On Vacation...

It's too hot in Western Oregon (over 100),

So it's off to the coast we go......

See ya when we get back!

Portraits of a baby outside

by Chase Deshazer

I kind of like being outside

On second thought,

Maybe I don't

NAPTIME!!

has anybody seen a whole nose around?

this is what I look like now. it's my new reality. stitches come out tomorrow although I'm not ready for them, my wound still looks fresh. funny how if you had plastic surgery for, say, a nose job, you would hide it and deny it, yet since I had plastic surgery for cancer, I lie and say I had a nose job. kidding.
the thing I'm looking most forward to? working out again. no kidding.

Shhhhhh.....baby sleeping

This is Chase as a newborn sleeping. I enjoyed those days. He slept and slept and slept. I had to wake him every 3-4 hours just to feed him. I thought (just as every newborn mother thinks), "Wow, my baby is an awesome sleeper". Then he hit about 4 weeks old and many of his naps and nighttime sleeping went like this:I called my friends, I consulted my books, I prayed to the Lord above. Remember this post?
I was pretty desperate. I really wanted to let him cry it out, but he was too young. Most of my awake moments I felt like this:


Then Chase got RSV and he was religated to sleeping in his carseat in the family room under a tent with a cool mist humidifier for 3 weeks. After that, I got serious. I bought the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth which pretty much advocates most of what I already believed - a consistent schedule, okay for baby to cry a little after 4 months old (cry 10-15 minutes) - but mostly what I liked about his approach is the developmental explanations for infant/child sleep patterns and how to soothe a baby to sleep. Most important factoid: catch baby BEFORE he gets too tired and put him to sleep - at least every 2 hours.

So we got the crib all set up in Chase's room. Bought room darkening curtains. Bought a mobile.

Most important - bought a sound white noise machine.

And now, look what is happening-

HE SLEEPS!!

We don't even have to rock him or soothe him to sleep. I just put him in his little nest, wedge his blankie in his hand and by his cheek, run the mobile once or twice and he just cooes himself to sleep. Not even crying.

Another thing that saved me was instituting an early bedtime for Chase (as prescribed by the book). He goes down for the night anywhere from 6-7pm. He sleeps until 12 or 1am - we feed him 6oz. and he goes right back down until 5 or 6am and feed him another 6 oz. If he is happy, I will let him get up with me, but if he is crying - back down he goes until he can wake up happy. And the cycle goes that we put him down for a nap every 2 hours. He has now gotten to the point where his naps range from 1.5 to 2.5 hours!! And he sleeps 12-14 hours at night!! But when you come to my house, remember to be quiet because the baby is sleeping - HURRAY!!!

Update on the big "C" and the surgery

Hello all---

I wanted to give a quick update on my situation. the surgery went well on Friday - took about 7 hours when it was all said and done. They totally reconstucted my nose and you should see me now - I look like Frakenstein - two big swollen black eyes and face, 'S' shaped snake stitches on my nose - but the cancer is all gone. Do you want to see pics - or would that be too gross??
thank goodness for my husband who took three days off work to take care of the kids while I'm on pain meds. Go hydocodeine!

Holy Crap

Today I scheduled my surgery for removing my skin cancer on my nose. I feel so lucky that my referring dermatologist sent me to a specialty surgeon in the Portland area at the OHSU hosptial. If you know the Portland area at all, you know the OHSU tram that continues to polarize Oregoneons on its usefullness. I guess I finally get to ride on that thing. But I digress...

Anyway, the procedure we elected to remove the tumor is called Mohs. I looked it up today.

See for yourself. Holy crap.

The woman who scheduled my surgery today said it would take 4-6 hours. Now I know why. I guess I'm getting total and 100% payback for any vanity I have had in my life because nothing like getting your nose split open to cure vanity, huh?

Holy, f'ing crap.

Around here....

One of the best parts about having a baby 5 years after your last baby is all the new and great baby things that have come out since then. Chase is my little lab rat - not that he looks like a rat or anything, just an expression.

So this great and wonderful car playcenter was a little.....er.......BIG for him. Hold your comments. I thought he was ready for it since he can hold his head up and his body straight, he's just not quite tall enough yet.

So then, I got to purchase this fabulous little pre-sitter chair called a BUMBO. I guess it was a specialty item a few years back, but now you can buy them at Target and I love it. Gives Chase a opportunity to see the world from a different perspective.
He wasn't too sure about it at first.....

But then, he got the hang of it......

And it is even better when you get to look at yourself sitting up like a big boy!

As for the five year old, who said jealousy can't inspire a little regression?

(Mommy - please buy me some new fun stuff too!)

The big 'C'

Remember when I was worried about that spot on my nose?

Went the dermatologist and as it turns out I do have skin cancer. It's called basal cell carcinoma. Should Alanis Morrisette write a song about me? Considering I'm a nut about sunscreen and never sit in the sun and always try to keep my face covered. Go freakin' figure.

The dr did a biopsy so he can correctly identify the type of carcinoma it is. It should take about two weeks to get results. Then, we'll go from there. I was super dramatic when he identified it and said, "I cannot be killed off by skin cancer - I have three little boys at home!!" But he reassured me that it is really no big deal and we should be able to shave it off. Until then, I get to walk around with a bandaid on the tip of my nose for the next few weeks, but hey I'll take it if it means I have a non-serious cancer.

An Honest Prayer

Today, I took Blake with me to our church to drop off the boys' VBS registration forms. VBS stands for Vacation Bible School. It is a free or next to free day camp that most Christian churches put on during the summer. They do crafts, Bible stories, lots of physical games and activities, singing and worship, and mostly get together to learn about God. I love VBS. (tell that to my boys who will do about 3-4 VBS camps at various churches in the greater Salem area this summer)

So we leave the church office and we see the santuary and Blake wants to go in. They have the communion table set up and it has a big gold cross on it. A woman who works at the church comes in and says to Blake, "You're welcome to talk to Jesus while you're in here and next to the Cross." I ask Blake if he wants to and he says yes, but he looks tentative. He is worried about how you pray in church and I tell him it is just like at home where we keep it quite casual and our prayers almost sound like conversations with God - I think it encourages the personal relationship with God if you talk to Him like a friend. So Blake takes a deep breath and this is his prayer,

"Jesus, thank you that I got to come here today. This church is very nice. I wish I could be a grown up. Because I want to be the boss. Amen."

I love that child.

Mark my words....

My oldest will be a pilot someday.

His most favorite thing in the whole world is airplanes. For Christmas, we bought him Microsoft Flight Simulator and it has become his most favorite thing in whole world - Mine too, because I can pretty much get him to do most anything if I threaten to take it away if he doesn't mind (cool your opinions child psychologists out there)

Our most recent plane trip to Utah took us from our little Salem airport on this great little jet

Because of our flight connections (thank you MOM), we get to fly A LOT. And because we have flown a lot, my guys are great little travelers. In fact, I have been known to put on my Ipod headphones and tune out for most of the flight and relax while we're in the air.

Even Chase earned his good flier wings as he slept the entire flight both ways to and from.

The BEST and GREATEST part of our journey was when the pilot offered to let Jackson sit in the cockpit of the CRJ-200. This boy was seriously in heaven.

So a word of warning, if you happen into a conversation with Jackson, be sure to remember what types of aircraft you flew on recently and what cities you went into and how fast it took you. He will give you all the facts and figures of your trip from there.

When you go out of town...

You will have 110 blog posts to read on your Google reader when you come back!!!

I've been in Utah for the past week - we're back now (obviously) - but laundry calls, gotta get my garden up and running, and just adjusting to life back in the small city. I'll post very soon so please come back and say hello!