Little Makylie

Surgery went great!

Makylie was very brave.

THIS IS HER FAVORITE TOY....that got to accompany her to surgery...she has had a brown one just like this since before she was born...but fairly recently found this pink one (identical to the brown one) at a store and had to have it...now...the poor little brown one...lovingly named Elmo, has been replaced with this one. Her name is Banana.

As typical, the surgery was two hours behind schedule...with our VERY VERY patient little tiny girl being NOT allowed to eat a single thing since 7:30 the night before at dinner, or drink anything since 10am...but it went off without a hitch.

Below: Just SO darn cute!

Above: she got to play with the syringe from the "happy-juice" she took...amused her for a little while.

She was given some "happy juice" as she was a bit tense...and everyone could see she wasn't going to leave too easily...after that though, she got a little sleepy and relaxed, and went back like a trooper watching the movie Cars on the nurses I-touch. She came out just as brave. She never cried once during the entire day. The only thing she was a little worked up about, was her IV. She really didn't like having it in her arm at all. She handled anesthesia perfectly, and came out with a Popsicle in hand, and drank juice and ate crackers right away.

This is on the way home...to show her bracelet and IV bandage...
Once home, she ate applesauce, blueberries, strawberries and toast. She has a small incision above her belly button with a few stitches. There is a layer of glue on top which will all dissolve in the next week or so.

This is her PRE-surgery tummy...hard to see but above her belly button is a divot and then a bump above that...

BELOW IS POST SURGERY....it is a bit bruised and swollen, as you can see by her belly button being almost closed...

It will be strange to me, seeing her tummy without her tell-tale little lump sticking out. :)

So now, she is asleep back there...and feeling pretty good as the doctor told us that he loaded the incision with anesthetic...tomorrow, she is supposed to stay quiet, and they anticipate more tenderness and muscle pain...

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers!

Monday

Today, Makylie is going in for surgery.

She was born with a small hernia in her tummy. It is a ventral hernia, which means that it is above the belly button. The doctors all thought that she would probably outgrow it, but it didn't happen, so they deemed it time to take care of it.
I guess, it is a relatively minor procedure...but not to us... :)

We have been trying to explain it to her in ways that she would understand. I think the hardest part for her, will be that she can not eat for basically the whole day, and she doesn't really understand why.

The day overall, I think, may be hardest on mommy....it is so hard, because she is so young, and just doesn't understand quite enough to really get it. I have told her that she can't eat...and I keep reminding her, saying, can you eat breakfast tomorrow? And she will say, no....but come morning...I know she will want to eat.

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to keep her in your thoughts for the day.

Camping...the Goodtimes way!

So back on June 28th, we dropped Karman off at her yearly summer camp, Camp Goodtimes. Put on by the American Cancer Society this camp takes kids who have been affected by cancer and just plain gives them the time of their lives! Karman adores going there, and getting to just let-it-all go for a week!

Above is her entry picture...the theme this year was SURF'S UP!
Below is the cabin that she was in this year.

It is overall, a camp where kids, of every age, get to act like little kids....of course, the adults do too! It is such a warm, loving environment where NO ONE has to worry about their disabilities, or their looks or, possibily even their diagnosis...it is AMAZING! We will FOREVER be grateful for the time Karman has been able to spend there over the years!

After the kids go through the entry paperwork etc...they are announced in front of a brigade of counselors and other campers....BELOW is what we could see when they announced Karman's name.

Like seriously, how could you not feel welcome?

Oh, and it all starts out on the ferry, as the camp is on Vashon Island...

So pretty! So full of happiness! So excited to go to camp!!!

Long time coming...

Yeah...I guess I took a little break. Not so much intentionally, but more to the effect that it is SO hot...and MUGGY at night, that I just didn't want to sit here...I have just kind of been in a "funk", and couldn't get motivated.

But I have been here in spirit. No, really, I have.
I will be posting all that we have been doing since our trip to the Ocean. I am not going to post date them however, because then no one reads them because no one knows they are there. So I will just post-date, in the actual post itself.

I have been playing with my blog...with the main effort to be able to make my pictures larger on the screen, and I was SO tired of having the three column layout...with so much wasted space.

Finally figured the layout part out...so we will see from here if it is too boring for me, and I try to change it up again. I hate the header(WHY DOES BLOGGER NOT LET YOU CENTER????)...I don't know how to fix it...besides adding a picture that takes up the whole screen...any help would be much appreciated!

Anyway,
Sorry for the break and I will move on to what we have done for our early summer...
LOOK AT THE POST BELOW....SEE HOW BIG AND PERFECT THE PICTURE IS....LOVE IT!!!! (thanks to the best Smylie ever!!!!)

Pinkie Pie....

NOW look how nice and big this is....I LOVE IT!!!! SOOOOOO much better! What good is it to have a super nice camera if you cant show off your pictures better!!!!!

Really....could they look more alike? If only Pinkie Pie's eyes were brown like my pretty little girlie....

A little break...

I am so excited...we are heading to drop Karman off at camp and then we are headed to the Ocean, Sunday!

Just a short excursion...filled with relaxation and kite flying and family...
Karman will be at camp, which was BAD planning on our part, but they changed the camp dates this year and we booked this trip months ago...but she is just pent up with excitement to head there too...

CAN NOT wait to take pictures with a good camera, as it will be the first time I have had it on a trip.

Cannot wait to get home and show them off!!!

9 years ago today....

So...Nine years ago today...I became a wife.

Since then, my life has changed so much.

I met Kevin in 1994, when we started dating. Way back then, 15 years ago, I knew that I would marry him. I remember after Prom, I came home and told my mom that he was the one I was going to marry....and sure enough...5 years later...that we did.

When we started out we didn't have much. We lived in a low-income apartment, both worked and went to school full-time...all the while being instant parents to a 4 year old little girl who needed so much! We stretched every single dime we had and believe me, there weren't many of them. We shopped for clothes exclusively at Value Village, and scheduled our grocery shopping every week. There was rarely anything extra. However, we graduated, we maintained our love, and our family got closer. We faced struggles most will never know, and yet, remained intact, and got stronger around every turn.

Life has changed so much!

We had our kids at a point, when things were much more settled in our lives. We own a home, Kevin has an amazing job which allows me the privlege of staying home with the kids, We don't worry so much about money...

Through a lot of good times, and yes, a lot of bad times; but always together; we have grown into a very loving, comfortable, content, happy, secure family.

I could NOT imagine my life without Kevin in it. He makes me feel secure, he gives me peace of mind, he is my best friend, my second hand...my everything. I am so proud of the man that he has become and so glad that I was there through it all.

Of course he does his fair share of making me crazy as well, sometimes making me feel like I have 4 kids, inconsistency, pety arguments, workaholic...but I am not sure I would have it any other way.

I so love him!

Kevin, Thank you for our journey, so far! I love you!

Of all the little boys....

Our amazing Tyler...

The fact that you are now SIX years old is both so wonderful and so unbelievable that I just can't explain it. You are such a bright spot in our EVERY DAY!!! We are often in awe over the things you have been able to accomplish in this one year. How much you have grown.

You finished and excelled in Kindergarten! You can talk better, count higher, run faster, and are working so hard to read more and more everyday!! You have become an amazing big brother, and you have many friends...

I love that when I am watching, and you don't know I am watching, I see you becoming an independant person...with indiviual thoughts, ideas and emotions.

As parents; though we are thrilled that you are becoming all of these things, we are sad too. Sad because you are, in little ways, starting to pull away from us already. As parents, we have nurtured, guided and helped you since before day one. Your best interests have been our ONLY concern...as time rolls on...we still hang on to the fact that we just need you to need us. Your independence is making that less of a factor, and even though that is the ultimate goal for all parents, it is sometimes hard.

It is something you won't understand until you have children of your own; that I know...but when that day comes...I promise you will see it so clearly. As a parent, you start doing the absolute best for your kids that you can humanly do...and then, you don't ever want to stop.

So......AT SIX YOU:

~LOVE your daddy...you want to do everything with and like him.

~Love baseball

~Want to be "everything" when you grow up...a fireman, a baseball player, an atronaut...etc

~Say things like..."I would be so happy if I could stay in Kindergarten forever"...and "I will never know a better life than this"...and "when I grow up I am going to marry mommy" (my favorite!)

~Peanut butter and Marionberry jam sandwich is LITERALLY your favorite lunch, EVERDAY!

*LOVE school

~Would do anything for your baby sister, even though you sometimes get irritated with her.

*Have lost no teeth, but really want to

~Have two favorite pairs of shoes, because "they make you run faster"

*Have never been on an airplane

~Are afraid of spiders and bees

*Don't like most chocolate...will eat it with no other options...but won't choose it.

~LOVE to draw and you are very good at it.

*Fight brushing your teeth twice everday...on que...without fail! :) a fight you lose!

~Love salad

*Don't like pineapple or green beans

~DO NOT like being on the spot...and we can already tell you are going to get your feelings hurt easily as you are extremely sensitive.

You have the best smile and belly laugh. You make everyone around you smile as well! You light up rooms and lives instantaneously!

As much as I want to be OK with the progression that is life; I don't think I am. I think it is something that will have to be practiced by me, and not come naturally. I really love where I am right now. Daily life has its challenges but overall, I wake up happy and go to bed with anticipation. Everyday, I look forward to another new moment. I love it all...the messes, the new found 5/6 year old throw-yourself-on-the-ground-fits...the fighting, the love! It is the one place I feel TRULY, unconditionally, cherished. To my kids, NO ONE could do my job better.

Tyler, you are such a wonderful little boy, and it is my honor; my privlege to watch you grow. Everyday I learn more about who you are becoming and more about what I can do to help you get there.

I COULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN A BETTER GIFT THEN WHAT I WAS GIVEN THE DAY YOU WERE BORN; just six years ago.

Of all the little boys in all of the world, how did I get so lucky to get the best one?

We love you best boy!

Happy Happy Birthday....

Today is Tyler's 6th birthday!!! I sit in shock and awe today! SIX years ago...SERIOUSLY!!!
We are celebrating on Saturday, and quite fankly...I don't have time to post right now...so I will for his (1st) party on Saturday....

(he is also having a friend birthday party...but not until Kevin gets home from his business trip....)

I just wanted to acknowledge my little man today!!!!

We love you Tyler!

Just thoughts...

So, school has come to a close.

I am so happy to see how far Tyler has come this year!

I mean...he can do simple math, he can count to well over 100 (before school started, he could count to around 35), he learned all of his "sight-words" and has such an interest in reading. His knowledge and skills have evolved and he is now reading his early level books to us at night, and doing VERY well at it! He draws detailed, and elaborate pictures now and can write sentences by phonetic sound. He works and plays well with his peers and socially couldn't be happier! He loves his school, his class, his friends and his teacher!

I am SO happy that he developed a love of learning...that he had a good experience in Kindergarten so as to be excited and love the idea of coming back in the fall! It was such a wonderful year, and we had a great teacher and a great group of kids! I couldn't have asked for better!

Funny, it all comes full circle....if I think back...I was so afraid of him going to the big world of school...the world where I can't fully protect him from the people, the experiences, the change, the bullies and the germs. Where he will grow, far more then 10 months worth, in just 10 months.
The world where I, for the first time, had to let go.

What I learned is, in order for our kids to grow, and become who they are destined to become, we have to let them live...to grow, outside of our ever existent shadow. We can still guide and watch them with the goal of protection...but in the end, how they cope has to be up to them, or we are setting them up for failure.

They are all growing so fast, and I wish I could just freeze now, for a tiny while...just to enjoy all it has to offer. To breathe in the innocence, the unconditional love for life and everyone in it, the smiles and the multitude of belly laughs.
That is my reward today and everyday, and the only one I need.

I have happiness for how time turns us into ever-growing, ever-changing, pliable, moldable adaptive people...and also have sadness for how the world requires us to grow and change and adapt...
because sometimes....
I wish it would always be, just like it is today...

Summer birthdays...

So, often, having a summer birthday means that you are forgotten at school...

However, in Tyler's class, they took all of the summer birthdays and celebrated them all these last two weeks of school.

So today was Ty's day....

I tried to get him to choose ice cream bars or sandwiches...but he is not a fan of chocolate, so it limits the options a little......

but he went with doughnuts!

Being that you can't make things at home anymore, due to allergies etc...he got to pick anything other than that.

A Day in Kindergarten

If you are 5 years old (or 6), and about to finish Kindergarten....you need to do it RIGHT!

Today was PARTY DAY!!!!!! The end of the year party!

The kids had SO much fun.

We wanted to make this party fun and memorable for the kids, and that it was.

They made very cute frames, decorated in a beach theme...in which I would later put pictures that I took of each child...

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Here they are all finished! SO cute! I always love the way they come out!

They planted sunflower seeds, and decorated a planter stake for them...

They made "fish bowls" with paper plates, foam fish (which my friend lovingly cut out, individually, for me) and sand and fish bowl rocks.

Finally....the cherry, as it were....we made ice cream sundaes! That was a hit! Chaotic...but a hit!

(look at Makylie....isn't she hillarious! She was just staring longingly...and I think she stole some whipped cream a couple of times.....)

What a great day....Filled with laughter, and smiles. Memories to carry....

We have such a great school. It is simple and wonderful! For me, it has such a home-town feel! We are in this trifecta...sitting right on the corner or Snohomish, Mill Creek, and Everett...and our area is growing by the day...literally! Our school is one of the oldest, and has such a modesty about it...but what a loving happy place to be!

I have surprised myself with how sad I am for this chapter of our lives to be closing. I mean I get emotional often enough...but seriously I get choked up just thinking about this......but at the same time very excited for the first grade. Ty is SO ready!

I just can't believe he is about to turn 6.