Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Florida!

We just returned home from another wonderful weekend at home in Florida. This trip was much different from our last visit a few weeks ago. A huge blessing, Dad has had a burst of improvement, which I've been told is not uncommon for cancer patients once the chemo leaves their body. As a result he was able to spend more time in his wheelchair and less time laying down resting. In fact, he is sitting on the couch now, sleeping in bed with mom and is no longer attached to any medical equipment (which made getting him out and about so much easier). He also looks more like himself and has gained some strength in his arms and legs. Although we know this burst is temporary, we are all just so blessed by these tiny miracles that have allowed Dad to be more comfortable and present!
After a very long drive, we arrived home Wednesday evening to Ian's 30th birthday dinner. Mom always makes a delicious crab dinner for birthdays and Ian was sweet to request that she wait to make his until we got home a few days later.
On Thursday we took dad to New Smyrna Beach. The first time we took him to the beach a few weeks ago Hospice threatened to release him from their care. However, I think we've broken enough rules now that they have let the beach trips slide under the radar -- hallelujah.
The kids couldn't have had more fun. The trip to the beach was an absolute blast.
When we arrived home from the beach my girlfriend Mel surprised my family by sending dinner to our house. It was such a nice treat to have more time together and less time cooking and cleaning!
Friday we spent most of the day in the pool until the kids were completely waterlogged.
That night Mom invited family and friends over for a large spaghetti dinner -- her specialty. My bestie Shannon never misses a spaghetti dinner and stayed late catching up with me over lots of wine and ice cream cake.
Saturday we spent more time by the pool, watched a marathon of Disney movies & football (sad, sad game for the Gators), and of course, we had steak for dinner.
 
On Sunday we said our tough goodbyes and made our long drive back to Charlotte. I already can't wait to return...

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Monday, August 28, 2017

Weekend Rewind || Tom's 1st Hair Cut & Eye Update

I am in denial that our summer weekends are dwindling. I am going to miss pool days, shorts & tank tops, Popsicles and glasses of rosé as the cooler temps arrive. We've already seen a preview of fall this past week with a few cool days and as enjoyable as they are I am just not ready! Anyway, a few scenes from our weekend...
Friday morning Thomas had an eye appointment. It was a long one but we were lucky that our doctor was able to dilate his eyes over his contacts so we didn't have the added stress of removing and inserting his contacts during the exam (that usually tacks on an additional hour at least). Dr. D did a thorough exam and gave him an A+ in alignment (hallelujah for continued strabismus surgery success) and shocked us both when he informed us that his contact prescription did not need to be changed. This was his first appointment ever that his vision hadn't changed. It's not necessarily a good or a bad thing because we aren't 100% positive what his current vision even in. Our doctor explained that oftentimes aphakic kids (kids that have had their eye lens surgically removed) learn to navigate their world with terrible vision so it appears they can see well from our perspective when in reality it's all they know! Anywaaaaaay, we also received some big news that Thomas is now eligible for his next surgery -- the Intraocular Lens (IOL) implant. Now that his eyes have reached their full maturity in size (fun fact: eyes reach full adult size at 2 years of age) we need to be thinking about having the permanent lens surgically implanted within a year. After this surgery he will still need contacts but will then have the option for glasses too.
During our visit we also gave our doctor a gift -- a bow tie (his favorite accessory) and a scrapbook featuring Tom's eye journey since he's been under his care. He loved this so much and thought it was the most thoughtful gift ever. But what we didn't expect was his idea to show the book to his patients who show up in his office with a newborn baby scared to learn all about their child's cataract diagnosis. He can flip through the pages with them to ease their fears and show them what an extremely successful outcome looks like and all the steps and procedures along the way (patching, contacts, surgeries, recoveries, etc.). For readers stumbling on this page looking for cataract answers and support, here is a digital version!
On Friday evening we joined our friends, the Edwards (Caroline's best friend Austin), and a few other families, for a super fun pizza & pool play date. The kids splashed around for hours and ate their weight in pizza before crashing hard into bed.
Early Saturday morning we visited Matt's office to grab some files before stopping for cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids had a blast running through the halls, climbing the reception desk and nosing around a few of the attorney offices (sorry Jen & Rachel). And this is why they rarely get to visit during business hours.
 I see you, stack of lunch boxes that haven't found their way home!!!!
Sunglasses ($12) | Top ($22) | Shorts ($17)

Side note: I am obsessed with these $12 sunglasses and have received so many compliments on this embroidered top that is 40% off!

Later that morning our longtime handyman, Hector, arrived to make my to-do list dreams come true. He fixed and replaced so many things around the house that we haven't had time to address. Matt is one hell of a lawyer but definitely does not pretend to be a handyman -- especially when it comes to wires! Anyway, Hector repaired our broken garbage disposal, replaced all the weather stripping in the house, removed a super old door chime and a few broken fire detectors then patched & painted the holes in the walls, repaired our broken gate in the backyard, fixed our front door (it's been jammed shut and we couldn't open it) and fixed the kids' bathroom ceiling water damage from a recent roof leak. He is amazing!
The yellowed fire detectors looked like alien spaceships to me. Since we've moved in these things have creeped me out and I couldn't have been happier to say goodbye to them!
 

Meanwhile, Caroline gave Thomas makeup lessons to distract him from interrupting allll the projects around the house.
After naps we joined the Samuelsons at McKinsey's parents' house for another pizza + pool play date! McKinsey's parents just finished a major pool renovation and had us over to enjoy the new pool! We also got to see just how NOT scared of the pool Thomas is. He is so wild and fearless.

On Sunday we took Thomas to get his first hair cut!
We asked Caroline if she wanted to get hers cut too but she felt strongly against it (& daddy wasn't quite ready either). However, Tom did fantastic and was hilarious the entire appointment. He was so excited about sitting in an airplane that he didn't even notice he got a trim. 
He looks so dang cute I can hardly stand it!
Last stop of the weekend was Cowfish at Caroline's request. She is so obsessed. And because both kids ate well and behaved themselves they cashed in (literally) on my penny bribe for the fountain!
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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Life Lately || The Highlights

If you don't mind, I'd like to change gears from cancer updates to less serious topics! Writing is such an amazing outlet for me and I need it now more than ever. Anyway, I have some highlights to share from the past few weeks... 

McKinsey's Baby Shower: My friend McKinsey is expecting her second little boy, McCoy, in a few weeks so a group of us threw a little sprinkle for her at my house recently.
 Sara of course made the cutest onesie decorations.
You can find McKinsey's first baby shower we hosted for her two years ago here!

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Date Nights: Matt has been on top of date night planning recently. In the past few weeks he's worked directly with Ms. Jamie to schedule two dates for me and him to decompress and spend time together. He is the best and I absolutely couldn't get through this season of life without him.
 
 {Workman's Friend Date Night}
 
{Ink & Ivy Date Night}
 
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Birthday Parties: We've attended 3 birthday parties for Caroline and Thomas' friends over the past few weekends.
 
{Phelps' Super Hero 3rd Birthday Party}
{Maggie's 2nd Birthday Pool Party}
 
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Supper Club: This month Abby hosted Supper Club at her house and it was so fun. She has the most gorgeous home and served Yafo for dinner!

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PGA Championship Golf Tournament: Matt and his dad went to the PGA tournament on Saturday and then Matt and I took the kids on Sunday! I'm glad we went...but the kids were really only well-behaved for like 35 minutes before they got bored, hot and were ready to go! Next time we'll leave them behind.
 
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Solar Eclipse: Matt and I met at home yesterday to eat lunch and watch the Eclipse together on the baseball field behind our house. It was awesome and such a fun excuse to hang out in the middle of the workday for a few hours.
 

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