Pictures by Tara Engle Photography (http://www.taraenglephotography.com). I HIGHLY recommend her!!!
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Simone's 9-Month Pictures!
Pictures by Tara Engle Photography (http://www.taraenglephotography.com). I HIGHLY recommend her!!!
Simone at the Fair!!
Well, here we go- FAIR PICS!!! We took Simone to the Fair twice, and had the BEST time. We had been anticipating taking Simone to the Fair since before she was born. We just love it, and couldn't wait to share it with her. She's at such a fun age where everything was SO unbelievable to look at. :) Above- Simone loved the Midway area with all of the stuffed animals hanging everywhere. She got SO excited- it just melted my heart to watch her! (This was the 2nd time we took her.)
Back to the first day we went- Simone and Daddy! I couldn't get Simone to look at the camera- there was too much else to see!
Simone looking at a butterfly in the butterfly house. She was like, "What the heck is that?"
Nicole and a butterfly. I have to say this place was kind of a disappointment- I thought there would have been way more butterflies flying around.
Looking at puppets!
Looking at the baby animals!
The second day we went, which Simone enjoyed more because we went earlier in the day and she had more energy. Again- can't get her to look at the camera!
Simone LOVED the sheep!
Bunnies!
Oh gosh- the John Deere tractors. We spent quite a bit of time with these! Simone even got her own John Deere onesie. :)
Uh-oh, now she's driving!
Simone and Mommy in the "Little Farmhands" area. Simone was too little to do most of the things there, but she enjoyed walking through it and seeing the other kids.
What a great time with our sweet girl!!!
We also had a "date day" to the Fair by ourselves while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. That was the longest we had been away from Simone to go on a date in a loooong time! Above- Nicole with one of her faves, chocolate covered potato chips.
On the sky glider. Love that thing.
Greg on the Sky Glider
Nicole on the Sky Glider
Oh man- this thing was so comfy. We wanted one for our deck. Too bad they were insanely expensive.
It did downpour for a few minutes, but then we got to see this beautiful rainbow by the Space Needle! It was so cool!
Greg with the huge pumpkins.
Greg on the Ferris Wheel. My handsome guy. :)
Such an awesome view from the Ferris Wheel!
Nicole on the Ferris Wheel!
And, we topped the night off by listening to some Trampled By Turtles. What an awesome day!!!
Until next year, Fair!!
Health Update
Well, it's been a loooong time (all summer) since I've done a health update, so I suppose I should!
-It has overall been a great summer health-wise. I've been able to work, have only had to call in sick once due to a nasty cold, and have pretty much been able to "get on with my life" more.
-The BIGGEST things: I had an MRI in July which was ALL CLEAR! That's a story in itself...I was so anxious (though I knew things were probably going to be OK). I only had to wait a day or two for the results. I went in to see my doc, and he usually speaks in medical terms with me because he knows I'm a nurse. That day I was so nervous, everything he was reading to me off of the report just sounded like gobbledy-gook. I had to tell him to back up and tell me if the results were good or bad, and I started bawling!! He said, everything was just fine, and that was a huge relief.
-Also, I went in for a check-up in August, and all was well. My WBC's are slowly coming back up, and more importantly, they tested for a breast cancer tumor marker, and the result for that was just fine, too.
-My energy goes up and down. I still have stomach issues, but they are getting fewer and farther in between. I had a really frustrating bout that lasted about 5 days a couple of weeks ago...but I'm OK now. It's just hard not to get anxious when I don't feel well- I get afraid that I'm headed in a downward spiral again. I also had a nasty cold last week, and I could tell my body was having some trouble fighting it off. It also didn't help that I worked that week and had to stay up all night! But, I got rid of it, and that helped to strengthen my immune system.
-I am on my full dose of Tamoxifen, which is a huge relief. No major side effects that I can tell.
-I am still struggling with a lot of things, but it for the most part gets easier every day. Still take it one day at a time. I'm just glad that I can function, enjoy my daughter, and enjoy life again!
-Up next, I have a full body CT/PET scan in November, since it will have been almost a year since my last one. Then a mammogram in December. Am I sick of all these tests? Definitely. But it's comforting knowing my docs are keeping close tabs on me. I DO NOT plan on this cancer ever coming back, but it's nice to have peace of mind!
-In the meantime, I keep finding out about others who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease. It's nice to be able to offer my insight and support to these people, but at the same time, my heart just aches for them. For example- one of my neighbors has a sister who was just diagnosed. Pretty young- around 40, I believe. Her situation is much more dire than mine was- I only had one lymph node that was barely positive, she had 25 lymph nodes that were positive. Ugh. She has started her chemo, and she just had to shave her head because she started losing her hair. I literally get sick to my stomach for her...just thinking of the long journey she has ahead of her. I'm going to pass on all of my scarves that I wore to her...it's nice to get rid of them and give them to someone else who needs them. However, it's hard for me to not take on other people's pain who are going through this, because it's still so fresh for me, as well. I just keep praying, praying for the people who get cancer, praying that I'll never get it again, praying for a cure.
But know that I am overall doing really WELL. :)
Stronger every day.
I have to be for my baby girl and my husband.
-It has overall been a great summer health-wise. I've been able to work, have only had to call in sick once due to a nasty cold, and have pretty much been able to "get on with my life" more.
-The BIGGEST things: I had an MRI in July which was ALL CLEAR! That's a story in itself...I was so anxious (though I knew things were probably going to be OK). I only had to wait a day or two for the results. I went in to see my doc, and he usually speaks in medical terms with me because he knows I'm a nurse. That day I was so nervous, everything he was reading to me off of the report just sounded like gobbledy-gook. I had to tell him to back up and tell me if the results were good or bad, and I started bawling!! He said, everything was just fine, and that was a huge relief.
-Also, I went in for a check-up in August, and all was well. My WBC's are slowly coming back up, and more importantly, they tested for a breast cancer tumor marker, and the result for that was just fine, too.
-My energy goes up and down. I still have stomach issues, but they are getting fewer and farther in between. I had a really frustrating bout that lasted about 5 days a couple of weeks ago...but I'm OK now. It's just hard not to get anxious when I don't feel well- I get afraid that I'm headed in a downward spiral again. I also had a nasty cold last week, and I could tell my body was having some trouble fighting it off. It also didn't help that I worked that week and had to stay up all night! But, I got rid of it, and that helped to strengthen my immune system.
-I am on my full dose of Tamoxifen, which is a huge relief. No major side effects that I can tell.
-I am still struggling with a lot of things, but it for the most part gets easier every day. Still take it one day at a time. I'm just glad that I can function, enjoy my daughter, and enjoy life again!
-Up next, I have a full body CT/PET scan in November, since it will have been almost a year since my last one. Then a mammogram in December. Am I sick of all these tests? Definitely. But it's comforting knowing my docs are keeping close tabs on me. I DO NOT plan on this cancer ever coming back, but it's nice to have peace of mind!
-In the meantime, I keep finding out about others who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease. It's nice to be able to offer my insight and support to these people, but at the same time, my heart just aches for them. For example- one of my neighbors has a sister who was just diagnosed. Pretty young- around 40, I believe. Her situation is much more dire than mine was- I only had one lymph node that was barely positive, she had 25 lymph nodes that were positive. Ugh. She has started her chemo, and she just had to shave her head because she started losing her hair. I literally get sick to my stomach for her...just thinking of the long journey she has ahead of her. I'm going to pass on all of my scarves that I wore to her...it's nice to get rid of them and give them to someone else who needs them. However, it's hard for me to not take on other people's pain who are going through this, because it's still so fresh for me, as well. I just keep praying, praying for the people who get cancer, praying that I'll never get it again, praying for a cure.
But know that I am overall doing really WELL. :)
Stronger every day.
I have to be for my baby girl and my husband.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
A Tad Behind...4th of July!
I'm finally getting around to posting 4th of July pics- Simone's first! It was a great day. Above- Daddy with Simone in her 4th of July dress. :)
We headed down to Nicole's cousins' house for the day. Above- T.J., Kelly, and Liam
Everyone hanging out.
Greg throwing T.J. in the water. It was SO nice to just hang out on the lake. Simone loved looking at all the water!
Taking some time after eating to play with her xylophone.
Simone and Mommy!
Cousin Lucas wearing his festive onesie. :)
We were so glad Rod and Mary Kay could come, too!
Liam playing in the sand with Daddy and cousin Bill
Simone's first time in a kiddie pool!
Simone with Cousins Bill and Anne!
Afterwards, Beth, Jesse and Joel came over to our house to watch our neighborhood fireworks, which are awesome. Beth and her cute preggo tummy!
Simone loves her Daddy. :)
Happy first 4th of July, Simmie! We love celebrating all of these firsts with you!
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