What a Year, Holy Crap!!

I'm sitting here in the house as Jon took the kids over to his sister's house for breakfast (hmm, it's nearly noon, already?)

Anyway, I stayed behind because I wanted to polish our floors. As I was putting down coat #3 of the worlds greatest floor product, Holloway House Quick Shine. I was thinking about the day and what we were going to do with the rest of it.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Today is February 28. It was one year ago today that Eva had her seizure in the doctor's office that sent us into a dizzying array of the world that we know now. I cannot even believe that it has been a year.

I remember it so well. Eva felt warm when I went to work. We had a staff meeting and I mentioned that I had to take her to the doctor later that afternoon because I did not want her to have the flu for a second time that month.

I had no idea the direction that I was heading that afternoon.

It's strange, when I was in the hospital with Eva the other day, most of the staff who were there, were there either the night that Eva came in the first time or the afternoon when Jack came in two days later. They all came in to talk to me about it. I told them that I could not believe that they remembered us from a year ago. The doctor told me that there are some families that they do not forget and we were one of them. They had gathered around and recounted that night and the subsequent Saturday from their perspective.

They mentioned seeing Eva toddling around (she was 16 mos at the time). Someone mentioned that she had on her Elmo dress (she did). Then, they told me that they all knew before the doctor told me. They had all seen the x-rays with the giant tumor but wanted to remain positive before they took us back for the CT to verify exactly what it was. One of the nurses told me that in all of his days, he'll never forget hearing me sob and hyperventilate from that room (funny, I won't forget that either!)

Another nurse and our doctor were the ones who were there when Jack came in. They, of course, jumped in with stories about that day and how in shock we all seemed to be.

I guess when we look back at it, we have to focus on all the blessings of the year. I mean, I have the most amazing memories of the past 366 days (LY was a leap year, remember?) :

All the outpouring of support from this blog and from my friends and colleagues
All the new friends I have made in this tiny circle of NB
Having such an amazing husband and son who just move along with every change
Having such a wonderful family who just pitched in at every turn to help us

The thing I am most blessed for, I would have to say, is watching my little Eva weather this storm with such strength and determination. I ordered a shirt for her that I'm hoping will come in in the next couple of days. I saw it when we were in Disney World last year but did not get it. It has much more meaning now. It is a picture of Yoda with a light saber and it says, "Judge me by my size, do you?" The world has to look out for this little one, trust.

Thank you all so much for your support for us over the past year. I don't know how I would have made it without you.

Confession Tuesday

It's Mardi Gras!

Well, I won't do like I did last year with the themed confessional. Even THOUGH I actually attended Mardi Gras for the first time last weekend! But, it's time for the confessional!
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I did not win the Oscars contest this year. I did not lose, that award goes to Jana. Joseph had this uncanny way of picking all the "small" categories like documentary, animated short, live action short, etc. Does Joseph work for PWC and we don't know it???

JoJo, I'll be sending you your trophy. Don't you worry.
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Hotmail has allowed us to change our backgrounds for our email. I picked the robots.
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MY NANNY IS BACK! MY NANNY IS BACK! After a two week absence for a family emergency, she's back! I'm so happy I don't know what to do. You know what makes me the most happy (well, besides having to not scramble for childcare!)? I won't have to do things like send Jack to school with dirty underwear turned inside out because after working 14 hour days, I had not managed to get the laundry done. WAHOO!
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I'm going to give up Diet Coke as my lenten sacrifice. For those who know me personally, this is a major, I mean, major sacrifice. AND my wonderful hubby just purchased a 24 pack that will just sit there taunting me for the next 40 days. Maybe I'll chug a bunch of it tonight. That should not keep me up and wired AT ALL. Beloved Diet Coke, I shall miss thee...
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Speaking of awake and wired, last night, Eva would not go to sleep. I let her squirm in her bed (I mean, try to fall asleep) until 9pm or so (aka the end of the Women Tell All episode of The Bachelor). Although, she had eaten a huge dinner, she told me that she was hungry (when is she not? she eats like a teenage boy, no kidding). So, I brought her in the den where Jon and I were watching Sunday's Amazing Race. Don't know if you saw this episode but at one point, there was a challenge to throw cream cakes in the partner's faces until you found the cherry filling. I swear, Eva thought this was the funniest thing she had EVER seen. I got more enjoyment from watching her laugh at this than I can ever say. She was literally rolling on the floor laughing in her usual unintelligible babbling. It was like this, "babble babble babble CAKE!!!! ha ha ha!!!!! Mommy! Mommy! Babble babble babble CAKE!!!!" I'm so scared to see what will happen the next time we have cake at dinner.
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Happy Mardi Gras!!!

The Oscars--Again!

Well, it's Oscars night, again!

I'm terribly excited, as usual. Not only because I will lose my last place trophy to another competitor (Jana, JoJo and Al, you're going down!) but that I might actually EARN the top prize which I forgot to mail to Jana last year!

Good news, Jana, you won't have to mail it to me! I've got it right her in its rightful place on my mantle. Same as last year!

The Best Laid Plans...

This weekend, I had great plans to go visit my new nephew, James. I have not met him and was soooo excited.

Alas, someone had other plans.

I got home from work and Jack had FIVE days of smiley faces from school (for the first time--woop woop!) I had promised him that the first time we got five days of smiley faces I would buy him a present.

So, Jack and I go off to get his celebratory present. Jon calls. Eva has a fever. Crap.

We called the doctor. I was pretty sure that this was not a port infection that it was probably something like the flu. But, since she has the port, all fevers require a trip to the ER.

Turns out that Eva has pneumonia. Not the really bad kind that lands you in the hospital for a week, thankfully, but the kind that makes you go home and take breathing treatments for several days.

Today, she's back to her normal self. She's a bit tired because we were at the ER until 12:30am but beyond that, she's fine. I'm counting my blessings!

Now, to figure out a time to get my hands on that baby!!!!

Confession Tuesday

Hi all!

Well, thought I would post a couple of quick thoughts for the day.
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I'm still coming down off of the news that we got for Eva. I have to say, I was FULLY expecting to hear that the tumor was growing. I can pray and hope all day long that it goes well but honestly, the way things had been going, I was just prepared for some bad news. Then, it came. the good news. The tumor is shrinking all on its own! I still can't believe my ears. What fantastic and happy news!!!!

The plan is to rescan her in May but to check her cathecolemines in a couple of weeks. If the test is normal, we'll stick with the May plan. If we have to scan her before then, well, we'll just make do.

As I've mentioned, tumors grow so quickly. So, we'll know pretty fast if one is growing. Here's to hoping.

For now, I'm floating for sure.
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Well, we've been sooo busy around here. First of all, let me start by saying this is my busiest time at work. We are in the middle of our annual campaign (my entire reason for having employment) and I'm swamped. It's going very well, though and we're more than halfway there. I'm just putting in tons of hours. Last week, I worked fourteen hours a day for three days. Ugh.
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In addition, I have been sick off and on for a couple of weeks. Jon has been awesome supporting me for the past couple of weeks while I was sick. I don't know what I would have done without him to be there to help!
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Speaking of Jon, we had a great time at the school auction. As you might have read, I had some "issues" with my hair! So, I did the best thing I could think of, I bought a hat! Here we are on the way to the auction.


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We had a great time. I'm not kidding. We had a great table filled with FUN people. As a matter of fact, we closed the gala down and then went out with our very FUN table. We got some great stuff including a rocking chair decorated by Eva's teacher with all the songs that Eva sings at school. I love it so much. Eva likes to sit in it and rocks back and forth singing her little songs. That was worth it right there!
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The other day, I was riding behind a truck. The name of the company was "Amen Gutters". Their tag? "Gutters that last until Jesus comes back." That's SOME guarantee! I mean, really, how much are you going to need those gutters, anyway, after Jesus comes?
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I thought it was really important to make sure that Jack knew my cell number.

Here's the problem. Jack calls me nonstop. The messages usually go something like this, "Hi Mom, I miss you. I love you. You're the best. BOOTY BUTT! POOPY HEAD!!" and then some rather foul noises. This is followed by hysterical laughter and then a hang up.

What do I do with that???
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I had a great Valentine's Day. Usually, Jon and I do not really do much for that holiday. Usually, for me, it's just JANA'S BIRTHDAY!!!! more than anything. But, my hubby called his BFF Neil and we headed to their house in New Orleans for the weekend kids in tow to celebrate early Mardi Gras.

I have to say first, that we BARELY made the flight. I got home from work and went to grab the kids to throw them in the car to head to the airport. Then, I saw it. All the clothes that I had carefully packed were thrown all over the house. Jack had decided to repack the bag with only pajama tops and his lizard/alligator costume.

Now, I had exactly fifteen minutes to find everything and repack before the flight left. I cannot even still believe that we made it and I did as well as I did.

Here's the list of things that I did miss:

-Each of us only had one pair of shoes, the ones we had on when we boarded the plane.
-I forgot the camera and had to rely on my friends to take pics.
-I brought only one shirt, the one I had on when I boarded the airplane.
-I did not have any pull ups for Jack to wear at night.

Thank heaven God made Walmart. Bought the kids some fake crocs, me some shirts, Jack some pull ups and we were off.

I deserve some major organization awards for that!
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We had SUCH a blast! I mean, SUCH A BLAST!

Now, let me just dispel anything you might think about Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Ok, maybe Mardi Gras weekend is exactly what you think it might be. Jon told me that the weekend before Mardi Gras was super kid friendly and that they would love it. I was skeptical, having never been there and thinking I was going to have to grab my children and run from shirt-lifting-vomiting-co-eds. Not so.

Apparently, uptown IS very family friendly. I tell you, those New Orleanians have it right. They make it fun for everyone. You want drunk? Go to the French Quarter. You want your kids to have a blast? Stay uptown. And, stay uptown, we did.

They caught beads. They caught stuffed animals. They caught cups. They caught doubloons. They yelled at the horses, danced with the bands and screamed, "Throw me something, Mister!!!" Like nobody's business.

I thought that Eva would just think it was ok. You know, I always underestimate her and her fun factor. The music from the marching bands start, Eva just jumps up and down and dances. Eva had so many beads on her, she could barely walk but she would not allow you to take off ONE strand.

Here are a couple of pics of the weekend. I let Jack keep his lizard/alligator costume.

Shrinking is the Opposite of Growing

So, I've heard! Yes, got Eva's MRI results today. Eva's tumor is shrinking!!!!!!

WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

AND NO NEW GROWTH!!!!!

More to come!

Today's MRI

I'm off this morning to take Eva for her MRI. I heard last night from the GOOD anesthesiologist (yeah) that he was going to do her procedure.

I'm going in very hopeful that all is well. We got news yesterday that her catecholemine test (that urine test that detects cancer markers) was normal. It could still be normal and we could see growth of that tumor but for now, I'm hoping that is just the case.

Just an aside, as I only have a moment this morning. I've been meaning to write all week. I have lots of photos from the auction, which I will post this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, my wonderful hubby has arranged for a Valentine's Day spectacular! We're heading to New Orleans to Mardi Gras this evening. WAHOO! I can't wait!

That's just a bit of random notes. More later.

The Pin Curl

Tonight, we are going to a party for my children's school. The theme is 1940's. So, I get this dress, I'm all set for tonight. One final touch, the hair.

Last night, Jon went out to a concert. I decided to invite my girlfriend over after we put our kids to bed to come, drink some wine and work on our hair.

We go online and all we see? Pin curls. Everywhere. Step by step pin curls. Oh, this is easy we say, as we drink more wine and roll our hair. According to the photos and instructions, when you take the pins out, with the twist of a wrist, you get this gorgeous wavy well constructed hair.

So, I went to bed with a head full of bobby pins and tied up in a do-rag. This morning, I woke up so excited! A twist of the wrist and this is what I had!

I giant afro!!!

Thank god I live in 2009!

The Ugh, and The Double Ugh.

The Ugh
Hi everyone! Well on Sunday, I had this great post written about the weekend and all the fun activites the kids had been doing. I was beat after the Super Bowl, so I thought I would just write it on Monday when I got home from work.

Well, the best laid plans as they say...

Was sitting at lunch for my boss' birthday on Monday. Suddenly, I felt freezing. I asked everyone at the table if they, too, were cold. They looked at me like I had four heads. Then, the achiness started. That's when I knew I was toast.

By 3:30, I had the chills and my legs suddenly weighed 500 lbs each.

For the next two days, my fever ranged anywhere from 100.8-102.4. I was freezing. I was sweating. I hurt everywhere.

I went to the doctor and found out that I did not have the flu but rather a bacterial infection. I begged him to make me better faster. So, rather than taking 10 days worth of antibiotics, he gave me a shot and a zpack.

Today, I am back to normal. Just in time for Eva's MRI tomorrow.

The Double Ugh
The doctor wanted to do an MRI on Eva six weeks post-chemo. That was actually last week but since we could not get an appointment, we got the "sweet" appointment of 7:ooam tomorrow.

The thing is when you have these MRI's, you get assigned an anesthesiologist and you don't find out who that person is until the night before.

So, tonight, guess who calls me? SENIOR MOMENT LADY! You all might remeber she's the one that one time delayed us three hours and Eva came out with emersion dementia. Then, we unluckily had her again and guess what? Five hour delay and 45 minutes of screaming Eva hell (aka emersion dementia part 2).

I just blew a gasket. I called and tried to find out if someone else could take her tomorrow and they cannot. So, we have to cancel and reschedule for next week.

I am so upset. I have been worried sick on the edge of my seat for weeks worried about Eva's tumor growth. Now, we have to wait until next week and just hope that we don't get assigned the same person! This is just miserable!

Anyway, we're all fine here beyond that. I'm just really bummed tonight so not such a happy bouncy post. I'll have more of those this weekend, I'm sure.