Party Of Five

Hey There Everyone,

I am finally getting myself together. Ok, maybe not together. I am in mismatched pjs, my hair is sticking straight up, I have mascara under my eyes because I was too lazy to wash my face, I smell like spit up and I don't even want to get into the coffee breath. Good thing you can't see me!! My poor kids must think Godzilla is their mom. Anyways, so much has happened since my last post. :) So many wonderful things I should say.

#1) Devin Update: I am so glad to say that Devin's scan came back clear again this time! We went down to UCLA on the 18th of last month where we saw Dr. Young. It was the longest day ever, as most of these apt days are. It is always a little hard to be there because you see so many new patients getting diagnosed and you can't help but remember 0ur diagnosis day a year and a half ago. His tumor continues to shrink, as is to be expected. The Dr. also noted that the radiation is starting to take its tole on his eye. He has lost most of his vision. In fact, he really has no vision in it at all unless he looks up an to the right. Only then he says he gets a distorted image of what he is looking at. He was reassured by Dr. Y0ung that it will not spread into his good eye. This was Dev's greatest concern, but after this visit his spirits lifted and he not longer worries . So again, we were blessed to have another six months go by and not worry. I was so lucky to make this apt. I was worried our little one would come on this day and I would miss it! I contracted all day as usual, but we made it through. I had to believe that God made sure that our little Lucy waited to come until after Devin's big appointment. I realized later that even though Lucy is named after Devin's grandmother, I knew it was the name for her when I realized St.Lucy was also the Patron Saint of the eyes. It was just meant to be!

#2) Little Lucy: So the next day on the 19th while watching the last of the Die Hard movies (I know..I know..this is because I had been sitting on my butt watching every movie under the sun the last few months and somehow this one slipped through the cracks.... go figure.) I thought my water broke. It took me a while to determine if it was my bladder or my water breaking. It was pretty comical because I thought that I was peeing on myself over and over..until it dawned on me that this was it!! I thought she would never come because I had been contracting so long. The thought of being in" real labor" had escaped my mind. I had been having some really good contractions all night, nothing new though, but this time my body was ready and Lucy was ready too. Of course, I had packed for the hospital months ago and completely forgot where and what I put into the bag. Devin decided that while we waited for his mom to come and watch the girls he would clean the whole house as fast as he could! I started to have some pretty decent contractions at this point, so I just sat down and tried to breath through them. It was a funny sight. I was moaning in the kitchen and Devin was running around like a chicken with his head cut off..cleaning everything he could get his hands on! I wish that when I got excited and nervous, I could clean like that. He was superman! Needless to say, when I got to the hospital I was already 5 cm dilated and a few hours later our little blessing was here! It was a great labor, so easy on me and the baby! I milked the hospital stay and enjoyed them handing me meals every few hours even if the food was not the best. I knew that going home was going to be a lot of work..and it has been!

These past few weeks have been great. Devin was home the first few weeks to help me get my feet on the ground. I am sleeping in 2.5-3 hour stretches..the best sleep that I have ever gotten with a newborn. Shannon has taken over as super helper with the baby. She holds her often, comforts her when I can't get there soon enough,and helps protect her from Kate! She has adjusted really well to being a big sister again. Kate has been good too actually. She loves her little sister and is learning how to be gentle. She calls her "Lucy Pooh" every time she sees her so that is her nickname now. She has tried the typical almost two year old behavior, throwing toys at her sister, covering her with a blanket, and rocking her, rather roughly, to sleep! Her intentions are good,but we are working on being careful! With my little dare devil this will be a challenge.

I am feeling pretty good and am starting to venture out in the world. With sleep deprivation my brain is not all there,but I am working on it.It is only taking us two hours to get out of the house! We have taken the kids to the Pumpkin Patch, and I am starting to get together for playdates again. Lucy has been a little angel so far,the easiest baby as of yet. Let's hope that it stays that way! :) We are looking forward to Halloween and the cool Fall weather if it will ever get here. Thank you to all of you who have come by to visit,sent us nice e-mails, and phone calls..you all spoil us! We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family!

xoxoxo
Meg