Max screeching.

Max has been kind of a cranky character lately ...

Watching Schoolhouse Rock this morning, he was trying to sing the "Energy" song.  I tried to catch that cuteness on camera, but all I got was Max screeching at Gabe because he didn't want him in the chair.

It's rough being a little kid, not quite able to do what the big kids are doing!  Here are Grandma and Max, watching Gabe kick a ball up to the barn roof.  

Joe came home from school and was excited to give Max a big hug, but accidentally knocked him down instead.  Oops ... poor Maxie.

Now that he's trying harder to communicate with speech, he seems to get more frustrated when we don't understand his words.  Well, he may be a little fusspot ...

... but he's our little fusspot, and we love him so much!

Daddy duty.

Grandma and Buddy are back home tonight, and all is right with the world for our kids!!

Lately Max likes to close doors.  But he can't open them back up.  So when he shuts himself in a room he screams his head off ...

... till you open up the door.  Then he is very happy!

When Grandma and Buddy are gone we all have to pick up some extra chores.

Here's Daddy folding clothes!  (Wow, he folds them much neater than I do.)

It started to rain while we were playing outside today.  (Gabe came in to tell me I'd left my camera out in the rain.  Luckily it is okay.)

Here's Daddy changing Max's clothes after he fell down in the wet yard.

And, well, it just wouldn't be fair if Max made it easy when Daddy does it!

Daddy again, blowing on Max's food to cool it down.

And here's my daddy, telling us he did not win any money on their gambling trip.  I guess it must be some kind of cosmic conspiracy.

Not trying to rag on all the daddies with this post.  Just joking ... all the daddies at our compound are top-notch!

What We Did Today. For Mom.

Grandma and Buddy were out today, partying with some other old folks.  But Mom will surely want to know what went on today ...

Max was his usual silly self.  He asked for Grandma and Buddy a couple of times, and I assured him that you would be back.  (He understands the meaning of "back" in this context.)

We went grocery shopping.  Gabe got a wrist watch, and I've been asking him what time it is all day.

I fed the dog and cat (although I haven't actually seen the cat, sorry).  No, we didn't get to go roller skating or to see the FFA animals.  

I wasn't able to get this crowd pumped up about either event.

But we did take a walk up the road ...

... to New Granny's house.

I guess the dogs and chickens have all died.  (New Granny's, that is.  Don't panic, Mom.  You've only been gone one day, and I couldn't have killed all of ours in such a short time.)

Brian fed Buster and the chickens at our house.  Dan went and got the garbage cans.  Brian's family was at some kind of church thing tonight.  We had a pleasant enough day, though!

The usual chaos.

Chaos is the usual state of things when there are five kids running around ...

... or six, if Ian comes over!

Here's Max saying, "Buddy, Mama!"  (Which means, "Buddy, look!  Mama is chasing me!")

Caught him!  Whatever he's doing, Max is often carrying a toy truck around at the same time.  He gets really excited about trucks.

This toy qualifies too.

Maya is alone in her enthusiasm for this kind of toy.

Max already gravitates toward boy toys.

Max and Ian sit with/on Buddy.  Gabe hugs Nathan and smacks Christian (whoops, I should have scolded him).  Nathan beats on Buddy, and sweet Maya shows me her dolly.

There's only one guy who can contain the chaos and watch all six kids at once.  How does he do it?

Goodnight!

No cancer, and no needles!

Everything looked good at my appointment today!  Yay, me!

The breast ultrasound showed the galactocele and the same tender, sore lymph node.  But they looked the same as last time.  Dr. Arun said that if they were the least bit suspicious they would have done a fine needle aspiration, because they have a really low threshold for what they'll biopsy.  But they didn't.  It's all good.

Since we left so early, Max was in and out of sleep during the waiting process.

All in all, he was a very good boy!

Going to answer my phone when it started ringing in the doctor's office ...

But it was only Max calling!!

I also got my results from last week.  My uterus and ovaries are normal.  My CA-125 is 8 (normal).  So that's it.  They'll schedule me for my breast MRI and a CA-125 again in July.  Now, all this can go on the back burner again for another six months.

I hope they don't poke me full of holes.

It's been a sleepy, lazy day for Max, but a busy day of preparation for me.  I keep thinking, I hope they don't poke me full of holes tomorrow.

In mad food-preparation mode, I have filled the fridge with borscht, spinach salad, pinto beans, peanut butter noodles, millet casserole, and cornmeal-oat bran muffins.  I won't be cooking tomorrow. Here's Max with peanut butter all over his face.

Going in for a breast ultrasound tomorrow.  Do I have lumps?  Well, yeah!  All from breastfeeding, hopefully.  I still have that galactocele, and I always have pain under my right arm.  I'm not sure if the lymph node is still swollen.  I wonder, do they have to poke holes in the same lumps every time?  This hurts, makes breastfeeding harder, and requires some recovery time. 

Dad's not taking me this time.  He and Mom will be around to watch Gabe.  Tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. ...

Dan, Max and I will be on our way.  If you pray, pray for good results!  Beggars can't be choosers, and negative results are the most important thing.  But if given the choice, I would prefer not to be poked full of holes this time.

Upcoming plans and goings-on.

Max has only had his hair slightly trimmed a couple of times since birth.  He really just doesn't have much hair!  (Here's Buddy, sneaking a few snips while Max plays Angry Birds.)

Speaking of which, Mom made the kids some Angry Birds cutouts to play with today!

Guess what!  We've just picked out where to go on our next vacation in the spring ...

It's a bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg called Quiet Hill Ranch!

No relation.

I'm sure their ranch will not be quiet anymore when we get there.  But it still sounds nice!

They have a lot of activities for kids like horseback riding, swimming, hiking, bird watching, a playground, petting farm animals ... Some things, like collecting eggs from chickens, are things we could do at home!  (But I guess they don't have an obnoxious dog and a mean rooster standing between the kids and the coop.)

I love having a vacation to look forward to!

Gabe was so excited to get two Blue Dragon toys in the mail today!

Daddy is taking off this Thursday ...

... to take me downtown to the breast clinic at MDA for more tests.  We're not spending the night this time.  Hopefully that all goes well ... and my life can be sparkly and happy for another six months, just like this picture.