Thursday, February 21, 2013

Bump on the Head

So Henry's had a little bump on his head for awhile.  I first noticed it around 9 months, and finally brought it up at his 12-month {more like 14-month...} appointment.  Being mother of the year that I am, I just assumed that it was from one of the 10 million times a day that he crashes into something.  You can see it in these two photos, above his left eyebrow:



















His doctor took one look and proclaimed it a dermoid cyst and sent us to a plastic surgeon.  This surgeon got rave reviews, and their office was seriously fancy.  Like, free Dove chocolate on glass plates.  Yeah.

Anyway, today was surgery day.  Henry needed to use general anesthesia because of his raucous behavior {most kidlets do}, and the doc recommended we do it now, rather than wait until he's old enough for an in-office procedure.

We got there, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 5:45am.  He last ate at 6pm the night before, so I was overall very impressed with how well he did waiting until the surgery at 7:45.  I really can't say enough about everyone who worked with us.  They waited to do anything {even the IV} until he was asleep, and they let him just stay in the clothes he was wearing instead of changing into a gown {so helpful!}.

After the anesthesiologist came to talk to us, she gave him some drugs to settle him down.  I was so, so thankful for that.  This kid won't let anyone other than Nic or I even look at him if he's scared or tired.  After the magic drugs took effect, he was happy to go back with the nurse.  She said she'd hold him while he was being put under, and then after that, they'd put in the IV, attach the monitors, prep the area, etc.  Just so child-friendly, which I'm not sure I expected.

Even though he went back without a peep, I was a hot mess.  There's just something heartbreaking about sending your baby back to the surgeon.  It didn't take long, and he was done.  While I wasn't a huge fan of the doctor's bedside manner at the consultation, he more than made up for it today.  He was so sweet and kind, and kept telling me Henry was a beautiful child.  Honestly, is there anything a mother wants to hear more?

As for post-op, Henry made up for his lackluster performance earlier.  We were there for maybe 30 minutes, and he screamed like a banshee the whole time, stopping long enough to suck down two adult-sized glasses of apple juice.  Those nurses unhooked him faster than fast and we were on our way.

On the way to retrieve our car {from the free valet parking}, we happened to pass the full-service Starbucks in the hospital {we live in the battleground of two major hospital systems, can you tell?}, and our little monster eyed a container of grapes and cheese.  He *had* to have it, and had the whole thing gone on the 5-minute trip home {probably 3-4 adult servings of each}.  So cute.  And so mad about the photo op.

He rested on and off the rest of the day, and ate everything in sight.  The spot looks fantastic today, but we were told it may bruise tomorrow.


Not sad here, just mad that I'm trying to document the day.  So I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight.  So happy this day is over!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Discovering America

As a household of red-blooded Republicans, we love this country {not that you crazy Dems don't}.  Total bummer, though, we haven't seen much of it.  We've each made the trek from Indiana to Utah by car {though not together}, been to Florida and other various east-coast destinations, and I once even had a layover in San Jose.  

I recently started doing the shipping for a friend's etsy shop {check it out...cute stuff!}, and they sell a ton of these National Park prints.  Nic and I think they're totally cool, and just love the idea of exploring the beautiful things that our country has to offer.  We love a big city as much as the next guy, and usually base our trips and vacations around a city.

We've now made it our goal to visit all of the National Parks as a family.  We've each been to a few, but it only counts if we go together.  How fun will this be?!?


Obviously some of them will be more enjoyable than others {I'm thinking the ones in Hawaii will be more exciting than the one in Ohio, just a guess}, but we want to see them all.  And at 59 parks, it should keep us busy for several years.

We're kicking things off this summer with our trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina.  We'll hit up the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Conagree National Park.  I've been to the Smokies several times, and have always loved it.  These stops will break up the drive to the beach, too.

Are you planning any fun trips this year?

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hey Girl....Happy V-Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whilst perusing the internets today, I came across an awesome 'Hey Girl' link-up party.  Few things get me going like the 'Hey Girl' meme, so I had to make a few with my Valentine's cute mug.



Linking up to Decor and the Dog.  That act alone should speak volumes of my love of this meme...normally I'm far too lazy to actually 'link up' in a linky party. 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

the valentine's rush

today is the equivalent of christmas eve at 3pm for lazy husbands.

tomorrow is valentine's day, and i have two pint-sized valentines to love and adore {plus the full-sized one}.

ella's valentine party at school is actually on friday, so the fact that we haven't technically assembled her valentines works just fine.  we might even do that on valentine's day....such a concept.  we went super easy this year, and i thought i'd share:


just size them to 2" x 4", and you'll be set.  then take a candy heart {we're using crunch hearts}, and stick it on the end of the arrow.  super easy, plus ella gets to use tape, which is akin to winning the lottery for her.  she wrote her name on the back and adorned the back with a number of gaudy stickers. win, win, and win.

as for our valentines to the kiddos, i'm making some softies.  henry has a newfound obsession with stuffed animals, and ella only has about 984 in her collection, so obviously needs more.  naturally, i haven't started them, but i'm going with these ideas:












Source: etsy.com via Abbey on Pinterest


sorry about the gross formatting.  20 minutes is all the time i had to fight with blogger. 

Friday, February 8, 2013

currently

loving
this recipe for sesame chicken.  it's amazing.  we eat it *at least* once a week.

reading
rare for me, but nothing except the good ol' scriptures.  i'm still rocking out my goal to read through them in 2013.  the cute little cards are definitely helping.

excited about
our summertime trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina.  it's the perfect beach vacation spot.  not tourist-y, beautiful beaches, and not a terribly far drive.

enjoying
the fact that both kidets are napping.  i'm on the couch watching grey's and blogging.  ah, the life.

wearing
the messy bun.



planning
the latest and greatest in our home reno.  follow along right here.  also, go ahead and vote on the color of doors we should use.  i'm pretty bummed that black is not the popular choice.

singing
'there's two, there's four, there's six, there's eight'.  and i'm not super thrilled about it.  the life of a boy mom.

needing
to get some new clothes for henry.  it's a dangerous combo of growing + too much time in the garage with dad ruining clothes.

listening to
the new primary 2013 cd.  i love that new song.

doing
some ridiculous exercising in our tiny house.  getting 45 minutes of cardio in inside a 1,000-square-foot home is silly.  i just let the kids trash the house for about 2 hours, and then strap on my heart-rate monitor, and run around picking everything up.  literally, run around.  then every so often i stop and do some circuit exercises.  i wish i were kidding, but it works.

dreaming of
a kitchen pimped out with awesomely organized cabinets.



you?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

News.

Two items of business.

I'm sick of using code names for our family.  I'm risking the whole stealing-pictures and stealing-identity thing.  So my name is Abbey.  I have a husband named Nic.  Our kids are Ella and Henry.  Hi.

we love snow.


As for #2, I decided to start a second blog for our home renovations.  Mostly, I want to write down all of the details {more for myself than anyone}, and figured a blog is the best way for me to do that.  I don't want our family blog to get loaded down with all of that stuff, so here's the home blog:  Big Plans, Little Budget.  I know I have several home-improvement-obsessed friends, so hopefully you'll read along!

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Exciting Life

Here's my newest toy:


Super exciting, eh?

Well, it kinda is.  I decided awhile ago that I really needed a steam mop.  I like the idea of a mop that cleans with really hot water without chemicals.  But really cleans.

I did a tiny bit of googling, and then just went to Target.  Ella was my shopping assistant, and we decided we didn't like any of those.  Well, she liked the purple one, but it was about $200 out of my price range.

Next up was Meijer.  I decided to just buy the cheapest one.  As a bonus, it came with a $20 Meijer credit, that can be used for groceries.  Score!  So it really only cost me $40.

I busted this thing out after the littles were in bed {I try to save the crazy stuff for after they're in bed}, and I love it!  It gets so hot.  Like burn-your-hands-hot.

And it really cleans!  I was pretty surprised at how much stuff it got up from my floors.  The wonders of hot water, I guess.

So that's the latest and greatest.