five

 

My first baby turned FIVE today! Totally unbelievable. Nori is such a wonderful, creative, sensitive, loving, smart, and goofy  little girl...we love her so much!  All week long when I asked her where she thought we might go for her birthday, she answered, "a cafe?". We surprised her with a special family day out which included lunch at her favorite place, rides & treats at MOA, and gifts at home. After a few kiddie rides, I talked her in to going on the BIG roller coaster with me. She was nervous, taking huge breathes while we waited in line, but she did not chicken out. She let out half laughs/half cries the whole way on the ride and the second we stopped she smiled and said,  "I am never going on that ride again, I felt like I was going to fall out!".   As I tucked her in to bed tonight she did confess that that it was her favorite ride...that she is still never going on again.

take care of yourself

With regards to my Dad's illness, people are always telling me to take care of myself so I would just like to report that even though we are spending the entire day at the hospital for a celiac plexus block, I am having a spa day. I brought my own spinach salad and fresh fruit to eat, I did yoga in the non-denominational spirituality/healing/meditation chapel and now I am chillin in the Brookstone massage chair in the lobby of 7D while keeping up with work emails. Is that what you had in mind? Oh, and only two people have asked if I work here since I look so familiar. Probably would have been more, but I put lotion on my dry old lady hands and wore normal shoes today.

Dr. Seltz

High Tea

bone china, of course

Nanny Theresa took the girls out for a proper tea at the Avalon Tea Room to celebrate Nori's upcoming birthday . I keep my old camera out so Nanny can take candids of the girls on outings. She is a wonderful nanny, we are lucky to have her!  Both girls a great time and enjoyed the lady talk.

no broken dishes...yet

simply marvelous

Oh, for me? You shouldn't have!

golden girls gone wild

Speaking of my old camera, soon-to-be Birthday Girl got ahold of it and captured some moments words can not express.

girlz in the hood

tea party for one

This one is a high maintenance diva! She makes her needs known with 3 word sentences like "Help Momma, pleee?"  She is hilarious and enjoys cracking us up with her funny dancing and huge smiles. We attempted dinner out at Pizza Luce and within minutes she had broken a glass pepper shaker, colored on the wall in crayon, and spilled a cup of water all over the table. We quickly remembered why we order in. Henny is such a Momma's girl, Jake struggles to get quality time in with her since she always want me. and my boob (singular). My physical therapist wants me to try weaning her because she think the hormones are keeping my SI joint too loose despite a million hours of core strengthening and Pilates.  "Momma's milk? More pleeeee" is a common request. What can I say? It probably tastes like french vanilla creamer*. 

*I actually do eat tons of organic vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

We call her Henley Catherine (or Foosie Susan) when she is naughty

time out tube

This girl is in birthday party mode looking forward to a house of full of ballerinas and pink tulle next weekend. It is our first kids birthday party to which she invited her "gang" from school along with other family/neighborhood friends. She is finally writing NORELLE now that she has overcome her phobia of writing the letter E. She said to me today, "Meggie, you are the best momma in the whole world". Aw, go on!  After I finished telling my girls how beautiful (and smart and kind andfunny) they are, she said "Momma, every daughter is beautiful, right?" I think she gets it.

headed for islands

basement progress

The basement is eleven weeks into a five week project. You do the math. Our 100 year old floor was broken up and hauled out bucket by bucket. A new slab was poured with in-floor heat and voila, musty old basement smell is gone!  Pluming and electrical is done, we just need inspections before they can drywall, carpet, paint, trim etc. We are pleasantly surprised with the transformation so far! Goodbye dungeon - hello family room, play room/office, and storage!

always time for Cramer and the stock market

My dad is doing well this week, just tired from the chemo. His blood counts are super low so they suspended treatment for two weeks until they can bounce back.  Even though I knew pancreatic was very aggressive, I let myself believe that early detection/surgery/chemo would cure him.  The reality is that even with surgery, only 5% people live longer than 5 years. That sucks. So we continue on, living every day and appreciating the time we have. He bought his acoustic guitar today and will start lessons soon- he better hope he has Casey's musical sense. We booked a 3 day Disney cruise for early March together which is very exciting. My dad has always wanted to take the girls to see Mickey, but I think they are more interested in the princesses than rodents.  Nori is looking forward to "dancing on stage with Cinderella and Charming".

joy

My dad

Go Gemzar! Go Gemzar! Go! Go! Go!

The only time you actually want to be at the hospital is when you are going to leave carrying a new baby.  Or maybe if they are giving out free massages. Unfortunately, I have been spending a lot of time at doctor's offices, the hospital, and the ER with my dad  because his pancreatic cancer has returned. He is a private guy so I won't share all the details on what has been going on since September, but just last week they confirmed their suspicions with a PET scan. Once pancreatic cancer has reoccurred it is no longer operable and it is also not curable. It is a very difficult disease and becomes resistant to chemo. Speaking of chemo, he started more Gemzar on Friday which is thankfully a well-tolerated drug with very few side effects.  So yeah, the prognosis is not good. It's really sad. But even though it's not okay, it is okay. We are talking every day making up for lost time. He signed up for guitar lessons. We are hoping to sneak in a trip this spring, too. There are lots of unknowns so we take it day by day and hope for him to feel good for as long as possible. I love my dad and am grateful to spend this time with him hoping for a miracle.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support!  Thank you to Aunt Jill & Cousin Abby for the babysitting on Friday which allows me to be with my dad at his appointments.

Christmas Day 2012

his favorite hospital treat - November 2012

The 12 Days of Chaos

Christmas is winding down but the toy piles are just ramping up. Please note that if you sent us a Christmas card it was properly manhandled and kissed to death, not by me.  We had a great week in Winona, thank you to one and all for the hospitality, food, and wonderful gifts!  Highlights include seeing family, an hour massage, sleeping in, extra coffee, and cake balls.  Our dog also enjoyed two giant caramel rolls and vat of butter so she was happy, too.

Today concludes 12 straight days off together. What haven't we done? Sledding and ice skating twice, dinner with friends, dinner with family, yoga, cooking, Dexter Season 7, reading, naps, dancing, playing: Play-Doh, race track, princess stickers, Zsu Zsu pets, My Little Ponies, and dress up, camping in the living room, eating by night light, watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, 5th birthday party planning, staying in our pajamas all day, cleaning, re-cleaning, un-decorating, tantrums, night terrors, messes and just letting it all hang out.  We finally experienced what we have dreamed of: long bouts of Nor & Hen playing nicely together! I had heard that this phenomenon existed - finally it is occurring in our house. I don't have any photos from our New Year's Eve (since the cops took away my camera at the station while they booked us) but rest assured, it was memorable. Family New Year's Resolution: stop Nori from referring to herself as "Meow Meow" and saying "meow meow" 3 times in every sentence.

We are also privately dealing with devastating medical news affecting someone we love.  Choosing gratitude and love in the face of fear and uncertainty. Send love and prayers for peace and healing. Cookie dough might help, too.

Ace of Cakes

cheetah pants help her skate faster

powered by Pat

cheering section

sledding with long lost relatives

Lilly & Claire (not from Modern Family) dressed Henny up as a baby fairy

blanket fort with Papa Bill