1. A "unilateral, uniductal" bloody discharge is an immediate candidate for surgery, as it comes with a (not quite as rare as I was told) 3-5% risk of breast cancer. 
2. I could find very little in the way of pictures/experiences, etc from other women who had experienced similar things. 

Making a trip to Florida on a rainy Friday was less uneventful than we had hoped. Tom was merging onto 95 from 74 and as he began the turn on to the exit ramp, the sky opened up. Visibility shot down. As he tried to merge into the right lane of 95, a semi truck decided at the same time to changes lanes into the exact spot we were trying to merge. Tom tried to slow down, but hydroplaned and started sliding towards the semi truck. He was able to guide the van away from the truck, but at the cost of driving into this ditch.

The rain made the ground so wet we are sitting in about 5 inches of sandy water and completely incapable of freeing ourselves.

*Sigh.

So we got a hold of highway patrol, who called a local tow truck, who we had to follow into the nearest town so that we could pay him in cash, and over an hour and a half later, we were on our way, with no more than a flat tire.

So while the cost of the tow was disappointing, we were blessed that the car was still drivable, and most importantly, no one was hurt.

This boy. This beautiful boy is started my journey into motherhood. He is funny, sweet, snarky, sensitive, clever, difficult, cuddly, and stubborn. And he is now four years old.

He wanted to go to the beach for his birthday, despite it being a cold and windy day. So we did. And he wore his jacket and huddled under a blanket, yet still decided he had to wade into the water.

I love this boy!

We were fortunate enough to meet up with my family in Charleston a few weeks back. We stayed only about 24 hours, but were able to go out to dinner, go to the beach (albeit cold and windy), open presents, take a carriage ride around Charleston, and then do some browsing around the city’s shops and market.

But all that paled in comparison to seeing family I haven’t seen in far too long!

When Tom’s mom came down, we tried to fit in some basic entertainment. On the day she left, we putzed around Myrtle Beach, and took a nice family picture! The boys fed the fish, and got lots of exercise!

We recently had Corbin baptized at our church. I know he’s a little old, but this way, his Grandma was able to witness his baptism! When we don’t have family near by, little things like this really make these events special. We were so glad to have our church welcome Corbin (although he was plenty welcome before!) to our spiritual family.

Grandma came down to visit and help out while Tom had a two week full time internship at a local elementary school. On the weekends we took little trips. Here she is in Southport, with a potted flower that Harper put together at the town’s children’s festival. The flower is currently blooming magenta and red flowers on our porch.

I am not a naturally photogenic person, so when I find a picture I really like, I REALLY like it. On our way to Southport with the boys and Tom’s mom, she snapped this photo of us on the ferry ride. We had a lovely day of window shopping, ferry rides and delicious seafood. Southport is lovely!

My handsome men, Easter morning, in front of our azaleas in full bloom. We went to both Mass and the UMC service, for a serious dose of Easter jubilation!

Some days are better than others.

St Patrick’s Day is normally a well celebrated holiday in our household, but Tom often goes to visit his family, so I was happy to finally have him in town. We went to Wilmington’s St Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, which will include anything, include a hip hop dance group and the NY Jets Club. Then we enjoyed the “festival” which had some live music and beer, and one tent selling kitsch. 

The most enjoyable part, at least for the parent of two small children, was dropping them off at playcare, getting some food and drink at the Irish pub, then hopping to another Irish pub. The most surreal moment was when an older gentleman invited himself to sit with us and tried to open a tab with a Sam’s Club card.

On St Paddy’s Day proper, we celebrated the birthday of one of Harper’s best friends, and came home to corned beef and cabbage stew and soda bread.

For those of you who don’t already know, my mother has been diagnosed with stage IV cancer, a recurrence of the cancer she was diagnosed with back in 2005. Stage IV cancer is treatable, but not curable. Mom has been experiencing complications mostly involving pain, and thus uses a wheelchair to get around.

We went to visit her a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time. We went on several day trips to get her out of the cabin she’s staying in, including getting my just-turned-18 sister a breast cancer ribbon tattoo. We introduced her to Dexter, she let the boys push her wheelchair around, we had a campfire, and even got her and Corbin’s hair cut.

The last day we were there, a friend of her, with help from their small town community, threw a luncheon, where they prepared almost 200 lunches to raise money for my mother’s medical bills. It was amazing, and I was so glad to see how much she is being cared for by that community.

It was an emotional trip; no matter your age, it is always hard to watch a parent get weaker, but I’m glad we’ll have these memories.

In August (I’m months behind, so sue me), we were invited to a local soccer game, the Wilmington Hammerheads. We brought both boys, Harper who seemed more interested than he appears in the game below. ( I swear, getting a 3 year old to sit and smile on cue is impossible.) We didn’t finish out the game, but Harper loved seeing it in action!

Some things are just too cute!

Over the month of August, we moved from our two bedroom apartment to a new three bedroom house. The square footage was approximately the same, but having a separate room for the boys to play in has been fantastic. Toys are not taking over my living room or my life, and that is a blessing in itself. Additionally, we have a large backyard. Until recently the mosquitoes were too forceful to enjoy it, but now that the weather is cooler, the boys love digging in the dirt!

We did our fair share of painting/decorating. Here are some good pics:

During our time in Michigan, we finally met up with my mother, stepfather, and siblings, who had never even met Corbin! (However, I think he took to his grandmother quite well.) Corbin also met his great grandpa and grandma (he’ll never know Penny as anything else!). We enjoyed our few hours together, but look forward to a longer trip soon!

If you know Harper, you know what a big deal these pictures are! If not, lets begin by saying that Harper has been terrified of the ocean since day one. Even if you hold him and walk towards the ocean, he begins to scream and cry. If you set him down, he runs like the wind, far far away from the ocean.

Until today.

First, he wanted to come sit with me at the water’s edge, which was amazing in and of itself. Then he asks to go further in the water. He asked to go deeper and we splashed and played in the waves. He laid down at the ocean’s edge, and let the waves roll him over the beach. He pouted when I made him get out when he was chattering and his lips were blue.

I smiled, I beamed at watching my little boy lose his fear of the ocean, and become my fearless water baby!!

We went to Cedar Point to celebrate Tom’s 30th birthday. He gets mopey around regular birthdays, so we decided to do something fun and special for this milestone! And many people came to celebrate with us – Harper, Kenny, Dave, Kevin, Corbin, Tom, Tom’s Mom, Zach, Erin and myself (from left to right in the picture below):

But no one loves him like I do!

We are quite the fruit picking family. In addition to strawberries, blueberries, peaches and blackberries are added to our repertoire. Harper has quite the talent, although Corbin is learning too. He ate all the blackberries he could shove in his mouth, and Harper picked berries as long as his attention span allowed him. Then he just played with the buckets!

It is our second year tradition that we pick peaches over the 4th of July weekend. Here I am, in 100 degree heat (why is it always 100 degrees when we do this?!)", with a basket of peaches and a sweet little boy. We pick peaches in South Carolina, about 45 minutes away from Erin. Although we may need to find a less sweltering weekend to do so.