A- Choo

Well, I got a bad cold from Noah and Morry. I was up a lot last night sneezing and coughing. I took medicine, but still didn’t sleep very well. I woke up around 4am and went in the game room so I wouldn’t disturb Morry. Evan must have heard me go in the game room. He came in and cheerfully said, “Good Morning, Mommy.” I told him it was still the middle of the night and that he needed to go back to bed. Luckily, he did.

I was sneezing most of the day. This is not a fun cold.

A little after 2pm I met Lauren for coffee at Starbucks. It was nice getting out of the house and hanging out with Lauren. After that I got a few things at HEB and came home.

For dinner, Grandma and Morry made pasta. I just ate bread since I wasn’t feeling so well.

After dinner Evan watched Toy Story 3 previews on Morry’s computer. Noah and Grandma are reading a book now.

We are about to put the boys to bed.

Tomorrow, Grandma, Evan, Noah and I will drive to Dallas.

Getting Ready for Chemo #4

Well, it’s almost that time again. Tomorrow I have the 4^th and final chemo treatment. Boo and Yay! I’m so looking forward to being done with this part of my treatment.

I’m feeling a little better than the last time I updated. I’m still not great. The two most annoying symptoms this time have been the extreme fatigue and hand problems. I’m still very tired, but at least my hands are getting a little better. I have gotten some feeling back in my fingertips and my hands don’t hurt quite as bad. They are mostly just peeling right now. I still have a hard time doing fine motor skills. Morry has to help me open certain things and it’s difficult getting the kids changed and dressed.

Even though I’ve been tired, I have tried to start doing a little bit of exercise. I have a DVD of 10 minute dance workouts. I have done a few of them – just 10 minutes at a time. I didn’t want to overdo it. I was pretty tired after just 10 minutes. I’m looking forward to having the chemo out of my system so that I can really start walking, running, and doing other aerobic stuff again.

I’ve been reading a book our neighbors bought for me. It’s called Anticancer: A New Way of Life. It’s very interesting. The author is a doctor who underwent chemo and treatment for brain cancer and did a lot of research on natural ways to fight cancer. He stresses how important a good diet is with more organic foods and less processed products. He talks a lot about following a Mediterranean diet. I’ve been trying to do more of that. We just bought a juicer yesterday so I can make vegetable and fruit juices.

Morry and I went out a date last night. I was finally feeling up to going out. We had a nice, relaxing dinner and dessert. Things have obviously been a little stressful around here. I just want to say how amazing Morry has been through all of this. Not only has he supported me and shown we are in this together (ie shaving his head), he has been taking care of the boys, the house, the animals, etc. Luckily he was so hands on before all this. He is great taking care of the kids, in fact Evan wants Morry to do everything with and for him. It’s cute, but it can get exhausting. Morry is doing a great job balancing everything. I just wish there was some way I could give him a break and let him relax a little.

Michael and Jen get in this afternoon. We are all looking forward to seeing them and having their help.

I’ll try to update you again in a few days and let you know how my last chemo treatment went.

More Massages

This morning Jodie picked up Evan for school and Morry took Lizzy to the vet. Lizzy still has a fluid filled sac that is growing and the vet thinks she needs to have surgery to remove it within the next few months. She had some blood work done to check her thyroid and some other things. We should get those results in a few days.

Bobbie Nehman came to our house today to give me a massage. Before she left she also gave Grandma/Lynn a massage too.

Grandma waited for Evan to come home and then she drove back to Dallas.

Noah went down for his nap pretty quickly, but it took Evan a little while.

For dinner Morry picked up Carinos on the way home. We had a gift card from Evan’s class that we used. Oh, and he picked up Chick-Fil-A for the boys.

After dinner we went out to Barnes and Noble. Evan’s class is doing a book exchange on Thursday. The girl that Evan chose said she likes princess stuff, so we went there to find a princess book. Evan will most likely be getting a Toy Story book. His teacher told me when asked what types of book he was interested in, Evan said Toy Story. We had a hard time getting Evan to leave Barnes and Noble. Luckily. Morry was there to help this time.

Both boys are in bed now. We’ll see how long it takes Evan to come out and ask for something.

School and Shopping

Morry worked from home today. He wasn’t feeling well and didn’t get much sleep last night. The boys slept late and woke up around 9am. We were a little late to Evan’s school. When we walked in one of the girls ran up to him and said, “Hi Evan!” and gave him a big hug. It was very cute.

I took Noah with me to library. It just so happened there was a story time about to start so I took Noah to the story time. Not even 5 minutes into the story time Noah got antsy and we walked out. I checked out a few books and we left.

Then, we went shopping. I bought Noah some shoes. All we have are Evan’s old shoes and they don’t fit him well since they are pretty worn out. I also got a shirt for Noah and a Toy Story book for Evan. I happened to see the Toy Story book when I was checking out and couldn’t pass it up.

At home Noah took a short nap. Then we ate lunch and picked up Evan. When we were getting in the car I pointed out Noah’s new shoes. Even was very interested since they had Thomas the Train on them. I told Evan I bought him a new book and it was on his bed waiting for him at home. Then, he asked if I went shopping and what else I did while he was in school.

I put Evan and Noah down for naps but neither one wanted to nap. Noah eventually fell asleep, but Evan did not nap.

Blanca came at 4:00 so I could tutor. I got home about 8:00.

Morry took Evan and Noah to McDonalds for dinner. He asked Evan where he wanted to go for dinner and he picked McDonalds. Morry said both boys were well behaved and had a good time.

Lunch with Morry

Noah, Evan, and I met Morry at his office and then went to lunch. Evan was very excited about going to Daddy’s work. When we walked in the lobby he asked, “Where’s Daddy.” I told him we had to go in the elevator and up to Daddy’s office. Morry took us around the office to meet a few people and Evan was very shy.

For lunch we went to Cheddar's. Evan sat in the booth next to me. He made it very hard to eat my lunch. He was bouncing around, touching me, wanting strawberries from my strawberry lemonade. Noah did pretty well in his high chair. He ate some baby food and some of my green beans and grapes we brought from home.

We dropped Morry off at work and went to Barnes and Noble. We needed to buy a book for the book exchange at Evan’s school tomorrow. It had to be a book under $5 that was gender neutral and not holiday themed. It was tough finding a book that meet all those criteria while trying to hold Noah and watch Evan. I saw the “Grover, Monster at the end of the Book” book. It was $4.95, so I got it.

I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. Blanca wasn’t able to babysit so Morry worked from home in the afternoon. Evan and Noah napped most of the time I was gone. Noah got up once and Morry had to calm him down and get him back to sleep.

On the way home from the doctor I stopped at HEB to get sugar cookies for Evan’s class tomorrow. They are decorating cookies and I said I’d bring the cookies.

For dinner we had pizza, roasted garlic, and bread.

After dinner Matt came over to help Morry move our entertainment center and TV upstairs.

Evan and Noah are still awake right now. Hopefully, they fall asleep soon.

Evan answered the phone

When we got to Evan’s school today, Wendy (the teacher) was reading a book to a few kids. Evan ran in and said, “Hi Wendy!” He was so happy to be there.

After I dropped Evan off at school, I took Noah with me to HEB, Kohls, Babies R Us, and Hobby Lobby to return a few things. It was a lot of in and out of the car and having that infant car seat made things easier even though it weighs a tons. It’s so easy just to pop the car seat in and out and make quick trips. It will be harder when we move him to a regular car seat.

I did some cleaning up around the house, fed Noah, ate a quick lunch and then it was already time to pick up Evan.

At home, I was changing Noah in the office downstairs and Evan was in there with me. The phone rang and I thought it would probably be Morry so I asked Evan to pick up the phone (he’s never answered the phone before). He picked it up and I told him to say hello and that I was busy and I’d be there in a minute. I think he managed to say hello, but he wasn’t saying anything else. I asked Evan who it was and he told me it was Kevin’s mommy. I finished changing Noah and sure enough it was Yenis, Kevin’s mom. :)

I tutored for 2 hours this afternoon and Blanca babysat.

Our turn to host playgroup

We had a nice morning. Playgroup was at our house today. I was busy last night and this morning getting the food ready. I put out cranberry apple crisp, fruit salad, veggies, pita, humus, the taboli I made the other day, and blueberry muffins (Evan’s request) that Evan helped me make this morning. I also made coffee and put out orange juice. When the playgroups first started the moms just put out a few snacks for kids, but as time went on we started having more of breakfast/brunch stuff.

We had a good turnout. We had Jodie, Allen, and Thomas, Alena and Avery, Leigh and Katie, Yenis and Kevin, Anna and Regina, and of course me, Evan, and Noah. All the kids played very nicely. Evan Noah had a good time watching all the older kids play. The rollercoaster was a hit like always. The first people got here a little after 10 and everyone had left by 1. I enjoyed it. It’s nice having other moms to talk to and it’s good for Evan to get used to sharing his toys. Some of the moms said how much they liked the food and commented that I do a good job of putting out fun, kid friendly snacks. They said I should write a book.

In case anyone is interested here’s the cranberry apple crisp recipe. I think I got it from one of my mom’s cookbooks.

3 cups cranberries (one 12oz bag)
2 apples (thinly sliced)
½ c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ c flour
2 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
¾ c rolled oats
3 tbsp melted butter

1. mix cranberries, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tbsp flour and put in greased baking dish
2. combine remaining flour, brown sugar, and oats. Then, mix in melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.
3. bake at 375 for 30-40 min

Usually I add a little vanilla to both the fruit mix and the topping. I also double the amount of oat topping since that’s my favorite part.

Yes, I know he needs a haircut.