Two Geeks And a Girl

100th day of school

2012-02-10T18:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday was Natalie's 100th day of school. They were going to have a small party at school, and Natalie had been looking forward to it for weeks. So I figured I'd do what I could to help make the day special. In the morning, we had a special breakfast:

Cinnamon rolls - with number candles 1-0-0!

Of course, Natalie got to blow out the candles.

Still a little tired - waiting for the sugar to kick in!

After daycare we celebrated by having Natalie's favorite dinner (cereal, so nice and easy), and playing chutes and ladders, where you have to get to space number 100 to win! All in all we had an awesome day.

Back to work - and back to the plastic surgeon

2012-02-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

This week I'm back at work! It's been a great feeling to be back to "normal". I'll admit I'm a bit tired, but it's definitely worth it. The plan is to be out for a week when I get my treatments, then back to work for two before the next treatment.

On Tuesday, I had my blood count evaluated again. The numbers were up from last week, which is great news. Some of them (though not all of them) were even out of the "low" range and into the "normal" range.

On Wednesday, I was back at the plastic surgeon for a quick visit. I'm finally healing pretty well. I got another fill on both sides. The left side that sprung a leak is still somewhat "flat" compared to the other side. My plastic surgeon would have liked to replace the expander on that side. If the leaking expander is in there for a long time, it seems there could be some scar tissue around it to work with that could make the future expansion a bit more difficult.

The plastic surgeon called my oncologist to discuss. My oncologist does not think I should be going back to surgery while I'm on chemo. And in this case, he definitely has the final word. I was a bit disappointed, I wanted to move forward and get as much done as possible as soon as possible, but it obviously has to be safe. And a cosmetic issue comes way lower on the list than the cancer treatment itself. So it'll just have to wait.

My next treatment is on Tuesday. So, for now I'm going to enjoy the weekend. Should be a good one!

24 hour blog-a-thon - the end!

2012-02-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

So, there you have it! This is blog post number twenty-four in twenty-four hours. What a ride. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

A sculpture

2012-02-04T22:00:00.000-06:00

About half a year ago, Natalie finally outgrew her beloved ballpit. We disassembled it, and put the longer blue pieces along with the yellow connectors (without the "locks") in a big bin. A few days ago while I was relaxing on the couch, Natalie pulled out that bin and made this masterpiece:

Pretty cool!

Sledding

2012-02-04T21:00:00.000-06:00

So far, winter had been unusually mild around here. But the other day, we had a little bit of snow that actually stayed on the ground for about a day and a half. Natalie and Karsten went sledding. I was able to bundle up and come with them. I enjoyed sitting on a bench watching them have fun in the snow. And, it also made me the designated photographer:

It's nice to have someone who can pull you up when you are down...

Ready, set, go...

Lady Gaga

2012-02-04T20:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie loves babies, and according to her, all babies say "Gu-gu-ga-ga". With that in mind, here's a conversation from just the other day:

Natalie: Mom, did you know there's a singer called Lady Gaga?
Me: Yes...
Natalie: Is she a real person?
Me: Yes, she is...
Natalie: Does she sing songs for babies?

Sled artwork

2012-02-04T19:00:00.000-06:00

Here's some of Natalie's artwork from daycare - such a great idea:

Sledding!

An evening at school

2012-02-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

Karsten took Natalie to a school event earlier this month. There was supposed to be a juggler, but he was running late, so the school people set up some quick run-around-the-gym games for the kids while they were waiting. Karsten sent me this picture:

I think she was having fun!

More birthday parties

2012-02-04T16:00:00.000-06:00

It seems all of Natalie's friends have birthdays in December or January (must be something in the water around here at that time...) So Natalie has been going to a lot of birthday parties lately.

At one of the parties, she got her hair done and her nails painted. She's showing her nails off for the camera. Thank you to the birthday girl's Mom for sending me this picture!

This picture is taken after a different birthday party, where she also got her hair done. For some reason, I think this hairdo makes her look so grown up.

Natalie - such a big girl!

Happy New Year

2012-02-04T15:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great New Year's Eve.

As usual, we celebrated with some of those bottle shaped thingies where you pull a string, and confetti shoots out. Natalie was very interested, nut a little concerned...

And she wanted to keep her distance when they went off.

Natalie got to pick her special desert out herself - a cookie decorated with a pink clock.

Happy New Year to all!

Important people

2012-02-04T14:00:00.000-06:00


Natalie made this picture with names of people that are important to her. The names on the picture are:

Natalie

Grandma

Grandpa

Karen

Karsten

Aubriella

Brayden

Christmas day

2012-02-04T13:00:00.000-06:00

On Christmas Day, Natalie and Karsten went to a Christmas party at our friend's house. Since I was still recovering from surgery, I was at home watching "Elf" on TV, but as the evening went on, Karsten sent me these pictures from his phone:

Natalie and Daddy

Two silly girls.

Coloring together.

More silliness!

Christmas Morning

2012-02-04T12:01:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed Christmas morning, too:

Goodies from the stockings. Of course there was a big candy-cane, among other Christmassy things...

Santa left a big present.

There was a new science / magic kit, and an I-spy game inside!

Christmas Eve

2012-02-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

We had a really nice, quiet, and cozy Christmas Eve:

Making cookies for Santa. They were store bought, and mostly pre-decorated, but the dough around the pre-cut shapes couldn't be wasted, so we brought out our own cookie-cutters.

The Christmas tree looked even more Christmassy with all the presents under it!

Best friends

2012-02-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas pictures. Aubriella and Natalie - best friends!

Gingerbread houses

2012-02-04T09:00:00.000-06:00

While I was in the hospital for surgery, our awesome friends took care of Natalie. Not only did they pick her up from daycare, they also made sure she was occupied and happy, so she didn't have time to worry about me:

Aubriella and Natalie, decorating gingerbread houses.

Sooo focused...

A pretty girl with a pretty house.

Thank you so much to our wonderful friends for taking such good care of Natalie - and for the great pictures, too!

Christmas party at daycare

2012-02-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie was in a Christmas play at daycare. They put on "The Littlest Pine Tree". She was a bunny:

The prettiest bunny I ever saw!

Santa also came to visit.

There were lots of games. Natalie's favorite was this fishing game. She would put the fishing pole over the drape, and when she pulled it back there would be a small price on the hook. Except for the one time when she swung the pole a little too high and "caught" one of the paper fish that were used for decorations!

As always, Natalie decorated a cookie. She came up with the idea all by herself to make a green Christmas tree with dots of all the other colors of frosting for ornaments.

Such a pretty creation.

Another birthday party for Natalie - part two

2012-02-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

What is a birthday party without games? So of course, we had lots of party games:

Put the princess in the tower - a princess version of pin the tale on the donkey...

Princess ringtoss (Princess wrapping paper around soda bottles, and glow in the dark necklaces - easiest game to make ever!)

Of course, we had to have our traditional treasure hunt in the old water table. We still keep it around just for these occasions.

Later, the kids were playing by themselves. We found them, playing "shopping". Apparently they bought most of Natalie's toys:


Shopping for Natalie's toys. Good thing the kiddos are so great at cleaning up after themselves!

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Another birthday party for Natalie - part one

2012-02-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

We had a party at home for Natalie with her good friends Aubriella and Brayden. Thanks to their Mom (who's great at photography), I have some really great pictures - enough that I'll make this into two posts:


Natalie's birthday cake. A princess cake, of course.

Thank you to Natalie's family back in Denmark for the wonderful flower candle. It was a flower that opened up, had fireworks in the middle, and played "happy birthday"! Very cool!

Natalie opened her presents.

And us girls made some crafts.

To be continued...

Natalie's birthday party

2012-02-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie had a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese:

At first, Natalie was a little shy...

... But the games quickly made her warm up!

Natalie wasn't too sure about the "ticket blaster" experience. That's where she got into a booth where the tickets were blown all around her and she had to catch them. She quickly opted out of that one.

Natalie loved being the Birthday Girl!

And being the center of the big show they put on was a hit, too.

The party was a big hit!

Natalie's birthday

2012-02-04T04:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie's birthday is in December. I think she had a pretty good day:

Natalie's birthday breakfast table.

Of course, her birthday card was a musical princess one!

The birthday girl!

Later in the day, we had ice cream cupcakes - yummi!

Decorating the Christmas tree

2012-02-04T03:00:00.000-06:00

Per our tradition, we decorated our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving Day. Natalie had been looking forward to it for weeks.

As always, Natalie put the star on the top - with a little help from Daddy

Hmm, is that a little crocked?

Natalie's own pictures

2012-02-04T02:00:00.000-06:00

On a beautiful fall day, Natalie decided to bring her own camera to school and daycare. It was really interesting to see her day from her own perspective:

The playground.

What an interesting view from the playground.

Other kids coming back to daycare after a fieldtrip.

I think she has a real eye for the photography thing!

The Holiday Parade

2012-02-04T01:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie and I went to the Christmas parade Downtown. It was nice and warm (much better than last year):

Waiting for the parade to start.

The parade was great, and Natalie loved it. The best part was that she brought her own camera:

Natalie, the photographer.

24 hour blog-a-thon

2012-02-04T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've been falling a little behind on the blogging thing, so I figured I'd try something new: A personal 24 hour blog-a-thon! That way, I can catch up on all the fun little pictures etc. that I have in my draft folder - most of it including Natalie, of course.

So, buckle up, and let the fun begin. For the next 24 hours, I'll be putting up a new post every hour!

Here's a quick picture to get started:

Natalie and her "Christmas calendar". An old family tradition. Every day from the first to the twenty-fourth of December, she gets a small present.

Best of 2011

2012-02-01T08:51:00.000-06:00

We now return to our normally scheduled programming...

Here's a bit of a tradition: The best of (the pictures of) 2011! As with the posts from the last two years, I picked my favorite picture from each month. Some are funny, some are goofy, some are cute, and a few might even be called beautiful. Enjoy.

January.
Our pretty princess.

February
Having a special snack in her playhouse.

March.
Happy Birthday, Daddy!

April.
Happy Easter.

May.
What a beauty.

June.
Such a goofball.

July.
Ready for fireworks.

August.
At the beach.

September.
First day of school.

October.
A picture walk. Such an explorer.

November.
Photographing the Holiday Parade.

December.
It may be a grainy cellphone picture, but I can just hear the giggles!

How low can you go?

2012-01-31T12:20:00.000-06:00

Here I am, on day seven of my first chemo cycle. I had my bloodwork done this morning. My bloodcounts are lower than normal - as expected - but not dangerously low. All in all that is great news. In other words, I'm right on track with where we thought I'd be at this time.

The weekend was not all that pleasant, with quite a bit of nausea, especially on Friday and Saturday, followed by feeling very tired on Sunday and into Monday morning. But by now, I am feeling pretty good. I'm trying to get back into normal life, by moving around more (walking on the treadmill, etc.) and doing a few things around the house.

In other news, I've been cleaning up my drafts folder on this blog, posting lots of old pictures. I've backdated them, so in case you are interested in some fall and Halloween pictures from around here, scroll back to late November / early December.

Chemo day two update

2012-01-26T12:10:00.000-06:00

I'm thru the first 24 hrs of chemo.

First they had to access my port. The nurse was great and did an awesome job. My port is sitting a little deeper than apparently is usual, so she went with a little longer needle, a one and a quarter inch needle. Unfortunately that wasn't quite long enough, so she had to do it again with a 1 and a half inch long needle. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but in the big scheme of things not that big of a deal. And once the connection was made, it really was quite comfortable.

The first part wasn't that bad. They started out with the steroids and the anti-nausia drugs. The steroids quickly made me feel like I had just downed 10 cups of coffee. Karsten came to visit me during his lunch break, and he said I was talking pretty fast as well.

Then on to the good stuff. The first three rounds of chemo will each consist of three different drugs. Two of them come in big syringes that the nurse hooks up to the lines close to the port. Since it's not that good for the veins, they do it in a special way. They pull back a little, so some of my blood can mix in with the medication, then they push the mix in, and follow with a flush of saline. Rinse, lather, repeat... The last one is in a regular bag and is administered over an hour.

Then I got to go home, and to be honest I felt pretty great. I did the laundry, loaded the dishwasher, cleaned the micro wave, cleaned the silverware drawers, and cleaned the fridge, all in the hour before Natalie came home!

The steroids seemed to wear off slowly over the evening. Natalie and I spent most of the evening watching a movie on the couch, just cuddled up. Of course, I had checked with the doctors before hand, and it's perfectly save for her to be around me after chemo, I cannot transfer the medication to her by touch. I'm so grateful for that.

Later in the evening, the steroids wore off completely, and it was a bit like hitting a brick wall. I was very tired, and had quite a bit of nausea. In general, I think it felt like a good size hangover, though it's been a while since I had one of those! Luckily, it was time for my next round of anti-nausea medication, which helped a little bit.

This morning, I went back to bed after Natalie and Karsten left, and got a couple of extra hours of sleep. This morning I'm feeling pretty good, except that I'm not interested in eating at all (which is a first for me!). I'm also a bit tired, but really not that bad at all. So far, so good!

This afternoon I'm going back to the clinic to get a shot that will boost my immune system. After that, my next appointment is in a week to check my blood counts. Other than that, I'm just hanging out at home for a while. I've been warned that the weekend might be a little rough, I guess we'll see. I've got some pretty good meds to help me out, so I'm not too worried.

Chemo

2012-01-25T12:38:00.001-06:00

Karen is having her first round of chemo today and I went over my lunch break to spend the time with her.

She is just getting started and is just getting the medications she need prior to the chemo drugs now.

They will be starting the first of the trio of drugs in just a few minutes.
It will be interesting to see how she responds to the therapy.
Based on the nurse it sounds like she will not really feel any side effects until this weekend or so. Then the biggest risk is actually about a week to a week and a half after the treatment as her blood count and immune system will be at its lowest.

A week in review

2012-01-21T20:18:00.001-06:00

Wow, where did the week go? I guess it's a full time job being sick...

As the previous post said, I was back at the plastic surgeon on Monday. There was some liquid collecting under the skin on my right side after they took my last drains out on Friday. So, they did a one-time draining, which basically means they take a big needle and suck out the extra fluid.

Then I went home and tried to not do too much, and put something cold on it, and waited. The fluid did come back, but over the next couple of days it seemed to get absorbed again. So by now, that issue seems to be resolved.

Then on Wednesday, I had a couple of appointments. One was the "chemo-teach". It was an hour spent with a nurse, going thru the different chemo drugs, how they are administered, what side effects they have, what to do about the side effect, etc. In general, what to expect when you are on chemo. Really interesting, I feel much better prepared now. And, we scheduled my first chemo appointment for Wednesday next week. I'll have a total of six treatments with three weeks between each. The first three cycles include three different chemo drugs, the last three are only one (different) drug.

The second class on Wednesday was called "Look good, feel better", and was put on by the American Cancer Society. Great class! I learned a lot about skincare for chemo patients, and about how to maintain a wig, and how (and where) to paint your eyebrows if you loose them. Lots of information that I would not even have thought about before.

Then Friday I went back to the plastic surgeon. As mentioned, the collected liquid is starting to be absorbed and is no longer much of a concern. There were a couple of other little concerns, though. On the right side, there is an area that is healing slower than the rest. We've known from the beginning that that would probably be the most problematic area. It has something with how the blood supply to the skin is in that area, which they measured during my surgery. Not a huge concern, but enough that the plastic surgeon didn't want to give me a fill on that side so that we don't stretch the skin in that area right now. On the left side, the plastic surgeon was also a bit concerned. He thought I might have a small leak. I had to bite my tongue when he said that, all I could think of was this episode of Will and Grace:

(Scroll to time index 09:50 to see what I mean...)

So, the plastic surgeon gave me a fill on the left side only, so that he thought the two sides were about the same size. I can't really feel if it is leaking. It's just saline, so the liquid will be absorbed by my body if there is a leak. I think it is a very slow leak if it is there. Anyway, I'll be going back to the plastic surgeon on Wednesday morning (before the chemo) so he can evaluate. I guess we'll just wait and see.

In other news, I started fighting off a cold on Friday afternoon. I guess it's better to do that now than in a few weeks... So, for now I'm off to the couch with a warm cup of coffee!

Have a great weekend!

Back to the plastic surgeon

2012-01-16T13:01:00.001-06:00

Karen is going in to the plastic surgeon again today. She is having some liquid from the drainage accumulating under the skin. It just does not feel right so she is going in to get it checked out and probably drained.
Hopefully they can just do a one time drainage so he doesn't have to get drains put in again.
It sounds weird but she is wanting to get going on the chemo but she cannot get started if she has drains.
Her approach is that the sooner she gets started the sooner she will be done.
Updates to follow once she comes back from the doctor.

No tubes and stitches - means we can hug

2012-01-13T17:28:00.001-06:00

This is what Karen has been looking forward to for weeks:

You have me in stitches - no more

2012-01-13T15:47:00.003-06:00

We just got back for today's round of doctor visits.
It seems like it is a full time job being sick !

First we went to the plastic surgeon.
Everything is still looking good. He did take out the stitches from the surgery which is a good step in the right direction. Even better though he took out the drains.
One was still draining quite a bit but he is more concerned about the risk of infection by having them in for such an extended time, so he decided to take them out. Hopefully the liquid will not accumulate under the skin.
We will be going there again next Friday so he can check up on it to make sure everything is working out on this.

Karen also got her next "top off" so she now has approx. 540 cc in each side - this is a definite B size. The target is to get close to 800 cc before they will do the permanent implants - or something in the range a C size. The 800 cc is the upper limit for what they will do on a reconstruction, but it is a very appropriate size for Karen's frame.

Karen has to take it a bit easy over the next two days to make sure the drain sites close up properly and to minimize the amount of liquid collecting in the wound site.
But she is just ecstatic about having the drains out.
The first new task she can do without drains - give Natalie a big hug.
Karen is all smiles looking forward to Natalie coming home from Daycare.
- and being able to get a real shower doesn't sound too bad to her either.

PET scan results - good news all around - straight from Star Trek

2012-01-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

Karen had a PET scan this Tuesday.
She was pretty nervous about it as it is a test that will determine if there are any areas of cancers anywhere else in here body.
Let me first share that she did not have any areas of concern which is great news.
Secondly - this test is about as close to the Star Trek Science as I can imagine.

The test is done by injecting a radioactive compound that is tied to a sugar-like molecule into the bloodstream. It is a very low dose of radioactivity and it has a half life of only 4 hours or so.
Nonetheless they needed a full history of the amount of X-rays Karen has had over the last many years to ensure that her total radiation dose does not exceed a safe amount.

Unfortunately I was not able to accompany Karen on this test but her description was very detailed. The radioactive compound comes in a syringe that is safely stored inside a large, lined metal can. I know that this is more for the safety of the workers that work with this every day, but it is still pretty cool.
After they injected it, Karen was placed in a small room with dimmed light. She now had to sit absolutely still for about an hour. No reading, no moving, no music - just her and her thoughts. Wish I could have listened in on those !
This is done to ensure that the radioactive compound is preferentially absorbed in the cells that are the most active - this is typically the cancer cells. If she would move around or watch TV the normal activity of the cells would skew the results.
When the hour was up she was literally strapped to a board to avoid any movement and then put in a machine similar to a CT scanner. This took about 1/2 hour and they did a scan from the knees to her head. I am glad she is not really claustrophobic.

We went to the oncologist the day after to get the results of this test as well as the results from the genetic testing.
The PET scan as mentioned was clean for cancer but the amazing thing is that it identified any areas that have higher than usual cellular activity. So the notes described:

An impacted molar
Slight sinus infection
The incision from the surgery

Now I think that is straight out of a Sci-Fi. Get one scan done and it will tell you (almost) everything that may be wrong.

I am sure this test is not quite recommended as a pure preventive measure though. Even though it is a small dose of radioactivity Karen was told to stay at least 3' away from small children for 24 hours and warned not to fly or use public transportation in the same period. Apparently some of the very sensitive instruments at some airports can detect the radiation from the compound as it breaks down which could be mistaken for someone trying to bring radioactive materials.
So I had a good Daddy Evening with Natalie since Karen couldn't be near her.

Anyway due to Karen still having 2 drains from her surgery and because there were no defined areas of cancer on the scan it was decided to postpone the start of the chemo until the drains were out. So for now she is tentatively scheduled to start on 1/23 with chemo but it may even be pushed to 1/30.

Now tomorrow is a visit with plastic surgeon to remove the stitches and get the expanders "topped off". He will likely not take the drains out yet as they are still drawing quite a bit of liquid out. I know Karen is really looking forward to getting them out though.

Another update

2012-01-12T14:40:00.000-06:00

Hi Folks, Karen here. I'm baaack...

Actually, I'm sitting at home "focusing on healing", which means being as lazy as I can. Which isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds... Anyway, I thought I'd give you a quick update, so here goes:

I had a couple of tests over the last week or so. A test checking my heart, since some of the chemo drugs can affect the heart. Good news, the test showed that my heart is perfectly normal. I also had a PET scan, which is basically a full body scan to check if the cancer had spread anywhere else. Good news, the test didn't find any other cancer (though it did find that I apparently have a little bit of a sinus infection... wow, I'm kinda impressed with that amount of detail.)

We met with the oncologist yesterday. They want me to heal at least four weeks before I start chemo, so that means the earliest we can start is the 23rd. But I also have to have the drains out before we can start. And even though the plastic surgeon said they might be ready to come out when I meet with him tomorrow, I'm not so sure that's going to happen (they are still draining quite a bit). So, realistically, I might not start chemo until the 30th.

So, I'm actually just walking around trying to heal. I'm not on any painkillers and feel perfectly fine, apart from the drains being in the way, having to be careful not to reach too far, lift too much, etc. I'm reading a lot of books, watching a lot of TV and movies, and surfing the net. I'll probably even start updating this blog again with post that are not all cancer related!

Houston we have b@@bs - well at least a good beginning

2012-01-06T21:15:00.004-06:00

It has been a whirlwind of doctor visits, checkups and discussions here in the new year.
We have been at the plastic surgeon twice and Karen went to the cardiologist to get an EKG to get a baseline of her heart before she starts chemo.

Karen is up and moving around and is able to drive herself now. This gives her a lot more freedom now that I am back to working and she can get around to some of the doctor visits by herself.

Today we had our 2nd visit at the plastic surgeon and I joined as this was the first time they injected additional saline into the expanders for the breast reconstruction.
It actually went very quickly and we were surprised how simple and relatively crude a process it was.
They simply numb the skin above the the breast with a small shot and then they pulled out this cartoon size 60 mL syringe and needle. The expanders has a metal piece as part of the valve. They move a small magnet over the breast to find the valve and marks it with a pen. They then insert the needle in through the skin into the valve of the expanders and inject the saline. They put in about 120 mL in each breast which is in addition to the original 300 mL in there from the surgery.
The whole process only took about 5 min or so only and Karen went from a small A cup to something like a small B.
She is doing pretty good even though the injections does give some uncomfortable pressure on the skin and chest muscles. And I think we are both pleased to see that the process is working and the reconstruction is starting to take shape.

Karen will be in at the plastic surgeon again next week to get her next fill. That may be the last fill for now until the chemo is over - we don't really know how they do this as they normally try to be very careful about anything that may cause infection while she is on the chemo treatment.

Progress

2011-12-31T06:44:00.001-06:00

We had the first appointment with the plastic surgeon Thursday.
Everything looked good with the incisions and he was able to remove 2 of the 4 drains.
Karen was so happy as the two drains they removed had been really uncomfortable for her and prevented her from a good sleep.
She is now able to lay down in be and she actually slept through the night - completely forgetting the pain medication. So I take that as a good sign of her making progress.

It will probably be two more weeks before they can remove the two raining drains which will really make things easier. Right now Karen has to be careful around everything I make sure she doesn't pull on the tubes or stretch too much.

Anyway good progress all around so we should have a good new years eve although I doubt we will make it through midnight. A happy new year to all of you too.

Family picture

2011-12-30T07:54:00.001-06:00

Natalie brought home a family picture yesterday. Based on the hair style it is pretty easy to guess who is who.
Karen is wondering how that will change as the chemo will make her lose her hair.
It is a cute little family and we sure enjoy our time together.

I think we dodged a bullet

2011-12-27T21:59:00.001-06:00

We just got verbal results back from the surgeon about the pathology of the tissue they removed from Karen.
As the initial results indicated there was no cancerous tissue in the lymph nodes or in the left breast.
However the tumor in the right breast was measured at 3 cm. The initial MRI and ultrasound showed 0.7 cm.
We do not know yet if this is due to uncertainty in the measuring or if the tumor really grew that much in a month.
It is pretty scary if it grew that fast and we are glad that we moved on it early. The scary thing is that Karen was actually about 2 months late on getting the MRI. If she had been on time they would likely not have detected the tumor and it would have had a whole year to grow.
I guess procrastinating does some times pay off :-)
Officially the cancer got classified as stage T2A due to the tumor size.

On the good news side Karen is off the heavy duty pain killers which seems to have eliminated the nausea and she also seems to have a bit more energy.
She got her first sponge bath and her hair washed today. Yes, it did end with water all over the bathroom and me more wet than her as she still has to keep all the incisions dry. But I think she really appreciate the simple things now and I enjoyed being able to doing something good for her.

We actually managed to go to Walmart yesterday as Natalie wanted to spend some of her savings and Christmas money. Karen was in the electric cart and did OK. She was exhausted afterwards though.

Anyway doctor visit is on the 29th we hope that 2 of the 4 drains can come out by then as they ate not really doing anything. They are starting to be really itchy and Karen can't wait to get rid of them.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T12:21:00.003-06:00

No pictures this time - no need need for pictures of Karen sleeping :-)

We had a pretty good Christmas eve and morning here. Karen is still struggling with some significant pain and only heavy duty drugs will help her. Unfortunately that also makes her really nauseous so she got some more medication to counteract that.
When she is not sleeping she is actually doing pretty good as long as she gets the pain killers. She is taking some every 4 hours and overnight we both slept through it until 4 AM. She was one hurting woman at that time, but after the next does kicked in, she was OK.

This was also about the time that Natalie woke up. She was so excited about Christmas morning that she just couldn't wait any longer. Which is kind of fun since she got most of her presents yesterday evening and she does not believe in Santa. At least not really, but I think she still likes the tradition of it and she was excited to see what he left under the tree and and in her Christmas stockings.

So it has been an early morning for all of us and Karen and Natalie are taking a nap now. That gives me a little chance to catch up around the house and maybe actually sit down for a little bit.

Just wanted to give an update - everything is progressing as expected although it is quite a realization of how tough this is. It will be easier when Natalie is in daycare a couple of days next week so I can take care of Karen and still get the house tasks taken care of.

Thank you to all our friend and colleagues

2011-12-23T12:49:00.001-06:00

The get well cards and nice baskets keep coming in.
Thank you all for your support and kind words.
We truly appreciate all your support and friendship.

Thank you Daycare

2011-12-22T13:26:00.001-06:00

We just got this one delivered.
We were rather surprised that it was from the staff at Natalie's daycare.

It is just too cute. I am sure Natalie will love it too.

Thank you so much - this really made Karens day.

Home sweet home !

2011-12-22T13:02:00.001-06:00

Karen was released from the hospital this morning and we are now home.

She found it pretty exhausting to go on the car ride home but she is doing better after some lunch.

We are picking up Natalie this afternoon and I know that Karen is looking forward to it even though she is also a little nervous about it. We hope that Natalie can be careful and not jump up to Karen.
We will have to be close to her until she learns it.

Anyway it is great to come home although I am sure my cooking does not quite compare to the hospital. But we will do our best and get through it.

Karen still has some significant pain but she is actually progressing pretty fast so far. She is able to get out of the chair herself and could even make it to the bathroom and back with minimal help.

Food !!

2011-12-21T12:21:00.001-06:00

Karen is up now and moved at least over to the recliner.
She did not really know if she was hungry so for lunch she just ordered about one of everything.
She is picking away at it but we have determined that she is in the Goldilocks stage. One thing is too salty the other is too sour. So it is really water and bread that works the best so far.

The goal for today is to get her up and move around down the hallway. It seems a little ambitious right now but rumor has it that Karen is a wee bit stubborn. So if she believes in that goal she will make it.

Morning after

2011-12-21T08:20:00.001-06:00

Well this is the morning after.
I think Karen also feels like the morning after too.
Everything went OK over night but it was still somewhat rough. Due to the late time we were up here there were checkups every two hour until 3 AM.

Karen managed to get up at 2AM for the first time to go to the bathroom. It was about a 1/2 hour project for 10 feet. It helped after she got some medications for nausea and this morning it only took a few minutes.

The plastic surgeon just stopped by and checked her out. Early to say but so far it all looks good. He was able to put in 300cc in each expander to start the reconstruction. I know Karen appreciates that as it is the first step on a long path.

The biggest issue for now is pain management. Karen is on the morphine drip that is self administered which means that she has to push a button when she needs it. It works good when she is awake but sleeping she kind of falls behind and wakes up with some serious pain. Once she starts eating they can give her some longer lasting oral medication.

The surgeon also confirmed that it will be a Thursday discharge as it would be too early this morning.

Thanks to all for the outpouring of support - we are truly grateful.

She is awake !!

2011-12-20T20:51:00.001-06:00

Karen is starting to be more coherent now and is starting to drink water.
It will be a while before she eats a steak dinner but we will take it a little at a time.
As mentioned earlier everything went good with the surgery but Karen is in a good bit of pain right now.
She has the morphine dispenser with the push button and it seems to manage it OK.

I will be staying with her overnight in the room here.

All done - waiting for Karen to wake up in the recovery

2011-12-20T18:01:00.001-06:00

All done !!!
Just talked to the plastic surgeon.
Everything went pretty much by the book and they got the expanders inserted.
They also used a pretty cool piece of equipment that measures the blood flow in the skin to ensure proper healing. Everything looks good on that front too.
Karen will have 4 drains to deal with for the next few weeks to help keep the wound clean and reduce the liquid buildup.
I have not been allowed to see her yet as she is in recovery but once she wakes up should be allowed in.
At this point it looks like a Thursday discharge from the hospital since the surgery brought us into the evening.
Rather stay a day longer if needed so she can get the best possible care until everything is stable.

One more hour to go

2011-12-20T17:11:00.001-06:00

Just met with the surgeon that did the initial work for the cancer removal.
All the lymph node tests came back negative bases on a sampling of one on the left and three on the right (the cancer side)

So he is done for the day and now we are just waiting for the plastic surgeon to finish up. He has already closed one side so there is one to go.

Everything is progressing according to plan so far. Hopefully or will continue to do so during the long road of recovery ahead.

Good news in all of this

2011-12-20T13:56:00.001-06:00

Test came back already from the initial lymph node biopsy - it is negative for cancer on the right side which is the side with the tumor.
This is an initial result and it will have to be confirmed with a more thorough lab test after the surgery but it is a very good indication.
This is what we were hoping for and one of the reasons we rushed to get the surgery done as soon as possible.

Update: the left side is clear too which is great news. This will leave many of the lymph nodes intact and hopefully reduce the risks and discomforts that often arise when the lymph nodes are removed.

Going into surgery

2011-12-20T13:28:00.001-06:00

Karen got wheeled into surgery around 12:30 PM.
Now it is just waiting for me. I still need to be around just case there are any issues that require decisions to be made. But at least I can go to the cafe and get some lunch.
The estimated procedure time is around 6 hours.
Thankfully there is a good wifi connection and Hulu.com has enough to keep me entertained - at least for a while.
I should be getting an update about halfway through the procedure. The biggest concern is to get the results of the lymph node biopsy - hope it has not spread outside of the breast tissue.

When all the tissue is removed they will change surgeons to let a plastic surgeon start the reconstruction. I am hoping to talk to the first surgeon once he is done.

At the hospital waiting

2011-12-20T08:11:00.001-06:00

Got to the hospital this morning and got all checked in.
Now we are just waiting for the nuclear department to be ready for us.
They will inject a low dose radioactive chemical that will concentrate in the lymph nodes. This enables the surgeons to identify them in the operating room.

Lots of paperwork and needle poking so far. Can't believe that surgery is not until noon. Wonder what we will all be doing until then.

Cancer

2011-12-16T21:29:00.002-06:00

I (Karen) have breast cancer.

I will be just fine.

Here’s a little more info:

For those of you that do not know my family history, well, let’s just say it’s not pretty when it comes to cancer. All of the women on my mom’s side of the family have had breast cancer or ovarian cancer or both, usually at a rather young age.

Because of the family history, I’ve been having yearly mammograms since I was 26. Last year the mammogram showed a “dense area” on the left side. We did a biopsy and found that it was benign, just some fibrous tissue. To be extra sure, and to have a baseline, we did an MRI.

This year, we skipped the mammogram and went straight to the MRI. My family doctor called me with the results. There was a mass on the right side of about 7 mm that was “indicative of malignancy”. So, off to another needle biopsy.

We got the results of the biopsy on Tuesday, Dec. 6. It is cancerous. We met with the surgeon on Friday the 9th, and he went over the pathology report. It showed that – based on the needle biopsy – it hasn’t spread to the lymph nodes yet. Of course, we cannot know for sure based only on the needle biopsy, but that is good news. And as the surgeon said, that was about the only good news on that piece of paper. Some of the things they look for are three different receptors for various hormones. My cancer doesn’t have any of those, in other words it’s “triple negative”. That’s not very good news, since it cannot be treated with hormone therapy, and this type of cancer often is somewhat faster growing than others. In other words, it is a rather aggressive form of cancer.

On to meetings with a plastic surgeon for reconstruction, an oncologist, etc. To make a long story short, here is the plan: I’ll go in for surgery on Tuesday the 20. It will be a double mastectomy with placement of a port (we’ve jokingly dubbed it the USB port) that will make it easier to get chemo afterwards. They will also do a procedure where they trace the lymphnodes to the nearest one under my arm that could get infected. Based on this procedure, they will remove tissue under my arm if it is needed.

At the surgery, the plastic surgeon will put in what they call “expanders” under the chest muscle. These will then be expanded with saline over time to create more skin and muscle, so that there is a place for the permanent saline or silicone implants later down the road.

I’ll have four weeks to heal, then the chemo will begin. It will be six cycles with three weeks between each treatment, for a total of 18 weeks.

So, that’s the somewhat short version of a long story. We’ll post more details as we go along, and we’ll post updates after surgery etc. on this website, too. Since I expect to be “out of service” for the first few days Karsten will make a few update posts for a change.

So in all this tumultuous time we find that we’re doing okay. We can handle this.

We’ve had a huge outpouring of support, and for that we are truly grateful.

Stay tuned…

The pumpkin patch

2011-12-15T15:30:00.000-06:00

Like last year, Natalie and I went to the pumpkin patch. We had such a great morning:

The rubber duck races were still a big hit...

... As were the beanbag toss...

The corn maze was still amazing (pun intended)...

The view on top of the hay bales was stunning.

I think this expression says it all...

That's a big pumpkin!

A very tired girl...

The final result of the pumpkin patch trip - our jack-o-lantern.

Haunted House

2011-12-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

Who says it has to be Christmas before you can make gingerbread houses? This year, we made a Halloween Haunted House!

The kit came with lots of different candy to be attached with the frosting "glue"

We also used the frosting to decorate the house itself.

And of course, we had to taste-test the candy as we went along!

Great activity for a weekend morning.

Happy Halloween!

2011-12-15T13:00:00.000-06:00

Halloween was awesome this year! Natalie was Rapunzel:

We started out walking door to door.

Of course, Natalie liked the candy...

And of course, we all dressed up. Here's the Queen and King of our royal family.

After a while, Natalie let us use the stroller to walk some of the longer distances...

The loot... Or at least some of it.

We were out from just a minuted or two after four, until a quarter after seven when the last house turned their porch light off. It was such a great family time.

Happy Halloween!

Zoo-Boo

2011-12-15T12:30:00.000-06:00

As in previous years, we went to the Zoo-Boo. It was a little on the chilly side, and of course we forgot to bring a jacket. So we complemented Natalie's Halloween costume with mommy's sweater.

Pretty as a princess - and ready to go!

There were lots of fun games, like this bean bag pumpkin toss.

"Roar"

But one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time was in the water where the penguins usually are - real sea-monsters! They were divers dressed up and moving around under the water. They would swim up to the window and put a hand on the window, and Natalie would put her hand on his on the other side of the glass. She was totally fascinated, and spend a lot of time there. Pretty awesome!

Sea-monster!

Halloween Party at Daycare

2011-12-15T11:30:00.000-06:00

This years Halloween party at daycare was awesome! Natalie decided she didn't like to wear the wig, but I still think she was the prettiest princess at the party:

There were lots of fun games.

Of course, Natalie had to decorate a cookie...

And we spent time goofing around with friends.

It was a very tired girl that came home that night!

The Halloween Costume

2011-12-15T11:00:00.000-06:00

For the longest time, Natalie told me she wanted to be a princess for Halloween. No problem, I thought, she has plenty of princess costumes in her dress up bin. Then, two days before her first Halloween party, we were shopping at Walmart. The check-out lady asked her if Natalie had her Halloween costume yet, and Natalie said no! Turns out, she didn't just want to be any princess, it had to be Rapunzel!

Well, I went to a couple of second hand stores, and came up with this:

Rapunzel!

A purple dress (just like Rapunzel's), a kid sized wig with long hair, and a purple tiara. Ta-da!

Now, next year I guess I'd better ask some more questions so I can be a little better prepared!

Natalie's First Heart

2011-12-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

Natalie is so proud of this picture - it contains the first real heart she ever drew:

I love how she labeled each person "Dad", "Mom", "Natalie". Great place to put her hearts!

Best Friends

2011-12-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite pictures... Natalie and her friends Aubriella and Brayden, just watching TV together - hanging out under the coffee table, of course...

Great times!

Rainbow hair(pretties)

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000-06:00

At school, Natalie had many different color days. And to have a fun end to all of those, she had a rainbow day. Of course, I promised her to put pretties in her hair - one of each color, to be exact. She had twenty-two pretties in that day:

That's a lot of pretties!

Every color of the rainbow!

We were at a party at daycare a few days later, and when we walked in to one of the rooms one of her teachers said "there's the girl who always has a party in her hair!" I think that's a pretty accurate description...

Natalie, the Scientist

2011-12-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie got a science kit some time ago. We spent hours and hours of fun, playing with all the experiments in it. Natalie is such a scientist, she loved the included experiments, and added a lot of her own ideas as well. We literally played until we had to stop for food, otherwise I think we'd still have been playing!

Making a colorful volcano

So proud! She made several other volcanoes on the plate.

Hmm, I wonder what is happening in this test tube...

...And what will happen if we add more baking soda...

She's definitely the daughter of two geeks!

A picture walk

2011-12-14T16:03:00.000-06:00

On a beautiful fall evening, Natalie and I went on a picture walk. We both brought our cameras:

Master photographer at work

Here are some of my favorite shots:

Mommy's flower picture

Natalie's flower picture

Mommy's sunset picture

Natalie's sunset picture

I don't know what these things are called, but they look really pretty.

My favorite picture of the day. Such a cute little explorer.

Natalie wants candy...

2011-12-13T22:47:00.000-06:00

I think this is one of Natalie's favorite Halloween songs:

Come to think of it, after this video, I think it's one of my favorites, too...

Just wish I had that kind of energy!

Pink hair(pretties)

2011-12-12T22:46:00.000-06:00

Natalie had Pink Day at school. Of course, she had to have pink hair pretties to match her outfit! We put as many in her hair as we could - I think there were close to twenty!

Pink hair pretties - you can never have too many!

A kitty cat

2011-12-11T11:52:00.000-06:00

Natalie and I made a puppet theater out of a box, and we made our own puppets. Here's Natalie's - she made it all by herself!

Natalie's puppet - a cat!

Mommy's kitchen helper

2011-12-10T11:33:00.000-06:00

Natalie is such a good helper. I recently got her a kitchen knife, just for her. It's plastic and not all that sharp, but it works great for softer things such as watermelon and cooked beans:

Helping Mommy cook.

Natalie's teddybear

2011-12-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Early in the school year (sometime in September), Natalie had to bring her favorite stuffed animal to school. Here's what she picked:

Natalie's teddy bear.

At school, she had to draw a picture of the teddybear. I was so impressed with how accurate she drew it - I can definitely see the resemblance:

Natalie's drawing of her teddy bear.

Artwork on the easel

2011-12-08T22:42:00.000-06:00

Natalie uses her easel a lot..

... Look at all these people - and they are all so smiley!

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

2011-12-07T22:42:00.000-06:00

It's nice to have a safe haven where you can just cuddle up and sleep!

The beehive

2011-12-06T11:15:00.000-06:00

Here's one of Natalie's latest creations:

Natalie found a wooden bead that looks just like a beehive. So, she glued it to a piece of paper and drew bees all around it!

Hide and seek

2011-12-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

Wonder who's hiding in the fridge...

Quarry Quest

2011-12-05T22:39:00.000-06:00

This fall, we went to "Quarry Quest" with Natalie. It is a kid's event that takes place in a real, working quarry.

Natalie got to run the big backhoe!

Natalie loved making the tubes fit together. It was like a big puzzle.

Digging in the sand was awesome...

... And look what we found: (Fools) gold (pyrite)!

A new artcenter

2011-12-04T22:38:00.000-06:00

Natalie really enjoys doing artwork. She had more or less taken over any horizontal surface in the house. So, in order to reclaim our dining room table, we set up a new artcenter for her:

A Natalie sized table right in front of the window, so our future award-winning artist can have plenty of light for her creations!

Of course, she also has a new easel, so she can be as creative as she wants.

Natalie has used the new art area so much! Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the boxes full of drawings and other pretty things...

At the jumpy place

2011-12-03T22:37:00.000-06:00

We went to "The Jumpy Place" with Grandma:

Everyone had a great time!

Natalie also played some of the arcade games. At one point, she hit the jackpot and got a lot of tickets:

Tickets - yay!

Natalie, the backpack

2011-12-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

Another great family picture:

Catching a ride!

Slippery fish

2011-12-01T22:36:00.000-06:00

I think Natalie learned this one in daycare:

At the amusement park - with Grandma!

2011-11-30T10:14:00.000-06:00

Summer is for trips to the amusement park. And look who came with us: Grandma! She was here to visit for a couple of weeks.

Family picture! Karsten, Grandma, Natalie.

Natalie is getting to be a big girl. So, on this trip, there were a few "firsts":

Natalie can ride the helicopters all by herself!

Look who's big enough to ride the scrambler!

I think Natalie went on the scrambler at least five times!

Sleepover

2011-11-29T09:48:00.000-06:00

Natalie had her friends Aubriella and Brayden over for a sleepover in the late summer. It was awesome to see the kids together:

Two best friends - just exploring the stream and shooting the breeze...

Movie time!

Zonked out after a fun day. Two sleeping beauties.

Fun at the Zoo

2011-11-28T09:46:00.000-06:00

This summer, we went to a company event at the Zoo. It was a gorgeous summer day, and we had such a great time. We spent a lot of time looking at the animals, but also some time on the playground. Natalie loved spinning around on this tire swing. I absolutely love this picture, the way her smile is in focus and everything else is just slightly blurred because she was spinning so fast:

Gotta love that smile!

School supplies

2011-11-27T22:29:00.000-06:00

Natalie was very excited to get ready for school. We ordered her school supplies from the school, and she got to pick them up in late August. Here she is, unpacking:

Wow, that's a lot of stuff!

A few days later, she got to go to her new school and bring in all the supplies - and meet the teacher, of course. She was so excited:

Let's go!

The evening went very well. We dropped off all the supplies in the correct bins, and we met her teacher. Natalie's teacher is very nice, friendly, and does very well with the kids. We've been very lucky to get her as Natalie's teacher.

A happy girl at the beach

2011-11-26T22:28:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture to warm your hearts here in the middle of November! Continuing the series of posts that are way late, here's one of our best summer activities:

At the beach!

The butterfly net

2011-11-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

Natalie has a new favorite summer toy - a butterfly net.

It is awesome to see her run around the yard chasing the butterflies. There's something about that care-free childhood freedom:

Keep chasing those butterflies.

Got one!

Camping, part four - more activities

2011-11-16T22:26:00.000-06:00

A few more favorites from our camping trip:

The playground was a hit. It didn't have any monkey bars (Natalie's current favorite), so she just decided to use the lily-pads as monkey bars instead. She made it all the way across:

No monkey bars? No problem for a little monkey!

Two upside-down girls.

Another hit came right before it was time to leave. A magic show! Natalie really enjoyed that part:

Wow - how did he do that?

Camping, part three - evening

2011-11-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

Some of the best times at camping are in the evening. Of course, there is the fire in the firepit - that the guys meticulously tended:

Working the fire

And one of the best things is the glow necklaces / bracelets/ balls / thingies...

Gotta love this picture - it just has that great "evening at the campground" feel to it.

And of course, three kids in jammies, hanging out together, isn't all that bad either:

Night time slumber party with a movie - such a luxury.

Camping, part two - activities

2011-11-14T22:18:00.000-06:00

We did so many fun things with the kids while we were camping:

Shaving cream hairstyles!

Wagon ride with Yogi Bear and Cindy Bear

Natalie and Aubriella visiting Cindy Bear's house.

But sometimes it's also great to just hang out "at home". Natalie found out that she really liked watching a movie about trucks with Braden:

Just chillin' with a movie!

Camping, part one - Getting there

2011-11-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Just like last year, we went camping with our great friends. We had a great time!

First, we had to get there. And it was a long trip (at least an hour), which was a long time for a little girl that couldn't wait to see her best friend! So, a little bribery was in order...

A humongous lollipop!

As soon as we got there, the girls (Aubriella and Natalie) were doing artwork while we unpacked.


Pretty soon, the boys were outside playing football.

To be continued...

A summer afternoon with Daddy

2011-11-13T11:30:00.000-06:00

Now that we've just had our first snow of the season, let's continue the series of long, lost summer posts!

What to do with a beautiful summer afternoon?

Have icecream with Daddy!

The water is perfect! Wanna see?

Splash!

Come play with me, Daddy! The water-crayon-shooters are ready!


No, I'm not wet at all...

And, just to show how it all went down, here is a little video of Natalie and Natalie playing. I think the object of the game was to hit a wooden box a few feet away with the water spray...

Such a fun day!

What a show

2011-10-25T22:12:00.000-05:00

Natalie's best friend Aubriella (and family) came for a visit. The girls rehearsed, then put on a great show for us, complete with music etc:

You can almost hear the music, can't you?

However, just in case you actually would like to hear the real thing, here's a little video:

I think it's worthy of a Tony!

Good morning, princess

2011-10-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

Some days we all get out on the wrong side of the bed:

Bed-head!

The Children's Parade

2011-10-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

In the summer, there is an annual Children's Parade in a nearby city. This year, Natalie was in it! Somehow, she talked me into being a princess along with her. We had a blast, preparing our costumes and making her wagon into a princess castle:

Two princesses!

We met up with Aubriella (and her family), and the two princess girls were in the wagon/castle together for the parade:

Two princesses!

After the parade, there was a lot of entertainment for the kids in a park where the parade ended. One of the "attractions" there was a school bus that the kids could get into. Natalie was so excited (this was before she was riding the bus every day for school...

Let's go - I'm ready!

Beep, beep

2011-10-20T22:03:00.001-05:00

Check out Natalie's new ride:


Beep, beep...

I found it at a thrift store for shall we say a very reasonable price. Of course, Karsten "updated" it a little, so that it got a better battery with higher voltage. So now the car can really go! And of course, Natalie wanted to be just like Daddy:

Natalie, the mechanic!

What an expression

2011-10-19T22:01:00.000-05:00

This picture is one of my recent favorites! It was taken at a jumpy-place at our local mall - unfortunately the place closed a few weeks after we were there...Anyway, Natalie had a great time. Here she is, running from one of the inflatables to another:

This is fun!

At the beach

2011-10-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

Summer means time to go to the beach! We went several times this summer, and all of them were really enjoyable. Natalie loves the water, the sand, and the picnic we usually bring:

Running out in the water to fill the bucket...

Making mud, and experimenting with where the water would flow (she's such an engineer - surprise!)

Picnics make for fun picture time...

Our goofy little beach girl!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2011-10-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled (summer) blogging program with a short newsclip...

Just the other day, Natalie and I were talking about what she wanted to be when she grew up. She had it all down, and was very adamant both about what she wanted to be, and in which order:

1. Ballerina

2. Princess

3. Singer

4. Computer class teacher

5. Nurse

I think that's an excellent mix!

And we now return to the regularly scheduled (summer) program...

Sassy, messy girl

2011-10-14T21:42:00.003-05:00

Part of summer fun is bringing picnics to the local playground. Natalie loves the monkey bars (and she's pretty good at them, too). And the picnics are always a hit.

One of the picnics was pretty messy. We went to Subway for our lunch, and Natalie got a chocolate - chocolate-chip-cookie for dessert. And I got this picture out of it - couldn't help but share it, it is just so full of personality...

I'm not gonna smile for the picture - Naaah-nah-nah-naaah-nah...

Happy Independence day!

2011-10-13T21:39:00.005-05:00

Well, better late than never!
Remember, I told you I was going to re-live summer, one blog post at a time...

What would Independence Day be without some red, white, and blue treats:

Yummi Strawberries, dipped in white chocolate and blue sugarsprinkles...

And another patriotic treat:

Lady Liberty's torch!

Yeah, I had to get a little artistic with the picture. It is really just a boxed cake mix baked in ice-cream cups, with yellowish frosting and sugar-wafers as the flames...

We actually had a great extended weekend, even though Natalie spent a lot of the time like this:

On the couch, watching a Barbie movie...

She came down with a fever on the first day of the extended weekend (thankfully nothing all that serious), so we kept things pretty low-key. But cuddle-time is always good, and fortunately she didn't know that she was missing out on our plans to go see the fireworks.

She did spend some time out of the bed / sofa, though:

Posing as Lady Liberty

And if nothing else, she could still lay down and cuddle up by the firepit, enjoying the fire, while we waited for it to get dark enough for our own fireworks:

Is it time for fireworks yet?

And we did have a lot of fun with some fireworks at home, which of course required the proper safety gear:

Ready for fireworks!

So, Happy Independence Day! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Weather for swimming?!?

2011-10-12T21:33:00.001-05:00

So, what's wrong with this picture:

Splish, splash...

Well, nothing, except it was taken this weekend. In October! You can even see the fall colors on the trees in the background. And it really was warm enough, the temperature was about 80 degrees F (27C). Weird.

So we made sure to enjoy it, this last chance at summer.

Speaking of summer, I guess summer kinda went missing on this blog - or rather we were too busy to post. So, for the next many posts, please bear with me as we re-live the summer, one post at a time...

At the pumpkin patch

2011-10-11T21:32:00.001-05:00

Natalie and I went to the pumpkin patch the other weekend. We had such a great time!

Most of the games etc. there were the same as last year, which was great, since we enjoyed them last year also! Natalie definitely recognized:


The duckie races!

The corn maze.

The hay bale labyrinth. "I'm on top of the world!"

There were also the bean bag toss:

Look at the size of that cat!

And of course there were pumpkins:


Mommy! I got one!
And of course, there were pumpkins:


That's a big one. We went on a "haunted" hayride, and Natalie got to pick out our pumpkins to bring home. And we brought a picnic lunch to have at the place, which was really nice. Afterwards, someone was a bit tired:


Zzzz.... But we still had time and energy in the afternoon to make this:

Here's Jack!

First day of School!

2011-09-13T22:13:00.001-05:00

On September First, Natalie started school (4K)!!!

Of course, we took the obligatory first day of school pictures:

The cute and pretty girl...

The silly girl...

Natalie goes to school in the afternoons. So, of course we showed up at daycare on the first day of school as her daycare teacher brought her to the school bus. We waved like crazy, and Natalie was sooo proud!

Ready to go!

I'm so proud of our school girl! She's so ready to learn, so ready for new adventures. She'll do well, out there in the world on her own.