Isaac @ 10 Years Old

This weekend Isaac celebrated his 10th birthday. 10! I, just like every other parent in the world, just can't believe how time marches on so quickly. I get equally anxious and nostalgic when I think that he has spent more years in our home than he has left ("How will I prepare him for life?! Time is moving too quickly!" and "He was just barely a teeny tiny toddler, obsessed with all things Lightning McQueen--how did he get to the double digits?!?")

photos by the talented Becky Payne this past summer at our family reunion in Bear Lake.

Here are a few things I want to remember about Isaac at 10 years old:

• He developed a love for basketball this past year. He played on a league with our local YMCA and at one point early on in the season, he just caught fire. He improved immensely and did a good job keeping up with the other players. It is so satisfying watching your children work hard to become better at something they love. His hard work and dedication to improving his skills was really fun for me to watch. And Ryan loved it even more than I did. 
• He does everything fast----he eats fast, reads fast, brushes his teeth fast, runs fast, and gets his work done---fast. 
• He still eats just about anything, but his favorites are orange chicken, pizza, carrot cake, and pumpkin pie.
• He has mastered the art of teasing his younger siblings and it often drives them (and me) crazy.
• He has a kind heart. When choosing what kind of cake he would have for his birthday, he hesitated settling on carrot cake because he knew his sister doesn't particularly enjoy it and he wanted her to be happy too. I reassured him that I'd buy ice cream as well so she wouldn't miss out on dessert. 
• He is a friend to the underdog. I love this about him and subsequently worry at times too. But I wouldn't change it for anything. The other day I ran into the mother of one of his friends from his previous school. When I mentioned to Isaac that I had seen her at the grocery store, the first question out of his mouth was, "Has he made any other friends yet?" 
• I am harder on this boy of mine than any of our other children (really working on that), but I am so proud of him. And so happy that he is our oldest. Our family is what it is in large part to how Isaac has shaped it. 

Maddie @ 8 Years old

Today Maddie tried out for the school play, the Lion King. She has no formal acting experience, no formal musical training, and no fear. I am just blown away by this girl's confidence! I watched her during her audition and she gave it all she had! This girl has so much heart. Here is a little bit about Maddie at 8 years old.

Selfies are kind of her jam. She has taken hundreds of them on my phone. 

She planned out this year's Halloween costume all on her own. This girl knows how to make lemons out of lemonade. Instead of wallowing in the fact that she had to get braces, she decided to theme her entire costume around them. So of course she became a nerd. And she won two costume contests in the process. #nerdsrule

She loves all things ocean and wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.

She loves her brothers and is especially tender with her younger ones.

Full of personality she is.

A couple of months ago, she and I were able to meet up with her kindergarten teacher (who lives in Connecticut). Ms Crocco has really shaped Maddie's educational experience thus far and I will always be grateful for the year that Maddie had with her (and consequently I compare every other teacher to her and they never quite measure up). 

Nathan @ Three Years Old

This Kid. I don't even know where to start. Three years old is just a really fun age. He can dress himself (though he prefers to be in the buff and will sometimes stay that way for hours after a bath or in between changing clothes) and take care of almost all of his potty needs, but he is still so much my little baby that I feel nostalgic just looking at him sometimes because I know he won't stay this way for long.

At three years old, Nathan:

• Adores his older siblings, especially Isaac. He wants to be right where they are, doing just what they are doing. 
• Has finally started to get over his pickiness phase when it comes to food. He is at times (though not always) our most adventurous eater. 
• He loves to flex his muscles and show me how be they are getting because he eats all his vegetables. 
• I was recently called as the Relief Society president in our branch and Nathan is my little traveling/visiting buddy. He goes everywhere with me and I really couldn't ask for a more patient little side kick. Just today we headed out for a visit and he played quietly in the living room of one of the sisters in our branch for over an hour while I visited with her. 
• People comment on his curls almost daily. He also gets compliments on his angelic cherub-like face. I get asked how I ever refuse to give him everything he wants because he has such a sweet face. 
• He often hates to get into the tub and then hates to get back out of it. 
• The Little Blue Truck Leads the Way is his favorite book and he has the entire thing memorized. It reminds me of when Davis was around his age and could recite Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus from memory. I think Little Blue Truck will hold a similar place in my heart. 
• He makes me call him crazy nicknames like "My Sweet Fish" and "Snuggle Bear"---I don't know where he comes up with this stuff.
• Most of the time I am his favorite person. 
• We have been focusing on the LDS church's "Light the World" campaign for the month of December, hoping to remember the true meaning of Christmas in our home. Yesterday Davis gave Nathan a package of TicTacs. He proudly told me, "Mom! I"m lighting the world!" A minute later one of the kids asked Nathan if he would share with them. "NO!" he bellowed! "And...Nathan just made the world a little darker..." remarked Maddie. 
• He has the best smile and the best giggle and we all just adore him. 

Our New Home

In June, just a day before Maddie's baptism, Ryan and I bought our first home together. After 3 other failed attempts to buy a home, this one finally worked out! It must have been meant to be. Here we are in November, and while I'm still trying to find my place in our new town (and in Maine, if I'm being honest), I feel so at home in our new home. I love almost everything about it and feel like it's perfect for our family and this stage of life we are in right now. 

The kitchen is my favorite place in the whole house (no surprise). This photo just represents happiness to me. My family gathered together over food. I love it.

Ryan and Mary-Ann built me this island. When we bought the home all that was in it's place was a tiny mobile coffee-cart-type-counter. This island was a labor of love just for me and I love it so much.

We inherited a bunch of furniture with the home, which was nice to not have to buy a ton of stuff. I love that The living room and the dining room and the kitchen are all so open. 

See that Brian Kershisnik print on my wall? Love, love, love.

I also love the exposed beams.

The master bedroom.

The toy room. This is my second favorite place in the house. I love that the kids have space of their own to be wild and crazy and creative and that it's not right next to my bedroom or the main living area! And it doubles as a work-out room for me in the early morning. Total bonus.

The home lacked a mudroom (kind of essential here in Maine), so Mary-Ann designed one off of the playroom. She's a genius like that. 

More of the play room. 

MOHS Surgery

Because I was diagnosed with Melanoma 6 years ago, I regularly see a dermatologist who checks my skin for anything suspicious. It is extremely rare for me to leave her office without having done a skin biopsy. Since my melanoma diagnosis, all biopsies have come back benign (yippee!). But a couple of weeks ago when I went in for my semi-annual checkup, my Dr. noticed a teeny tiny mark on my right cheek. She immediately said, "I'm 99% sure that's basal cell carcinoma. We are going to have to biopsy that." Basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer. It's super slow-growing and not likely to metastasize. That being said, it's still cancer and my Dr. (and I), wanted it gone. So she took a sample of it (along with 2 other suspicious marks) and I was on my way. 

Now I like to think that I'm not a particularly vain person, but the truth is I care about my face! I even caught myself being self-conscious of the tiny circle-band-aid-sized biopsy on my cheek, so I was anxious about having to remove more skin there once the biopsy results came back. 

Sure enough, my very competent dermatologist was right---the biopsy showed basal cell carcinoma just below my right eye. The good news was that the other two suspicious-looking marks both came back negative (phew!), so I only needed further treatment for the one on my cheek. 

Yesterday morning in a minor surgical procedure, I had the cancerous skin removed from my face in what is called MOHS surgery. It took most of the day because they remove thin layers of skin and then send them off to the lab while you wait in their office for the results. Once enough layers have been removed that the tissue is declared cancer-free, they stitch you up and you can be on your way. My particular surgery took two layers of skin to remove all the cancerous tissue (not the one layer we had hoped for, but definitely not a worst-case-scenario). These two layers of skin being removed landed me a puffy soon-to-be black eye and the proud owner of 20 stitches front and center on my face. 

Here I am awaiting the results of my first layer of tissue. I kept Ryan posted while I was in the waiting room with pictures and texts. He was at home taking care of Nathan. Notice the puffy, hard-to-keep-open right eye. 

Here is my battle wound right after being stitched up but before getting bandaged. My Dr. is optimistic that, given 2 or 3 months, no one but me will be able to notice the scar on my face. I am so thankful for her cautious care with my skin and especially for being so perceptive to notice the tiny cancer spot in the first place. She was so sensitive to my situation and took a lot of time to make sure she stitched me up as flawlessly as possible.

I know that this probably wouldn't be a big deal to most people. It was nothing as scary as the Melanoma I dealt with 6 years ago. But for some reason every time I find myself in the dermatologist's or oncologist's office, I get anxious butterflies in my stomach. It's hard to keep all those tender feelings buried and not worry a little bit about getting bad news again. But even though I was anxious and nervous and had knots in my stomach, I was able to feel peace through my nerves. I knew a lot of family members and the few friends who knew were praying for me and thinking of me, and I felt their prayers and support.

If I have learned anything from all of these skin cancer scares, it's the importance of sunscreen. It really does make a difference. And it only takes a second to apply. My kids get doused in it every time we spend time in the sun. I'm relentless about it and hopefully always will be. So here's my friendly little PSA--Wear Sunscreen!! And make your children wear it too.