First School Picture

I can't believe how old my Little Princess looks in her very first school picture! The Mother of the Year forgot it was picture day (it was a Monday, and I just didn't think of it that morning) and sent her to school in a t-shirt and shorts with sandals. Well, as soon as I remembered they had pictures, I rushed to the school with new clothes, hair stuff and some dress shoes! Thankfully, I made it in time, and the picture came out precious!
I would've felt really bad if my kid was the only one in the class picture not dressed up and cute, can you imagine?! :)

Think Pink!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month & I've had a busy but fun month! I went to a nice Pink Ribbon Breakfast locally that was for survivors and supporters. My breast specialist spoke there, and brought everyone to tears of course, there was an awesome singer (that was an American Idol contestant a while back) who sang a few songs, and a breast cancer survivor that has written a book and several poems about her journey shared with us, as well as hearing from other survivors and getting a great message of Hope for the future!

Me & Jaime with the ah-mazing breast specialist, Dr. T

Me & Jaime with my ah-mazing breast specialist's precious wife!

My Oncologist, Dr. S :)

Survivors at the Pink Ribbon Breakfast

Later that week, I was invited to speak to a group of young professionals in our county about my story, and an encouragement for other women to do their self exams. I was soooo nervous, and I stood there shaking, holding back tears the entire time, but thankfully I didn't pass out or get sick! I was so grateful for the opportunity to share my story because I'm very passionate about the cause, obviously, but also because I think that Breast Cancer is thought of as "your mother's disease" and not something that can or will happen to younger women. I am a living breathing example that it can and does happen, so hopefully those young women went home and did their self exams if nothing else!

My sweet Mom, Hubby, Brother-in-Law & several friends came to support me!

Most of the attendees of the Young Professionals "Go Pink" meeting!

My Mom's work had a day where the entire company "went pink" for BC Awareness, and each branch did their own thing to raise money and awareness for the disease. They are in the medical field, and I was blessed to be able to use them for getting my Neupagin (sp?) injections at home so I didn't have to go to the hospital 3 days in a row after chemo every single time to keep my blood counts up between treatments. They were wonderful, and supplied my injections as well as sending a nurse out to draw my blood and take it to the lab every week or two. My Mom invited me as their survivor happy face :) and I enjoyed doing a walk with them and having lunch.

I have a pic with the Clinical Pharmacist that was so precious to me and helped me a lot with crazy questions through my treatment, but it will NOT load & it's making me crazy! I wish I could share it since she was very helpful through everything too!

One of the ladies that works with my Mom made these beautiful and SO, SO delicious cupcakes!

Last week I also attended a new start up support group for young survivors that was great! There were 6 other young survivors (under 40) in attendance, and then there were 2 "mature survivors" there for the first meeting who were a ray of sunshine! One is a 14 year survivor, and one a 27 year survivor. It was great to talk to them openly and share with other women who "get it". Also, it was nice to talk to a newly diagnosed patient, and give her some hope that there IS life during and after treatment, you've just gotta get through one day at a time.

As breast cancer awareness month comes to a close, I hope the light doesn't fade, and breast cancer awareness continues. I know people probably get tired of hearing about it, and it is thought of as a "better" type of cancer to have...NEVER say that to anyone, by the way! Trust me, until you hear the words "You have Cancer", you can't understand that any cancer is thought of in the mind of the patient as a death sentence. My point is (sorry for the rant) that the reason breast cancer gets so much attention is that it's so common among women (and men aren't immune) so we have to be vigilant to take care of our own health and do self exams...they SAVE LIVES!!!!!

Just because it's cute :)

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)