6 months post-op

The past 6 months has flown by!  I can't believe it's been that long since my surgery.   I had my MRI last week and everything looked good and I don't have to go back to the Oncologist or the Surgeon for 6 months this time.  Yay!  I get to go to a Neurologist soon to have an EEG so I can start to wean off of the medication I've been on.  Super excited about that, also!  It'll be good to see if the things that have been different about me are from the medication or if it's just the new me.  ;)

I feel good, other than the achy joint problem that I'm hoping goes away with getting off the meds.  Bright lights and sounds aren't as bad anymore, but still bug me more than they used to.  I'm trying to be more social and being around people, but I still prefer not to be around anyone.  Still really irritable and have no tolerance for stupid people (especially stupid people with really loud kids).

Still haven't been able to lose any of the weight I gained (15 pounds).  We joined the gym and I can't work out too long or my head gets tingly and I know I've done too much.  Slow and steady and hopefully I'll start to see some results.  (And I'm hoping once again, that maybe it's the medication keeping the pounds on).

I know we have been so blessed.  I know things could be very different right now and I am so grateful that I'm functioning and feeling good!

I is for "ice"

 I teach preschool once a month and this time I got to teach the letter "I."  Very last minute, I decided to dump all the ice in my fridge into a container and let them play.  They played with ice forever.  It was so funny watching them!  While they were at our house, it snowed.  The minute all of her friends were gone, Lexi had to go out and play in the snow.  So cold!!  (She had to have a warm bath immediately after).

I can do hard things!

Maddie has the coolest piano teacher ever.  (And no, I don't teach her).  Her teacher had her write a song to enter in Reflections at school.
Maddie hated writing it.  It was a battle to get it done, but she did it and entered it, and won!  We got to go to a small awards ceremony where Maddie decided maybe it wasn't so bad after all and that she would do it again next  year.  (And she got a check for $8.  We giggled about that for a while).

Lexi and the tummy ache

Since August Lexi has been getting tummy aches just about every other week. She's in a lot of pain and doesn't sleep well because it hurts so bad.  I took her to the doctor multiple times and was told each time she was constipated and to give her Miralax.  We did that for months and finally last week when I took her in yet again, I demanded more be done.  So we got to go to Primary Children's and have x-rays and her blood drawn to check for celiac.

She was so brave!  When they drew her blood, she didn't even flinch, and then she watched as the blood left her sweet little body.  I couldn't even watch.  :(

She got stickers at both doctors and she put them all over her face.  And she refused to take off her green wrap on her arm.  In the night, the "bandaid fairy" had to come and take it off.  When she woke up in the morning she immediately noticed it was gone and said, "Why didn't anyone sign my cast?"
Love her!
Results came back that she was extremely backed up and we upped her dose of Miralax and added Ex-Lax also.  Nothing too impressive has come out yet, but no tummy aches this week!

Halloween!

 I decided I didn't want to carve pumpkins this year, so we painted them.  Way less mess and the kids had a blast painting their own pumpkins! (And the one with black crying eyes is Lindsay's.  She wanted it to look like it was crying).

 Halloween was a busy day!  Maddie had a dance performance at her school, then we had a class party for Macie and the Halloween parade.  Lexi was a great sport about being dragged everywhere.
Lexi was Princess Sophia, Macie was Jasmine, Lindsay was Maleficent, Maddie was a Tootsie Roll, then a Robber, then a Tootsie Roll.  Being 12 is hard.

 Princess Sophia got this cool little light and once she had that, she was done trick or treating and came home and played with it for the rest of the night.

Cornbelly's 2015

It was time for our annual trek to Cornbelly's!  We swore we were going to go early in the season before it got too cold and busy...yeah.  We didn't.  

 It was COLD and Busy!  But we still had a great time.  Lexi probably had the best time out of everyone.  She loved the dress up stage, the corn beach and pretty much everything there - except the big lizard.

 So grateful we were able to go and enjoy this night together as a family!