Newest member of the family

Getting to know each oth 

They each have their own food dish. 

Paul's helpers

Paul and I had talked about getting Coco a friend, but hadn't really found one we wanted. On Friday, Tamie found a little white dog and brought it over to our house.  She is a little cutie, but Coco isn't too thrilled with her.  Coco is 2-1/2 and is perfectly happy being an only "child", not to mention that she is a very dominant female.  The newest addition is the same size as Coco and we don't think she'll get any bigger.  I think we've settled on Moka Bear.

They ran and ran so much during the day chasing each other, that by night time, they slept good.  As I'm writing this, they are chasing each other, growling at each other, and playing under my chair.

Mom's radiation treatment updates.

By now you know that mom has been going for radiation treatments on her lung cancer.  She's doing great with them.  The treatments themselves take only about 15 minutes.  Tamie and I have mom drinking one Boost energy drink a day, as well as two teaspoons of liquid Vitamin D.  The radiation treatments will make her tired so we are hoping that these two things will help keep her energy up.  Otherwise, she's doing great and has 21 treatments to go. 

This week I am able to take mom to her treatments, because they were set for after I get off work.  For the past few weeks, traffic after work has been really good, no problems, no stop and go.  Last night, I take off work a little earlier than normal, and the traffic was horrible. Her appointment was for 6:30 (which I thought it was at 7:00), none the less, mom and dad were getting a little worried that I would not make it to pick her up on time.  By the time I got to their house, she was sitting in the car, ready to go, waiting for me.  I jump out of my car, and jump in hers and take off. Now that's service.  We get to the appointment in plenty of time (10 min to spare) and they are backlogged.  So we sit and wait until 7:05.  This was one of those moments when the old adage... hurry up and wait was true. Go figure.

She has another appointment, of course, tonite.  It's at 6:50pm, unless they call and say they can get her in earlier in the day like they did this past Monday. 

After mom and I came home last night from her treatment...

They gave me the leftovers from their pot roast dinner earlier in the week.  YUMMY!  There was enough there to break it down into two meals.  I had one portion last night and saved the other portion for tonite's dinner.  I just love pot roast, carrots, onions and potatoes cooked with the roast, and gravy. I think they out did themselves this time, or maybe it's because I haven't had a good pot roast dinner in a long time.  Mom also made fried apple slices with sugar, and I scraved that up quickly. Thank you mom and dad.  

For all the women who read my blog...

I must share a deep thought with everyone...

This is from Tamie's blog http://tamara-white.blogspot.com/

"I tried to stop smoking cigarettes by telling myself I just didn't want to smoke, but I didn't believe myself."

Now that's pretty deep and profound.  Hmmmmm, I like it. :-)

Just wanted to share a funny thought with all of you.

Do you think that tattoos are only for the young?  How about the young at heart?  Well, just wanted to let you know that mom has gotten her first tattoo.  Yup, you heard it right.  Of course, it's the tattoo that they give you when you are going through radiation for lung cancer, but it's a tat none the less.  Next, she'll be wanting to get something like a small flower (suggested by my husband), then she'll want to get a larger one on her back, and then watch out.  She'll be out of control. 

Almost forgot to post this message

DAD

Dad's "farm" update...

Tamie is at dad's house this morning and she is taking photos of his "farm".  Look how big his tomato plant is getting, not to mention his other plants.

Easter church service today and mom's gift

When mom and dad went to the Easter service this morning, one of the lady's they know there and her daughter greeted mom with a corsage. It really is a very pretty thing, and the older lady's daughter gave one to her mom and one to our mom.

Kinda ironic that mom's blouse matches the color of the greenery.

Bragging update

Do you remember me mentioning in an earlier blog about Tamie bragging that she has a tomato on her plant?  Well, she's at it again.  Now she's even showing all of us up with the biggest tomato so far.

The long awaited April "bump" photos are here!

Tiffany and Daniel finally got their April "bump" photos done, and I will post some of my favorites and then suggest you go to Tiffany and Daniel's blog to see the rest.  http://mendezstuff.blogspot.com/

Happy Easter to all!

Update on dad...

We took dad to see his heart doctor yesterday, and got great news.  His carotid arteries are good and no blockage.  His minor stroke had no lasting affects, and he had a clean bill of health. Whew!

You know, there was a reason I didn't have children.  Taking my parents to the doctors to have them checked out is stressful enough.  I can't imagine having children on top of all that. Well, I guess I forgot to mention that I have Paul (husband), that's enough children for any family. :-)

Mom had her first radiation treatment last Thursday.

Mom went for her first radiation treatment last Thursday, and even Tamie was quite impressed with the machine they put mom under. They lay her on a "bed" with her head in a cushioned holder so that  she cannot move her head. They have her put her arms over her head, and then she has to lay perfectly still.  It's a good thing that it only takes max 15 minutes, cause I don't think mom can sit still that long, let alone lay still that long.  Anyway, this building is like fort Knox. All of the doors are a foot thick and as dad says, it takes two grown men and a couple kids to get the bathroom door open.

Yesterday (Friday) she had her second treatment.  It's nice that they have evening appointments so that I can take her after work and Tamie can have some time off.  Tamie and I decided that mom needed some pampering before her appointment, so we went and had our nails and toes done.  Here are some pictures of her getting pampered.

It's not everybody that has someone do their nails and feet at the same time.

Here are her finished nails.  The look is a cracked egg shell look which you can't see here, but they look great in person.  We thought she needed some wild looking nails to bring her spirits up.

Update on the flower competition

I think Tiffany has all of us beat with her rose bush entry.  She recently sent me a couple of photos that blow my bushes out of the competition. I guess she inherited the green thumb from grandpa.

News flash

• For those of you who are keeping up with the "bump" photos, the April "bump" picture is coming soon.
• Tamie has finally updated her blog. Feel free to check out her blog at http://tamara-white.blogspot.com/
• Mom had her first radiation treatment today.  Details to come on a later blog.
• As Tamie says in her email to me this morning:  "10 minutes for blood work for dad, 45 minutes waiting for breakfast."

Update on the spring planting season.

There used to be two of these bird of paradise plants. After the major frost we had a few months back, they did not survive. One day last week, Tamie got energetic and took out one and said that I was supposed to do this remaining one. But I got lucky and my favorite nephew did it for me. I’m so spoiled.

Ok, I have it under good authority that this is a real flower in dad’s yard. He has so many wild flowers growing around his house.

I took dad shopping a week ago and he bought this package of horseradish roots. Last week while Tamie was over at mom and dad’s house, dad had her plant this. I’m excited to see if he will be able to make his own horseradish sauce in a few months.



Like grandparents like grandson..

First it was my parents with their "wanted" poster, now it's my nephew, Karl, and his girlfriend, Nicole, with their jail photo. Does this mean my family has a dark side?  LOL 

I guess these two had way too much fun doing whatever they were doing.  :-)

Show off!!!!

Now this is just down right bragging...

From: Tamara White

I was just looking at my tomato plant and I have a baby tomato ... I win I grew one before you.

A close up of dad's pepper plant

If you look real close, you can see two more peppers.

 Gonna be a bumper crop this year.  Tamie says,

"He is making pepper steak for dinner I am trying to talk him into picking one and add it to his dinner."

Grandma and Grandpa spoiling their Great Grand Daughter.

I am taking this from Tif and Daniel's blog mendezstuff.blogspot.com

"Today Daniel and I picked up grandma and grandpa and took them to Babies R Us! They were set on buying us a crib. We left, had purchased a crib, a dresser and a stroller car seat combo! They really spoiled us today! :)"

Here is the crib that everyone agreed upon.

Matching dresser. As you know every little girl needs a lot of drawers for her clothes.

Choosing is so difficult

Which one is the perfect one?

It was exhausting for "Daddy Daniel" and "Great Grandpa" trying to find the best crib

The baby crib will become a toddler bed and then a regular bed as the baby grows.  Smart move on her mom and dad's (Tif and Daniel) part, don't you think?

Hmmm... where is great grand-daughter's mom and grandmother at?  Probably looking at the baby clothes, toys, and other stuff.

The green thumb competition has more entries...

Since I posted my green thumb, Tiffany's green thumb, and dad's green thumb, Tamie has now sent me photos of her "farm". The green thumb competition is definitely going strong.


Here is a picture of her tomato plant.

 

She even have blooms on her pepper plants.



A picture of her pepper plants

Here's an update on Tiffany's roses...

The battle of the roses continues

Here is a picture of dad's roses in his backyard.  He has two pots with tea roses and they are just taking off this year.

Dad wanted to play a trick on Tamie.

Dad asked me to bring him some fake flowers to put in his flower garden since Tamie is always taking pictures of his flowers.  Well yesterday evening, Tamie kept asking dad if she could pick them and bring them in for mom and dad kept saying no, no. Then Pam from across the street came over and tried to pick one of the "flowers".  As she tried to break off one of the "flowers", the entire bunch came up and she was freaking out thinking that she had pulled the "flowers" out of the ground by the roots. Then she realized that they were fake and everyone had a good laugh over it.

Fake or real?

Battle of the flowers...

And you thought the only thing we grow here is cactus...
We've been keeping track of dad's flowers that he has growing in front of his house and the "farm" he has in the backyard.  Then Tiffany started showing off her flowers, now I decided that I have to start showing off mine. I've posted pictures of dad's purple flowers in the front in previous postings, but here's some photos of his "farm" in the back.


This started out as an almost dead $1.50 tomato plant. Now look at it.



Here is his "farm".  These are his other tomato plants as well as his pepper plant



Here are some photos of Tiffany's green thumb...

Now for my pictures of my green thumb. I know, I'm bragging.



These are my peach and pink colored roses that are on the side of the house in the backyard



Here is my yellow rose bush along the back wall



My tomato plant (a little puny right now, but give it time)

These are my herb plants.  I can't remember what they are, but  they're pretty. :-)

OK, now it's Tamie's turn.  Where's your pictures Tamie?

Update on Mom's radiation treatments...

Tamie took mom to the cancer doctor today and they have set her up with a schedule of treatments starting on Thursday, April 21, 2011.  These treatments will be 5 days a week for 25 days.  Each treatment should be only 15-30 minutes long.  We'll keep you updated as she progresses. 

Mom and the cancer doctor appointment

Yesterday mom went to her first cancer doctor appointment. This appointment was to let mom know about the procedure she was going to have. Tamie and dad were very comfortable with this doctor. He took the time to explain what was going to be done in nonprofessional words, easy enough for them to understand, and answered any questions that Tamie asked. I’m sure this put mom at ease now that she has an idea of what to expect.

This coming Wednesday, they go back and mom will be put through a CT simulator that will measure where the mass is on her lungs and how she will do laying down while the radiation treatment is happening.

The following week, she will go back to be “tattooed” – they place a mark on her chest where the mass is so they will know where to place the radiation each time, and they will then finalize the dosage of radiation they will give her.

Then finally, the last week of April, she will begin her radiation treatments and will go everyday for 25 days (Monday through Friday only).

Tamie expressed a concern we all had about this radiation treatment because of the research Tamie has done on radiation treatments, and because mom has trouble breathing and swallowing. The doctor felt that mom should have very little side effects, and what little effects she will have will be tolerable. He said that if she didn’t do this radiation, it could spread into her lymph nodes and become an even bigger problem.

I’ll keep you posted as to her progress. She’s tough and this is just one more hurdle that she will overcome. Besides, I think she wants to be around to see her grandson, Karl graduate from college in September and (yet to be born) great grandchild graduate from college as well.