Happy Valentine's Day!!!

It's been a while, I know. I feel like I haven't spent a weekend at home since the 1st of the year when we were sort of, but not really, snowed in. Weston has been gone so often that when I picked him up from daycare, I found him on a play cell phone talking to our cats, Fiona and Nola, and telling them that he'd see them Thursday. It was a Monday. :)
It's been a big 6 weeks of 2011 so far. We've had new babies born. And Mom is recovering nicely from her Stem Cell transplant. She was able to leave the hospital about 10 days ago. She needs to eat more and take her meds better. And then there is the depression... but it takes time. And thankfully we now seem to have some.

This is Weston with our friends Dee & Eric's daughter, Elle. Elle was born on January 27th. And Weston got to see her at just under 30 mins old! And he was in love. In this picture, Elle is 3 days old and Weston is already holding her! It feels so good to have friends who love my son so much to include him in their happiness. That day... he really seemed like a Big Brother. And it gave me so many ideas and put so many thoughts into my head. But then, last Thursday (2/10) we were at the Mall and Weston was just awful. So hyper, running everywhere, just plain embarrassing. I actually told him that this was the Reason he is an only child. That if he were a good boy, we'd think about giving him a brother or sister, but naughty boys don't get these. I can't believe I said this to my little boy. In general, he's a good kid. He's happy and talkative. And I've been spoiled by him for so long, that it's taking me a little while to get going on the punishment thing. Time Outs have been effective so far, but hard to handle when he refuses. But I am doing my best to stick to my guns.
Other friends of ours had a daughter at the beginning of the month. I haven't met her yet. They do not want small children around her, and I am always with my toddler. They think he'll get her sick. Funny thing is... they're breastfeeding. Babies have the best immune system for the first 3 months of their lives, more so when breastfed. But... whatever. It's their choice. But I am going to say it: it hurts being shut out like this. I begged to see their daughter multiple times each week for the first 3 weeks of her life. I was denied each time. There was always some excuse: family visiting, plans, does Weston have a cold? It made no sense. So I stopped asking during weeks 4 and 5. Just gave up. And it hurt. Her father was a huge part of my life. He was a part of Weston's life too. He visited in the hospital, was there the day he came home, the years after. So... to be so excluded when we discussed visiting the week before she was born... just plain hurts. Today I asked again if I could meet this little baby. And was told again that there is family visiting. I reminded him that I know this family, would it be ok to stop by? And I was told that he would get back to me. Crack~ another piece of my heart breaks. I must be a masochist when it comes to friends. Anyway... I guess I am forced to watch this baby grow up on Facebook. And I will never really meet her. It seems absurd.
*** In Response to this post, proving he still reads it (ha!), this beautiful little girl is not breastfed, she is bottle fed. And her doctor warned them about RSV... so they are being extremely cautious. Ok. I understand that. I was wrong about the feeding methods. But what about me? Why the evasive behavior when I want to visit? Also, he mentioned that I haven't shown interest in our friendship over the last year. Ok, I am the only one who started any conversations on getting together. So, that would mean that I have shown a lot of interest. But, they were always busy, and we were out of town a lot. My Mom was sick and almost dying for most of 2010. That takes a lot of time. Sorry we couldn't be more accommodating.
So, today is Valentine's Day. I used to hate this day with a passion. (About the only excitement that I ever experienced on Valentine's Day was the 5th grade when my box won for the best decorated and Nicole Cronk's mom brought us Ice Cream Sundaes for our class party.) I never had a boyfriend between Halloween and V-day. All of my favorite holidays. Until my husband that is. And he has certainly tried over the years to make this a day to remember. Today, he did a very good job. This year, I told my husband that I didn't want a card or anything. I just wanted to make dinner for him and Weston. But I did get him a box of Chocolate Turtles. And he came home with these potted Mini Yellow Roses for me to take to work. And they are beautiful. He said that he hopes they brighten my days at work. (I am thinking he thinks it will help at home too.) I am guessing it's no secret that the Yellow Rose of Texas had an influence of my favorite color of rose. Scott and my Dad have both been sending me yellow roses for years. These are just like little balls of Sunshine on my desk. I hope I can keep them healthy and alive. I made Weston a valentine and we got him a small present, so I hope he enjoys that later.
My little man wants Pizza tonight, so he gets his wish! Party pizza for Weston. I am making Scott and I fillets with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and sauteed green beans. I think he'll be happy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day with someone to love!!!!

Mom update

Mom is doing as well as can be expected. She is exhausted this week. This is the week that all of the Chemo side effects present themselves. She is also having multiple shots into her stomach to promote the regrowth of her immune system. These shots are normal after chemo, but they hurt a lot. And they bring down her moral a bit.
But other than that, she's doing pretty good. She's walking and riding the stationary bike as often as she is able.

yea!!!

WE HAVE STEM CELLS!

Mom is doing well!

She had her stem cell transplant just after 2pm yesterday. It was about an hour late from what we were told in the morning. Which of course did nothing for Mom's anxiety. It took about 20 minutes and was an amazingly simple process.

Mom was anxious and nervous... teary all morning. She rested and we took a walk. She found a stationary bike at the end of the hall, and rode over a Mile!!!! We had a simple lunch and chatted and took lots of pictures.

There was the potential for problems - shock, even death. But luckily everything went perfectly!

Her nurses, Paula and Stephanie, stayed about 20 or so minutes after the end of the transplant to make sure everything was ok. About a half hour after that, the nurses, doctors, etc on the floor came in and sang "Happy T-Day" to Mom and gave her a big gold balloon.

She was just beaming after the sing-along!

We have been blessed so far. Now it's just a matter of not rejecting these stem cells and beating this shitty disease.

Interesting Facts:

1. You could actually see the Stem Cells travelling through the lines from the bag to the Hickman Port in Mom's chest.
2. It will take about 4 days for the Stem Cells to travel to their perfect resting place within Mom's body to everywhere that they need to be. And they get there through the blood stream all by themselves. Pretty Darn Cool if you ask me.
3. Once this whole thing is a success, Mom's blood type will match her Stem Cell Donor's, even if it is different than what hers is now! So... Mom was born as a B- (haha, B Negative), and her Stem Cell Donor is a B+. Well, after Mom's body accepts the transplant and grows her own immune system back, she will now match the Donor's type: B+. (this is just an example. We know nothing about the donor. Not even the blood type.) Crazy and Awesome isn't it?

Thank you so much for all of your Prayers and Positive Thoughts. Keep it Up!!!! I have become a true believer in the Power of Positive Thinking.

TRANSPLANT DAY

Transplant Day is tomorrow!!!

Some time between 10 am and 2 pm, Mom is receiving her Stem Cell Transplant!!!

Shannon and I are travelling from Des Moines tonight and staying at her friend's house... so we don't have to wake up so early tomorrow. I am going to miss Weston though.

If all goes well (and it will) we will be back in Des Moines by dinner time tomorrow.

Cross your fingers and include us once again in your thoughts and prayers! Thanks!

2011

Wow... didn't realize I was this far gone. It's been almost a month.
Time to gt back to posting. Soon. As soon as I can.
-E.

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shannon's picture of her side of the table. Isn't Nathan's turkey beautiful? That rainbow thing at the top is my my Jello mold. It was tasty too.

Ok... So I am a bit late. But in my defense I have been very busy.

We headed to Clinton Wednesday evening, arriving around 9pm. Mom and Dad were home, and very excited to see Weston. I went to work making my Jello Mold. Shannon and Dad headed out to Wal-mart for some last minute buys. 

Linda and David arrived at our house around 9am Thursday. We headed to Nathan's house in Morrison, Illinois, around 11am. Once there, we played and hugged the little girls and took a tour of their new home. I swear it's twice the size of my $830 apartment for the bargain price of $500 a month. So annoying. And then having to explain to my family why we couldn't have something similar in Des Moines. "Um, yeah, we could, but in Des Moines it would be $1300 a month plus utilities." They don't get that. Then again, none of them understood a $900 mortgage payment either. They think $700 is too much. I wish. Man... if our mortgage payment had been $700 or less... we'd still have a house, and the money to enjoy it. Possibly the money to have another baby. 

Ok... ignore my ramblings, back to Thanksgiving. Nathan made a deliciously 36-hr brined turkey. It literally fell off the bone and onto my plate. I wish i had remembered my camera and had taken pictures; Nathan did that good of a job. He also made a delicious gravy (always a competition in our house) and mashed potatoes. We had the usuals: green bean casserole, California Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, my huge relish trays (1 whole tray of pickles and olives), my Jello Mold,  rolls, and I am sure that there was more. There was dressing (stuffing?) but it didn't make it to the table, not getting done for hours. (Nathan was not happy with Mom's recipe/suggestions.)

Overall Thanksgiving Day was delicious and a lot of fun. I got to play with my wonderful nieces, Zoey and Paisley. Gave all 3 kids baths. Zoey took one look at Weston and was like, "What's that?" OMG... Shannon and I just fell on the floor laughing so hard. 

Shannon and I did the whole shopping thing. Wal-mart at midnight, slept in the car in the Target parking lot from just after 2am to 3:50am. Then we hit Target at 4 (very disappointing) and she and Dad went to Wal-Mart to hit the electronics sale at 5am (Shannon picked up a Wireless Printer for $44.) We crashed into bed at 6 am. Friday was a haze. We ended up going for a ride with Mom and Linda in the afternoon, unshowered! Had a reheat of Turkey-Day for dinner and then Linda and Dave headed back to Cedar Rapids. 

We cam home yesterday afternoon. Stopped in Williamsburg for some sale shopping for Christmas. I spent very little, but did find an amazing deal for Mom's Christmas gift. 

I guess the point of this post is to detail that I had a great Thanksgiving. This year we have a lot to be thankful for. Mom is still with us and fighting Strong. She has become such an inspiration in strength these past 9 months. My wonderful baby boy in growing up to be such a little boy! And it's a huge difference. I miss the baby he was, but am so obsessed with the little person that he is. I am Thankful to have such an amazing family. We stand by each other and do everything we can to help each other out. I realize that this is not common. My family doesn't have a lot. We've had more at times, we've had less at times, but no matter what, we help with what we can, when we can. We don't buy brand-new-off-the-line cars when our family is struggling. It's not who we are. So... I am thankful to have such a loving, giving family. I am thankful that I can help them when I can, even if it's just laughs. 

I hope you all had a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving holiday. Get ready, Christmas is 23 days away, which means my 31st Birthday (egads!) is only 24 days away.