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!