Friday, March 25, 2016

Harper Turned 3!

Our baby is 3...THREE!  I just can't believe how fast the time has gone.  She is a little firecracker who always has something to say and a mind of her own!  She loves school, church, baths, chewing gum, "nastics", her best friend Aubry, and can play in her room forever entertaining herself.
  She definitely has selective hearing and does what she wants to do.  She LOVE shoes and wants to do everything herself.  She loves Mo and Turner and is very loving.  She tells me she loves me many times a day.  She melts my heart.  She loves milk and likes to tell lots of stories at bedtime. 
  She brings us so much joy and I am so thankful for her.  She completed our family.  We celebrated her at River City with a gymnastics party with several of her friends.  She had a ball!  She took Oreos to school on her bday for a special snack.  Mimi and Boo Boo came over and brought her a big girl Frozen bike.  We also had cake this last weekend when we went to Savannah, but that will be a different post.
  We made sure Harper had a special week and she is thrilled to be 3!

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Nashville Nights!

Mo's last competition of the season was a few weeks ago.  We love going to Nashville, and Nonna met us there.  In the past we stayed at Gaylord, which the kids absolutely love.  But the meet this year was at the Music City Center, which is downtown and a little drive from Gaylord.  So we stayed at the Renaissance, which had a pool and a Starbucks!  The kids might have split their first drink from there:)
  We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, which everyone enjoyed.  It is a fun place and a few of Kev's cousins met is there as well.  After dinner, we let the kiddos swim for a while.  We remembered Harper's floaties and she swam the length of the pool a dozen times!  We were back in our rooms and ready for bed by 9:30.  We had to be at the meet at 7:30 Sunday morning.
  Mo looked great to us, but didn't score very high and only medaled in vault.  This has been a much different season from last, but I think she has had more fun.  She doesn't practice as much, and I think it has been a good balance for her.  We are going to let her do Gold one more year and that will be it.  She will either have to go back to compulsory or quit.  And we are good either way!  Gymnastics was a big deal to me last year, I am afraid more of a priority than it should have been.  This is an area that cancer changed for me.  Gymnastics is fun, Maddie seems to have a natural ability....but there are much more important things!  We are thankful for the people that have come into our path from it and Mo has definitely learned a ton.  Who knows what this next season will bring!

Friday, March 4, 2016

Done!!

I finished radiation 2 weeks ago today and am happy to be done!  My skin has been a mess, but is finally starting to look better.  In the past 9 months I have had 5 months worth of chemotherapy, a major surgery, 5 weeks of radiation, and endless doctors appointments.  That, my friends, is coming to an end.  While I am so thankful, it is a little scary to know I won't be living at the doctors office.  They gave me reassurance, and it was comforting knowing that I was fighting this horrible disease.
  What's next?  I will take Tamoxifen for about 10 years since my cancer was estrogen induced and I am not old enough to be in menopause.  So this medicine will put me and keep me there.  There are some side effects that have made people choose not to take it.  I am on day 3 and just praying for the best.  I will have one more surgery in September where they will also take my port out.  My doctor plans on me never needing it again.  Again, I am praying he is right.
  These days are a little scary for me, causing a bit of anxiety, and fear of the cancer showing up somewhere else.  That is no way to live, you say.  You can't worry about the future.  I agree, and tell myself these things daily.  It is hard to overcome, but I am so thankful for my health and where I am today.  This last year has been a roller coaster.  But God is faithful, good, and the great physician!  Joshua 1:9 is still a good verse for me to cling to, and I am trying to enjoy and appreciate each day as it comes!