Happy 3rd Birthday AA!

Yes it is true, Adrie is 3. Her special day started out a little rough being that you have a 50% chance she will wake up crabby and her birthday was no exception. When I reminded her that it was her birthday she cried and said I don't want to be 3 I want to be 2. Mind you she has been waiting since June for her birthday. After she woke up, ate breakfast and was in better spirits she was able to open her first present of the day. A treasure chest full of Disney Princess dress up. She was in heaven. She changed into every outfit before finally settling on Snow White for her special day. So out we went to get her much anticipated first hair cut ever. She made me go first and watched from a chair in the sun until she warmed up. Literally, by the time I was done she had stripped down to her turtle neck and panties saying I was hot mommy. Perrie's salon was covered in Adrie's clothing. Thankfully she didn't have another customer until after we were completely done and re-dressed. Adrie sat very still on my lap and did an awesome job for Perrie. Her hair turned out super cute. No more baby mullet. Thank goodness. Though I was sad to see her baby curls go. For doing so good she got to open one more present which was her collection of christmas movies including her recent fav, Frosty the Snowman. Then we were off to my sister's daycare for lunch and back home to get our beauty sleep before the party. The party was fun and she really tore into her presents this year. She did awesome at sharing with her friends and really enjoyed all the attention. Happy Birthday A! By the way the next morning I asked her if she was still 2 and she said no mommy I'll be 3 now. What a cute girl.

The Perfect Christmas Tree

The search for the perfect Christmas Tree was super fun. Conan worked so hard to find the perfect tree while Adrie and I treked around in the snow and went sledding and made "snow bots" (not sure where she came up with that one). Soon we grew tired and retreated to the pick-up for a snack from the pop corn tin and waited for Conan. Just as I started to fear the worst as I always do....here came Conan with the perfect Christmas Tree. It is beautiful and fits perfectly in our front room. What a fun family day. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun. It was one of the first days I could get out and about without getting sick and having good energy. Thanks Conan for working so hard to find the perfect tree.

"Pretty School"

Every...well almost every Wednesday we have Megan Jo and Tugg over for what Adrie refers to as "pretty school" or what's better known as preschool. Basically it's recess the entire 2 hours or at least it has been since I've been pregnant. Usually we start with play time and then move to a lesson at the table. We've been focusing on letter and number recognition and each kid has been doing great. Sometimes we finish the table time with a snack and move on to music and movement time. We sing several songs and play games such as ring around the rosey, london bridges and duck duck goose. The kids love it. We finish out the morning with you guessed it, more playtime. Adrie's favorite part of preschool is the table activity and crafts, she loves to learn. Tugg loves it all, but really is the only one who interacts with me at table time. If I hold up a flashcard he answers "B for baseball" nevermind that it's "B for buttons". At least he gets the B part right. Tugg also loves playtime. The instant he gets in the door it's off with his shoes and on with Adrie's pink cowgirl boots, but only until he tires of those and has to strip his socks and don Adrie's flower flip flops. Too cute. Then there's Megan Jo. She loves music time. Once we start she runs back to Adrie's room to return with her toy piano and she's ready to play and sing always starting with Twinkle Twinkle her favorite. These kids are too cute and so much fun. Thanks for humoring me sisters and brothers and letting me have my special time with the kiddos.

Berssert is Balicious

These kids are so cute! Yes they are filthy and yes they are all in t-shirts and underwear. They are the best! Love A's lisp, I wonder if she'll grow out of it?

Family Fun

A couple of weeks ago my sister and Conan's brother and wife came over with all the kiddos and enjoyed an evening watching the kids play. It was fun and the kids had a blast running crazy in the yard. They wrestled Conan and Curtis and enjoyed some squash and cucumbers from the garden. Too fun!

Pickle Juice

So we were trying to get a "sour" face out of the girls while eating a pickle, but they didn't so much as pucker even a little. So we busted out the pickle juice and still...nothing. Just then Teddi says, "I've never drank pickle juice". So I said, what?????!!!!! Here's the straw and I loved the results. At least I got one pucker face. Forgive me Teddi, I just had to:)

Here We Go Again:(

The time has come to prepare for my post treatment body scan to see if the treatment was a success. So that means for the next two weeks I have to be on a low/no iodine diet. That means no iodized salt (which is in everything packaged), dairy products, seafood, egg yolks, chocolate (waaaa!), soybeans, potato skins, rhubarb, or iodine containing vitamins. To prepare for this lovely venture I thought I'd start getting prepared early so I wrote my "diet start date" on the calender...July 27th. And that's where the preparation ended. I had planned to make a large variety of pre-prepared non-iodine meals to freeze for myself so that I didn't have to worry at all. And while I didn't have to actually eat it. So much for that, the day snuck up on me like a thief in the night. Luckily however, my wonderful mother-in-law Carol spent her entire afternoon Sunday cooking for ME! Yea! Mind you this was after she had worked all week and spent the weekend at a family retreat 5 hours away. Wow! I feel so blessed...again. The first time I went through this Carol filled my fridge, freezer and pantry with non-iodine foods for 4 weeks. It was such a blessing since I had NO thyroid hormone and was very weak and tired all the time with no energy to cook. Thank you so much Carol. Love ya bunches! So here's to 2 weeks of craving cheese, seafood and chocolate, some inevitable weight gain, and feeling starved because just the word diet makes me hungry. Seriously, this morning I was satisfied after one delicious non-iodine banana muffin, but had to eat three so I wouldn't starve. Hence, the weight gain. Lord help me.

ThyCa

After a rocky start to my day I have found the ability to laugh in the face of my ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer). I'm finally coming to a point of facing the sickness instead of running from it and denying it. Though I hate it and the changes it has put my body through it feels good to laugh. I would have never found this funny in my healthier days, but today it's better than stand-up. Currently I am struggling with a heart arrhythmia and a curious lump under my right arm in the breast tissue not to mention low levels of thyroid hormone. I'm getting through however, God reminds me every day that he is holding me through it all. Even when I try to forget what I've been through I see my scar in the mirror and remember that without it I wouldn't be who I am today. I logged on to the website thyca.org and was able to find some relief in humor. It may not be funny to any of you but to me it is hilarious. Sing it to Camp Town Races...
ThyCa patients sing this song,
Doo-dah, doo-dah.
ThyCa listserv's five miles long,
Oh, the doo-dah day.

See them chatting 'bout the foods to eat,
Doo-dah, doo-dah.
Low-iodine diet - most do cheat,
Oh, the doo-dah day.

Goin' to crave all night!
Goin' to crave all day!
I can't wait for a ham and cheese.
Weight gain, go away!

When you're hypo, you're brain's in a fog,
Doo-dah, doo-dah.
All you wanna do is sleep like a log,
Oh, the doo-dah day.

It's isolation time for me,
Doo-dah, doo-dah.
Drink and pucker, puke and pee
Oh, the doo-dah day

Goin' to glow all night!
Goin' to glow all day!
The room's decorated with plastic wrap,
Wonder how long I gotta stay?!

Tee Hee!

Girly Stuff

Okay so if my daughter had her way I would have to paint her toenails and fingernails every day. She loves it. She does a pretty good job holding still and letting them dry. We have fun doing pedicures together which I would have never imagined we'd do until she was a teenager. What a girly girl!

Pool Time

This summer I offered to watch one of my sister's day care kids Hadlee. She has been a lot of fun. She's about 19 months and too cute. She and Adrie play really well together. Here they are playing in the pool. Adrie loves to dip her head in the water over the side of the pool and as Hadlee tried to do the same she toppled right over into the water. She thought that was a mean trick.

The Garden

Conan started a garden this year in our yard to the side of the house where the previous owners had one. It has really started to take off. Especially the zuccini. These pics are from just a couple weeks after he planted everything and the garden is already much fuller. We have tomatoes, zuccini, pumpkin (which is the little tiny yellow thing in the pic), peppers, watermelon, and cantalope. I may be missing something. So far we've only been able to enjoy the zuccini and it is delicious. Conan does a very good job taking care of it. I've done nothing but enjoy the vegetable of his labor. Tee hee!

Post Camping Binge

Conan and I both loved bubble gum ice cream when we were little so we were super excited to share with Adrie. We stopped at a way cute ice cream parlor on the way home and enjoyed some lunch and ice cream. Adrie loved it.

Camping Trip

We recently bought a trailer for camping. Our first outing was to Phillips Reservoir (sp?) and was super fun. We rode our mountain bikes the entire weekend and fished a whole bunch. We also cozied in the trailer and watched pinocchio over and over again because it's Adrie's latest fav. Too fun.

Swing Batter

Adries attempt at being sporty.

Morgan Lake

I know, I know it's so super easy for me to get behind. All is well. For the last couple of months I was losing my mind working my sister's day care while she prepared for Mr. Kolt to come (Pics soon). I was also working my reg job and of course spending time with Adrie and Conan. Needless to say the blog was neglected. Let me try to catch up on the last 2 months. We took a day trip over to see Arlee and Bragen and were able to go to Morgan Lake for a couple of hours to fish. The kids were too cute playing with worms and sitting together at the lakes edge. Conan caught a fish and Adrie said, "the fish is throwing a fit" as it thrashed its body on the hook. Two cutie kids for sure. Oh yes, Adrie was shirtless because she spilled strawberry milk all over herself on the bumpy stroller ride to our fishing spot.

BooGer

Hope this doesn't make anyone sick. If you are easily nauseated by gross stories stop reading now. A few weeks ago I caught Adrie "tasting" a booger. I nearly lost my lunch. I understand that every kid has to go through this stage. In fact I remember being young and having my mom tell me that if I ate my boogers that worms would grow in my tummy. So as I tried not to gag I explained to Adrie that we don't eat our boogers, that they are gross and go in a Kleenex or to give it to mommy. We don't eat them! Well, when she sucks her thumb a lot of times her little finger wanters up her little nose and pulls out a little boogie. So what does she do with it? Exactly what I told her to she runs to me saying "Booger" and holds her little finger up to me with what is usually a nasty sticky booger on it. And as I try not to gag I say thank you Adrie good job and run to the nearest box of Kleenex then to the sink to wash. Hey at least she isn't eating it. I think I may have to bring the Kleenex down to her level and teach her to put her booger in the kleenex then in the garbage. GAG!

LiFe

Lately I have been bogged down with depressing stories of a dad losing his wife before she gets to meet her baby girl, a couples daughter who is living with a debilitating diagnosis, a family losing their dad to cancer, and a family losing their mom to cancer. Praise God for my health! Though it is up in the air at this time I believe there is no more cancer in my body. Praise God that I have a healthy baby girl. She is such a huge blessing to me, I am grateful that God gave me the chance to be her mommy. And praise God that I have a healthy, strong, smart, wonderful, caring husband to share this journey with. For as long as I live on this earth until Jesus is ready to take me home I pray that I don't take a minute for granted. I hope each of you reading at some point has one of those moments where you feel like the luckiest person alive. We can't help the hand we are dealt in this life but we can choose to keep our focus on God and remember that he has a plan for each and every one of us. In His timing we will know all of the answers to the why questions. And until then may we keep on keepin' on and doing His will. God is good.

These Girls

These girls are always too cute. They crack me up every time they are together. I've even braved taking them to the grocery store together and I laughed the entire time. They sang Itsy Bitsy Spider all through the aisles and would clap for themselves and shout "YEA". Adrie started to sing Jesus Loves Me and when she was done she told Jojo...Clap! What fun girlies! Plus, it's so much easier with two. Sure they have their moments, but that's what siblings do and these two are the closest each have to a true sibling. Love 'em!

Happy Easter

What a fun Easter we had. We had a fun easter egg hunt and breakfast before church with the kids and grandparents. The kids were super cute in their easter clothes and they actually knew what they were doing when we were hunting easter eggs. It was done and over in minutes. So cute. Happy Easter everyone!