a day in the life of me

I know I haven't been good at blogging lately - which is probably a good sign.  So, for interested readers, I thought I would regale you with 'a day in the life of'.  Here is a detailed rundown of my day yesterday!

I love my day off - I'm working 4 days a week - and relish that day off with my kidlets.  I woke up around 7:20 and proceeded downstairs to start breakfast for the kids to find a cup of tim hortons coffee that my wonderful hubby had brought for me after his trip to the gym - can I love him anymore.  I put on the 'hot cereal', as Charlotte calls it, to cook - Bob's 12 grain cereal.  I fetched Charlotte who settled down to watch her morning cartoons, and luckily requested 'hot cereal'.  I then fetched Nathan.  Stefan had picked up croissants on a Costco trip the day before.  I ripped one in half and gave half to Nathan.  He proceeded to through this on the floor and kick up a stink - why?  Because he wanted the whole croissant, or at least the other half too for his other hand.  Knowing my son, I interpreted well, and he was soon a happy camper, leaving a trail of crumbs all through the kitchen and living room.  Soon, the kids were fed and happy and ready to play.  After getting everyone dressed - it was time to get out of the house - a trip to my moms (Tootoos, as kids call her) for a visit.  Some playtime at her place, and then off to the park for some swinging, sliding and hide and seek.  Nathan is trying to count now, which is pretty adorable!

Now it was just about 11 o'clock, which meant it was time to head back home for lunch and naps.  Lunch was rice, carrots, broccoli and parmesan cheese for the kids.  For me, I had the leftover valentines dinner Stefan had made the night before - pasta with seafood alfredo sauce (scallops, shrimp and crab) - yum!  I managed to squeeze in making two loafs of my favorite pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread before we all settled down for a nap.

Stefan was home by the time we all awoke from our naps at around 4pm.  After some playtime and dinner, the night was still young and we thought we could do another outing.  We settled on a trip to Chapters where I picked up a few bargain books and the kids played in the kids area.  Then it was off to Marble Slab creamery for some ice cream!  A catchy song came on and Charlotte requested to dance - so, an impromptu dance party in Marble Slab for mommy, daddy and Charlotte, while Nathan was content to spin in circles and then dizzily bump into walls! 

Home to bed, and Stefan and I caught up on Glee with a slice of the fresh bread and our sleepy time tea.

A Good day!  Blog worthy, probably not.  Memorable - you bet!

Back to 'normal'

After a two week break from Charlotte's chemo and a stay in the bubble, we are back to 'normal'.  On Friday we took Charlotte for her blood work and got confirmation that her immune system was back, and we could resume her chemo, albeit at half her previous dose.  It was good timing so we could bring the kids to my Grandpa's wake on Saturday night.  Stefan and I attended my grandpa's service during the day.  It was a beautiful service for this adored man who lived an amazing 97 years.  He will be missed.  He adored his great grandkids and had a particular soft spot for Charlotte!  It was a nice weekend visiting with family who we don't get to see often enough.

Stefan's return to work has been going well.  He was very tired this past week though, so next week they won't increase the hours, it will be the same as last week.

With Charlotte's return to good health, she has experienced a growth spurt and is a super sweet little princess (ok, 90% of the time anyway).  Both kids have been really great for who ever has been taking care of them (grandma's or nanny).  We were surprised to hear that Grandma offered for Charlotte to watch a tv show while she got lunch ready - Charlotte's response was "I'm not allowed to watch too much tv".  Of course, I'm sure this answer was because Charlotte wasn't ready to quit 'playing' with Grandma! 

We are loving watching the kids play with each other and make each other laugh!  Charlotte's imagination has been running wild these days, and Nathan has just been running wild!

Here is our nightly routine to administer Charlotte's chemo.  It has to be on an empty stomach.  If Charlotte has a bedtime snack, I will usually give her the chemo just before I go to bed (around 10).  She is so good about being woken up for her 'cancer' medicine. 

Double checking dose/medicine...

crushing the pill...

adding it to water...

put it into the syringe...

and voila - chemo ready for my sweet little girl.