Tag: Lily

Posted on

Rollerblading

When I was a kid, rollerblading didn’t even exist. There was roller skating, and ice skating. If it hadn’t been for birthday parties at the roller rink in Paxton, Illinois, maybe I  never would have learned to roller skate. My first couples skate was holding hands with a boy named Quentin when we were literally 12 years old. Then we moved to the ‘burbs, and I went roller skating with my youth group. We skated to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Axel F. from Beverly Hills Cop back in the 80’s.

Then in the 1990s, the rollerblading craze hit, and I jumped right in. I bought my own pair of rollerblades. Skating on rollerblades was deceptively harder than roller skating, this balancing on a row of wheels, but I was soon rollerblading along the blacktop paths of DeKalb, Illinois. As long as there weren’t any hills, I was okay.

roller blades

As with most athletic activities, such as biking and skiing, rollerblading went by the wayside when I became pregnant for the first time. It wasn’t until Lily was in Kindergarten when the rollerblades came out of retirement. Every year, her school has a rollerskating party, and we love to go when we can. Sometimes I see some of my students skating with their older siblings, and they get a kick out of seeing their preschool teacher on skates!

This past year, the girls enjoyed the rollerskating party so much that I took them to the roller rink for open skate on President’s Day. Lily has her own pair of roller blades, and I rented a pair for Emmy. The rink was less crowded than it is when the school goes, and we had a lot of fun skating together. I loved seeing the moms who were encouraging their kids to skate. Some watched from the sidelines, some were learning to skate themselves, and some were obviously pros. I’m definitely wobblier than I used to be, but I feel pretty good getting out there and skating even though I’m definitely a middle-aged mom. Lily and Emmy loved skating to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” and of course, “Uptown Funk.”

roller blading

Since our weather seems to be very fickle this year, I think we’ll have to go skating again soon!

signature

Posted on

Motherhood After Breast Cancer: Pregnancy

Tonight as we were chowing down on burgers and shakes at the Choo Choo (our favorite birthday restaurant), Lily asked me to tell the story about the day that she was born.

My due date was November 20th, although when I first had gotten pregnant, I calculated my due date to be Nov. 10th. When I woke up on Nov. 5 (I always say my due date was more accurate than the one my doctor gave me) I started to feel cramps. I called my mom, Ed at work, and my doctor’s office in that order. Since I already had a doctor’s appointment at 11:00, the nurse told me I could wait until then to come in. I had told Ed to come home from work so he could drive me to the doctor’s office. It was a beautiful fall morning, and Ed spent the time waiting to rake the leaves into the street for the leaf truck. I usually went to doctor’s appointments by myself, but this time, I didn’t go home after my appointment. The doctor told me I was going to have a baby that day!

I’ve always thought of both of my daughters as little miracles from God. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get pregnant and have children after undergoing chemotherapy and taking Tamoxifen at such a young age. Many young women are pushed into menopause or become infertile due to cancer treatments. Before Ed and I got married, we talked about the possibility of adoption if we weren’t able to have children.

So it was unbelievable to me when it took only about three or four months for me to become pregnant with both Lily and Emmy. I was also quite fortunate to have healthy and happy pregnancies. Being pregnant was a wonderful experience for me, and the morning sickness I felt was nothing compared to the sickness of chemotherapy. My hair grew thicker instead of falling out and I was gaining weight due to a healthy baby growing inside of me. Ed and I felt truly blessed.

As we watch both our girls growing before our eyes, and celebrated Lily’s 11th birthday today, we still feel extremely blessed to be the parents of our miracle babies. Because as you know, our girls will always be our babies even as we celebrate birthdays and watch our little girls grow up.

signature