Finally!

Can it be? A new post! Don't get too excited...it's gonna be short. I was so excited, I just had to share. Our baby will be 18 months old in 4 days, which means big news around our house.

First, it means Soni gets to start going to the nursery at church. This is the first time that Cameron and I have sent a kid to nursery without anticipating the arrival of another child, so it's big news all in itself-but that's not the only reason for our excitement.

Next, once Soni finishes cutting her canines, (soon, hopefully) we will be officially done teething. Considering Cameron and I have been going through intermittent bouts of teething for something like 7 years...this will be a nice change of pace.

And last but not least...18 months old means (following the tradition of Andi) that my baby finally has enough hair to do something with! Both my girls have sported mullets due to the fact that they were both born with so much more hair in the back, and I didn't have the heart to trim it. But alas, the time has finally come where our patience has been rewarded, and Soni's diligence has paid off. Without further ado, here is what Soni looked like yesterday (before she rubbed macaroni in her hair, that is):









Personally, my favorite thing is that the bows are bigger than the pigtails, but hey, it's a start.

Helping

Peyton is at that stage where he likes to help do things. Sometimes his helping is really sweet and actually helpful, like when he helps Soni walk down the stairs.



Then there are times when his helping isn't really helpful. The other day, he decided he wanted to clean, so he went and got a bottle of OxiClean® Laundry Stain Remover and started spraying it all over the walls. Unfortunately, the bottle says "Do not use on painted surfaces". Oh well, at least he didn't decide to clean the carpets with bleach.

Easter

I am just now getting around to posting pictures of the kids on Easter morning. Oops.

Here are all the kids with their cousin Krew, who was here with Uncle Brandon and Aunt Diedre. Brandon and Diedre are like the coolest people ever! You guys rock!

Soni is looking all grown up.

Peyton's been doing this posing thing for pictures lately. At least he's not at the "I'm not sure how to smile" stage...

...like this guy is. He actually kept the sport coat and tie on the whole time.

Here's Andi. She was pretty excited about her dress because it was pink.

Hey look, pictures

Here are some pictures from Peyton's birthday:

Dylan looks over Peyton's shoulder in amazement. "It's a pillow. It's a book. It's Cars. I'm going to steal it!"

Ok, he didn't get just Cars stuff, he just did a good job posing in this picture.

It's the birthday boy "Peylon" and his groovy cake.

Andi refused to eat her dinner because her tummy ached. As she was leaving the table she said "I think cake and ice cream will make my tummy better." Yeah, look how well that worked out for her.

"Mmmm cake.

Happy birthday, Peyton!

Happy Birthday Peyton

Our little man turns three today. Holy cow, time flies when it's not your first kid. Now that he's three, I can start charging him a quarter for every diaper change. He got birthday money, so I know he has some cash.

Back in the saddle again

Hey all! I know that you have all been itching to hear from Frankenstein herself, and I wouldn't want to disappoint. I have reached that point where I'm feeling well enough to do some things, but I'm quickly reminded that I can't, either with a twinge of pain, or a nasty look from my husband or other loved one here to help out. I've also reached the point where I have no excuse for why the thank you notes are still on my dresser apparently becoming a permanent fixture there. But, thankfully, I have yet to reach the point where I feel bad that I'm still wearing my PJ's all day, every day. To prove that I am getting better, I have compiled a list of general musings, observations, and grievances of the experience so far.


Three weeks post-op there are a handful of things that I know for sure...

First: Pajamas are a WONDERFUL thing, but what's better are pajamas that look like real clothes. Kind of like my own personal joke on society...it may look like I actually TRIED to look nice for you, but I actually just woke up from a nap. HA HA!

Second: Going to Walmart in pajamas, holding a stuffed dog, and sitting in a wheelchair will get you some weird looks if it is not completely obvious what your ailment is. I'm sure there are several people in Rockwall county that assumed I had more of a mental disability...

Third: Inevitably, the basket in the convenient "sit and shop" wheelchair will not actually be big enough to accomodate all the items on your shopping list, leaving the "pusher" with the responsibility of carrying the extra items.

And Finally: No surprise that the horribly overpriced, non-formulary, more than a dollar a pill vitamins you were prescribed will turn out to be the culprit for your nausea...making them the most expensive decoration in your kitchen.

Thanks so much to everyone that has kept me in their thoughts and prayers, and especially to those that were able to help out in one way or another. Ya'll are my heroes!

Sam is Home

Sam got home from the hospital today. Everything is going well, she's just really sore (understandably). They sent us home with a list of stuff she should and should not be doing, a list of medicine to take and a couple prescriptions. Considering they were just finishing up the surgery this time last week, it's amazing she's home already. It's nice to have her home again.

If you are local and want to help out at all, meals would be helpful (and cool). Seriously, could you see a fat guy like me turning down food?

Day three

Sam was doing pretty well today. She was resting a lot (thanks to morphine and zofran), but when she was awake she was a bit more like herself. There aren't any real problems now. She's still in the ICU, just to make sure everything gets healed up sufficiently. I think they plan on getting her up to walk tomorrow. I've seen some other people in the ICU do it, and it looks really difficult for them. I can't even imagine the pain she is going through. She is quite the trooper, and is doing her best to get better. I don't know how she does it. After seeing her I would never want to go through open heart surgery, but here she's done it twice now. She is amazing.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Also thanks to those who have helped us out so far. It is appreciated.

Update

Sam is in the ICU now and is doing fairly well. She was in surgery for 6 hours Monday. Everything went pretty much as planned. Except for some post-op bleeding that she was having. The surgeon had to go back in Tuesday morning at 3:00 to patch something up and drain the fluid that was collecting around her heart. So yeah, she pretty much had two surgeries in 24 hours.

Right now she is recovering fairly well. She's in a lot of pain (understandably) and really doesn't like the respitory therapist. I'm hoping she'll be out of the ICU tomorrow, but that all depends on how well she is progressing. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks for all the prayers sent our way. It'll take her a while to recover completely, but I know she can do it. She's a tough chick.

Prayers

Please include us in your prayers. Sam is going in for open heart surgery tomorrow (March 9th) at 5:30 AM. She's getting something done that they'll need to do every 15 years or so because of her heart condition. We're hoping that everything will go smoothly and the recovery will go well. So, if you're the praying type, we would appreciate being included for the next week or so.

I'll update her progress as much as I can through the week.

Thank you.