Is it SUMMER yet?

Is it me or is winter dragging by? I know its only the second week in January, but I am already longing for Spring and Summer. Snowboarding was really the only thing we had to do up here in winter, and since I was always falling hard on my butt, I am forced to take the season off. All that's left to do is ice fish...boring. I spent the afternoon yesterday making sauce and meatballs, that was pretty much the highlight of my weekend. Alec went ice fishing at Long Pond (the one next to West Pond) with Tom again yesterday, but he couldn't drag me out of bed. Ice fishing can be fun when you drink more than a few beers, but that is also something I cant do for a while.

Today was a beautiful day, and we went to church, which is always nice, we went for a couple walks then gave Millie a much needed bath....she was stinky! We may need a new hobby or something, last year I had started training for the marathon with my sisters, could I possibly miss those long runs!? Of course I am not complaining, (maybe I am just a little) I would surely rather be pregnant in the winter than summer (I cant even think about bathing suits with my pot belly!) But with no snowboarding, no running and no drinking beers, it makes for a very long winter weekend! We did however, book a week in Florida, thanks to Alec's mom who bought us tickets for Christmas, and also Jon and Katie for again offering their condo to us, we are literally counting down the days...24 more! (But still wont be wearing a bathing suit!)

We both love to cross country ski, but we hardly have any snow up here! Hard to believe that two years in a row Boston has more snow than Maine. OK, enough of my whining, but I am ready for summer. In fact, I had a dream last night we were out on the boat tuna fishing with my Papa, oh if only dreams were sometimes true!


First (and only...so far) fish of the season! Yummy dinner.

Today, while giving Millie a bath, I couldn't help but take her picture. She HATES bath time, she gets embarrassed. So naturally, I had to take out my camera and capture the moment. It reminded me of when she was a puppy, and Alec gave her first bath and how she hated that too...





Alec had a PET scan last week, and we are patiently waiting to hear results. The word scan gives me butterflies in my stomach, I can hardly even say it. There should be an appointment this week with Dr. Allen, to talk about results and next steps. It has been so nice to have this time off from cancer, we are not looking forward to getting back to reality. I am just praying to God for strength and courage to get through whatever the next battle may be. I know that HE can not change results or circumstances, HE can only carry us through those difficult times.

Please say a prayer for us this week. We are cautiously optimistic, Alec feels and looks so darn good, it would be hard to believe otherwise.

Thank you for the prayers and support, lets hope we start 2011 out with some good news!

All our love,

Heather, Alec, Millie & Bam :)

Where there is GREAT LOVE there are ALWAYS MIRACLES! -Willa Cather

Seeing how I keep talking about how we have SO MUCH to look forward to in 2011, I should probably officially announce exactly what I am referring to. Although most of you know, there are those who we don't get to see or talk to that often. I have been wanting to wait until each milestone before I posted, but after the last appointment, I feel pretty sure about things.


Alec and I are expecting a baby in May! We are absolutely thrilled, we have never felt such joy and happiness and now Alec has so much more to continue fighting for. We are going to be parents and I truly believe there is no greater gift. I have never felt more blessed and happy, it gives us Hope and helps us again believe in miracles.


This was not something we took lightly, we did not just wake up one morning and decide to have a baby. We prayed to God, talked to each other and sought advice from family and friends. In our hearts we knew it was the right decision. We have said since day one that nothing is going to stop us from living our lives to the fullest and we refuse to let cancer make these decisions for us.


Alec's doctors had advised us over a year ago to think about our future and children. When one goes through this much chemo, radiation and surgery, there is always a danger in conceiving a child and we were told to freeze his sperm. Fast forward to July of 2010, and we started the IVF cycle. To go through the IVF process and experience baby making from such a scientific point of view was just amazing. The doctor gave us a photo of the 2 embryos, just a couple clusters of cells, to think this is how life begins is incredible. I was in total awe of the entire process. Although having a baby through IVF does require an exact science, it comes down to one thing and thing only...a miracle. There was a waiting period of 10 days and while Alec was so calm and patient, I was not. I again turned to God and knew that if this was meant to be, it would be. On day 10, the nurse was to call Alec with the results. I went to pick him up from chemo that day and by the smile on his face when I walked in, I knew what the results were...a miracle indeed.


Alec and I are so thrilled and I know that this will forever change our lives in a way that is unimaginable. We can not wait. I believe in all my heart that we have made the best decision and that no matter what, our baby will be loved unconditionally. I know that Alec is going to be such an amazing father. He has every quality that you want in a Dad, he is over protective, sensitive, sweet, a little strict, patient, and has such a great sense of humor and a big heart with so much love to give. We decided not to find out whether its a boy or a girl. There are so few surprises in life that we think this will be the biggest and most exciting. He named the baby "Bam" (only until May) so rather than calling the baby "it" we call it Bam. Alec also chose the names and we both agreed on the name Chase Alexander for a boy and Annabelle Hope if its a girl! I always thought that I would want to wait until I saw the baby before naming it, because I thought "what if it doesn't look like a Chase?" But to be honest, I think all babies look the same I don't see myself thinking "oh he looks more like a Joe than a Chase".


I am very lucky in that I have had such an easy pregnancy with no morning sickness, no exhaustion, and no symptoms, to the point that I can hardly tell I am pregnant. That is until I tried on my Seven jeans the other night, the ones that used to be loose and I couldn't get them past my thighs! Alec stood there laughing at me. Not funny! OK, it is a little funny. Then Jill on Sunday saying "no you don't look fat at all, you look pregnant" but 10 minutes later she added "Gosh, I am afraid to see what my butt is going to look like when I am pregnant!" I was like...."uh what the heck is that supposed to mean! ??"


We are trying to enjoy the quiet weekends of not doing much since we know this will be the last time we can sleep in on a Sunday morning. The time has already flown by and May will be here before we know it. There are so many babies coming in 2011, which makes it a lot of fun, to be able to compare with all my girlfriends. Tina and Bob are also expecting their 2nd 5 days after my due date of 5/19!!! My parents will have 2 new grand babies in a matter of days!


Alec and I are very grateful to the team at Boston IVF who were absolutely amazing. I would recommend them to everyone and we thank them for helping us create our little miracle. I cant wait to go back (maybe summer 2012!?) and do it again.


We will continue fighting the good fight and Bam gives us all the more reason to never, never give up HOPE! Thank you all for the continued love, support and prayers!


Love always,


Heather, Alec, Millie and Bam :)

So long 2010!

Happy New Year! I have never looked forward to a new year beginning as I did 2011. After Battling 2 cancers, 3 surgeries and months and months of chemo and radiation, we are both very glad to say goodbye to 2010. Of course we have many wonderful memories of friends and family (especially over the summer) it is still nice to bring this year to a close. 2011 is going to be our year, I just know it.


We rang in the new year in Portland with my parents. Alec's 35th Birthday was on December 30th (I always feel so bad for people who have December birthdays, especially that close to Christmas!) I had given him tickets to the Bob Marley (yes, he has the same name as Bob the reggae guy) comedy show in Portland on New Years Eve. I have never been to a comedy show and Bob was hilarious, he is from Maine and makes fun of Mainahs, it was wicked funny. We laughed for an hour straight, I was actually a little nervous for Alec since laughing can sometimes still be painful, but he was just fine, after all, laughter is the best medicine!


On New Years Day, he somehow got me out of bed at 7 and we met up with Tom and his girlfriend up at a lake in Poland, Maine for a few hours of ice fishing. Ice fishing is the most boring fishing ever and I was a nervous nelly worrying about the ice not being thick enough. 6 inches just doesn't seem like it would hold that much weight. Alec kept trying to convince me that he could bring his truck out on the ice...I think I would rather not test that theory. We didn't have a single nibble, which makes it even boring-er.


2011 is already off to a great start and we thank you all for being there for us in 2010. We could not have made it through without the love, support and prayers from all our family and friends. We are looking forward to a year filled with HOPE and MIRACLES.

Thank you and here's to a HEALTHY, HAPPY, NEW YEAR!!!

XOXO

Love,

Heather, Alec and Millie