Introducing Piper and What to Expect When You See Me!

Piper is HERE!

I am SO proud of my little sister!  After 42 hours of labor Piper was born last night around 12:30am.  7 lbs 2.5 oz and 19-1/2" long.   Isn't she beautiful and perfect?  I am so happy for Abi and Jordan, they will be the most amazing parents.  I can't wait to hear more details, I only got to talk to Abi for a few minutes this morning but she said Piper is just perfect, was awake and alert much of the night just looking around.  I am sure she was looking up her mommy all night and realizing how beautiful her mommy was and how much she loves her!  I will update on more info as I get it.  :)  

There was a slight bit of sadness on my part that I don't get to fly down and see them.  My mom was there for the birth and Kim flew into, I had tickets bought that we had to cancel.  BUT Piper being born is something to celebrate, it should bring nothing but happy feelings!  Abi and Piper plan on coming to visit for a full week in February, we usually all fight over what house Abi stays at and I am officially claiming them for ALL SEVEN days!  So sorry Kim and sorry to the Lopez's, she's mine!  She can come and visit you while she is here but they are sleeping here, there are no ifs ands or buts about it. :)  

Love you Abi, Jordan and Piper!  Can't wait to see you!

 

 

 

Love the Pringles in the bed on this one.  Definitely my sister!

What to expect when you see me....

As I make my way back to normalcy I am finding that I am a little nervous to start seeing people again.  How will they react to me? Will I cry when I see people?  What are people expecting me to look like or act like?  I kind of get the feeling that people are a little nervous to see me for the first time too and have the same questions and may worry about how to act towards me.  This was confirmed after my friend Liz visited.  She sent me the sweetest email I have ever got in my life and I think she clearly explains exactly what you will get when you see me.... 

{I was not expecting you to be any different but I was wondering if it would FEEL different to be around you. Like, would I feel like you were a fragile person or look at you thinking about your tumor or would I break down and cry and make your day another shitty one? Totally not. It was just like hanging out with you before all of this crap happened. I loved just talking with you all day about anything and everything. I totally did have the mind set to come there and clean and do laundry and get stuff done for you, but that was the part of me that wondered how you would be. You are clearly still you and YOU GOT THIS. I have to tell you, I did break down crying on the way home. And not all sad cries. It was like I processed everything we talked about during the day for the first 30 minutes of the ride and then just started to cry. Obviously for the normal reasons like it not being fair, it's too much for one family to have to go through, feeling for Jamie, etc. But also because you really are the strongest person I know and I am so happy that I have you as a best friend.} - Liz B.

Last night we had pizza over at a friend's house.  Their son AJ was in Owen's 4K class last year and we became friends over the summer.  Christen (AJ's mom) and I have become close friends in the past few months, she has a little guy the same age as Jacob and so we were doing weekly playdates before this whole brain tumor thing decided to pop up.  I was nervous about our friendship and kind of sad.  It is a newer friendship so I was worried that this stupid tumor would make it weird, we have really only been friends for a couple of months and now this?  So when we went to their house yesterday I was a little nervous to be honest but I had NO reason to be!  It was SUCH a great time!  Owen and AJ played all night, we hardly saw them.  Jacob and Carter both just waddled around the house, played, cried and whined together and the four adults hung out, ate pizza and talked as if nothing had ever happened.  It was perfect!  I am SO happy that I have Christen in my life, she has already been there for me in so many ways; brought me an amazing bag of goodies to treat myself, brought us dinner and has SO generously offered to drive Owen to school every Tuesday and Thursday after she drops AJ at kindergarden.  Owen is BEYOND excited about getting to sit in AJ's car seat and is already brainstorming treasures he can leave in the seat for AJ to find when he sits in the seat next!  Makes my heart smile.  So fortunate that Christen was brought into my life last year, I have no doubt we will be life long friends! 

So as Owen starts school again next week and I start getting out running errands with whoever will drive me somewhere here is what you can expect to see from me:

 - Crazy curly hair

- A shaved section of hair above my right ear that isn't even that noticeable.

- An occasional bout of dizziness that sometimes make me stop talking and so the room stops spinning.

- Sometimes I feel my speech is a little slower or I have a harder time getting the right word out (this is just the meds I am taking)

- There is a good chance I may cry here or there, WARNING... I try not to cry and my mouth puckers up, Jamie says my lips look like a butthole when I do this and it drives him nuts, he is going to KILL me for writing that!  HA!

BUT I am still the same old me!  Just like I was before... just running around in the craziness of everyday caring for my boys.

THANK YOU!

I wanted to send a special thank you to EVERYONE that has signed up to bring meals and help with rides!  I can't even tell you how blessed Jamie and I feel to have such a support system.  We truly feel like we have an army that is battling this stupid tumor with us.  I promise you that when we are back up on our feet and healthy we will be paying this forward a million times over and over and over! 

I have been asked by people to include the links for helping on my blog so here they are.  Thanks again to everyone!  

 Sign up for meals and ride help by clicking the link below.

You can also make donations towards our medical costs by clicking the link below.

 


Special thanks to Mary, Stephanie and Heather that dropped off this amazingly generous stock pile of stuff for us!!!!  SO SWEET OF THEM!
{diapers, wipes, toilet paper, paper towel, kleenex, Mrs. Meyers cleaning stuff which is my FAVORITE!, snacks, etc}

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!