Princess Night

Well, it has been a busy month and not a lot of blogging going on.  However, there is a lot I should have posted, so I am going to do my best and try to post things chronologically as much as possible.

Back at the end of April I took the girls to Chick'fil'A for princess night.  They had a great time.  We were joined by Grandpa & Grandma as Kyle had to end up working late and I didn't think I could handle it by myself.  The girls love CFA and they had a great time at this event.  They had a company there that does little girls tea parties, etc. and so they painted nails and had princess dress-up clothes for the girls.  The girls were also able meet Cinderella, which was a huge hit for Katelyn.  They also had a carriage ride, but the line was long and it was getting late, so maybe next year.

Our Sunday School Girl

The Sunday before Mother's Day was the last week of Sunday School for the year.  It was Katelyn's first year, and she loved it.  She loved her teachers and seeing her friends and her favorite part was probably the singing.  The past week they had a family breakfast followed by an awards ceremony.  Katelyn got a participation/completion award and then she was one of two in her class to get a medal for Bible memory work.  I was pretty surprised at this one because we can't get her to tell us what she learns each week, but her teachers must think that she did good for her age.

Her medal for participation & her Sunday School completion award.

The kids were able to pick a couple of songs to after the awards and Katelyn was one of the two who picked out a song.  I was pretty surprised that she was bold enough to do so because, due to when her birthday falls, she is the absolute youngest kid in Sunday School.  She picked 'The Lord's Army' and then was able to go up front and help with the motions.

Katelyn & her class (sorry it is a little blurry)

 The following week the kids sang in front of church for Mother's Day before the service.  Katelyn did AWESOME! 

Surgery was a success!

Well it is closing in on two weeks since Brooke's surgery, so I should probably post an update. . .

Surgery went well.  It was at Children's Hospital Orange County, which had opened their new hospital within the month before the surgery, so it was a super nice hospital.  They had so many great things for kids.  There were toy areas and tvs in the waiting room and in the pre-op area if she was getting bored while waiting for the doctor.  As it was pretty early and she was fairly tired, we didn't use much of that, but there was also a tv in our pre-op room with kids shows on and a couple boxes of toys specific for a girl.  I didn't even have to pull out the things that I had brought along.  She was such a trooper and we didn't have any issues before the surgery, even though we had to wake her up a couple of hours early and she couldn't have any food before her 8:30 AM surgery.

Playing with the tea cups in pre-op - she was pretty happy

They gave her some medicine about 30 mins. before taking her back that made her really loopy, but relaxed her so that she didn't seem to care when daddy and mommy left her at the door to the surgery area.  She was allowed to take in her baby and her blanket, which was also nice.

Kyle & I were in the waiting area for a very short time (maybe 15 - 20 mins.) before they came and told us to wait in a meeting room to talk to the dr.  He came in and told us everything had gone well and that the thumb was bending!  Shortly after that we were able to meet Brookie in the recovery area.

We could hear her crying before we even walked into the room and that continued for over an hour and a half.  I guess that is somewhat normal when they come out of the anesthesia, but we were not expecting that - at all.  She just didn't know what to do with herself and would cry for us and push us away at the same time.  They released us as soon as we could get her to drink something and when she got into her car seat with her blanket she immediately relaxed and fell asleep on the way home.  When she woke up a few hours later, it was like nothing had really happened.

She has been doing great with her hand bandaged up.  She hasn't really been picking at it much, although the last few days she has been trying to scratch it as it is starting to scab and heal.  And then last night she completely took the wrap off - still not sure how she did that and hopefully it won't happen again.  It looks like most of her stitches are already gone.  It has been a little boring around our house as she can't get her hand wet or dirty, so we've pretty much been staying indoors (although she has still managed to stick into water and milk on her plate at least 3 times that I can think of).   We have a follow-up appointment this Wednesday and then hopefully life will be back to normal.

Oh - and her thumb is working great!  She holds it straight more and more everyday!

Sorry this got a little long and detailed, but I like to have some of these memories written down for us as well.

On a side note - just walked out the mail & guess what was in there? . . . the hospital bill (not yet adjusted for insurance) - YIKES!

Brookie's Little Surgery - Prayers requested

Tomorrow will be a big day for us.  In January, we noticed that Brooklyn's right thumb is always bent and she is unable to straighten it.  It took us two months to get an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic specialist and tomorrow we are finally scheduled to have the surgery to fix what has been diagnosed as 'trigger finger'.  It will be a small procedure (only about 8 minutes), however, they do need to put her under general anesthesia to complete the surgery.

Such a cute little hand, isn't it?

The doctor described it as a nodule on her tendon that is unable to slide through a tube at the base of her thumb.  They will be slitting an opening through the top of that 'tube' and then she will be able to immediately move her finger following the surgery.  There will be a few stitches that will dissolve after a couple of weeks.

The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30 at CHOC (Children's Hospital Orange County).  We need to be there at 6:30 AM, which means leaving our house around 5:30.  And of course no food or drink for B before the surgery.  So it will be a long day.

Please pray for us tomorrow (and today and the days to come).  Here are a couple specific areas where we need prayer:
1.)  Prayer for the surgery itself & that Brooklyn will be ok without eating and also being taken away from her parents
2.)  Prayer for the nervousness of Kyle & I
3.)  Pray that Brooklyn will not have too much discomfort and that eating, playing, etc. will not be too difficult in the next couple weeks (she is right handed).  Also pray for patience for Kyle & I as she deals with these things
4.)  Pray that she will be healthy enough for the surgery (she has had a slightly runny nose, possibly due to teething for the last week, which might make them postpone the surgery all-together)

My Sweethearts

Well, the flu bug hit us pretty good.  I had written that Brooke was sick the other morning and that evening Katelyn had it from about dinner time until 11 in the evening.  It was a long night.  However, it only lasted that day and now everyone seems to be feeling better (although maybe a little more tired than normal). 

So, we had missed Easter service and the following week because the girls had colds.  We finally made it to church last week and the girls had a chance to wear their matching Easter dresses.  Aren't they adorable?

Unfortunately we missed church again yesterday because of the flu.  1 out of 4 weeks for church, hopefully next month is better.

First beach trip of the year

My Dad & Tammy were out for the funeral and we were not doing anything on Friday, so we decided to take a trip to the beach.  (Plus, Dad had mentioned last time he was here that maybe we would go to the beach next time and Katelyn forgets nothing.)  We headed to Corona Del Mar.  Sam & Mackenzie joined us as well.  Neither Sam or I had ever been to Corona Del Mar and I have to say that I really liked it.  It was a week day in April, so it wasn't very busy, but also, the beach length was really short so it was easy to get back and forth from the car.

Feeling the water

Katelyn getting buried by Poppa (and B helping out)

 It was a beautiful warm day.  If I had known how warm it would be, I would have put the girls in their swimsuits.  They loved playing in the water, Brooklyn especially was so giggly everytime the water touched her.

Cheese! - What a cutie pie!

The entire group (except me).  Katelyn was too busy playing to be bothered with a photo.

On a different note, we woke up to a sick Brooklyn this morning.  :-(  First time we've really had one with the stomach flu.  However, she doesn't have a fever and is acting pretty normal - just a little subdued.

Relaxing with Daddy.  (Only one of them was sleeping & it wasn't Brooklyn)

Praising the Lord for the life of a loved one

My Grandma went home to be with the Lord early on Saturday morning.  Visitation is later this afternoon with the funeral and graveside tomorrow. 

She had suffered with dementia/Alzheimers for a couple of years and was getting progressively worse and then in February she fell and broke her hip, which put her through surgery and since that time she has been confined to a bed or wheelchair and very confused about her surroundings.  She would have been 85 later this month.  We praise the Lord for her life and the fact that she raised her family in the knowledge of the Lord.  We will miss her sarcastic sense of humor and strong-will.  Please keep my family in your prayers as we mourn this loss and some are traveling long distances to join us.