Polar Plunge 2016 & Sophie's 2nd Mouth Surgery

 My Dad & Tyler have done a Polar Plunge on New Years Day for YEARS! Last year Karter did it with them & this year Sophie & Brandon decided they would join in.  There has been a lot going on, so it was post-poned until this past Tuesday night. 

 I kept telling both kids they didn't have to do it, but they wanted to.  Heidi wanted no part in it.

I got some videos.... Karter loved it.... he actually did it twice.  Sophie chickend out.... twice.... and in the last video when she actually went, she was basically walking on water.

 Poor thing... took her a few minutes to get warm and calmed down....

A warm bath did the trick....

I'm not sure if you remember, but Sophie had her 1st mouth surgery in November.  We were hoping to finish this past Tuesday, but a week before surgery she developed (or I found rather.... because she never complained) a HUGE abscess.

This was what it looked like after being on an antibiotic for about a week.

We were there bright and early Tuesday morning and they took us back pretty much immediately.  When they first take us back, they check all her vitals and then give her some sleepy medicine to drink.... and then wait a few minutes and bring her more to drink.  It makes her VERY loopy.

 This was after her first drink.  She was used to taking her antibiotic in one quick swing, so she chugged this medicine the same way, but it was more than she thought.  She spit it all over herself and Kyle's leg. 

 After the second drink it didn't take long before she was feeling REAL good and was carried off to surgery.

 They came and talked to us several times during the procedure.  Because of the abscess, they had to give her a lot more anesthesia than usual.  Usually when people have an abscess they can't get fully numb in that area.  Thankfully they were able to give her enough anesthesia that she didn't feel anything.  They had to go in and cut the abscess off/out.  They couldn't stitch it because it needed to drain.  She said it was one of the biggest she had seen in a while.

Poor baby.

Bad thing is because of all the anesthesia they had to give her to do the abscess, they couldn't finish everything that needed to be done, so we'll go back Tuesday to finish.  They ended up doing 4 root canals/4 crowns and cut out the abscess.  She is hoping to save the abscessed tooth, but there is a possibility that she will have to pull it.

This was when they brought her back to us......

 ..... she slept the entire way home and thankfully didn't bleed out.  With her first surgery we got a call that Karter was running fever.  Thankfully my Dad was able to go get him.  This time we got a call that Heidi was running fever.  Thankfully my Dad was able to get her.  It ends up that she has strep throat :(.

 Soph did good the rest of the day Tuesday.  She was her normal silly self.....

 She wanted to go to school yesterday, but as we were getting ready I could just tell she was in a lot of pain and her mouth was still very swollen.  She stayed home with her Daddy and Heidi while I went to Birmingham :).....

She is much better today and the swelling is down. And for the record.... she LOVES her silver teeth :)!

Just an Ordinary Penny

To most of you this is just a penny.

Just an ordinary penny.  Worth one cent. 

To me, this one penny is worth so much more.

One penny can't by you much in this world.  But this penny bought me the whole world.  You see, back in December the second time we went to the hospital that month, my sweet mother in law was here to take care of my children.  As I was gathering my things she asked me if I had money or needed money.  I told her I was okay and had money.  I continued gathering my things and then my precious little boy walked up to me.  He knows that a penny is worth one cent, but he doesn't realize that a penny can't buy you anything.  All he was thinking was emptying his piggy bank to give me whatever he had in it.  He had recently used all his money, so a penny was all he had left.  

I took that penny with the biggest smile (& tear) on my face and gave him the biggest hug.  What he did was so selfless and although they weren't wanting me to leave them (again), he wanted to make sure his Mommy was okay.  

I have put this penny in a special place to keep forever.  Sometimes it is the small things in life and the small reminders that keep you going.  

Dancing With the Stars Tour

 We had so much fun watching the Dancing with the Stars Tour in Birmingham.  It was just going to be Mom & Tyler going, but I may have guilted her in to taking me and Heidi too.  Heidi LOVES watching DWTS so she was SUPER excited.

Mom was hurting pretty bad that night, but pushed through to enjoy the show.  (She had her PEG tube surgery 3 days later).

 I used my selfie stick to take all of the above pictures and then go figure.... it quit before we took our picture with Noah.

This is Noah for those of you that aren't DWTS fans....

 Noah was on the 20th season of DWTS.  He was phenomenal.  He was injured in Iraq and lost an arm and leg.  He manged to dance terrifically and get 3rd place. 

 I have tried and tried and tried to send videos to post for y'all to see, but it just isn't happening.  Just trust me, the show was AMAZING! Here are a few pictures of the show....

The guy in the white shirt is Hayes Grier.  He is a famous "Viner".  He was on the shows last season.  He is 15, so he was one of Heidi's favorites.

Anyway, I really wish the videos would have worked out.  Even if you aren't a DWTS fan, this tour is still absolutely worth watching. 

Coming Home...... New Year....

 Words cannot express how thankful I am for my best friend and mother in law.  Most of the time our hospital stays fall to where people have to take off work to keep the kids, or usually Amanda gets them from school & then takes them to Cindy when she gets off.  We have a system that seems to work, but I still feel so guilty with being away from them and hearing them tell me how much they miss me or want me home.  It makes it hard.  BUT the way it fell this time, Cindy only took off 1/2 a day (they closed at lunch on Thursday) & she was off Friday.  She told me to take enough clothes to stay until Sunday that the kids would be fine.  She kept pictures coming and I felt so relaxed knowing that they were having fun and well taken care of.  Amanda went over almost everyday to see them & to help.  

Thursday night they had a really fun time having their cousins over to spend the night.  I really think that did them good & got their mind off of where I was for a bit.  MeMe let them play and have a good time and then when it was time to clean up, it was time to clean up. 

Here is the NYE video she sent me...... it was a wonderful video to wake up to on Jan 1.

New Year's Day they had breakfast, played, and then had a "fun" cleaning up game they played.

 She sent me before and after pictures of all the rooms.  I loved how they all worked together.

 On Saturday they loaded up and did a little shopping and then went to Chuck-E-Cheese.

 On Sunday they were so excited about us coming home.  I think the day drug by for them. 

 Amanda and Cindy took them to see the horses, they went to the school to finish a sign, went to Moms to hang it, got balloons, cleaned the house (like even scrubbed the bathrooms), had soup in the crock pot when we got home, etc.....

 It was so nice to come home and kind of go "ahhhhh".... and not see everything that I needed to do.  You know how when you leave for a vacation you clean the house before you leave so that when you come home you can relax and not have a mess to come home to?  That's what it felt like.  They truly are wonderful!  Last Christmas the two of them even decorated our house for Christmas. 

Thought I would share this picture of Mom...... I know she is in a hospital gown, but so what.  My cousin, Abby, had texted me checking on her and then she said.... "Here.... take a picture and send to Abby & Jamie"..... I thought it was beautiful......

 This was her on her way to get her PEG tube.  She was really nervous......

This is how we all spent January 1, 2016.

 And then Sunday we got the great news that we could leave.  We were all exhausted by this point. 

 This silly group sent this to us while they were running around getting Babee's surprise ready....

 Babee showing them the tube.....

Amanda's snap :)! 

 I LOVEDDDD that they had pictures of them making Moms "surprise" sign.....

 ..... AND...... TA......DA......

How sweet is that?  Soooo thoughtful.  Amanda and Cindy are completely selfless people.  Always putting others first.  They had 3 sets of balloons with three balloons in each bundle of our favorite colors.  

Tyler recorded this video of Mom to send to us when she saw the sign....

And usually we don't all 4 sleep in my bed, but I really wanted my little ducklings under my wing. 

You would think we would all be used to hospital stays.  I really can't count how many we had in 2015.  But each time it is so upsetting because we are there because Mom is in so much pain from this stinking cancer.  In less than a month it will be 2 years that we started this journey.  

No one has given up yet!