Babies Make Four: July 2018

This week has just about done me in, for the good and the bad. I don't know how we've crammed this much into the past 5 days, but we have!
Dillon and I only worked on Monday and Tuesday as my great-uncle Bob and his daughter Jayne were coming in for a visit and then Thursday was Charlie's surgery. I went with my dad Tuesday night to pick up Bob and Jayne and I was so excited to see them. I had never met Jayne before, but it had probably been 9 years since I've seen Bob. He is legitimately one of my favorite people in the whole universe. He's my grandpa's brother and my first memory with him is going to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia for lunch probably when I was younger than Luke. He's a calm man with a good sense of humor and lots of great stories. He's worked in the coal mines, fought in Korea, moved to California and lived the American dream by starting his own business. Since I've known him, we've spent Thanksgivings together, I've traveled to California twice to visit him, and we've had lots of dinners together when we all find time to be in the same city at the same time. The last time we were together, I was working at the Grove Park and we enjoyed a lovely dinner on the Terrace that included mussels, lots of wine, and me not being able to meet them the next morning for breakfast because I had enjoyed my evening too much. *ahem*. I love my Uncle Bob and listening to his stories so I'm especially thankful for him to be here this week. Wednesday, we sent the kids to school (Luke to his last day of preschool... another up and down for this week). We all had breakfast together and then Dillon gave them a tour of Asheville and all the areas of town. We had lunch at the Surf N Brew in Fletcher and then made our way to Sierra Nevada where we all enjoyed a beer only to be washed out by an afternoon thunderstorm. We were going to cook out that evening, but we were all so tired that we just ordered Chinese food for dinner where Bob and Jayne introduced us to MooSho Pork which is now one of my favorite dishes. Why have I never tried that?!

Luke spent the night with my mom and dad that evening since we had to be at the surgery center the next morning at 6:00 AM. He promptly became best friends with Jayne and is now her shadow anytime she's in the room! I even told him that he'd get to go with Maw and Peepaw this week to take them back to the airport and he immediately became sad (my sentiments too, actually). But they all enjoyed their evening together while Dillon and I came home and worried about what the next day would bring.

We arrived at the surgery center early, early Thursday morning and it all went fairly quickly. Our lovely minister and family minister came to be by our side while we waited to come back (I am SOOOO thankful for our church family. They are truly some of the nicest people I've ever known). We were taken back pretty quickly and Charlie was given a cute, tiny little gown. They showed her the little face mask that would go over her nose and mouth to put her to sleep and they had all kinds of toys that she loved to play with on the bed. About 30 minutes prior to the surgery, they gave her a dose of Versed which she hated because of the taste, but in about 15 minutes she was super loopy. She kept pressing her nose going "nooooseeee". The ophthalmologist and anesthesiologist both came and talked to us and all the nurses who were going to be with her in the surgery came and introduced themselves which I thought was really nice. When they took her back, the medicine had made her loopy enough so that she wasn't scared to be taken from us, which was a relief. Her "surgery" lasted for only 5 minutes. The doctor said she could feel the duct pop open and felt that a stent wasn't even necessary which made the procedure so easy. Dr. Swamy came and talked to us and said we could go back when Charlie started to wake up. I ran to the restroom and before I could come out, Dillon had already gone back, and Charlie was MAD. She did not like how she felt and she was still loopy. When she finally calmed down they told us we were good to go (which was about 9:00 AM).

As Dillon pulled the car around, Charlie became more irritated, I don't know why. I had warned the nurse that she's a fainter (when she gets mad, she'll hold her breath and pass out, coming around quickly after). She assured me that was ok, and they had dealt with that before. Only the nurse left us to put her in the car seat and I could tell that Charlie was holding her breath. I pulled her out of the car seat as she passed out. She usually does that and then takes a deep breath, but this time she held out and started turning purple. Dillon couldn't get her to come around so I ran into the front as the doors had locked behind us when we left. The receptionist frantically called a nurse and had them run out to us. By the time I got out there, Charlie was crying again but I can tell you that is probably the scariest 30 seconds of mine and Dillon's life. They made us come back in because her O2 levels dropped and so had her heart rate. After about 30 more minutes we had calmed her enough to get her in the car seat and I rode in the back with her home (I didn't even ride in the back with her when we brought her home from the hospital). She fell asleep in the car and slept at home until about 12:30 where she woke up and matter of factly hollered out, "MAMA!" I went in her room to find the happiest little baby with an eye that is no longer crusty. The doctor said it may take 2 weeks for her eye to clear, but I don't think I've seen it this clear since she's been born.

Needless to say, we were exhausted. The events of the day had worn us out. My mom and dad and Bob and Jayne all brought Luke back to us and we enjoyed some time visiting. Our church friends have also fed us for the past two nights and we have just felt so much love from everyone.

Luke is now on the month out countdown from kindergarten. We went to Target today and I bought him some Legos and school supplies. We ordered his backpack and matching lunchbox a few weeks ago and it's all Avengers! His bunk beds come in the next few weeks and we have some Avengers bedding for that too! Dillon painted his room today and it's a fun bright green. His room no longer has any resemblance to a baby nursery and it's all little boy now. I love it. But I'm also sad. How have five years gone in the snap of a finger? I'm excited for him though. I just know he's going to love school.

We have until Wednesday with Bob and Jayne and I'm trying to find as much time to spend with them. Hopefully we'll have some good relaxing time together. It's been a long update here today, but it's also been a long week for us. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. On to the next thing!

Selfie to daddy on Tuesday! Notice how swollen and red her left eye was?

Luke with Ms. Susan on Wednesday. She's taken care of him since he was 3 months old and we love her.

This one cracks me up... "I'm here to get my eye fixed!"

She was ravenous when she woke up on Thursday and ate all of Dillon's lunch.

We purged our house and had to take some stuff to one of my offices for a yard sale so we had a quick lunch at Little Pigs yesterday.

Lunch on Wednesday! (sorry to skip around!)

Too much backlight!

Last day being picked up!

Morning before surgery

After surgery she was back up and at 'em!

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. I fell asleep at 7:00 that night on the couch.

Can't keep a good sass down!

The past few weeks have been fast and furious. I think when I left off we had just started our week of vacation Bible school. If you've never been involved in helping put forth VBS, let me tell you, it is a labor of love and you are usually completely exhausted (exhausted but fulfilled) by the end of it. Chasing little ones, planning for rainy days, keeping kids from kicking each other (ha! true story!), oh and did I mention chasing little ones? Add this in on top of working most days and taking care of your family, by the end of it I felt like I was a walking zombie. I say this, but all in all it was a fabulous week, all the kids had a blast and the people who worked VBS with us are such great folks.

In other news, we're getting ready for some big changes around our house. Our next big adventure is Charlie's eye surgery on Thursday... Well actually before that I have my first mom's night out on Monday with some of my new friends from church and then Wednesday my great Uncle Bob and his daughter Jayne are coming in for a visit. I'm glad they'll be here to help me take my mind off the surgery on Thursday and the kids will be going to school so we can have some undivided attention with them.

Also, Wednesday marks Luke's last day of preschool. This means we're one month out from school starting and my mom and dad will keep him until then. They want to take him school shopping for clothes and swimming and just let him be lazy before he has to start up with a school career. So I guess the eye surgery really isn't our next big thing, ha!

Luke will be with my mom and dad on Wednesday night as we have to be at the surgery center bright and early on Thursday. Charlie's first on the docket to get her surgery done and it should only take 5 minutes if she doesn't need a stent put in place. I know this is simple, but it makes me anxious all the same. I worry about them taking her back from me and her not understanding. It makes me sad to think about. After that there's prep for school, a trip to Richmond, my ZERO race, school starting, a birthday trip to Biltmore for me and Dillon, a trip to the lake to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday, a trip to Savannah in October to celebrate 10 years of marriage, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I list this out every blog post, but I'm obsessively thinking how much I have to get done. I legitimately bought a bulk of my Christmas gifts this week during Prime Day on Amazon. It also means that I've spent too much, but I guess it's better than spending it all at Christmas time.

Another thing that has thrown Dillon and I for a loop is the loss of a little girl at our church. She was in an accident and didn't make it. It has been heart wrenching for us and I know completely devastating for her family that loves her so much. Dillon and I decided to watch a movie last night and we picked "Bad Moms." I heard it was funny, but when we started watching it I realized how much we complain about caring for our children and that it's a drain on our own lives. What whining we do. These babies are our gifts and, yes, sometimes they will drive us crazy, but love them and love them big. They are crazy and passionate and sweet and wild, but our lives are so very fragile. The mom talked in the movie about how she wanted just one quiet breakfast, all alone, and my mind traveled to the mom who lost her whole family this week in the boating accident and how she said her house would be incredibly quiet now without little feet running through it. Enjoy that wild breakfast, embrace the craziness, take on being the loudest house on the block. How selfish are we to not realize what we have?

I try not to post pictures of other people's kids, some people want them shared on social media, but this pic is too cute and it's the only one I'll share. This was our WHOLE wild and crazy group. What a fun time!