November highlights {Cece is 9!, Phipps holiday show, health updates, Greta is 12!, Santa Claus}

 1) Cece is 9! last year we stepped back from planning big friend birthday parties for the older girls, and I proclaimed that we would only do big parties for upcoming milestone birthdays (like 10 and 16). well... I had a change of heart by the time this fall rolled around and decided that if we have the means (and the energy!) to do a bigger party, it's worth it for them to feel celebrated individually. Cece planned a Halloween-themed party for the week after Halloween and asked her guests to dress up in costumes ("but nothing too scary because we don't want to scare the babies"). 

Cece's actual birthday fell on a school day. she came home from school and immediately opened presents, then headed to basketball practice where she brought cupcakes to share with her teammates. of course she had a cupcake there, then after she got home, we had more cupcakes and sang to her. 

the third grade homeroom teacher draws birthday portraits for each student -- so sweet! (he also mans a very popular caricature booth at the annual school carnival!)

she asked for a stationery set for her birthday. I found this adorable personalized set on Etsy and was immediately rewarded with this thank you note

Mom mailed Cece an entire box of books for her birthday -- the perfect gift for my little bibliophile!

these particular books were well-loved at my house growing up. do they even make books with the hardcover library binding like the Miss Bianca book anymore?!

for Cece's party that weekend, she requested a carrot cake. I ordered one from The Fresh Market which was absolutely delicious, but they don't decorate them in house so I wrote a birthday message and let her go to town with the star tip on the icing. (another mom fail -- the store was out of decorating icing in every color that would have actually complemented this cake. oh well!)

the party was a smashing success if you consider a dozen gleefully shrieking girls a success, which for this kind of thing I do. we had a face painting station set up when they first arrived -- it's so helpful for the party flow if there is an open-ended activity to do as guests trickle in. once the party was in full swing, they hurtled around the house in a pack as Cece directed them through the party activities (pass the pumpkin, a pinata pull, a scavenger hunt, and ghosts in the graveyard played in our backyard with the assistance of mini LED flashlights I handed out to each girl). 

a very happy birthday girl with her new birthday Stanley! (the purse is mine...)

2) Phipps holiday show. it has been at least a few years since I went to Phipps for the holiday light show, and who better to share the evening with than my dear friend Amelia? each room was decorated whimsically and while it's certainly fun to bring the kids along to displays like this, it was also really fun to just enjoy it without herding cats, so to speak. 

these penguins were my favourite!

the train display was transformed into a prehistoric paradise with erupting volcanos, smoke, and a roaring T-Rex

the outdoor light display looked like a real life Candyland

obsessed with this octopus

admiring the Chihuly glass chandelier on the way out

3) health updates. I scheduled my first screening mammogram for the week after my fortieth birthday. I counsel patients all the time that there is up to a 30% chance of being recalled for diagnostic imaging after their initial screening mammogram since there are no baseline images to compare to. so, I was not at all shocked when my mammogram report stated additional images were needed. the radiologist mentioned areas of asymmetry in both breasts, which strangely enough was comforting to me (as opposed to being in one breast) and also the phrasing they used was not how they typically describe a likely-cancerous lesion. I scheduled the diagnostic mammogram for a few weeks later and this time they had me stay in the waiting room while the radiologist reviewed the images in case they needed to do an ultrasound. sure enough, the tech called me back about 45 minutes later to do an ultrasound on the left breast, then went to consult with the radiologist, and then he came in to do a scan himself. he was great -- very upbeat but not in a flippant way, and said he recommended a biopsy just to confirm exactly what type of tissue it was, "but I can tell you that this is not cancer". 

obligatory selfie before the initial screening mammogram

I scheduled the biopsy for a Friday morning and took a half day off work. I opted to enroll in a clinical trial they are running to study contrast-enhanced mammograms, with the hypothesis that eventually a mammogram with contrast could take the place of biopsy to further evaluate low-risk breast masses like mine. the contrast-enhanced mammogram took place first. it was the first time I've ever received IV contrast. I knew that most people say it makes them feel warm and often makes people feel like they need to pee, but I was not prepared for how hot my ears and chest felt! it wasn't painful but definitely uncomfortable for a few minutes, and then dissipated as quickly as it came on. then they took another set of standard mammogram films (two views of each breast). next, I headed to the procedure room for the biopsy. the same radiologist who did my ultrasound was the one to do the biopsy. he looked at the contrast-enhanced mammogram images first and told me that nothing showed up for either breast, which rules out any type of cancer. in fact, he said, "if this turns out to be cancer on the pathology report, I will quit my job on the spot!" 

the biopsy itself went more smoothly than I anticipated. he numbed the area with a lidocaine injection and it did pinch and burn just as expected, but everything was fully anesthetized for the procedure and I didn't feel a thing. he inserted a large hollow needle into the outside of my breast and then pushed a trigger to collect multiple samples. I couldn't feel pressure or movement, let alone any pain, but each time the trigger was depressed, there was a loud noise. it was all over in less than a minute and the tech put several steri-strips over the area as well as a pressure dressing. I was given instructions to ice it every hour for 20 minutes, to avoid lifting more than 10 pounds, and to avoid strenuous exercise for the next 24 hours. driving back to work afterwards I felt a little pinching discomfort and thought the anesthetic must be wearing off. then I realized it was just the sharp corner of the plastic ice pack digging into my skin! I had absolutely zero pain during the recovery period, but was surprised by the extensive bruising that emerged a full week after the biopsy. 

I am happy to report that the radiologist can keep his job, because the final pathology report showed the most common form of benign breast lesion -- a fibrocystic nodule. and hopefully sometime in the future, other women with similar mammogram findings can avoid a biopsy and just have further evaluation with a contrast-enhanced mammogram. 

celebratory Starbucks on my way back to work after the biopsy. the radiologist was shocked I didn't take the day off but when I said I work in an office, and have 4 kids at home, he understood that going to work is much less physically demanding than daily life at home!

4) Greta is 12! Greta also asked for a small birthday party this year, and I was surprised that she opted for a party at our house rather than at some outside venue. she was not so much interested in planning party games or activities and told me, "Mom, we'll just be hanging out." and she was right! I ordered a ton of pizza and food because we were expecting a few boys in addition to the girls and I assumed they would each devour half a pizza. I was completely wrong -- we had so much food leftover! 

shockingly, the shrimp cocktail disappeared soonest, (not shockingly) followed by the bowl of individual chip packages. we had four large pizzas as well. Greta made the little fruit skewers herself.

Greta's BFF came over early to help set up 

cookie decorating station (the decorated cookies were part of their party favors to take home)

they spent a good amount of time jumping outside on the trampoline, and then running around the block with flashlights. we had a bit of a party snafu when I went outside to call them in for cake and couldn't see or hear anyone. Nick was outside tending the firepit and said he overheard them talking about walking down to another classmate's house, about half a mile away, but he didn't think they were actually planning to go and they were scattered around running so it wasn't like they all left en masse. I headed back inside and just then three of the girls came through the front door and explained that the others had in fact headed down the hill to the other house, but they didn't feel comfortable with that so they were coming back in. sweet girls! most of them have their own phones so I asked one of the girls to FaceTime the group and then asked them to come back. then of course when parents arrived to pick up the kids at the end of the party, I had to explain the shenanigans. nobody seemed upset but I don't know all of the parents very well and wasn't sure how they would respond. Greta for her part was very apologetic and kept saying how bad she felt. while Nick and I maintained that they always need permission to leave our property, especially with other kids in tow, secretly I think it was what my favourite adolescent psychologist, Dr. Lisa Damour, would call "age-appropriate risk taking" -- we live in a very safe, quiet neighborhood. 

that evening, one of Greta's friend's parents called me to say she had left her brand new glasses at our house. we couldn't find them anywhere inside, and I looked outside a bit with a flashlight too. then they came over the next morning to look around the yard and neighborhood with no luck. two days after the party, Nick went out to mow and spotted them!! I'm just glad they didn't get stepped on or run over by the mower!

Greta's actual birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year. she opened her presents in the morning, and then we drove out to Nick's parents to have dinner with them. her big present this year was a Gabb phone. she has been asking for an iPhone and most of her friends have newer iPhones than I do... that wasn't happening, but after much discussion and research, Nick and I decided that the Gabb phone was a good fit for her. it can text, call, take pictures and play music, but has no internet browser or social media. it's already come in quite handy for communicating with her when she's out of the house at practice or school events, and of course she loves talking to her friends (and I appreciate that it is an actual telephone call, and not a video call -- do anyone else's children consistently shout when they are on a video call?! it drives us nuts!). 

a new makeup organizer

her only birthday gift that wasn't specifically on her wish list: a mini live Christmas tree for her room

what a feast!

Mom gave her this rolling organizer caddy which is so perfect for all her (slash my) beauty accoutrements 

5) Santa Claus. I took my own advice from the end of last year's Christmas recap post and booked Santa pictures for the special weekday rate during the girls' Thanksgiving break from school. remind me to do this every year! I like this particular mall Santa because they allow parents to get in the picture too, so I can easily use it for our Christmas card. 

peeking at Santa while waiting in line

they are full of shenanigans but THEN they spontaneously do something like this

I don't even remember what Nick was showing them here but it was just such a sweet moment. (Greta's arm around Vickie!!!)

I took about 50 pictures in front of this tree and this was the best of the lot

6) bonus round. it was a great month for Broadway -- I saw Alicia Keys' musical Hell's Kitchen at the beginning of the month, and splurged on upgraded seats to see my all time favourite show Les Mis at the end of the month. I didn't know much about Hell's Kitchen but really enjoyed it -- it's a semi-autobiographical story of a teen growing up in New York City. all of the performers had absolutely amazing voices and I got goosebumps several times during the show. 

and what else can I say about Les Mis? this was my third time seeing it live and possibly my favourite. they used incredible lighting techniques to create special effects. once again I was blown away by the performer playing Jean Valjean -- the vocal stamina to sing so many songs, so well, and sometimes so high (like the reprise of Bring Him Home) over the course of three hours is astounding. 

absolutely worth an extra $40 to sit closer than my usual season ticketholder seat!

the backdrops were all original paintings by Victor Hugo -- I didn't know that he painted!

and just some random moments to remember!

the girls put on a ballet performance for me

first go-round with braces! she has worn upper and lower expanders since the summer, and now has braces just on the top 4 teeth. she chose red and green bands, obvi

when you're a basketball player who used to dance ballet ;) she saved it and stayed in bounds!

your turn: do you throw friend birthday parties for your kids? family only? or a mix of both? have you ever needed additional testing from a mammogram? how many of your kids have needed orthodontia?