On the lighter side of things:

Camden got his first haircut! He did so good, I just couldn't believe it! We got in there and Colby sat down with him in the chair; he fussed for not even a minute and then just relaxed and let Debby go to town! It was pretty funny, she asked, "what are we doing?" my answer was, "I dunno, never had to have a boy's hair cut before... you tell me!" Here is his before picture: Some in betweens:
And an after:

Kid's got some serious cheeks on him! I'm so proud of my baby boy! Hard to believe he is going to be a year old so soon. Funny how we want them to hurry up and grow and then we regret ever saying that and wish that they were still little.

Frustrations.

I know I've told you all about Rhonda, but I have a new bitch about cancer, and everything going along with it. As you all know we have come to a point with Rhonda, where there aren't a whole lot, if any, options left as far as chemotherapy and traditional treatments go. Here's my bitch: there was a type of treatment originally developed in L.A., it became illegal here by the government or whoever the hell makes those kinds of decisions...it is available in Mexico. The treatment has had great success. So why was it made illegal here and moved?! Could it be because it was so successful?! I think that ultimately the government really does not want there to be a cure for cancer because they will lose millions of dollars, I mean, who cares about all the people who cancer has an affect on!
I mentioned before the clinical trial called ET-743, Rhonda is going to take some of that info to her oncologist....we'll see how far that goes. Basically, her oncologist is out of ideas. Why can't she say to Rhonda, "I'm out of ideas, but let me find you another oncologist who has some others." Grrr. It is so frustrating. I swear, they all want the credit for healing people and can't see past their selves to help someone beyond what is in their own powers. Or for that matter, why can't they bring in a naturopath to work hand in hand with an oncologist and the cancer patient and get the best of both worlds. Chemotherapy is so toxic, I'm not sure how anyone expects a body to be able to stay healthy enough to handle that and fight off other infections without the help from supplements and nutrients available outside the pharmaceutical walls.

Cancer Schmancer

I just thought I would try and give you all a little update on Rhonda. I can't remember what the last was I told you all, so if you're confused or if I left something out, just ask. So...the oral chemo that they had switched her to for the tumors that reappeared under her arm, isn't doing jack s#%t. Her white blood cell count is too low and she is struggling to stay healthy. Last week she went in for a check up and the tumors had grown and are adhering to her breast bone. They pulled her off of the oral chemos and she will go back on an iv chemo starting next week I think. In a nutshell, what this all means is, they are running out of tricks... a friend of mines mom has cancer also and just got accepted into this clinical trial for a new type of cancer treatment, it's biological instead of chemical. Called ET-743. I'm trying to get some more info on it so Rhonda can take it to her oncologist to see if it's something worth trying. Although I feel like the doctors don't always look outside the box: I don't understand why the doctor isn't willing to say, I've used up all I got, now let's find someone who has some other ideas...they want all the credit to themselves. Ugh.

"No" days......

Ever feel like there are days where all you do is tell your children "no." Ugh, I hate those days. Or maybe not no, but it's always some form of it; at my house it can come in all sorts of ways:
-No.
-Cadynce, Please do NOT do that.
-Keep your hands to yourself.
-Camden, don't eat stuff off the floor.
-Do we hit? (this comes in several different variations, do we do this or that etc)
-Seriously? Did you really just....
-Get in time out. NOW.
(if followed by fits)
-Go to your room.
I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. I just really despise the days when I feel like all I'm doing is telling my children no. I have to try to find things to be positive about..... haha. Hmm, someone could have warned me about this before I had 2 kids.

"release"

Today is a beautiful sunny day, not quite the warmest, but beautiful none the less. After lunch I sent Cadynce outside to play...her companion tagging right along with her. (summer dog) We are so lucky to have a nice big fenced back yard with play stuff, the sun hits it for most of the day, so we just pop open a living room window and keep an eye/ear on her. It cracks me up the way Cadynce yells at Summer, tells her to come...and gets mad when she ignores her. Today she caught my attention though and I found myself watching her play for over a half an hour with the dog. One of the two of them had found one of Summer's balls somewhere in the yard and Cadynce had positioned herself at the top of the stairs so she could actually get a little bit of distance behind her throw. She'd throw the ball and Summer would chase it, Cadynce would cheer her on, "come on summer, good girl, you can do it" and Summer would dotingly come carrying the ball back (up and down the stairs every time). She'd get up to Cadynce and she'd actually tell her "release" promptly followed by "good girl." Wonders never cease to amaze me - who'd a thought my little girl would pick up on those sort of habits, especially those revolving around a dog.

Day 1 Run.

Last week, I finally started running. After a whole lot of the "I'm going to start tomorrow (s)" I actually did it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. And I'm thinking of it as sort of a therapy. I didn't run the entire 5k ( i have a nice little just over 3 miles trail of sorts that i worked out) but most of it I did. I found myself recovering quicker than I did last summer when I was running/walking; which was really pleasing...and I felt so great when I was done. But let's be honest here, we live in Washington...this is what I looked likke when I was done because what was a light drizzle turned into a pour. I'm just thinking of it as running with weights.