Join us in the adventures of our family, with our Belarussian Prince, Guatemalan Princessa and Ukrainian Princesses!


Sunday, September 28, 2008

too quiet!

Just the other day I was on the computer trying to catch up on some blogs, Dan and Danny were outside and Victoria was running around the house. I suddenly realized that she was being very quiet! Dan and Danny came into the house just as I went looking for her. This is where I found her - in the laundry room!! Of course I had to get out the camera :)


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Good news!! and a BIG prayer request! UPDATED!

Good News! The pediatrician called yesterday to say Victoria's tests came back normal!! What a relief!
I met with my podiatrist today and he took off the dressing and put a new one on - man the incision is huge! I have 7 stitches! Victoria took one look at it and said "eeeewwwww". I have a picture but wasn't sure if anyone wanted to see it :)
I posted it at the end of this post :)

Now the big prayer request!!
I really debated about putting this out there, but I know it is mostly friends and family that read our blog and really would appreciate any prayers for myself and our family.
Some of you know that I am a breast cancer survivor. It has been 6 years since my diagnosis. I had no family history, was only 38 at the time, and was completely blown away by it. I had a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. I manage to put it out of my mind except when it comes time to see my doctors again. With our move to NE FL I had to get a new oncologist. He noticed my foot brace and asked about it. I told him about my upcoming surgery and that I also had a groin pull that just did not want to heal and it had been getting worse this year. Sometimes I feel like my right leg goes out on me. He asked me to show him where the pain is, which I did, he then told me that it was more likely hip pain. He asked when I last had any scans and I answered 6 years ago when I was diagnosed! He just about flipped. My tumor was a triple negative which means that 3 out of 5 characteristics of it were bad ones. So he immediately sent me for bloodwork, PET scan and a total body scan. The positive is that it has been so long since diagnosis.
We meet with him tomorrow to get the results.
When we went through this 6 years ago our lives were so very different. We were both working full time and the only ones dependent on us were our 2 dogs.
I just can not think about what all this means with 2 little ones. I put it out of my mind most of the time and just keep myself busy, but night time is so hard. Dan & I have been snippy with each other because of the stress. It was bad enough going through this the last time, but OMG doing it again when you KNOW what to expect is so much different.
We are hoping to hear it is just really bad arthritis as that is one of the side effects of 2 of the chemo drugs I was given. And arthritis is something that I DO have family history of :)
So if you have a minute or two please send a prayer our way, whichever way it turns out we will deal with it :)
I promise to let you all know as soon as I can :)

Just got back from my appt. the dr is pretty sure there is nothing cancerous going on. PTL!! I am being sent for an MRI of my spine. It looks like my issues are spine related. I have degenerative discs, bulging discs and severe spine stenosis. Once those results are in I will have to see another specialist to see what our options are!! Thanks for all the prayers!!

If you are squeamish, close your eyes :) No wonder why it hurts so darn much!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

almost back to the living!


It has been a tough recuperation from this foot surgery. I did not expect it at all! I truly thought I would be up and walking on the boot the next day :)
I took the pain meds they gave me every 5-6 hours, elevated my foot and iced it.
Wednesday I called the Dr's office to see if they could up the meds as it was just not doing anything. They called in a heavier dose and told me to alternate both meds every 2 hours till bed and then go back to the lower dose every 5-6 hours. I finally felt a little better by Thursday.
Luckily we have wood floors downstairs so I have been using my computer chair to whip around the house. It is exhausting doing anything.
when I woke up Friday I felt better and decided not to take any more meds at all just ice it and take motrin. Victoria had to go to Children's hospital for two procedures Friday afternoon so I strapped on my boot and we headed out.
I was able to walk through the parking garage and was exhausted when we got inside. Dan got me a wheelchair to use while we were there and that helped alot.
Victoria had to have ultrasounds of her kidneys and bladder done, which were not bad at all. She cried but at least it was over quickly.
Then we had to have a really horrible test done where her bladder is filled via catheter with contrast and then they video it as she pees. Only one parent was allowed in and Dan just couldn't do it. It was the longest 45 minutes of my life! She was furious and stubbornly refused to go! Her whole body was rigid, her belly fully extended and she was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs!
I finally got her to calm down enough to hear me tell her that if she just went pee then Daddy could come in and save her, and it worked!
I have never been so happy in my life!! They took all their pictures, video and I were able to wipe her off and hug her!
When we let Dan in he was about to go bonkers and she was so happy to see him she stopped crying and he was able to comfort her while I dressed her.
While the radiologist checked the video I got our stuff together and before we got the green light to go Victoria was sound asleep!! The poor thing was so exhausted :(
We have to wait till Monday or Tuesday to find out the results.
These tests were to find out if she has urine reflux, where the urine refluxes back up to her kidneys. This condition could cause kidney damage and one of the symptoms is frequent UTI's.
Both Victoria and I slept the whole way to pick up Danny at school, we were all exhausted! Needless to say it was an early night after take out for dinner.
She seems to have no aftereffects, no pain at all, thank heavens!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Holy cr*p batman :) :)

So yesterday we played in the backyard, did bubbles and watched football.
During halftime we let the dogs out to do their thing, while we all had potty runs. I heard Maggie barking like crazy and looked out the window to see her jumping around and barking at the fence!? For some reason I decided to head out and see if she had another mole and came across this!

This is a cottonmouth snake! and yes it is poisonous!! I promptly ran into the house and yelled to Dan "snake"!! Luckily Maggie came right back in with me. Dan & I then ran outside (me with my camera, Dan with a shovel)to check it out. It was pretty aggressive and kept opening its mouth up and you could see the bright white mouth.
Dan hit it with the shovel and a gecko popped out of its mouth and ran up the fence! Dan chased the snake down the fence till it went under and into the neighbors yard.
I immediately got on the internet so we could id it and could not believe we had been in the backyard with it!
Scared the heck out of both of us.
The kids are not being let out to play till we check the yard now.
Maggie got lots of treats :) :)
(and I dreamed about snakes last night)


Isn't this just beautiful??
The Dr will put this on me tomorrow while in the OR after my foot surgery.
It weighs about 12 pounds :( I will have to wear it for 3-4 weeks.
The worst part is that I can not shower or bathe till the stitches come out in 2 weeks :(

Thursday, September 11, 2008

The fun of homework :)


don't you just love this face! this is how happy he is when he has to write letters or numbers! poor torture!


nothing I like better :)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Busy Sunday


I just LOVE this picture!! We went to the base to check on the boat. While Dan went on board, the kids and I played at the playground and then walked the waterfront. Dan took the work boat back into shore and then followed us along the waterfront. The kids kept yelling "hi daddy" and waving like maniacs. It is the little things in life that make them so happy :)

Danny had his first classmate birthday party yesterday. There must have been over 50 kids and adults at pumpitup. The party was for twins turning 5. We had Victoria with us and she was just having so much fun, the inflatables were really too big for her, but she loved just running around with the kids.

This is the only time she bounced around, no one else was near her. The bigger kids kept running her over so she was a little shell shocked.


Victoria didn't know what to make of a lot of the inflatables, but she will talk to anyone :)


Danny loved the slides


the birthday party! pizza, ice cream and cake!
All victoria wanted was the balloons!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Catch up!

Been a busy week!
For the long weekend the weather was kind of yucky so we hung pretty close to home.
We did check out the Jacksonville Landing on Monday and it was pretty cool. It is right on the water, free dockage, bunch of restaurants and stores. It is all walkable too. The kids had so much fun, they had a water park but we did not know about it so we did not have their suits :( they were not happy with us. We did have lunch at Hooters :) and both kids were a hit with the girls :)
Danny is settling back into school and is so tired that it is like pulling teeth to get him to do any work once home. He started soccer this past Wednesday and will start Karate next Tuesday. He also started Violin today :) He loved "playing". I tried to hang around to catch site of it but they were running really late and I could not wait. The school has the Asst conductor from the Jax philharmonic come in weekly and ALL kids starting in Kindergarten play. My old violin is being repaired and he should be able to use it in a couple of years.
He is sound asleep by 8pm and we have to wake him at 7am.
Victoria has started going upstairs for bed, climbing in, we put music on get hugs and kisses and she drinks her milk and goes to sleep!! We have the side of her crib down and will start using her toddler bed soon. I can't believe she will be 2 in a month!!


Jacksonville Landing


The view of the St. Johns River


The water and sand park


The kids at flag this am.