January

After having friends and family here with us for almost 3 months, January came and we were back on our own! And we survived! My chemo medication changed to one that doesn't make me feel too sick or tired, so we are back to functioning almost as usual. It has been nice to feel like life is back to normal a little bit.

I got my braces off, yahoo! And I am so grateful to be working my way through this chemo regimen. I hit the halfway mark in January, and have been feeling good enough to start exercising again. My doses are weekly now, but they come and go quickly and don't interrupt our lives too much.

We had some cold weather in January and school was closed for a couple of days because of ice. It was nice to relax and play with the kids!

Mardi Gras celebrations commenced, and pretty soon January was over! Our goals for this new year are just to get and stay healthy, have Joseph finish his residency, and move and get settled into our new location! I know the next few months are going to fly by.

Holidays

We had a wonderful holiday season! We had so much family come visit, to help us out and to spend time with us during the holidays. My mom came for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful few days together and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving meal.

Our December was very calm and simple this year, and it was just right. We decorated the house, enjoyed the warm weather, and watched lots of Christmas movies. Joseph's parents stayed with us for a few weeks and were such wonderful visitors and helpers.

My sister Megan and her family came to visit us right before Christmas. The cousins had so much fun together and we loved celebrating a little bit of Christmas with them. We exchanged some gifts and had a delicious meal and took them around to see a little bit of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
 
We had a nice, quiet Christmas day with our little family. Matthew and Anna were happy and excited, and Joseph and I took advantage of the chance to spend all day on the couch. We were able to spend lots of time together over the school break, and it was just what we needed!

We are so thankful for our wonderful family for helping us so much over the last couple of months. When I was exhausted or achy from chemo, they were there to help run the house and take care of the kids. We are excited for this new year and hopefully being over the roughest part of this journey. 2018 looks pretty good!