Recovery

My sweet baby Kate had her surgery this last Wednesday, and 5 days post recovery she is doing amazing! It was so so stressful waiting...the waiting was the worst. 

I think waiting before they took her in, carrying her around in the tiny hospital gown with baby tigers on it, watching her kick her precious feet on the giant bed she'd lie in during surgery...trying to keep it together. That was so hard. We spent the night with friends in Spokane, and were supposed to be at the hospital at 5:30. They took her in at 7:30, and we got to see her around 10:00. They had a really hard time getting an iv in her, probably from dehydration. When we took the appliance out for the last time on Monday morning, she had a REALLY rough time figuring out how to drink from her bottle again. 

So because of that, she really was very dehydrated by Wednesday morning. So Dr. Husein started the surgery at 8:05, and finished just before 10:00. He said it went perfectly - was just a textbook case and he was really proud of it. 

When we finally got to the recovery room and saw her, i was immediately relieved and happy with how her lip looked, as i had been worried about how well he would do. But so much more than that, i was just so glad to hold my baby again. 

There was a lot of blood in her mouth, and she got super puffy from iv fluids, but after a couple of days, the swelling all went down and she was back to her happy bright-eyed self. 

Her black sutures come out on June 4th - the same day as Joshy's kindergarten graduation. I look forward to seeing her new smile even better then. She was beautiful before and she is beautiful now. I love this sweet princess.

Getting close

Only a few days away from surgery now. Evelyn got here today, which made it feel a lot more real that the surgery is coming up soon. I love my sweet baby so much and sometimes it is really hard to think about her being cut and stitched, bleeding and swollen, having to have her arms restrained when every waking minute (almost) these days she has her little thumb in her mouth... It will be hard.

In other news, Joshy has his first school play tomorrow! I am excited!!

Friends

Being in Lafayette with all the siblings last week was so much fun and made me really miss them and having friends. The friendships we've made here kinda feel like they aren't "sticking" or something. I dunno. Had a great bbq dinner with Mom and Dad last night - that was very fun. Baby seemed like she thought crying all night was the best plan!

Mothers Day

I think Mothers Day is more meaningful to me on the years when i have a little baby. In 2007 and 2009, the boys were not even 2 months old, and this year my little Katie pie is less than 6 months old, and still so little. I was thinking about why it feels more meaningful these baby years, and I think it is because my focus is SO intent on this tiny creature that nearly my whole identity is tuned in to my role as a mother. Granted, I was managing apartments in the two other years, but my main focus was still feeding, changing, and getting baby to sleep. I adore my sweet baby and my sweet boys, and I am so blessed to be a mother. It is tiring and frustrating and suffocating at times - I remember that for months after Joshy was born, I could not get it through my head that life wouldn't just "go back to normal" after a little while. Life was never the same and I really mourned my independence for awhile. Now I know that we will have time to ourselves again in 18 or 20 years, and while that seems so far away now, I have heard from so many people that it goes so much faster than you expect. I love my children so much. While each new stage with Joshua brings up so much confusion and fear of doing the wrong thing, I recognize what an amazing little guy he is, and know we must be doing something right in our parenting.

Our visit

Well, let's see! We were really happy to go to the temple with Clarissa and Jason - it was great to see them both looking so happy, knowing they were giving their marriage the best start there is. They also had a nice laid back open house, and it was fun to spend some time with them on their wedding weekend.

We also spent time with Eric (who met baby Kate for the first time), Tawnia, Emily, and Mindy (and sweet Aria, too!). Of course we enjoyed lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer as well.

We did lots of chatting and laughing, some games, cooking, playing outside, and baby admiring. I also had a great visit with Molly - a dear friend from Salem, who drove up to see us (well, mostly just to see baby...). The guys went on a hike in the Gorge, and us girls focused on the newest excitement - Emily's upcoming wedding!!

Aaron (who is awesome, by the way, and everyone approves. Good work, Emily!) proposed to Emily that Friday, and they are getting married on July 27th, so back we will be in a few months. Went dress shopping and enjoyed Emily's non-stop contagious grin that was rarely off her face from the moment she said yes!

Fun times...the timing belt on the van needed replacing, which added two days and $900 to the trip, but oh well.

My favorite parts were an EPIC (are you reading this, my dear? That was just for you) game of Apples to Apples, and seeing Emily in The Dress.

Home again!

It is always nice to come home, and this is the first time in about 10 years (31 years for Nathan) that returning home meant LEAVING Oregon. That was pretty weird. We couldn't get over how beautifully green it was during our visit...and all the many shades of green. And the rivers and streams! I am guessing that we may eventually end up in Oregon again, but the feeling may fade as we come to appreciate more the beautiful place we live. We are so grateful Nathan has a job, and how generous my parents are to let us live here with them. I am happy here, especially as it gets warmer and we can go outside more. I am still in love with Oregon, though, so someday we may be together again. We will be back at the end of July for Emily's wedding, and had already been planning a trip in August. The boys and I may stay there for the couple weeks between the two trips. We are still sorting that out. It was a very fun visit, and I can write more about it soon!

Packing!!!

Can't believe we are leaving tomorrow morning!!! So much to pack - kinda a lame post, but oh well. So excited!

Sickness

I hate how I tend to assume that babies won't catch any sicknesses from the people who love them so very much...it is just public places like church or the doctor's office that they will pick something up. Well my sweet baby had a rough time sleeping last night cuz of a pretty yucky cough. I hope so much she can get over it lightning quick and be ok for our trip to Oregon. Poor baby.