Ribbit!

I just had to post a cute thing Ian did today. Even though his birthday was earlier this month, they were actually just celebrating it today at preschool. As part of being the birthday boy, it was his day to do "Secret Sack" which is a fancy version of show & tell. You place an object in the secret sack (a nice sparkly bag) and write 3 clues. The teacher, Miss Anna, reads the clues to the child who announces them one by one to the class. After each clue, the kids get to guess what is in the sack & if they haven't gotten after the 3rd clue, they get to see what was there.

So last night, in preparation for the big day, we talked to Ian about what he wanted to take & his clues. He was very excited & definite that he wanted to take Ribbit, his stuffed frog. We talked about our three clues & came up with:
1 It's green
2 It hops
3 It says "Ribbit"

Arriving at school was very exciting this morning. There was a sparkly crown with Ian & the number "3" on it and he also got to sit on the special star carpet square. Then it was time for circle & secret sack. Like the big boy he is, he went up to sit on the secret sack chair with Miss Anna, who read him the clue "It's green". He was so excited about his secret sack that instead of repeating the clue to the class & letting them guess, he promptly announced "It's RIBBIT!"

Man, there is nothing better than a boy & his frog.

Cancer revisited...

Well, I had a scan yesterday and we got the disappointing results today. Unfortunately, the spot in the center of my chest wall has grown on this latest chemo.

I was kind of expecting the results, but it was still really hard to hear. Todd took the afternoon off work so that he could go in with me & it was wonderful to have him there. We are starting on a new chemo tomorrow and we'll just continue our prayers that God guides us to the one that works on my cancer. Each reoccurrence makes it harder & hurts my odds, but I still really have faith in God's plan for me. I also feel blessed that we've made it this far. Today was the funeral for Tony Snow, the White House press secretary who announced he had cancer last fall. It's been over 3 years for me now & I'm still going strong (or pretty strong). I don't always keep up with the kids, but I am not sure I would have even without the cancer. I was able to survive our trip to Disney in May & on a day to day basis we try to keep life as normal as possible.

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers and support though. We couldn't have done as well as we have so far without our families and friends.

My plan is to work on this blog at my chemo appointments so I'll try to do a better job. The cycle is two weeks on - one week off, so every week or so I should have an update. Talk to you soon!

New Year's Resolution

Well, my new year's resolution was to do a better job of keeping in contact with friends and family and here it is on January 18th that I'm starting my first entry of the year. Oh, well....

We had a busy but really nice Christmas. From the stretch of Thursday, the 20th through Christmas day, we celebrated 5 (yes 5!) Christmases. We got together with the extended Peters family, the King family, the Myler family, the immediate Peters family & then finally Santa came on Christmas morning! Whew!

I'm updating this at chemo this week & I'm actually done for the day, so I'll have to finish up later. Bye!

It's back...

Unfortunately, this isn't a great post. We just found out that the chemo I have been on since January has stopped working and that the areas that had cancer in January have reappeared on my latest scan as actively growing. Ugh!

Next up is some surgery in early December, some recovery time and then a new chemo in the new year.

Please keep us in your prayers.

My new year's resolution for 2008 is to keep in better contact with friends and family, so check back. I should be updating shortly (with pictures!)

It's been a good week!

Great news today - another good scan! It was a little spooky because there is an area on my chest wall that has been there since January and in my last scan 6 weeks ago, the radiologist that read it said that the area might be growing. This really kind of put us into a tizzy because we thought it was just scar tissue or something and hadn't really thought it was cancer. Anyway, his read was kind of wishy-washy as to if it had changed or not, so Dr. Johnson opted to wait until this scan to see if we wanted to change anything in my treatment. She said it could have just been how the scan slice cut through the area that made it look larger as opposed to anything actually growing. So, I had a scan yesterday and today we got the results that it was unchanged from last time, so she thinks that it was just his read last time & that I am still okay & clear. Whew! God has definitely answered our prayers this week.

In news about Todd's job, he has accepted a position with the IEPA Bureau of Air in Springfield and is to start on November 1st. The last day for the Champaign IEPA Lab is October 31st. We have decided that we aren't going to do anything about moving yet and that he is going to drive for a couple of months. There is a position on the books in the Champaign IEPA Regional Office that is currently unfunded & we are hoping that it becomes available in the next few months or so. After the new year, we will look at where we are at & what the job situation is & then decide if we want to move. If we do go, it will work better too because we will be putting our house on the market in the spring. All I know is that it will be interesting to see where we are at this time next year.

Meet me in St. Louis... Louis....

We just spent the past weekend in St. Louis with Todd's family & everyone had a great time. The only bad thing is, now I need a vacation because we did it all - the children's museum, the science museum, dinner on The Hill & the zoo!

Friday after we checked in to the hotel, we went to the Magic House. It is a great children's museum & we didn't even get to half of it. They had some great areas for little kids and Hadley & Ian had a blast. There were slides & climbers just the right size for them and a fun sand table. But their favorites were the grocery store & the castle. The castle section had little serf clothes that they could put on & they could pick the veggies in the field, cook in the castle kitchen & then eat at the lord's table. It was awesome and totally wore them out.

Then, on Saturday morning we got up & went to the St. Louis Science Center. Todd and I had gone there when we were dating & had really enjoyed it (yep, we're geeks!). I have to admit, it was definitely a different experience this time with a 1 1/2 and 3 year old along. Last time, we looked at all the displays & did the IMAX & planetarium, while this time we played in the little children's playroom the whole day & didn't really see anything else.

On Sunday, we were off to the St. Louis Zoo. The kids really liked it although I was amazed at just how big it was. I swear we must have walked for miles! Hadley's favorite thing was seeing a baby elephant and some of the other baby animals - I guess she can relate. It is just so neat to see them experiencing everything & to see them relate what we have read about to real life. It was really fun.

I have to say, though, that one of my very favorite things about going to St. Louis is getting to eat on The Hill. This year we tried Lou Boccardi's, and while it was good, I have to say that Cunnetto's is still my favorite. Todd loves their cheesy garlic bread & I really like their pasta con broccoli or asparagus. The only hard part is getting in on the weekends - we got there like a half hour before the opened for dinner on Saturday and managed to get in with the first seating. I was worried because the kids aren't the most patient of diners, but we all had a really good time.

Look at me - I'm 3!

Well, we have all officially survived Hadley's terrible twos as she turned three yesterday. It's actually hard to believe that she is that grown up (just ask her - she'll tell you that she is a big girl now). She has moved up to a big girl car seat & we have taken the side off of her crib so that it is now a toddler day bed. Todd & I were looking at pictures of her when she was a newborn last night & it all seems so long ago & just yesterday at the same time.

Her birthday festivities started with a family party on Saturday, the 17th. I figured it was our last chance to do a basic family party since she starts preschool in the fall & will probably want to have friends parties from here on out, but I still kind of went overboard anyway. The theme was Tinkerbell because that is what Hadley picked as we were reading her "Birthday Express" catalog (as we do most nights). If you've never received one, let me tell you that these things are a total racket. It is a catalog of only birthday party supplies & she just loves it. It is ridiculous what all you can get & the fact that you can spend hundreds on just the party supplies without even getting into food or presents. We had the plates, cups, napkins, party boxes (with favors), the Tinkerbell happy birthday banner & the Tinkerbell cake with topper.

Anyway, though, it was a great day & a nice party. Both sides of the family were there & Uncle Chuck & Aunt Kris were even able to make it down from Chicago. We grilled out and were able to eat on the porch & the kids played outside. It was just a perfect day & a fun time. The only time I cringed as mom was when Hadley was opening the presents... I'm afraid that she has turned a little materialistic. She would tear open the present, look at it, toss it aside & start digging into the next one. Cards were not even read - all that mattered was the goodies. Actually, it was kind of funny in a 3 year old kind of way. However, if she is still acting that way as she gets older, we will have issues!