Baby Luke

We are beyond thrilled to announce the arrival of our second son, Lucas Brendan Hopf, born on August 27.  He was three weeks early,(almost 4!!), and weighed 7 pounds 2.2 ounces. and was 19.5 inches long.  He was 18 ounces smaller then Alex and only 1 inch shorter.  He did give us a bit of a scare, I wasn't due until September 13, but all is well.  I won't bore everyone with all the details, other then to say I had some minor complications this pregnancy and it came to a head on the 26 when I found out my amniotic fluid level was dropping dramatically.  I walked next door to the hospital and had Luke 16(?) hours later via emergency c section.  I knew down deep that I would not make it all 40 weeks this time and I also knew he would be an August baby versus a September one.  The funny thing about the date, the 27th, is that is the Feast of St. Monica.  Monica is my Maternal Grandmother.  When all of this started a week before his birth, I was looking at the calendar to see if there were any significant dates between the 19th and the 26th.  We buried Eric's Aunt on the 19th, of course we have a huge track record with the 23, my recently deceased Uncle's birthday was the 24, and then Feast of St. Monica on the 27th.  Again, I just knew it would be the 27th...and I was right!  Here are some pics, enjoy!!

Another day, another MRI

Another MRI, but Sarah, I thought your Dad JUST had one and was on a six month reprieve.

Well....that's what we thought to.  He had an MRI the end of January, after a heart episode.  He was told he would continue MRI's on a six month basis, versus the three month basis.  Imagine my surprise when I got a call from Dad confirming his appointment for April...April...that isn't six months.  A call to Mom to confirm the doctor actually ordered the MRI and not some computer error yielded this result: Dad's doctor looked at the films a second time and decided he needed to come back in three months.  He did not specify if he saw anything unusual, or if the lesions are growing, but we know he 'saw' something.

So, here we are three months later on the eve of the MRI.  He has been chemo free since September 2011,(I think, will need to look that up), so in theory his is due for another round.  Large dark cloud looming overhead, hoping the Lord's wind will blow it away.

Sarah:)

Pope

The Pope announced his resignation just a few hours ago.  I log on to Facebook this morning and see many disparaging remarks about the Pope and his potential successor.  The sad thing is these comments were coming from well educated,(supposedly), Catholic women, whom I went to Catholic college with.  One in particular was disappointed the Pope had to be a man.  Really, you are upset because of a penis.  I have enough on my plate right now, I don't want the job and will GLADLY give it to a man who knows infinitely more about Catholic Theology then I do.  Then again, it is 2013 and you can always go and get a penis grafted on your body and run for the office, apparently it worked for Hillary Clinton.

All I have to say is GROW UP!!  Men and women are not equal and will never be equal.  We were not designed to be equal.  I am perfectly content being a woman and I certainly don't want to be a man, act like a man, think like a man, or have anything to do with being a man.  Embracing femininity does not mean turning into a man, but that's what we are teaching our young girls and young women.  Ladies, like your lady parts.  They will do more for you then any penis ever will.  As far as the Pope is concerned, I will continue to pray for his health and pray a new successor is found quickly. 

Brand Spankin' New

New job that is.  My hubby started a new job two weeks ago.  His division of Boeing, Mission Planning, was sold off to another division of Boeing called Tapestry Software.  While no longer a direct Boeing employee, he is a Boeing "person" which has no meaning right now :)  Since his project is top secret and he works in a secure facility, the only thing that changes is the name on the paycheck.  There will be more changes in the next few years, including a possible move, but we aren't focusing on that right now.

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In other spankin' new news, I have a new basement...er....sort of.  We decided to finish our basement.  I was thinking first of this year, but I was out voted.  Our house has been under construction since the start of December.  We were able to fix two other plumbing issues we have been having, so my house is chaos.  I have lost boxes of Christmas stuff and my tree is still up in the living room.  The contents of my laundry room are in my dining room.  I can eat and fold at the same time!!!!-sarcasm

Construction is moving along well.  I have been told I get walls this week, which is kind of exciting.  I am not-so-patiently waiting for my bathroom mirrors to show up so I can get the rest of the bathroom ready.  We only found one dead mouse while dismantling the wet bar, that we estimated to be 10 years old, eewwww.  It was in a trap and we have never set traps here, so it was from the previous owner, double eeewwww.  I won't post any pics, to keep you all in suspense...

Are those tumbleweeds...?

If I knew how to animate, I would animate tumbleweeds across the page :)  I thought I would stop by and give a small update on Dad.  He was hospitalized last week after a cardiac episode on the 6th.  He has some small amount of damage to his heart that can be controlled with medication.  The flip side of this is that he missed his MRI,(want to know why, message me and I will tell you), and has it rescheduled for next Monday, the 21.

Quiet Morning

Why yes, the time stamp is correct.  It is 6:38 in the morning and I have been up well over an hour.  Monday mornings are my favorite morning of the week, other then Friday.  Monday I don't have to rush around and get me ready and then the small person.  I have an hour and a half to sit at the computer, do laundry, and just relax in general.  There is no school on Mondays, just Gymboree and any other South/Mid/West County errands that I need,(want!), to do.  I know this quiet will be short-lived, as full school weeks begin next fall.  I sit here and relish the quiet...until the cats start meowing they are hungry and make me get up to feed them.


GO CARDS!

Post Season Baseball

Go Cards!  'Nough said.

MRI

MRI Monday-nothing new, lesions are still too small to do anything about, so no new chemo for the time being.  Next MRI, more then likely January.

On another note, Blogger problem *might* be fixed, so I might be around more :)

Fall, the season, not me!

Fall is rapidly approaching.

Between this and my Salted Caramel Mocha, I am excited.  What things do you associate with fall?

Boeing Day at the Zoo

Saturday was Boeing Day at the St. Louis Zoo.  This "team building" exercise gave Eric's Boeing section a great excuse to play outside.   We had fantastic weather; our first taste of fall temperatures.        The highlight was seeing the new Sea Lion, (not seal), show.  Boeing had an entire section just for employees, so we had prime seats.

Vacation Pics!!  Click on the link for our vacation pictures.

We had a weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana with Eric's family and then drove to the Philadelphia area for the week. 

Some of the highlights were:

*Almost sleeping at a rest stop in Ohio, due to full hotels because of the storms.
*Driving through the mountains of PA and MD
*Hershey's Chocolate World
*Crayola Experience-ended up with more crayons then I could imagine!!
*Sesame Place
*Independence Hall and The Liberty Bell
*GENO'S CHEESESTEAK!!
*Driving to NJ just for ice cream
*WaWa hopping
*Please Touch Museum-though I don't think I would go back

As you have noticed, there are not that many pictures.  I had to borrow my MIL's camera and it died about half way through the trip.  Instead of taking the PA Turnpike through the state we went south and drove through Maryland and West Virginia and then on the way back, we drove through Deleware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and then to Indiana to see the fam for the weekend.  Couple that with a jaunt to New Jersey to hit a Carvels and we were busy busy folks.  We had a great time and only had some minor issues.  We didn't have any traffic problems until KY and then all kinds of issues.  Our marriage, child, and car survived.  It was a long time on the road, but worth every minute!

Birthday Boy!  We celebrated Alex’s 4^th birthday on the 19^th.  His big surprise this year was  a swingset.  Grandma Barbara and Grandpa David came down to help celebrate. 

 Cheeseburger cake.

Preschool Birthday!

Preschool year one down…fourteen more years to go.  Can I just make it stop now?!?  Alex made it through his first official school year with flying colors.  He loved going to school and seeing his buddies, Hunter and Leo.  His confidence has blown through the roof since he began last fall.  Some of his favorite activities include block building, (if you’ve been to my house this is NOT a shock), music class, and playing outside.  While academically he is ready for kindergarten, (and in some cases 1^st grade), he is way too young to be starting formal school.  Therefore, he will increase his preschool days to three half days this fall.  It also so happens that his birthday fell on the next to last day of school.  Happy Birthday!!  

Little Late

No Chemo!!  Dad goes back the end of June.  No Whammys, we leave for vacation just a few days after that!!

Blocks and Legos

These are staples in my house and of my almost 4 year-old.  Today's Lego/block adventure was a bird feeder.  Why a bird feeder,um, I don't really know.  Every time he built it the way he wanted it and it stayed up, he was ecstatic.  Excitedly running around the living room and begging me to look at it.  When it fell, he was crushed.  He would get mad and want to know why the blocks didn't stay up.  Each time I would talk to him about the design and what he could do differently and most importantly, that blocks will fall no matter what.  He would build it and it would stay then shortly after it would fall.  This pattern was repeated several times throughout the morning.  Each time the bird feeder fell, I would remind him blocks fall and to look at his design.  He finally figured out the problem was with a type of block he used on the bottom and it was too thin to hold the structure.

Fast forward to noon when we went to the Stations of the Cross.  Jesus falls not once, not twice, but three times on his way to Calvary.  Does he give up and quit?  Does he get mad and upset?  He carried a wooden cross that weighed between 75 and 125 lbs., to his death just so we would not have the same fate.  He fell so we could walk tall.  Unfortunately, like Alex's blocks, we all fall.  How many times have we walked away from a job, sport, or friendship because it was challenging or, "hard".  We all fall many times during our day.  Not all falls are as spectacular as Jesus' or the blocks, but they are falls none the less.  Failing to hold open a door for someone carrying too many things, replacing the toner cartridge in the printer, swearing in traffic(guilty!!), these are just a minuscule representation of the many ways we fall each and every day.  The beauty of God, much like the blocks, is that we can be rebuilt in His image. 

Jesus rose on the third day, after defeating death, and we too are given the opportunity to, "rise," to the occasion.  For most of us it will take many tries and we will continue to fall, even after being built up again.  We need to look at our own design flaws and see how we can fix them and make our own structure stand taller.  Jesus tells us to forgive our neighbor 70x7 times(Matthew 18:22).  He forgives us infinitely more then that, and yet we still fall and tumble like blocks.  My son got the hang of his block design after several tries, will I ever get the hang of it and stop falling?  I guess I need to stock up on band aides. 

Roller Coaster

Up and down and down and up...the weather.  We've gone from below freezing to 70 degrees and back agin, since New Years.  We've had snow, ice, and everything else.  We've been to park twice this month and gone sledding in the yard.  T-shirts and jeans to fuzzy sweaters and snowsuits.  I could go on, but you get the picture.  The weather here has been crazy!!  We have been in the high 40s low 50s most of the month and I have yet to break out most of my nice sweaters.  The upside to all of this is that my heating bill for this month will be quite low.  Why the paragraph on this, well, it got me thinking about how much cold weather affects the whole rest of the year.  Thanks to the warm January, allergy season this spring will be hell.  The ground here hasn't really frozen, so the flowers and plants are already starting to come up.  Stay awake, I am going somewhere with this. 
Consistency.  There is a lack of weather consistency in this part of the county.  It seems so weird that something out of our control can cause so many issues.  Many people beg for consistency in their lives, personal and professional lives.  Do we become complacent in our need for consistency?  Do I want to walk through life like a zombie?  I say no!!  As much as I hate the inconsistency in the weather, I love the inconsistency in my life.  It keeps me awake, alert, and aware of God's presence in my life.  So, if it starts raining cats and dogs and you are wearing shorts and a Hawiian shirt January, just chalk it up to God makeing you pay attention and making sure your windshield wipers are new.

Heart Trouble

Please keep my father in your prayers.  He is having heart trouble again and goes in for a Nuclear Stress Test tomorrow, Friday, to see if he recently had another heart attack.

Pics

Pictures!!  Here are pics from this fall.  Click on the album for some goodies!!  

January 2012

No Chemo

No chemo for now!  Clean MRI, will go back at the end of March.  He still has lesions, but they have not developed into tumors...yet.

December Already?!?

Yep, December already. Three months has gone past and it is time again for Dad's MRI. To recap, the last MRI showed his main tumor was dead, but new tumors were forming. We find out tomorrow if he needs chemo again, or can wait. If he needs it, he will be in the hospital through Christmas Eve.

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It is hard to believe that we have been dealing with Dad's cancer a year the 27th?(or the 29, I don't hve my calendar in front of me). It is times like these that I wished they lived in a larger area, so there wasn't so much running back and forth. Each MRI/Chemo session is a week+, since my folks have to travel to STL and Dad has to stay here(he cannot come by himself). It makes me thankful that I don't have a paying job, since I can't leave Dad home alone for long stretches. No job would let me take a week off every month to three months. I am eternally grateful for my Hubby's family, who have been extremely understanding this Christmas season as to why we can't be there for Christmas/New Years this year. Also, there are no Christmas cards as of yet. I am thinking maybe in January, but don't hold your breath. There isn't a lot of Christmas spirit in my house, BUT I have my real tree, so it could it be worse.

--------------------------------Merry Christmas-----------------------------------------