No More Days

Here we are . . . day twelve . . . but I'm not counting days anymore!  I think Sammy's recovery is on its last legs.  We had a great day - spent most of the time outside in the backyard playing with Sophia's baby pool and Sammy's slip n slide!

Sammy running for a big slide!

Sophia and I enjoying the great weather!

Go Sammy, go!

Sammy has not taken pain meds since before bed last night.  He's been in a great mood all day, and has actually eaten macaroni and cheese, lasagne, veggies, and goldfish!  I think we're on the up, finally!

Day Eleven . . .

Sammy has continued to heal over the last few days.  We are starting to get back into our regular routine as well.  Today we went to swim lessons, where Sammy was promoted to the next level, and we also had T-Ball practice.

T-Ball practice was pretty hilarious today.  When we first got there, I notified Sammy's coaches that he had surgery last Monday, and that he was still taking Hydrocodone for pain.  In other words, expect some loopiness.  Both of his coaches laughed, and were willing to cut him some slack during practice.

Thank goodness, as apparently Sammy thinks T-Ball practice is actually football practice in disguise . . . while fielding balls in the outfield, Sammy got upset that a teammate had fielded the ball instead of him.  He actually tackled his teammate!  Are you kidding me?

Then, Sammy went up to bat.  He hit the ball, and then ran to get his own ball.  Forget about running to first base, my child wants to do both jobs!  One of the other moms laughed and said, "Wow, it takes a special person to play both infield and outfield at the same time!"  At the same time, I thought, "Wow, it takes a special person not to punch out the other T-Ball mom making fun of my child . . . "

But I didn't.  I smiled, laughed, and said, "Yes, it's a good thing Clayton (her child) likes picking flowers in the field so much!  Otherwise, he might have some real competition!" 

Oooooopppppps . . . let the T-Ball Moms wars begin . . .

Day Ten

The healing continues!  We had a welcome break from our healing today when our friends Grayson and Bailey came over to play today.  Overall, great day - Sammy had meds every 6 hours, and he actually ate a chicken nugget today!  We are moving up in the food chain!

Day Nine

What was I thinking, posting what a great day we had yesterday?  I must have been out of my mind!  Actually, yesterday WAS a great day.  But today is a different story. 

Our bad day started overnight.  Sammy woke up at 1 am, crying and complaining of his throat hurting.  He continued to wake up over the next 7 hours, approximately every 15 minutes.  It was terrible.  In hindsight, I probably should have gone upstairs with Sammy and stayed in his bed with him, rather than subjecting Mike to the crying as well, but that is no matter. 

So, after a long and sleepless night, we went to our ENT this morning for our follow-up for Sammy and Sophia.  Sophia is doing wonderful.  Her ears are completely clear!  Sammy, however, has developed a case of thrush, which is a yeast infection in the mouth.  In addition, his scabs, which I thought were coming off several days ago, apparently have just started to come off.  What does all this mean?  More days of recovery.  And more medicine.

My poor baby - I thought we were almost out of the woods, but not yet.  Hopefully here in the next few days.  In the meantime, really wish I could brush his teeth, but again, just a few more days . . .

Happy Birthday, Sophia!

Happy First Birthday to my sweet princess, Sophia!  Or, should I say my SASSY princess, Sophia?  Yes, you've been sassy today.  You must know it's your birthday!

We already knew how beautiful you'd be at your 30 week ultrasound.

But we had no idea what joy you would bring to our lives, and how you would complete our family!

Look at your sweet face (ignore Mama's thumb!) . . .

Happy First Birthday, Film Star!

We love you bunches! 

Day Eight

Fabulous day.  FAB-U-LOUS DAY!  Should I say it again?  Today is day eight of Sammy's adenotonsillectomy (removal of tonsils and adenoids), and I dare say that they may have given him a lobotomy while he was under anesthesia as well.

Y'all know I'm kidding!  I love Sammy - he's so colorful - and energetic.  But today, while we were at the pediatrician for Sophia, Sammy actually sat at a little desk and read a Disney's Aladdin book.  For 20 minutes.  Granted, he wasn't "reading," but he was quietly looking at the pictures and sat still for 20 minutes.  I kept looking at him to make sure he was still breathing.  Is this really my son?

We continued to give meds "on-demand," meaning when he asked for them.  And that has been approximately every 7 hours.  We appear to be on the up, friends.  Yay - this means we can get out of the house, soon!

What do yours look like?

Do you have a pair of "No Way in Hell" panties?  You know what I'm talking about . . . the underwear you wear when you're sick, tired, or just have no desire? 

I do.  And I'm not ashamed to admit it.  It's one pair in particular, which have been appropriately named, "Scottie Dog Underwear", by Mike. 

I'm sure you can see why.

Stop laughing.  These are not undies that I purchased by choice.  I bought these in a Hanes pack, the kind that come with 5 different pairs, when I was 2 months pregnant with Sammy.  Yes, that was almost 5 years ago.  But no matter. 

Again, this is not a pattern I would have picked up off the rack at Frederick's or Victoria's Secret, my normal panty purchasing haunts.  But it is a pair I cherish. 

You see, my Scottie Dog Underwear have seen me through two pregnancies.  They've seen me through two post-partum recoveries, a serious stomach virus that landed me in the hospital when I was pregnant with Sophia, and many various colds and "monthly visitors" in between.  Which is more than you can say for some friends.

So, I'm not saying they're my favorite.  But I am saying that I'm unable to part with them.  Until the time comes that they have seen their last days.  But don't tell Mike that - he hates them so much - he'll try to speed them along to a slow and painful death.

In the meantime, my Scottie Dog Underwear are content to wait for me to need them . . . and to deal with Mike calling them an "underwear carcass" when they are in the dirty clothes laundry basket.  He also heaves a big sigh whenever he happens to notice me wearing them.  Not sure why that doesn't happen when it's my lacy Frederick's thong . . .

What do yours look like?  Dare to post a pic?  Be brave, Mama!

Day Seven

Hark, I hear the dawn of a new horizon calling!  Yes, we seem to be on the mend from the dreaded tonsillectomy! 

Last night, rather than waking Sammy up for his pain meds, I waited until he woke up.  Granted, it was only an hour after he was supposed to have them, and he did cry for quite awhile from the pain, but I will take little improvements any way I can get them!  We followed that vein throughout the day - rather than dosing him based on the clock, we waited until Sammy told us he was hurting.  Turns out, rather than taking meds every 4 hours, he was needing them every 6 hours!  Great improvement!

Also, we went to my parent's house this afternoon as Mike needed to work on their surround sound system.  We allowed Sammy to play outside while my mom and I hung out on the veranda with Sophia.  Granted, Sammy was playing with matchbox cars rather than riding his bike in circles, but he was outside with us for about 2 hours, and never complained of being tired.  I am very proud of him!

Dinner tonight was an improvement as well.  Instead of the usual vanilla ice cream and yoghurt, Sammy happily ate macaroni and cheese.  I didn't say it was healthy, I only said it was an improvement!

We also put Sammy to sleep in his own bed tonight, for the first night since his surgery Monday.  I'm not going to lie and say it was an easy transition.  He was quite upset, but calmed down after Mike cuddled with him for several minutes.  Here's hoping he'll sleep all night!

A Couple of Things . . .

A few random pics from our week of solitude . . . rather than posting them in prior posts, I figured I'd lump them all together!

Sophia riding the Bounce n Spin Zebra on Friday!

And, rockin' a new hairdo Friday night - she's finally got enough to put in a (tiny) ponytail!

Sammy in the tub with all his cars lined up!

Sammy's "Tinkerbell" wings on Sunday . . . Yes, that is now his favorite movie.  Yes, we are still proud of him.  Yes, as soon as he's cleared for normal activity, I am hiding the Tinkerbell movie. 

And yes, he's still my favorite little boy!  Such a sweetie!

Day Six

Today was more of the same.  Can I just say again how nasty Sammy's breath is?  I cannot wait until we can brush his teeth again!  Hopefully we'll get the go-ahead on Tuesday, when we have our followup appointment with our ENT. 

Another normal day - started out in pain, and ended with a sleepless night.  I'm not sure if it is the pain meds, or if it is the constant "resting," but either way, Sammy doesn't fall asleep until around 11 pm each night.  It's terrible!  He is still sleeping in our bed (since Mama has to get up two times in the middle of the night for pain meds), but we've at least trained him to watch movies in our bed while we watch our DVR'ed shows in the living room.  But, I still wish he would GO TO SLEEP!

The mood today has been terrible - Sammy's very cranky.  I think that being in the house for the last six days is taking a toll on him.  Although, we did a few test runs today, and none went very well. 

First, we spent about thirty minutes in the car - dropping off Mike's car for an oil change, going to Kinko's for some copies, and then the drive-thru at Chik-Fil-A.  Sammy was crying from Kinko's on that he wanted to go home. 

Then, we let Sammy play in the backyard.  He was so excited - riding his bike around in circles, climbing the tree, watering his plants . . . and then, after he'd been outside for 20 minutes, his cheeks were flushed, he was exhausted, and he actually ran into the house and proclaimed he was tired, thereby spending the next half hour on the couch.  Oh, if this was a normal day in our house . . . he would have been out in the backyard for hours!

However, exhaustion or not, he is still difficult to tame throughout the day.  We got a wonderful reprieve this evening - my parents came over to watch both of the kids at 7 pm.  Mike and I had a date night at Alamo Drafthouse, and saw a hilarious (albeit embarrasing to admit we paid to watch this) movie - Hot Tub Time Machine.  It was wonderful to get out of the house with my awesome hubby - we enjoyed every second!

When we got back, Sammy was, of course, wide awake - we coaxed him back to bed with more pain meds, and eventually he fell asleep watching Tinkerbell . . . which appears to be his favorite movie.  Uh oh . . . How many more days until we're cleared for normal activity????

Day Five

Wow . . . we have made it to the infamous day five of Sammy's tonsillectomy . . . a day which will be known in infamy - due to the scabs.  I know, gross, right?

Apparently, in days 5 through 7, the scabs from the surgical site begin to slough off, and are swallowed.  Yep, it doesn't get much grosser than that.  However, I think we all remember from our childhood days of skinned elbows and skinned knees how much scabs can hurt when they come off.  Tonsillectomies are no different.

It started out as a normal day - we woke up around 8 am, but this is where the normalcy wore off.  Today, Sammy was in a lot of pain, he took his pain meds and immediately fell asleep again for another two hours, and woke up super grumpy.  He spent the rest of the day, towering in pain, moping around on the couch and in our bed.  The worst part is, I think he's reached the point in his pain cycle where the hydrocodone is making him irritable. 

Sammy's poor cheeks are swollen like a chipmunk, and he has started to talk with a lisp.  I know this is part of the healing process, but I sure hope the lisp goes away soon!  To make matters with the lisp even worse, he insisted that I rent Tinkerbell for him.  And in addition to that, when he was watching it, he wanted to wear Sophia's green butterfly wings.  Hilarious! 

Just a few more days, and we should be able to get out and about again.  Being in the house all day long has started to take its toll on us, but we are surviving.  I just hope the pain cycle will end for Sammy soon.

Another great dinner today from my playgroup!  Many thanks to Sarah for her awesome, authentic gumbo, rice and potato salad!  Yum!

Day Four . . .

Another day of false optimism about Sammy's 4th day after his tonsillectomy!  I say false, as his mood, again, depends on when he last had his pain meds.  If his dosage has kicked in,. he's fine - and wants to jump on the bed.  But if it's been awhile - God help us all!

Overall, he's been really, really sweet.  He's trying really hard to make good choices - and he's actually listening when I ask him to sit down on the couch!  Granted, I need to ask him 10 times a day to sit down, but it's working!

Towards the end of the day, he did begin to get upset, and tell me that his throat was hurting.  All he's eaten today is ice cream.  No mashed potatoes, no yoghurt, and definitely nothing healthy.  But, he's eating.  So, I hate to criticize his food choices!

On the plus side, Sophia is still eating like there's no tomorrow!  Today, my girlfriend Colleen brought over Chicken Eden Isle, which is basically chicken with bacon and cream sauce.  It is fabulous, and I can't wait to get the recipe!  Sophia thought it was fabulous as well - she ate and ate - and even licked her fingers when she was done!

That being said, I'm thinking we are on the up - which means that pretty soon the scabs will start to come off - when that happens - look out!  We'll be back in the pain, again.  In the meantime, we'll stick to our pain meds and ice cream - thank you very much!

Day Three . . .

We have survived day three of Sammy's tonsillectomy.  I'm saying survived because that is the only word that captures the sentiment of today.

First off, today was a roller coaster.  A roller coaster of feelings for Sammy.  Sammy's feelings depended on how recently he had taken his pain medication.  If the pain meds were kicked in, he was great - and I had to restrain him from running around the house.  If it was close to time for his next dosage, he was very mopey and tired.

Overall, I am very proud of his recovery.  He is really being sweet and listening to me, especially when I ask him to sit down on the couch.  This says to me that despite his good feelings, he knows it's not all roses. 

Today, we did get Sammy to eat some mashed potatoes, but his main diet consisted of ice cream.  Not exactly the best meal plan ever, but he's eating, so I won't complain.

In concert with Sammy's eating, let's talk about his breath.  It's terrible - it is like the breath of a tyrannosaurus rex from the Jurassic era.  And the worst part is, we can't brush his teeth.  All we can do is give him water.  Sammy still likes to eat toothpaste, and it would burn his incision areas, so we are stuck with carnivore breath.  Let me tell you what - it is awesome!

We are still being religious about Sammy's pain meds . . . I did have a Worst Mom Ever moment in the middle of the night - my alarm was set for 3:15 AM.  Apparently, I was trying to hit the snooze button, and ended up hitting the End button - which meant that at 4:30 AM, Sammy woke up crying from pain and was desperately in need of his meds.  I felt terrible!  After rocking him for several minutes and singing (I was singing El Shaddhai by Amy Grant to him) he did fall asleep again, but either way I felt awful.

Overall, I think we might be on the up, but it's still time for the scabs . . . In the meantime, more thanks to my Katy TOTs ladies!  Julia, who is an awesome sweet girl who I love, brought over roast and mashed potatoes for us, as well as brownies!  I think I ate half the brownies myself, and Sophia was shoving roast in her mouth like no tomorow.  I even got Sammy to eat some mashed potatoes!

Day Two . . .

Apparently, we have survived day two of Sammy's tonsillectomy.  I would say it was day two of Sophia's tubes as well, but she is still Little Miss Sunshine - like nothing ever happened.

Honestly, most of the day, Sammy was like nothing ever happened, either.  After faithfully setting my alarm every four hours overnight to continue his pain meds, we seem to be ahead of the pain.  For now.  In the meantime, Mama's pretty tired.

We woke up at our usual time, which in our house is unthankfully around 7 am.  Sammy was in good spirits, and even requested jello.  Strawberry jello.  I'm sure it tasted great, but unfortunately it looked horrible after it was vomited on my $250 comforter.  It looked even more horrible when my husband announced "Oh, shit!"  mid-vomit stream.  I'm sure that made Sammy feel wonderful.  I know it made me feel awesome . . .

Therefore, we started our day with a bath.  And went uphill from there.  Sammy was feeling great - he got very mad at me when I told him he had to sit on the couch.  I'm not sure what the ENT and surgical staff were thinking when they stated that my almost 4-year old needed to practically be on bedrest for 7 - 10 days, but either way, it's not working out too well for us.

I ended up putting Sophia down for an early nap at 11 am, and then got Sammy to take a quick 20 minute nap.  Which was interrupted when PappaTony called to check on the patients.  No big deal - we were greeted by an excellent suprise when we walked into the living room.  I looked out the door and noticed a large "Get Well Soon" balloon floating around on my front porch. 

Sammy noticed it as well, and when I went out to investigate, I found a wonderful care package from my friend, Tanya - and Sammy and Sophia's friends, Matthew and Maddie (and Ambi and Zach!).  They had written us a really sweet card, Sammy got an awesome arts and crafts package, Sophia got little zoo animals, and there was even a Maeve Binchy novel for me.  I was absolutely shocked that Tanya had remembered that Binchy is my favorite novelist - I believe I've mentioned it once . . . what a wonderful friend, and a welcome surprise in our afternoon!

Here's Sammy showing off his handiwork!  FYI - it's a cow!

Come 4 o'clock, we needed a break - I loaded both of the children up and went to Sonic for a chocolate milkshake and a Diet Coke.  Plus we stopped off at the Redbox on the way home, returned Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquel from the night before and rented The Blind Side for Mama and Daddy and a Farm Animals show for Sammy.

Overall, it was a great day - I decided Sammy was sick this morning as his stomach was basically empty while he was taking Hydrocodone.  Not a good combination . . . Mike and I worked together and got Sammy to start eating mashed potatoes today.  Mashed potatoes and ice cream.  Not exactly the most appetizing meal, but it works for Sammy, so we are happy!

I did a lot of googling last night, and discovered that days 2 through 4 of tonsillectomies, the patient appears to be doing well.  However, come day 5, the scabs start to come off the back of the throat, and the patient will be in severe pain once again.  Given that, we've decided to continue on our regular pain medicaton dosage.  It meant that Sammy took a 20 minute nap today, and didn't end up going to bed until 10 pm, but it kept my little man happy and feeling well, so that is what matters to me.

Our only down point of the day was after Sammy's bath, and right before he was "supposed" to go to bed.  He began a crying jag at the end of his bath, that continued for approximately 45 minutes.  It was tough - trying to comfort Sammy, and keep Sophia happy as well.  But we made it - lots of prayers, and lots of hugs and singing.

Sammy's asleep now . . . my alarm clock is set for 3:15 in the morning . . . and hopefully tomorrow will be a good day.  Thanks again to my mom's group - my girlfriend Debra brought over some wonderful Ravioli Lasagne today - yum!  I think I am going to have to do some double time on the treadmill this week with all the good food everyone is bringing!

The Big Day

Today was the big day - surgery day for both Sammy and Sophia.  Sophia had tubes placed in her ears, and Sammy had tubes, and he got his tonsils and adenoids removed.  The kids were not allowed to eat or drink after midnight, and we had to be at the hospital at 7:30 am, so we woke them up as close to 7:15 as possible and immediately loaded them into the car.

A few pics of the kiddos pre-op . . .

They took Sophia back first, and she was done in almost 10 minutes.  Sammy went in immediately afterward, but he didn't arrive in recovery until almost 30 minutes later.  Prior to the surgery, we had been warned with horror stories of children waking up violently from anesthesia.  However, I was so proud of both of my sweet babies - Sammy whimpered a lot as he was waking up, but he did not have any fits as I had been warned of. 

We were discharged from the surgery center at 10:50 am, and immediately went to fill the prescriptions for the kids.  After we got home, our sweet princess Sophia was back to her usual self - little miss sunshine.

Sammy spent the day in our bed - watching movies, coloring, and playing his Leapster.  He definitely complained of pain throughout the day, but he is a big trooper.  I am so proud of him!

May I also say how much I love my girlfriends?  My mom's group has arranged to bring dinner over to us each night this week - which is a huge help and load off of me - especially given that Mike will be working late two nights this week.  Tonight we had Angel Chicken and some awesome Banana Pudding from my BFF Amanda.  Amanda's an awesome cook - Sophia definitely approves!

Sophia's First Birthday!

Today, we celebrated our sweet daughter's very first birthday with our close family and friends!  It was a wonderful party, that started with a wonderful invitation . . .

Yep, I made it.  I got the idea from a friend's invite, but the handiwork is all mine!

As you can see, we had a birthday bug celebration.  With real bugs . . .

Mud bugs that is . . . crawfish, for those of you who are not skilled in the art of identifying bugs.  And a few other bugs were in attendance as well -

Sophia's personal cake - a ladybug!

Very pretty butterfly cake - strawberry flavor!

And a big ladybug - chocolate - for all to enjoy!

Many thanks to Mike's awesome mom - one of these days she should start her own cakery (aka cake bakery), but in the meantime, my kids sure are reaping the benefits of her cake baking and decorating skills.  She always impresses us beyond our imaginations!  One of my friends at the party even tried to hire her for their child's upcoming birthday!

The kids made a wonderful craft that I adapted from this bumblebee idea.  Rather than reining in their imaginations, each child painted their bug how they saw fit.  Then we added googly eyes and punched holes for the children to add 2 antennae and 6 legs to each bug. 

And all in all, I think everyone had a wonderful time.  Especially our birthday princess!

Although I think she enjoyed having cake all over her most of all!

And Mommy, Daddy and Sammy are so proud of her!

Happy Birthday to our precious Angel . . . we love you and we always will!

Lots on My Mind

Yes, I've been silent lately.  My faithful readers, I apologize, but I have had a lot on my mind.  We are celebrating Sophia's first birthday this weekend with a crawfish boil (in true Texas style), and in addition to that, on Monday both of the kids are having surgery.

What was I thinking, scheduling her party and then their surgery just two days later?  You know how much I worry about EVERYTHING, and this can only add to my craziness!  And yet, I endure.

It seems that in my life, I quite enjoy doing as many stressful things as possible all at one time.  For example, I remember graduationg from college, buying our first truck, buying our first house, and getting married . . . all between April and July 2003.  Talk about stress!  Fast forward a few years to selling a house, moving from San Antonio to Katy, building/buying a house, starting a new job, and having a baby . . . all between December 2005 and May 2006.  It's a good thing Sammy was born in one piece!

Then we had quitting a job, starting a new career (teaching), moving from Katy to Huntsville, putting our house on the market and Mike starting a new job . . . all between August 2007 and March 2008.  And finally we end with quitting a job, starting a new career (Stay At Home Mom), moving from Huntsville back to Katy, taking the house OFF the market, Mike starting a new job, and having another baby . . . all between March 2009 and April 2009.  Wow!  Do we like our stress in small pockets or what??

All in all, I'll take our life . ..  stress in small pockets or not.  It is hard for me to believe that my sweet princess is almost one year old now.  It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating Sammy's third birthday one month early, and then going to the hospital for Sophia's birth the following week.  We are so blessed - I am so thankful for the wonderful husband God gave me, the beautiful children he blessed us with, and the wonderful families both of us have!