Jacob's surgery

Yesterday Jacob had his "little" surgery. It was a long day! Poor little guy. We arrived in Peoria around 9:30 after just getting slightly lost. Jeff and I ALWAYS get lost when we are driving places we are not familiar with. Jeff's parents would be able testify to that fact after our trip to Florida. Anyway, we got checked in and went to the surgery area. There we talked with several nurses, support staff, the doctor, and anesthesiologist. Everyone was so nice and understanding. We waited for about 90 minutes or so. Finally, the nurse came and took Jacob. While his surgery was originally scheduled for 11:00, they didn't get him until around noon. I still was not ready to hand him over. He's so little and the thought of having him under general anesthesia made both Jeff and me really nervous.

After they took him, Jeff and I went to the surgery waiting area. Talk about a busy surgery center! That waiting room was extremely busy. We got a pager and a patient number. It was really nice because they had a large tv screen that had the patient numbers listed along with where they were at with the surgery. So the whole time that Jacob was in there, we could tell what stage they were at. So, they started the procedure at 12:25. Around 1:10, the status changed to "closing" and the doctor was with us shortly after that. Then I was able to go see him in Phase 1 Recovery. I met him there with a very welcome bottle. He was so hungry because he hadn't eaten since around 6:45 that morning. He was in Phase 1 for about 30 minutes and then they moved us to Phase 2. That is where Daddy was able to join us. We were there for a little bit. The nurse checked in on him a few times, went over instructions and care with us, then we were off. We were hitting the road around 2:30pm. Then we had about a 2 hour drive home, which Jacob slept the whole time. Thank goodness!

He did really well last night considering. He was a little fussy, but was crawling around some. He was still his smiley little self. Such a happy little boy. We were totally expecting for him to be up a few times last night, but he slept all night without fussing. Jeff and I were excited about that because we were both so exhausted. We had an early morning and an emotionally draining day. Adam got to spend the day with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Greg. They took him to school where he got to go "upstairs to the basement." His words - not mine. He said they would go there if there was a "fire tornado." He cracks me up. If I try to correct him, he gets very annoyed. He knows what he is talking about so don't waste your breath. Adam was a trooper though. He is so concerned with Jacob's oughey. He's such a good big brother and loves Jacob so much.

This picture was taken in the waiting area before surgery. His surgery gown was so little!This picture was taken in the recovery room. He was pretty out of it. He was sucking his thumb A LOT yesterday. The nurses kept asking if he had a special blanket or pacifier. He just wanted his thumb.

Today he has been just great. Almost like nothing happened. He's been playing, crawling and just acting like his usual happy little self. We are so thankful that everything turned out ok and hope that the healing goes fast! Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We definitely needed them.

The Big Day

Tuesday was Adam's first day of preschool. He did so wonderful. Jeff and I are so proud of him. He woke up in the morning and was really crabby. He was saying that he didn't want to go. Then after he had a little bit of time to wake up and eat breakfast, he was ready to go. He did so great getting ready and letting mommy take lots of pictures.

When we got to school, he hopped right out of the car and we stood outside and got some more pictures while we waited to school to start. Here are some pics of Adam and a couple of school buddies.

After preschool was over, we went to BK (Adam would be mad if I actually called it by it's real name of Burger King) with FG and Kelly. I think they are destined to be good buddies!

It turned out to be a great day. I was very nervous that Adam would be crying and clinging to our legs. He is just becoming be such a big boy. Jeff and I are so proud of how he is growing and learning. We feel so lucky!

Preschool Orientation

Thursday Adam had his preschool orientation. Jeff and I took Jacob to grandma's house so we could both go and show Adam what a special place he would be going to. He woke up in a horrible mood that morning. Jeff and I were a little nervous thinking that he would be a crab about the whole thing. As the morning went on and Adam had breakfast things got a little better. When we got there, Adam just walked right in to check things out. He wanted to show the teachers his bag and how he colored it. He put his name tag on and washed his hands (the first thing they do when they first arrive at preschool). Then he was off, a little slow at first, to check everything out.

He is being such a big boy. Just in the last few weeks we have noticed a change in him. He is talking more to people he doesn't know very well (he still talks non-stop at home) and he is just being a little more social. He is ok with the idea of going to preschool. I made a calendar where we can cross off the days until his first day of school. Everyday he is asking "Am I going to preschool today?". This Tuesday will be his actual first day. I am sad about taking him, but I know he will have a great time. Here are some pics from his open house plus a family picture that we had to have taken so he can take to school.

Here is Adam with his buddy F.G.. Jeff will be taking both of them to school everyday and picking them up. He is such a good dad! We took a bunch of pictures to try to get one family picture.
There wasn't one of them where we were all looking at the camera.

On the Wings of Angels

My 35 year old cousin Kelly passed away last week on Monday after a long battle with cancer. She has 3 beautiful young children and was truly taken from her family too soon. Her passing has made me think so much about life, death, family, and the legacy that I want to leave. It broke my heart to see her kids say goodbye to their mommy. What were things like the last few weeks when the hope had diminished that things would get better? How do you possibly let go of your children? I can't even imagine how strong she had to be to hug her children and let them go not knowing if she would ever be able to hold them again. I don't know how strong I could be. Her oldest daughter read a poem at the funeral and did a wonderful job. I know her mommy was watching her and was so proud of her for doing this.

So many questions that can never be answered or understood. Things like this just seem so unfair. She still had so much ahead of her. I think we just need to take comfort in the fact that it is ok to not understand. It is ok to question God. It's even ok to be mad at Him. He can take it. In fact, I have a feeling He kind of expects it. The important thing is that while you can be mad, it's important to trust Him - knowing that we could never possibly understand why.

Anyway, on my way home from work this evening this song came on the radio. I have heard it a hundred times, but today it meant something different. Is Kelly really up in Heaven, smiling down on us saying "Don't worry about me."? I think she is. God bless Kelly and her family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8sWwFIFlK8

Misc Pics

Here are a few pics of the kids over the past few months:

Adam took a nose dive off of the slip and slide right into the mud.

It was all up his nose!

Note the spit up on my shoulder. That is a normal part of my wardrobe.

Adam likes to spike his hair - but it only lasts about 3 seconds.

Playing outside on a beautiful day this summer

Adam took this picture. Not too bad...

Jacob having Fun, Fun, Fun in his bouncer!

When I sleep...

Last night as Jeff and Adam went upstairs to lay down for the night, Adam said to Jeff: "When I go to bed, I sleep with one eye open and one eye closed and keep searching and searching for monsters." How funny! Where did he learn this?

I have pictures that I will post soon. I am a horrible mother!

The Whole D**N Thing

So, people always say you need to record the funny things your kids say. Well tonight Adam said something that I literally had to leave the room because I was needing to laugh. Tonight we went out for pizza with Jeff's family for his mom's birthday and then they all came back to our house for cake. Adam was too distracted at the time to eat his piece of cake. We gave him his bath and to lure him out of the bathtub, we told him he could eat some cake (keep in mind this is around 10:00pm). Not my finest moment. But, hey you do what you gotta do. So he's running around naked and we are trying to get him into his pajamas. Jeff followed him into the kitchen where Adam was looking longingly at the cake sitting on the counter. Adam was saying that he wanted his piece of cake. Jeff was so frustrated and said: "If you get your pajamas on you can have the whole d--n thing." So, of course Adam puts his pajamas right on. Then he comes back into the kitchen and says "I want the whole d--n thing." It was so funny! I had to leave the room.