Pre-op & Post-op

I took Molly in to Children's Hospital, Dayton, this morning, to have tubes put in both of her ears. I had the pleasure of getting up at 5:30am so I could have her there by 6:15am!!! I honestly don't remember the last time I had to wake up at that time (without being able to go right back to sleep).

So, we got in to the hospital at 6:15am and were shown to room #1 out of 60 rooms. Molly was the first patient of the day! Right off the bat, Molly wasn't too sure of the place. She has always been able to sense doctor's offices or clinics. The nurses were wonderful! They asked their standard questions (Molly is now 22lbs 8oz.) and then Molly and I got to take a walk through the halls while we waited for the doctor. What was great about our walk? Well, the hospital has little cars for the kids to ride around in. Molly loved it (not so much when they had to take it away). We had brought along her teddy bear and glow worm, so she had a blast putting them in the trunk (it was actually in front) of the little car.

After a few walks, we had to go back to our room so Molly could be given some Tylenol and another medication to help her relax. Boy did she relax! I had her sitting on the bed playing and talking when, suddenly, she just flopped down and her eye's got droopy. It was pretty funny. She sure tried to fight it, though. I had to keep her on the bed or hold her because she couldn't really walk under the influence, but that didn't keep her from trying. I think that must have been a little bit of what it's like to argue with a drunk person. Here are some photos of her just after the drugs kicked in!

I had been told the procedure would be quick, but I don't think I was prepared for it being that fast. As soon as they took Molly from our room, I went to get something to drink and a snack from the lobby. By the time I had finished them, the doctor had come back to say everything went great! About 15 minutes later, a nurse carried Molly back to me. Molly spent the next 30 minutes screaming (that would be why there aren't any post-op photos) and trying to get me to put her down and then we got to go home!

She had a great morning nap and seems to be back to her normal, adorable, self. Thank you for all the prayers and concerns.

Happy Moments

Jackson was in a time out. Of course, you wouldn't know it by the above photo. Every time we put Jackson in a time out, Molly runs over to sit next to him. Even if he's sitting there for having hurt her. She just loves her big brother so much!

Did someone order a Pebbles look alike??? She use to hate having her hair done, but after a few times, she seems to be getting use to it. She'll have to get use to it with a mom like me! :)

This is what happens when a little girl decides she needs to feed herself mac & cheese. The next day, I could have taken the same photo only with applesauce that time.

We got a little bed from Ikea for Molly's baby dolls. She loves it! Our biggest challenge is keeping Molly and Jackson from climbing into it.

Jackson still LOVES his airplanes!

This is my new FAVORITE photo of Jackson. He enjoyed putting on Daddy's hat! Go Cardinals!!!

Tidbits

This past weekend has been full of fun and firsts!

Jackson and Molly took their first of many bathes together. I had been putting this off since Jackson tends to splash around and likes to swim in the tub a lot. But, I was on my own with the two of them on bath night, so I decided to venture into a joint bath time. It was a great success! They both seemed so excited to be playing in the tub together. Initially, I had put Molly at one end and Jackson at the other end of the tub. Jackson insisted he wanted to sit next to Moo-moo. He even shared his tub crayons with her.

Jackson seems to be learning more and more from Mommy and Daddy, whether we plan on it or not. The other day I asked Jackson if he wanted to watch something on TV. I like to give him options, but, as all parents know, sometimes you just can't. His response was, "watch Mickey!" I had had enough of Mickey and was thinking more along the lines of watching a movie. So I said, "how about 'Cars'?" Jackson's response, "how about Mickey?" Me- "Umm....how about Cars?" Jackson- "Umm....how about Mickey?" We went back and forth a couple times like this. Each time, Jackson would respond with the exact same inflection in his voice as I had just used. I got a good laugh AND we watched Cars.

On Saturday, Jason took Jackson to the Dayton Air Show! Jason and I were very excited for Jackson to go since we all know how much he loves airplanes. The first fly over was to be at 10:00 am. So the boys left just after 9:00 am to catch a shuttle from the Air Force Museum. Much to their dismay, they didn't get on to a shuttle until just AFTER 10:00 and didn't get to the show until just after 11:00 am. Thankfully, Jackson was great the entire time. He enjoyed riding on the bus and even got his daddy to sing "the wheels on the bus" with him a few times. They did get to see much of the air show and even got to go inside of some of the planes. Unfortunately, Jackson didn't seem nearly as interested as his daddy. Jason did buy Jackson another die-cast plane for his collection and Jackson loved it. He would fly it in the air while Jason pushed him around in the stroller. Over all, I was told is was still a fun trip.

Saturday evening we all went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert after dinner. Jason and I shared our ice cream with the kids and, while giving Molly a spoonful, Jason suddenly stated, "Molly has a molar!" I was shocked! This girl has had only five teeth for about the last six months. There were a couple times we thought she was teething and kept watching for another tooth in front only to have nothing show. Little did we know, she really was teething, but it wasn't for a front tooth. And she didn't have one molar, she had TWO! What an odd little mouth she has now. Three teeth in front on top. Two teeth on the bottom. And now two molars both on her left side. I feel like I missed out on a milestone in her life.

Date night!

So, a few nights ago, Jason got to take Molly our for their first of many father-daughter dates! (Earlier in the day, he took Jackson out for lunch!) Jason took Molly out for dinner at Panera and then hopped over to the mall for some bonding time. They visited the puppy's at the pet store and then Jason took Molly up to the Build-a-Bear factory, intending to get her one. Once in the store, Jason started to show Molly various stuffed animals and, one by one, Molly pushed each one away. Finally deciding the Molly just wasn't interested in getting a stuffed animal, they moved on. Jason, being the wonderful father that he is, took her in to Baby Gap!!! If only I could have been there to see it. Molly was truly like a kid in a candy store. She got excited each time Jason pulled a dress off a rack. That's my girl! So he used his best judgement, and a little motivation from Molly, and bought her a dress. Molly couldn't have been happier! I think Daddy did a pretty good job. :)

Jason and I have decided that once a month, we get to go on a date or outing with each of the kids individually!

I've already had my date with Jackson. It was so much fun! We walked around the mall. Had our pictures taken in a photo booth (photos coming soon) and then went out for pizza together. We even did a little cuddling in the restaurant booth. :)

I know it's been a while but......

...we've been having fun!!!

We threw our first big bash on the Fourth of July! About a week earlier, I thought it was going to be a fairly small party. It turned out to be 17 adults and 9 children! I got a bit nervous when I discovered it was suppose to rain, but Jason was smart and got a canopy for the backyard. Everything worked out great and I actually fit everyone inside our house when it started to down poor!

My brother, Neil, sister-in-law, Erin, and nephew, Oliver, even came to visit for the weekend. Oliver and Jackson continue to be great friends! While they were here, we went to the Newport Aquarium and the Air Force Museum. They also got to spent LOTS of time outside. Oliver had a chance to test out Jackson's scooter and Jackson taught Oliver to roll down the hill in our backyard! It has only been a couple days since they went home, but we miss them already! In fact, Jackson woke up saying, "talk to Owiver on puter now?" It would have been 6:30 am their time, so we chose not to call. :)

Perfect Playhouse!

Earlier this week, we bought a playhouse for the backyard! We invested in the "Magic Fountain Cottage." It's perfect! It is lacking a drop leaf table inside, but Jackson LOVES the fountain. Better yet, our little Molly who hated the feeling of grass on any part of her body, is walking all over the place thanks to this little house!

Latest Jackson story- we went to the mall the other day and stopped in at the Children's Place to get Jackson some new shirts and shorts. While I was looking at several different colored shorts I began to hear Jackson saying, "Oooooo! Look! Look! Love freen ones! Love a da freen ones." So I asked if he wanted the green shorts. Then he spotted the blue shorts. "Oooo! Love a da boo ones! Jackson love a da boo ones!" I thought boys weren't suppose to care about what they wear??? And when did my son get an Italian accent?

Molly continues to be adorable. She has several words, or variations of them. Our current word list is:

Mama

Dada

Jack-Jack

More

Up

Done

Bottle

Thank you

Book

Ball

I think that's all of them. Needless to say, she is doing well. She continues to follow Jackson wherever he goes. Even if it means sitting in a timeout with him. :)

You can stop nagging now. :)

We had some wonderful family photos taken by our dear friend, Susie! It was such a blessing to have a friend taking our photos as it is quite difficult to get a two year old to sit for even a second, let alone smile for a picture. I am so pleased with the results! Molly was surprisingly happy this day! She even wanted me to put her down so she could walk on her own. For the above photo, we made Susie climb up on a giant fake rock to get that shot. Thank goodness, it soon became out favorite family shot!

Now for a few Jackson stories. It seems to be, the more he talks, the more entertaining he gets. So, last week I celebrated my 29th birthday. I got to celebrate by being told I'm old by not only my husband and brother-in-law, but even by my own son. Granted, he has been under his fathers influence for a while, but that day everyone was self initiated. While we sat at the dinner table, Jackson came out stating, "Jackson not old. Moo-moo not old. Daddy not old. (and just when I thought I was going to get a wonderful compliment) Mommy old." Thanks Jackson. Thanks.

My next story came shortly after Jackson asked me for a snack. We went into the kitchen and he first told me he wanted an apple. So I cut up and gave him an apple. Then, he saw the chips on the counted and decided he wanted them instead. I told him he needed to finish his apple and then he could have some chips and he complied (at first). After a few slices of apple, he asked for some chips again and I said, "are your apples all gone? are there any left in the bowl?" Being the clever and silly boy that he is, he walked over to his bowl (which still had apples in it), covered up his eyes with his hands and proceeded to say, "apples all gone? where apples go?" What am I going to do with this boy?

Lastly, Jason and I have been blessed by wonderful friends that give us the chance to go out on dates once in a while. Corrie and Ryan came to baby-sit while Jason and I got to go see "UP" in 3D. We brought home our 3D glasses and, the next day, discovered how fun they could really be. Since we had two pairs, Jackson and Molly each got their own and had a blast with them! Today, Jackson put them on top of his head and said, "Jackson doctor. Jackson get doctor sticker." (For those of you who don't know, there is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode where Daisy gets her pretend doctors sticker.)