Man how time flies!

Okay so I am a horrible blogger...so much has happened this month I can't even think straight. Haleigh turned 6! Hannah has been trouble and I am pooped out with all the training I have been doing for this Susan G Komen 60 miles in 3 days. I have had several doc appointment follow ups and we have been to the Pumpkin Patch. Oh many where to start...

I guess I will start with Haleigh's Birthday. Haleigh turned 6 on the 7th and we had 15 little girls here at our house for a birthday party. She invited all the girls from her Kindergarten class and then had 3 of the neighbor girls spend the night. They had a BLAST! Haleigh said it was her best birthday. I am so happy she is was happy.

The next thing we did as a family is take the girls to the pumpkin patch. This October has been fabulous for weather. We decided this year to take the girls to a different pumpkin patch and they LOVED it! It was a blast, they got to feed the animals, take a hay ride, go through a corn maze, and walk through the pumpkin patch. Lots of fun and tons of great pictures. Here are just a few...

Well the girls are starting to get on each others nerves so I had better wrap this entry up...I promise I will post more soon!

Love always!

Katie

Haleigh's 6th Birthday

WOW! It has been a while since I posted anything. Thought I had better type quick so you all know what is going on in the crazy Mangan household. Yesterday, Haleigh, turned 6! It was a BIG day in the Mangan house. She was so excited about her birthday, but even more excited about tonight. She is having all the girls from her Kindergarten class over and a handful of other girls to help her celebrate. She is so excited to have them all over. We are VERY big into iCarly and so Tim has promised to make a webshow tonight with her and her friends. This could be interesting.

Hannah has been a little turd lately! I don't know how single parents do it...Hannah is now deciding that she doesn't need a nap. Little does she know she still does and so does her momma! She is a fiesty little girl. I love her to pieces but some days it is all I can handle.

I am still doing good...went in yesterday to see the plastic surgeon because I have been having some discomfort in my left implant. He thinks I may have pulled a muscle in it. I am to take it easy and relax. Easier said than done. I have a birthday party tonight, 17 miles to walk tomorrow followed by 13 miles on Sunday. I am just tired thinking about all of it. I know everyone is thinking...you need to slow down...well I can slow down when I am dead. Right now there is work to be done and things to take care of. Next week I will find out how my ECHO went. Back in August my ejection fraction was 40% it is so low because of the chemo drugs and the Herceptin. I have been told several times that my heart will start to rebound on its own. So I am very anxious to see the results. I have been so blessed by everything so far so I am just praying that my blessings continue.

Well I have cookies to frost and laundry to fold...unfortunately it isn't going to do itself. If only I had a magic wand!

New Niece!

Wow! a lot has happened since I lost logged in. The last 2 weeks have been pretty big in the Mangan house. Last week, my brother Derek and his wife Jody had their first baby. Aubrey Ann Schueder joined the family at around 7 am Tuesday, Aug. 17th...weighing in at a little over 7 lbs and 20 1/2in long. I wish I had a picture to post but I don't...she is beautiful and has a TON of hair.

Haleigh also spent the whole week last week with Nana & Papa! It was so weird not having someone here to help entertain Hannah. It was also weird having only 1 child to deal with. Now that she is back things are getting back to a new normal.

Wednesday, the 25th of Aug. Haleigh started her first day of Kindergarten. She was and has been so EXCITED for this day to finally come. We have been counting down the days since about...oh...MARCH! It is kind of crazy how fast it all went. Hannah has missed Haleigh and doesn't quite know what to do without big sis around.

I myself am doing good....this is my 2nd week in over 15 months that I haven't had any doctors appointments. I am LOVING it! I finally started walking again this week. Last week I had to take some time off and couldn't do my long walks due to a strain in my ankle. It really stinks...because it is hard getting started again. For those of you that don't know...I am walking the Susan G. Komen 60 miles in 3 days. My aunt Cindy and I are heading out to San Diego Thur. Nov. 18th and we walk an average of 20 miles per day the 19, 20,&21st of Nov. We have been training for this since mid June and it is a lot of fun...time consuming but fun. I am learning more about myself than I ever knew before. In order to do this walk not only to you have to condition your body to handle that much activity you also have to raise $2300 to walk it. I am almost to the $1000 mark. I have had a couple of fundraising parties and that has helped me a ton. If you want or like Tastefully Simple go to their website, type in Vicki Sonka for the consultant and you can then search for Katie's fundraising party. You can order and have the food shipped directly to you. You have until the 31st to order and a percentage of the order is coming to me to help me meet my fundraising goal. Or you can go to www.the3day.org and click on donate. Type Katie Mangan in and you can donate to me through there...you also get a receipt for tax purposes. This weekend Cindy and I are walking 11 & 5 miles. This will be my longest walk yet! Wish me luck!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Love always, Katie

Training

So many of you know that I am training for the Susan G. Komen 60 miles in 3 days. WOW!!! Is all I have to say to the training. NEVER in my life have I done anything like this. I am up for the challenge and am very happy at what I am doing. Friday last week my aunt Cindy & I walked 10 miles. I did it!! I was so proud of myself for walking that far and doing that. Unfortunately, I was feeling it on Saturday. My left ankle has been bothering me and so I went to the doctor today to have it adjusted and my achillies heel is sore and slightly swollen. So I have been icing it today and resting it as much as I can. I am going to try to walk 3 miles tomorrow at a slow rate so I don't hurt it anymore. It would be such a bummer if something happened to me now and I could finish training.



The girls are doing good. Haleigh is at her Nana & Papa's for a week. Sunday, my sister, Mary, & her husband were here and they took Haleigh up to Cherokee to spend time there by herself. She is having such a blast and what a great way to end summer vacation. Next Wed. my big girl goes to Kindergarten. UGH! I can't believe she is almost 6 yrs old. WHERE has the time GONE?

Welcome to Our Blog!

Well, I am not really sure what I want to write today. I have been pondering for a few months now on whether or not I should create a blog site. As you can see I have decided I would do it. I have had so many people tell me that they loved following my Caringbridge site so I thought since I am FINALLY done with all my treatment I would just do one on our life and my 60 mile journey.

Here is a little update on our family:

Haleigh is 5 and will be starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks. She is SO excited and can't wait to get to school. We have been counting down the days for about 2-3 months now. I can't believe how fast she is growing up...in the past 2 weeks she has lost 2 teeth! She can't wait to go buy stuff with her toothfairy money. This last week has been pretty hard on her because she doesn't like thunderstorms and we have had one every single night this week. It is starting to wear on me. Next week she is going to Nana & Papa's for a week. Hannah will miss her but Haleigh will have a blast by herself.

Hannah is 2 and a little spit fire! I don't even know where to start with her. She thinks she is going to preschool this fall and can't wait for it to start. Little does she know, she isn't going to preschool this fall. We have now been potty trained for the last 6 weeks. She does very good when she isn't busy or trying to be naughty. Last night she was standing in my magazine basket and peed all over the magazines...I asked why she did that and her response "because I wanted too" UGH!!! Got to love her though!

Tim is doing great. He is very busy at work right now. He is still at Wells Fargo and working in Short Sales...what ever that means. :) I don't try to understand his job very often it is too complicated for me. This last couple of months he has been very busy working on Katie's Crusaders & making sure there is someone here to help me out with all my doc. appointments. Katie's Crusaders is coming along quite nicely. This year the race is going to be Sept. 18th here in Waukee. If you want more information on it you can go to our website www.katiescrusaders.org

I am doing great! I FINALLY finished all my treatment last Friday. It was a bittersweet ending. Exactly 15 months to the day I was diagnosed I finished treatment. I can't tell you how excited I am about being done. Now to just concentrate on my 60 mile walk and taking care of these girls & Tim. This week is still a little crazy with doc appointments but they are follow-ups and then I will be done until Sept. 10th. I will be having my final implant surgery and power port removed! I will be SO happy for that day! I am also quite busy working on Katie's Crusaders and am very excited about how that is going. This year we are helping 3 families out and I couldn't be more proud of what we are doing.

Okay kids are waking up so my time here is done. Hope you enjoy the new site and feel free to drop us a message anytime. You are the reason I am writing about our journey.

Love always-Katie & family.