Four years ago today...

...was Robbie's radical orchiectomy surgery.

So much about that day was scary and uncertain.  Did he have cancer?  If so, has it spread?  Is he going to live?

There are a few things that stand out about that day.  Mostly how awesome Robbie is.  I don't know that I would have handled it quite the same.  He was the one reassuring me that everything was going to be okay, and if it wasn't, it would still be okay.  We laughed and joked the entire time in pre-op, but that's just how crazy we are.  It's a good way to keep things from getting too intense. 

While he was in surgery I couldn't sit and wait inside.  Whenever life gets too crazy, I have to be outside. And moving.  So I walked around the little park that is next to the hospital.  The sun was setting and the roar of the highway almost sounded like the ocean.  I just walked and walked and walked.  And I prayed.  I was begging God, "please let it not be cancer, please let it not be cancer, please let it not be cancer."

God had different plans, but He walked us all the way through.  As it turned out, it was Stage 4 testicular cancer and it did spread to the lymph nodes above his kidneys.

And here we are 4 years later.  Four years!

It almost seems like a different lifetime.  Robbie is doing wonderfully fantastic.  Sure, there are some lasting effects of the chemo.  He often can think of what he wants to say, but struggles to put it into actual words.  But that's just about the worst of it, and not that bad! :)

And of course there is our amazing son Maverick.

There's just about too many words to describe how blessed we are.

I'm not usually a 'numbers' type of person, but I suppose the number 26 is pretty significant to us.  Robbie's surgery 2/26/07, our wedding date 5/26/07, and Maverick's birthday 11/26/09.

We are so thankful for how God has blessed us the past four years, and we look forward to a lifetime of what is to come!



New stuff!

 Okay, so I contemplated posting about our new tv and vacuum over and over...and I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be boasting or prideful as long as I'm humble about it...right? This blog is about the daily goings-on about us, so it's fun to throw exciting things in like this I suppose. :)

Ever since we've been married (4 years in May!) we've pretty much inherited or bought used stuff.  Which is great, don't get me wrong!  Except for our computer and my Canon DSLR, all of our stuff (furniture, etc) is hand-me-down.  So it's kinda exciting when we've met a goal and can get something brand new.

Until now our main tv was 21 inches (smaller than our desktop computer screen, ha!) and weighed about a million pounds.  Robbie bought it over 10 years ago, open box discount.  We've sort of been looking to purchase a new tv (to last another 10 years or more) and Robbie stumbled upon a super fantastic deal. It was a display tv and last year's model, so the discount was 64% off!  We thought it over and prayed about it, and decided to take the big step.

So here is a web file picture of our new tv, a Samsung LED 9000 series.  Forgive me, here comes the boasting part.  It's 46 inches, HD, 3D, WiFi enabled, USB port, 1080p, etc, etc.  It is Samsung's highest end tv made in 2010, and hangs on the wall very easy since it's so thin--it's only 0.31 inches thick! (no bulky mounting needed, just hangs by wire cable like a picture frame)

I'm still adjusting to it.  The quality of the picture is so crazy it's like having the people on the screen in my living room.  I think it will be better once we mount it on the wall and can watch it from a safe distance away, ha!   

The remote is touch screen, and you can even watch tv or surf the web on it.  It's more technologically advanced than my cell phone, lol!  So crazy to think that Maverick will think this tv is lame when he's old enough to care about it.

The only 'downside' is because all of our other media is so old, watching tv and movies isn't as good as it could be (which is crazy!).  We don't have cable, so we use rabbit ears and a converter box.  Our DVDs aren't HD or BlueRay.  So we have a wall of DVDs that are outdated, lol!  Such is life.  By the time we get caught up, something newer comes along.

Switching gears to our other new addition, is the Dyson Ball DC25 Animal we invested in.  Again, until now we've always used our parents' old vacuums.  But nothing was able to withstand the copious amounts of hair that our dog sheds.  Like, we can literally make Husky sweaters.  For real.  It's gross.

Because we seriously have to vacuum every other day, we needed something to rise to the challenge.

 

We're only a few days into ownership, but it is AH-mazing!  Besides all the dog hair, I'm not even going to say how disturbing it was to see all the dirt picked up from the carpet I didn't know existed.  Even though it is twice as expensive as most vacuums, I've only read and heard great things.  Plus it comes with a 5 year parts and labor warranty, no loss of suction, no bags, and washable filters.  Hopefully it will be a good investment!

Warm Fuzzies

Just a little bit ago I experienced one of the coolest things ever about being a parent--sharing something with your child from your childhood.

Mav's usual bedtime routine is bath, book, milk, prayer, then bed.  Usually while he's drinking milk he's on the couch with one or both of us with the tv on.  (Mostly because all of our favorite shows are on at that time, ha!)

Tonight it was just me and The Mav, and I stumbled upon a channel broadcasting "The Three Stooges".  All sorts of wonderful memories flooded my heart as we watched it together.  (Bear with the cheesy-ness)

Ever since I can remember, that was the show that my sisters and I LOVED watching with my dad.  Many, many wonderful memories of us sprawling on the floor in our jammies to watch it together, most often on a weekend night (or sometimes during the holidays when they run those marathons).  Tonight it just warmed my heart SO much being on the couch with Maverick, in our jammies, watching The Stooges.

I know Maverick didn't really understand so much, but it was so awesome to pass on the tradition.  I greatly look forward to sharing this with Mav in the future.  That is until he is a teenager and wants to hang out with his friends on Friday nights. :)

And here is to our "Original Three Stooges"--my dad, my Uncle Jimmy, and my Uncle Charlie. :)

Welcome Baby Noa!

Noa Clark Iwaszkowiec

8 pounds and 6 ounces

20 1/2 inches long

Born at 9:57pm on February 4th, 2011

 We are SO excited to meet you little guy!

You have really awesome parents, and they did a great job bringing you into this world.

We love you so much!

Congratulations to Jon and Johanna!

I guess it was about 7:30am on February 4th when my cell phone rang at work.  I never get called that early, so my stomach turned with excitement when I grabbed my phone and saw that it was my sister-in-law, Johanna.  She was calling to say they were on their way to the hospital! I was floating on air the rest of the morning (just ask my coworkers!). :)

Later that afternoon Robbie and I went to cheer Jon and Jo on at the hospital.  They did SO awesome bringing their sweet baby into the world.  It was such a privilege and blessing for us to be with them while we waited for Noa.  I think the anticipation is worse for the people in the waiting room, ha!  It was really fun and such a JOY to be there to welcome our nephew into the world.  Thank you SO much Mom and Dad for watching Maverick into the wee hours of the morning so we could be there!

I guess it was about 9:10pm when myself and Johanna's friend Kim were staying with Johanna.  We left the labor room so the nurse could check Jo's progress.  While we were chatting in the hallway, the nurse rushed out to tell us, "Quick! Go say goodbye to Jo and GO GET HER HUSBAND!"

Kim and I darted in and gave Jo one last hug, then we RAN all the way to the waiting room to get Jon.  That was the first time in a long while that he had decided to get out and stretch his legs and say hi to everyone in the waiting room, ha!  You should have seen his eyes bug out when he saw that Kim and I were sprinting to the waiting room! :)

Before we could get one foot in the doorway we both yelled, "GO NOW JON!"  We were SO excited!!!

Obviously not knowing how long it would actually take for Noa to be born, we were being very sneaky.  All of us took turns "forgetting something" or "getting lost" near their delivery room.  So horrible of us, we know, but we couldn't stand not knowing what was going on. :)

Noa was born at 9:57pm, so it was relatively quick! 

Tonight we are SO excited to take Maverick to meet his new cousin.  I know that he doesn't really know what's going on, but he's never really been around a small baby before so it will be fun.  And I'm excited to hold that sweet little Noa again! :)

Can't wait!!

So I guess the 4 people that read this blog know my sister-in-law Johanna. 

And the fact that she is with child.  Very with child. (sorry Jo, but you are! ha!)

So now that the fear of snowpocalypse is over:

Come on Noa!

We are very excited to meet you.

Love,

Uncle Robbie, Aunt Jenni, and cousin Maverick

Johanna isn't due until February 9th, and as of this afternoon I haven't heard anymore about anything progessing, or heck, even starting to progress.

But that doesn't make things less exciting!

Hopefully the next post will be announcing Noa's arrival. :)