Monday, December 23, 2013

Cam's ears & surgery

I should be napping, most of my house is, but I can't seem to rest quite yet - listening intently to Camryn's room, waiting for any cries of discomfort or sickness.

Hopefully, as our doctor and nurses told us, by tomorrow she should be running around like normal, but as of yet, she is still not back to herself yet. Between signs that she is feeling uncomfortable, and not yet keeping down food or drink, Cam is still feeling yucky after surgery.

We had to check in at 7:15, and her surgery was scheduled for 8:30. That is a long time to wait when all she wanted to do was eat (and pull the thing off that they taped to her toe to monitor her heartrate - my nursing friends probably have a technical term for it :o)).

A little Baby Einsteins was in order (thank goodness for entertainment!!)

After a dose of Versed (which comes without the Tylenol combination this time, so apparently it tastes really bad), someone was feeling a little loopy and a little relaxed. :o)

Taylor and Camryn both got a little stuffed animal from the sweet nurse. Taylor was excited :) Camryn didn't know what was going on...


When they finally took her back to surgery, she cried when they carried her away. :o( Mama may have cried, too. :(

Taylor, Ryan and I went to the cafeteria to get breakfast after she went back for surgery, and within 40 minutes I was meeting with the doctor learning that everything went well! Apparently she had infections in both ears and fluid they were able to vacuum out - hoping she feels amazingly better after that! The adenoids were good to take out, too - I won't go into details. :)

Then it came time for recovery. Oh recovery. :(  After the surgery for her first set of tubes, she didn't really struggle coming out of anesthesia at all. She nursed right away and all was good with the world. This time, with the extra discomfort from being intubated and the IV, she was not a happy camper. There was blood on her favorite little lambie and on her little nose, face, and ears and I could not get her to calm down or stop screaming for what felt like hours.


Yeah, I cried again. The nurse was so sweet, and she completely validated my emotions instead of making me feel like a crazy person. :) Camryn would calm down, and then wake up screaming and pulling at the IV, then fall asleep again. My mommy heart ached for her. Once she was a bit more alert and less agitated, we still couldn't get her to take any fluids for over an hour. Finally they decided it would be okay to take her home, and we would just have to watch her fluid intake.



A moment of happiness with the bandaid

The whole drive home - totally cashed out

She finally agreed to eat some applesauce when we got home, but then threw it all up shortly after.

Oiy. So now she is napping, laundry is going, and I am hoping that after a good snooze in her crib, she will feel a bit better, we can give her more medicine, and she will feel like drinking and/or eating.

This all puts into perspective how THANKFUL and GRATEFUL and BLESSED I feel that we have two fairly healthy little girls without any major health issues. I know some STRONG mamas out there who have to deal with SO much more, and I praise them and pray for them even more mightily after a single morning like this.

Hoping for a happy, HEALTHY holiday for everyone we know, and for a happy, healthier little 20 month old!!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Self timer trick....who knew! :)

One evening, the girls and I were playing around by the Christmas tree, and I was taking pictures of them, and I wondered if I could get any pictures with the self-timer. Turns out that little blinking red light on the front of the camera is pretty captivating to them (at least for a little while) and we got some great family shots, with no one else around to take them!


Silly daddy :o)



Photobomb! Cam-Cam taking off before the timer went off ;o)

Love these girls!!

My FAVORITE people


Sunday, December 15, 2013

Cozy December Moments

Snapshots of December :o) LOTS of cozy moments during a month that has had a LOT of cold and snow so far!

These girls love blankets and pillows



A typical Friday night - we're all exhausted from 5 full days of school!







Watching "The Grinch"...Camryn is riveted by this holiday special this year. :o) She dances and sways to the song that the "Who's" sing on Christmas.

Christmas card pictures that we got while cutting down the tree!


Playing with their own Christmas tree

And when did this little girl get so big!


5 more work days and then the Christmas break fun begins! LOVE this holiday season!! :o)

Gingerbread house


I have been waiting for Taylor to be old enough to start doing this with her at Christmas - making a gingerbread house!

I decided to make it easier this first time around and buy a kit to help us out - a Mickey Mouse one for fun! She did the candies, and I took a lot of direction from her about where to put the frosting and windows. :)



Quite fun, and Taylor is very proud of her creation!

Back it up...Thanksgiving weekend :)

Before Christmas hits, I have to get a few pictures down from Thanksgiving weekend!!

After having a BIG Thanksgiving meal with Ryan's family (coming from a very small family, the Slagh family gatherings still amaze me sometimes with how many people get together!) We traveled to BC to Mem's house to meet up with everyone. The food was good, the company was even better. The time we get to see each other is so infrequent (it had almost been 6 months since we all gathered together), that we really try to make the most of it! Lots of little moments captured from our day together...

A lot of time was spent in the 'sun room' - fantastic views of woods behind the condo - with many chances to see deer that came very close!



My old doll house that my grandpa Bob built has become a few favorite when we visit.

And decorating Mem's Christmas tree was fun, too! Taylor took over most of the work - she loved hanging all the little ornaments.

The master cook at work....the turkey was all natural and came straight from an amish farm! Yum :)


And of course, lots of loving on new little Tess at her first Thanksgiving. Such a little sweetie... :)






Mem and her grandbabies :)

The next day, Mem came to Holland with us, and we did a few fun Christmas things, as well as celebrated Ryan's birthday! Opening presents with the little ladies :)


Muffins for breakfast, with a little Pandora Christmas music :)

And Christmas cookie baking!





Official cookie testers - yum!

It was a busy weekend, but lots of fun with lots of family, and I love getting to "officially" start the Christmas season celebration!