Happy Birthday Smalls

On Sunday April 26th, my baby turned 2!


I can't believe its been 2 years already - where does the time go???

My last chemo treatment has been rough, I'm super tired lately and have zero energy - which totally sucks. I joked that it only makes sense to feel so bad the week before Vahn's b-day since that is how I felt 2 years ago waiting for him to make is appearance. However, this time, I got to sit back and relax while someone else did the work!

Thank you so much to my sister Valerie for all the work you did to make Vahns party happen. Zac was in Florida for a wedding for the weekend and my MIL Ann was visiting (which also was a BIG help) Thank you Mom! But Valerie was the one who did all the party prep and shopping (food, presents, decorations, etc...) Then made us super yummy dinner and baked and decorated the cutest car cakes for Vahn.







I wanted to have a big party and invite lots of people but I didn't have the money or energy for that this year - so I was happy to finally have family in town and be able to have our 1st "family" birthday party.

Here is a picture of all the kids on their plasma cars- well except Gryphyn - Uncle Josh sat in for him since he was busy throwing a fit because he couldn't sit on the "green" car! He is very much into the color green right now and everything has to be green. If there is a green option, he has to have it or he melts down.



Vahn on the other hand, is pretty laid back and generally happy with whatever.

His favorite presents were:

The plasma car - now we have 2 so they don't have to fight over it - however they both want the new one now


Ball - still a big fan of balls


and his new cup - it has cars on it!


Happy Birthday Little Man - I love you!

"MONSTERS"

Yesterday I had some time to kill waiting in the drs office so I decided to use the time to catch up on my reading.

I should have brought one of the many books I have been meaning to get to, or at least chose the photography magazine that, I have been carrying around in my bag for months now. The one that Zac keeps asking me if I've read yet - yeah someday I really do intend to read that - Really I do want to. (Some how I don't think Zac is convinced)

But yesterday, I wasn't feeling up to anything that required a lot of brain power or deep though.
I mean how often to I get away by myself. Granted I was sitting in the waiting room at the VA getting ready to be stuck by needles and put in a machine to look at my heart, but to me this was relaxing - a little mini vacation - KID FREE.
No one crying or screaming or fighting, no one asking for more juice or to take them potty. No "what are we doing next time?" (meaning when we are done here), No "Babis" or "ba-ba requests". I was for once surrounded by adults who were content to nod and smile at my presence and not require anything more from me.

Yet somehow my focus was still on my little men. So after glancing thru the piles of magazines that were no kidding several years old (they really need to update those) I pulled a Parents magazine out of my bag and started flipping thru it.

Mostly looking at the pictures occasionally reading an article that sounded interesting.
One article I did read was about organizing the kids playroom - with the boys room STILL not finished, their toys are mostly in the living room and I'm always trying to find a way to make my living room NOT look like a toy store that was hit by a tornado.

The article started off with the author describing her kids playroom, saying it looked like a lego eating monster had barfed on the rug! I was dying laughing YES, that was SO my house - not legos (yet) but definitely some sort of preschool toy eating monster regularly gets sick in my living room!

While I was away at my dr appt, I think our "monster" called some of his friends because later that evening, the play dough eating monster visited my kitchen. Maybe HE should have been the one at the dr -because it didn't take long for him to spew brightly colored play dough bits everywhere!











I know tonight when I run the bath for the men, the water monster will sneak into the tub while I am not looking and splash water all over the bathroom requiring a minimum of two giant super absorbent towels to mop up the mess.

I'm sure some part of me will miss all of our "MONSTERS" when they are gone, but for now,
I'm considering posting some "no monsters allowed signs"

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

Lately, I have been writing down the funny things Gryphyn says and Vahns new word.

I thought I would share them in a post.





Are you done sweeping? - "No, I'm still scooting"

"Have to sweep the rug , there are germs on it"

When Vahn woke up from a nap and walked out to the living room - "It's the smalls! Hi Smalls!"

When looking at my prom picture - "I don't want you to be a princess"

"Mommy what's today?" Umm Wednesday "Wednesday? Thats cool"

When apologizing to Vahn - "I'm sorry for saying bad choice words for him"

When I asked him if he was excited to sleep in his own room again - "It's going to be COOL! It's going to be a little scary sleeping in there"

While looking at one of my fitness magazines - "What she doing? Why her not have clothes on?" (she was wearing a swimsuit)

After pausing a movie for a potty break - "Don't pause it back"

"There's Oh Tea Toe" - R2D2 on Star Wars

Zac asked him - Should we ditch you somewhere? "No, I'm not a plate" Not a DISH, Ditch :)

We have been working on not telling everyone to shut up - from the other room, I heard - "Vahn - You shut down"







We taught both of our boys sign language before they could talk - Gryphyn signed a lot more than Vahn does - and now that Vahn is starting to talk more, he isn't signing as much either.

Here is a list of words that he still signs on a regular basis:

Thank you - Sleep - All gone (all done) - Diaper

The following words, he signs AND says together:

Hat - Please - Apple - Milk - Juice

Words that he says:

Mama - Dada - Done - Ball - No - More - Shoe - Owww - Flower - Bye bye - Go -Stop -Snack - Cheese - Apple - Please - Butt

Additional words in his own language:

Ahh Haa (for Yes) - Ba ba (for his pacifier / sucky) - Ba-bis ( for Bob the builder) Shoe - shoe ( for train / choo choo ) and most other things are some sort of version of "Ba-bis" or "shoe shoe"

He is very interested in talking and tries to say the words right when you tell him what something is - but hasn't quite figured out how to make his mouth make all the sounds yet - its cute to watch him try - :)

2nd round of Chemo

Oh the joy of Chemo days!

Yesterday, I spent another 6hrs at the oncologist office.
Everything went well - all my blood work was good and I had no problems with the treatment - it just takes FOREVER to get it all.

Here is a quick run down of the day

~9:15am - finally get everyone packed up and out the door
~Drop the men off at school along with all accessories & car seats
( they went home with Gryphyn's teacher afterward)
~Stop and get breakfast for Zac
(who wasn't up in time to eat before we left - in typical Zac fashion)
~Arrive at the oncologist office for 10:30 scheduled time
~Wait in waiting room forever to get called back
~Move to new room with 3 others and wait my turn for vitals (all good)
~Move to exam room down the hall to see nurse
(quick check up, answer questions etc.)
~Finally move to chemo treatment room
~Get all hooked up to port



~Draw blood through port
(to make sure it's in the right place and to test my levels
and see if I'm "well" enough to receive treatment)
~Results all came back good - so they start mixing my meds
~12:00 - finally ready to start chemo
~Take tylenol, benadrly and 2 antinausa meds


Chilling with a magazine while getting anti-nausea iv

~ 1pm (ish) Start on the 4 ivs of chemo and HER2 drugs

Getting sleepy (thats my nurse Sharon in the back gound)

~Slept for a bit while Zac took off to drop off my prescription at the VA pharmacy and get us some lunch and a few things from Wal-Mart
~ 3pm - Zac back with lunch - Chick -Fil-A - YUMMY!
~5pm - finally done for the day
~"YAWN" what a long day!

Then we still had to go pick up my meds from the VA and get the lil men from Jennifers house.
Thank you again Jennifer for keeping them for me - You have been such a blessing to us - especially on these long treatment days!

A few details that I know some of you will ask :)

I got some new meds for heartburn and Zac also picked up some head and shoulders type shampoo for me to shower with - I forgot what they called it but I broke out on my hairline everywhere - first under my arms mostly on the left side so I thought maybe it had something to do with the lymph nodes being removed from that side but I also now have it on the back of my neck, chest, bikini line and a few on my legs - so they said to shower with the anti dandruff stuff since it also has a med in it to prevent breakouts - humm who knew - worth a try a least. I so don't want to be the bumpy, pasty, bald girl. LOL

I go back tonight at 5pm for the nulasta shot (to stimulate white blood cell growth) It was quite painful last time - so I'm anticipating lots of pain killers and sleep for tomorrows schedule.

Thank you in advance for the prayers- I only had about 4 bad days first time around - so I'm hoping for the same or less this time around!

Shaving Party

A few weeks ago I posted that I was going to have a shaving party when my hair started falling out. It proved to be pretty difficult to get everyone together for a shaving party - especially when I didn't know exactly when I would start shedding. Luckily, my sister in law, Mandy, was able to fly out to see us around the time the doctors said I could expect the transformation to begin.

I was hesitant to shave it if it wasn't going to fall out - so on Wednesday morning when it DID start to fall out, I was actually relieved. That morning, when I ran my hands through my hair I got 4 or 5 strands each time - but by that night, it was around 20-25 each time. So we decided it was time to shave it.

We had so much fun - we laughed A LOT and joked that "THIS" is why you should always have a professional cut your hair. Zac was on hand to capture everything in photographs and add a few creative designs himself.

Here is the video of this step in my journey:

Smoochbooth Soiree

Last night I got to go to a party!
I was so excited - I NEVER get to go out.
We sort of forgot about it - till Zac checked the calendar yesterday afternoon
- Great no way am I going to find a babysitter last minute.
But after several phone calls, someone finally said YES!

Thank you so much Jennifer and Blake for being available and willing to come over on very short notice. I had the most fun I've had in a really long time - thanks to you guys keeping the kiddos so we could go out :)

So where did we go???



Why the Smoochbooth Soiree of course - it was the official release of the Smoochbooth.

What the heck is a Smoochbooth? - Its sort of like those little photobooths in the mall where you take pictures with your friends - only MUCH MUCH cooler.



Check out the website at: www.smoochbooth.com

Here are a few pictures we took in the booth.







To see more, you can register at : http://www.pictage.come/611671
The event isn't released yet - but you can sign up to be notified by email when it is -if you want.

Oh and you may have noticed that I don't have any hair - Yeah that happens with cancer :)

I'm working on editing the photos from the shaving party and should have those up soon.

CUPCAKES!

Today is Zac's Birthday and in celebration, Gryphyn and I made colorful cupcakes.
Here is our adventure in photos. ENJOY!
(thanks for the idea Crystal)

Getting ready:


Mixing Colors:


Ready to bake:


Yummy:


Now about that mess.....