Big House Big Heart...

We ran in the Big House Big Heart runs today and had a blast. Michele and Alex ran the 1 mile run with Bob, while I struggled through the 5k with my brother Adam, some of his friends, Robin, Lindsay, and about 10,000 of our closest friends.



The race was very cool and finishes on the 50 yard line of Michigan Stadium. There was also a huge team from The Wellness Center there doing a fundraiser that we were officially a part of. Tons of people and a beautiful day. Good time had by all... and we all survived!

What's yours is mine...

Alex keeps getting good reports from daycare about how good she is at sharing. She has a little click of friends that roll around together all day and play, play, play. All the people there say that she is happy to let others play with her toys and will just hand them over. How nice is that?

Of course, she also has a tendency to impose that sharing spirit on others, whether they like it or not... as she does here with her cousin Max.

I guess somebody has to teach people how to share.

Feel your boobies...

Nine months ago today I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Wow, it seems like way more time has passed than 9 months. Pregnancy was a breeze compared to the last 9 months!!! Since I am cancer free and healthy, I do need to reiterate the importance of having caught my cancer early. At 31, I did not think that I needed to worry about breast exams. Sure, my doctors would ask if I did breast exams regularly and I would admit that I did not. They would always reply that it was a good thing to do. I agreed and said to myself, I really need to remember to do that. Luckily for me, my tumor ached- most don't. So in Mid-November last year, I did a breast exam because I had some soreness in my right breast. There it was, a good size lump that ended up as Stage II cancer. If it had not been found, I wouldn't have had a mammogram for 9 more years. All the while, the cancer would have hung out and most likely spread. I know I am a survivor because I caught it early. The type of cancer I had was aggressive and would have found a way to grow. So my advice to everyone- regardless of age or family history- touch your boobies. If you don't know how to perform a self breast exam-this should help - Breast self exam -You could be saving your life!!!

Done...

Well, that's it folks... Michele just finished her last radiation session. She has completed all of the heavy lifting of this BC treatment and has only to endure some easier to handle, more spread out procedures. It's been less than a year... if you can believe that... and now it's basically over.

Even I, her most adamant supporter and president of the Ann Arbor chapter of her fan club, could never have imagined how strong, tough, and spirited Michele would be through all of this bullsh*t. Chemo. Surgery. Radiation. Not to mention dealing with new baby and frightened new papa. I dare anyone to tell Michele that there is anything in the world that she can't do if she puts her mind to it.

I love you Michele... and I'm very proud of you.

Irresistible force paradox...

There are forces in this universe that are difficult to resist (not impossible to resist, mind you, because if there is such a thing as an irresistible force then no object is immovable, and vice versa... leading to an untenable paradox... but I digress). These forces affect us everyday. Gravity is one that Alex is learning quickly with help from her food and toys. The draw I feel to have a cool beer on a warm day. The need to yawn just because I just typed "yawn". The undeniable power of a free t-shirt. Just try to resist...

The latest force dragging Alex helplessly around the house is the desire, ney the need, to play with shoes.
Our house is cluttered with toys... you can barely navigate the maze without stubbing a toy or impaling your foot on a Weeble (the damn things never fall down!). But Alex will crawl past every book, ball, & bauble to get at any carelessly discarded footwear.
We usually let her enjoy herself until she starts to eat them... which takes all of 20 seconds. So, if you are pondering about a present to get the little scavenger, skip it... just come over to visit and take off your shoes. She'll be ex tactic.

Finishing up

Wes was right...I really was not up to writing these past few weeks. The radiation has made me feel quite fatigued. I knew that was going to happen, but it has been challenging juggling treatment, work, motherhood and sanity. I really believe that lack of sleep makes you question everything. Now I can't really say that I have had a lack of sleep- I do about 8 hours a night- but I am clearly not getting enough. I say that because I can just sleep multiple times a day, no problem. This sleep is deep too, like the kind where you dream and wake up not remembering even going to sleep. So I say all this because for the last two weeks I really felt like I would not be able to make it through. I was just annoyed that I had to continue to go to treatment, mad at myself for not eating well, mad at myself for not working out, and pretty much just felt like a failure with no hope. I know...not right. Anyway, that is how I felt. So I talked to the social worker at radiation. She is really pleasant and easy to talk to. So she reminded me that not everyone continues to work during treatment and not everyone has such a positive attitude about the cancer treatment in general. All this was not news to me but it is nice that someone out of my support system tells me that because she doesn't have to. So that discussion made me feel better but not great. Then on Wednesday, I decided I couldn't handle work. I just needed to rest. So I stayed home and took a sick day. During the day I slept, watched a cheesy movie, and picked up the living room. It was the best day ever!!! Alex was at school and Wes was at work, so I didn't worry about anyone but me. It was awesome. I slept an additional 4 hours that day and by the end of the day, I felt like my old self. Like my sanity had returned. Now getting through the last day of treatment- Wednesday is within reach. I know I can make it and get back to a normal routine. I look forward to it!!!

Early to bed...

This morning Alex and I got up early enough that we played, ate O's, threw O's on the floor, played, ate breakfast, took a bath, and did a bunch of this...

...all before Michele got up at a not-so-sleeping-in 6:30am. I love that I can see myself in her demeanor at times, but I hope she doesn't inherit my insane waking up early traits. Hopefully she will learn to enjoy sleeping in and getting the extra zzz's.

Set phasers to stun...

Today Michele started a new and final phase of radiation. Until now she has had broad spectrum radiation directed at the whole breast and related areas. Starting today she is getting a more focused, targeted radiation shot right where the tumor was. She gets this for a week and then she is done with radiation!! We celebrated the end of phase one last night with fajitas and too much margaritas!

The effects of the radiation, plus work and baby, are starting to pile up. Michele is very tired... the kind of tired that a nap or good nights sleep doesn't fix. She has, basically, a sunburn on the right side of her chest and is pretty sore. All of this, as well as the realization that she is almost done with the every day treatments, has been a lot to handle... which is, I think, why she hasn't posted much lately. Hopefully we can get things back to some state of normal soon...

Oh yeah... our sister-in-law Cheri is participating in the Race for the Cure. If anyone is interested in donating to a great cause, check it out here.

Not Chuck, but out of luck... UPDATE

Add skunk to the list of "creatures that are not a woodchuck" that I have captured with my woodchuck trap. Thanks to evolution (assuming you believe in that sort of thing), this little guy avoided the trip in the car and was just set free. The whole neighborhood smells like skunk and I didn't want to chance getting sprayed myself.

Bonne chance Pepe... jusqu'à ce que nous nous rencontrions de nouveau!

And I quote...

"To Hell with Notre Dame"

I think we're in trouble...

The little things...

We have had more than one person ask us lately if Alexandra has a favorite toy... must be something about this age. The answer is a bit complicated, so I thought I would answer here in an attempt to be thorough. Here are the unusual suspects:

Hungry Frog

Hungry Frog lives on the changing table and is often the only thing that makes it possible to change Alex with only one person. He is a great distraction and, apparently, he tastes good (or Alex is partial to frog's legs... get it?).

Mr. Dragonfly

Not sure why, but Mr. Dragonfly is the toy that Alex most likes to chew on. He goes everywhere with us and is easy to clean (bonus!).

Bowls/balls with a rattley head

Every kid that comes in the house loves this stuff. Put them together, take them apart, & chew on them.

Mr. Tripod

He rattles, he crinkles, he lives in the basement. He has been a favorite for a long time... and he is starting to show the wear.

Maracas

She has a couple (her favorite is not pictured because it is in Michele's truck), and she will shake them for hours if you can stand it. They are always good for snapping her out of a funk.

Mr. Dinosaur Head & Mr. Dog Face

These two characters live in the crib. Mr. Dinosaur Head is the sleepy-time favorite, she always holds him and rubs him as she goes to sleep. Mr. Dog Face is more of a "I'm awake and I'm ready to play" kind of guy.

Bowls

These very nice mixing bowls have been donated to the basement play area because she loves them so much. Put stuff in. Take stuff out. Plus, she seems to like things that are heavy and she has to struggle to pick up.

Mr. Woodface

Last, and anything but least, is Mr. Woodface. I'm not sure that we would have made it through the last 8+ months without Mr. Woodface. If there had to be one fav, it would be him. He goes out to eat with us, goes in the car, and is the go to at home as well. He is such an integral part of our little family unit that he even made it in to the header of this blog.

Well, that's the short list. I'm sure I could come up with more, and there are more showing up every day, but that's the A-Team. Our house looks like a willy Wonka war zone... but if you gotta step on something at 3am, it might as well be one of these guys.

Not Chuck, but out of luck...

In the five years that we have lived in this house we have had a mascot... a big, fat, lazy, furry mascot. He lives under our deck, he is a woodchuck, his name is Chuck. For the first couple years he was a novelty. We would see him sunning himself on the deck on warm spring days, and then he would scurry to the neighbors yard and eventually back to his home. He was cute.

Then he chewed through our satellite cable. This was not cute. I was upset. I vowed to do something about it... but alas, procrastination and laziness convinced me that he was still harmless. Then, this spring, Chuck decided to eat some of Michele's tender young plants. Tasty I'm sure... but Chuck had pushed his luck too far and he and I both would be subject to Michele's wrath.

So, I bought a trap. I would trap Chuck and take him to a nice park and he would run and play and have little Chucks and we would all live happily ever after.

This morning the trap was sprung for the third time this summer. Today's catch brings the grand total to two raccoons, one baby possum, and zero Chucks. He's a wily little bugger and that's fine... to the victor goes the spoils. The disconcerting part is that in my attempt to remove one cute, cuddly varmint I have realized that we are infested with creatures of the night.

Oh well... Alex and I loaded him up and took him to a nature area near by. If anyone has a sure-fire bait for woodchucks, let me know. Until then, I'll just keep trapping and removing whatever is hungry and dumber than Chuck.

CSI: Ann Arbor...

I swear, this is how I found it.

Alexandra is so adorable

I know that we think that because we are her parents but seriously, she is so cute. This weekend she made Wes and I smile all the time. In spite of her cough and runny nose, she was in great spirits. Her parents suffered from lack of sleep but seriously, that story is getting old...

So this weekend she started to crawl on her knees, sit up from a crawling position and is pulling herself up on whatever she can. It is crazy how she just makes these leaps in development. It doesn't seem like she works on one thing for a while until she get it- she actually works on a number of things all at once. She is very cool.

This weekend was also a nice break from radiation. Going back today was annoying. Not because it is difficult, just because of the obligation. I just want to be done. I feel like such a complainer but after about nine months of treatment, I am tired of it. The good news is that Wes and I had a great weekend. There was nothing really remarkable about it but it just felt normal. We had some time to do what we would have a year ago- watch Michigan football, do yard work, read magazines, etc. It is nice to not be stressed about life. We even started talking about vacations...stayed tuned to that because we are putting together the 20 places in the US we want to visit and the 20 international destinations....we did some brainstorming- NYC, Seattle, Grand Canyon, Back to Hawaii, Italy, Ireland, Nevis, etc. I guess we can think about this because we are happy and healthy in A2.