue was far and away the most minor issue as compared to hers.
Here's the thing, how would she know when she's never walked the path that I have?
She bears no outward physical (we all have emotional) scars from her cancer. I have a huge one.
No, I didn't have to partake of months and months of chemo, but I did lose a large amount of my hair and eyelashes, much like her.
Do I even think that I can understand or empathize with her? Absolutely not.
I guess my whole point is that until we walk anothers path and know what the experience is to go through what they are going through, we should never assume that we know.
It doesn't matter who you are, you won't ever know.

Yearly Photos with The Boy Wonder and his Trusty Side Kick

Every summer, I try to schedule an outdoor photo shoot for the kids to not only capture their adorable faces and antics, but also to capture them in their natural state. While I think there is a time and place for posed, studio type photos, I much prefer my kids to be in their natural state, running, laughing, jumping and having a great time. Just a few weeks ago, a former student of mine, who is trying to build her portfolio, offered to take their pictures. For. F-R-E-E! Yes, please.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few of my favorites, although it was so hard to narrow them down to just these few!

My sweet 2 year old. I'm not sure how we ended up at this point where my sweet little baby is a big 2 year old girl, but we are. She is super fun and loves all things girly. Love, love, love her!

I have mentioned many times how much Caleb loves his sister. The above is just photographic evidence. He is her biggest cheerleader, favorite playmate, and often the one she runs to when she's sad/hurt/scared etc. If you were to split to the two of them up and take them separate places, they are lost. As an only child (with much step siblings, most of them MUCH older), I had no real idea what the idea of having a sibling to grow up with meant. Now that I have a pair of kids, I am so thankful that we were blessed with the two of them!

Can I just tell you how scary it is to have a walking, talking clone of yourself? We have compared photos of myself, my mom and Piper and it is very difficult to differentiate between all of us. She does have some of the more distinctive Mathis characteristics (her AMAZING eyelashes!), but she is mostly an exact replica of myself.

A bunch of people commented on this photo on facebook that is was so pretty and that it looked like a greeting card, but if you could read her mind you would hear that she was plotting taking a swim. What you can't see in this photo is me right behind her lunging toward her to catch her before she leapt into this pond! My girl is super sweet and so fun, but she has NO fear!

My boy! I love this boy more than words can say. We have gone to our highest highs and lowest lows with this little boy of ours and are so blessed that we have him for this short time.

I think that this is probably one of my most favorite photos of the kids. Ever. A good friend of our family once commented to me that Caleb always had a smile on his face, regardless of how gloomy the day was and I have to say that is so true! Piper always has hair in her face and is always laughing with her brother, while they move on to their next, newest adventure.

My sweet, curious baby (don't tell her) girl!

So, here's the thing about my kids, Caleb is 5 and can do SO much more than Piper, and Piper, being 2 and, in her mind, indestructible, will try to do everything her brother does. But, most of the time what you will see is Caleb coming down to a level where his sister can keep up and participate in his activities too. Yet another example of just how wondrous my boy wonder is and how blessed we are to have him!

3 Month Post Op Visits

The past two weeks have included many fun activities, but listed among them was my 3 month post-op visits with both my surgeon and my endocrinologist.
First up, I saw my surgeon. Let me just reiterate how much my family and I love my surgeon. The morning of my visit, Caleb was full of questions and curiosity (more than normal) and Piper peed on me (she's potty training and in Pull-ups, but that's another story for another day). My doctor didn't even bat and eye and we were able to carry on a conversation and get a physical exam in during all the chaos.
During my exam, my doctor was checking my incision and also checking for other swollen lymph nodes or lumps. He found none and felt that my prognosis was very, very good.
The next week I visited my endocrinologist and this visit I had the opportunity to see the nurse practitioner, whom I just love. In fact, I have opted to see just her from now on, with the exception of my once yearly visit with the "head" doctor. The last time I saw this NP, I had made an emergency appointment for a racing heart rate and the inability to write or hold a scalpel due to a severe tremor. During that visit, she put me on a beta blocker, a potent heart and blood pressure medication. So, needless to say, this visit was vastly different from the last.
Basically, she went through a long laundry list of symptoms, asking severity and if I was experiencing any of them. Mostly, these symptoms are negative, indicative of disease.
I explained to her that I have felt so terribly bad for so, so long that I wasn't even aware of how bad I was feeling or how sick I was and that now I felt like a totally different, well, whole person. Seriously guys, I haven't felt this well and good since I was probably a young teenager. Anyway, she took a look at all my blood work from August, the day of my whole body scan after my in-patient radiation treatment, during my appointment. Based on that bloodwork, it appears that the cancer is gone. I will have the blood work again in January at approximately 6 months. The only other thing that we had to do was the monitoring of my hormone levels to ensure that I have the correct amount from the synthetic hormone that I will take for the rest of my life. Right now, I am in suppressive mode, meaning that I'm taking a bit more hormone than the average hypothyroid patient. This type of therapy, for at least one year, decreases, dramatically, the ability and chance of any more cancer cells to grown and multiply. From what I gather, after a year on this type of treatment I will be retested, maybe by scan, and my medication will gradually be decreased to normal levels. I just had to up my dosage by a half a pill on Sundays and that's it.
So, that is the long and short of it all. Essentially, I'm well and healthy and waiting for my appointment in January. All in all, I'm super happy and forever thankful that I'm as well as I am!

Homecoming 2010

About a week and a half ago, the family and I packed up the car and headed out to East Texas for my college homecoming weekend. It also, just so happened to be the 10 year anniversary of our graduation from said college.
Friday night, we drove to Tyler, about 2 hours east of our place in McKinney. For some reason we thought that driving half way there on Friday night and staying in a hotel would be easier on us and the kids than just getting up super early and driving all the way out to Marshall, about 4 hours from our home. Let's just say that we won't be trying a visit to a hotel again for awhile. Caleb, being the kid that he is and super laid back about sleeping somewhere other than home, did just fine. Piper, on the other hand, was a holy terror both Friday night and most of the day on Saturday due to sleep deprivation. Eventually, around 11pm Friday night, 4 hours after her normal bedtime, Jes put Piper in the car and drove her around until she fell asleep. He then had to hold her most of the night and then she was up super early.
Just suffice it to say that she was a real joy the next day. Can we say tantrums 'r us?!?

Here is the boy wonder and his spit fire side kick in front of the sign at my alma mater, ETBU. I had forgotten how homey and comforting the campus was. When my parents and I were looking for a college, while I still in high school, we visited numerous schools, none of them feeling quite right. As soon as we pulled onto campus and got out of the car I knew that ETBU was where I was supposed to be. As it so happened, my future husband was a short 30 minutes down the road in Longview at LeTourneau, so it all worked out! :)



Here are the kids in front of the student center. This building holds the bookstore, the cafeteria and the mail room and boxes. I spent many a late night in this building studying, eating many and memorable (not necessarily in a good way) meals, and burning myself out on Chick fil A, our only on campus food choice that wasn't cafeteria food. The place smelled exactly the same and took me back!


We took the kids to the bookstore, thinking we would emerge with t-shirts for both, but both wanted some sort of stuffed animal. Caleb also got a cool camo ETBU hat and I got Piper a hooded sweatshirt that she'll be able to wear for a couple of years, so everyone was happy! Here they are with their new friends, Beary and Ribbet.

Caleb got to hang out with his friend Dallas,

and I got to see some college friends that I don't get to talk to near or see often enough.
Even with the sleep deprivation it was a super fun weekend.

Thinking

I know that I've not been updating this here blog as often as I should/have been, but, in the interest of full disclosure, there are some reasons for that.
First and foremost, this place that I started to post photos of my adorable children has kind of turned into my medical drama. However, I have come the conclusion that that is an issue that I can change and will.
Second, I have been inadvertently, on my part, been drug into some family business that really have no business being in. To top it all off, this family member has made me swear to secrecy all the while putting me in between a rock and a hard place and in between this person and another close family member, who happen to be warring on a regular basis on the topic of choice. It's hard for me to write here when one of these family members could potentially read about it and then I would be drug into the issue even more. So, I'm keeping my mouth shut and trying to censor myself, but the by product of that is I feel censored in my writing too.
Lastly, Jes and I have some pretty big decisions to make. He has an opportunity that would be huge and in some ways fabulous and in others potentially disastrous. So all in all, another thing that I can't really talk about. If you are inclined, just pray for us and for clarity of mind and peace about whatever decision we come to about this particular issue.
I'll be back soon with some uber cute photos of the kiddos soon! We are going to my 10 year college reunion Saturday, as well as a quaint little festival dubbed The Fireant Festival. It's a whole level of craziness that many of you have never experienced, but is deeply beloved by my college friends. I'll have lots of fun photos of all the fun and craziness for y'all when I get back here!

Birthday

Have y'all seen that American Cancer Society commercial? It's the one with Justin Bieber (did I spell that right?) singing happy birthday. The next screen is the statistic that 11 million cancer survivors will celebrate a birthday this year. Mine comes in 16 days. I can say that this year I will appreciate that day more than I think I ever have!

Catching Up - Health Edition

So, it seems that it's been nearly a month since I posted anything here. I guess I should back up and fill everyone in on what has been happening the past few weeks with my health mess.
I left all of you on the day before my radiation was to happen. The next morning, Jes and the kids too me to the hospital and dropped me off. I was then ushered to my plastic covered room
Yes, you read that right. Everything that I could possibly come into contact with was covered in plastic. There was even plastic sheeting underneath my sheet on my bed. Nice and homey, huh?
I was told to be at the hospital at 9am, but when I got there I was informed that I was not going to be given my treatment until 1pm. Fun times. So I waited around, ate a bit of lunch, ala Presbyterian Hospital (yum) and watched a bit of bad daytime tv.
Around 11, I was consulted by the head of radiology on what could potentially happen during the treatment. Basically, what we were hoping for was that the radioactive iodine would go to all the thyroid cells, wherever they may be, and kill them. In the body, the thyroid cells are the only ones who take up iodine, be it radioactive or not, so this type of iodine would just zap them and kill them.
After I took the radioactive iodine pills, everyone rushed (practically running) out of my room and that was the last contact that I had with an actual person for nearly 48 hours. I would see a nurse crack the door open and peek her head in to make sure that I was ok and they would bring me my meals. This process was somewhat comical with the nurse peeking her head in and me walking to the door to grab the tray from her as she ran off down the hall.
As for the symptoms that I had, let's just say that nothing that I was warned of was what I experienced. I was very sick to my stomach and could not eat most of what was sent to me (remember that I went from eating a diet of mainly fruits and vegetables to anything I wanted). It was all just too heavy. In fact, there was a very unfortunate evening in which a perfectly lovely lasagna was involved and I will probably never be able to eat it again. Let's just leave it at that.
I knew, from my personal research, that I would be exhausted, but boy was that an understatement! I am normally a go, go, go kind of girl, constantly going and doing things that need to be done, but this literally made me feel as if someone had hit me with a truck. I was so exhausted that I couldn't even sleep. I also was super swollen from the treatment, to the point that my eyes were just slits and my jaws had the appearance of having mumps. It was super attractive. Lastly, I did, and still do, experience pain where the remaining thyroid tissue remained. I experienced pain only where my incision is, so that told me that maybe, just maybe the cancer hadn't spread.
Monday, I was left alone all day and night. Tuesday afternoon the physicist at the hospital donned her protective gear and came into my room briefly to check my radiation level to determine if I was ready to go home. My levels had to be 4.9 or below before I could leave the hospital and Tuesday it was 6. So, I was to stay another day. By Wednesday I was just miserable and begged for them to call the physicist before lunch time to check me out again. She came around 10ish and we discovered that my levels dropped to 2.7, low enough to leave and go to my parent's house. I could not be in the house with the kids as the high radiation levels could destroy their bone marrow and their developing reproductive systems. So, my parents graciously let me me hang out at their house.
Meanwhile, Jes was home with the kids all day long and going a bit crazy, so I was ready to get the show on the road and get out of there so that I could rest up for the day I was able to go back to my home, Sunday.
I spent Wednesday afternoon and Thursday hanging out with my dad and resting up.
Friday morning, I went back to my endocrinologist's office for my body scan. This was the scan that would tell us for sure if the cancer had spread, along with a blood test to be drawn the same day. The nuclear medicine tech performed the scan and it was discovered that all the cancer had been contained within my neck area. She also mentioned that my surgeon must have been amazing because she could see the bony part of my jawline, something that she rarely sees because surgeons do not do a good enough job of removing all the thyroid tissue. I just smiled at her because I knew the truth, that I had the best surgeon around!
My blood test came back about a week after my scan and it revealed that the number that needed to be low was nearly undetectable. This is very good news because it reveals that there are no thyroid cells left, which means there is no more cancer left.
It seems, for now, this mess is done. I will go back every few months and have the same blood test done and the further out from my original treatment we get the longer between blood test it will be. Eventually, I will just go back once a year for the blood test as well as monitoring of the thyroid medication that I will be on for the rest of my life.
Whew! That was a lot to type. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes and interest in my story! I just pray that it can be used to benefit others.

Tomorrow Is The Day

I haven't written for a number of days, for a variety of reasons. Some of them include, but are not limited to, I'm just tired (10+days of no thyroid hormone will do that to you), we had finals last week, I've been grading like a mad woman, I've been on a horrible, horrendous, no good diet that takes all that I've got just to find something to eat, and lastly, I'm just in a bad mood.
Tomorrow I go into the hospital, provided that all goes well, and I'll take my radiation and hopefully this whole ordeal will be behind us. I'm not really nervous at all about the actual procedure, but am nervous about the full body scan that I'll have on Friday. Friday will be the day when we will know if this has gone anywhere else, however, provided that the dose is high enough, we can be pretty confident that the radioactive iodine will clear it from my body.
I've been following a low to no iodine diet for 11 days now that seriously limits what I can eat. Basically I can have no dairy, soy, iodized salt, commercially prepared meat, and limited pasta. This seems like it would be pretty easy, but there is salt in EVERYTHING! Just go look in your pantry at even your cereal boxes and salt will be listed, which means that I can't have it at all. So, I'm hungry and can't eat anything. That makes me an unhappy person to be around.
Anyway, tomorrow is the day, well I hope anyway. I had about 10 years shaved off my life on Friday afternoon after a very negative and upsetting encounter with my insurance company whereby I went back and forth between them and the hospital and the doctor, all claiming that the codes either didn't come from them or that they didn't have the right ones and the insurance co wasn't going to pay. Needless to say, I wouldn't be able to do this on Monday, but after calling, directly, my patient advocate, Yulanda, I was told that it was straightened out and I am expected to appear tomorrow. I'm hoping and praying that it all goes off without a hitch as the insurance company has/had no sympathy for me whatsoever and was not interested in helping me straighten this out. We shall see.
So, if you don't hear from me, then I'm in and doing what needs to be done. Let's just hope for that and no other setbacks.

The Plan, It Has Changed. Again.

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I received a phone call from the patient liaison at the hospital where I am set to do my radioactive iodine treatment. She proceeded to give me some basic guidelines. She asked me if I was going to go home and I innocently replied, "Oh, no. I'm just going to check into a hotel room."
At which point her head exploded.
Just in case you don't remember, a hotel room was one of the options that my doctor gave me, so I thought we had made a good decision.
I was told that, and I quote, "they absolutely forbade me from exposing others by checking into a hotel room".
Hm. Ok.
So, it's ok for me to go home and expose my home and pet to the radiation, but it's not ok to go to a hotel and be holed up in a room for 3 days?
This whole conversation led me to find out that I would have to take 3-4 days (that's a whole week in summer session, which equals out to a months worth of material in a regular semester, which we cover) off work. If you remember I had just backed out half way through the first half of the summer because of my surgery. While they had and continue to be super understanding and supportive of everything, I was pretty certain that this would not go over well.
So, I rescheduled everything. It will go like this now:
August 6th: I will take my last doses of the fast acting thyroid hormone that I've been on since right after my surgery. I will also start my special low iodine diet this day which includes me eliminating nearly everything that I love from my diet. I will post about that later, but just suffice it to say that all I can eat is veggies, fruit, and Matzo bread. Should be fun.
August 12th: This is the last day of summer 2 classes and I will have all my calculations done and entered before I leave the school that night.
August 13th: I will go into the office for some quick blood work
August 16th: I will check into the hospital as an in-patient to complete this treatment. I will be in complete and total isolation for at least a couple of days, so this solves the issue of where I'm going to live for those days.
August 20th: I will travel back to my doctor's office where I will have my total body scan and, hopefully, will be declared free and clear of this issue for awhile.
The only thing that I will be missing is our annual and mandatory associate faculty meeting that happens the Thursday after I do my radiation. As far as I know, I won't be able to attend, but my boss has been super kind about this an agrees when I thought it was the lesser of two evils.
While I'm in the hospital, I'm going to start a detox plan that I've done in the past, but also include an external detox, so that my radiation levels drop faster and I won't be such a risk to Caleb and Piper. That's really what I'm the most concerned about is exposing them to something that could affect them long term or in the future.
I'll also be investing in a Geiger counter to monitor my radiation levels. Words I never thought I would ever formulate into a sentence.

My Big Girl

Some of you probably noticed that I did not update the blog on Piper's birthday, the 30th of June. Part of this was because I was just 6 days post op and was having trouble just getting through the day with the kids and because her 2 year appointment had been put of at least once, maybe twice, due to her normal nurse practitioner having some issues with her pregnancy. I wanted to be able to record her stats, for posterity, so here goes:
Weight: 29.6lb (81%)- I keep waiting for her to break that 30lb mark, but she just hasn't gotten there yet. I'm not sure why I consider this some benchmark, but I do...
Length: 34.75in (71%)- She's short compared to where her brother was at this point. Maybe that's where I'm getting the 30lb thing, but then again he was over 20lb at 3 months too.
Head Circ: 19.5 (92%)
All in all we were told that she is growing very well and is very proportionate.


Piper is much more daring and physical at this age than her brother ever was. Anytime we go somewhere, one can be certain that she will be trying to and probably succeeding at whatever her brother is doing. Speaking of her brother, she and he are inseparable still. They play and fight together all day long! They just have the funniest relationship in that they can beat the tar out of each other all day long but if someone else tries to hit/push/etc, the other will come to their aid immediately. I never have to worry about them as long as they are together!

Piper is now at that age and stage in life where she has some definite opinions and really has no qualms in expressing them! She is super verbal, speaking in full sentences, very clearly. Very often we get comments about how well she speaks, but she is getting more and more shy around strangers, that is until we leave. At that point she is yelling, "Bye! See ya later!"

Piper also really loves to play in the dirt and mud and just generally get dirty. We recently tore down and rebuilt, from scratch, the kids play structure in our backyard. During the process it rained a bit and Piper discovered the fun that playing in the mud could be! At one point she was covered from head to toe in mud and having a great time doing it! Piper also loves all things non-human, animals, insects, etc. She will chase a fly around the house for hours and is equally as happy to sit and pet a dog. Our poor cat, Gus, is the one who really bears the brunt of most of this fascination. If he even dares show his furry little face when she's awake, she will shriek and start running after him calling, "Get it! Get it! Kitty, kitty, kitty!" I can't help but laugh and watch the fun she's having!

Piper is super girly too, loving to wear pretty, frilly things, having her toenails painted and she certainly won't leave the house without her hair done and her bow in place. This has been such fun for me after 5 years of boy stuff I really am having a blast keeping her happy in this area! She especially loves having a mini-pedicure and will walk around for days saying, "Mama paint toes!" over and over again. So sweet!

Piper is just really the sweetest little girl! She is certainly more than we could have ever asked for in a daughter. Piper does have her moments, like all of us, but is generally a fun sweet 2 year old that we feel so blessed to share our life and moments with!

Perspective

I used to keep up with many, many blogs, but through the years I have whittled that down to very few. There are 3 blogs that I will visit everyday to gain updates on the little girls on them. One of them, http://ourturkey.blogspot.com, belongs to a dear friend of mine from college whose first born daughter is quickly losing her brave fight with neuroblastoma. Her daughter is just a bit younger than Caleb.
Another, http://ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com belongs to a mom of a little girl, just about 4, who is gravely ill and fighting severe rejection of a transplant that she had a few years ago.
The last, http://cotaforemersonw.com/node/46 belongs to another mom of a tiny precious girl who has been fighting after 2 multi-organ transplants over the past few years.
Here's the thing guys, I have cancer, I know that, but I'm going to be ok. I don't know that I would be able to live through one of these different scenarios. To have your child gravely ill, dying in my college friend's case, is so much more than my issues. I will be fine. I will, the Lord willing, be around to see my children grow up, get married, have babies, but my dear friends more than likely will not.
Please pray for these families and little girls now. While I don't know, in person Ashley or Emerson's mom, I feel as if I have known them for years (isn't the internet wonderful!). It just puts my situation all into perspective.