Sarah Rose's Surgery

Bright and early, well almost bright, we left for Seattle yesterday morning. It's about a 2 hour drive from here to Seattle Children's Hospital and our check in for pre-op was scheduled for 6:45 a.m. I arranged the day before (well, actually several weeks before, but finalized the details yesterday) to have the boys stay with our neighbor over night so that we could leave and not have to drop them off at 4 in the morning :) So yesterday around 4:20 a.m. Jason, the girls and I left for our day. The drive was uneventful, nice, though the girls didn't sleep very much. We got to the hospital at 6:25 and got them dressed in the car. Check-in was easy this time, there aren't nearly the amount of people waiting that early in the morning! And then before we knew it we were being taken back. Hallway after hallway winding this way and then when were completely lost we were given a room. A Big glass sliding door on one side, frosted glass walls on either side of us and a wall with instruments, gauges and cabinets at the back. There was a pretty inviting reclining chair in the middle of the room and a few extra chairs so we settled in and got comfortable. Next was the onslaught of anesthesiologists, doctors, nurses all with their list of questions for us. But they were all VERY nice and comforting. And then I was given my scrubs so that I could escort Sarah Rose back to the operating room and hold her while they put her to sleep. We got to go back a little after eight in the morning and I held her while they told her a little about the mask and how it was strawberry flavored, and then before I knew it she was relaxing down onto the table :( Time for Mommy to go :(. Then I just went back and waited with Daddy and big sister Charity Ann. They told us the surgery would be about 30 minutes plus about 30 minutes for her to wake up from anesthesia, so that left us with an approximate time of 9:20 ish..... I was pointed to the beverage counter where I found lots of teas, hot coffee, apple cider and cocoa. I fixed us each something warm and then looked through the snack drawers and found some cheese and crackers and grahams for Charity Ann. As you probably guessed it was no food or drinks for Sarah Rose after Dinner time, so we didn't even breach the subject while she was with us and now Charity Ann was getting hungry. So we had our coffee/cocoa/apple cider and crackers and waited. After about 30 minutes we were called on by Dr. Freidrich and were told that she did wonderfully and that we could expect her in about a half an hour or so. So we watched the little TV in our room patiently until we saw her being carried down the hall towards us :) There she was, groggy and concerned about this woman that was holding her, but otherwise our Sarah Rose.... Perfect. She was given to Mommy and that's when she started crying, I am sure that she was wondering what the heck just happen to her, why she was feeling that way, and why Mom had left her with this strange though very nice nurse. So we rocked and whispered and she calmed down and napped for a few minutes. Daddy and Charity Ann decided to go for a walk so that she could rest for a little while and he made some phone calls. I just held her and tried to keep her comfy and gave her juice and Popsicles. Every once in a while she would start crying again which they told me she was probably just reacting to the anesthetic. And then after about a half an hour we got Daddy to come back, she started smiling like her usual self and we began the check out process. Amazingly it didn't take very long and we were heading out of the hospital doors at about 10:30!! I called a few people as we were driving away and then we settled in for our ride home which both of the girls slept most of the way home! Jason had taken the whole day off so when we got home we called the neighbor, told her that the boys could come home any time and thank you very much for watching them and that we were going to all go rest and watch a movie! So that's what we did, after some lunch. I think that we made it through both Black Stallion movies before dinnertime. Since then we have just been sure to keep on top of her Tylenol w/codeine and she has been pretty much unaffected by the whole ordeal. She has to keep her bandages on for 2 days, so that means I will take them off prolly after nap (or right before) on Thursday and we are just supposed to keep band aids on for a few more days after that. She has a post-op appt. on August 12th, and after that I think that we can just put this whole thing behind us :) Really it's been pretty straight forward and to the point. I am glad that it's over and we can stop wondering about it. All we will have is a story to tell and maybe two very small incision scars. :) So, all that said, here are a few pictures from this morning so that Sarah Rose can show off her bandages :)

Sarah Rose and her bandages

Mom, this is me Smiling!

Left hand

Right Hand

Sarah Rose

Update on Sarah Rose, the Big Girl!! She's not wearing pullup's or diapers AT ALL!! Not during nap, not at night!! Mommy has a few to spare for those emergency times, (fellow mommies will know what I mean by that!) but other than that, Jason and I have so far averted buying any Pull-up's or Diapers for this little one for ever! I bought Diapers in May! And still have over half a box sitting on a shelf in her room....... Size 3's anyone?? Hehe :) July 7th was the official potty training success day, the first day we tried, and NO ACCIDENTS what-so-ever on the FIRST day! Mind you, she's not yet 2 1/2! I am so proud of her and she is growing up so fast :(!!! Mommy is Pouting!!!!

Okay, sorry :)

So, if you happen to like reading my blog, and I think there are a few of you, you might want to go and check back through the last few weeks because I added some pictures to some of the boring blogs that I posted for July :) Finally had some time to work on it for a few minutes!

Okay here is the post with progress pictures of the yard, and I don't have one of the two trees, but you still get the picture :)

Charity Ann's second 6th Birthday :)

Here are a few pictures from her party on Saturday.
The kids spent the entire afternoon playing outside on the trampoline, the slides (which were a HUGE hit) and in the spa :) I think that she had fun, Hehe!!

On Wednesday, her actual Birthday, she got a Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty Pony that's the perfect size for barbie's to ride on from Cayleb, Noah and Sarah Rose. Mommy and Daddy got her a Mariposa Barbie and a "Barbie: The Magic of Pegasus" DVD. She also can't forget that Nana and Pop's got her and her siblings the super cool Airplane Teeter Totter from Costco!! She also got some fun money from Grandma Eques and her buddy Dylan.

On Saturday she got the Disney Princess Cinderella Pony from her friend Lily; a "Topple" game from her friend Maggie; and Barbie Camera and a beach Barbie from her friends Thomas, Marcus, and Cyrus; and a Barbie Mustang Car from her friends Kourtney and Brittney!! She had such a great time playing with everyone and it was a blast for the rest of us as well. I LOVE ENTERTAINING!! I made her another cake, an experiment of brownie crust, strawberry ice cream filling and a fudge topping. IT'S DELICIOUS!!! I still have a few pieces in the freezer that I am hoarding!! Hehe :)

Is Summer Half Full or Half Empty ??

That is the Question! I know that some people out there DREAD the summer home with their kids. I know that some people have to deal with Childcare issues all summer long, and can't wait for school to begin again. But I, on the other hand, don't have either of those problems. I've been spending the summer enjoying my kiddos for the most part. There are always going to be those times that they infuriate me, but for the most part, we have been having a lovely summer :) We had lots of visits from family fairly early on, all around the 4th of July. And then I had a Surprise Baby Shower that I planned for a good friend of mine, which turned out phenomenal

After that adventure ends I am hoping to be able to help my friend Kristy move her and her family across town (closer to us!). Not that our town is huge or anything (pop is less than 3,000 year rounders I would guess.) Our town isn't really set up like a typical town, with a general downtown area, though the area down by the water is generally the most populated, it's more like little islands of sub divisions divided by farms, people with acreage like us, and wetland areas that can not be developed. It's really nice, because even though we are all clustered around the beautiful bay, we all have our own space, some more than others, but really, even the subdivisions have only a short brisk walk to some sort of open space or water. Sorry, I know that I have digressed. Part of the "move" is a smallish yard sale that we are going to have here, because they are moving into a substantially smaller home so they need to purge a little extra stuff and I always have a collection going on of things I would usually just donate to the local "A.R.C." That is planned for this Saturday, so hopefully we will get good yard sale weather and will sell all of our crap stuff. Hehee :)

We also got the second installment of our "swingset" built. And, yeah, I talked myself and Jason and the kids out of the Costco one, even though is it a great playset. But, here's the cool part, we have a 20 foot double slide (for racing) going down the side of one of our hills, right off to the side of where the actual swing set is going to be built!! I am going to go take a picture and post it on here in a few minutes, but I have to go move laundry around :) Okay, here you go :)

So here is the grass almost full grown, I am so excited it looks so BEAUTIFUL out my back windows now, no more garbage, piles of blackberry brambles, fallen trees etc. Look back to May's posts to find some in progress pictures and see the change!!

Another back yard shot. You might be able to find a blog in May with Progress shots where these two trees can be located. It is really an amazing difference!

The Slide!!

Who Hoo!!

You can see how big it is compared to Cayleb! and Sarah Rose!!


Cayleb :)


Cayleb and Sarah Rose getting ready to race :)


Cayleb ready to race :)


Sarah Rose still getting ready to race :) I had to catch her, so I don't have a slide shot, sorry!

Cayleb going down the slide! Usually he's got his arms above his head in roller coaster stance!

So, either way, the answer to the question for me is the summer is still half full, though I see it disappearing ever hour of every day, which only gets us closer to the new school year that I am anticipating greatly!! I think that I need to start making some lists of materials and library books that we are going to need for the first several weeks, so that I feel "prepared." I know that for the most part, however, I am not going to be able to prepare myself for the adventure beyond that :)

Happy Birthday Charity Ann!!

Happy Birthday Charity Ann!!

She had a wonderful Birthday with us this year, and we have planned a small party for her on Saturday with some of her friends :)

Ahhhhh!!! A Barbie?? You got me a Barbie!!!!

Mmmmm, if it wasn't for that barbie, this would be my favorite part!!

Daddy and Sissy watching Charity Ann open her Pony :)

Ponies are my FAVORITE!!!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

Happy Birthday Tify!!
My wonderful neighbor surprised me with a Chocolate Cake for my Birthday!! Yummy!!! She's so sweet :)

My Big Girl!!

Congratulations to my

BIG GIRL SARAH ROSE!!!

I wanted to mention that my smallest one, Miss Sarah Rose, is potty trained except for night time. We haven't tried night time yet, but day time is AWESOME!!! So, I went from using 6 diapers a day to 1!! WOW!! She is such a big girl and I am soooooooo proud of her!!!! You Go Girl!! After I finish up this box of diapers..... (uh I think there's about 150 or so left!!) we can move on to pull-ups at night time to make it easier for her to try to go at night. Wow, 150 diapers should last me, what, like 5 months.... I may have to give some away cause she was almost ready to move into the next size any ways!! So, what does that mean?? No more Diaper purchases ever, and no pull-ups purchases for at least a few months. So at around $40 a month, that should help considerably with our grocery expenses!! Yippee!!! And yeah, I knew she was ready, and obviously she was, but I also had hidden motive to get out of buying diapers ;)

Fabulous Friday

The Bay at Sunset after a GREAT afternoon at the beach with Kristy and her girls, Jason, the kids and I. Sarah Rose

I don't know what we are going to do today.... I know that we have tentative plans with Kristy and her girls and maybe Jim! I hope that we can all make it down to the beach, Yippee!! I think that we will have lots of fun if we can make it down there :) Maybe a hot dog roast in the works?? I'll have to ponder a bit and see if I can come up with all the ingredients to make something to have with them......still thinking.............................

Oh well, I'll keep thinking :)

That's all for now. I just missed getting on here while family was here. And I know that once School is in session I

won't be able to get on as much either. But that's okay :).....................

Here are some pictures from the afternoon that we ended up having!!

Sarah Rose "Watering" Kristy so that she will grow :)

Charity Ann roasting sea weed for dinner, yummy!!

Kristy, I just liked this picture :)

The Big Kids out swimming :)

The Roast of Winnie the Pooh, after Sarah Rose tried to make him grow up big and strong :) Poor Pooh Bear!

Our Grass is Growing!

Yeah, it's finally getting bigger!! These past few weeks of sunshine have been great and the recent application of fertilizer didn't hurt either! I can't wait for us to begin building our swing set!! I know that the kids are really excited as well. I keep trying to talk Jason into building our own, though, versus the Costco one. But either way, it will be so much fun getting the supplies and then actually putting it together and lastly, taking a big swing for a ride!!!

I am also getting excited about the upcoming school year! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the break we are having right now. But I also am looking forward to the experience that the kids and I are going to have this coming year as full out home schoolers!! I think that they are getting excited as well. we've gotten a few replies to our advertisement about our Konos Ko-op and we are excited to meet people. One family that has 3 boys is in Surry B.C., Canada which is just across the boarder. It would be great having a contact there to help with setting up field trips and stuff up there. It's all pretty foreign to me :) The other Mom is right here in Birch Bay and she has 2 girls and a boy. So, if it all works out, we'll have my 4+Kristy's 2+Julie's 3+Loriann's 3+Michele's 2??=14 kids!! a few of which are tag-a-long toddlers but it's going to be a blast!!

I have started the plans for our Kick-off in August and am just waiting for Kristy to tell me which weekend works best for her family!! Hint Hint!!

I also have something else in the works, but can't talk to much about it...... it's around my Birthday, though ;)

If you happen to read this and want to check out our Konos Ko-op here in Birch Bay, WA here's the link: Birch Bay Konos Krusaders. Other wise check my sidebar for a link to join!

Sarah Rose

I just wanted to mention that Sarah Rose's Surgery has been moved to the 29th of July. Just a few weeks away.... I'm not worrying about it right now, but I know that when it gets closer I will start showing my concerns :( I know, it's a really simple procedure, but you never like the idea of your babies getting hurt, much less when you are responsible for it happening.... I know that she will get over it quickly, and that it will be better for her in the long run to just have it taken care of, but still, allow me my worry time, K :)

Stupid MySpace

Why do they have to come up with all these totally stupid addicting applications..... as if I DON"T have enough to do each day!! Come ON!!

Sad Day :(

Today is the last full day with my Mom and Dad and Brother and Sister :(!!!! Booo Hoooo!! I am throwing a little fit!

Oh My Goodness!!

It has been a BUSY week!! We went to China Town in Vancouver, B.C. yesterday. That was a lot of fun. We had lunch there, guess what, we had Chinese!! Hehe!! We walked around through all the little shops and found a souvenir for each of the kids, the girls all picked out their own things and we had fun picking out things for each of the boys that we left with MaMa and PaPa stateside :) Today we pretty much just hung out. I made 2 hugomungo cheese cakes, one a Sugar Free with a ground pecan/almond crust for Jason's Mom and Dad and G-PaPa, and an Oreo one for Jason and all the folks over here. I haven't gotten it out yet and served up a piece, but I am hoping that it turned out good :) My Mom and Dad drove around sightseeing today looking around the area for potential areas of interest for later when they plan to move up :)!! I know that it's a LONG way off, but it will be so nice to have them close again. Prolly a good 15 years or so give or take a decade, but here's hoping! Tomorrow, the 4th, we are planning on just hanging out here and having a wienie roast in the front yard and then doing our fireworks afterwards. Jason said that he and my Dad picked out some really cool ones for this year, some cakes, roman candles and rockets etc. I'll try to get a few pictures. Today is Isaac's Birthday, so Happy Birthday!! Not that he'll see this, but hey, I tried! And in 2 days is my Sis's Birthday!! So Happy Birthday Tia!! I miss you so much and can't wait to see you again!!! And, nope, she prolly won't see this either!! Hehe!

Saturday will be our last full day with everyone. Jason's parents leave pretty early in the Morning on Sunday, I think that they have to be at the airport at like 6:30 a.m. and then my Mom and Dad, little Bro and little Sis are leaving sometime in the a.m on Sunday as well :(!!! It has gone by entirely too fast for my liking. I wish that they could all stay another week or two!! Though, I know that Kristy misses us too and can't wait to get together again! :) I miss you to Kris-te-te :)!!

It's always so nice to have Mom and Dad here, my Dad LOVES it here, he just relaxes and enjoys the cool shade. Mom is so busy with the kids, but I know that she is loving her time here as well. And Max LOVES playing with Cayleb and Noah. Keira and Charity Ann ADORE each other and play all day long with Rosie tagging along not far behind. I really wish that we all lived closer because they are all really good for each other.

Jason's Mom and Dad love it here as well, they have their "little house in the big ranch" as I affectionately call it. We lived there for almost 2 years after we moved from Cally and while we were putting together our land and home. We haven't seen a whole lot of them the last few days, just a few evenings and they had dinner with us last night. I think that they are planning to come hang out sometime tomorrow as well, but I know that they have other family in town as well, so they try to make the rounds. Jason's cousin's and his Aunt and Uncle live up here as well now, so it's a juggling act trying to see everyone I am sure.

That's all for now, but I'll chat again later :)

And yeah, I used almost 6 pounds of cream cheese today!!