Lookin Good

I had a PET scan last Monday and it was NO fun! I went to bed the night before with a headache and it never went away. I couldn't eat anything that wasn't a lean protein for breakfast Monday morning (and I had to fast after that), I couldn't have coffee, my test wasn't until 3pm, I had to drink some nasty contrast stuff for the scan and I ended up with a terrible migraine before the scan even started! I couldn't cancel it or take anything for my pain because they will charge you $1,ooo dollars if you don't give enough notice or prep incorrectly. I was in so much pain by 10am my mom had to come and get me and the girls because I was unable to take care of them. Somehow I was able to barely make it through the scan...I had to lay motionless for 1/2 hour. When it was over I walked down the hall to my room and "lost it"....I proceded to "lose it" again on the way home and once I was in bed until my girlfriend came over with her migraine meds. WOW - migraines are terrible! I'd never had one before and I feel sorry for anyone who has, my head was sore for two days after that.

Well, at least the scan came back clean and my labs show no sign of thyroid problems (I guess I have a high chance of my thyroid getting funky becasue of the radiation). My hair is growing in so I don't look so much like a cancer paitent....I just look like a mom who doesn't want to fuss over her hair :). We are loving our new home and I'm so excited that I'm a functional mommy again! It constantly amazes me that 6 1/2 months ago I had my precious baby Sadie, 51/2 months ago I was diagnosed with cancer and 2 1/2 months ago I was given the news that I'm in remission! What a worlwind!

New Video Feature!

Drum roll please...you can now watch our family videos by looking on the right side of the blog just under "contributors"! I know...how exciting! I posted a few videos from our awesome New Years snow trip. And coming very soon, we will post a video featuring the unveiling of our new apartment; so stay tuned and enjoy!

We Are Moving!!!

Tomorrow is the big day - we are going to have our own place again! I'm so very excited and kinda nervous too.....I've never really been a mommy of two on my own before but I'm ready to try :).

We found an older "townhouse" on Royal Way in SLO (it's kinda a cool story) and it is the last one in the row of four apartments. There are two bedrooms and one full bathroom upstairs (one of the rooms is really big - the girls get that one) and it has a living room, 1/2 bathroom and open kitchen with the dining room in the kitchen. I'm excited the table isn't going to be on carpet like at our old place. There is a back patio and shared grass in the back that is fenced in for all the apartments but we have permission to make our own "fence" to keep Bekah in the area behind and on the side our our apartment. It's set back from the street, we are on the end and the apartment we share a wall with is rented to an airline so pilots sleep, eat and leave...and they aren't there on the weekends so it shouldn't be to loud - although we shouldn't be to incredably loud either. We are close to the bus station that goes straight to Cal Poly and we are off of Los Osos Vally Road so it's a strait shot to Los Osos - Keith is having to do about 60hours of observing this quarter out there at the middle school.

Well, I have a lot to pack still so I better keep going. Once we are set up I'll take pictures to share.

Starting To Work Again

I haven't blogged in a long time...Keith's been doing more than me lately- it was a nice break since the holidays were really busy but I'm glad to be at it again.

So I go to my first Lisa Leonard work meeting this morning since I went on maternity/cancer leave and I'm really excited! I'll only be working 5-10 hours a week but you have to start somewhere... and with 2 kids now I think it might take me a while to get back into the working groove along with everyday life. I've really missed this little piece of life that was all mine--although the break was very nice and necessary--but I'm so thankful that I'm well enough to be taking this on!

God's plan for our life is sometimes a bit bumpy but it's wonderful to be getting back to "real" life - I wonder if chemo really did affect my brain...to be excited about going back to work sounds silly!

Happy New Year!

This year for New Years, we decided to head up to Cara's Dad's place near Bass Lake, joined by many of Cara's siblings. It was our 3rd trip in as many weeks, and we were a little road weary, but the upside was that we felt like road pros. On the evening of the 31st, we had some tasty BBQ and unforgettable artichoke dip, caught up with the family, and then hilarity broke out with a game of Loaded Questions. The next morning came the moment we were all waiting for--Bekah's first trip to the snow, or "no" as she called it. Scott and Annette live at about 3000 feet elevation, so we had to make a short drive above the lake area to find substantial snow. It was totally worth it! She loved the snow, eating it, sledding on it, tossing it up over her head, and slipping and falling once or twice. We had a snow ball fight, made a snow man to greet passing motorists, and watched Uncle Joshie destroy his body on the sled. And we all laughed and laughed. On the drive back down to SLO, Cara and I both agreed that it was a trip that could easily be made family tradition--thanks to Scott and Annette for their hospitality and flexibility. We had a blast!

Christmas Highlights

Here are some highlights from Christmas 2008! I'm a week behind schedule, so I figure it's time to catch up before Cal Poly starts tomorrow.

Sadie's new present has been a huge hit with her and Bekah.

I had this game when I was little, and I remember loving it. Now Bekah gets to practice her fishing skills. She's actually really good, and she gets so excited when she catches one, jumping up and shouting out whatever color it is.

This is one of Bekah's favorite presents, thanks to the McGuire fam. On Christmas Eve, when the whole family was over, she put her dress on and came squealing down the hallway into the living room, demanding that everyone pay attention as the princess made her grand (and ear-piercing) entrance.

And then exhaustion overtook us.

Gingerbread house engineering

One of my favorite Christmas past times is making gingerbread houses, or in this case graham cracker houses. What could be better than constructing a house out of candy and then eating it? This year I drew inspiration by doing a google image search on gingerbread houses, which served to deflate me more than anything else. Talk about incredible! But I was still pumped that this year I got to share the experience with my co-architect and sweet tooth, Ms. Bekah. So we lit a fire in the fireplace, turned on the Christmas tunes, and set to work. Cara pretty much stood back and laughed at us.
Bekah's favorite job was to "queeze" the frosting out onto the house, and she learned quickly that if frosting got on your fingers, it was vital that it be licked off immediately. She also learned that it's a good thing I switched OUT of my original CP major of Mechanical Engineering. I underestimated the candy-laden weight of the roof, resulting in the below disaster.
But we recovered and created a graham cracker teepee instead, perhaps not as elegant as our google image counterparts, but the grand time we had couldn't be beat. Notice the frosting remnants around Bekah's mouth--yep, she had a great time!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

A few weeks back we were able to take a family trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a place we figured Bekah would be enthralled by due to her love of Finding Nemo and all things fishy. As it turns out, she was only somewhat interested in the actual fish, otters, and penquins, but she was excited beyond words at the interactive parts of the aquarium: the play area, the bins with touchable starfish and sea anenomes, and of course, the escalator. But all in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our nearly 3 hour stay at the aquarium before giving in the exhaustion and driving back to SLO.