Bye Bye Tinsils

(Lucy is so cute...she keeps asking about Caitlin's "Tinsils")

Caitlin had her tonsils taken out Monday (5 days ago).  She has been grinding her teeth at nighttime for a while now.  When I took her to the dentist, I thought it was a teeth problem.  Turns out it is a sign of sleep apnea.  Basically, Caitlin's tonsils were so big that when she went to sleep, her tonsils were blocking oxygen.  She was basically in "distress" and grinding her teeth.  This wasn't the only sign of sleep apnea.  She fit almost every category.  We took her to her ENT and he said the tonsils were very big.  He said in 90% of sleep apnea cases, he requires an overnight sleep study to see how many times she stops breathing at night to decide if getting her tonsils out is a solution.  However, because of the size and the teeth damage, he didn't even want to waste time with a sleep study because he said he was positive it was sleep apnea and they needed to come out.  Rob and I really thought about it and researched it and knew it had to be done, no matter how much I didn't want to.  They were able to schedule the surgery a week and a half later so it was a crazy week of dr appointments, blood draws, etc.

The day she was having her surgery, it wasn't scheduled until 11:30.  So she had some jello at 8am and then nothing else.  We took her to a store to pick out a toy to distract her.  Then we headed to the outpatient center.

Once we got there, it was a whirlwind.  Drs checking in, nurses helping, a child life specialist who was awesome because she talked her through what was going to happen and had gifts for her.  Then...it was time.  I will say, Caitlin wasn't really scared at all.  (We were definitely wrecks, but tried not to let her see!  The drive to the hospital was silent,) She is really still too young to understand.  She just wanted us to stay with her.   I'm so glad they let Rob go with her.  He was able to carry her to the room and stay with her till she fell asleep.  We waited in the waiting room.  20 mins later, the dr came to talk to us.  He said she did great but they were really large.  He also took out her adenoids.  About 15 mins later we were able to see her.  I had been so worried about her waking up and us not bring there.  Unfortunately, she had a hard time.  I could hear her screaming down the hall.  They said they gave her 2 rounds of morphine to calm her down but she was upset.  It took us about 45 more minutes to calm her down.  She finally fell asleep.  We stayed at the hospital about 3 more hours.  When it was time to leave, she started getting nauseous.  Needless to say, it was a long ride home and included 1 pull over for throwing up.  We finally made it home and the healing began.

We are 5 days into recovery and I am completely shocked at how hard and long the recovery is. She's had 101.5 fever every day.  She wakes up screaming from pain.  She had hallucinations where worms were crawling on her.  She has watched more tv than she has watched in her whole life.  We know she's getting better every day...but we are sure ready to see our old bug again!  

As for the surgery, it takes about 2 weeks to see the full effects, but we are already seeing improvements.  Sleeping with her mouth closed.  Talking without "marbles" in her mouth.  Even a skinnier looking face/neck which obviously we could care less about, but it demonstrates how large the tonsils must have been. 

We have 6 more days of mush foods only (lots of Popsicles, scrambled eggs, apple sauce, yogurt), and no activity.  I am creating a list of things to do and places to go.

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers!  Thank you for the calls, texts, emails, and visits.  And an extra big thanks for all the gifts!  She had been spoiled rotten with coloring books, cups, bowls, dolls, clothes, movies, and food!!  She has been treated like a princess... And she appreciates it all!

We know we are very fortunate that we are only dealing with tonsils...we have friends going through things we couldn't imagine.  However, any parent knows they would do anything to stop your child from being in pain!

Here are a few pictures!

Last picture with tonsils

This was sort of funny.  We had finally got her to calm down by putting on Sesame Street...but she was still acting funny from the medicine, so she had to hold Elmo up so he could see himself on tv.  After a very anxious few hours, we needed that comic relief!

Home at last with her new Doc

Our brave girl.  You can see the tape marks from over her eyes.

Our own little Doc McStuffins.  The hospital gave her lots of things to play with!

Day 5.  We finally got outside for a walk and Popsicles...and Libby enjoyed the sprinkler in her clothes! 

Also, a big thank you to Nana and Papa for having Abigail spend a week at the cottage!  She is having the best time ...and though we miss her a lot, we know we can give Caitlin the attention she needs.  Also, thank you to Grandma, Grandpa,and Aunt Julie for keeping Libby for 2 days for us.  And Grandma for dropping everything and rushing over when I thought we needed to head to the ER (although we were able to finally get her to drink something...I was very concerned with dehydration). And her cousins for visiting her. They say it takes a village...and our village has been amazing!!!  Thank You!!!

Summer Has Arrived!!!

Summer is flying by!!!  There is so much I still want to do.  Caitlin's tonsil surgery us definitely putting a little kink in our summer plans, but we will make up for lost time the last few weeks of July and August!!!

Here are a few pictures....

We headed to Kidstown to enjoy some imaginative play!

We've hit the pool...although only twice in June.  Hoping to make up done ground in July!!!

This is the summer my kids discovered all that is great about Slurpees!  Caitlin is obsessed...on Sunday Rob and I stopped to get everyone Slurpees after our soccer game and Caitlin said "can you hide mine behind your back so I don't drink so much again?". The week before, she put down a large one by herself!  And Libby is right behind her!!!

We are moving on to Day 3....

 

Here's actually another picture of Day 2.  I just love love love the streets in Old San Juan.  Here we were bar hopping a little and just exploring more of the city. 

The evening of Day 2 at one of the plazas.  They have plazas everywhere where there are street vendors, performances, and tons of people just sitting around.  It's so much fun!

 

 

Our trip to PR had been wonderful up to this point....but it was lacking a little bit of "beaches".  Both the beaches we had been to had been fine...nicer than anything in Chicago...but they weren't amazing.  Rob told me he loved PR but was just going to accept he didnt love the beaches there.  That was NOT OK with me! So I made it my mission to find a beach he would love.  I did a little bit of research that night...

 

So the next morning after our small coffee (It's crazy because in PR, the largest coffee is like a small styrofoam cup.  Their small coffee is like a Dixie cup.  It took a while to get used to), I told Rob we were headed to the beach.  The beach I had read about was like 20 minutes away from our hotel...so we could cab it...or we could take the bus.  I love an adventure, and surprisingly Rob was okay with my adventure.  So we headed to the bus station near our hotel, and low and behold, about 30 minutes later we were on a beautiful beach!  We headed to Isla Verda.  We rented our lawn chairs, ploopped our selves on the beach, and spent the better part of the day here!  I little piece of Heaven in PR.  The pictures look like the beach was empty, but it was perfectly crowded.  Enough to give us lots of stuff ot watch...but not too busy!

There was a bar near our chairs where we could get a bucket of beers and empanadas.  That's how we like to beach it!

 

A few hours into Rob's idea to "not use suntan lotion since it's our last day", he realized that may have been a bad idea.  I was burnt and I had SPF 50 on.  Luckily, I had read about a restaurant on the beach that served CocoLocos (drinks in coconuts).  We headed there to cool off!

 

After our perfect day at the beach, we decided to head back (on the bus again, very adventurous) and get ready for our last dinner.  For our last dinner, we debated which place we should go..and decided to end our vacation where it began, our favorite restaurant.  We had our same favorite server which added to the fun (we had also randomly run into him at a bar and had drinks with him so by this time, he felt like an old friend).

You can see our burns starting to appear...the plane ride home was a little rough, but we sure were happy to get home and see our 3 munchkins. We missed them SO MUCH during this trip, but we know that the opportunity to get away together for 5 days only happens once every 10 years or so, so we are very grateful for the opportunity.  Also, we are VERY grateful to my parents who watched the kids for the 5 days.  The girls had the BEST time with Grandma and Grandpa.  They haven't stopped talking about all the fun things they did.  In those 5 days, they  managed to go to Santa's Village, a pool, the movies, McDonalds, Jump Zone, Rainforest Cafe, Red Robin, Disney Store, Build-a-Bear, Target...and I'm sure more that I'm missing!  It was definitely the highlight of their summer so far....Thank you so much Mom and Dad for taking such great care of them!

 

And on a quick side note in case I don't post before...on Monday Caitlin is having her tonsils out.  I know it's a simple surgery, but it seems a lot scarier when it's your own child.  So please keep her in your thoughts and prayers...and we know that she will be a happier kid in a few weeks when she's finally able to sleep peacefully!

Day 1 and 2's Pictures

 

We got to Puerto Rico in the late afternoon, so we sort of just "explored" the town. 

 

 

One of the first things we found was this fountain.  Behind the fountain is actually the Governor's house.  Since the Governor lives in Old San Juan, any crimes in Old San Juan are considered federal crimes, which is one of the reasons why Old San Juan was one of the safest places I've ever traveled!!!  Anyways, back to the fountain.  It's actually funny I found this fountain first because this fountain is the reason I picked Puerto Rico.  I'm a little embarrased to admit it, but if you know me, you know I LOVE Real Housewives.  Well, on one episode, they went to Puerto Rico and I fell in love with PR on the episode.  That's why I looked into it.  Anyways, on the episode, there is an incident where 2 of the women jump into this fountain and get in trouble....long story but it made sense to me.

 

 

This night, we found our FAVORITE restaurant in PR...or maybe anywhere. Punto De Vista. It's not fancy at all, but we sat outside in these barrel chairs and we could see the water and the ports.  It was 2 for 1 mojitos and they claim to be the first place to serve a Bacardi Mojito.  Whether it's true or not, they are AMAZING!!!!  The food dish they are know for is called Mufungo.  It's smashed plantains with meat served in the middle.  This restaurant's mufungo with steak and garlic sauce was to die for.  Best meal ever.  We actually returned there for our last meal.  Not to mention, amazing service!!!

 

On our 1st full day, we explored the forts in Old San Juan.  They are so amazing.  And LOTS of stairs!!!

A view from the fort.  Beautiful.

 

And this is the reason why we fell in love with Puerto Rico.  The streets are narrow and cobble stoned.  All the buildings are so colorful.  I haven't made it to Europe (YET) but it's what I imagine Europe looks like.

 

After the forts, we hit a beach, but I didn't take any pictures!  After our busy day of walking (we walked over 12 miles), we ended the day with beers and world cup.  We actually never made it to a dinner...bummer...but we had our "crazy night" which we always have one of on our vacations!

 

The next morning, we had planned to do some ziplining and waterfall repelling, but everyone we met told us we were better off renting a car and doing the rainforest ourselves.  Looking back, I regret a little that we didn't do the ziplining tour....but we were having a hard time committing to anything because we are always on a schedule and we just wanted a vacation with no schedule.  However, we had a blast navigating the streets of PR and finding our way to the rainforest.

 

Our car

The first waterfall we found.

It felt "fake" in the rainforest...like I was at an exhibit at the zoo.  It was crazy how peaceful and beautiful it is.  And like clockwork, every 15 minutes it downpoured...and then it was sunny again!

We hiked down to a waterfall that you could swim in.  The water was freezing...but refreshing!  Definitely a cool experience.

 

We actually headed to another beach this afternoon, but no pictures again!  We ended our night at a fun restaurant Raises.  The servers wear authentic PR clothing from the plantations.  They served our drinks in tin cups.  It was so much fun.  The mufungo wasn't as good, but the environment was outstanding.

 

We ended the night in our rooftop bath tubs, which I talked about in the previous post.  There is so much else we did...shopping, the original pina colada, the casino....too mention to even mention!!!!  And we still had one day left...coming soon!!!

Puerto Rico Day 1 & 2

Our 10 year anniversary trip to Old San Juan has been amazing!!!!? After a long day of traveling, we arrived at our eclectic hotel, Casablanca. We decided to head right out and explore the city. The town is so cute. Cobblestone street, colorful colonial buildings...and lots of amazing food and drinks. After our first sangria (two thumbs down) we made our way to an amazing restaurant. We had 2-for-1 mojitos and the Puerto Rican specialty dish, monfongo! I have a feeling we will be back there before our trip is over!!! We made some "friends" as we tend to do on vacation and by the end of the night, the bartender was sending us shots! We then had some fun at the casino down the street and ended our night with one of the highlights of our trip...on our hotel roof deck in the bathtubs with wine and a cigar for rob! A truly unique and fun way to end our 1st night here!!!
Our 1st full day began with what else....a piña colada! Well, actually, we did have coffee first, but rob still had a piña colada by 9am! We then set out on our grand adventure!!!! We started with a long walk to explore a fort. So amazing and beautiful! Then we headed to the restaurant that created the original piña colada! Not to be missed!!!! Then we hiked to a beach, which we had to ourselves. After some swimming, we really really walked to a beautiful beach where we had lunch and swam!!! By the time we got back to our hotel at 5:00, we had walked over 10 miles and were exhausted!!! I laid down for a few minutes and Rob headed to the bar to watch World Cup soccer. We aren't sure where the night will take us....
Puerto Rico is more beautiful than I imagined! The people here are beyond friendly!!! Everyone makes us feel so welcomed! It's truly been a gat trip thus far!!! Next up on our agenda....the rainforest!!!!!

What Happened???

Weren't we just here??

Farewell, Kindergarten. 1st Grade...Here Abigail Comes!!!

It's hard to believe that I offically have a 1st grader!!!  Abigail had a WONDERFUL kindergarten experience....better than I ever could have dreamed of.  She learned A LOT (she's actually reading chapter books this summer which is really fun). But more importantly, she had a GREAT experience!  She had a teacher who loved her.  She gained self-confidence and social skills.  She made true friendships.  And she loves going to school.  It was a wonderful year!!!!!  Here are some pictures of her last day of school and her kindergarten graduation!

(I also wanted to add what a super dad Rob was.  I had to work this day because it was my kids last day of school too!  Because of my AMAZING job, I was able to come down for graduation and not miss a thing, but Rob had to bring the girls.  He took the day off, got them dressed, did their hair, including his 1st time using a curling iron), pack snacks for Libby who wasn't supposed to come but had a 101 fever so had to join us, and even took them out for lunch after.  Even though I have a little working-mom guilt missing things, but it's awesome for the girls to have a hands-on dad!  He's a rock star!)

Mrs. K...We could never thank her enough for what she did for Abigail this year!  She's a dream come true for a teacher!!!

I love my little "photo bomber" in the background!

Watch out 1st grade....Abigail's on her way!!!!!