COMING 12/12/08

For all of you "Twilight" fans, me included. I CANNOT wait!!!

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585900&vid=226476

Thanks, Nat, for the link!

I Want My Baby Back, Baby Back...

(Remember the jingle from the Chili's commercials? Baby back ribs?) Anyone?

Anyhoo, I had a nice weekend with my boys, minus the littlest amigo. Grandma and Grandpa were going to the cabin on Friday so that Rich could work on the addition some more. Marla offered to take Jake with them, and at first I declined. I'm not a huge fan of being away from my boys, especially my baby. BUT, then Curt decided to take the two older boys and the neighbor boy camping on that same day. And then I started thinking.

Hmmmm....if I cut the cord and allowed Jakey to go to the cabin, and the other boys would be camping with Curt...that means...I COULD HAVE THE HOUSE ALL TO MYSELF FRIDAY...and part of Saturday!!!!

So, long story short, kids and dad had a fun time camping, Jake was/is being spoiled by Grandma, and I had a nice QUIET evening to myself!! I mostly cleaned, but I loved that it was STILL clean whenI woke up on Saturday morning.

Curt, Luke, Ty, and I went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Saturday night. Although we (I) have missed Jake, we were reminded of how much easier things are with the kids being older now. It made us both think that maybe we are content with Jake being our last baby, after all.

Jake will be coming back home today some time, and even though life was way more laid back and quiet while he was gone, I am SOOOOO ready for him to be home again!! I missed him so much. Our family just isn't the same without Jake.

And Then There Were Four...

The Allen Family (1979 or 1980?)
In back...My dad, Craig, Carrie, Mom holding me
Front...Camille, Christie, Marcus holding the cat

Just when I thought the birthday festivities were for sure over, I got a package in the mail from my aunt up in Washington! In the box, along with some other things, was this picture she had taken of my family.

She wrote that she thought I "would like a copy of these photos because you're always in loving arms." After reading her note, I looked at the picture and felt such a comforting feeling as I looked at my mom holding me. How true my aunt is. I know that my mom has helped carry me through many tough days in my life, especially through this latest cancer journey. Although I've never actually seen her or felt her presense (yet), I have a lot of faith that she is doing more for me since her death, than she could ever have in mortality.

It's also strange to look at that picture and know that my brother Craig died (Cystic Fibrosis), my sister Camille died (Cystic Fibrosis), my sister Carrie died (Breast Cancer), and my mom died also (Colon Cancer)...and now I have breast cancer. I know this isn't typical or normal even, but I DO KNOW that our family has received countless blessings through these difficult times. I have to remind myself DAILY of the many blessings I have and to always remember that someone out there has it WAY worse than I do.

Moving on...with this last treatment of Taxol, I still didn't have nausea at all!! I have had a lot of bone pain, though, and have had to take Vicodin to relieve it. My pain has mostly been in my lower body...hips, knees, and feet...but today I'm feeling much better.

Tomorrow I go in for my Herceptin and a CT scan afterwards. My dr is just doing the scan as a precaution because I told him last week that my lower abdomen has been really bloated for a couple of months. No pain. Just bloated. He says it's probably nothing, but wanted to do a scan just to be on the safe side.

LAST Post About My Birthday (I promise!)

Last Monday, Curt and I were able to go to the Suns' game! Thanks to our friend Wren for graciously giving us his tickets! Curt and I had A BLAST!! Not only was it so good for us to get out and spend some time together sans kids, but watching the game really got me interested in basketball again. I sort of got burned out from all those years back home watching the Bulls...but now I am a total SUNS fan and I HOPE that they can kick it up a notch and start smoking the Spurs during these playoffs!

I was surprised at how excited I was when I saw Steve Nash and Shaq. Let's go fellas! Kick some San Antonio butt!!




WOOPS! You can at least see half of Curt's face.

And when we returned home from the game...THIS is what we saw!! Our front yard was ALL decked out for my big 3-0 the next day...thanks to Monda, Sarah, and Melissa!

More Birthday Pictures!

Ice Cream cake with our family...my dad, Debbie, Ashlie, Alayna, Marla, and Rich!

Treatment #5

Today was my 5th chemo treatment and the first day of the new drug Taxol, along with the Herceptin. I had to take some steroids (Decadron) and 10pm last night and at 2am this morning to prevent any adverse reactions to the chemo today. They also gave me Benadryl before administering the chemo. It made me a bit drowsy, but it felt good to rest my eyes for a while. I was in chemo today for about 5 hours. It was long (and Curt was there with me the majority of the time!), but Taxol is typically easier on the stomach...so far I'm not nauseated.

I talked with Dr. Kellogg a little bit today about the game plan once I'm done with chemo. He recommended that I talk with a Radiologist and get their opinion on whether or not I should do radiation. I'm hoping more for "NOT", but I guess we'll do whatever it takes for the cancer to stay away for a LOOOONG time. I will most likely have to take Tamoxifen (an anti-estrogen pill) for around 5 years, unless I decide to have my ovaries removed (too much information, I know!) and then they would prescribe me a different pill that is usually given to those who are post-menopausal.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty confident that we're on the right track. It's hard to not have doubts at times, to not worry about the "what if's", and to not be sad at times when I think about not being able to be pregnant again. But, I do have faith that things will be fine, no matter what happens in the future, and I am SOOO blessed to have had 3 healthy pregnancies that produced 3 beautiful healthy boys!

OH WHAT A NIGHT!

Erica and Candice showed up with a "Birthday Girl" tiara and sash for me to wear! Coming from those two, I wasn't surprised one bit!

My Wii and Guitar Hero from Curt, the boys, and my in-laws! The Birthday Girl is ready to PART-A!

A George Michael DVD from Candice and Erica!! George was one of my childhood obsessions! Some other gifts I received were...yummy cookies, body spray, a pedicure gift certificate, a guitar t-shirt to wear while I'm jamming with Guitar Hero, bubble gum (again, read my older post about my 5 things...)

Me and my peeps...Trisha, me, Monda, Erica, Ashlie, Candice, Donna and Melissa

Monda and Ashlie

Erica and Trisha

Donna and me

Watching George SHAKE IT....'cause you gotta have faith...

I honestly haven't had THAT much fun in a looong time! Friday started off with shopping with Monda! What a great way to start my day!! We had a good time and I came home with some new shoes and a couple of shirts. THANKS AGAIN, Monda!!

After donning my crown and sash, I opened my gifts from Curt and the boys, and my in-laws! I'm already sore from the Wii...boxing will do that to you! We are all excited that my birthday came at the perfect time because we ALL wanted a Wii! It's been fun playing it with the family.

As soon as everyone arrived, we were off to dinner at BJ's (one of my favorite places). I am proud (and a bit embarassed) to say that I wore that crown AND sash to the restaurant, during our meal, and walked out of the restaurant to the car STILL wearing it! Am I a good sport, or what?! It was funny to watch everyone stare (and, again, a bit embarassing!), but I figured WHO CARES! You only turn 30 once! One old lady even told me "Congratulations" as I was walking by! FUN-NY! There was also a birthday party sitting at the table behind us...with an 8 or 9 year-old little girl wearing a birthday crown, too! We were cracking up.

After dinner, and some presents, we decided to go to the dollar theater to see Juno. I was one of the few who hadn't seen it yet, and I am glad I did! SUCH a good flick! My favorite part of the night was definitely watching my new DVD in Erica's car and hearing all of us (well...MOST of us) belting out the tunes to "Wake me up before you Go-Go" and "Faith"!! Turns out, I'm not the only closet George Michael fan!!!

I cannot imagine going throughout life without such an awesome group of friends! Thanks, ladies, for the FABULOUS night of fun! You all are AMAZING and I love you all and am so appreciative for all that you do for me. And THANK YOU, Candice, for making the trip down here for the weekend. I can't wait for your next trip!!

Here's to the Dirty Thirties!!

Cheers!

GOOD Times at Bunco!

Bunco on Thursday night was a blast, as usual! It was at Stacey's house and she had some yummy food for us and for dessert...Erica and Candice surprised me with a birthday cake! But it wasn't just ANY cake. It had a picture of a red Camaro on it, just like my very first car, AND it said "NASTY" on the license plate!! (You'll have to scroll down to my older posts if you don't know the story behind this one.) It was hilarious and I was totally caught off guard!! I didn't have my camera with me that night, so I will have to wait to post any pics. I can't WAIT to see the pics from that night!

We only played one round because we were all too busy chitt-chatting. I won the door prize, which was very exciting for me because it had been a while since I had won something!

Thanks for the food, laughs, and SWEET cake!!

QUEEN For the Day (or Week?)

So, my 30th birthday is next week, on the 15th....and I am excited!! I normally hate any type of attention and totally hate being in the spotlight, but my upcoming b-day is the perfect excuse to go out and celebrate the "Dirty Thirties" with some of my closest friends! I am soooo looking forward to the next few days because the party is starting tonight!

First on the agenda......BUNCO!! We do this every month, but it just makes it even better when us moms are getting out of the house TWO NIGHTS in a row!! Woo-hoo! We always have such a great time with our Bunco group and there are some nights that we only play two rounds and then just sit around chatting and laughing a lot. Good times.

Next, tomorrow Monda says she wants to take me birthday shopping! Isn't she awesome? When she told me what she wanted to do, I didn't even argue with her or try to talk her out of it. It would be pointless because what Monda says goes! I've learned that. She said if she were to get me a gift card, she knows I would end up spending it on my kids. She knows me well. I'm very much looking forward to spending the day with her. I also need to thank Melissa for taking care of Ty and Jake while I'm going to be out and about!

And then, it's dinner tomorrow night at BJ's with my girlfriends!

I am going to see how long I can milk this birthday thing out! You only turn 30 once. My dad and Debbie are also coming into town on Saturday, so I'm sure we'll celebrate with them and the rest of the family, too.

My Peeps

I know I brag a lot about what awesome friends I have! One of the most important things for me since my diagnosis in December has been LAUGHTER. I can always count on my peeps for some good laughs and it has been a crucial part of my journey.

Friday night, Monda called me to see if she could stop by. When I answered the door, there she and Erica stood.....with a wheelchair!! They told me to get my running shoes on because we were going on a walk! (Erica, Monda, and some other girls from my ward have been walking a couple of miles at night. I have been looking forward to being able to go with them...but figured I would have to wait until after I'm done with chemo in a month or so because I have zero energy right now.)

So I hopped into the chair and off we went! I was still smiling when I arrived back home. I felt silly being pushed around the neighborhood in a wheelchair, but I also felt so loved by friends. They made my night...for sure.

They were SO funny and SO sweet because they didn't want me to miss out on any girl time anymore!! Do I have amazing friends or what?

Eeeny Meenie Miney Moe

I picked up Luke from the bus stop yesterday and as soon as he got off the bus I could tell something was wrong. He usually hops off the bus and happily runs as fast as he can to us. Yesterday he walked to me...very slowly and with a frown on his face. He said, "Mom, I didn't have a good day today." He had actually felt sick most of the afternoon at school, and I'm thinking, "Oh, great."

We got back into the van and I told him that if he felt like he needed to puke, to just tell me and I would stop the car. I didn't even get the van started and he was on the verge. So I got him back out of the car just in time to direct his stream of puke into the rocks by the sidewalk. Poor kid. He's staying home from school today and lucky Grandma gets to take care of the sick boy(s).

Jake also woke up last night...himself, blankies, and crib covered in puke. I HATE it when my little babies get sick. It's so sad because they have no clue what's going on. Not to mention, they can't tell you that they're about to puke, so you can't run for the toilet or trash can in time. Luckily, Jake and Luke are feeling fine this morning and that the bug seems to have passed already.

So I'm definitely waiting for Ty to get it, too. It's only a matter of time, right? I'm keeping my fingers (and toes...and whatever else I can) crossed that I will be the last one in my family standing!

Treatment #4...

I was prepared for the 4th treatment to be a nightmare. Surprisingly though, it wasn't that bad!! I haven't been nearly as nauseated this time as the last one, and that, my friends, is HUGE!!Today, my body finally feels better, too...not as sore and achey.

This is my week of hopefully avoiding any sick bugs...although it's a little difficult when Curt came home from work yesterday feeling sick...and then vomitting a few times. I am crossing my fingers that the kids and I don't get whatever he had!

Depending on how I'm feeling this week, the whole fam might spend the weekend in Snowflake at the cabin. It would actually be nice to get away for a couple of days.