Monday, September 23, 2013

2 surgerys in one month

So, I was hoping we wouldn't have to have another brain surgery for Mckenna for awhile but, she sneaked another one in on us... Last week she was complaining of her head hurting and had some vomiting with it but only every 3 days... the others didn't get sick and I kept on thinking, oh no, I hope this isn't her shunt malfunctioning.  So last week we went and had an MRI done on her head... sure enough, her fourth ventricle was enlarged but at least the other three ventricles looked good.  Soooo....

Her new dog Ike she got in the hospital

She went into surgery Friday morning... luckily she didn't have to get a second shunt put in at the base of her skull but they did run some reservoir stint to just under the skin to the fourth ventricle so the plumbing is all set if this doesn't work and she needs that second shunt down the road.  They were able to open a block of tissue that was stopping the flow to the catheter that runs up to her original shunt.  It was really about as good of a situation as could have happened when you're talking about relieving that area.  She did end up with a fever that evening to an unrelated lung congestion and irritation from being intabated.   So we stayed an extra night, Friday night in PICU and Saturday night in PEDS.  I forgot how its near impossible to sleep on the bench/cots in those places.  But then she got to come home on Sunday afternoon and so far so good.  She's still running a slight fever and sleeping ALOT but that's all part of the healing process.  So grateful for such a great neurosurgeon who did amazing work and kept us confident and calm through the whole process as he did with her first shunt.  We love our little girl and so glad she is slowly feeling better!



Crazy... she had strabismus eye repair surgery on August 22nd and 4th ventricle pressure and reservoir placement on September 20th... lots of stress in one month!
Riding in the wagon leaving the PEDS ward

September so far...

Just some pictures of the family, Kyle's birthday...  and my Halloween mantle!



Kyle's Birthday

Carly- age 4

Mckenna-age 4

Madison age 4

L to R: Carly, Mckenna, Madison




Another Baby Shower

So a group of friend and I hosted another baby shower for one of our friends this past week.  She is having a boy and loves the woods, mountains, camping etc so we did a Woodsy, Rustic theme for her baby shower.  We had a s'mores bar, gourmet cheese, bread and dips as well as spiced nuts and infused drinks.  We had a great time!

Sorry the pictures aren't really great, I took with my phone cause I forgot my camera...
















Saturday, August 3, 2013

Summer 2013

Well, it's amazing that I'm even trying to update my blog at this point.  But I did make the update barely before a year!

We are doing great, A LOT has happened in a year.  Just a few of the highlights:

1.  The girls went to their first year of preschool last year, loved it, have really improved in their speech and are pretty close to caught up at this point.  They start 4 year old preschool in about a month and hopefully it will prep them for kindergarten.  Can't believe they are that old!

2.  Mckenna had eye surgery (traditional this time) in the spring to straighten out her crossing (the Botox didn't work).  It went well.  But now she's a little too out with her eyes!  So she is having surgery again in a couple weeks right before school so it won't interfere with that.  Crazy girl!

3.  We sold our yellow house!  It was fast and furious when it happened.  They wanted to move in in two weeks instead of the normal month so we had to pack up and move our life in just a few weeks!  But at that point we had already started to break ground on the new house so it was a blessing and we were willing to do whatever so we could move into our new house.

4.  We built a new house over 4-5 months.  I know people say it's stressful and there were stressful times here and there but I LOVED IT!  I'm ready to build again... well maybe not for awhile.  I thought it was fascinating and I was one of those annoying people that was at the house multiple times a week to see the progress.  I love house stuff in general anyway so it was enjoyable for me.  We lived in a teeny tiny apartment while we built so it helped us appreciate even more being able to have a new home.  We feel very blessed.

5.  I bought and painted a lot of new furniture for my new house and I have pics of the house below but will do another post on the before and afters of all the furniture.  Since we moved in in later January, I've pretty much just painted, decorated and put up a lot of curtains so I feel like its finally looking more finished now.

6.  Kyle started a new job in the last couple months.  He's excited about it but it's definitely been more stressful for him.  He really loved working at his last job but he's looking forward to the new job as well.

7.  I stayed with my parents again this spring for a little bit and helped my mom revamp a few more things in her home.  When she has time she'll send me pictures and I can share them here.

So that's about it.... Just been a really crazy busy year!

Now for the part that everyone really cares about (what am I talking about, no one reads this, I'm just mainly talking to myself now!) the pictures!

L to R: Mckenna, Carly, Madison

F to B: Mckenna, Carly, Madison

The New House: Main Room

Master







Office (Kyle's Man Cave- with little help from me)


Living Room


Kitchen/Dining



Laundry (love my check floor!)




Bathroom

Guest Bedroom


Bathroom (looks who's taking a pic of herself in the mirror)

Girls Bedroom



Craft/Bedroom



Upstairs... it's boring and not decorated yet, aka. toy graveyard

My Summer Mantle

Summer Entry

We love all the trim work feel so spoiled

Exterior

Sorry it's blurry, front door painted yellow

I was trying to go Cape Cod style with traditional mix on the house.  But I love me some French and a little bit of country too so that's mixed in as well.  We are loving it and love living in Kuna where it's a little bit quieter....