Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Catching up

Hello again to my few but faithful readers! I'm back in the saddle and ready to get back to regular posting.  And by regular I mean more than once every four months anyway. So here's the scoop on what's been happening in our house...

Katy is amazing, growing like a weed and always in constant motion. Just looking at the last post I made she seems so different from that time! Such a sweet, confident, sassy kid I feel blessed by her every day. Like so many kids these days she had ear tubes placed in her ears to clear out fluid. They fell out already and she got new ones last week. She's still not saying real words much (but talking in Katy language constantly) but I think with the clear ears we'll be having two way conversations in no time.

The day Katy had her first tubes placed I had my own doctor visit for a liver biopsy. I had gone to the doctor with a pain in my stomach. I was hesitant to go because I figured it was something embarrassing like gas or indigestion but for some reason I decided to check it out. Unfortunately my breast cancer has returned in my liver and abdominal lymph nodes. damn. No longer one of the happy pink ribbon survivors but one of the many stage 4 fighters that don't get much media coverage. I took chemotherapy pills until mid April and I'm happy to report that my tumors have reduced greatly and I'm on my way to what is hopefully many years of stability.

I've spent the last few months really paying attention to my body, being good to myself and enjoying every minute with Katy, my family and my friends. I have such an amazing support system that has bolstered my mood so many times I can't count. I've decided I just am not ready to be done with this life yet. Katy deserves that. Hell, I deserve that, don't I? In any case, I'm not going anywhere any time soon.

So enough of that nonsense, I'm sure I'll have more on that later but not today. On to some Katy eye candy, that's way more fun anyway.

December was busy with holidays and special events and a lot of sleeping (for me and Riley) and playing (for Katy). We enjoyed having my sister and her family here for Christmas.

While they were here we had Katy's baptism, in the same church I was baptized.
(here's what a good bit of the end of the service looked like)

January brought the completion of a major project, finishing the basement. It turned out so well I want to do the rest of my house! Guess I'll have to wait on that.

Then we headed to California for a welcome home party for Katy with west coast relatives and friends. It was so great to see everyone! And Katy did pretty well considering there were not many childproofed places and naps happened whenever we could. I was pretty tired but we managed to fit in the party, some fun at the beach and a trip to the zoo.

February and March we started gymnastics and generally lounged around at home.

April we celebrated our first Easter together with an Easter Egg Hunt at our friends' house. Katy got to wear the dress I knitted while going through treatment with a variety of shoe choices from white patent leather shoes, to red sparkly Toms, to Sorel winter boots. We dyed eggs and she slept through brunch at the restaurant. We also took our first trip to the Children's Museum with the daycare. Bless the hearts of the teachers there I'm amazed at their strength and patience, I had to sleep off the afternoon after only a few hours with all those toddlers!

And now it's almost May. I'm excited for the summer. Katy's already spent some time in the kiddie pool in the back yard, even though I thought she'd get cold. Maybe the rain boot shoe choice helped keep her warm? We are headed to the park more often and enjoying the outdoors. I love spring in Minnesota!
Sorry that got a bit long but it was five months worth. I hope the last few months were good to you. I'm glad to be back!