Happy Thanksgiving

This year we invited Frank's family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Frank cooked the entire meal and I was left with the cleanup. The meal was good except for the turkey being a little dried out. We purchased a 20 lb turkey and it was closer to the roof of the oven and cooked too long.

Radiation Update

I had my simulation appointment today for radiation therapy. The nurse did a cat scan and made a mold of my body. She also marked a few spots on my chest to start the process for radiation treatments. I have been told that I will only have 20 treatments instead of 32 treatments. This was great news to hear! I will be all done with radiation by the end of December. I'm looking forward to going back to work right after New Year's. I will than only have my final treatment which I'm hoping I can do around my work schedule.

Mommy and Me

Mommy is starting to grow back some hair

Phase 3

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday with my radiation doctor to go through simulation. I'm getting ready to start my radiation treatments on December 2nd. I have to undergo a CT scan and my doctor with tattoe my breast. He gave me two options which were to either have 4 small permanent marks on your chest or he can use a magic marker to mark the spot and cover it with a clear piece of tape to protect it from rubbing off. These marks help the doctor to only radiate a certain area of the breast. I will probably go with the semi permanent ink. I just don't want to be left with a constant reminder the rest of my life plus I'm afraid of needles. The doctor also makes a mold of your body to place you in each and every time you go there. They want to make sure that you don't move around. I will get treatments every day Monday thru Friday and anticipate being all finished by January 14th. The side effects could be sunburn, dry skin, discoloration of skin, and fatigue. I will be returning back to work middle of January.

Ten for Tuesday

1. My computer was plagued by a virus sent to us through Facebook. I wasn't too happy about this. The problem seems to be all fixed now.

2. Frank and I drove down to Atlanta, GA with a friend to attend a "Legacy Retreat". We had a great ride down and back up again. The baby did a great job in the car and slept most of the way. We stayed in a millionaires home and participated in an olympics. My team lost but Frank's team were the champs. We did a canoe race, golfing, football toss, and than a fishing derby. We enjoyed a BBQ afterwards and loved the nice warm weather.

3. We went to pick up a rental car on Thursday evening to only find out that they didn't have our reservation number listed in there computer system. We must have waited an hour until they could correct the problem. We did eventually get our minivan and than had to pick up a copier machine to drag down with us to Georgia. The manager decided to give us a discount on the rental.

4. The kids came over last weekend and were complaining about having a sore throat. I managed to contract the same virus and now I'm coughing, sore throat, and I have lost my voice. I'm starting to feel better today.

5. I've been having trouble with keeping the baby asleep at night. I received some good advice this weekend from a friend and decided to try it out on Savannah. She cried last night for about 45 minutes and eventually went back to sleep. She slept the whole rest of the night. I believe if I can keep this up than she will be back to sleeping through the night soon. I think she became too dependent on falling asleep to the bottle.

6. The kids missed a few days of school last week. Sarah attended seminary for the very first time and really enjoyed it. I wish she could go all the time. We drove the kids back to school on Thursday and than they returned back home.

7. Savannah started making the "DaDa" sound on Sunday night and now Frank is all thrilled that she is calling for him. I think she is just exploring a new sound with her mouth.

8. I missed my playgroup yesterday from being sick. I did receive a call from the Primary president asking what happened to me because I also missed out on a presidency meeting.

9. Savannah is getting ready to start crawling. She has started getting up on her knees and is beginning to rock back and forth. She still doesn't have any teeth yet.

10. Have a good week everybody I'm out of things to say....

Eleven for Tuesday

1. I finished my LAST chemo treatment last week. I'm so excited to be all done with the hard stuff. My appointment went very well and all the nurses were giving me hugs afterwards. My doctor's office is moving closer to my work and they will be able to accommodate my work schedule when I return back to work in January. Radiation treatments begin on December 2 for 6 1/2 weeks.

2. I went to a play group on Thursday afternoon to the McDonald's playplace. I was running late but still had a nice time visiting with all the kids and parents. The youngsters all wanted to play with Savannah and feed her a bottle and hold her.

3. I went to Walgreen's to print off some pictures of Savannah and ended up waiting a long time to get to the photo machine. I wasn't too happy about this but I didn't want to come back so I waited patiently. I went back after play group to pick up my photos.

4. I came home and I scrapbooked all night long (literally). I was unstoppable because I completed 16-17 new pages. I need to go buy some more refills to put them in my scrapbooks.

5. The older kids spent the night at Sabrina's house on Friday. The kids mother went on a cruise and we are keeping the kids for the rest of the week. I convinced Frank to keep the kids out of school Monday thru Wednesday due the hardship of having to drive them everyday.

6. I took Savannah in for her 6 month doctor visit. She is currently 15 lbs 8 oz and 26inches long. She received all of her shots including the H1N1 shot. I didn't want to get this shot for her but the doctor strongly recommended it. She has started to get up on her knees and is getting ready to start crawling. Still no signs of any teeth although she is drooling a lot and constantly putting things in her mouth to chew on. We continue to feed her baby foods. She really likes carrots.

7. I had a consultation with Dr. Boyer on Tuesday for radiation therapy. He went into detail about the treatments and what to expect in the next couple of weeks. The doctor wants to wait 4 weeks from the last chemo treatment to allow my body to heal itself. Still no real signs that my hair is coming back only peach fuzz. I should start growing some hair growth soon.

8. I met with my chemo doctor today and he said that everything looked great. I have to schedule another echocardigram to see how my heart is functioning. I will continue to receive my Herception treatments every 3 weeks.

9. I went to the Chicago temple on Friday night and we did a session together. It was nice to get together.

10. On Saturday morning I went to the Woodfield Mall and I helped a friend do some shopping. We hung out afterwards for lunch at my house.

11. I watched Sabrina's kids yesterday and that was a crazy day. It's not easy having 3children all under the age of 3 years old. Elena helped me cook dinner and we baked cookies together.

6 Months Old

My precious baby Savannah turns 6 months old today. She has been such a blessing to our family. She is a very happy baby and is ALWAYS smiling. Everyone tells me what a good baby she is and how easy she is to take care of. Savannah has really helped me get through all of my chemotherapy treatments. She is not afraid to go to anyone and loves to roll around on the floor. She is getting good at standing up with assistance. She has started eating baby foods. She really seems to like peas. I recently discovered she loves playing with balls. She gets really excited when the ball is being rolled to her. She is no longer sleeping through the night. She is getting up several times a night now (possibly teething). I'm not sure what happened to her sleeping 10-11 hours at night. She babbles a lot and is getting good at her small motor skills. She is at an age where she can just play with her toys and gives mommy a little break. I can't believe how old my baby is. I love this stage of life!

Nine on Tuesday

1. I went in for chemo treatment #11 last Wednesday. It went pretty good although my nurse was home sick with her child. I had a different nurse helping me with my treatment. 1 more to go!!!

2. On Thursday I took Savannah down to the SpringHill Mall to do some trick or treating. I dressed her up as a little pumpkin this year. She looked so cute!

3. On Friday night we had planned to do a Halloween party at the office. It was pretty much a waste of time. We had about 15-17 people show up including kids and we watched scary movies and sang karoke. We didn't get a lot of participation on the vocals. We pigged out on candy and junk food and just enjoyed our company.

4. On Saturday evening we had our ward truck or treat party. It was a total blast! We had a chili fest and hot dogs for the little kids. Afterwards we had a parade of all the kids who dressed up in costumes. They gave away homemade cookies, caramel apples, and other goodies. The kids enjoyed cotton candy and walked around the builing collecting lots of candy. They also had a candy walk and haunted house. It was a very fun night and I'm glad that we were able to attend.

5. One of my best friends moved back to Meridian, ID this week. I will miss her! Hopefully I can visit her when I go back west to visit with family.

6. Frank wasn't feeling good on Sunday afternoon so we just spent a lazy day just relaxing.

7. Yesterday my playgroup was cancelled so I decided to head over to a friends house from the ward. We ate leftover chili and played with our kids.

8. Frank is currently looking to move his office down the street into a new complex. Hopefully we will get into this new place by December.

9. I ran out of things to say for once...Have a nice week guys!

Trunk or Treat

This year Frank and I took Savannah to the ward trunk or treat. The night turned out to be a total blast. We enjoyed a chili fest and than had hot dogs for the little kids. They even provided a cotton candy machine. The kids participated in a Halloween parade. I took Savannah around for people to admire her. Afterwards they handed out a caldron filled with goodies. The kids went door to door and did some trick or treating. They had so much candy left over that they kept trying to pawn it off to anyone who would take it. They also had a haunted house and Savannah did a great job and didn't get scared at all. They had a candy walk and had some coloring for the older kids at the party. They topped it all off and gave away some candied apples and homemade cookies. This was a really fun night and I'm glad that I could share this with my family.