Mikayla gets her tonsils out

This morning Mikayla and I were off to the hospital so she could get her tonsils and adenoids out. Mikayla had not idea what was happening and she was a trooper about the whole thing! She actually amazed and surprised me at how well she did.

I must admit I thought she would be nervous but she was not. She put on her little gown, sat in the chair and waited like such a big girl.

 And the little cap, how cute is this girl? I was loving it. When it was time to go back she held onto the nurses and walked back like such a big girl. And when she was done and came back to the room she did great. The only thing that made her cry was when they had to take the IV out of her arm, they had to rip off the tape and that made her not happy.

 The whole ordeal didn't last long. We left home a little before 7:30 this morning and we were back home around 10:30. We were worried how Mikayla would be after the surgery. When Jennifer had her tonsils out she was a bear! We couldn't hardly get her to drink anything right away and she pretty much was on the couch the entire day. Not Mikayla! She was chatty, ready to drink and was ready to go. We sort of had to restrict her from doing things. She just wanted to play! This evening she was a little more cranky and we fully expect that tonight and tomorrow could be rough but for now the girlfriend is being a rock star!

 And in other news today: Kelly had her first bites of baby cereal. Her appetite has been really good lately and she has seemed a little hungry in between some of her bottles so I thought we would give it a try. Doesn't she look so happy? 

 Not that I love being in this picture but I love this face! Whenever Kelly is excited this is the face she makes. She smiles with her mouth wide open and makes almost a grunting noise. It really is the best.

 She was not really all that impressed with her first taste of solid food. So we will just keep trying, she will eventually like it, just not today.

 What a crazy end to a crazy week! Hope you all had a great Friday!

shaving cream fun

Bill has been all week in Colorado, so it has just been the girls and I. And the first few days of the week were just plain busy. We had lots going on and we all just kind of needed some fun things to do. So the past two days I have tried to do a few fun activities for school work. Yesterday afternoon I decided to try an idea I found on-line. We were going to "paint" with shaving cream. I did not think the activity would last long but to my surprise they were loving it! I did not however anticipate that the girls would need a bath by the time they were done!

Everything started out great. We were going to try to paint on the paper at first but that just wasn't working.

 Jennifer clapped her hands together and shaving cream everywhere. She thought it was great!

And of course she thought Kelly needed to see her messiness. Kelly may have gotten a little shaving cream on her while mom wasn't looking.

 We removed the paper and just went to painting the table instead.

 I needed to include the cuteness of this baby as well. 

 And then the fun started! Mikayla decided that it would fun to just paint herself with the shaving cream. 

 And then Jennifer decided she would join Mikayla in painting herself.

 And then Jennifer thought maybe she would follow in Mikayla's footsteps.

 You can see from the last three pictures why a bath was in order. They were covered!

Oh it was a mess and totally not how I saw the little activity going, at all! But it was fun, the girls laughed and laughed, which put a huge smile on my face. It was what we all needed after a busy few days, just some good, clean fun.
And stayed tuned, tomorrow morning Miss Mikayla will be having her tonsils out. It is going to be an interesting weekend at our house!

Kelly & her g-button adventure

I was looking through some pictures last night and was admiring this sweet little girl. Seriously, could she be any cuter?! She makes me smile. So I thought I would tell the story of Kelly's g-tube, coming out. 

 A few weeks ago, on a Wednesday to be exact, I awoke a little before seven. Knowing that it was going to be a busy day and our household needed to get moving, I was on my way to the shower. However, on my way I stopped by Kelly's room to run her feeding pump off. I knew her feeding was about done and didn't want the pump to alarm while I was in the shower, there were still two family members sleeping. I turned the pump off and then went to clamp Kelly's extension, the piece that fits into her button. I felt the blanket that was on her and it was soaked. My first thought was, "Oh man her extension somehow came out, which means the formula is not being pumped into her stomach but rather making a mess everywhere and the poor girl is not being feed. As I began to feel around to try and find the extension, I felt Kelly's stomach, there was nothing there. Nothing, her stomach felt flat. What's the big deal you wonder? It was a HUGE deal! I should have been feeling her button but it wasn't there!

 I quickly undid her pj's and I saw with my eyes, nothing. Kelly's g-button was GONE! I'm pretty sure I gasped out loud at what I saw. Normally not a big deal. We had a button malfunction at the beginning of the summer and we had to switch her button out. However this situation was much different. When I undid Kelly's pj's to see that her button was gone, the hole where the button is placed was, well... almost closed. There was more skin than hole, there was nothing there. I tried really hard not to freak out at this moment. We were told that when a button falls out that we have about an hour to get a new one back in. Otherwise her site will start to close. Well considering we don't know when the button came out we were well past the hour point!

How could this cute thing cause so much trouble?

 I quickly ran to get to Bill. I was really trying to not just yell at this point. I told Bill that I needed him "to come here, NOW"! I have never seen him jump out of bed so fast! I must not have been doing a good job at staying calm, although I was really trying. We quickly chatted about how in the world the girlfriend could have pulled her button out- it was still completely in tact- on the end of the button is a small balloon that keeps it in place, that keeps it from falling out, the balloon did not break, she some how got it pulled it out of her button site- really quite crazy!

 We quickly got on the phone to our doctors at Mayo, of course it was too early and none of them were there yet. But some other helpful people told us to try and get something, anything in that site. Bill tried the button, that was not going to work, he tried a small little tool that we use when we put in a new button in, he couldn't even get that in. So he was off to the ER, you see if we get nothing in that hole Kelly would have to have surgery again to place a new one in. We needed something in that hole until we could get to Rochester. The ER doctor was not having any luck but thankfully one of the doctors from Mayo called Bill just before he left the ER with Kelly. The doctor was able to talk  with the ER doctor and helped him figure out something to get in the hole, he was finally successful!

 So we all packed up and headed to Rochester. The doctor there was able to dilate the button site, using metal rods, and she got a new button in! All without surgery, hooray! The crazy thing was that we were suppose to be going to Mayo that day anyway, just not for a g-button issue! We were suppose to be going for a cardio check-up. So we got the button work done and were only about five minutes late for our cardiac appointment! For as crazy as the day started out and did not go as planned- Bill was not going to go with us, just the girls and I were going to go for a quick check-up- it ended up being a good day. We were reminded of what amazing people we have caring for our sweet little girl. We had an amazing conversation with the PA who worked on Kelly's button issue. We talked about adoption and she loved on all three of our girls. Our big girls then charmed all the nurses in the hallway, they charmed their way into about 25 stickers! And then we meet with our cardiologist and as always he was great to our family. An appointment that should have been about five minutes lasted about a half hour, including suckers for the whole family.  

So sweet Kelly girl continues to keep us on our toes. We asked if we could just keep the button since the hole was almost closed. Not a change, they said. Kelly has to go at least three months with out using her g-tube, for anything. She has to be able to gain weight, take in enough food orally and take all medicine by mouth. So since that day we have stopped using that little button. Our goal is to get rid of it, the right way, for good! So far Kelly is being a champ and it is going great.
(Maybe the story was a little long but hope you at least enjoyed the pictures! I know I already said it but this girl is just too cute!)

busy days

I just realized it has been nearly three weeks since I graced the blog world with any updates on our family. Well since getting home with Kelly girl things have just been busy. Lots going on these days and to be honest I'm just tired! So getting pictures onto the blog has kind of taken a back seat to other things. So what has been happening here in our world....
School has started. And in case you wondered if the rumors were true, yes we are homeschooling this year. We have been at it for almost three weeks and slowly but surely we will get into a routine. It is an adjustment for everyone and it will take a while to find that perfect balance for everyone. Someday soon I will try to write about our decision to home school. I know lots of people have lots of differing opinions on this whole issue, so I will share our hearts behind the decision.
As we start our homeschooling journey Bill is working hard to get a room on our basement finished. When it is done it will become our school room. Papa and mama were here over the weekend so papa could help work on the room. It was also Papa's birthday last week and you know Jennifer loves a birthday, so there was a little celebrating going on!
Miss Kelly girl is doing well after surgery. She has mastered rolling over from her back to her tummy. Now she just needs to figure out how to get back to her back. She gets slightly mad when she gets over and then can't get back. We had an interesting experience last week with Kelly's g-tube. This girl keeps us on our toes that is for sure! There is a whole story there that really deserves its own post as well, so stay tuned for the rest of the story.
And those big girls, Jennifer and Mikayla. What to say about them. They are doing good as well. Those girls are busy and they too keep me on my toes.
And I can't just write something without any pictures, so here are a few random pictures of the girls...

I would promise that I won't take three weeks to post again but let's be honest I can't promise that! I can hope that it won't be, after all there are a few stories to be told and more pictures of these sweet girls to share!