Roman is five!

We had the Jansen's over for Roman's birthday to celebrate with more pizza and cake. Andy and Elizabeth were here too and wanted to meet the Jansen's. It was so great to have some of our favorite people all together. The kids had a blast as usual. Life is so beautiful! Happy birthday Roman!

On Roman's actual birthday, we celebrated with Andy and Elizabeth and had even more cake.  Roman got so many different celebrations!!  We sang to him that morning.

I'm FIVE!

Roman's 5th birthday party

What do you do with a house full of six little boys?! Play superheroes, freeze tag, bouncy house, watch a little ninjago, and eat pizza and cake of course! We sent Carmen and Hudson to my mom's house so Matt and I could devote 100% attention to Roman and his little friends. It was actually easier than a normal night at home! The boys had so much fun! Roman had Luke, Aiden, and Cohen from the neighborhood and Michael and Hamilton all over. What a blast!

Dr Bowen appointment

I had my routine appointment with my oncologist last Thursday. The nurse said she had never really heard of the tumor being completely gone at this point. Praise God. They also noticed that all my blood counts looked completely normal. The doctor mentioned it was like I'm not even on chemo. I feel good and so blessed that God is carrying me through this treatment. Only two more chemo sessions to go! I can do this!

Meg trip

I love my sister in law! She's amazing and I'm so glad she was able to come back and hang out. We had a great time just relaxing at the house. She said it was the old Ashley back this trip. Last time they were here, I was so sick with the flu and chemo. Meg and I enjoyed a great visit!  All the ladies went out shopping one day and sat at Starbucks just talking and laughing for almost two hours. It was so refreshing and wonderful! I love my family so much!!!

First Soccer game!

Roman's first soccer game was so much fun!  They didn't win, but he loved running and learning the game. We love that this season in life in beginning!

Soccer!

It was so fun to have Bill and Pam here to go to Roman's first soccer practice. They raised three very athletic boys and I know they lived watching their grandson out there. Matt and I were thrilled too. It's like we've waited five years for this moment. Pam kept saying Roman was the best one out there. I think she's a little biased!

Our little drama queen got cold during the practice, but loved watching her big brother!

Roman's first game was this Sarurday! It was so fun to see him out there. It was pretty much a bunch of four year olds running around not knowing what to do. We limited every minute!

ultrasound

We had the half way chemo point on February 3rd and I had my ultrasound scheduled for the 13th.  Well, the second snow storm plowed in and everything was closed that Thursday.  I was so bummed because I was dying to know if the tumor had shrunk.  We had to wait all weekend until Monday, the 17th for the rescheduled appointment.  I asked all of my Facebook friends to pray with me specifically that the tumor was no longer there.  When I sat with the ultrasound technician, it was pretty nerve racking, but she kept moving the wand and couldn't find anything at all!  I told her that's exactly what we were praying for and she said it must have worked!  I was so excited!  Then the doctor came in and bursted my bubble with the fact that cancer cells could still be there, but it's still a good sign.  We also talked about how I need to have a hysterectomy by the age of 35.  She was very skeptical of me having my ovaries removed at such a young age and then potentially having no added estrogen.  Because I'm BRCA2 positive, I still have a chance of developing breast cancer again even with the 5% remaining breast tissue.  The surgeon can only guarantee she's removing 95% of the tissue.  If I take estrogen the rest of my life, there is a slight chance I could develop a hormone based breast cancer and the estrogen could speed it up.  But the alternative would be no estrogen and I supposedly would not have a good quality of life.  It could be terrible on my heart and my bones.  Arhhh!  This was all just too much information to handle.
I ran into Lisa at Bible Study the next morning and she felt that she needed to come pray over me again now that we have a lot more information.  Rachael, Judy, and Lisa prayed with Matt and I the following Friday afternoon.  Lisa said that when she was praying beforehand, God revealed to her a few things regarding me.  He said...
A gift
I have removed them (The two tumors on the left side.  She had no clue there were two)
I'm Serious
Don't miss this

I know this may sound crazy to many people, but I truly can't care what people think anymore.  I believe that the God of the universe cares about me and is using me to further his kingdom.  I also truly believe that he has healed me.  I am continuing to finish the chemo and plan to have the surgeries because he has provided knowledgeable doctors to guide me, but I AM HEALED. God is so cool and it feels amazing to be a part of his work.  I consider this whole situation a gift.  I think He's just getting started with me.  I'm just trying to be available and ready.