Starting out the New Year

Christmas was so much fun this year. Reagan knew what was going on and we talked about Santa and reindeer and sang Christmas songs like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He liked to point out all sorts of things like Christmas trees, lights, stockings, snowmen, stars, presents, and a lot of other things. I know it seems like I say this every time I write on here lately, but I am always surprised at the new things that come out of his mouth each day.

Christmas morning was alot of fun and seeing Reagan's face light up when he saw the fun things that Santa had left him was priceless. He was super awesome at opening his presents this year as well! Two of Reagan's favorite things that he got for Christmas were his Little Tikes Workbench and his Fisher Price Little People sets (He got the farm and the town center.) He spent the entire afternoon either laying in the floor playing with his Little People or sitting in his chair at his workbench "working." We had Dad over for Christmas Dinner and enjoyed the day at our house.

I was lucky enough to have plenty of vacation days left that I had to use or lose before the new year, so I ended up taking from Christmas Eve until January 3rd off. It was nice to have 10 days in a row off of work!

The Monday after Christmas we attended a 2nd birthday party for one of Reagan's friends from his class. Reagan had a great time seeing a couple of his friends from school away from school and he had fun playing with other kids as well.

Tuesday morning, Reagan and I got up and headed up towards Dallas to see some family. We stayed with my Great Aunt and Uncle, Winnie and Herbert Lee. Since I have not had my grandparents since high school, they have been like another set of grandparents to me over the years. We haven't been up to see them since Reagan was 4 months old, so it was really good to see them. Since they are 82 and 84 years old, I know that we have to make the most of the time that we have left with them. My Aunt Winnie is still sharp as a tack and can tell you stories from her childhood, which I love to hear, but my Uncle Herbert Lee doesn't know a whole lot any more, which is so sad to see. Reagan was so sweet to them and just curled up with both of them like he had never been away from them! We also got to spend some time with my cousin, Madison, who is a senior in high school this year. She raises cattle for Future Farmers of America for her high school, so we got to take a trip over to the ag barn and let Reagan see the animals. He had a great time petting the cows, pigs, goats, and sheep and sitting up on the tractor.

Reagan did very well in the car on the trip, even though he stayed awake the entire 4 hour trip up there. He slept about an hour of the trip on the way home on Thursday, but he was still really good. On the way home, we stopped of in Troy, TX to say hello to my friend Colleen's parents. Regan had a great time hanging with The Quindlen's and playing with their sweet dogs.

Friday was New Years Eve and we just spent a quiet evening at home. On Sunday, I headed out for a run with my running group. It had been about 3 weeks. My last run was a 10 miler and my knees started bothering me at mile 8. I was about half a mile away from being done and I decided to walk the rest of the way in. I came home and iced my knees and did alot of stretching and using my foam roller to try and work the pain out. I decided to take some time off because the 3M Half Marathon is on January 30 and I wanted to give my knees some rest. When I went out to run on Sunday, I got about half a mile and decided that I wasn't going to be able to go the full 10 miles that my group was going that day. I headed back to the car and started to feel a little worried about the upcoming races. Monday, I called my doctor and made an appointment for Tuesday.

Since I have several friends that run marathons, I sort of knew that I likely was having an IT band issue. http://www.itbs.info/ The doctor did confirm that and let me know that I just need to rest, stretch, ice, and keep the inflammation down. I asked her if I would still be able to run and she told me that since I had already taken off 3 weeks that I could start slowly, try to run on even surfaces, and just be careful until the race. Wednesday, I did two miles on the treadmill and stopped a couple of times to stretch my knees out.

With the advice of several of my friends, I've decided that it will be best that I stay on the trail until the race as opposed to pounding the pavement and stressing the knees more. With just a couple of weeks to go, I know it will likely not be my fastest half marathon, but I will get through it!

As for my Dad, he is feeling pretty good most days, but having a hard time understanding why he still needs to take two more rounds of chemo and his steroids even though they told him the cancer is gone. The doctor explained it to us when we were in the office last time and I understand, but he just doesn't seem to get it. He hates being on the steroids, but when he tries to lower the dosage, he starts to have headaches again and starts to forget things, so he will have to take another steroid. The doctor had told him that the object is to take the lowest amount of steroid to keep the symptoms from returning and he had told us that some people will always have to be on a low dosage of the steroids. The steroids are pretty rough because they make him gain weight and he does occasionally go into the "Roid Rages," although he has done a much better job at controlling those since he first started taking them. He goes back to the oncologist on January 18th and will have one more round of the chemo pills. I'm sure the doctor will let us know what the "maintenance plan" will be. I'm thinking that he will likely have to go in for scans and blood work occasionally. I do hope that he can understand that the doctor knows what he is doing and has his best interests in mind.

A week from today is Regan's 2nd birthday! Can't believe it has been that long already!