Life's A Beach

For a few years now Brent and I have gone to the beach with my family and we were really excited to take Mckinley to the beach for the first time this year. We hadn't been able to go for the past year or 2 for one reason or another so when my dad said make sure Brent can get the week of July 4 off we did it right away. Then the worst thing I could ever imagine happened. We found out mom was really sick which meant the beach never got a second thought and we were all in treatment mode, or so we thought. I remember coming home and telling Brent that we were canceling the beach trip and he of course was the best and said we would have our own vacation and spend the week together since he was already off and we moved on. Skip to the next day when Mom and Dad are talking about when they scheduled mom's first treatment and how that fit around the trip[. If you don't know my parent's the one thing you need to know about them is they are awesome and I would rather travel with them then anyone else. Not just because they take us out to eat, but because they are really fun to travel with and they love to travel. Basically no matter what they were going to the beach with our without us and I am so glad we did go because I think everyone needed a break from the reality of what was happening and more then that we all needed a little sun,  rest, and pina coladas.

Let's rewind and go back to before we loaded up the cars and headed out. Mom had her first treatment and we were so excited because she was doing so good and then things started to go down hill, but that is another post in itself so we will skip that and move on. Even as we were walking out the door and climbing in the car we were a all a little wary about this 10 hour drive ahead of us. We knew with 1 sick mama and 1 baby we  might be stopping more then a few times. Basically we had no clue how this trip was going to go, but we were not prepared at all for what actually occurred. 

NOTHING!

This was the most uneventful trip to the beach ever. No one got sick. The baby slept almost the entire way or was entertained by veggie straws and movies. We never thought we would make it to the beach as fast as we did and we were so so thankful that mom was feeling so good.

We spent the entire week eating, drinking, and spending time together and of course being entertained by a Little Lady. We took some family pictures dressed all in white, then we took some pictures of the baby, and then we took even more pictures of the baby. We ate in most nights and either cooked or picked up some food which was my favorite (boiled shrimp, corn, and potatoes yum!) and we ate out one night which no one else really liked except me. 

The best part about this trip was it allowed us to all be together and to kind of forget about what was going on for just a few days, Now we are home and life has returned back to as normal as it can be right now, but I wouldn't change this summer or this trip for anything.

We made it!!! A little tired, but thankful we made it all in 1 piece.

Checking out the beach for the first time and not a fan.

Wild Woman

The beer was empty don't worry we don't condone underage drinking.

Happy 4th of July!

 Our beach angel

 On the road again.

And just in case anyone was wondering yes we took our cloth and it was a breeze to use while traveling even in the car. I packed a separate bag to hold all of my clean inserts just in case we needed them, but I kept my travel changing pad, wipes (we took a container of regular wipes just for the beach in case of messy hands while out to eat and to help wipe off sand), 6 liners, coconut oil and covers in my diaper bag which I kept in next to me in the car so I could easily grab toys, snacks, etc. Whenever we stopped I would unbuckle the girl travel to the back of the car where I already have everything set up with a diaper already snapped and ready to go, changed her, and then we spent a few minutes walking around and stretching our legs. I was shocked at how many places didn't have changing tables, but the ones that did weren't very appealing to me and using the back of the car was much cleaner and much easier. We thankfully had a washer and dryer in our condo right next to our bedroom so we just did what we usually do except we washed almost everyday since we seemed to change her more often and ran low on diapers faster, because we were changing her outfits so many times during the day (pajamas, outfit 1, swimsuit, outfit 2, another outfit because she got food all over herself etc). We had actually debated before leaving about taking disposables, but my wonderful husband said no we would take our cloth because it would be just as easy and he was right of course because he is always right (which always makes me so mad) and aren't I a good wife to be able to admit that. 

That's Life

Life has been a bit busy lately. 

We spent a week at the beach resting and recuperating. 

Mom had her second round of chemo and we have been keeping her company.

I have been finishing the last details for Mckinley's first birthday party.

I will hopefully do some blogging tomorrow about all 3 of these happenings.

Right now I am just plain tired so I might go snuggle in bed and watch my baby do some sleeping on our creepy video monitor.

Maybe I can try to drink 8 cups of coffee tomorrow to outdo my 7 from today.

If you have a minute could you please add my mama into your daily prayers. She is doing pretty good, but a few extra prayers can't hurt right.

Can you tell I am enjoying spending the summer with my love?

In Treatment

Mom's first treatment was July 21. She had been waiting what felt like and eternity for them to confirm her second biopsy results (these were for the trial study developing a vaccine for cancer). Finally she decided screw the trial I want to get things started. So we emailed the nurse and said she was ready and to move forward with whatever came next. Fast forward to the next day. Around noonish my sister called to tell me they had called that morning and they had finally gotten her results back and she was a trial candidate and she would start chemo THAT DAY. Praise the Lord something was finally happening.

Now this all feels really real. I know it should already feel real, but it has all happened so fast and yet so slow. Am I making any sense? Try and keep up with my brain. 

They didn't get to finish her treatment Thursday so she needed to go back Friday and I got to pick her up after she was done. They gave her 2 medicines the first day, and the third one the second day. She is such a  trooper for sitting still that long because if you know my mom you know sitting still is not easy for her. I think that is the toughest part of her treatment for me is her not being able to get up and go, but I know she will be back to herself in no time.

Cancer is such a weird disease because the cancer doesn't make you feel sick usually, the medicine to get rid of the cancer makes you sick. Stupid cancer.

Mom has done amazing these past few days after her first round. She has had some symptoms from being extremely fatigued, strong flu like symptoms, body ache, and just feeling off and I know she is being strong for us because she is a hard ass. She is such a bad patient though because she can't be still, but I think that is actually helping her feel a little better. Getting up and showering and moving around seems to get her juices pumping and get her appetite going a little.

I feel like I am going to start making her crazy soon. I am like and overbearing stage mom asking her every 5 seconds if she is ok or if she needs anything. She is going to start asking me to drop the baby off and leave because I am making her nuts.

I have been researching different things she can take with her during her treatments and things that could help her side affects. It is weird to say I have been pinning stuff on my Pinterest, but I don't want to forget them. I thought about making a Cancer Sucks! board, but thought that might be a little weird for everyone who follows me to see "Roxanne Pinned such and such to Cancer Sucks!" That might be kind of a downer. I found a ton of great ideas from socks and gloves, to lemon drops, to fun things to celebrate the milestones. I think the most amazing thing I found on the internet was a community of people who don't even know my mom, but are praying for her everyday.

The most incredible connection I have made came from a picture on Pinterest that sparked an idea for a laundry room redo. I found This picture and posted a message on the blog asking if it was ok to use this picture as my inspiration for my redo. I never expected a reply because this post was from 2011. Imagine my surprise when I received and email back from Cindy at Cameras and Chaos saying she would love to see   it when I was finished.

Of course I am a blog whore (not a nice term, but it fits) and when I find a blog I like I add it to my blog list and I love going back and reading past posts. I am on a redo kick at Le Casa Team D and let me tell you I have found a TON of inspiration on this blog.

So fast forward to more blog reading and I come across a post all about how she makes quilts and gives them to people going through chemotherapy treatments and that just hit home with me. Ever since having Mckinley I am a crier and I have never really been a crier and now with everything going on I am a crier times 1000 so of course I am crying reading her post and I leave her a message about how awesome she is. Wouldn't you know she is sending my mama her very own quilt. Shhhh she doesn't know and I am hoping she doesn't read this until I give it to her. Do you think she might be a little bit surprised? I can't wait to take some picture of her all snuggled up in it. Que more crying when I got that email. I can't even watch a Baby Story anymore because I am a sobbing hormonal mess everytime!

It makes me sad that something like cancer brings people together because no one should have to go through this, but then it makes me happy to know this is bringing people together. I keep telling my mom she has a ton of people she has never even met out there praying for her.

It is still so weird to be writing about cancer and everything going on, but reading other people's experiences with it especially the people in the family of someone going through all of this has been really helpful to me so maybe I can be helpful to someone else.

Thankfully we have the BEST medicine for every ailment.

Mrs. Sassy Pants! I wish we could bottle her up as the cure all for everything!

Another good medicine will be a week at the beach. I think we all need a mental break from reality for a while. 

Mama Mia

I don't think I ever did a Mother's Day post so let's rewind and go back a few weeks.

It was absolutely 100% perfect! I had previously told my sweet husband that I didn't want anything for Mother's Day except a new hard drive for our busted up computer. He did however deliver with a precious card with a precious hand print from my Baby Love. We had planned to all get together at my parent's house with my family and Brent's parents, but sadly only Brent's dad got to join because Brent's mom went to be with her mother because of some sad family news. The day just wasn't the same without her, but we got to give her her gifts a few days later.

I really like making gifts whenever I can think of something good to make so I decided to make special necklaces for the grand mamas. I made an imprint of Mckinley's tiny finger for one charm and I found some really neat picture lockets for another charm.

We had a delicious lunch and opened our gift from my Dad and sister

An awesome beach cart for all of the junk we will be transporting from the condo to the beach! 

We all got to spend the day together and we of course took a ton of pictures of the little lady.

This Little Lady is the only gift I needed for my first Mother's Day

Project Beach Body

Officially starts TODAY because we are going to the beach baby! What's better then getting to stay home with my girl all summer? Getting to be with her, my hubby, and my family at the beach for an entire week! 

Now on to the important stuff like getting the ole beach body ready. This morning when I weighed myself I was 3 pounds away from my post baby weight and I couldn't be happier, but I want to lose those 3 plus some. I have been drinking my own lovely concoction every morning that I believe has really helped in my post baby weight loss journey.

Roxanne's Morning Smoothie

1 handful of fresh spinach leaves

1 handful baby carrots or 1 large carrot

1 banana

a few scoops of your favorite low fat yogurt (I use vanilla or strawberry)

1 handful of frozen berry medley

1 Tbsp honey

1 c milk

1 c ice

add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Pour. Enjoy. You can put anything you want in it, but this is what I had on hand. I actually went ahead and mixed the fruits and veggies, yogurt, and honey together, poured it in a greased muffin pan, and froze it. Then I popped them out and put them in a Tupperware container to use during the wee. I just popped 2 frozen rounds in the blender, added the milk and ice and blended to my preferred consistency. I am thinking of adding some brewers/nutritional yeast for milk production.

So this is what I have been drinking every morning for a week now and I feel like I can already tell a difference in my energy and I make a really big cup so I am pretty full until lunchtime. Now if people would stop bringing donuts to school I could be 5 lbs. below pre baby weight. I have also returned to the gym once a week with my gym buddy. I plan on going 2-3 times a week soon so that should kick up the weight loss. Sadly as I typed that I laughed because there is no way I will be hitting the gym that many times. I would be happy with at least 2 gym dates and maybe 1 day of 30 day shred at home.

If only I could be as comfortable with my body as Mckinley. She  really embraces all of her curves.

 We  of course have to start planning what we will be taking with us because traveling with 3 is a totally different animal. I might over pack for myself so I am going to have to work on that too.

We have never had a little at the beach before so we may need a few extras especially since Mckinley will probably be mobile by then and when I say mobile I mean running around, touching everything, getting into EVERYTHING so we need to be prepared. I will be packing an assortment of accoutrements to keep her entertained.

We will definitely need a beach blanket for baby girl to play on. We have this one from Bed Bath and Beyond. This thing has really come in handy since I bought it a few years ago. I use it for Race Day at school, we take it to Italian Fest, and other fun outings. Funny thing is I kind of had babies in mind when I bought it because I knew it would be great for playing outside or napping at the park. Ours isn't that cute, but it is a little more universal with it's brown back and green front just in case our second bambino doesn't care for pink zebra.

To go along with the beach blanket we are going to get a blow up pool with a canopy to keep down by the beach to keep the girl cool without having to go in Mama doesn't do the ocean water and I am sure daddy will get tired of going back and forth from the beach to the water and back again so we thought this might be a fun thing to take. I will of course be lounging in my cute mommy bathing suit next to the pool. Not sure if I can pull off the bikini like this mama.

The most important beach necessity could be a cute bathing suit which we have 2 or 3 that people have given us to go along with the 2 or 3 beach hats people have also given us, but I think the most important thing is a super cute  cloth swim diaper. Like this one from Nicki's Diapers, our favorite spot besides www.diaperswapers.com to buy diapers. Since we are staying in a condo we will have access to a washer and dryer so we will be taking our cloth with us and this cloth swim diaper will fit perfectly in our stash. Bad news is the diaper also come with matching rash guard and hat so we might need those too.

Last, but not least are 2 extras we have procured from loved ones. A covered pool float and some beach toys to keep my girl safe and preoccupied because no one likes a sunburned/bored baby.
Speaking of sunburned we will of course be taking a years supply worth of sunscreen to protect all of the pasty whiteness that will be hitting the beach. Sadly no sun has touched this ole body a LONG time and I will be slathering it on all 3 of us because there is nothing like getting a sunburn the first day on the beach.

I still can't believe how lucky we were to get this particular condo for this particular week.
Just talking about all of this is blowing my mind because that means we only have 3 more months of school left. That is 12 weeks people! Roughly 60 days! What the what! I only missed 4 weeks of school so this year shouldn't have gone by so fast! Guess I better start planning the rest of the year out and get started on next years planning.

Why am I already talking about next year!? I need time to stop so my baby stops growing!