Just us - there’s a little of the before, but mostly it’s the after...: August 2015

Saturday with Family

We had a very busy day planned

and this little angel was not feeling well at all.

I tortured my husband and made him take multiple pictures with me.

The Little Monkey was looking paler by the minute.

When we arrived at lunch, Addie was really not feeling well, and was fussing and refused to move one inch until Julien came to hold her hand.

He was still getting out of the car
and
absolutely refused to have his picture taken.

My hair had already fallen and my husband was getting grouchy - it was past his lunchtime.

Being surrounded by family made Addie feel a little better

and her brave Uncle Howard was a saint and held her baby - just to make Addie happy.

He put on his tie, which meant I made him take another picture.

Lunch was over, so he had nothing left to complain about.

Motrin hadn't kicked in yet and this little ~~monster~~ monkey was getting worse and worse!

She got out of the car with a cup of water, her baby and two eye shadow cases.

She was a walking mess.

She went from pale to flushed and we were carefully plotting the routes to the nearest restrooms.

Thankfully, we were able to wrap up the afternoon and get Addie home before any public incidents took place.
Other than Addie not feeling well, we had a great day

and

I got some overdue pictures of my loves - minus one.

First Day of School - 2015

Yesterday began the start of 2nd Grade and 11th Grade for my babies.

Addie - as always - was super excited about going to school.

She was happy to pose for pictures and loved showing off her cupcake dress, cupcake ponytail holders, cupcake backpack and cupcake snack bag.

She's easy to please!

So proud of her new backpack!

Addie did great on the way to school and asked a ton of questions!

Funny girl's manicure didn't make it to the first day of school, but I didn't have the heart to take off her sparkly nail polish.

We had time to spare, so we took advantage of it!

Addie was very anxious when we approached drop off, but she did great.

Standard first day of school pictures...

and this one melts my heart!

We picked up the kids for a "first day of school celebratory dinner" and had a great time listening to the details of Julien and Bailey's day.

With Addie, I don't know the details of her first day, which actually crushes me.

She was exhausted and ready to go back today, so I take that to mean that her day went well.

Both of my babies were happy at the end of day two, so it appears this school year is off to a great start!

One Week Post-Op

Ninja Girl is doing great!

She has adjusted to wearing her hand band and doesn't focus so much on wanting to take it off as needing to make sure it is adjusted perfectly.

I think it helps with the itchiness and weird sensation that she is probably experiencing.

Also, thanks to Amazon, Olaf has returned!

Yesterday was the first day that Addie acted like she felt better.

She wanted to listen to music, and be up and helping with little things, but by the afternoon, she was sleepy and wanted to go to bed.

Yesterday was also the first day that Addie could get in the shower and have her hair washed - I think it made us both feel better!

She is making great progress!

Post-Op

Addie's follow-up visit went perfectly!

There were no issues and she lost the monster dressing in lieu of gauze and the headband.

Addie was very serious about reading through all of her paperwork and had lots to say about it.

Unfortunately, due to the extreme summer heat, Olaf is no longer with us.

Addie insisted that Olaf ride with us to her appointment and when we arrived back at the car just 45 minutes later, Olaf was already gone - having exploded in the back of my car.

I called Chris, hoping he would be able to find a cute balloon in the store at work that would ease the pain of Olaf's demise and when that didn't happen, I resorted to Emergency Plan B.

There has been enough downtime at our house that we discovered just how overdue Julien was for a haircut - AND, just how thick his hair is!

Lucky boy!

At three days post-op, Addie still needs pain meds and is still very sleepy, but doing great!

Jaycob came to visit her yesterday, which really brightened her mood!

My niece came to spend the night tonight and to help me with Addie tomorrow.

I have to keep a close watch on Addie to make sure she doesn't take off her headband, pull on her ear or scratch her stitches.

It's even more challenging when she doesn't understand why I'm constantly telling her "No" and "No touching!".

Addie is a ninja!

I can't tell you how many times I've had to put her headband back on.

Although her new little ear is bruised and swollen, it looks beautiful!

So, it is all worth it.

School will be starting soon and Addie will be on restrictive activity for a month.

This means that extra care will have to be taken at school to make sure she isn't bumped or hit - and PE is limited.

Addie loves PE, so hopefully she will understand that it's only for a little while.

She's a trooper and will continue to improve and do well!

Surgery Day

Addie had a remarkably good day - all things considered.

Her surgery room was nice and peaceful and she was mostly at ease except for the yucky frog photo hanging on the wall.

Addie only cried once the entire day, and that was when the nurse took her pulse ox and blood pressure.

When I asked which baby was going to make the trip with her to the hospital, she gave it some thought and then chose her New York Baby.

I searched through the babies closet and found a hospital gown and got her all ready to go, including her own bag with a change of clothes and extra blanket.

Her baby was by her side all day.

The extra hugs from her baby kept Addie calm - making my efforts all worth it.

We had a four hour wait, which gave us lots of snuggle time.

She even got brave enough to get up and wander around the room

and she even went to get her sweater all by herself.

I managed to get her changed without incident and the nurse even brought her an iPad to use while waiting.

Addie could see all the patients coming and going by her room, and as long as I talked her through each question, she was calm.

She had LOTS of questions!

Chris was put in charge of finding a balloon from the gift shop and he did a perfect job!

It made Addie so happy to see it when she got back to the room.

She pointed at Olaf as if to ask if it was hers.

When he told her that she got to keep him, she nodded and wanted to hold him (Olaf, not her Daddy).

Her surgery went very well!

We knew the doctor planned on replacing both tubes - yet again - but we didn't know that Addie had a pretty bad infection - in both ears.

The doctor was able to remove all the infected tissue and replace the tubes without us having to come back for another surgery.

Also, after months of consideration, we also decided to proceed with an otoplasty.

I'm just thankful that it's over and Chris and I are at peace with our decision.

Addie received rave reviews from the recovery room nurses for being so sweet!

They said that she said, "please", "thank you" and "ma'am" the entire time they were with her.

So proud of my baby for remembering her manners during a very stressful time!

When she got back to the room, she remained very calm - with her biggest concern being the IV in her hand.

Our ride home started out good until - despite the best efforts of the anesthesiologists - Addie started getting sick.

Even through it all, she was calm and sweet.

---Addie wanted to know where Olaf was so I told her I would show her...

I love that sweet smile even though she was miserable!

I honestly can't begin to say how proud I am of Addie for being so brave and for being so sweet.

The decision to proceed with the surgery was very stressful.

We are heading back to the doctor this morning for a dressing change and to make sure my beautiful girl is doing well.

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes!

Surgery - Number Seven

Today will be surgery number seven for Addie.

She will have yet another set of ear tubes put in - AND, another ear procedure on her right ear.

Since the surgery will end all summer activity, we certainly made the most of this past weekend.

Addie went with me for a pedicure Friday night, had her hair cut Saturday morning, spent the rest of the afternoon/evening on the boat and got to go to the store on Sunday and pick out a variety of ice cream to help with her recovery.

She is all about being pampered - and I was happy to make sure we made time for it.

Kim at Polished was absolutely phenomenal with Addie.

She was so patient with her and so very sweet.

Everything I need in someone who is caring for Addie!