Jonathan's Surgery

Jonathan had to have a breathing treatment right after surgery for croup. He couldn't stop coughing and that made his nose bleed and then he would cry. It was such a miserable experience for him and his parents!

He started looking a little better after the breathing treatment and the pure oxygen didn't hurt either!

And back at home with his buddy, Max.

On Oct. 12, Jonathan had sinus surgery, officially called sinuplasty. It was fairly non-invasive with no cutting, but still surgery. After battling constant sinus infections for over a year, and trying several other things first, including 30 days of a strong antibiotic with a nasal steroid, surgery was our final option. Jonathan was a super trooper and even stayed perfectly still while they started his IV. The nurse was shocked that she was able to successfully get it started on a conscious 4 year old. She told us that never happens!

Waking up from surgery was ROUGH. Jonathan started the morning with a croup-like cough. He's so susceptible to croup and the second he gets a cold, it turns into croup. They went ahead with the surgery because his lungs were clear and he didn't have a fever. As he was trying to wake-up from the anesthesia, he kept coughing, and then his nose would bleed and then he would cry, which would start the coughing and the vicious cycle continued. He was also SUPER cranky and even growled at me at one point when I was trying to help him understand that he couldn't take off his gown. We thought he remembered nothing and that he wasn't really awake. But the next day he said to me, "Mommy, when I was trying to wake up from the sleepy medicine, I was ridiculous." (Jonathan loves to use that word!) I tried not to laugh because it was so true. Instead, I reassured him that it was hard to wake up after surgery and that he did a great job.

He bounced back pretty quick and was at almost normal speed the next day. The hard part was that we were supposed to restrict him from running, jumping, being upside down, and any other normal little boy activity for a week or so. Two weeks after his surgery he was doing great and wasn't congested at all. But a week after that, everyone got colds and now he is congested again, but so are his brother and sister. We are hopeful that when the colds go away, so will his congestion.  All in all, he is a tough little guy and doesn't complain about the constant congestion. He even asks for nasal spray when I blow his nose to help get the junk out. How many 4-year olds even know what nasal spray is?

Birthday gifts from Grammy and Grandpa

Opening the first one...

It's Minnie!!

And a snowsuit!

She refused to try on the pants portion, and refused to pose with it. This was the best I could get. Good news is that it will fit!

She did try on the coat portion. Love this pink color on her!

We stretched Hannah's birthday out and opened presents from Grammy and Grandpa a couple days after her birthday. She got a giant stuffed Minnie Mouse that had to go everywhere with us for several days and an awesome snowsuit. The day she opened it, was a very warm day and a little confusing to her when I made her put the coat on. But she liked it, as long as I kept my promise to take it off after I took a picture. Thank you Grammy and Grandpa for Hannah's presents. She loves them and you!

Look Whooo's Two!

He's not 2, but he is handsome and 4 1/2.

When you don't have a pocket like mama, just stick the phone in your skirt.

If big brother can do art projects with leaves, glue and markers, then so can I. Because I'm two!

It was a beautiful fall day the day after Hannah's birthday, so we played outside and made some leaf art. Andrew was at school so he didn't get to be part of the photo shoot this time. And I had a friend of my sister's make the adorable owl shirt for Hannah's birthday. It might be a new tradition. It is so cute and Hannah points at and says, "Who?"

Birthday Fun!

Opening her first gift while her brothers wait anxiously to see what is inside.

A Minnie Mouse comb and mirror

It was almost more than the boys could stand to watch Hannah and not help her!

Minnie Mouse with "snap-on" accessories!

A talking puzzle

Minnie was the toy of the night and needed a diaper and a wipe. The diaper was more like a blanket, but whatever.

And then it was time for "Beauty School Dropout." Hannah gave me a new 'do with her new Minnie Mouse comb. I may be smiling, but there were definitely moments of pain!

Birthday Cake

Hannah loved her chocolate cake!

And so did her brothers!

Eventually she gave up on the fork and used her hands. What a mess!

I took a few hundred pictures of Hannah enjoying her birthday cake so it deserved a post all its own! And no, I did not make that adorable cake. Target did and it was super yummy. Chocolate with fudgy chocolate frosting- need I say more?!

Our first cold day!

Getting these three to pose is not as easy as it looks...

I love Jonathan's face!

The first weekend in October was COLD, 40 degrees cold with a light frost overnight. But it was still nice enough to play outside. So we had fun digging out gloves and hats. Hannah has an adorable purple/pink flowered hat with tassles. Do you see it on her head? No. She rejected it and insisted on a hat like her brothers. She may not speak in sentences, but she conveys her message clearly!

Random September photos

 

Matt and Sarah sent Hannah this cute apron. Unfortunately, the best pose I caught was with her standing on the chair, and of course, my children don't normally stand on furniture. ahem

Cooking in her kitchen with her apron

Jonathan insisted on taking a photo with Max. Max wasn't interested, but Jonathan was persistent. (No kitten was harmed in the taking of this photo.)

Crazy Ruby thought she needed a better view of the backyard. After she jumped up there, she got a little scared and jumped down and hasn't tried it again.

Jonathan and Andrew were playing some Foosball and Max was fascinated!

 

Air Show

 

This was an acrobatic stunt pilot who performed all sorts of scary tricks in his little plane. Here he is flying sideways and upside down, and barely moving, all at the same time.

Watching the sky for cool air planes.

Army parachuters

The Thunderbirds were the main attraction!

We were close enough to the runway and with a little help from the zoom, you could see the pilots wave as they began their take-off.

It was VERY loud. Fortunately, we had noise-cancellation headphones for the boys.

The boys sat in a blackhawk, but I couldn't get Hannah to join them.

Trying to take a family photo isn't as easy as you might think...

The last weekend in September, we went to the Air Show at McConnell. The boys only sort of remembered going a couple years ago and they were excited to go again to the "Air Force" as Jonathan kept saying. It was very confusing to him that we were going to an air show on the air force base, so he just combined and shortened. We were fortunate to get a visitor pass from Keith's work again and so parking was a breeze! We spent the afternoon checking out the inside of giant airplanes and helicopters and watching the amazing pilots in the sky. The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time. We were exhausted by the time we go home and had an early dinner and kids in bed by 7. We call that a successful day!