Cool....and Coocoo!

That's Gabbi's new favorite word. She loves to say cool. I know I had pretty much everything to do with it. I took her outside the other night and we watched lightening bugs together. I gasp and say cool when they blink and now she does the same. She says cool to anything new or exciting. I do that with her. She is learning language FAST right now so I think words need to be chosen carefully as well. We were watching Hancock last night with Will Smith which is a decent movie I think. He gets repeatedly called a certain foul word. (haha) Luckily she did NOT repeat that one. I didn't really think about her even paying attention to the movie honestly. But later in the movie Charlize Theron's character gets mad at Hancock when he calls her a crazy woman. She says "Call me crazy ONE more time." Hancock then says "Coo coo!" And right on cue, Gabriella looks up at me and in a high pitched cute little voice repeats "Coo coo!" So yes...I think perhaps it's time to remove her from the room if less than desirable language is being spoken during a movie. It was adorable though!

No Longer MY Secret Recipe

It's now a secret FAMILY recipe! Ok. There is just one little thing I do to my chocolate chip cookies that makes them so good. Ask anyone who has ever eaten them and they will all tell you the same thing. They are good. I love them, my kids love them and every single member in my extended family loves them! My daughter Lexi is now 12 years old and she is learning to cook. I have been giving her little tips here and there, letting her do this and that. She now can follow my cookie recipe 100% on her own! She's in trouble. That's all I can say. These cookies were amazing. They tasted exactly like mine. I think it's very important for every kid, male or female, to learn to cook. You don't have to be Martha Stewart, just able to cook yourself a meal. They will appreciate it when they get older! For some reason I have no pics of Lexi with her cookies but we have pics of Mikayla and Angelina enjoying them.

She's Getting So Big and I Made a New Friend

First things first. Gabbi is walking and running all over the place. I put up the video when she took her first steps but I am not sure if I mentioned how absolutely active she is now. Not only that but she's just started talking like mad. It's like her first words opened the flood gates. She says "mama" and "dada" of course, but she calls her sister Mikayla (Mikki) "Bitti, or Bikki" which is adorable. She was saying Lexi as "wesi" but hasn't been doing it as much lately. She sometimes blurts things out that sound like sentences but won't do it again so we aren't sure. She sticks out her tongue and pants when I mention our dog Sasha. That's our beautiful Husky. Gabriella is in LOVE with her. haha Regardless seriously Gabbi is just growing and progressing like a little weed. I just love watching her learn and explore. She loves pushing doors closed if they are cracked. It's proven to be bad on one occasion when she pinched a finger. No harm done but it was scary for her.

Now onto my new friend. In the past few weeks I received an e-mail from a lady who was also pregnant with Hodgkin's Disease. I have met a few ladies who were pregnant with cancer, even some that had Hodgkin's in particular. I think a lot of attention is put on breast cancer, as it should be, but really....can I ask how much any of my readers knew of Hodgkin's Disease before my blog? Not Non-Hodgkin's which by the way is different. There are around 100,000 cases of Non-Hodgkin's per year in the USA while with Hodgkin's there is only around 8000. It's more common in males and it's most frequent in the 25-35 age group. It drops off then rises again in the late 50's. I learned all this information after being sick and have pulled it 100% from my brain. I don't have to look it up anymore.

I got off my point though! The woman who e-mailed me is close to my age and her baby girl is celebrating her first birthday this month! I want to wish her little one a happy birthday. This woman was stage 4! (Though I still do not know my stage. I forgot to ask again!) She goes in for a checkup scan in July I believe so my prayers and well wishes are with her.

I just cannot explain, though you would NEVER wish this to happen to anyone, when you find someone who can relate it means the world to you. It's not exactly easy to find someone who has been through it all and I appreciate having someone to share things with. I met another woman as well in the past few months who started the Pregnant With Cancer forum (not related to my blog). The link to that site is www.pregnantwithcancer.com. We are hoping to get some support out there for women going through this. Her little girl is 3 years old. I have two friends on Facebook who went through cancer while pregnant and one on Myspace as well. They are everywhere. I really think it's about time that pregnancy coinciding with cancer was given a little more attention, so women know that chemo can be done safely. There is hope, for BOTH of you.

My Voice is 95% Back and an A on My Math Test

I can do just about anything now. I can talk perfectly. Just don't ask me to sing too much. I haven't gotten that 100% back yet. I hit pretty funny notes on occasion. I lose my voice several times a year usually. I still find it odd though that this is what would happen to me. My husband gets a terrible cold complete with sore throat so bad he can hardly swallow. His nose was stuffed, his head heavy, the whole works. Gabbi caught it and was just as sick for a full week complete with fever. I tended to them and babied my Gabbi. Then I began to feel a scratchy throat. I figured this was it! I was getting it finally. The second day it was a little more scratchy and I was just waiting for it. By the third day? Sore throat gone. And so was my voice! My throat didn't hurt, but my whole neck was sore. It was a muscle soreness. I never got sicker. I just lost my voice and now I feel fine. I won't complain but I am positive it was the same bug that caused my illness that caused the hubbies. I find it crazy how these things can mutate. I wish Gabbi had gotten the easier bug but unfortunately it wasn't to be. She's fine now, feeling healthy and doing well. So is the hubby thank goodness.

Oh and whether I posted this or not, I cannot remember but I had my first math test a couple of Mondays ago. I was concerned about all the confusing story problems but I got an A. :) I was pretty excited. It's a summer class so tests will be frequent. I have another one tonight! I am off to study. Wish me luck.