Sweet, sweet memories!

I love having a camera readily available on my phone because I am able to capture so many memories with my sweet family! There are LOTS of pictures and videos and I'll explain each as I go along.


My Loves!





I caught M'Ree laughing for one of the first times ever!!!





Myles loves to dress himself, but this day he got in a jam with his sweater. It made us laugh and smile and he eventually got it right too.





Brothers! I love that they will have pictures with each other as they grow up together.





Myles LOVES basketball! For Christmas he got a hoop that hooks over the top of a door so he can practice whenever he wants and all his practice has definitely paid off! My Dad and stepmom took us to Chuck E. Cheese's last weekend and I was so amazed by how well he was doing at the little basketball booth! I would have gotten a longer video of him making more shots, but my camera was dying so I couldn't :(.





Up in the mouse cage at Chuck E. Cheese's





My sleepy little men!





Sweet Myles





He is getting so big so fast!





Myles and I made homemade fruit snack gummies!





Stirring the gummy mixture





Excited to try his gummies!





Trying a gummy!





Easter morning! I think my favorite thing about this picture is how happy Myles was thinking he was the most spoiled kid in the world, but we got EVERY one of their Easter goodies you see in the picture for about $15! D.I. and dollar items is where it's at! The little couch looking thing has a zipper on the bottom and it has a little Myles sized sleeping bag inside! Those things brand new are about $20, but D.I. sold it for $3! A bit of scrubbing and a run through the washing machine and it was as good as new :D. He hasn't slept a night without his sleeping bag since either.





Oh how I love this precious little face and his adorable ears!!!





Little stowaway! Myles attached himself to Liz's and Isaac's bag when they were leaving after they'd visited one weekend.





I couldn't resist a picture of sweet, little M'Ree in his little fisherman hat!





He walked in the house after we had been at the park one day and just crashed! I'm glad it's getting to be warm all the time so this will be happening more often during the day!





Our little dare devil! Making us nervous looking like he's going to climb on the bars.





He's says he can do it so we're trusting him.





Well, he can do It! I don't know if those bars are meant to be a slide, but they are now!





M'Ree kept it a lot more chill at the park





No pictures please, but I still love you, see, I can sign it!





Myles asks me to sing to him every night before he goes to bed, but while I sing he likes to stroke my hair and hold my face in his little hand. It's one of my favorite times of the day and will no doubt be one of my favorite memories of all time. This picture was one Frank got one night when Myles and I had fallen asleep after I had sung to him and yes, I am totally in his little toddler bed with him :)





M'Ree doing what M'Ree does best!





Myles has loved watching Sleeping Beauty lately because "Myles a prince! I kill the dragon!!! He gets all dressed up for the occasion too.





I captured a HUGE smile from sweet M'Ree!





My Liz, Isaac and his little sister, Becky, came to our house so we could celebrate Liz's birthday with her. As always, they are a blast to have around! Like me, Liz is a HUGE volleyball fan so we all went to a BYU men's volleyball game. They are ranked #3 in the nation so they were very fun to watch especially since they won!. Isaac is Venezuelan so it was customary to have a piñata as part of the birthday celebration, but I'm thinking it might have been more for Myles than Liz. We had to improvise a bit since the loop the rope traditionally goes through broke off haha.





Some sweet pictures from our Nevada trip.


Great Grandma Mills and M'Ree





Grandpa Astle and M'Ree





Great Grandpa Mills. Cute as ever!





I am titling this next segment the Joys of Parenthood. I have stories with pictures and just stories, but you'll get a good laugh from both so enjoy!


Myles cheeks flare up with an eczema rash occasionally and during these times we have been advised to give him Benadryl to help calm it. The first night we did this it was already really late at night and Myles was what we call "rummy". Add a dose of Benadryl to an already rummy 2 year old and you get Myles staggering around the living room and Frank says, "Myles you need to go to sleep. You're staggering around like you're drunk!" Myles reply? "Ya, I drunk!" My reply? "Oh, great Frank. What do we tell the bishop when he says that in nursery on Sunday?!"


That moment when you are in a restaurant and your child start SCREAMING like they are dying so you look up to find they have tried to shimmy out the bottom of the booster chair and gotten their head and arm stuck on their way out.





Myles is old enough now to know most of what we are talking about so when we are talking about the possibility of going to the park or making cookies or something of that nature, Frank and I speak to each other in double dutch to throw Myles off so we don't get stuck with him houding us about the park all day because he heard us say the word park, but it's raining outside so there's nothing we can do about it. We were having one of these conversations when Myles walked up to us and goes, "Ibi da bu da do da be bubble!" hahaha it was adorable and I've tried to get it on camera, but he's too shy to perform his double dutch for me!


Myles also had a trip to the Dr. recently because he had a few little warts pop up on he wrist. At his 2 1/2 year check up the Dr. said it would be best to freeze them since he was scratching at them making them bleed and more likely to spread. I was unaware of what exactly that procedure would entail and just thought it would be a cold feeling from the liquid nitrogen and that was it, but, no. The Dr. starting prepping for it and when he brought in a needle I was bit baffled. Come to find out the freezing is cold, but the stinging and burning sensations come through much more that the cold does so they inject a local anesthesia into each wart they are treating. I had only prepped Myles for a cold feeling so while the Dr. was still getting ready I showed him the needle and told him the cold would hurt really bad so the Dr. was going to poke him on his owies and it would hurt but not as bad if he held still and then it wouldn't hurt at all while he did the cold part. As I was relaying this speech I knew it was going to be pointless so I prepared for the screaming and kicking, but much to my surprise Myles laid on the table, gave the Dr. his wrist, said. "Be fast, K?" then grabbed my hand with his free hand, turned his face toward the wall, squeezed his eyes shut and just said ow and had a few silent tears as the Dr. injected the local anesthetic into five different places. I was already stunned by how well Myles was handling everything and then the Dr. saw a tiny wart forming that he said was too small to do the local on so he just starts freezing it! Myles starting going ow, ow, ow, mommy that hurts, it burns! Then he told the Dr. to stop it and knocked his hand away hahaha I told the Dr. to let me explain to him first and Myles says to the Dr., "Ya, got to esplain first!" hahaha oh how I love that boy! So I told him the Dr. had to finish and it would be fast so he let him with some coaxing, but he still didn't fight or cry and when he was done he was just excited for the bandaids he got and they pulled out all the stops and let him choose whatever bandaids he wanted, let him take a huge handful for later, and they let him choose extra stickers because he did so well and his Dr. said, "He is the bravest 2 year old I've ever seen!". :D I was prepared to get emotional from the screaming and kicking like I always do when one of my kids is in pain from shots or the like, but I was not prepared for his act of bravery. I ended up crying anyway, but just because I was so proud of him so I told him that because he was so good and so brave I'd take him to McDonald's for lunch and wouldn't you know he comes to me today and says, "Look, another owie, the Dr. needs to fix it so I get french fries cause I'm brave." :D Frank's reply to that was, "Who is this kid? What are we raising?!" hahaha. Myles didn't end up having another wart though, thank goodness. He is such a little trooper! This is a picture of some of the open sores that came a few days after they froze his warts.





We made pizza the other day for dinner and right when we sat down to eat M'Ree started crying so I went to see what was up with him, came back and found a perfectly good piece of pizza sitting on the floor next to Myles chair so I picked it up and asked Myles why his pizza was on the floor. He told me he was feeding the ants. Sure enough, right that moment, I got a tickling feeling on my arm. I looked down to find an ant on my arm and several on the piece of pizza! He had apparently noticed the little critters when I hadn't, but we've had ant problems before so luckily I have ant bait on hand and they were gone within a few days.





Many of you probably have a memory similar to this one of mine where you look up from nursing your infant and see your son or daughter is "nursing" a teddy bear or baby doll! Classic!


Liz and Isaac took us to Arctic Circle for lunch after we'd helped them move one Saturday and Myles decided to pick up Isaac's 32oz soda and get a drink. Poor Myles knew it was slipping and even said, "Help Isaac!", but it was too late. What made this moment so memorable, though, was Isaac looking up when Myles asked for help to see Myles practically toss the soda to him, the lid popping of mid air and Isaac catching a wave of soda full in the face! Myles felt so bad, but when I got a picture of it he was pretty proud because, "I got uncle Isaac!!!" hahaha





This moment was a real joy for me and made me feel accomplished in instilling some great values in Myles. Myles grabbed the Ensign while we were visiting my mom and stepdad a few months back and started "reading" it. I asked what he was reading just like he does to me when I am reading and he gave me the same answer I give him when he asks me what I am reading: "I'm reading the "Esine", because it's the best "magzine" in the house."





I can still almost not believe this next memory even though Myles has always been such a great eater and will try anything, but now I mean ANYTHING! Myles came around the corner from the kitchen at my mom and stepdads and says, "Mmmmm, I like it this juice!" I turned around curious what juice he'd found because his mouth certainly had proof he had been drinking juice, but I could not believe my eyes when I saw what kind of juice he had! You might be able to make it out in the picture, but incase you can't, he was drinking beet juice straight out of the can! I figured if he liked it, great, because it was definitely not going to hurt him so who was I to stop him from drinking something so healthy?





That's all for now!

Engagement and Tornados!

My friends! A lot has happened recently… a whole lot. Remember how the last time I wrote was January 15th, and now it is April 14th? Yeah well in that little gap there I met myself a pretty great guy and got engaged. No fooling!!!

I threw a dinner party on January 24th for my roommate’s birthday (actually, I had invited the missionaries over for dinner and when I told my roommate to expect guests for dinner, because she hates it when she comes home and I have people over that she doesn’t know about, and she said “Oh yay! Missionaries over for dinner on my birthday!!!” and I thought “yeah….. that’s the reason….” and frantically made some phone calls in order to make it a birthday dinner party.) I digress. So anyway, I threw a dinner party and one of our neighbors brought his new roommate, Benjamin. I had heard of Benjamin once or twice but since I hadn’t met him and didn’t know who he was, nothing stuck. Well he walked in and I thought, “Well, that is 6 feet and 2 inches of pure yumminess right there!”

He was so quiet and so kind and handsome, and he kind of glowed. Those blue, blue eyes and dark hair with a little side part (did I mention he’d just gotten home from his mission 3 weeks prior?) were just too perfect. We had only been expecting Will, not Benjamin, so we did a little shuffle of chairs and scrounged up another plate and fork, and Benjamin became out Pleasant Surprise. I tracked down his number and texted Benjamin the next day, “I’m glad you came Benjamin… you really were a pleasant surprise.”. Now, Benjamin got that text and thought I was telling him that I liked him. I, on the other hand, had sent a text to everyone who came, and was even talking to another boy that I was hoping to go out with later that night at the same time that I was texting Benjamin. I did, however, like Benjamin and made sure to invite him to all the little activities I hosted at my apartment, like worm painting and movie nights and stuff, and things just progressed. On our first date, I knew I wanted to marry him, and our first kiss sealed the deal. He proposed on March 20th at 4:00 in the morning. We were in Utah visiting my family. Side note, yeah, he met almost my WHOLE family and survived! Not only did he survive, but he seemed to like them. And they liked him!!! AND he loves babies! Any time I had a baby in my arms, he’d come and steal them away. I think he’ll be a terrific father! Ok rampage finished. So anyway, he came to tuck me into bed after we finished chatting with a good friend of mine, and plopped the ring box in my lap and said, “here, I want you to have this… cause I like ya.” I turned to look at him and said a=sardonically, “…really? That’s how you’re gonna propose?” To which he replied with his devastatingly handsome dimpled smile while laughing and said “No. Erica, I love you. You make me happy. Will you be my wife?” and slipped the ring on my finger after I said yes.

The ring is his great grandmother’s. Benjamin’s great grandfather didn’t have enough money to buy an engagement ring and a wedding band, so he had the band specially made with diamonds in it. So now we are scheduled to get married in the Logan temple on June 1st and I tell you what, the time is moving SO slowly!!!!!

In other news, we had our first tornado of the season yesterday. Friday the 13th. Does it get any better than that? I was at work when the rain started, and then it started to hail.

"The Wall" just minutes before the tornado

All the workers from the strip mall were all outside watching the sky when one of the ladies from the shop next door opened her door and hollered out “Tornado Warning!!! Everyone get into your bathrooms!!!” so all of us scattered back to our various shops and locked the doors. You know, just in case some wacko decided to shoplift during the storm. Now, there is something you need to know here; Tornado Watch and Tornado Warning and two VERY different things. Tornado Watch just means the conditions are right for a tornado, and Tornado Warning means that a tornado has actually touched the ground. So anyway, the three of us working run to the bathroom and shut the door and not 3 minutes later the Tornado Sirens started going off.

We stayed in the bathroom for about 20 minutes until the sirens turned off, and then peeked our heads out to check what was going on out the windows. I didn’t understand what I was looking at at first… it looked like it was snowing outside… and then I realized it was rain. Rain moving so fast, and sideways, that it was just a white blur. Not 2 minutes later the sirens started going off again, so back to the bathroom we bolted. I was getting updates on my phone, and we discovered that the tornado was only 3 blocks from us. Honest to goodness, we heard the rumbling. I was fine… until I head that a tornado was on Campus, and realized that Benjamin was on campus, and then I freaked out. My eyes welled up a little bit, but then I pulled it together when he texted me and said that he and all our friends were taking refuge in his apartment.

We ended up sitting in the bathroom at work for a good hour, then emergency closed the store as soon as the Warning lifted, and headed home. We think it was only an F2 cause only like 19 people had to go to the hospital, and only a few buildings were demolished, trees uprooted and power lines downed (let me tell you, driving home from work was a joke).

The sky just after the tornado

The street after the tornado

Thankfully though, we’re all safe. I’ve definitely determined that we need to get our 72-hour kits packed up and food storage started, cause no one out here has anything like that. I actually got told I was “one of those Doomsday people” when I started talking about it all.

My tug of war

So, I have TONS of blogging to catch up on, but every once in a while, I find our blog has become my place to vent and right now I feel that's what I need. I try to be positive or put a positive twist on everything and sometimes just getting it out of my system is all I need to relieve that tension and go on in all my happiness. So, the venting. It starts with mixed emotions about our move to Omaha in just 3 1/2 short months, but who's counting. I feel guilt and elation and I'll explain both. The two are completely intertwined because the guilt only exists because I am sooo, sooo very exited about our move! How can I not be?! I love adventure and change. I LOVE that the final leg of Frank's schooling is about to begin. I love the heat and from what I hear, I will not be disappointed in Omaha. I love our new town-home which is 1900 square feet and the previous tenants built a club house in the nook space under the stairs that go to the basement that Myles is going to LOVE. BASEMENT! Yes! We will have a basement!!! I love the idea of a fresh start with a new place, new people and new memories to be made. The ONLY thing I don't absolutely love about leaving Utah..... is leaving Utah! Yes, we have made some great friends here and yes, this is "The home land for the Latter-Day Saints", but our friends are mostly students and on there way out too and let's be honest, Utah could use more work than many other states as far as the Gospel goes. I love the idea of living in a place where people don't take the church for granted as much. It sounds so, very, harsh and judgmental, but the reason I feel that way is because I feel I have become just as complacent in some ways. Do I feel like this just because I am in Utah, no, but being here sure doesn't help. Do I feel that our move will change this, no, but I like the idea of my "family" being people in my ward who have just as much family in Omaha as I do so we'll try harder and rely on each other for support if for no other reason than because we have to. And that brings me to the reason why leaving Utah will be so hard. Family. Frank's parents bought a home that is only about an hour from us before they left on their mission to Germany last year so we will leave Utah and 6 months later they'll be here so we'll miss out on being so close to them. Three of Frank's siblings are in Utah. My dad and stepmom live just 45 minutes away and we are used to seeing them about every other week, at least. My grandparents and all but two of my aunts and uncles from both my parents sides are in Utah. Most of my siblings are still at home in Nevada with my mom and stepdad, but those of them who aren't are in Utah. Home for me is about 7 hours away from where we are now so it's already a long, tedious journey. Now add 2 kids and 14 more hours and my definition of long and tedious just got put into perspective. It wouldn't even be so bad if Myles didn't ask for many of his family members when we haven't seen them in a week or so and I can't help feeling that is how it should be. I grew up having very close relationships with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and I have always wanted that for my kids so how can I not feel so guilty taking them away from that? And, yeah, there is the possibility of coming back to Utah and we'll only be gone a few years, but what if I told you Utah is the last place we want to come back to? Maybe I'll get what's coming to me and Utah will be where we need to be in 3 years. It would be the ultimate trial for me and I'd deserve it, I'm sure, but there are 49 other states we can go to so the odds are in my favor. So, while I have plenty to feel guilty about, I've had a real struggle lately knowing we have more space, a fresh start, new people, and new adventures that are only 3 1/2 months away and I find myself counting down to the blessed day when our journey to Omaha begins.

Chemo #6, dentist, various

3/28/12

Appointment with the oncologist, Dr. Ikeguchi, scheduled for 9:00am. At 8:50 the alarms sounded and the entire building was evacuated. We waited outside for about 15 minutes then went back in. I'm assuming it was a drill?

Anyway, back in the building Dr. Ikeguchi said the large mass in Anthony's chest is about 25% of its original size and no longer contains active metabolizing cancer cell... essentially the cancer is dying off.

At 10:00 we were up on the 3rd floor for chemo #6. Today our RN was Vicki, one of our favorites. She's actually the nurse who explained everything to use the first day of chemo. Wanna know something else I love? How the receptionists, and other nurses know us and make it a point to say hello, even if we've only been in their section once. The staff at the Peggy & Charles Stephenson Cancer Center is AMAZING.

Before administering chemo some blood has to be drawn and tested to make sure all blood and organ levels are within normal ranges. The last couple of times the nurses had a hard time getting blood, but eventually got some. This time however, it was a no go. Vicki had Anthony turn his head this way and that, lay down, stand up, arms raised, the whole nine yards. Nothing. She finally had to do an IV to get a few vials of blood.

Levels were fine, chemo administered.

Anthony walked in feeling on top of his game, and walked out feeling ready to faint or throw up... or both. The last few days have been miserable. C'est la vie.

We're currently looking at two more months of chemo, then one month of radiation.

Enough about him, lets talk about me. Just kidding. Sort of. But not really.

On 3/27 I went to the dentist for a regular check-up. The hygienist, whom I'd never met, said "oh, you have a beautiful mouth." Mmmh, that's one way to make a girl feel good about herself :) I LOVE the dentist, I truly do. My favorite part is having my teeth flossed after the cleaning. Love it. I had a panoramic x-ray done of my mouth, and my earrings were left on by mistake. Looks pretty cool huh?

I only have two fillings on the top right, the other lighter sections are the way my teeth look overlapped in panoramic view.

In other news, it's March 30 and supposed to get up to 81 degrees today.

It rained almost 6 inches in four days. Oklahoma is no longer in a drought.

It's Spring and actually looks like it. So much different than all my Spring in Utah experiences.

I don't know what the deal is with the domesticated buffalo around here, but they sure are cool.

I know this little bug as a Mosquito Eater, you may know it as a Mosquito Hawk, Mosquito Fly, Skeeter Eater, Gallinipper, or Gollywhooper. The true name is Crane Fly. "Despite their common names, as adults, crane flies do not prey on mosquitoes, nor do they bite humans. Some larval crane flies are predatory and may eat mosquito larvae. Adult crane flies feed on nectar or they do not feed at all. Once they become adults, most crane fly species exist as adults only to mate and die." - Wikipedia

Now you know

Pulmonary Function test

3/16/12

Bleomycin, one of the drugs on my chemotherapy regimen, can sometimes cause lung toxicity.  Because of this my Oncologist had me go in for a pulmonary functions exam. Once there they basically measured my inspiratory capacity (how much I can breathe in), my expiratory capacity and efficiency (how much, and how well I can expel the air),  and the rate at which I can diffuse gases. 

They gave me a couple of tests with a mixture of oxygen, carbon monoxide, methane, and nitrogen, the gases we normally breathe, to see how well my alveoli are retaining their elasticity. 

One of the problems with the Bleomycin is that it can sometimes cause patients' alveoli (the tiny air sacs that make up our lungs) to lose their elastic quality and become less efficient in doing their job at diffusing those gases.

The good news is that, according to the pulmonary tech, I have large lungs and my inspiratory capacity is at over 120% (that's what classical voice training will do for you!) and my expiratory efficiency is also very efficient. 

My diffusion level was a little below the target level, I got 74% my first time and 76% my second time - the normal range is 80-100%, but she said that this should normalize once I go off chemo.

Most people can expect to have an inspiratory capacity of around four liters, with six liters being the target.  I was taking in about five and a half liters.  The tech said my lungs are pretty massive. 

I hope you enjoy the footage... apparently people regularly pass out during this test and it was easy for me to see why! Repeatedly blowing all the residual air out of your lungs is no easy task!

We love you all, and thank you for the prayers. They have been, and continue to be felt.

Turn your volume up so you can hear everything the tech says

PET scan, and chemo #5

3/9/12

Great news! According to my oncologist, my PET scan results show that my body has shown an "extraordinary response" to the chemo treatments. Lymph nodes have shrunk considerably and are normalizing. I am so grateful. A true and sincere thanks to everyone for the many prayers that been offered in my behalf. They have been deeply felt. Not out of the woods yet, but it looks like I won't have to have an extended chemotherapy treatment beyond what was originally scheduled. Just two more months of chemo and a month of radiation. I'm so grateful to have so many friends and family members with such strong faith. Thank you, Anthony

3/14/12

Lets talk chemo. One of the drugs, Adriamycin, is know as the "Red Devil." Some of the other meds are given through an intravenous drip, this one is given through a push, where the nurse actually uses the syringe to administer the med. During the Adiamycin push the patient sucks on ice to avoid mouth blisters. It is also the primary reason for hair loss, and heart failure, which is why MUGA heart scans throughout the chemo process is a must. Also, during the administration of this drug the patient's sense of smell is heightened, thought it's not normal smells they pick up on more, it's inner body chemical smells. If you came over right now and asked Anthony about the "red devil" his lips would pucker up just thinking about it and he would start gagging. It's pretty sad.

He's got a sad Rudolph nose from an accidental cat scratch.

He's got some hair loss in his eyebrows and eyelashes now, on the left side in particular.

This is the volunteer coordinator lady, she's the one who organized Anthony's birthday song and dessert.

She came around in all her St. Paddy's glory offering tasty treats, which we gladly accepted.

Today (three days after chemo) Anthony feels miserable. He's been extremely nauseous, and has been sleeping a LOT, sometimes 12 - 14 hours straight with only 6-8 awake hours between. When he is awake he mostly sits around watching basketball (speaking of, my bracket is currently kicking his bracket's trash!)

5 down, three to go. We found out the radiation after chemo will be every day for four weeks.

Do you see this book? The pages are raged and torn; the cover is falling off. this is a well used book.  This book is a GREAT child hood memory. We would all sit around the book and look at the pictures. It was great to see all the amazing things that God has created. As time went on rules and adventures began. you had to be very carefull of how you turned the pages. As you can see I still follow the rules on page turning.  

If you touched one of the pictures then what ever you touched would spray you, swarm around you and eat your hand or some other creepy demise. I have no idea who came up with the idea, but I can hear perry in my head saying, " Oh no! you touched the skunk it sprayed you now you stink ewww!"

Or " You just got slimed by the yucky mole thing!" (I don't remember being old enough to read what the pictures were actually of. By the time i was old enough i loved the game so much i didn't want to know. The stories we made up were better than real life) 

I think the ants scared me the most. ant bites HURT!

these are some of the pictures of things in the book that scared me to death! If you were not careful enough, the back of your hand or your nuckle would brush a picture as you turned the page. Then an arguement would ensue about if that creature got you or not and would only end with mom saying if we didn't stop she would take the book away. We would continue to argue very quietly for a little bit until some impatient soul would turn the page to a new and wounderful adventure.

Wow! I got a little teary eyed. I miss those times and the love we had for each other and the fun we had together. Who needed friends when the best friends yo could ever have were your brothers and sisters!