Maternity Shoot Prep

Mr. SE and I are doing our maternity photo shoot this weekend with the amazing Erin Davenport. Not only is Erin a fabulous photographer, but she's been such a source of encouragement and inspiration during my battle with breast cancer. I knew I'd feel comfortable with her, and that she'd take into consideration the insecurities that come from the physical changes of chemotherapy. My parents knew I was nervous about having photos taken, so they volunteered to hire a professional makeup artist. This is definitely giving me a sense of comfort, as last week's cold and round 4 of chemo really took me for a tumble. Also, I don't have many eyelashes left and I'm looking forward to the falsies that she's going to give me!

I had a super cute red dress/leopard shoe combo planned, but with our cooler temperatures I decided I should wear something more comfortable. We're taking the photos at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and it's going to be gorgeous! Here's some pictures from the location. 

And here's the outfit that I chose to wear. This cream/black sweater, with black 5 pocket ponte skinny pants, and black leggings. What do you think?

Chemo Kitteh

My husband just sent me an email w/this photo he made and I had to share.

28 Weeks

Here's our 28 week picture- only two weeks late again! With life spinning like crazy over here, we haven't been great with taking and posting these pictures on time. At our 28 week ultrasound he weighed in at 2.69 LBS and surpassed our doctor's expectations for growth, given my chemo treatment. It's hard to believe right now we're at 30 weeks, and Baby Addison will be here before we know it!

Bra Day Usa

Happy Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day!!! Breast reconstruction is a major part of the healing process for breast cancer survivors, and many women don't know about their options. This organization is devoting themselves to educating women in the USA, and Canada, and I fully support them. In fact, once I'm done with my surgeries I'm going to sign up to be one of their "model volunteers". 89% of women want to see real reconstruction results before their go in for a mastectomy, and having gone through this myself I can agree. Not only would it be great to see real results, it's be great to see younger survivors. Many of the photos I saw were of women in their late 40s and up-- clearly we didn't look the same to begin with, and I found the photos to be uninspiring and sort of depressing. I'm hoping to make a difference with this journey I've been put on.

Blog With Love: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I'm kicking off Breast Cancer Awareness month by participating in the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation's third annual blogger initiative, to Act With Love. Hoping to use my voice to help further breast cancer research by encouraging you (my readers) to turn your awareness into action. Awareness is fantastic, and is the catalyst for action-- but we need more action to have a cure. For such a prevalent disease, we still know so little about breast cancer. 1 in 8 women will be affected by this diagnosis, and research will help us develop targeted treatments for a cure and recurrence.

How do I Act with Love?

Despite the reigning success of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and millions of dollars raised, we still have very little knowledge about breast cancer.  Now is the time to shift the discussion from awareness to pinpointing the cause and accelerating prevention--and you can help!  Turn your fervent awareness of this disease that affects one in eight women, and take action by investing yourself in breast cancer research.  Together we can fast track research and end breast cancer within our lifetime.

What is the Health of Women study?

With the introduction of the Health of Women study (HOW) TODAY October 1st, the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation will revolutionize the fight against breast cancer.  By crowdsourcing health information, and involving the general public directly, we will uncover the information that will end breast cancer.  This groundbreaking initiative invites the public, men and women over the age of 18 of all health backgrounds, to be collaborators by participating in the study via the web or on their mobile devices.  HOW will also turn traditional research practices on its head by creating a venue for researchers to gather and share information, with the definitive goal of ending breast cancer.  To learn more about the Health of Women study, visit: www.healthofwomenstudy.org.