I love my life!

I love my girls, I love being their mom. Even during those tough whining days, I love Luisa even more, because of course right now Mia is not whining. Mia, well I just love her all the time! She is just adorable as she struggles to sit upright.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Dad update

OK, dad is set to start chemo and radiation treatments simultaneously on Monday, March 24th. I'm very nervous about how he is going to do with the chemo. He's still very tired everyday and he sleeps alot. The surgery unfortunately didn't result in the quick fix I had hoped. Instead we are waiting to see what the pathology report states, has the cancer spread to the lymph nodes on the left side? I'm sure we'll find something out next week.

Austin was exhausting and instead of working like I should right now, I think I'm going to go take a nap.

Easter is upon us.

I'm leaning toward a pre-made basket.
We'll see what happens.

Tomorrow we're headed to Austin for a little fun. I think I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Good night!

Dad update

Tomorrow Dad will have surgery. The cardiologist has checked out his heart and so far so good. The surgery is to start at 1 PM. Dad is just so weak and tired. I'm nervous for him. I pray that he can survive this surgery. I pray that there is no cancer in the lymph nodes and thus they will remove the upper right lobe of his lung. It will be a TOUGH road ahead. I think that he can do it. He seems to be optimistic at times. I'm really worried about mom too. She is nervous, but she seems to keep it together pretty well.

If they find cancer in the lymph nodes the surgery stops right there and he will begin chemo and radiation thereafter.

I will post as soon as we know anything.

I want a hirumvsaidhf!

Huh? Last night I was talking to my niece who reminded me that Luisa was asking for special treats by spelling them out. She started this about a couple of months ago and I just forgot to write about it. Luisa really doesn't know how to spell, but she notices everything!! So when I spell some
things for my sister while Luisa is around, Luisa is quick to realize that it usually has something to do with some special treat. My girl, she's a pistol! Thanks to her dance classes she can spell Mickey Mouse, that's the song they're dancing to. So M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E is what I get to hear her spelling lately. She does of course spell her first name and she can write it out too. She does it with such concentration on her face. It's pretty cute. :)

Mia is still spitting up more than ever. She seems to be okay though. I've read it can last for quite some time, even as long as the first 2 years of life! That really scares me. Whatever, as long as she is healthy.

I don't want to take a nap!!

Luisa is so funny. I'm sure she's not the only one who does this, but it cracks me up! She argues about the nap, insisting that she doesn't want one and that she'll be quiet if I let her stay up. Within 30 minutes that girl is out like a light and sometimes it's half that time. The best part was that today, since it was so cold out, I put an undershirt and matching panties...well if that girl didn't strip down to just that. She refuses to sleep with socks on, but whatever it takes is all I can say. She's taken her jeans off in the past during her naps, as long as she naps I don't care. :) I like to be comfortable when sleeping but really a tank top and panties? I'm cold just thinking about it. :)

Meanwhile Mia is over here sucking away at her fingers. She's sleeping, but there is so much slurping going on I'm going to go check to make sure she hasn't sucked the meat off the bones.

I wish I was sleeping, but instead I'm going to get back to work.

The latest scoop

Here's a picture of my dad with Luisa.

After running around getting second opinions and what not, we have decided that if the cardiologist ok's it, my dad will have a surgical procedure where they take some lymph nodes analyze them and within 30 minutes determine whether they will continue to remove the mass from the lung. Essentially, if there is no cancer in the lymph nodes, they remove the mass. If they find cancer, they stop the surgery right there and close him back up. Then we proceed with chemo/radiation. It's the only way we'll find out for sure that he is at stage 1 or stage 3....in other words when they told us stage 3B, that was a clinical assessment, the only way to know for sure is with a pathological assessment. Fortunately the pet scan and the cat scan show no other signs of cancer anywhere else in the body. It's just hard to tell with the lymph nodes and especially with the positioning so close to the middle of his chest. There's a word I'm looking for, but I can't remember right now. :) Anyway, the surgery is scheduled for March 12. All good thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.


Luisa got a haircut on Feb 19th. Of course we promised her a trip to the Incredible Pizza Place so she gladly obliged to the haircut. At least now she doesn't look all scraggly. Here are the before and after shots:









Thanks to Anna (Ted's mom) she started dance classes last week. Anna picks her up from MDO on Tuesday and then Luisa spends the night. Luisa goes to class Wednesday and I pick her up on my way home from the airport in the evening. Now if I could just get Anna to get Luisa to take a nap on both Tuesday and Wednesday it would be great! Luisa has already wrapped Anna around her little pinky, so she gets away with out a nap and Luisa still needs it pretty badly. Last week on the way home at 7 PM Luisa passed out and then during the night progressed to pee in bed because I couldn't get her to go to the bathroom when we got home, she was exhausted. Fortunately, there was no fuss. She changed into her pajamas that I had left by her pillow and then climbed into bed with me. I didn't realize this had all happened until the next morning. She was without panties, but at least had her bottoms on and she'd left her wet clothes in a pile on the floor. God Bless this girl!! She did well!

Mia is doing really well. She is rolling over and talking all sorts of nonsense. She really gets excited to see both Luisa and myself. Especially if she's been away from us for a little while. She continues to spit up, what else is new! She has tried prunes (due to necessity (constipation)), sweet potatoes, carrots, and soon she'll be trying green beans. She's moved on from rice cereal to oatmeal and she continues to eat about every 3 to 4 hours. She still loves sucking on her two middle fingers on the right hand (right hand ONLY!). Her hair is a bit crazy and wild, but still thin and now I make an effort to use a barrette, otherwise she looks a little funny.

I hope you enjoyed the update. I'd been putting it off for a while. :)