The Roller Coaster of LIFE

So, as most of you know, life has not been normal for the Underwood Family. A month ago Jared was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer, and has had surgery and will be starting Chemotherapy on Monday. The way this all started was, back in December, Jared was out surfing. He felt some tenderness under his left nipple, and decided he should go in and get it checked since it was bothering him. After having numerous test, and blood work done, it was determined that the lump under his nipple was being caused by a hormonal imbalance, which was caused by cancer in his testicle. After getting a CT scan of his body, the scan showed that there was also cancer in his lymph nodes (2 tumors in the abdomen, by his kidneys). He has surgery right away to remove the cancer from his testicle, and they are going to do chemotherapy to get rid of the rest. He has stage 2B testicular cancer, so chemotherapy is really the only option. As I said earlier, he will be started chemotherapy on Monday, where he will go into the hospital and get hooked to an IV for 7 hours for 5 days straight, and then he will have 2 weeks off, and do it again 2 more times. As you know there are ALOT of side affects from chemo, but they don't know how many side affects and how severe they will be on each person, since everybody handles it in different ways. Jared has to make sure he doesn't get sick from our kids since he will be more prone to infection. Hopefully none of us will get sick! I feel very optimistic that after he completes his rounds of chemo that the cancer will be gone, and we can move on with our lives, but I don't expect that until September, when Jared will be fully recovered from some serious poison in his body. It has been a whirlwind of a month, and I can't wait until this nightmare is over. However, on a positive note, I have learned alot about myself, and Jared and I are more in love than we ever have been, This cancer has not torn our family apart, it has only made us stronger, and our testimony that Heavenly Father is there listening to our prayers. I'm so grateful for my belief, it truly has gotten me through such a dark time in my life.
Cameron is sleeping through the night (8pm-7am), and he is laughing and cooing all the time. He is such a sweet baby, I feel so blessed that I can't even put it into words. Brent is also becoming quite the brainiac. He says words that I have never said to him, and has an interest in everything in life, except playing dolls which is a good thing. Brent's Grammy Underwood, gave him a boy doll when Cameron was born so he wouldn't feel left out, and I had Brent get it out the other day. I told him to burp the doll, and he gave the doll 2 pats and threw it across the room, and ran to get some blocks to play with. I died laughing. Thank you to all my friends and family for you love, concern, and support. This is what the gospel is all about...taking care of each other during our time on the earth.

Day by Day

Things are getting easier in the Underwood household as of recently. Cameron is a growing little boy, who is in the 95th percentile in height and the 50th percentile in weight. Brent as a baby was always really tall, but we took his measurements the other day, and for a 3 year old, he is average height. Jared has given up on the fact that Brent is going to be 6'5 like him, so he is hoping Cameron will be nice and tall. I'm average height for a girl, so he can't expect us to have giants for children. Cameron is on a good schedule, and the nice part, is that Brent and Cameron go down for naps at the same time...hallelujah! Because of daylight savings time, it stays light till 7 or 7:30, and it reminds me of summer. I'm so excited for summer, and to be living so close to the beach. I think Cameron will be at the perfect age this summer, to be immobile at the beach, and Brent is old enough to play, play, play. All that's left to do is to get rid of any evidence on my body that I have had a baby...ugh! Our lease in the house we are living in is up in August, and Jared and I are getting ready to start making offers on houses that we might want to buy. I'm SO excited to be a homeowner again in San Diego. Fun times!

A family of 4

As we are approaching Cameron's 1 month birthday, I feel as though time has flown by and that it has also gone very slow. Weird how it can feel that way. Cameron is growing, and eating and doing all the new born things. Brent is also doing quite well considering the changes in our family. He is very helpful in getting things for me, like diapers, and my cell phone. And the other day, Cameron was crying in his bouncy chair, and Brent went to the chair and lightly rocked it, so Cameron would stop crying. This is a big improvement over Brent using the bouncy chair as a sling shot , and Cameron being the object getting slinged. (Luckily I was in the room for that one).
We just celebrated Jared's 32nd birthday...he is an old man. I made him carrot cake, per his request, and it came out so good. The recipe is from Barefoot Contessa, and it was TDF (To Die For). As 4 weeks post-pardom is approaching, I'm finding myself getting a little anxious to get my body back into shape. I know I need to wait, so I don't injure myself, but I'm tired of feeling like a Frump! Only 2 more weeks to go, until I get the go ahead to start my hard-core diet and exercise. It is exciting, but at the same time, I'm dreading it.

Baby Cameron Pic

Alot of you have requested a better picture of Cameron. I finally took one last night, I'm the WORST at remembering to take pictures, and downloading them. I really wish I could have my own personal historian. So, here he is, sweeter than ever. It is interesting to see the differences between him and Brent. I think Brent was way more difficult than Cameron, or maybe it gets easier with each one you have.

He Arrived!!!!

So, on January 31st at 6:01 am Cameron Grant Underwood arrived! I went into labor at 11pm on Friday night, and had him in the morning. He was 7 pounds 12 ounces, 21 inches long, with brown hair, and a skinny body. Brent was the same, I guess I don't have beefy babies. I lost alot of blood during labor, so much, that I had to get a blood transfusion. Pretty creepy that someone elses blood is in my body now. I'm still pretty anemic, but I'm taking it easy, and trying to recuperate. Doctors say that my blood levels won't be the way they were until about 6 weeks post-pardom. But, everything else is going great! Cameron is a good baby, and Brent is being a good big brother. It will be very interesting when I'm on my own without any help taking care of 2 kids, but each day gets easier. I feel so blessed to have a healthy baby, and a growing family, it is amazing how much love you feel for each child, I truly am grateful.

It's been too long!

I have let too much time pass by! We have been very busy the last couple of months. The month started out with taking a trip to Arizona, for Jared's graduation. It was so rewarding to see him walk. We were also fortunate to have a small little party with some our friends who live in Arizona...it was SO fun! I miss you guys! (You know who you are). After graduation, Christmas was just around the corner. We spent Christmas at my parents house this year, so it was nice to only have to drive 30 minutes up the rode from where we live. It was exciting to have our own "little" Underwood Christmas morning before going up to my parent's house, with Brent opening his presents. After Christmas, Jared and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, by going out, and also visiting our engagement bluff in San Clemente. We have had some nice warm weather, and as a family we have been able to go to the beach a handful of times in the last couple of weeks. I'm so glad to live in San Diego! Now, we are awaiting having Cameron, I REALLY want to be done being pregnant, the baby is COOKED! Only about a week left, hopefully I will have him sooner...we will see, and I will keep you posted.

November

Life has been busy as we are approaching the holiday season. One of the biggest accomplishments in our family as of late, is that Jared finished his dissertation for his PhD. He is officially Doctor Jared Underwood now. He will be walking/graduating in Mid December. He bought his official robes and will be "hooded" on the day of graduation. I'm SO happy that it is finally over. Jared has been in school for 10 1/2 years, and luckily I have only been present for 4 1/2 of those school years. I'm so extremely proud of him for accomplishing this HUGE goal. He is truly an example to me, and will continue to be. With 2 months left before baby Cameron comes, we are starting to mentally prepare ourselves for what is to come. Having another child doesn't scare me, but dealing with the changes Brent will be going through will be tough. I have no high expectations for how he will react to another sibling. We will see how it goes! Recently Jared's sister Sarah came out for a visit from Utah. We had so much fun going to the beach, Legoland, walks, shopping, talking, and I enjoyed having a built in friend to do the mommy thing with.