1 to 6 Month Comparison

Becca at about 1 month:

Becca at 6 months:

Labor Day

Karen and I headed to our parents' for the weekend.  Her parents were down last week right after her chemo appointment and were able to help her can some green beans (70+ pint jars).  On Thursday they loaded the kids and her in their van then headed out of town.  I worked the full day and left after I was done.  They were able to stop by and visit with Leslie.  That is a cousin on Karen's side and she and her husband invited us to live in their basement while we waited for Becca to be released from the hospital.  They were able to catch up and little and Leslie was able to see Becca and James.

Thursday night Karen was not feeling well and wasn't holding food down.  Her chemo treatment was changed up since the neuropathy hadn't gone away since her last treatment.  Neuropathy is tingling in the finger tips and sensitivity to heat and cold.  Karen was still experiencing some tingling in her fingers and the tingling would be present in her mouth and throat when she drank cold water.  The doctor removed the oxaliplatin from her regimen in the hopes that the neuropathy will not be permanent and the drug can possibly be added back at a later date.

Friday we had planned to head to Bear Lake but instead Karen slept and I tried to take care of the kids.  We were able to get Karen some anti nausea medication later on.  We aren't sure if that is what helped or if she had a stomach bug but by Monday she was eating much better and was more like her usual self.  Saturday and Monday she was feeling a little adventurous and we decided to do some car shopping.  The intent was to window shop so we would know what was out there, what we liked and didn't like and how much everything was going for.  Instead we found a nice SUV and ended up trading in our little Corolla.

We had been making do but having everything fit in the car for trips was getting very hard.  Karen also made the point that for driving back and forth through canyons every two weeks during the winter an AWD or 4WD would be better.  We had just gotten the car paid off before Karen's diagnosis so going into debt again for a car was not an easy choice.  In the end our car payment now will be about the same as it was before.  Oddly enough our insurance agent told us the rates on the SUV (same year as the Corolla, 2008) are $4/month lower.  Just more proof that someone else, as Karen puts it, is driving this flying umbrella.

Braden

August

The month of August was very interesting.  We managed to take a day vacation for our anniversary on August 9th.  We went for a drive along the Nebo Loop with the kids though we miscalculated the amount of time our scenic route would take.  We had to rush the last bit of it but managed to get some nice pictures.  James was great but didn't like stopping, getting out of the car every few minutes and then being forced to get back into his car seat.  Next time we'll pack a lunch and take our time maybe in the next few weeks when the leaves start to turn.

Karen is the smart one, she grabbed her hat.  I like blinding people with my head.

Nice photo bomb Karen!

James is done with pictures...

We dropped the kids off at Karen's sister later in the day and went on an afternoon date.  We grabbed lunch at PF Changs (gluten free all the way for Karen) and then ducked over for a movie (Guardians of the Galaxy) which we agreed was better than we thought it was going to be.  Groot totally stole the show.  While waiting for the movie to start we headed over to a nearby shop and grabbed a new music CD to listen to on the way home.

It was a great day since, thanks to Karen's sister, we were able to spend some time together and enjoy each other's company without worrying about shopping or rushing to a doctor appointment.

Rebecca decided it was nap time instead of tummy time.

Becca 'watching' a movie with mom and dad.

I will find the comparison picture and post it so you can see how much Becca has grown.

At the end of August, Rebecca had her 6 month checkup.  She is 24.25 inches and 12lbs 7.5oz.  With her adjusted age of 4 months she has caught up to most of her peers on length but is on the low side for weight.  It looks like she is taking after Karen instead of me which I think is a very good thing.

Braden

July 30th (belated)

Karen's immediate family had a reunion over the 24th of July weekend.  Everyone takes turns hosting it and this was supposed to be the year Karen and I hosted it at our house.  Since December her family was fairly sure that we wouldn't be able to take our turn due to Karen's pregnancy.  In February it became very clear we wouldn't be hosting it due to the cancer diagnosis.

As part of the reunion they have some fun and games for the kids (big, little and adult ones) and a service project.  To help us out they did the fun stuff at her brother's in Salt Lake and then the service project at our house.  Karen's parents came down the week before to help out and her dad helped me look around and see what we wanted to work on in the yard and do some prep to make things go a little faster.  We took out three dead tree stumps (we found a fourth with everyone here) and figured out where to put the lava rock we were going to take out of the flower beds.

The morning of, and before anyone had shown up yet, a couple of neighbors helped me out by grabbing a load of top soil and then one of them used his little tractor to move the dirt into the backyard and a into a few other spots.  That sped things up quite a bit for us later on.  Everyone arrived in the early afternoon and we had lunch and then started working.  The bigger kids and guys worked on the flower beds in the back and the younger kids and a few of the gals worked on the one in the front yard.

Everyone worked really hard and we ended up getting a lot more done than I had hoped for.  We did have one casualty though.  Our niece's husband lost the nail of his big toe.

All in all it was a great experience and we are very grateful for all of the help we have been given.

Braden

Technical Difficulties

August has been full of adventures and struggles. James broke the screen of my tablet and since my computer is downstairs, on the other side of a baby gate (both of which are bigger obstacles than you might think), I was not able to get to a computer to post anything. Braden has since bought me a laptop to replace my computer and as soon as I get a free moment and be able to think straight at the same time (also harder than you might think) I will get the blog updated. Until then know that I am still here and still fighting.

Thanks for your patience,
Karen