the fall...

We had a fall yesterday, the worst one yet. Sam was trying to stand up in the tub...again...and fell hard. We were right there, but we couldn't prevent it. It was SO sad He banged his gum against the side and now his top left tooth is totally visible. He is teething and I think he was in so much pain. Poor baby. He wouldn't nap so we both tried to get him to sleep.
Adam's attempt didn't work too well. Sam just sat there with his eyes open the whole time. It was too cute, I couldn't resist taking a picture.
Then I, the mean mommy, came along and made him sleep. Sometimes if he just won't do it, I bundle him tight (something he HATES) and hole him close to me until he's asleep. He objected, but in the end, mommy won.

After this falling fiasco, he got really sick. I think the fall might have aggravated this cold that he has now. This is Samuels first time being really "sick." Poor baby.

Just Kidding...

So I have some news...my mom does not have cancer. DOES NOT. NO CANCER. How can this be some people ask? When they took out the thyroid and checked it for cancer while they were doing surgery, they saw that the cells were really abnormal and concluded that it must be cancer because they were so messed up. And then they took the whole thing out. Because the cells were so wacked, the doctor and everyone were so sure that it was cancer and they told us it was. BUT the labs came back today and she doesn't. The thyroid cells were just going wacky and growing out of control. The doctor said it still is good that they took the whole thing out because they would have had to monitor it for the rest of her life and possibly have to remove it later, but now she just has to take medicine for her thyroid.
SO. She does not have to do radiation, she does not have to get her lymph nodes checked, and she just has to take thyroid medicine. We're really grateful that she doesn't have cancer, but I'm kinda mad that they gave us such a scare. I was actually really mad when I found out, I wanted to know whose fault it was for the mess up...
I feel bad because I finally broke down this morning and decided to start telling friends, and I started on my blog. I'm really sorry about worrying anyone. Everything is good now and she is doing really well!!!

Cancer

We found out on Wednesday that my mom has cancer. It's a LONG story, but I'll condense it for ya.

A doctor in the ER told her that her thyroid looked a little large one day while they were working together. She got it checked out and there was defiantly something up with it. After waiting to see doctors, waiting some more and some biopsies, we found out that on the right side (the huge side) they could not tell if it was cancerous. So they decided to do surgery. The plan was to take out the right side, and while she was still out send it to pathology to be tested and if it was cancer to take the rest of it out along with any lymph nodes that looked a little weird. While we were waiting for that on Wednesday, her doctor found in an ultrasound that the other part (left) of her thyroid was encapsulated in calcium. This is a huge sign of thyroid cancer. We were worried, but that biopsy came back saying it was not cancer. They still decided to do surgery to find out what was going on with the right side.

She went in on Wednesday to get the surgery around 8 and went into surgery at 10:50. They told us the surgery would be about 1 1/2 hours if it was not cancer, and anywhere from 2 - 4 if it was. After 3 hours, we were all getting pretty nervous, and sure enough after 3 1/2 they finally finished and said they took the whole thyroid and some nearby lymph nodes.

It was really hard for all of us at first, Lauren was still up at school (she came home yesterday) and although I know it's going to be okay, it's so hard to hear that someone you love dearly has cancer.

She didn't look that great on Wednesday night. She was still all groggy and on morphine. But yesterday (Thursday) she looked SO good. I could not believe it. Her voice is amazing, which is a concern for this surgery. The doctor could not believe how well she was speaking, he must have done such a good job with cutting the thyroid away from the voice box.

They think they got all the cancer with the thyroid, but we are still waiting on the lymph nodes and we'll probably find out today. Thyroid cancer is a good cancer to have, all the doctors say if they could choose a cancer, it'd be thyroid. Her specific type has an amazing recovery rate, 95% of people are just fine.

My mother-in-law has been the best! She has been taking Sam whenever I need it so I can go be with my mom, I love her!

She is lobbying to come home today, but we'll see what happens. Her calcium levels have been going up and that's what they worry about because the thyroid produces calcium for the body.

We are so happy that we caught it this soon and for that doctor in the beginning who pointed it out. She will probably have to go through a few radiation treatments, but we don't know the details yet.

It's hard to go through all of this around Christmas, but it makes me so grateful for all the loving people I have in my life. We've been joking with my mom that she is so popular because there are been so many people wanting to see her and bringing us things and calling us. I didn't know that we had so many friends!!!!!!! We are so loved and blessed.

Live Nativity!

On Monday we went to the Live Nativity that they do in Alpine, we go every year and LOVE it. This year was a little different, but was still fun! Sam was in HEAVEN with all the animals, he can never get enough of them.

Here's the whole family...
Just our little family...

Gingerbread Houses

We have a tradition with the Sparks family to make gingerbread houses (or graham cracker houses) each year. My aunt Julie goes way crazy with the candy. We had a good time this year, Adam especially loved Julie's new Wii. I didn't get a picture of him playing, but he didn't even make a gingerbread house because he was playing it the WHOLE time.
Grandma Sparks gets really competitive with making her house the best...

I love making gingerbread houses because it means Christmas is getting closer....yay!

Sam got a little walker this last week and is now OBSESSED with it. He loves walking everywhere and when he hits a wall he doesn't understand why he can't keep going. I wonder how long until he walks?????????
He also started reading Men's Health...

Christmas Tree!

So we went to get a Christmas Tree last night. I think I was the only one who was excited... Sam was all bundled up and it was so cute but he couldn't move. We ended up getting a little fat tree because we have to put it on a table due to the crawling thing. While we were putting it up Sam didn't even pay any attention to the tree. He just wanted to stand against the table holding it. It's so fun having a Christmas tree!!! It means Christmas is coming soon...Adam is still telling me it's a month away but I don't care, I'm still excited. Adam won the Christmas light competition this year, so we have colored lights.