Cancer

Last month I wrote this and today I am able to explain it all.

That post was all about my sister. She moved to San Diego California at the end of October. At the end of November she found an OB and had her yearly exam. Thankfully the OB she found is one that believes in checking her patients overall health not just the female parts. Part of that check up was to examine Steph's thyroid where she found a lump. She strongly urged Steph to see her family doctor about that which Steph did.

Last week Steph had her biopsy and the results came back yesterday. I just had to pause after typing that last sentence because I'm struggling right now to type the next one. My sister has cancer.

Yes I said it, my sister has thyroid CANCER.

When I got the call last night from Steph I knew the second I heard her shaky voice say Jo (her nickname for me) that it was bad news. She didn't actually tell me because I instantly started crying but I told her it would be ok. Even though Steph knows the medical side of this it was still hard for her to hear it as a patient this time. She was in complete panic mode. Not because she thought this was going to kill her but more because she knows that while this cancer is the least deadly it's still not an easy process. Her doctor also warned her that there could be a chance she will have to go through chemo and to her that was devastating. Of course Steph wasn't in the mood to talk much so I didn't ask to much just that she call me today. I spent the rest of the evening and all night just thinking about everything.

For me the word chemo brings back very vivid memories of my dad during his chemo treatments and after and he didn't make it. I had to keep telling myself that what Dad had was much worse that what Steph has and treatments are so much better now than they were 22 years ago.

As promised Steph called me this afternoon and I have more details. The first step will be surgery. As long as the Cancer has not spread farther than her lymph nodes, which they are pretty sure it's gone that far already, then she will only have to go through iodine and radiation treatments. If the cancer has spread more than she would have no choice but to do chemo. So please pray, cross fingers, whatever you do that she doesn't need chemo.

Right now that's is all we know. We are hoping to have a surgery date sometime next week but it will all depend on how quickly she can get in to see the general surgeon. When I have more information to share I promise I will.

Freddie the Friendly Monster

In September when we found out we were getting the house I started looking for stuff for the kids bathroom. I wanted their bathroom to be fun for them, and I wanted something different then everyone else has but it also had to be something that would work for a girl or a boy.

Little did I know that finding something that worked for a girl and boy and wasn't fish, ducks, or safari animals would be so difficult. After a few months of searching Target came out with the Freddie the Friendly Monster set and it was perfect. Both the kids liked it and it had a good mix of boy and girls. On top of that it wasn't too expensive.

For Christmas Santa was oh so smart and got each of the kids a monster hooded towel and monster puppet wash clothes so that mom and dad wouldn't have to get those too. Originally Dave and I were going to get the rest of the stuff for the kids as a Christmas present but at the last minute we changed our minds and got them more toys.

A few weeks ago we finally took the kids to Target and picked out all the stuff. We got the Green monster tooth brush holder who has a hole in his back for the toothpaste.



The make your own monster soap dispenser.



Multi monster trash can with removable bucket which makes emptying the trash so much easier.



Monster head shower curtain hooks



The circle fabric shower curtain. I had my choice between this one and a vinyl one that looked just like the trash can.



Fun circle hand towels



Finally my favorite piece so far the giant monster feet bath mats.



The only thing that sucked was that the feet were the only bath mats that Target had. Luckily Kolhs has also come out with a Monster bath set and while I don't like it as much they do have this.



The plan was to get that today but it seems we are in the middle of yet another snow storm so I will have to wait. I also need to find some kind of decorative hooks for the kids towels and robes which is proving to be a bigger challenge than finding a bath set for them. Lastly I need to figure out what pictures I'm going to frame to hang above the towel rack.

So once I had all the items set up I had to figure out how to paint the room. I finally settled on doing the walls in Caribbean Blue and painting different sized circles in Fruit Juice Purple, Sexy Pink, Daffodil Yellow, and Lucky Shamrock Green. I started the painting Friday evening and finished at 12:30 am last night. There was a point where I thought I would never finish it but I'm so glad I spent the time to do it.

So what do you think?







Super Cute right!

Surprise

After two weeks of listening to my mom whine and complain about us not doing much for her 50th birthday I was finally able to get her back for that. I had planned a lunch at the Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse and mom thought it was just going to me us, her, KJ, Nick, and Alicia and that it was going to be for her and Alicia. She was a little surprised when she walked into the restaurant and her mom, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and sister-in-law were also there.

I had made reservations for 1:00 but there were still people sitting at the table we were to be at so we ended up having to wait for about 20 minutes before we could seated which was a little frustrating. Since we had a group of 14 they brought out 2 chefs so the food could be cooked and served faster. Both of my kids wanted to sit by their Aunt and Uncles so they sat at one side and Dave and I sat at the other.







It ended up being kind of nice, almost like a date for Dave and I. Thankfully the kids were good for Aunt Alicia, Uncle Nicky, and Uncle KJ. The kids love Japanese food and they really love eating with chopsticks.





I think they actually ate better with those than with forks.

My Grandma told the servers that we were there to celebrate my moms 50th birthday so they brought her out a big pineapple and sang to her. They made her stand up and announced that we were there celebrating her 74th birthday which we all found hysterical but she didn't.





Mom really enjoyed her surprise lunch and I think everyone had a good time. I am so glad we were able to keep it a secret and really surprise her. Happy Birthday Mom.

Snowgirl Suzie

Say hello to the newest member of the Wilson's house.



This is Snowgirl Suzie and the kids and I made her yesterday afternoon when we went out to play in the snow. It seems the only good part of this snow is that it is the perfect kind of playing in.

The kids had a blast building Suzie, throwing snowballs, and just jumping in the snow.







Of course after being out there for an hour they were nice and cold which of course meant hot chocolate once we came in.



Do you think they like it?

Snow Snow Go Away

By the time I reach February I am done with winter. I really only like the cold and snow between Thanksgiving and New Years after that I want spring and summer. Unfortunately here in Ohio winter doesn't really even start till January and typically we get a big snow storm every February.

This year is no different. Yesterday morning it started snowing and by noon they were closing all the schools in central Ohio. So I left work at lunch time to go and pick Emma up from school. If school closes then so does her after school care so I didn't have a choice but to go and get her. Since it was Friday I was more than happy to leave early. Once I picked her up we ran to Kroger for a few things and then I picked Ian up. The roads weren't too bad yet but I knew if the snow kept coming the way it was by the time 4:00 rolled around they would be.

The kids and I put our jammies on popped some popcorn and cuddle up to watch movies. We started with Honey I Blew Up the Kid. Next we watched the Hannah Montana movie. Just as it was ending Dave got home from work and it was time for dinner. After a long stressful week this was the perfect way to end it.

It snowed all through the night so everything is covered which means here in a little while I will spend an hour bundling the kids up so they can play in the snow. Hopefully this will be the last snow like this of the year so I can't not let them out to play in it. For the rest of you stuck with this snow stay warm.

Commence Birthday Month from Hell

If any of you reading this have a birthday in February I love you but I hate the month of your birthday. You see growing up I was the only one in my family with a birthday not in February so just a mere 1 month after Christmas I had to watch as my brothers and sister got more presents. I'm sure my sister teasing me about that didn't help the situation either. As an adult the presents thing doesn't matter but I have to turn around and by all my family presents again a month after Christmas.

So yesterday began the birthday month from hell with me and we kicked it off with a big one. My mom turned 50 yesterday. Seeing as 50 is a very big deal I have a surprise lunch party planned for this coming Sunday and she has no clue. Mom thought that the cake with us, my brother and his wife, and my baby brother was all that we were doing for her. I'm sure come Sunday she is going to regret all the pouting she has been doing for the past two weeks but I guess if that's all I got for a big birthday I would probably be sad too.

This Thursday the 4th will be another big day for us. It is my awesome sister-in-laws b-day. We have told my mom we are celebrating that on Sunday by going out to lunch but really that's her lunch. My brother however is throwing my SIL a party Friday night. Also on Thursday is Dave's best friends step daughters birthday party at Magic Mountain which we will be attending.

Moving on to Saturday we have another of Dave's friend celebrating his big 30 with a surprise party thrown by his wife. His birthday isn't until the end of the month so he should be very surprised by a party this early in the month.

Of course Sunday is the big party and then we get a little bit of a break even though I have a bunch of cousins, aunts, and uncles whose birthday fall in the middle of the month.

This brings us to the last week of the month and my most dreaded part of the month. We start off with my Sisters birthday on the 23rd. I have to make sure I mail her present out before that since she wont be coming home. Two days later on the 25th is my brother Nicks b-day and we have yet to determine how to celebrate that one. Three days after that on the 28th we will be celebrating my baby brothers birthday. Since he was born on February 29th and this isn't a leap year we choose the last day of February as his birthday. This same week Daves friend (the one with the surprise party) has his birthday and one of my best friends Shanna also has her birthday.

So that finally brings us to March and a much needed rest except for the 1st which is my other best friends birthday but she is technically a March baby so I don't give her a hard time. Needless to say it's going to be a fun filled busy month.