WWFD!?

We had such a great Saturday night celebrating my Dad's 60th Birthday! Thank you to all who could make it. We managed to totally surprise him, which made it so much more fun. He had NO CLUE. He walked into the bar and when we yelled surprise he turned around to see if someone was behind him. Totally shocked! It was great.

There were close to 50 people who came and it was a great to spend time with family who we don't get to see very often and meet some of his work guys and NASCAR buddies.

We gave out koozies as party favors (what could be more approproiate for my Dad!?)

The theme of the party seemed to be WWFD? As in, What Would Frank Do? To explain what that meant, we placed little notes in each koozie that read the following:

We are so thankful to you all for coming to celebrate 60 years of being Frank! It is so hard to believe that Dad is 60 and a Grandfather! We have a hard time keeping up with him…the man never stops! Hiking in Bar Harbor he is always the leader of the pack and nothing ever slows him down. The three of us girls have always had such high expectations of any guy that came into our life. Whether it was fixing, building or cooking something no one ever seemed to do it like Dad could, so much so that on a camping trip with the three of us girls and a bunch of friends, we came up with the phrase WWFD or What Would Frank Do? It became a phrase that we commonly used around the DeMarco household. With two of us now married and one engaged, the phrase still comes up once in a while, but we think we all did a pretty good job of marrying men who meet our expectations of what a guy should be able to do based on our Dad. So next time you find yourself struggling with a problem, ask yourself “WWFD?”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! We love you with all our hearts and thank you for being the best father a girl (and Finn) could ask for!

Love,
Your Girls

Dad and his girls.

Alec had chemo last Friday and things went well. While there, I got to meet Caitlin and Brian's new baby, Georgia who was born on 1/26. On our way home we stopped and met Lyss and Steve's baby, Sofia, born on 1/20. They are both perfect little angels! I had this moment of...wow, that little person was just in a belly, then it is dressed in clothes and taken home and a whole new life begins. It really is a miracle. My old manager and his wife also had a baby girl named Stella last week on 1/27. I do believe the Baby Boom for 2011 has begun! Congrats to all of the families! Next up is Catherine and Jay due in April!

Alec is feeling OK, just dealing with the usual side effects of chemo. It didn't stop him from finishing up the crown molding on the new door, going out and having fun Saturday night or ice fishing all yesterday. Some how I was out ice fishing Sunday too, it seemed warm when we left in the morning, but the wind was terrible. Alec's sisters came with us and we did have a good time, but I did not leave the ice shack. I was in there all day. When I got bored I asked him to keep us entertained, and he sure did. He and Tam put on a sort of a puppet show from the outside of the shack while Charlotte and I laughed our frozen butts off. And, no, we did not even catch a single fish, nor did we have a lousy bite.

Alec pretending to stab Tam with a sword, see what we have to do to keep ourselves entertained up here in Maine!!!



I woke up this morning and saw the weather report for the week, and what do you know? Another flippin snow storm! (I only use words like flippin when I am REALLY MAD). We were planning on leaving for Florida Wednsday morning at 6 am, when I saw the report I almost had a melt down. I seriously never get riled up over stuff like this, I mean in the scheme of things, its so small. But COME ON! GIVE US A BREAK! I did NOT have a good morning, I was sulking and feeling so mad and knew our flight would be cancelled. I called Jet Blue and asked about flights during a snow storm. The rep said as soon as we saw on the website "winter advisory" to call and we could change our flights for free. I had both Jill and Alec checking the website (I was working and without internet). As soon as it came up both called me and I changed the flight for tomorrow at 6:00am!!! WOOHOO! I was so happy, now, if the snow would just hold off until 7 or so we can get out of here! I have been checking the weather in Pompano Beach for the past 10 days, bought some new clothes and to even think that we would be stuck in the airport could have put me in a mental institute. Go figure, after all that we have gone through that is what almost did me in.

We are off to Florida (God willing) tomorrow and coming back in a week. No laptops, no email, just some SUN and virgin pina cool-adas. Thank you again to John and Katie for hooking us up, we are SO LUCKY and SO THANKFUL.

Thank you all for your love and prayers, especially the last few weeks. Every prayer, email, card, text, call, means so much. It is what keeps us going. Erin sent us a card today and she quoted Robert Schuller;

"Impossible situations can become possible miracles"

Love,

Heather, Alec
Millie and Bam

Walls are coming down...

Brrrr....we are trying to stay warm up here! I sure am thankful for one thing, the fact that Alec is not on the chemo where he is sensitive to the cold, I don't think he would have been able to leave the house in the past week! I love that we have so much snow, it looks pretty and we can play in it, but does it have to be so COLD!?

We have been skiing almost every day and we try to stay active. Saturday my Mom and Jill came up for some xcountry skiing. Alec left us in the dust, he actually finished 30 minutes before us! Saturday night we had a night out on the town in Portland with Alec's best buddies, John and Jaime and a few of their friends. We really enjoyed getting out of the house for a change and hanging out with good friends and good pizza!

Staying busy is most important, especially after receiving some not so good news and during these long winter days. I often think of that movie, The Shining when the harsh winter sets in! Alec and I can only entertain each other for so long, and without my second most loving companion, red wine, I am going a little crazy! Although, I am counting down the days until we leave for Florida...a week from tomorrow! And, I check the weather every day, a toasty 77 for the day we arrive!

I finally won a little battle, and Alec is letting the walls come down once again. After our kitchen renovation, there was still a wall that blocked our living room to the kitchen and we all know that having an open kitchen is ideal. Especially with a little one on the way :) I think that is what did it for Alec, he did not like the idea of connecting the rooms, (probably because I am always in the kitchen yapping on the phone and with a door he will be able to hear everything) but knowing that we would need to keep an eye on the baby and that doorway would allow us to do so, it was a no brainer. We did compromise, he wanted a door, so we decided on a glass door, just like some of the other doors in the house. So yes, he can still shut me out, but not completely! The only downfall to the door...he can see me munching on my secret candy stash.

Other than that....I LOVE it! It makes the "walk" from the living room to the kitchen so easy, we don't have to go all the way around the house! And, I can easily talk to Alec from the kitchen, rather than walking around or yelling. Even though I loved my new kitchen, it could get lonely cooking all by myself, even with my new TV. (Can you tell I HATE being alone?!) We just put the hole in the wall Sunday, and it is taking some getting use to, we both find ourselves walking the "long way" every once and a while. Alec has been working hard to put the new door frame up and then will have to match the trim work as well. But it looks fabulous so far and I cant wait for it to be finished!
Here are some photos...

Kitchen wall before...

Living room wall before...

Alec cutting out the door. I even learned how to use the reciprocating saw and cut some holes myself!

But mostly I vacuumed up the mess and took pictures.

And then there was light!!!! I was so excited to see the first ray of light come through!

Luckily, plumbing was not too much of a problem, we were afraid that the toilet pipes would be in the way and we would have to call the plumber which would be very expensive. There was a pipe, but Alec just moved the hole over about an inch and we did not have any issues. The plumber is coming on Monday to remove the base board but that's all we need him for.



A cleaned up picture with a custom door frame

It makes our house feel so much bigger!!

My favorite part, I am sitting on the couch and this is my new view!

I love it! I am so happy, and Alec is too. He admitted the other day that although he doesnt always agree at first, that I, and of course Katie Mogul, my go-to-girl for all things interior design, are usually right about this stuff. Ahh....thank you!

I will post the final pictures once he is finished. I just sit here on the couch and stare at it. Then I walk in through the new doorway and say "why hello kitchen!". Yes, I am a dork.

I have been feeling Bam move so much latley, we can actually see it from the outside, which is totally weird, almost like there is an alien in there! And, I think I am getting larger by the day, my large ski jacket is barely able to zip up, I suppose my hot fudge Sunday every night may have something to do with it :) Catherine, who is a few weeks ahead of me said she feels like Chris Farley, yeah, that sounds about right!

Alecs second round of chemo is this Friday, not the best way to end a week. Once we get back from Florida we will be back to infusion on Tuesdays, not a great way to start the week either! We just pray every night that the chemo will work and that a miracle will happen. We know God is by our sides and our spirit will not be broken.

Thank you all for the prayers and for reaching out to us. It means so much and we are so blessed. We would literally be lost without you.

Love,

Heather, Alec, Millie & Bam

Once you chose HOPE, anything is possible.

Nothing like a little Julia to brighten our day! Last weekend Tina and Julia came up on Sunday to hang out, and she sure did cheer us up! She is getting such a personality and kept kissing Millie and Alec, she would pucker up and walk over to Alec and wanted to give him kiss after kiss! Millie was a bit more shy and skeptical of this little walking, talking doll, but by the end of the day she knew if she stayed close to Julia, she might just get lucky with a dropped snack.

We are hanging in there, Alec's first chemo wasnt too bad, he was tired but not tired enough to stop him from cross country skiing on Saturday or getting up at 5 am Sunday for some ice fishing. I just know if anyone can beat this, its Alec. He is not your ordinary guy, there is something in him that makes him a fighter, both mentally and physically. I am still so sure that we will get through this. Every day seems to get a little easier and we are once again rebuilding our strength and faith.

Amy sent us this quote, and it could not be more true!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you to all our friends and family for reaching out to us. Sometimes I just dont want to talk about things, I get tired of being a debbie downer with bad news and I want to be my normal, happy, self. Speaking of happy, we are so excited for Lyss and Steve who welcomed little Sofia Christina into the world today! She is just precious and it is miracles like that which keep us believing and we know there a God who is very Good!

Sarah sent me this quote yesterday that I loved:

"Once you choose HOPE, anything is possible" - Christopher Reeves

Thank you again for your prayers and support, we could not get through this without you!

Love,

Heather, Alec, Millie
& Bam

Here are some pictures of Julia, I tried to capture her kisses, but my camara phone was too slow!