My Boys

While Kearyn was getting her photos taken (see yesterdays post) and so I couldn't resist taking a few photos of my boys too.


{my boys}

Impromptu Photo Shoot....{Kearyn}

Saturday my in-laws called us to see if we wanted to meet them for lunch so we did. Coming out of the restaurant we had this impromptu photo shoot. I thought they turned out so cute I couldn't resist sharing.

Kearyn 13.5 months

Chemo #12....{Hopefully My Last}

Chemo #12 was pretty rough. It was rough right out of the gate - far worse than any other treatment. I was very weak even before I left the cancer center. I am always weak when I am done with my treatments but this time I was even more so.

Upon leaving the cancer center......I was surprised by this.

These are the the friends and family that decided to surprise me outside the cancer treatment center to celebrate my last treatment {hopefully}. The crazy thing is that it was like a million degrees out there and my treatment ran late so they all waited like 45 minutes in the blazing heat! I feel so loved.

They brought me balloons, flowers, even cupcakes! I was overwhelmed of course at the thought of all of these people taking time out of their busy day to wait for me. Thank you and I love you all! It was such a blessing to have you all there.

After my treatment I was pretty much bed-ridden for the next 5 days. I couldn't hold my eyes open with toothpicks I was so exhausted. At least I wasn't throwing up though. I would much rather sleep for 5 days than throw up.

Now, I am still recovering. They told me it would take 6-8 months. I feel like I have had to dedicate so much time to this stupid disease but I know God has a plan.

So now I have to wait for the next set of tests to determine whether or not my cancer is gone and I am truly in remission. In the meantime I am enjoying the time that I have regardless. I refuse to sit and think the worst all of the time and waste my days away. Whether I need more treatments or not these days are still gifts from God and I intend to enjoy them to the fullest.
Love you all and thanks for reading.

~Andrea

Have You Heard of This?

Hey everyone. I just wanted to see if any of you have heard of this. It is called NoMoreRack.com and they offer 8 different deals each and every day. Their deals are up to 90% off. Oh, their deals run from 12pm EST to 12pm EST each day and if you sign up they send you an email about 10 or 15 minutes before and let you know what the deals are going to be for that day.

A great way to save on birthday gifts - or if you are super organized - even Christmas!

Here is one of the deals that will be featured today at 12pm EST.

{My Birthday...}

My  birthday was wonderful. It was so awesome to just spend time with my family. I love watching my boys when they give me their gifts - their faces are priceless. My boys took me to breakfast at one of our favorite little breakfast stops and then my hubby took me to a quiet lunch just him and I! 

Then it was on to the park where Jason had a lovely feast of BBQ chicken, sweet corn, and all of the fixin's planned. However, we do live in Colorado so things don't always go as planned. 

Jason was able to get this photo of me....

And I had time to take this picture which I think is so cute!

And then this hit.....

(No, this wasn't edited in any way....)

And we had about 30 seconds to get everything packed up and out of there before the downpour hit!

We didn't make it.

If it would have been any other birthday we would have rain-checked the whole thing but because it was my last good day before my chemo treatment the next day I wasn't about to give up so easily.

So, being the super flexible, go-with-the-flow people we are... we moved it to a restaurant.

The Deitch Haus is really the only restaurant that I can think of that can accommodate a family of our size as my parents, Jason's parents, my grandparents, Jason's grandma, my brother and sisters were all going. :-) (Hopefully I didn't forget anyone - sorry if I did.) Then you have all our kids.....LOL! The  Deitch Haus is amazing! I would eat there everyday for lunch if I could.
They have THE. BEST. SALAD BAR. EVER!
It is definitely the best salad bar in the Montrose/Delta area anyway.

And these are just a few of the {memories} that we created...

 

I am so {blessed}.

Yes, I am alive!

So, I am starting to get yelled at for not updating my blog.... :-)

Yes, I am alive - just recovering. This last treatment definitely was a tough one. I couldn't get out of bed for five days and then I have been pretty slow moving every since. If I overdo it I definitely pay for it.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and kicking. I have several updates planned for this week including my birthday :-), my last treatment :-) and much, much more! Be sure to check back because there will be piccccttttttuuuurrrrreeeessss! I know how you all love pictures.

Talk to you soon!
Andrea

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 5

My husband.... I never knew when we said our wedding vows how literally God would walk us through each of them and the greatest challenge so far...in sickness and in health. This man has stood by me through it all and the most amazing thing is that he does it with his head held high and his eyes focused on the cross. He never complains - not to me anyway. He never makes me feel bad - he just love me... totally and completely... just as God has called him to do.

I pray that my daughter finds a husband like her father - such a Godly man that will cherish and nurture her no matter what she goes through. I pray that my boys become men just like their father. I am so blessed to have this man in my life that does seek God first in all that he does. Yes, it has been quite the journey to get here for both of us but we have done it together - and I can say from the depth of my heart that I wouldn't trade any of it.

During our trip to the mountains this past weekend there was an opportunity that J and I were able to just sneak away - just the 2 of us. I sat on a rock and watched him fly fish and took pictures. It was so peaceful and God's beautiful creation surrounded us. Fly fishing is one of Jason's favorite activities and it was so nice to just watch him do something he loves to do with no interruptions. He gets this quiet contentment about him and I know things are just good.

This man makes me so happy and I love to just be around him.
Thank you Jason for standing by me and loving me like you have. 

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 4

My oldest boy... He is starting to leave his "boyhood" behind and is now becoming quite the "young man". There are so many amazing things about him that just bring me so much joy to my heart. He has such a love for God and he - even at such a young age - seeks God with all his heart. He has this intensity about him and a focus that you don't find in a lot of adults. He can carry on the most in-depth conversations....sometimes I have to stop him so he can explain what he is talking about. LOL! Yes,  my son brings a great deal of happiness to my life and each day with him in it is a good day.


Look at that handsome face...if that doesn't make you happy - I don't know what will! 

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 3

My middle boy... One look from those blue eyes of his and he will melt your heart. There are so many things to love about this little man. Even though he is rough and tough on the outside he has this amazingly tender heart... you should see him with is baby sister. And even though he is nearly {six}....he still climbs up in my lap to snuggle with me.


Now if these don't make you happy I don't know what will! 

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 2

Next up....My #3 son. I have affectionately started calling him G3. (Okay, I thought it was funny.) There are so many things I love about this little man...his smile being one of them. He also calls me his {best friend}... isn't that the sweetest thing ever.


If that smile doesn't make you happy, I don't know what will! 

Things That Make Me Happy..... Part 1

First up....my baby girl. These pictures just make me smile. She is sporting one of our favorite t-shirts made especially for her by Meriyah and Kylie and she is definitely a tie-die princess. 

Oh, what a sweet girl. If this doesn't make you happy I don't know what will.
I just love her. :-) 

Emotions are Running High!

This past week has been super emotional for me. Every time I sat down to blog I would start getting teary eyed and just not wanting to face the emotion of it all I would find myself wondering off to do something else. The emotion is not bad - what we have gone through is very emotional. I have had times where I have laughed and times that I have cried - and I am so thankful that I am alive to do both. But when you have a husband and 3 boys who are very tuned into their wife and mother - if they see me crying they immediately want to rush in a fix what is wrong and this isn't something that can be fixed.

I can't even tell you why I am so emotional. Maybe because I am at the end and I have been waiting and dreaming of this all to be over for nearly 6 long months. Maybe it is because I am scared that this next chemo treatment will be worse than the last one and I don't want to go through that again - EVER! Maybe it is because I am afraid the cancer really isn't gone and they will deliver me the news that I will need more treatments - or worse. I find myself thinking about that and holding my breath slightly - hoping for the best but still fearing the worst.

Anyway, I am also super emotional because my friend Autumn came over on Thursday and dropped off meals galore to get us through this next chemo treatment (Wednesday). She had called in the troops and they filled our freezer with the most amazing meals. That probably makes me the most emotional. Despite the fact that I usually can't eat that much during my treatments and my taste-buds are completely dead.... my friends are taking care of my family while I can't and that brings so much joy to my heart it is truly overwhelming. It is overwhelming because they know my heart is for my family and they know that if they are taken care of that I will rest easier which will allow my recovery to come much sooner. Through that I feel so loved....thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all you have done to love on me but more importantly for loving on my family.

I really feel like God is just clearly reminding me how very blessed I am. As I watched the fireworks - one of my very favorite holidays - I just soaked it all up. I was so thankful to be able to experience that once again with my family. As I have my birthday coming up tomorrow for the first time since my early twenties I am truly grateful to be turning another year older. (Yeah, I never thought that would happen.) And for those of you who are secretly wondering how old I am and are just too polite to ask (for all of you who aren't my Facebook friends where it is so glaringly displayed) I will be 32 and I am very very proud of it. (Here I go again with the tears...)

{7 Days}.....and Counting!

I am finally through treatment #11. It was by far the toughest one yet. It was so bad that on Sunday Jason had to take me to the E.R. because I couldn't even keep a sip of fluid down. I always marvel at the timing of things. Of course that could not occur on a day when the cancer center was open. No....these things always have to happen on a night or a weekend don't they.

Throughout it all, I know I have never been as bad off as I was on Sunday. I told Jason later that I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes but every time it would start to happen I would wake myself up. I remembered all kinds of things that I had long forgotten. I like to think that God was placing those images in my mind to remind me what I am fighting for but at the time I wasn't taking any chances....

I always tell Jason that the worst part for me is when my brain becomes so cloudy that I can't think straight. I was definitely there - forget about all of the physical symptoms. Time seemed to stand still as I my body agonized to recover. 

People always ask me what the chemo is like.... and for that I struggle to find the words....perhaps like the worst flew I have ever had on steroids? And then I get to go through it every other week.... I don't know. And then again, it is so different for everyone. I had a lady tell me the other day that I needed to be happy I had just the chemo (happy would probably never be a word to describe my chemo but that is just a side note) because that was the easy part for her - she "breezed right through it" and it was the radiation that did her in. She had a completely different type of cancer then I have of course. My response to her was, "Well, my chemo is doing a pretty good job of kicking my tail by yes, I am grateful that I don't have to have radiation too." What else can you say? Each battle is our own. Each type of cancer, each treatment plan, the response that each of our bodies has to it, even the treatments vary greatly from one treatment to the next. The only constant is God and I am clinging to him.