Hello! Remember me?

I've gotten so far behind on my blog that I don't even know where to begin! It's an endless cycle and I just keep putting it off, which only makes me further and further behind.  But with cancer treatment, building a new house (and having lots of decisions to make), a 6th birthday, and planning two upcoming trips (one including Disney which is time-consuming in itself!), it's been crazy busy and my computer/spare time is spent doing things other than blogging.  The reason for my initial procrastination was that following my endocrinology appointment at the end of March, I had to come off of my thyroid replacement hormones in preparation for my radioactive iodine treatment.  Several of the doctors WARNED me during my appointment that it would be hard and I would feel miserable.  However, I didn't really have a clue what they meant.  I guess I should've realized that if several doctors were telling me I'd feel terrible, then it would be bad!

On April 9th (the morning of Noah's Special Olympics) I woke up feeling terrible.  I had been off my meds for almost 2 weeks and it was as though a switch had been flipped.  I was dizzy, light-headed, weak, my arms and legs ached horribly and I was out of breath just walking from one room to another.  I was also very hoarse and sounded like some raspy, life-long smoker! Every day following got worse and worse.  I felt like I had the flu and I even vomited a few times.  My vision progressively got worse and I couldn't wash or blow-dry my hair because my arms would hurt so bad, as though I had burned them out doing tons of push-ups.  Even brushing my teeth was painful and it was hard to tighten my fingers/hand around the toothbrush.  I experienced insomnia at night and would go consecutive days without sleeping at all yet I was more exhausted than I've ever been.  I had severe anxiety, especially at night (part of the reason for the insomnia) and my mind would race over the stupidest stuff.  It was so frustrating NOT being able to just shut my mind off and fall asleep.  One thing that kept me awake at night was restless leg syndrome... my legs would get jittery and bother me and prevent me from resting.  And the last week without the meds, I got very swollen. My eyes, my throat near my lymph nodes and my hands were the worst.  I'm sure I drove my doctor crazy because I called her so often to make sure this was all 'normal', which every bit of it was.. she even said "I told you... it's miserable".  Coming off my thyroid medicine (and no longer having a thyroid) caused me to become severely hypothyroid and all of these symptoms were part of it.  Needless to say, Jamie had to take off work to care for the boys for 2 1/2 weeks.  I spent my days laying in the bed, which is about all I felt like doing! 

Two weeks prior to my radioactive iodine treatment (and a few days after I started feeling so sick), I had to start a low iodine diet.  Here's the 'science' behind it... the thyroid absorbs all of the iodine from one's diet, so by depriving the body of iodine, it makes the remaining thyroid tissue 'thirsty' for iodine.  Therefore, when they gave me the radioactive iodine pill, any remaining thyroid tissue 'gobbles' up the radioactive iodine which in turn kills the tissue, ridding my body of any remaining cancer cells.  The diet makes the treatment that much more effective.  And the diet was HARD.  I was allowed to have 5 oz. of meat per day (NO seafood or lunch meat; ONLY fresh chicken and beef).  If it had salt in it, it wasn't allowed.  I couldn't have dairy, anything from the sea (seafood, sea salts, etc), no bakery goods, no pre-packaged items (cereals, chips, crackers, breads, etc) and no red dye.  I did find a brand of bread that was allowed however, I had to limit the number of servings a day to 1-2 slices.  I basically ate fruits, veggies and small amounts of meat.  I'm not a huge meat eater so this was hard.  Everything had to be made from scratch and luckily I found some cookbooks online that helped me get through this, however, I felt so terrible that it was hard to motivate myself to cook.  There were alot of days that I didn't eat any meat and just ate fruits, veggies, nuts and some salt free crackers.  I guarantee I was consuming less than 1200 calories/day.  The one thing that kept me going (other than the hope of getting rid of the cancer) was that at least I would lose weight on such a restrictive, low calorie diet.... NOPE.  I didn't lose a single pound.  That's the beauty of having no thyroid/not being on thyroid hormones... i.e. NO METABOLISM to burn anything.  UGH! Talk about frustrating!  However, I made it.  It wasn't fun but I got through it. My mother in law has a friend that went through the same treatment and informed her of a lady that prepares diet restrictive meals for this type of situation.  My MIL offered to hire her to prepare 3 meals and 2 snacks a day for the 2 week time span but I declined that offer (I felt like I should know how/what I could eat without relying on someone else to tell me and do it for me).  I later regretted my decision and realized that I was a NUT to turn her down on that offer!

My radioactive iodine treatment was scheduled for April 23rd so Jamie and Collier brought me down to UAB the day before where I had to have blood work, then dropped me off at my aunt's house in B'ham.  I spent the night with her and she took me to the hospital that following morning.  I got checked into my 'special' room around 1pm to discover it was covered in plastic and the floors lined with paper.  It helps in protecting the room from having any radioactive iodine being left behind once I receive the treatment.  Several different doctors came in and talked with me about the procedure then around 3pm, several nurses and radioactive technicians came in drapped in gowns and masks holding a very heavy tungstan steel container that contained my 2 small radioactive iodine pills.  I swallowed them whole with a tiny sip of water and everyone high-tailed it out of my room.  After 15 minutes, the radioactive officer came in to measure my radioactivity and then I was left alone to fend for myself.  The nurses could only spend 20 minutes max in the room with me so they had to limit their exposure to me, and pretty much left me to myself with the occasional call to check on me or see if I needed anything.  My only job was to drink as much water as possible to pee the RAI all out of me and to take frequent showers.  The good news was that I was officially off the low iodine diet so once I was allowed to finally eat, I ordered lots of room service.  TOO MUCH.  I hadn't eaten since 9am so by 4pm, I was ready to eat everything on the menu (UAB gives you a 'room service' menu, like a hotel.  The whole presentation tricks you into thinking that it's going to taste much better than the hospital food that it actually is.)  I ordered 2 entrees, 2 sides and 2 desserts.  I wish I could say I was embarrassed when I called in my room service order but I had no shame. It was a reverse no-iodine diet at its best! I guess it was a good thing I ordered options because hospital food is, well, hospital food and I ate about half of what I ordered.  Following my late lunch I fell asleep, completely missing out on dinner that evening.  It wasn't awful being in the hospital but I was bored.  I was so drained that I did a lot of sleeping and just watched tv.  They had warned me that I might have to stay 2 days depending on my RAI levels but after drinking lots and lots and lots and LOTS of water and taking 3 showers in a 24 hour time span, I was released the following day, late afternoon. 

My mom had driven up to B'ham so she picked me up and we headed home.  The next 6 days were spent at my parents house.  Part of the rules were that I had to use a seperate restroom (flush the toilet 2 times and clean the seat each time), clean/wipe down anything that I touched, stay away from children and pregnant women for 4-5 days, stay 2 arms length distance from all others for 2-3 days and wash my clothes and dirty dishes seperately from everyone elses.  The RAI is excreted through bodily fluids: urine, sweat, saliva, etc.  THANKFULLY, I was able to start my new dose of thyroid medicine 2 days after my treatment and was told I should start feeling better after a week.  However all of my hypo symptoms got worse before they got better.  It wasn't too bad being at my parents house but I missed the kids and Jamie terribly.  I came home from the hospital on a Wednesday and finally begged Jamie to bring the boys to come see me on Saturday afternoon.  I couldn't spend too much time with them but at least I was able to see the for a brief amount of time.  Noah was excited to see me, but Collier's feelings were hurt and he wouldn't have anything to do with me for the first 15 minutes.  I know they were both probably so confused as to what was going on and why I wasn't at home with them.  They came back over the next day, and since 5 days had passed I was able to actually spend time, hold them, play with them and give them lots of lovin'!  I still didn't go home because it was very important for me to use a seperate restroom (and the rental house only has 1 full and a 1/2 bath that's in Collier's room and rarely gets used) but Monday afternoon, I headed to Florence to see Collier and wanted to be there to pick Noah up from school.  Afterwards, I had to head back to Birmingham for an early morning appointment on Tuesday -- my whole body scan, which would let us know if my cancer had spread and if the treatment was doing what it was supposed to.  Jamie's mom came over to watch the boys so I could get on the road to B'ham and both of the boys realized I was leaving.  They both started crying and Collier was clinging to me and wouldn't let me put him down.  It literally broke my heart and the only way I was able to walk out of that door was that I knew this was the last day I would be away from them for all of this.

The following day (the day of my appt.) was Noah's 6th birthday and it was so upsetting that I didn't get to see him off that morning.  I had an early morning appointment and was at UAB for about 5 hours.  The scan lasted around 2 hours (laying on a machine, similar to an MRI machine, with my arms strapped to my side and with a machine about 2 inches above my face.)  Finally I was able to leave and head home to my birthday boy and the rest of my family.  Since I was by myself, I spent majority of that ride home praying for a good report and for healing.  I was nervous and scared but keeping my faith in God to bring me through all of this.  Right as I pulled into Florence, Dr. Bahl called me and gave me the news... the Radioactive Iodine was doing what it was supposed to do and there was no signs that the cancer had spread anywhere.  I could finally say that I was cancer-free!  Relief, joy, thankfulness and emotion washed over me and the waterworks came on.

The past 6 years have been HARD.  My family has been through alot of crap... with everything that took place following Noah's injury at delivery and ongoing treatment/therapy, my dad being diagnosed with multiple myeloma and enduring 18 hard months of treatment, then me dealing with thyroid cancer for the past 8 months (and it being discovered just months after dad went into remission).  It seemed once we finally got to a good place, we were hit with another obstacle.  I can't say that I understand WHY but I know God has a purpose through all of this.  Thyroid cancer is known as the 'easy' cancer.  Yes it has a very good outcome and the treatment isn't continuous chemo or radiation but it's still hard and it's still CANCER.  Even though the statistics say that you're chances of remission are high, you still worry about the 'what ifs.'  Emotionally, there were times when I was fine and then out of nowhere, I would be driving down the road and break down with the reality that I had cancer, 2 small children that NEED me and just 31 years old.  In the past 5 months, I've had 2 surgeries, spent 3 weeks in the bed sick, went through RAI treatment and another week in seclusion from my family.  So I can't exactly say it was easy.  Its still quite the emotional roller coaster that you go through with any type of cancer diagnosis.   I've learned alot through it.  I've learned to trust in God's plan like never before.  I've felt the joy that comes from resting in the comfort of the Lord, despite the chaos going on around you.  I've learned that my husband is AWESOME.  He picked right up when I felt so bad and played mom and dad to our kids.  I hate to think of this, but I know without a doubt that if something ever did happen to me, the kids would be just fine.  He kept our house clean, kept the boys from starving, still managed to go into the office and work, bathed and loved on and read to them at night.  They left the house in clean clothes, with brushed teeth and combed hair.  They got their daily medicines.  Collier even developed a cough and Jamie called the doctors office, talked with the nurse and got cough syrup called in at the pharmacy.  That's a monthly occurrence for a mom, but it meant so much to me that Jamie did it himself!  I realize I may not have given him enough credit in the past.  He literally did it all!  I've learned about different types of friendships.  There were some friends that overwhelmed me with their love and show of concern.  I've learned that I want to be that to someone going through a tough situation.  It's easy to get caught up in our own busy worlds of tending to the kids, getting up and going to work everyday and just sending a text (or FB message) saying we are praying, and thinking we've done our part.  However it means SO MUCH more when someone does something thoughtful: whether that be a phone call (in a time where convenience, such as texts and email is the norm and phone calls are few and far between), paying a visit, sending a card, or a small gift to let them know you care.  A little extra effort goes a long way!  And even though I wasn't lying on my deathbed (even though I felt pretty terrible at times), there were times where a sweet gesture was the highlight of my day and was all I needed to have my spirits lifted.

Our Little Olympian

Being the mommy to a little boy that has special needs, I probably won't ever get to cheer him on from the stands as he gets a base hit or throws someone out at first base.  I most likely won't get to see him catch a pass and run it into the end zone or make a free throw shot.  We may not get to have those typical little boy experiences with Noah but we do get to enjoy the annual Special Olympics.  So many mom's have been posting their photos to Facebook of their kids playing in their first t-ball game for the season, since it was Opening Week.  THIS is our T-ball game!  Noah's 1st Special Olympics was this past Tuesday and it was a big day filled with fun.  Noah's class rode the bus to Muscle Shoals' football stadium (which is a treat in itself, in Noah's eyes) where a parade was held for all participants as they marched in to the stadium.  There were other classes there cheering them all on and celebrating in the fun.  Noah was on Cloud 9! Especially when he walked off the bus to see me, Collier, my mom and my grandmother waiting there to welcome him.  He marched on with his class in the parade and we joined them in the stadium for the Lighting of the Torch ceremony.  A special prayer was said by one of the participants over the intercom that brought a tear to alot of those around us... "I pray we all win and thank you God for allowing us all to be here and play today... and I pray we all WIN!" Another sweet girl was given the priviledge of lighting the torch, which signified the beginning of the games. 

Noah's class moved from station to station where they got to participate in fun games, such as bowling, going fishing, softball throws, and races.  Some of the games were a little too advanced for Noah but he could care less.  He had just as much fun just being there and watching everyone.  Several high school students were volunteers to help with the children and Noah loved the attention he was getting from his 'helper'.  It was really special to see so many high school kids, football players, cheerleaders, grab the hands of these sweet kids and help them get around from station to station, all the while enjoying the day themselves.  Jamie made it back in town from his trip to the Masters, around 10 that morning so he was able to join us at the stadium.  I'm so appreciative that our community puts this together for our sweet kids and I look forward to each year.  Unfortunately, I've started feeling really bad as the result of preparing for my upcoming treatment and have been experiencing alot of weakness, fatique, dizziness so I wasn't able to stay for the whole day.  At lunch, Noah's class went to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and rides and I was so upset that I had to miss this, but I just felt too bad.  Regardless, I know that Noah had a very fun, special day!

(See Noah up there in the stands? He was sitting with his friends)

 

 

 

 



 Noah and his teacher, Mrs. DeFoor

 These boys missed their daddy!

 

Sweet brothers holding hands (or Collier pulling Noah somewhere) :)

Spring is Slowly Springing

Our Spring has been slow to arrive this year and we've experienced quite the wishy-washy weather the past month! One weekend it's beautiful and warm and the next week it's been cold and rainy.  Noah's Spring Break was FREEZING and wet and we pretty much spent the week relaxing indoors.  Even Easter was a yucky, rainy day. 

The ONLY picture I was able to get of the boys dressed on Easter morning while at my Grandmother's house

One particularly beautiful weekend in March we were able to enjoy the sunshine and took the boys down to Cypress Creek, on my in-laws property right across from where we are building our house.  The boys LOVED it.  It made me that much more excited to get our house finished and move out there.  The kids had a great time throwing, as Collier calls them, 'wocks' into the water and exploring the property.  I can't wait until we are able to take them fishing, riding in a canoe or just playing in the water. 



We then, of course HAD to finish our afternoon off with yummy Fro-Yo from the local frozen yogurt shop, where you can choose between tons of different toppings and sauces.  Such a treat!

Then this past weekend, much to our delight the beautiful warm weather returned! Since Jamie and dad were in Augusta for the Master's Tournament, Mom and I took the boys to Spring Park, along with the rest of the Shoals area.  I had been eager for my train-loving 2 year old to see the BIG train and get to ride on it.  To my surprise, he was scared of the train (along with the carousel, which I can't say I enjoy since I always get dizzy on any carousel). The first time around the track, he cried for a little bit and clung to my mom. By the second time around, his face lit up and he was happy as can be.  All of a sudden, he proclaimed, "A CHOO-CHOO!!" as though it was just dawning on him what we were riding on and that he actually liked it.  Who knows!? Noah on the other hand, loved EVERY. SECOND.  Noah and I even rode the roller coaster for the first time.  He smiled in the beginning and he seemed to enjoy it.  It was pretty rough and jarring though so I think I can speak for the both of us when I say I was ready for it to end a few minutes into the ride.  I was curious how he would do on this particular ride since we have a Disney trip planned for the fall... and I think it's safe to say that he'll love the rides.  Now Collier... well, I'm not so sure.  Let's just hope his feelings change by the time September rolls around!

 

 
 
 
 

I adore this last picture of Noah, with his eyes closed, laughing and enjoying the warm sun and the breeze as he's riding along on the train.  He looks so happy.

Girls Weekend

My sweet friends all got together one weekend in March for another fun-filled Girls Weekend. Marianne arranged it since I would be getting ready for my procedure in April and Sonia is pregnant and her husband was having a surgery the following week that would keep her at home in Virginia until the baby is born (then who knows when she'd be able to come in town)...needless to say, we all wanted one last opportunity to get our '8-some' together! Sonia flew in to Huntsville Friday evening and I picked her up from the airport and we drove on to Birmingham to meet Marianne for dinner.  We ended our evening by going over to The Melting Pot for chocolate fondue... delicious!

 

 The next day, we lounged around drinking coffee, doing manicures and just enjoying one another's company. The three of us went to the Summit for lunch and a little shopping, where we met up with Amanda and Becca later that afternoon and then Chenequa met us back at Mari's house where we had set up a surprise baby shower for Sonia.  Baby girl Montgomery (coming this summer) got some precious new things and we can't wait to meet her!  That evening we all went out for a delicious dinner and then went next door to listen to a band that was playing.  Unfortunately, two of the girls from our group weren't able to join us for the weekend.  We missed them but still had a great time seeing those that could be there! I'm so thankful for these long-lasting friendships and know how rare it is to remain close with a group of 7 friends for over 10 years, despite (19) children between us all and the 100's of miles that seperate us.  I'm so grateful that we all make an effort to get together regularly and I love them all dearly.

 

The Calm AFTER the Storm

After 5 1/2 weeks since my last post, maybe it's time I should update! I guess with everything that's been going on, I haven't put much emphasis on blogging.  Something about living at the rental house makes the days go by quickly.  I feel like I'm not nearly as productive during the day.  That could have something to do with half of our belonging still being in boxes, piled up whereever we can put them and also no longer having a thyroid, therefore being EXHAUSTED all the time.  It's crazy/weird just how tired I am all the time, even after 8 hours of sleep a night.  I'm on medicine, however my surgeon put me on a baseline dosage and I haven't had bloodwork to see what dosage my body needs.  It takes several weeks for the thyroid hormones that your body produces to run out following surgery and I can DEFINITELY tell that I've 'run out' of my natural hormone and that my medicine should be increased. All that should change after my upcoming appointment with my new endocrinologist at the end of the month.  However, they'll also be getting me ready for my upcoming Radioactive Iodine treatment, which means I have to come off my meds completely for a few weeks.  I'm tired of feeling tired and just ready to feel GOOD and normal again.  I've been dealing with this for over a year now, since my thyroid starting acting up around January of last year and I'm just tired of feeling like a lazy person all the time. 

Anyways, the weeks following my 2nd surgery were chaos to say the least.  Jamie's grandmother passed away the morning of my surgery, so the funeral was that weekend and I wasn't able to make it.  I also found out that I had a few small spots of cancer on the left side of my thyroid as well.  One week following my surgery, I was emptying a casserole dish and it shattered, slicing open my hand at the fatty muscle part under my thumb, very close to the bone.  I'm pretty certain I should have gone to the ER for stitches but chose not to and held it together with butterfly bandaids.  However because of the location of the cut, I couldn't use my hand for a WEEK!  It was probably more painful than my incision in my neck.  Then that same weekend, BOTH of the boys caught a stomach bug and spent Saturday throwing up... which led to Jamie catching it as well.  It was nothing short of a miracle that I didn't catch it, considering I was consoling my sick babies and cleaning up puke all day.  God totally had my back on that one because I couldn't imagine vomiting with having had my neck cut open just 1 week prior.   For 3 weeks, YES 3 WEEKS, the kids had terrible diarrhea, multiple (as much as 5-6) times a day, following that bug.  It was pitiful and I know they lost weight.  Thankfully, after lots of yogurt, probiotics and bland diets they got over it.  For about 2 weeks following surgery, I experienced TERRIBLE reflux.  Anytime I would eat, I would have awful pressure in my belly and sometimes even throw up.  I could only eat very small meals and drink water and there were days where I was nauseated all day long. I lost about 5lbs in a week (which is big for me since I've had hypothyroidism over the past year and losing weight has been such a challenge).  Life was rough for a few weeks there.  Every day, Jamie and I would look at each other and say, "alright, whats next?!" because for a while there it seemed it was something every day.  Thankfully, life has settled down now (other than 3 out of the 4 of us being on antiobiotics for sinus infections {me} and double ear infection/sinus infections {jamie & collier}).  I guess I can just look at it with the 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' perspective!

Following my post-op appointment for the second surgery, my surgeon referred me to a Oncology/Radiology doctor here in Florence to have my Radioactive Iodine (or I-131) treatment.  I met with him 2 weeks after surgery but didn't have a great feeling after the appointment.  I had a lot of questions that went unanswered and all the things that I had read about the treatment, weren't what I was being told by this doctor.  For instance, I've read that I'm supposed to follow a very strict low iodine diet for 2 weeks prior to the treatment, however he didn't know anything about that and said the Nuclear Medicine technician would give me those details.  When I spoke with the Nuclear Med. tech, he told me the doctor would give me those instructions and when I told him he hadn't, he said, "well then I guess I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."  They were trying to give me the radioactive pill 3 weeks after my surgery and everything felt very unorganized, rushed and the doctor/everyone involved seemed uninformed.  I even asked his nurse (who was my main contact) if she had ever been apart of administering this procedure to any of his patients and she said, "no, but I assume Dr. {so-and-so} has."  Needless to say, I called my surgeon at UAB and he referred me back to an Endocrinologist at UAB for the procedure.  I later found out that I can't even receive the treatment until 6 weeks post surgery and that the diet that I was told to 'not worry about' is crucial in making the treatment effective.  CRAZY.  So glad that I went with my gut instinct (uh hum... GOD telling me) that I shouldn't do it in Florence.  I do know that I'll have to be admitted into the hospital for a few days and I'll be in complete seclusion during that time (because I'll be radioactive) and once I'm released, I can't be near the kids for a few more days.  I am guessing that I'll get the treatment sometime in April.  I was trying to have it done in Florence simply because it would be much easier to arrange, as opposed to going back and forth to B'ham for bloodwork, etc however I've realized that knowledge and experience far outweighs convenience when it comes to your health!

Last weekend, mom and I took the boys to Disney Live!  We played hookey from church and set out that morning to eat lunch at Mellow Mushroom before the show began at 1pm.  It was our first time ever eating there and it was delicious!  While we were eating, Collier got out of his seat and was standing behind me playing.  I wasn't really paying attention to him because we were in a hurry to finish eating, pay the bill and get going but I noticed some of the tables around us laughing... I turned around to find him with his pant down at his ankles, playing with his belt.  My mom got to him first and yanked his pants up and I took the belt off of him thinking it was bothering him.  Well a temper tantrum ensued and he laid in the floor and began crying (screaming).  It was at this time that we were heading out the door, with the pizza box, purse, kids' backpack and to-go drinks in hand and he WOULD. NOT. get up off the floor.  Lately the "terrible twos" have been in full force.  Fun times! We made it to the VBCC just in time for the show to begin and the kids really had a great time.  Noah was so attentive the whole time and Collier really enjoyed it too and was clapping along to the music.  He would wave and say "Hi!" to 'Mouse' and 'Duck Duck' everytime they would come onstage.  It was a really cute show and we enjoyed ourselves.  It's kind of a given that with 2 small children (or 1 special needs and 1 two year old) things aren't going to go perfectly smooth and be necessarily 'easy' but overall, it was totally worth the trip and the effort because the kids really enjoyed themselves. 

Afterwards, we had a few errands to run and ended up at Bridgestreet to make a few purchases.  It was such a beautiful day so we bought cookies and sat on the edge of the fountain at Bridgestreet to eat them.  In typical 2 year old fashion, our outing was concluded with an awesome display of protest as I tried to help Collier by carrying his cup full on Hi-C as we walked back the car to head home.  I mean how DARE I try to help my child from spilling red punch all over his clothes.  You know the whole dramatic drill: throwing himself to the ground, screaming crying and laying there unconsolable all the while drawing the attention of every passerby.  Collier has almost perfected the infamous 2 year old tantrum at this point.  And I've perfected the 'scoop and run'... because these tantrums almost always seems to take place when I have no less than 5 items in my hands, including a purse and a backpack over my shoulder, so all I can do is scoop him up under one arm and head off as fast as I can to the car.  Despite the couple of breakdowns from Collier, I still enjoyed our outing and was happy that we were able to take the boys to the Disney Live! performance.  It was nice to get out of the house after feeling so cooped up the last 2 months. 

Our house is in progress however it seems slow at this point.  They started on it, then had to take a week and half break to finish another job but thankfully they are back on it and have been working on our house every day this past week.  They are finishing up with the foundation and have it blocked in and filled with gravel.  This next week they will be laying the plumbing, then sealing that with concrete, then on to the framing.  Jamie said once they start the framing, we'll begin to see more noticeable progress and it will seem to go a little faster.  I sure hope so because living in this rental has already gotten to me and we've only been here 6 weeks!  I'm baffled how it's already mid-March and that this year is just flying by so quickly.  In just a few short weeks Noah will be on Spring Break and it literally feels like Christmas was just a few weeks ago! 

{I'm standing at one end of the house, in the study/kids playroom looking

across to the other side of the house}

 



{this is a picture of the study/playroom, the foyer/where the front door will be and

 a portion of the dining room}

{this is the den and that back room in the corner is our master bedroom}

 

 

 {Here's the houseplan to help you see which rooms I'm talking about although we did make a few changes with this plan... mainly where the guest bedrooms are and the bathroom placement}