Wade's Big Day - 2!!

Last Friday we celebrated Wade's 2nd Birthday! He definitely KNEW it was HIS special day...he was excited and bouncing around about every fun thing we did...it was so cute!

The day before his birthday we were at the store buying cake things and Wyatt said wistfully, "I'm going to miss the cuteness of Wade as a baby." Awww...

The night before, Garrett and Wyatt and I put streamers in front of his door.

 

We all came in to get him up and sang happy birthday!

 

He loved walking through the streamers and pulling them down.

 

Holding up 2 fingers...

 

He enjoyed perusing a train book, and got to choose a special video (he chose Mickey Mouse) while I got everything ready for his 2 year old pictures at Target.

 

As I came downstairs, I saw him pushing a trash truck toy importantly around the house with these sunglasses on upside down. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I a big man!"

 

At Target, with a little time to kill, Garrett gave Wade his seat so Wade could sit in the special big kid spot that Wade really wanted to sit in.

 

We got our pictures done and headed over to Chic fil A for a little in the car lunch.

 

Then by Wade's request, we got a dessert doughnut at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts....

 

Mmmmm...can't talk, must eat.

 

Garrett and Wyatt put streamers on the fan.

 

Wade was excited to hold 2 candles and helped me stir his cake, while Garrett and Wyatt also helped.

 

Doing some water coloring...Wade insisted that he do get to paint too!

 

And then Smashburger for dinner! Wade made some nice drawings while we waited for food. He is very specific about what he draws and even drew something that looked like butterfly wings that he called a butterfly. He likes to draw for a long time, with good concentration!

 

Cake time with an animal theme. Wade LOVES stuffed animals, and even "gives" them food and water, and always needs them to be with him in his crib and talks to them occasionally. For his picture at Target, we took them with his beloved Kitty.

 

And a Twilight Turtle for his gift. He was very happy to get one as G & W have Twilight Ladybugs.

 

Happy birthday, sweet Wade! We're so happy God gave you to our family!

 

Here is a video of cake and singing time. Wade is very interested in the candles, but is not sure about them...you'll hear him saying they're "not scary" several times. ;-)

 

Christmas - Ok, let's get 'er done...

Ok! The last installment of pictures...

Here was Cox Christmas for the last time at Grandma Cox's house in Redondo. As I look at this picture, I see Aunt Mary who is now home with Jesus after a courageous two-year battle with pancreatic cancer...she is greatly missed already!

 

 

Uncle Brian lifted Garrett up, noting how solid he is.

 

Sweet GG with Lars and Oliver...she has her hands full in more ways than one these days!

 

 It was nice to see the great-grands together...SO many boys!

It was really special to watch a few old movies of the 4 Cox boys growing up in that very house.

 



 

Lots of boys...and that's not all of them!

 

Playing with Great-Gran's mail slot is highly entertaining.

 

And......moving on.......Wyatt was sick so Grandpa stayed with him while the rest of us walked over to see Phil and Abby's house. They apparently had fun playing with Garrett's light kit, lighting candles, and what not...

 

Wyatt was so tired he crashed in the middle of the fun with Grandpa.

 

...Another fun beach day! It was a little chilly, but so nice to soak up some sun at Newport Beach. When we had been back home for a few weeks, Wade brought his Crocks to me and said, "Go to the beach." He has good taste in activities!

 

...Gretchen was really sick, so I took Ollie for a couple of hours and gave him a nice bath in the kitchen sink and just enjoyed being his Auntie and letting the boys play with her boys. It was really nice to have them right across the driveway!

 

We went to Disneyland and it was so fun to have mom come along! It turned out that they gave her a free ticket when we got there because there was some mix-up about her annual pass!

 

On the tram, excited and ready to enjoy!

 

I'll put this one in for comic relief...remind me not to take a picture out in front of Disneyland in the bright sun again...we did this last time too and it was miserable for everyone! ;-)

 

It was CROWDED. Also remind me not to go right after Christmas again. ;-) Lots of lines and some gridlock in the  middle of New Orleans Square. But fun memories too.

The boys love the movie Dumbo, so it was a highlight to get to go on the ride!

 

Wyatt flew our elephant expertly.

 

It was fun to treat them with a huge lollipop.

 

So nice to have mom with us.

 

What is a Disneyland trip without a good solid nap in the middle of the day in the stroller?

My 3 cuties.

We rode the train around a couple of times just to get out of the crowds and rest our feet.

 

As we got off of the train, we were just in time to get a great spot where we could enjoy the parade!

While waiting for Jim and the boys, Wade enjoyed working on the stroller straps.

 

Me and my love...at Disneyland again! Lots of dates and good memories here together.

 

When we realized we couldn't get out of the park until the fireworks were done because of the crowds and the castle being blocked off, we broke down and got the boys light necklaces and enjoyed the fireworks! A memorable day together.

 

The boys loved Gma & Gpa's mail slot too.

Mom and Dad had to leave a little early for a trip to the desert, so we went out to In n Out together and said goodbye there. Bitter sweet. We had such a great time together!

 



 

Back home, Anders was really sick so we had to relegate play to between the fence. It was still fun though. We just wished the boys could have played more together!

 

At a hotel in Grand Junction...we stayed there for the night so we'd be fresh for the icy trip over the mountain. The boys were WILD! They had a lot of pent up energy from being in the car that long!

 

Settling down for dinner.

 

Ready to go in the morning!

The latest on my health...

First of all, thanks you so much to each one of you for your kind comments and lifting me and this health issue up in prayer! It means so much.

I'll get you up to date here. My friend Jen suggested getting a second opinion and found a list of top-rated doctors for Denver. I hadn't thought of that and am so thankful for her idea! I made an appointment for last Monday (April 7) with a "top doctor" about 20  minutes away. But the Friday before I also had an appointment with my other doctor, and had an ultrasound there too. The original doctor was very mystified as to what it is, and said we could do laparoscopic surgery to "fish around" and see if the mass is in a place that can be operated on safely, given the high blood flow nearby. She said I might need to consider a hysterectomy because it's easier to just take the uterus and tube out than to try to take this delicate thing out and then get patched back together. Hmmm. The mass hadn't grown so that was good news. She also thought there is a possibility I have endometriosis which may have deposited the mass in that spot. I went away from that appointment with the choices: exploratory surgery to see where the mass is and possibly take it out but the surgery might be risky, hysterectomy which is less risky (but I don't want it!), or just bear the pain each month (and she didn't give me any ideas on pain management.)

Okay, so on to the next "top doctor." I liked the office environment better, and she was very professional, direct, and got me in quickly for a 3D ultrasound. I could hear the sonographer talking to her out in the hallway when she gave her the report and the sonographer kept saying, "I don't know.... I don't know.... I don't know..." ;-) Oh, boy. :)

The Dr. came in and said she thought this was either a dilated fallopian tube (from...? not sure but the sonographer thought it looked cyst-like but said the Dr. was a "wizard" so she'd let her diagnose it), OR an ectopic pregnancy that fizzled out. She thought it was most likely the latter, and said we could try one shot of a chemo drug (Methotrexate) that is a non-surgical approach to target the stem cells. If the diagnosis is correct, it would dissolve those cells in 2 weeks.

Hmmm...sounds pretty good, and I even almost got it that day but the office I'd need to do it in had closed already. After reading more about the drug, Jim and I aren't too excited about the potential side effects, possibility of birth defects if I accidentally get pregnant 3 months following the shot, etc.

She said if we don't feel comfortable with the shot option she can schedule a laparoscopic surgery and see if the mass is safe to operate on given its location, but said there is a higher possibility of a lot of bleeding. I asked if she could just look around and not do anything if it's not safe and she said yes. She also said if the mass if far enough down the tube she'd just take it and the tube out and sew it back up...didn't mention a hysterectomy so that makes me feel better about her!

It's kind of a strange feeling to be the patient that has an ailment everyone is mystified about. I don't like that feeling! I also don't like the feeling that whatever choice I make I have to take a pretty big risk. I could leave it there, but then endure days of crippling pain each month - and what about the mass? Could it turn cancerous over time? Could it dissolve on its own and be absorbed into my body? Is there any harm in leaving it there?

In the long run, would a hysterectomy be better than all the pain or having a risky surgery?

So at this point I'm trying to do as much research as I can, praying about it, and want to also share it so I can get people's ideas on it. If you have an idea, let me know. :)