New 'do

While Allison and Matt were at the ballet, I took Lauren to get her hair done. It had been a while since the "scissor incident" and her hair was getting pretty uneven...short in front and long in back. So I took her in (with her permission) and had them make it all the same length. It's much shorter than before but I think she really likes it. Maybe this is what she was trying to accomplish in the first place...

Either way, we think she's pretty cute!

Date with Dad

I went with my dad to The Nutcracker. We went together in the car. When we got there we had to walk outside a little bit. Afterwards we got there. We needed to walk through there. We had to pick up our tickets. It was really pretty. There was Christmas trees in it, there was nice lights. It was pretty pretty. There was lots of people there. We walked up the stairs. There was lots of stairs. When we got up to the top, we sat down. Dad messed up a little bit and we had to move to the other side. Then it started. Then there were people walking towards the end of the stage. It stopped for a minute and there was a man working on the nutcracker. Then he stopped. The people kept walking and spinning. And then the background changed and there was a party. Then the mice came. The mouse king was a little later after his knights came. I was kind of laughing in my mind because I thought the mice looked funny. Then the background changed. Then the mice came back. They were fighting with the nutcracker. There were all sorts of different dancers. The other two watched. When it came to the little children and the big fat lady the children walked out of her dress. They danced. When it was time to go, I needed to go to the bathroom. And then it was the next part. The sugar plum fairies danced, the angels danced. Then the most fairy of all: the Sugar Plum Fairy! Then the Sugar Plum Fairy and the prince danced together. More dancers came. Then there were dancers that had umbrellas in front of them. Then I got my coat on and we left. We drove in the car home. We stopped at "Old McDonalds" to get a drink. I got a chocolate shake. Dad got sprite. Then we drove home. That's it!

Here comes Santa Claus

Preschool Christmas

Last week was Lauren's preschool Christmas program. Here's the condensed version in case you couldn't make it :) Sorry it's a little shaky, Megan kept pulling on my arm (not that it would be a whole lot better otherwise). Megan was pretty excited to see her big sister on stage. You can hear her yelling "Aaaaaa!" on the last song as she points eagerly at Lauren. She kept doing this throughout the program. Not sure anyone else in the audience found this amusing but we sure did!

Although we had heard Lauren practice the songs at home, we weren't sure she was going to do them on stage. As you can see, she proved us wrong! While practicing at home, Megan learned one of the songs too... Usually she starts singing along as soon as she hears the song.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This year we continued our family tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree at Hensler Nursery across from Matt's school. We decided to bite the bullet and go during Thanksgiving weekend. We didn't really want to, since we knew it's the busiest weekend, but we also knew it was the best timing for us this year. Seems silly to put up your tree a week before Christmas...need time to savor it! (No offense intended if this describes you:) We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Seems like every other year we have gone it is either a) really really cold, or b) snowing/blizzard-like conditions (and really really cold). This year it almost didn't feel right...the sun was shining...we wore coats but I'm not sure we really needed them. Anyhow...yes it was busy--far more so than we have experienced in the past--but it was still good. They have a gift shop and a few other things there along with some real reindeer and a little petting zoo, etc. Megan loved the animals. Picking out the perfect tree is always a challenge but we managed to make a decision and bring it home. I can't get enough of it! I love this time of year. Minus the bitter cold...but we deal with it :)

Matt even got ambitious and decided to put lights up on the house this year. Great job, babe!

We hope you're feeling the Christmas spirit too!

Autumntime

Yes, technically it is still fall! Even though the leaves are done falling...and it feels more like winter than fall these days. Here are some pictures from our Indiana autumn, better late than never...

Fun times for the girls! We love all our trees but they give us a workout in the fall. We were lucky enough this year to have nice weather throughout the season. Normally it is cold and rainy (or snowy) before all the leaves come down and we don't get it all done before winter. This year we actually got them all raked/vacuumed/mowed/bagged up. Thirty-one (31) bags to be exact. Most of which were mulched. I love the beautiful colors of autumn but I must say, I'm glad it only comes around once a year :)

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year... there was much anticipation between Allison and Lauren. Grandma Tew sent us a CD of Halloween music that the kids LOVED...especially Lauren...and we listened to it a LOT during the month of October. So much that the songs have been stuck in my head pretty much all the time and we have most of it memorized. It should be nice to put that one away for a while :) Although, I'm sure it will be requested again soon...

For Lauren's preschool party we got to bring the "special treat" so we brought...

Spider cupcakes! We had fun with that...

Allison took a field trip with the kindergarten classes to a pumpkin patch and picked out her very own pumpkin... Unfortunately Lauren was sick the day preschool had their pumpkin patch field trip, but her teacher brought back an extra pumpkin for her. Here are the girls scooping out their pumpkin guts, and Megan watching.

Allison LOVES putting her hands inside and squeezing all the squishy stuff. Lauren, on the other hand, did NOT want to touch it! She got a few of the seeds out with a spoon and had me help her with the rest.

Here are the girls with their carved pumpkins. They drew out pictures of what they wanted first and Matt and I carved them.

Silly girls!

On the day of Halloween Allison decided she wanted to make cards to hand out to the people who gave her candy. Here she is with her little stack of cards...

The one on top has a riddle on it: What did one ghost say to the other ghost? (Answer: Boo!). On each one she wrote her name and "Happy Halloween" and drew a picture inside of pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, etc. She carried them in her treat bucket and handed them out as we went along. The recipients seemed to genuinely appreciate her cards. One older lady seemed particularly pleased and told her she was going to put it up by her computer. After we left her doorstep, she came back out and said it was the first time a trick-or-treater had given HER anything before. Another lady gave her a "bunch" of candy in return. Great job, Allison!

And here are our little witches. Thanks, Grandmas, for making their costumes. They received many compliments!


And here is our little dragon...isn't she cute??

Megan was really tired by trick-or-treat time so we weren't sure how she was going to handle it. She had no problems though! She LOVED it!! Once she figured out there was candy involved, she got really into it. She was one happy girl--as long as you didn't take her candy away--and anxiously walked her way to the next house.

Hope you had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN too!!

Recovery

I guess we are overdue for an update on Megan. Megan was happy to be home after surgery but I would say that recovery from this surgery has been harder than the last two. The nurse warned us ahead of time that this would most likely be the case...it's just a tough one. It also didn't help that she picked up a virus somewhere and came down with a fever last week. Luckily that was the only symptom. The next day, Allison and Lauren both had fevers as well. Lauren was fine after the first night but Allison hung on a big longer. She kept us informed of all the aches and pains that Megan was probably feeling too. I think one of the hardest things about recovery for Megan is the eating restrictions. She had a couple bites of yogurt and a bowl of soft ice cream but other than that it was strictly chocolate pudding and milk. Some days have been better than others. Some nights have been better than others.

Yesterday we drove back to Riley Hospital for a follow-up visit with Megan's plastic surgeon, Dr. Wooden. He was very pleased with the progress she has made and said everything looks great. He then told us that Megan is now allowed to eat soft foods like pasta, bread, chicken, etc. (still no chips or pretzels) and use her sippy cup. HOORAY!! It was pretty funny to watch Megan's face when she heard him give "french fries" as an ok food to eat. Not sure if it was just coincidence, but her face sure lit up at that moment! She has another week of arm splints and then she can get rid of those too. As for future appointments/surgeries, we have reached the point of wait-and-see. Megan just needs to grow now. We will come back once a year to evaluate how she is doing and make adjustments as needed. She will also undoubtedly need dental work done when she gets older but at this point we don't need to worry much about that. We do have to go back in November for an ENT appointment to check her ear tubes and hearing. But it sure is nice to know that we have made it through to this point and have a break for a while.

After her visit with Dr. Wooden, we went out to lunch and got Megan a big bowl of mac 'n cheese with a side of french fries. She was in heaven!! Once we got home, she was so happy and played for a long time. We fed her some more mac 'n cheese for dinner...

Ahh....the simple joys of life! She is a much happier kid now. She just finished a pancake breakfast and is ready to tackle a new day. We are so so grateful for everyone's help in this process. The doctors and nurses have been wonderful. The thoughts and prayers of friends and family have been much appreciated. And a big thank you goes out to Diana and Grandma for coming out to help us....it was much needed! Thank you Thank you everyone!!

Chocolate pudding

Well, we've made it through a few days at home now with Megan. So far she seems to be recovering pretty well. She doesn't seem to mind wearing her arm restraints at all (now that there is no IV underneath) and is surprisingly cooperative with them. She was really happy to get home. The morning after surgery she was done being at the hospital. She did not want to stay in her room any longer and begged to go "outside." She has her ups and downs and is pretty tired yet does not sleep very well... But the biggest problem she has is her eating restrictions. Oh how she would love to eat a cracker right now! She is on a strict diet of only stage 1&2 baby food, applesauce, pudding, and yogurt. Even ice cream is permitted ONLY if it is melted, and mashed potatoes must be runny. Considering Megan never liked eating baby food even when she was a baby, we knew this would cause some problems. But don't worry...it's only for SIX WEEKS!!! So far the only thing we can get her to eat is chocolate pudding. She won't even look at anything else without getting mad. We keep trying other things but with no success. So for the past three days she has literally only had chocolate pudding and milk. We are hoping one of these days she will decide to try something else. We have even tried mixing other things with it, but no, she is too smart for that! I tried making the pudding with Pediasure instead of milk but it will not set so it is more like chocolate soup. Suggestions anybody?? Oh well...when else will she be able to get away with only eating chocolate pudding? We figure it's better than nothing at all. (Thank you Johnson family! ;)

As for drinking, she does pretty well, but has to use a special "soft sip" bottle. It is a squeeze bottle with a soft skinny tube that squirts into her mouth. She is okay with it but it is really slow and doesn't drink as much with it. She looks like a little gerbil drinking out of it...

All things considered, she is doing well and seems to be recovering well. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, comments, concerns, and prayers! The doctors and nurses are always very impressed with Megan's progress and we know she couldn't do it without you!

Megan Feels Good

Sorry about the privacy issues on the video...hopefully it works now!

Here is a quick video of Megan back from the hospital. Thanks for all your support and help!

Home!

Just wanted to let everyone know we're home now. Megan was released from the hospital this morning around 9am after she finally decided to drink. She's glad to be home and seems to be pretty happy. We'll put some more pictures up later...

A walk and some Elmo slippers

Megan is doing better still. She took a long nap (or two). First in Mom's arms, then in Dad's now she is back in Mom's arms asleep. She has had some to drink and she is dressed. We went for a little walk around the hospital (Megan didn't actually walk, but Mom did) and she had a good time I think. She enjoyed the bugs and critters on the wall. We are now just hanging out. Dinner should be soon and then hopefully a good night's rest for Megan. We'll will keep you updated as we go through the next day or so.

Here we are post-op. She is hanging in there so far. Rough day though for a little kid.

Dr Wooden (the important guy)

The doc said everything went well. He said everything came apart well and went back together well. She is now on a strict diet of "squishy mushy" stuff. Megan will hopefully start drinking some today and then eat apple sauce or baby food type stuff tomorrow. They will put her on Tylenol with Codine™ to help with the pain (we'll see how that goes). She will have her arm restraints again and nothing sharp, pokey, or hard is allowed in her mouth (chips, crackers, fingers, toys, and anything else she likes). She will see the doctor again in a couple of weeks at the clinic. It sounds like things are going well. We will see her in probably the next hour or so. The next update will not be until we get to her room... photos may be included so watch out.

The nurse is back...

They are finishing up. She said that we should see the DR. soon. When they are finished Megan will go to recovery and we will see her about 45 minutes to an hour later. That is about it. We will update when we talk to the DR and before we go to the recovery room. (we won't update you on everything we are doing, I don't think you really care what we ate for breakfast or when we go up and down the elevator) More in a bit.

Nurse Update

The tubes are in. The one was clogged as they thought, the other they just replaced... two for one deal! She went to sleep fine. They put in an IV. She is "doing fine." they have started the palate repair but that is about it. More in an hour or so.

Surgery #3 Part 1

Here is the start of the surgery adventure.

More to come.

Preparing for surgery

In less than a week we will once again be heading down to Indianapolis for Megan to have surgery. This time she will have her palate repaired, meaning they will close the crevice in the roof of her mouth. She will also have one of her ear tubes replaced. A lot of people have asked us how they close the palate. Although I am no expert, from what we have gathered from Megan's doctor, they use the existing tissue from both sides of the cleft and shift it to meet in the middle and create a closed palate. I found these pictures and explanation online...

When the roof of the mouth doesn't grow together properly, the condition is called a cleft palate. To repair it, the surgeon will make an incision along both sides of the cleft. Tissue is drawn together from both sides of the cleft to rebuild the roof of the mouth. [Source]

The example in the picture appears to be only a partial cleft, where Megan's is complete, but I assume it works essentially the same way. I tried to get a picture of the inside of her mouth, since it will look much different soon. Sorry, Megan, it's not the most flattering view, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like in there.

Once her palate is repaired and healed, she will be able to eat and speak better. It will be a great blessing for her. We are so grateful for the amazing team of doctors we work with at Riley Hospital and are confident that everything will go well on Thursday. And we are also grateful for the support of our family and friends! Matt's sister Diana will be here next week to help out while we are in Indy and Matt's mom will be here the week after to help out as well. A big THANKS to all of you for your continued support and prayers as we are going through this process!

Vacation

Our family took a much needed vacation to Michigan over the weekend. It was great to spend time together, PLAY, and do nothing else! We rented a little house near the beach and had a great time. Here are a few pictures from our trip, and there are more on our picasa page. And now back to real life...

First day of PRESCHOOL

Lauren has been waiting for this day to come for a LONG TIME NOW and it finally came!! Once Allison started school Lauren was so anxious to go too, so we made a paper chain together so she could see just how much longer she had to wait. Last week she had her first day of preschool. Once the doors opened, she was ready to let go of my hand and walk up the steps...no looking back. So far she has done great and she LOVES it!

SO EXCITED!!

SEE YA!

Blueberry

It's blueberry time again...or it was last week, anyway... Here are some pictures from this year's Blueberry Festival on Labor Day. This year Matt got to watch the parade with us!

New smile

Looks like the tooth fairy will be visiting our house tonight!