Free at last!

The past two weeks have not been easy. Trying to juggle work and having the kids at home was complicated by Paige's tonsillectomy.  She has been feeling better but the doctor had her on restricted activity.  Which meant no swimming, running, jumping or anything too active.  Really?  During summer!  Lol. We have spent lots of time reading, crafting, watching movies and just laying around.  But we have been going a little stir crazy being so stuck in the house.  Thankfully yesterday she had her follow up with the doctor and was released to return to normal activities!  She had a great check up and the doctor said considering all she went thru she had a great recovery.  Honestly it would not have been that bad had she not had her set back with the bleeding.  She is one tough little girl for sure.  

There were a few things that I did not expect as a side affect from the surgery.  Number one was the bad breath!  Lol. It was so bad!  I read it is from the scabs and let me just say it had us all running for the hills.  Thankfully as the white scabs went away so did the bad breath.  Number two was the fever.  She ran a low grade fever for almost 5 days.  A good thing I did not expect was how much she was able to eat.  I was so worried about it.  She did lose some weight but for the most part she was able to eat most things after the first few days.  We have lots of leftover ice cream.   We are so thankful this is behind us and she did so well after such a scare.  

I wanted to post a comparison picture of before and after.  She does have some healing to do (which is the white you can see on her throat) but I thought the before and after was crazy.  

Tonsillectomy day 4

I am thankful to say today has been a much better day for Paige.  We made it home from the hospital Satuday afternoon and I was able to give her a good bath.  She was very sore and tired and mostly just laid around the rest of the day.  I set my alarm for every hour Saturday night.  Yes, I was just a little paranoid!  Lol.   She had a pretty peaceful night all things considered.  Sunday she was feeling pretty rotten.  She slept until about noon and then barely moved the rest of the day.  I was able to get some food into her finally and I think that helped in a big way.  Sunday night was even better and today she has been more herself.  I can't lie I am super paranoid she will have another bleed.  To say I was a little traumatized is an understatement.  The doctor said the risk was highest during days 3-5.  Ugh!  Now that she is feeling better the real issue will be restricting her activity until we have our follow up in a week.  Tomorrow Caden will be back from his grandparents and that will make it even harder to keep her down.  We have been blessed with lots of praying friends and Paige has had several visitors bringing gifts.  Oh, and no more snoring!  I also noticed she now sleeps with her mouth closed.  At least I can say all of this will have been worth it  We are ready to put this whole ordeal behind us and have some fun this summer!

I forgot something else!  Since it was an emergency situation they pulled one of her loose teeth while she was put under again Saturday.  They put her tiny tooth into a specimen cup and she thought that was pretty cool.  Lol. So we also had a visit from the tooth fairy!  

I spoke too soon

I find it ironic that I am blogging from a hospital room after just posting how well Paige did after her tonsillectomy.  After such a great day I just knew this would be a smooth recover but last night about 2 things changed.  She woke up and asked for more medicine because her throat was starting to hurt again.  I gave her some Motrin and then she tried to go back to sleep but seemed pretty restless to me.  Of course I couldn't sleep so I just watched her.  A few minutes later she started coughing and she said she thought she might throw up.  The nurses and doctors had told me that she might get sick and a little blood was to be expected  so I was not too worried.  But a second later she threw up again only this time it was a little more.  It was also bright red so I knew it was fresh blood.  I woke Jimmy up (he was in Caden's bed) to see what he thought.  He reminded me they said this could happen and I felt better and he went back to bed.  But then she threw up again and it was more then even the time before.  At this point I was nervous and went to find the paperwork they sent home with us.  It said bleeding could occur but anything more than half a cup was a problem.  I knew by then she had thrown up more than half a cup so I called the doctor.  This is when things got very scary.  Every time she threw up it was more and more and after speaking to the doctor she let me know we needed to head to the ER immediately.  I woke up Jimmy and we quickly threw on what we could and headed to the ER.  After we got into Jimmy's truck I realized I forgot Paige's blankie so Jimmy ran back in to get it. That is when Paige threw up a huge amount of blood at once.  Just to explain how much I brought a mixing bowl with us and it was almost spilling out it could not hold anymore.  When Jimmy got into the car and saw it I could see the panic in his eyes too.  We rushed to the ER and on the way she filled the bowl several more times.  I was panicking inside but trying to stay calm for Paige.  I was frantically trying to text family and praying over my daughter that she would be ok.  Thankfully we made it to the ER and since the doctor had called ahead they took us back right away.  She was given an IV and taken back to surgery to stop the bleeding.  Now I am sitting here watching my poor baby sleep.  All I can say is God is good.  The doctor said it is rare but this can happen.  Hopefully we will get to go home sometime today although I almost wish they would just keep her.  Thank you Lord for taking care of our sweet girl.  

Jimmy's birthday/Paige's tonsillectomy

Yesterday was Jimmy's birthday.  Unfortunately he has been working non stop and had a pretty bad week at work. But he is a good daddy and since Paige's tonsillectomy was the next day he let her pick any place she wanted to go eat.  Caden left with Jimmy's dad that afternoon to spend some time with Nana and Papaw while Paige recovered from her surgery.  So it was just the three of us off to Jimmy Changa's for a birthday/tonsillectomy dinner.  Jimmy was tired afterwards so we dropped him off and Paige and I did a little pre-surgery shopping.  I think we went a little over board with the ice cream and Popsicles but I may have had a last minute panic attack about her surgery and just started shoving things into the cart!  Lol

I don't think any of us slept well last night but we were up early and at the hospital by 7:30.  I wasn't sure how Paige would react to everything but she was such a brave girl.  They let her pick out the flavor of gas mask she wanted (bubble gum) and explained to her that she would just go to sleep with no pokes until she was good and asleep.  Soon it was her turn and she walked away with the nurses like a champ after picking out a stuffed koala bear to carry with her.  The surgery did not take too long and the doctor came out to let is know how she did.  They said she was such a sweet brave girl and she did well.  She did have lots of scar tissue which made the removal a little more difficult but other then that she was good.  We went back to see her in recovery and poor thing was pretty upset.  She was crying from the pain so the nurse gave her more pain meds thru her Iv and she was off to sleep again.  The next time she woke up she was still in pain but it was manageable and she drank right away which was a good sign. Now we are home and so far she is doing great.  I read that as long as you keep on top of the Mortin and Tylenol they usually do fine so I definatly plan to do so. I am hoping the rest if her recovery will go smoothly and she will be herself again soon!

VBS night 3

Yesterday was the third night of VBS and I have to say I was really feeling it last night.  I was so tired!  Lol. But once you get there the kids and the music wake you up for sure.  Jesus dying on the cross was our lesson and I really wanted to keep this lesson simple and to the point. We talked about sin and how it separates us from God.  Then we talked about what Jesus did for us so we could be in Heaven with him one day.  I used a red marker and drew a red dot on their palms.  Then I wrote each of their names across it and we talked about how Jesus died for each and every one of them.  I hate I did not get any pictures.  They were excited to show off their nail prints and tell us Jesus died for them.  

I have been on the girls side during the assembly time but last night I stayed on the boys side so I could get a few pictures of Caden.  He is having so much fun this week.  Makes my heart happy to see all the young ones enjoying the church so much.  Tonight is family fun night and the parents will be there to listen to our main assembly and then stay and have fun with the kids.  Looking forward to a fun night!

VBS Night 2

Tonight's lesson was David and Goliath.  Amy and Robin were nice enough to put on a puppet show for the kids and they loved it.  Then it was off to throw water balloons at Goliath!  I used a projector and sketched a picture of Goliath onto a shower curtain.  The kids had a blast trying to throw their "stone" at him.  We also made giant bubbles and had craft time.  It was a great night.  Caden's friend from school was able to come and he was so excited.  The girls won the penny parade, so Caden is determined to win tonight.  He has been saving up his big bills for last.  Lol.  One more regular night and then Wednesday is family fun night.  We can't wait!

VBS Night 1

Tonight kicked off a fun filled week of VBS.  Mission Possible is the theme.  This year was a little different in the fact that we had free reign with what we did with the preschool.  Basically instead of trying to stick to lessons that were meant for older children we were able to costumize them ourselves to better suit the little ones.  Creation was our first lesson and I really wanted to make it fun and something we would not normally do on a regular Sunday.  

I found a recipe for moon sand on Pinterest and tried it out with Paige last week.  It was super easy to make (just flour and baby oil) and so much fun!  So we made a ton of it and hid some of God's creations in the sand.  The kids had a blast finding the animals and just playing with the sand.  We had lots of help and I think everyone had a great time.  I know I did!

Sweet summer time!

Thursday we started our summer out with a bang!  First it was end of year class parties.  Caden and Paige had a great time playing, eating and saying goodbye to their friends and teachers.  Then it was off to the movies and swimming at Brayden's house.  It was a great way to kick off summer.  Next week will be VBS and then Paige's tonsillectomy so we are trying to fit in lots of fun! 

Awards and kindergarten graduation

I can't believe another school year has come to an end.  Next year my babies will be in 1st and 3rd grade! :(. Yesterday was a happy and sad mamma day for sure.  We started the morning with Caden's awards program.  He ended up having an amazing 2nd grade year.  His awards included the Super Science, Star Reader, Citizenship Award, and an award for Academic Excellence.  This was his first year to get number grades not just E's or S's and he worked really hard and made straight A's all year!  I talked to him this morning about how proud we were of him.  Not just for his grades, but for overcoming the anxiety he had at the beginning of the year and for being a great friend to his classmates and sharing his faith at school.  Way to go Caden!  We love you!

That afternoon it was time for Paige's kindergarten graduation.  Of course they had a slide show that was so sweet.  They sang a song about moving up to first grade and then it was time to graduate!  I held it together the entire program until they were walking out and she ended up next to her best friend from church and school.  Seeing them walk out together and envisioning them in the future made me lose it!  Lol.  She loved kindergarten and did so well this year.  She ended on a level 14 reading level. ( you have to be on a 6 to promote to 1st grade).  She also found a love for math and drawing this year.  We are beyond proud of our Paige!  

Recital 2014

Sunday was Paige's 3rd dance recital. She was in two dances this year tap and ballet.  She loves being on stage.  Paige is not your typical girly girl so it is fun to see her get excited about the costumes and makeup.  She did a great job and was just beautiful!

Party time!

Saturday was Caden's party and he ended up having a pretty good turnout.  Caden was thrilled.  I think all the kids at least tried to skate.  We have not been skating since last summer, but I thought Caden and Paige did pretty well.  Caden had a great time and that made the last minute party totally worth it.