Birthday Girl!

The Little One turned 5 recently! FIVE! How in the world is she growing up so fast? The things she is doing amaze me on a daily basis. She is the most determined little person I have ever met and I so admire that about her! (Although some days it makes me want to pull my hair out, I know it's a great quality to have.) She puts her mind to something and won't stop until she masters it. From blowing bubbles with gum, whistling, hula hooping, riding a bike, to jumping rope and now beginning to read, she is not one to give up that's for sure!

The Hubby and I are so very blessed to be her parents, and we love her more than words could ever express. She is the brightest part of our lives, that's for sure! She is also the funniest little one you'll ever meet, but she hates it when you laugh if she says something funny & didn't mean for it to be funny. She thinks you're laughing at her and gets really mad.

She had a great week of celebrating for her big day, starting on her actual birthday when her Granpa came down from TN to pick her up from school & spend the day with her! They had a lot of fun together just hanging out around the house, and she loves the tent they got her! All her neighborhood friends love to come over & pull it out too. They have very elaborate tea parties in it!

That evening, Uncle Andy came over too & we had dinner at our house followed by Brownies a la mode and we sang Happy Birthday. It was a fun day for her :)

Saturday was the big party, and this year she insisted on having a sleepover party! I was hesitant at first, but it turned out to be fun for everyone involved! We played games, they did a pinata, played fashion show, sang & danced (A LOT!) There was food and of course cake (which she really wanted to be a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake this year) and presents. All in all it was lots of fun & they were all 7 passed out by 11:45, not too bad for a sleepover! My good friend came and stayed with me to help with the girls, and I was SO thankful for her! Just having an extra set of hands was a huge help! A few days later was her birthday celebration at school for all the Oct. birthdays, so that meant more singing and more cupcakes! I didn't get many pics there, but it was another fun day for the birthday princess for sure!

She had a blast for her "birthday week" and I am so happy she enjoys life like she does. She is so much fun to be around, and although the school schedule she and I have adjusted to is not what was initially planned, I think it's worked out well for us to spend a lot more time together. She is a handful and a half at times, but always a joy to be with definitely!

Update Please!

I'm sorry it's been soooo long since I wrote an update. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, I'm in some kind of blog funk & I need to snap out of it already! Anyway, I still love you & have a lot to tell you...hope I can do it all today, who knows how long it'll be before I'll be back! ;-)
I hope you all haven't forgotten about me, I promise I'll do better!

Family visit to TN!

A couple weeks ago (Yes, I know I should've blogged about this sooner, I'm a slacker!) we went to Tennessee to visit my in-laws for the weekend! It was a long overdue trip since the 3 of us haven't been there together since Christmas! We had a great visit with The Little One's precious Great-Grandmother (and I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of the two of them!) and saw his sweet Aunt & Uncle before making it to my Mother & Father-in-law's. We spent a fun day together in Gatlinburg and ventured out on a mini-hike to a waterfall.

Playing the role of our "Fearless Leader" and marching ahead!

Always the hard-core hiker, she had on her Twinkle Toes shoes, a giant candy straw & a Coke icee. Serious business!

After that, we went to a really nice park area and The Hubby & Little One played in the creek while I took pics...imagine that!

We all had a great time & I love that she'll have those fun memories!

Saturday afternoon The Hubby and his friend went to the TN/FL game which was a tough loss for them, but they had fun anyway. I kept his 2 sweet kids and mine while they participated in the full game day activities and we had a blast playing all day! We went to the park, Mr. Gatti's Pizza, Baskin Robbins, to a lake to feed ducks, and they finished the day off running their tails off in a huge open field near the ducks. I have no idea how they were holding their heads up by the end of the day, but they were wide awake! We had a great time! Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car from the day before & don't have any pics :-(

It was a great weekend though & so nice to get away and have fun with family and friends!

Bye-Bye Training Wheels!

Last week my Dad came over to help me with some work stuff, and spent some time with The Little One. She likes for him to do "projects" when he comes over & this time she mentioned taking the training wheels off her bike to try and ride by herself. He told her "We can try it if you want, I'll take them off if you're sure you're ready!" She assured him she was, and wanted to try it. I didn't get my camera right away thinking she would probably not be able to do it on her first day trying. Well, she showed me! He helped her steady herself and get her balance in the grass first, then she just started doing it with no problem!

I couldn't believe how fast she got it, and now she's a bike riding machine!!!

She absolutely loves riding, and the only thing she can't quite do every time by herself is start pedaling. She'll be there soon enough for sure & keeping up with all the other kids in the neighborhood!
That evening, she wanted to keep it a surprise for her Daddy and show him when he got home from work. Well, just before we came in for the evening, while I was talking to another neighbor The Little One got on her scooter (she's had since she was 2 1/2). She is usually a pro on that, but for some reason decided to ride it without shoes on & fell, giving herself 5 boo boos all the way down her leg! It was a tragedy, especially because there was a little blood involved & it was right before bath time (you can imagine how fun that bath was for me to give!) It was like the end of the world for water to even remotely touch them! Anyway, she got all bandaged up and into her PJ's before Daddy got home. As soon as he walked in she tells him she has a surprise and he has to go outside & close his eyes. I got her started & she yells "OK DADDY, LOOK AT ME!" He was so surprised & so proud! She is growing up way too fast!

Here's a short video of her riding on the day she learned!

(If you can hear the music & want to turn it off just scroll all the way to the bottom of the page & hit the pause button on the playlist)

1 year Cancer Free!

Last week was the anniversary of my surgery date, so (although the doctors will never say these words), it's my "cancer free anniversary". Two weeks before that, we celebrated with a family trip to the Children's Museum & Centennial Park for the anniversary of my diagnosis date. I wanted to just take a whole day to celebrate my life & our family. We have had a rough year in many ways, but we MADE it! We had a great time!

It was only after having lunch with some new, wonderful friends who are also cancer survivors that I realized my surgery date was my cancer free date! There was so much more preventative stuff that was done after my surgery that it seemed like it was only the beginning of the journey, but I was definitely considered "cancer free" when the tumor and the lymph nodes with cancer cells in them were removed from my body!

These two beautiful survivors were "introduced" to me through a mutual friend, our breast specialist's wife, who is also his surgery scheduler at his office. She is amazing, I think I've mentioned that before, and she connected the three of us through Facebook. We all decided to finally meet up over lunch after our children started school & it was such a breath of fresh air to be able to openly talk about our experiences, our fears about the future, our children & everything in between! Sometimes as survivors, you feel like everyone is so happy congratulating you that you're finally "out of the woods" they don't want to be bothered hearing about your extreme fear of cancer coming back, or the new issues you've developed since going through such a traumatic event. We all agreed that post-treatment was almost worse emotionally for us than the diagnosis, because now you have all these emotions coming up that you haven't dealt with being so busy fighting for your life and you don't want to sound all negative talking about them. It's not that you're not happy just to be alive, it's just a completely different feeling.

Anyway, we were all so happy to have met and connected. We are planning to make it a monthly lunch date, and I cannot wait to get to know them better!!!

So, on my official cancer free anniversary, I wanted to do something special but you know how life sometimes just gets in the way! The Little One doesn't go to school on Fridays, so we had the whole day together (working, much to her dismay). When the Hubby got home, we went to dinner and decided to go to a park to let some balloons go with something that we're thankful for written on them. It was dark by the time we finally got to do this, so I don't have all the pics I wanted, but everything can't always go the way you plan!

I helped the Little One write on her balloon, and she wanted me to put "Thank you God that my Mommy is done with cancer! I love my Mommy & Daddy" She is the sweetest little angel!

As I reflect on the past year of my life, I am amazed that it has only been one year since that horrible, horrible day in August, and since the craziness that was my life for so long began. It really seems like the longest year ever in some ways, but I am so very thankful for all the experiences I have had. Good or bad, that year is now a part of who I am, and I hope to be able to use it for good somehow. I am just so incredibly thankful to God for all His provisions for me and all the many ways He has watched over me and my family through this period. I honestly thought the healing from the mastectomy would never end, and that I would never be able to hug my family or hold my child again. I can honestly say that because of that experience, their hugs (especially from my girl) mean more to me than they ever would have before. Unfortunately, she is getting WAY too heavy to hold now, but I still try and will always cherish the special times we have had together since this has happened. (As she says..."When you laid on the couch and slept a lot" )! Although my life has changed in SO many ways since I heard those fateful words on August 13, 2009, I can honestly say I wouldn't change it. I would have made a few different decisions, but overall it has brought my family closer, and I firmly believe that God will use it (or maybe has already used it) for good. I'll never know why I was diagnosed with cancer at 29, but I'm at peace with it. My doctors, family & friends have been beyond amazing throughout this journey, and I know there have been angels all around me, helping me to "breathe in, breathe out, move on" through this whole ordeal.

The Little One is very compassionate and understanding since going through this, and I pray she always stays that way. It's something a child shouldn't have to go through, but I hope she takes something from it as well. The Hubby and I are also closer than ever and I believe that it has just made us appreciate one another more. For a while we just didn't know how bad it was, and therefore you always have those "Oh no, will I die?" moments, but he has been my rock through this, and was a great stand-in Mommy on lots of days when Mommy just couldn't be herself. I could not ask for a better partner in life, and I am so truly grateful to God for blessing me with him!

My parents and in-laws also were fantastic! I honestly don't know how we would've gotten through this without such wonderful, loving relatives and a few friends and neighbors who were more than willing to stand in the gap and just do whatever we needed!

Standing on the other side Cancer Free is a wonderful feeling...one I pray I can always experience. If it comes back, I'll deal with that too, but I certainly hope that this is my one and only experience. As the saying goes "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have". This has been proven true to me & I thank God for the people who were right beside me cheering me on through cards, letters, phone calls, gifts & meals. You guys helped keep me strong. Thank you a million times!

I have NOT forgotten you!

For all of you who haven't asked, I'm sure you have been wondering so I wanted to confirm that I am alive, and I haven't forgotten how to blog. My life has been crazy busy the past few weeks, and I'm hoping it's going to slow down a little in the coming weeks so I'll have more time to catch up with our lives in the blog world!

We have had a lot going on lately, none of which you would care to hear the details of, but has kept us all very busy.

I'll try to update you on the past few weeks as best I can...

Summer is coming to a close and we have tried to get in a few more fun times out in the sprinkler, pool, or anything else water related to soak up every bit of summer fun!

At the end of July, The Hubby and I went to Savannah, GA for a couple days with some good friends of ours, and had a wonderful time! I had never been, and I loved all the old buildings and history of the beautiful city! I hope we can go back very soon, we really enjoyed it!

Last weekend, My Mom & I took the little one to one of her favorite places, Build-a-Bear! She was SO excited to pick out a new friend, and she did a great job picking out her adorable new bear and all the accessories a girl's gotta have! Gammy bought her new bear "Shine" and they decked her out head to toe! Shine is a great friend to the other Build-a-Bear she got about a year ago, appropriately named "Sparkle". How cute are those random names that she came up with on her own?! She's such a little princess :)

So, that's a quick recap of our past few weeks, we're also getting used to the school schedule, and the Little One is really enjoying her school! I'm so thankful she's happy there, and she seems to be learning a lot, too! School pictures were this past week, and I got a sneak peek on the photography website. They are SO adorable, can't wait to share them with you!

I'll do another update soon, we had a couple big milestones recently I'll share with you, but It's literally taken me several hours to complete this post because I keep getting interrupted, so I better not start another!