Fun Fun Fun

So I took the extensions class at school. Today I did a set on my friend Cas. I think they turned out awesome. Check it out!

Before

After

Hooray

I don't have cancer and I'm not going to die! Test was negative.

Whoot whoot!

Mole Update

Well, the mole is gone, and off to the lab for testing. I am so sore though. I bet she did 12 shots before I finally went numb. Not fun at all. The mysterious pain I was having is still there, and after talking with my neighbor Heather I think I may have cysts. Everything she described to me was dead on. So, maybe I need more tests later. You can't really do much with cysts but take the pain. If you have them removed they just come back. The saga continues...

FREAKED OUT!

Alright, I am stressing just a tad. Let me rewind and tell you the story. A couple of months ago at school we had a seminar put on by our resident Plastic Surgeon Dr. Freyer. The seminar covered the basics of skin cancer - symptoms, characteristics, etc. You see, in the cosmetology field, we are exposed to places on the back of the head, neck, or other areas that you may not see every day. So, it is important for us to know what we are looking at in order to be able to identify something we consider supsicious, or possibly skin cancer.

Ok, so there is a sad story involving this very type of situation. We have a student at our school who attended a previous seminar put on by Dr. Freyer on skin cancer. She had been cutting her husband's hair for over 14 years, and noticed he had a large, irregular mole on his scalp. Thinking nothing of it, she never made an issue and left the mole alone. After attending Dr. Freyer's seminar she began to worry because the mole had characteristics defined by Dr. Freyer that may indicate a problem. So her husband came in to see the doctor. It was recommended that he see a dermotologist, and have the mole removed.

When the biopsy was completed on the removed mole it ended up coming back as positive for melanoma (the worst form of skin cancer). At that point the cancer had already spread throughout his body, and in 8 weeks of finding the results, the man passed away. That is how serious these types of things are.

So of course, after the seminar everyone was in a panick. We all have moles, sun spots, or other things that may "fit" in the skin cancer spectrum. I myself have a very large mole in my pelvic area. I have had two separate doctors tell me at some point I should think about having it removed. It is about the size of a dime, mostly circular, but has some rough edges, which are both bad signs.

Well this week the mole began to ache. It's weird really, not a normal ache but more a sharp pain. It has a small lump underneath it as well, and is painful to the touch. Yesterday it really started to bug me, and I decided I better trust my gut instinct and make an appointment to have it removed. My appointment is at 3:00pm today, where they will remove the mole, and send it for a biopsy. I am totally freaking out! Of course I think "yep, I have cancer, gonna die" but I have to take a breath and just wait. That's the hard part though, waiting. UGH. I am so not good at that. I am a worrier and think the worst until someone confirms that I am ok, and going to live. So stay tuned for more! Wish me luck!

How Cute is this?

Everyone loves to snuggle. Even Bear! Cute little guy.

Oh Glorious Sleep

I think the last 2 and a half months finally caught up to me on Saturday. It was our off weekend, so we just had Kayden. Saturday night after school I hit a wall. I don't think I have been that tired since I was pregnant with Ambria working two jobs.

I fell asleep about 8:40pm. Out cold, dead to the world. I had some crazy deep sleep dreams but I could not wake up. I finally pulled myself out of bed about 2:30pm on Sunday. That was even hard to do. It took me a minute to pry open my eyes and force my legs over the edge of the bed. Wow.

So, after 18 hours of continuous sleep, I feel much better. I'm thinking every couple of months I may need to have one of these days, just to make it through the next 21 months of school. It's really hard on me. Less sleep, less time with kids, less Nick. Just all around hard. I just have to keep my head up and keep going. I will do this. :)

Happy Birthday....

To my BFF Chrissy Bailey! I hope you had a radical day! Hope you do something totally awesome like see Twilight for the 841st time! Sorry I can't be there. :( Love you lots!

Proud Mama

My baby is getting big! He's already 6 months now. When we first got him he was just 15 lbs. Now he is over 45 lbs and still growing! I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit 100 lbs. Man, what a good looking little guy he is.

My Newest Craze...

Alright alright, I admit it, I thought it too. Nasty, squishy, chewy, yucky SUSHI! That was my first impression, even after I tried it for the first time. Something about raw fish just made my stomach curdle. So, they tell me when it comes to sushi, if you don't like it the first time, try it again? Are you kidding me? Ew.

So I did. Sushi, once again. This time my thoughts were a little different. Lots of soy sauce, lots of wasabee, and hmmmm, not bad. Do I like sushi? What's going on here. Piece by piece I ate them up! And guess what....

I LOVE SUSHI!

Man! What was I thinking. It's like I can't get enough of it lately. I love all different kinds too. Raw, cooked, crab, salmon, tuna..the whole nine yards. MMMMM.

So, I guess it's safe to say now, that if you don't like something the first time, at least give it a second chance before you make your final decision!

SLURP!

You Know it's Spring When....

Nick is home today because he woke up not feeling well. He hasn't felt 100% for a few days so he thought he would work from home and rest. He kept Kayden home with him today to hang out and play, and of course he loves spending time with Bear.

Well, when the house became unusually quiet, Nick began to wonder what Kayden and Bear were up to. After searching the upstairs he went downstairs to find them. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he found the back sliding glass door wide open. It took him a minute and a few steps around the back yard, to realize Kayden and Bear had made a prison break! They escaped out into the beautiful spring weather!

After Nick rounded the corner to the neighbor's house behind us (our backyards all connect), he found that Kayden had climbed up a small ladder and on to the neighbor's trampoline. He was jumping up and down and giggling to himself! Oh, and the dog? Bear was running cirlces around the tramp enjoying his new found freedom, and keeping an eye on Kayden I'm sure. ;)

Bullies

I hate bullies. I had a few bullies back when I was in school. I remember how unpleasant they made my life, and it wasn't fun. Well, my little Ambria has a bully. His name is Christopher, funny because that is her dad's name, but still, she tells me he is not very nice to her.

This past Friday Ambria says that her bully Christopher was mean and pushed her head into a pole at school. She says she had to get an icepack from the office. I questioned this because typically you would think this is someting the school would notifiy the parents about. I never heard a word until her dad called me to tell me the story.

When I called her teacher she was baffled. There is a Christopher in both of the morning Kindergarten classes. She agreed to do some research and get back to me. Here is her response:

Erika,

I asked Ambria about the incident. She said he did it on accident and said sorry. I asked her what pole it was. She looked around the room and then pointed to the coat/backpack hooks. She said that they were too close when they were packing up and her head got pushed into the 'pole'. She said she did not get an icepack. We talked about how she should tell me if someone hurts her or is bothering her. She said she would. I asked about the bullying. She said that no one told her she was stupid or lazy, but that she feels lazy sometimes. I don't know if her saying that someone bothered her in those ways was easier to say then to say that was how she was feeling? Or if someone was bothering her and she doesn't remember or doesn't want to tell me about it.

Thanks,

Stacy

Ambria has a way of taking things the wrong way. It looks like this may be the case, yet again with this little incident. Sometimes I wonder why she makes up such great stories. Does she need more attention? Does she just like to tell stories? I don't know. I tell you what though, she is a really hard one to figure out. We but heads in so many ways, but I still love her to pieces. I just have to take deep breaths sometimes and remember we are all different.

Whew.