Happy 27 to me

Last week was my 27th birthday. I woke up to a very loud "Happy Birthday Mommy!" (with some pretty funny inflection). Danny worked really hard to make it a fun day-unfortunately he got strep throat (or more accurately it never left him. That poor guy has had it for almost three weeks-the first time the antibiotics didn't kill it all the way so it came back-awful).  I decided that instead of some other fun activities I'd like to read my book that morning (partly to let the poor guy rest-partly because that sounded really fun).  That afternoon I dragged him downtown for a movie and stroll. That evening we had a little party at my parents. Lucy surprised me by singing the whole verse to our Swedish birthday song (my family sings three birthday songs before we can blow out the candles. It takes awhile.) Danny also surprised me with a group jeopardy game all about me. I didn't know some of the answers:)  I was surprised how many quetions my grandparents anwswered correctly. I was also surprised my mom didn't know the favorite candy bar of my youth(j/k mom). It was a great day. Here is about the only decent picture we took all day of me with my new backpack beach chairs-I'm very excited about them.

Big day

Last week Lucy had a doctor appointment and her first dentist appointment on the same day. I thought it could be traumatic but she did great! I completely forgot to get her a check up when she turned 3 and wasn't going to even take her in until I remembered she probably needed shots.  She did need one shot and was great about it. She'll do just about anything for a Lightning McQueen sticker. Then we were off to the dentist. When I imagined a three year old appointment-I thought they'd look in her mouth, pronounce her a great brusher and give us a prize on our way out the door. I had no idea they actually clean your teeth at three! I don't know why that was such a shock to me, but it was.  She lay on me and did a great job. For some reason I was worried about her first dentist appointment-glad I don't need to worry again.

Lucy's 2nd haircut

Lucy has needed a haircut for awhile- most days she looks like a ragamuffin with tangled hair in her face.  I have been meaning to cut it for awhile-but Lucy LOVES her long hair. She talks about it all the time. She loves my long hair too-and can get mad when I put it up. This made a short, summer cut difficult. You may remember her last (and first) haircut. She was sad for days about it!
Well, yesterday Becca and I took her in. I had prepped her for days-haircuts actually make your hair grow thicker and longer, everybody gets haircuts, you'll get a lollipop afterward (yes I bribe.) We took her to a cute kid hair salon which was fun because they had Cars (her favorite movie) on when we walked in-instant success.  When it was her turn she chose to hop on the carousel horse and was very good while her hair was cut.

Only when they took her bib off did she freak out.  She cried for the next ten minutes saying "me want LONG HAIR!" Not even TWO lollipops could console her.

She eventually forgot about it, but would remember whenever she saw anyone new. Danny tried to console her. Today she is a bit happier about it. I think it is adorable. I would probably have gone shorter if she wasn't so weird about her hair:) She looks so grown up! Today we're getting pictures taken-so now the bribery switches to M&Ms (one per smile. Don't hassle me-it works!).

Moving!

This past weekend my mom, Lucy and I drove down to Irvine and picked up keys to our new apartment.  We didn't bring too much to unpack, this was mostly a trip to scout out the apartment and check out what will fit inside. Seeing it, I'm actually very excited. Its on the bottom floor, facing an open space and is larger than what we've been used to.  At the same time, it was hard to be in an apartment again-stark white walls, neighbor noise.  It is handicapped accessible as well-which means my cabinets and counters are really low, my hallways are wide, one of the bathrooms is HUGE (and the door opens out= annoying) and there are tons of outlets-all generally good things.
We spent several days down there shopping for house things, airing out the apt, and putting shelf liners in the kitchen. This is what Lucy did most of the trip (check out my old school TV). She was a very good helper. When she wasn't helping us move in she was riding her new princess scooter back and forth between us "checking" on each of us while we worked.

We pick up the moving van on Thursday, drive down on Friday, move in on Saturday and drive home again on Sunday.  Hopefully we'll be able to get some boxes unpacked over the weekend. We will not actually be living there until the end of the month due to my current IVF cycle.
I've really been looking forward to moving and starting things fresh in Irvine. I have found it hard to start packing up though. We have really relied on our families up here. My mom entertains Lucy through all of sacrament meeting and Lucy really looks forward to her special church toys Grandma brings. Lucy and Marilyn have sewing time, tea parties and game time just about every day. She looks forward to going home to both grandma's houses and telling them about her day. I'm going to actually have to cook, clean, grocery shop etc and not rely on Marilyn for everything. Danny and I have willing babysitters on hand whenever we need them. What will we do with out them?

No Luck

My cycle of IVF didn't work. We're really disappointed and a little confused.  We had felt so optimistic. We meet with our doctor on Monday to figure out Plan B (which is probably plan A over again).  The good news is that we have 8 great looking embryos to work with in the future.  While I'm mourning the loss of this one, I know I will get another baby eventually.

6 months

Danny and I just got back from the oncologists.  He gets a scan and a check up every three months for a couple years and this month he is officially six months in remission. We had almost looked forward to out three month appointment -seeing all the nurses we had relationships with, being in a familiar place. This appointment was a completely different experience.  We walked into the building and I almost started hyperventilating-the whole experience just came back and felt very real. We both got anxious and felt sick just sitting in the waiting room.  It was horrible. There were just too many memories with too many emotions attached. The good news is Danny's scans looked great and we don't have to dread another appointment until next November:)
After the appointment we shook it off at a near by 7-11

unfortunately we feel sicker now:)

Hawaii!

I'm not sure how to document our trip to Hawaii. It was...bliss. We stayed in Kailua on the windy side of O'ahu in a stunning home right off the beach. We walked in the front gate and almost felt like there was a soundtrack going-palms rustling, exotic birds singing, ocean crashing in the background. It was awesome.  

Danny immediately threw himself in the water.  That boy was like a puppy dog-running in and out of the ocean, coming back to me for approval. We spent the majority of our time lounging on our perfect beach, reading books or walking along the beach. The water is bluer, warmer and cleaner than any ocean I've every seen. The sand is soft and white with no sea weed or bugs to be found. I LOVED it.

I'm not sure how we left the house, but we did manage to do some sight seeing. We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and enjoyed the ice cream, show and exhibits. Danny was a volunteer at the Tonga drumming show. He was so good they needed to go faster and faster to lose him!

We also made our way to North Shore and Waikiki. It was not the best season for surfing, but Danny managed to go twice and enjoy the water without a thick wetsuit.  We went jet skiing, snorkeling, paddle boarding and hiking throughout the week as well.  We missed out Lucy every minute, but were glad she was having so much fun with her aunts and grandma and grandpa Anderson at home. In the end, she was the only thing that got me on the plane to come home.

This trip meant a lot to us. Throughout those months of chemo, we looked forward to being normal again and a time we could escape everything and just be together. We've never been on a trip just the two of us like this, and it was such a good time to reflect on this past year and look forward to the next. We still feel the negative effects of cancer every day (like when I'm shooting myself up with pregnancy hormones:), but hopefully very soon we'll be able to finally put it all behind us for good.