You Are Grossing Me Out...

Happy Autumn from the Coopers!  I am so glad it is finally cooling off.  We have had some really beautiful weather this week.  I love this time of year!  The kids have been having lots of fun playing outside.  Above is a picture of Silas on a Sunday morning that his Dad got him ready for church.  He had on an orange and gray striped top and brown and orange plaid shorts.  It was hilarious!  I got a big kick out of it and no, he did not leave the house dressed like that.  Poor Jason.  He had no idea that it looked bad.  This picture doesn't do it justice.

Silas is so strong.  He is physically just all muscle.  He is a lean, not-so-mean, climbing machine.  He decided to climb the playset ladder in the backyard all by himself.  We were so impressed!  The rungs on the ladder are pretty far apart and neither one of the girls climbed it until they were at least three years old.  So, when Silas took it upon himself at 21 months to climb it, we were surprised.  Jason took lots of pictures.  Now he does it all the time.  Here are some of the pics...

Getting started...

He's making sure we are watching...

Almost there...

How cute is that little butt?

He made it!

Now to come back down...

Going again...

One step at a time...

Still going...

Paused for a photo op...

At the top!

And landed again!

We went to our friends the Moore's house a couple of weeks ago so the girls could help feed their fish in the pond.  It was lots of fun and the girls got to feed more than the fish!  Silas got to help too and we had a fun night on the farm.  My kids now want chickens in our backyard.

Maleah feeding Pip the pet pig some corn.

Silas wasn't sure if he wanted to feed the pig or eat the corn.

Chickens!  Everyone loved the chickens!

Everyone got to help.

They also got to search for eggs.  Maleah found one!

Blurry, yes I know.  But this child doesn't stand still long.

This is on the docks feeding the fish.  The girls loved it!

I debated about whether posting this next picture of me and girls or not.  I didn't really want to but since all of these blog posts go into a blog book at the end of the year and that turns into our "family yearbook" of sorts, I decided that I should.  This is going to be part of our history and one day we might want to look back on this time and say, "Whew!  I'm glad that's over!"  So here it is, a picture of me, bald, with my girls.  (Silas was already in bed.)

 

 

I found this picture on Maleah's ipod this week and look at all this hair!  I am looking forward to growing it back soon.  Not so much because I am vain, but because wearing a scarf is hot and uncomfortable.  And I scare children.  True story.

 

I even scare my own children, or at least Carissa anyway.  Here are some examples:  She will come up to me and say in the sweetest, kindest, little voice, "Mom?  Will you please put a hat on because your head is grossing me out."  Me:  "No, honey.  I am hot."  Her in a sad voice, "Okay."  Another example from a different day:  Carissa:  "Mom?  Will you please sit in the living room and eat because I am sitting in the kitchen eating and your head is grossing me out.  I don't want to see it while I eat."  She says all of this so sweetly and sincerely.  She is not trying to hurt my feelings but she has no filter.  So whatever she is thinking comes out her mouth.  By the way, I ate in the living room.  Today we were leaving CVS and were next to McDonald's.  She said, "When we drive by here after we leave McDonald's I always look at that house over there while I eat my fries so that I don't have to see your head and get grossed out."  Thanks for the big confidence boost, Carissa.   Silas brings me hats all the time and hands them to me.  Sometimes they are camouflage hats that say "BushHog" on them.  I explain that it is Daddy's hat and then he goes to search for one of mine.  I think he is trying to tell me something too.  And other children... those are the ones that really get freaked out.  We have had friends over to the house, who apparently were completely shocked that I had lost my hair.  The looks are their faces were priceless.  They stared but did not say a word.  I didn't address the issue either because I didn't even know what to say.  One little girl at the doctor's office walked by, did a triple take, and had a look on her face like she had just seen a monster.  And I was wearing a scarf at the time.  Big sigh.  I am ready to have hair again.  And hopefully that won't be too far away.  I am about to start the second phase of my chemo and I think my hair will start growing back soon.  Yay!  And I should feel better too.  Yay!  And I am halfway done.  Yay! 

I tell you what, I have the best friends and family ever!  I have been so blessed to have people bring us great meals.  My friends Melissa and Tina got together and collected money from friends and church family to give us gas cards and Walmart cards.  What a blessing that is!  Others have also sent us money for gas or gas cards or to help with medical bills.  We are just so blessed!  I have one friend that lives far away so she texts me an inspiring Bible verse each day.  Each person in my life has found a way to help me, inspire me, or to help our family out.   It really makes you realize that there are a lot of good people in the world and that people like to help others.  I have not felt like getting all of my thank-you cards done but I thank each and every person that has helped us.  I pray that you are all blessed ten times over for your thoughtfulness.  :)

The Bad News I Didn't Want To Hear :(

Okay, so if you missed our summer catch-up post that I posted a few days ago, the link is on the right side of this page.  :)  I know you guys don't want to miss all of our summer pictures!

The last post left off at the middle of July.  We had a really good summer up to that point.  In early July, I found a lump in my breast.  I made an appointment with my doctor and wasn't really too worried about it.  I know a lot of people who have found lumps and they all turned out to be nothing.  My doctor was concerned and sent me for a mammogram.  The radiologist was concerned and sent me to a surgeon for a biopsy.  By this point I was now concerned.  The surgeon was concerned when he did the biopsy and called me a few days later to tell me that I have Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, which is a type of breast cancer.  I was shocked.  Stunned.  At a loss for words.  Crushed. 

It took me about two weeks to get my bearings.  I didn't want to talk to a lot of people.  I cried.  I worried, even though I knew I shouldn't.  I knew God was in control but I still worried.  I was just really freaked out.  I began to imagine that the cancer had spread through my whole body and every ache and pain was suddenly a cancerous tumor hiding in my body.  It was a really rough couple of weeks. 

I made an appointment with an oncologist in St. Louis that sees only breast cancer patients.  Her office is in the St. Louis Cancer and Breast Institute.  It is really a nice place and is affiliated with Mercy Hospital where all three of my kids were born and where I lived for three months with Baby Silas.  I feel comfortable there and I loved my oncologist.  She immediately calmed me down.  She ran lots of scans on me.  The first prayer answered was that the cancer had not spread - not even to any lymph nodes.  She told me that my cancer was a very "vanilla" type of breast cancer - common and easily treated, easily beaten.  I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief after that appointment. 

She had a plan of action.  She was very confident and very reassuring that I would beat this.  Her plan was chemo first and then surgery.  The chemo involves four chemo treatments every other week and then 12 chemo treatments every week.  The first four are supposed to be the hardest.  They are a higher dose.  The last 12 are a low dose of a different chemo drug.  I am proud to say that I have made it through the first three doses.  I am 3/4 of the way through with the "hard stuff."  One more to go!  I lost my hair but the doctor said I can expect it to start to grow back when I start the low-dose chemo treatments at the end of September.  I was really sick after the first treatment but the last two haven't been as bad.  Mostly I am just really tired.  The good news about the low-dose treatments (other than my hair growing back) is that I shouldn't be sick or quite as tired.  I am ready for that!  And the really good news is that after the first two chemo treatments the doctor said that my tumor was pretty well gone and was now just a "dense area of tissue" but not a tumor.  She said it's gone!

As for the surgery, I don't really know what that entails yet.  I meet with the surgeon in a couple of weeks.   I am nervous about the surgery.  I am just praying that God will show me which surgery is the right one for me and that whichever one I choose will guarantee that I will be cancer-free forever.

I have had amazing support from everyone.  I would be lost without Jason.  He has been managing everything and I have no idea what I would do without him.  He is the best husband and father ever.  He loves me.  Even if I am bald.  And my Mom has been amazing too.  She has taken care of the kids, the house, my laundry, and lots of other things.  It doesn't matter if you're 34 years old, when you are sick, you still want your Mom!  And my Dad, brother, in-laws, aunts, cousins, church family, and friends have all gone above and beyond to help me too.  People have brought meals, sent cards, helped me clean my house, gave us gas money, and helped with the kids.  I can't imagine going through this without the support of a big family and lots of friends in a small town.  I love our community and I am thankful to each and every person who has helped in any way or prayed for me and our family. 

Anyway, I still have a long road ahead of me but I am getting there.  Slowly but surely.  I am looking forward to the day that I can say I am cancer-free. 

Summer Fun

I know I haven't posted an update in forever but life has been crazy.  We had a good summer.  Here are some pictures:

Back in May, we went mushroom hunting at our top secret location.  We found two small ones and that was it.  Better luck next year!

Super cute Silas Cooper!  Getting muddy outside...

We all got muddy!!

 In June we had a celebration at Oil Belt Camp for all of the Spark kids from First Christian who had memorized the Books of the Bible.  Maleah had and she got a medal.  We were so proud of them all!  Carissa got to go to the ice cream party too.  It was delicious!

Maleah and her medal.  She wanted to wear her Mickey ears and matching

shirt.  She looked adorable!

In June, Maleah went to one night at Oil Belt Camp and then she went to four nights at 4-H camp in Monticello, Illinois.  She loved it but she was ready to come home at the end of the week.  When she got home Grandma Debby and Grandpa David had decorated the yard for her.  She was so surprised!

Carissa, Silas, and Mommy all stopped at Fleshner's Candy Kitchen in

Tuscola to eat lunch on the day that we went to Monticello to

pick up Maleah.  We had a great meal!

 

 

In the middle of June, we all went on a vacation to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  It was so much fun!  We went to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg and the kids loved it!  Maleah had been there before but not the others.  We saw lots of sharks, a giant octopus, huge crabs, and lots of other neat water creatures.  We stayed at a nice hotel in Pigeon Forge with an awesome pool and a lazy river.  The kids loved that too.  We went up into the mountains to Ober Gatlinburg in a big bubble-like thing that carried us up on a big cable.  It was pouring down rain and the kids did not love it as much as I hoped they would.  Oh well.  I spent a lot of time on our trip with the words to "Smoky Mountain Rain" playing over and over in my head.  "It just keeps fall-innng!"  Besides the rain though, we really did have a fun vacation.  It was a long drive there and a long drive home with our three kids but we did it!  

Silas entering the Aquarium.

Sweet Maleah Rose at the Aquarium.

 

Carissa at the Aquarium.

Rolling through the water tunnel where there was fish and

sharks all around us.  Silas slept through this part.

Maleah and Carissa sitting in front of the giant crabs.

One of our favorite things was Dixie Stampede.  It was a

great show and a great dinner.  Silas couldn't sit still but that

was okay.  Carissa and Maleah loved it!

He is so cute.  It's hard to believe that he was about to

drive us all crazy.

Our beautiful Maleah.

Love my girl!

This was the hit of the vacation!  Panning for gold and gems in Pigeon

Forge.  The girls loved it!  They both left with lots of cool rocks,

fossils, shark teeth, and a little bit of gold.  This was right

up their alley!  They are still talking about it...

Sweet Carissa panning for gold.

How cute is she??

Super excited!

Just as excited as her sister...

He didn't get to pan for gold but he liked just getting

out of his stroller for a bit!

This summer we had a huge rain and it flooded everyone's yards and most of the roads in Flora.  It also filled up our little pool in the backyard to the brim.  The Rose boys came over and all of the kids had a great time playing in the cold rainwater.

On the day of the flood, we were supposed to have a surprise 60th birthday party at the NMN club for my Mom's 60th birthday.  I even made the cake myself!  We had invited her brothers and sisters and some friends too.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel the party because all of the roads were so far under water that cars were stalled everywhere and the parking lot at the club was underwater.  My Mom and Dad's road had a lot of water on it too so the party was cancelled.  Mom got to blow out her candles later at our house though.

New rock for the back driveway.  My kids love rocks!

They had so much fun "helping" Dad!

He was picking up rocks and putting them back on the trailer...

so then we decided that he needed to be on the trailer so he

could help unload.  That worked out better!

Jeans and a gray pocket t-shirt just like Daddy.

He is so cute!!

And so is she!

On the Fourth of July, Carissa participated in the All-American Girl and Boy Contest at Charley Brown Park.  She looked absolutely adorable!  She won a goody bag and a ribbon.  She had a lot of fun.  It was really hot outside so we all headed home shortly after it was over.

The kids rode a few rides while we were waiting on

the winners to be announced.

Silas' first fair ride and he loved it!  He cried when it was over.

He didn't want to get off!

Also in July, we went to the St. Louis Zoo.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time.  We saw lots of animals and the girls got to ride the zoo train with their Dad.  Silas and I sat that one out.

 

 

And that brings us up to date on all of our pictures.  Of course I have more news but I will share that in my next post.  :)