Kindergarten Blues

Here we are in January and every single morning I ache as I send my oldest daughter to school. She loves school and has so many friends, not to mention how very much she's learning. There's just something hard about letting a major piece of my heart go away for 8 hours a day. I think if I could text message or call her teacher throughout the day I would be doing much better... But I don't think that's happening anytime soon! Lol

This morning I watched her walk down the long hallway to her classroom, like I do every morning. The principal said, "It's still tough saying goodbye, huh mom?" I couldn't help but laugh and agree with her wholeheartedly. Maybe she said that because most parents don't stand their quite so long or maybe she could see the look on my face?

The unfortunate thing about all of this is that this is par for the course as a parent. We nurture them and love them without end, only to say "goodbye" for increasingly longer lengths of time. While they're away, we simply have to trust that we've raised them well enough to fly on their own. I just love these children so much and only wish I could keep them little for a while longer. I'm sure every parent has yearned for this at one point or another.

All I can say is, thank goodness it's Friday! I plan on enjoying every second with my girl.

Goodbye, 2012!

This year was a great year! I can't look back on it and think of any awful times or extended periods of frustrations. It was a year of mostly awesome health for us all, if you exclude Bailey's constant ear issues. It was also a year of new beginnings with our family compete! This was the first year since '06 that I wasn't either pregnant or welcoming a new baby. It's been nice to have not have make any new adjustments or changes! I also think I fell more in love with my husband and daughters this year! I'm so blessed:)

Next year (wow, weird to say, since it's tomorrow!), I know we will have more adjustments. Adrienne will start Pre-K and I will most likely be starting the nursing program in the Fall... I applied and have the grades to get in but I'm not promised a spot. I just keep telling myself to take it one day at a time. My days of worrying about every little detail really, really need to end! :)

I'm looking forward to spending tonight with my husband, who surprisingly is OFF for the next 2 days! We'll be having a few family members over and John promised the girls they can stay up until midnight. It should be lots of fun!

Here's to making 2013 the best year yet!!

iPhone Ap for Blogger??!

Someone (Ashley, I think??) told me about the Blogger app a while back and I forgot about it! I'm so glad I finally checked it out! It makes uploading pictures and writing short updates a lot easier. Hooray! So, without further adieu, here is an updated picture of my beauties! :) Man, that was easy!

Merry (Belated) Christmas!

The past month has been a whirlwind... When you combine my birthday (December 2nd), John's birthday (December 9th), finishing up classes (that ended on December 18th), school concerts and parties for Brooke and then everything that comes with Christmas, you have a hectic schedule. I love Christmas and am sad to see it go but it hasn't been so bad unwinding for these past few days!

So , what's new?? Let me think! I finished out the semester with 2 A+'s, an A and one B+, giving me a GPA of 3.7. I'm pretty gosh darn proud of myself! I really learned a lot and I enjoyed my classes. I will be starting my winter break chemistry class in a few days and I'm a little nervous about it. It's online and I have NO chemistry knowledge whatsoever so I'll have to figure a lot out on my own. It's also one semester worth of chemistry packed into 3 weeks. Wish me luck! I really need an A in that class so it ups the ante quite a bit.

The girls are all doing pretty well! I volunteered in Brooke's class before Christmas break and her teacher and I chatted for a while. She told me that Brooke is "absolutely perfect at school" and that she "wishes she had a classroom full of kids like her. " What mama wouldn't be beaming with pride?? Brooke has also become quite good at reading and spelling. She's actually better at spelling words out and writing them than reading them but she does well in both areas. As for Adrienne, she has been having constant urinary tract infections on and off for about a year now. The doctors have been testing her kidneys and tried all sorts of things but it just keeps happening. I feel bad for the poor girl! Other than that, she is doing great, though! She finally learned how to spell her name and she's proud. Then there's Bailey... She's hilarious and silly but if you make her mad, she will throw a temper tantrum like you've never seen. She's my moody girl, for sure. Her language has improved greatly since her ear surgery and she has started speaking in 2-3 word sentences. It's so exciting!

Christmas was really great this year! John had to work all night long on Christmas Eve so he came home on Christmas morning just in time for breakfast and to open presents. We then went to spend time with my parents, his grandma, and then his parents. He did this all on NO sleep and he didn't so much as complain about being tired once. My husband is an amazing man! I'm not even exaggerating:) The girls got piles and piles of clothes and toys and movies and activities. It was a sight to behold when we emptied the contents of our van in the house. We are so blessed to have so many that love us and want to do nice things for us.

The best part of Christmas, in my opinion, was the day after... We were hit with a big storm and got about a foot of snow. So the 5 of us spent 2 days cooped up in the house and we organized all the toys, watched some movies, played some new games, and just relaxed. It was very low key and just what we needed after being so incredibly busy. Speaking of snow, we got another 8 inches today. Blek! We were supposed to get a dusting at first, then they changed it to 1-3 inches and then, about an hour before it stopped snowing they changed it to 5-8. Lol. Gotta love it!

The horrible Sandy Hook tragedy has taken an incredible toll on me, as a mother. I have been a bit obsessed with it and I have become familiar with the names of the children who died, along with their parents and siblings. I can't get them out of my mind and I have felt this awful pit in my stomach since it happened. A pit for my own children and wondering how I'm ever supposed to feel secure letting them go ANYWHERE. And a pit for those families who lost such beautiful children. I have literally had to cut myself off from reading about it and looking at the pictures because I was saddened so deeply and in such a fog. How will those parents ever feel "normal" again?

I think that about sums the last month up! The next few months are my least favorite of the year.. The dark, freezing and gloomy months of winter where all you want is Spring. We will survive, right? We always do!  Until next time...

Bailey's Surgery

Bailey had her ear surgery early yesterday morning. It was absolutely awful, probably one of the worst mornings of parenting I've ever had in nearly 6 years. It was especially hard because she had been really sick with a bad cold and double ear infection, not to mention the 2 molars she's been cutting. When we got to the hospital she was running a fever and I just knew they wouldn't operate on her. However, the anaesthesiologist and the doctor were in agreement that the fever was most likely a result of the ear infections and because her lungs were clear, they determined that it was safe to do the surgery. That didn't change the fact that Bailey was a disaster, though.. She wouldn't let anyone touch her and even when they tried to put a hospital bracelet on her (the easiest part of the whole day), she just about had a heart attack.

It wasn't long before they took her from me and letting her go off with complete strangers as she was screaming hysterically was not easy. I held it together and lost it as soon as she was out of sight. We went into the waiting room and the whole time I was a nervous wreck. For this surgery they had to put in a breathing tube and IV, which had me anxious from the beginning, and with her nasty nose and cold, I was more worried about a complication. Her doctor is the most popular ENT doctor in this area and he had come highly recommended from several of my friends, along with Bailey's primary care doctor, so that did help ease my mind. 

Before I knew it, the surgery was over and the doctor was out to see us. He told us that Bailey's ears were in horrible condition, some of the absolute worst he's ever seen. He took out her old ear tubes that were completely colonized with bacteria and thoroughly cleaned her ears. He also got cultures of all the crap in there so we can  have a better understanding of what has been causing the never ending infections. In addition, he removed her adenoids, which were covering 75% of her nasal cavity. He said that that is huge and that they could be the culprit for a lot of the issues that she has.. As far as constant colds, infections, etc..  He then said that he couldn't make any promises or guarantees that this would even fix her because the last course of treatment "should have done the trick." He said that if this surgery doesn't work then we're going to start testing her for some type of immune deficiency, which scares me to death. So I'm hoping and praying that it was just the adenoids causing all of these severe problems and that she'll be completely better this time! I guess I have to take it one day at a time...

So that's the latest on Bailey. She's been a wreck and extremely out of sorts. I know that she has to be in some pain, plus she is still teething and still has a cold. I'm trying to be as patient with her as humanly possible! I can't wait for things to get back to normal!

The Trouble-Twisted Life of Bailey Quinn

To my sweet Bailey girl:

20 months ago from today you made your entrance into the world with a bang... Quite the bang, actually. One big enough to land you in a NICU 30 minutes down the road. I thought that that troubling experience was just a difficult start to your life but little did I know,  your many challenges were just beginning.

From an awful case of reflux, which caused so much concern that you were admitted into the hospital, strabismus, a trip to the ER for cracking your head open, to horrible ear problems, I'm afraid that your life has been anything but trouble free. Tomorrow you will be having your second ear surgery in your life and as I put you to bed, you were very sad and your ears were bleeding. Oh how I held onto you and wanted nothing more than to wave a magic wand and spare you of the frustrating morning that you'll have tomorrow. I can't even imagine how it's going to feel to tell you can't have your milk or your "bayfest" (As you like to call breakfast) and how my heart will break as I hand you over to the doctors and the nurses.

Each and every day you push me to new levels of patience that I never even knew I had. I cannot put a number on the amount of times in one day that I pull you off of the dining room table, drag you down from the stairs (now that you've gotten smart enough to get around the gate), reprimand you for hitting or biting your sisters, or redirect you when you find the light sockets, my purse, your dad's wallet, the cleaning supplies, etc.. You keep me hopping from sun up to sun down and you really don't even sleep long enough at night for me to recover. You are my earliest riser yet!

The best part is that for every single one of your many "quirks" there is something beautiful about you that I love. I love your sense of adventure, how everything is a game and everything seems to new to you. I love your beautiful smile and how others are drawn to you by it. I love how friendly and outgoing you are and how no situation, animal or person seems to scare you. You keep us cracking up all day long and daddy and I truly can't imagine you not being in our world.

We love you so much, baby girl. Tomorrow will be a tough day but are excited to see you get better and to watch you grow more and more!

With all my heart,
Mama

A Month???

Okay, okay... I'll admit. Maybe, just maybe, I have labeled my blog as "just another assignment." After I do my schoolwork, the very last thing I want to do is sit behind the computer, even if it is for leisurely purposes. I've said it a million times, though, I really do like having a record of our lives so I'll try to keep up!

What's new? Not a whole lot of anything, really. Brookie is doing awesome in school and has started to read really well! She was chosen as the student of the month a few weeks ago and I also received a sweet letter from her teacher about how cooperative and wonderful she is. That's what every mama loves to hear:-) My poor girl had a horrible go at it a few weeks ago... She came home on a Monday complaining that her tooth hurt. I took her to the dentist, where we learned that her previous filling had broken off and exposed her tooth, leading to a horrible tooth infection. This resulted in a root canal... Which was NOT fun to watch. I kept her home from school the next day because she was running a little fever. After a couple of days of that, we took her to the doctor for the continual fever and found out that she had pneumonia and an ear infection. It was a long week but truthfully, it was really nice having her home!

As for Adrienne, she continues to be stubborn and strong-willed. I try not use that infamous "middle child syndrome" label on her but boy, if anyone had it, it would be her! Lol. To go with it, though, she is amazingly funny and silly and she will just come up to you and kiss you, which of course, fixes anything and everything. She is my little buddy while Brooke is at school and she definitely makes my life fun!

Poor little Bailey will be having her ear surgery on the 28th. We her pre-op appointment the other day and the doctor said that her case is one of the most severe he's seen and her situation is quite unusual. Along with new tubes, he will removing her adenoids. He said that there is no promise that it will fix the problems with her ears but it's worth a shot. Thanks, I think??  I feel bad putting her through this all over again but we have to try everything possible to get her better. She's finally starting to repeat more words and say things but the doctor thinks that her delayed speech is mostly a result of constant ear problems, which obviously impact her hearing. Ugh!! I can't wait for this to be over.

We're gearing up to have a houseful for Thanksgiving again this year. I can't wait! I really love cooking and this feast is my favorite meal to make. I don't really like setting up the tables and chairs and all of that, but other than that, I love it all. It's nice to come together as a family and enjoy all of our blessings!

As for me, school is over for the semester in a little over a month! I still have all A's and I'm extremely proud of that... And I'm hoping to finish out on a strong note to lock in those grades! Next semester will be quite busy for me.. During the winter break I will be taking a crash course in chemistry online. I can't imagine what an entire 15-week semester worth of assignments will look like condensed into one month. I had no choice but to make that decision, really... If I had waited I wouldn't have been able to apply for the nursing program for another year. No way! Then, in the Spring I'll be taking medical terminology, pharmacology, another Biology class (that is the second half of the course I'm taking now), and creative writing as an elective. It will all be online and I'm confident that I'll make it work. One step at a time!

Oh, and I can't forget, I became an aunt again on the 19th of last month. My brother and his wife had a little boy, Jacob Matthew. He is so precious! I love having 2 babies to hold and it feels pretty darn nice to send them home with their mommies and sleep soundly through the night:-)

Alrighty, off to make dinner! Until next time... (whenever that may be!)