Among the living

So here it is, almost March, and I've only posted once this month. I haven't been sure what I've wanted to say--but I know I want to say something. It's just a really tender time.

Here's the thing: My mom has cancer.

Doesn't that sound profane? I feel like if it has to be said out loud, it should only be whispered. And, no, she's not dying of cancer and I know it could be worse, but this is my mom. My mom.

My mom isn't supposed to have to go through procedures and surgeries and chemotherapy. Do I really need to explain to the universe that, sorry, you've got the wrong lady--Erin's mom is unavailable for that right now?

But here we are. And for those of you who don't know the story, here's the condensed version:

My mom went in for a colonoscopy and they found a polyp. The polyp was removed and tested and turned out to be cancerous. Then she had surgery to remove the part of her colon where they had found the polyp. Out of the 27 lymph nodes they removed in the surgery, one of them had a tiny, teeny, minuscule amount of cancer. So that means chemotherapy. She's now home from the hospital, recovering from her surgery, and awaiting the next steps.

Sorry for blogging about your insides, Mom.

Again, it could be much worse. It could be too late for any of this. So in the grand scheme of things, everything is fine. It's just that she's my mom.

And then want to know something that completely blew my mind? I'm a mom. That person that my mom is to me, I'm that to someone else. Talk about a holy shit moment. So, yes, I've been a little pensive and a little overwhelmed and a little unsure of what I even have to say.

The best that I can come up with right now is this: I'm incredibly blessed to have a mom who has always been a mom to me. Everything that a mom should be, she is--and I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have that. Now if I can do the same for Norah, we win. Even with all the messiness and heartache and cancer that life brings, we win.

I guess that's what I have to say.

And on a lighter note: Nic and Norah are going to Hawaii with me on Friday. The warm weather should do us good.

In action

On cabins and crawling

We spent the weekend with my family in a cabin near Evanston, which was so much better than Nic having to work on Saturday. And even better? There were eight extra hands to help entertain my little Army crawler.

Not pictured: the outdoor hot tub and snowmobiling. We got Alexi to jump out of the water and roll in the snow with us and I only tipped the snowmobile once. Both count as a win.

Norah is officially mobile and it's officially adorable. She scoots and rolls like a little caterpillar all over the place. She went from Friday night not being able to get around to Saturday morning all of the sudden cruising everywhere. How did that happen?



And have I mentioned that she also got her two bottom teeth? She did. Alexi knows from experience.

Thanks again to my mom and dad for giving us an excuse to get out of town. You guys should totally buy a cabin.