Living, Loving, Learning

 WOW, a whole decade with this guy.  It's overwhelming to think about the amount of experiences one can have in a decade, especially in parenting your first child.  A part of me is feeling nostalgic this morning, remembering my sweet little baby boy.  Remember that stormy spring day in Michigan 10 years ago.  Remembering how our family and friends were drawn together to witness and welcome this new soul into our tribe in that hospital waiting room.  How tiny he was that moment I met him and the deep feeling of recognition flowing between us.  How the days following were filled with awe and wonder, insane LOVE for this wee piece of my heart that now lived outside my body and absolute terror that we weren't DOING IT RIGHT.   But the way bigger part of me is loving this day, loving my 10 year old, loving this journey we are taking together.  Although, I cherished the memories of days past, I am enjoying this moment, today, and looking forward...

My sweet little, well not so little, girl is 6 today.  Hooray!!  I LOVE this age, so happy and inquisitive and yet beginning to become a bit more independent.  This year has seen Lucy conquering so many of her fears, she has really been an inspiration to me.  It has also seen Bruce and I struggling to find the middle ground between helping her find her footing and being her best self and pushing her too far, too fast for her comfort level.  Her first momentous leap was at swim lessons this summer.  We signed her up for 5 weeks of daily lessons at the pond near the house on the Cape.  The first day was wretched with lots of tears and her practically having to be torn off me by the instructors to get her into the water.  The second day was only a bit better and only then because I bribed her with ice cream to get into the water (yeah, I occasionally bribe my kids, got to do what you got to do. ;0) The third day she made it into the water with t...

Hey there.  This unusually cold winter has seen the Gast family hibernating.  Between Bruce's health concerns, various weather events and a general feeling of gloominess we have all been laying low.  But now, it's almost SPRING baby and we are kicking it off with great news!  We went to see Bruce's oncologist today and found out that his test results have come back CLEAN!  No sign of cancer!  WOOT WOOT!!!  His blood work was totally normal (who knew being normal would feel so special) and his x-rays showed no new tumors.  There is still a small cause for concern that the shell of the tumor itself has not shrunk but they are sure that there are no cancer cells alive there.  The radiation will still work for several more months and may continue to shrink it, as well as the vertebrae repairing themselves and forcing what is left of the tumor out.  All in all, we couldn't have gotten better news and the Dr. feels like Bruce is showing every...