A VERY Crafty Friend

I got an email about a month ago from an old friend from college. She is a nurse who lives in NYC and has picked up sewing again in her spare time. She asked for Lucy's measurements so she could make some test garments and see if they were something she'd like to try to sell. Well, last week we received a package in the mail FULL of the most adorable clothes you've ever seen. PLUS, each one had a special, personalized tag on it. Faith seriously took a lot of time to make these outfits JUST FOR LUCY.

Lucy immediately fell in love with the apron. She's hardly taken it off since. I LOVE the vibrant colors of the fabrics, and how Faith mixed and matched different patterns and textures. Lucy wore the halter dress with the flower to a birthday party, and it was a HUGE hit! Plus, she loved twirling all around. She also wore the blue and white printed dress to church. SO CUTE!

Each garment fit her PERFECTLY, and all Faith needed was her chest, waist, and height. This girl is talented! If you are interested in some custom made frocks for your little princess, email her! She's FABULOUS! Her info is: fjsnyc@gmail.com

Back to School

Adios summer! It was a good one, but man it went by FAST! The last post I was telling you about how wonderful Lucy did after her end of summer adenoid surgery. Um, I totally spoke too soon. That was the day after surgery, but let me tell you, we were in the hospital not 4 days later. Then, we were at the pediatrician 4 days after that. I will spare you most of the details, but basically there was some major swelling that cropped up (that only a small percentage-a.k.a. OF COURSE US-experience) and Lucy couldn't swallow, wasn't eating, drinking or peeing. Not fun. Neither were the 3 FAILED IVs and blood work that was attempted at Children's Hospital.

It was also not fun to get called from your child's school twice during your FIRST WEEK BACK AT WORK. Seriously, it is like Lucy has radar for that. "Oh, Mommy and Daddy are going back to work? I think I'll have some complications from surgery now." Seriously. It is just unreal. Lucy wasn't eating, crying all the time, and complaining of a headache all day at school. Thus the reason we went to the pediatrician 4 days after the hospital (which was 1 week after our visit for the head contusion which was one week after our visit when she wouldn't get well on vacation. MAJOR FUN). The pediatrician got to see all her collapsed veins and bruises, and added a finger prick to the list of medical procedures that had been performed on my child in the past month. According to EVERYONE, her blood work was fine, there was no reason for the headache, and she had lost a pound so she NEEDED to start eating...like yesterday.

Well, it turns out that the not eating and crying were just a ploy to get out of going to school. She is really hating her new class (which we move from in 8 days). She was not happy about being at school, not getting lovey dovey vibes from her teacher, and basically was just pissed that summer was over and she had to get up and go to school. Yes folks, we have a little manipulator on our hands! She made me sick with worry for days all because she wanted to stay home and just chill like we'd done all summer. LOVELY.

We are now in week two of the transition back to school. Bryan is student teaching at the high school, I am still teaching 2nd grade (and love my class!), and Lucy is back at school full time. She is still having a bit of a hard time adjusting, but a little surprise each afternoon IF she eats and doesn't cry ALL DAY seems to be helping. We're also feeding the kid lots of milkshakes and making the most of our time together at home in the afternoons.

Bryan and I are also on constant IV drips of coffee. Oh, did I not mention that Lucy hasn't slept through the night in 7 weeks now? It is such a treat to be awakened 4-5 times a night, especially now that we're both working. Ahhh, parenthood.

30 Months

30 months=the amount of time in my child's life that passed before she barfed. Poor kid. Yesterday she had adenoidectomy and her no longer functioning ear tubes removed. It was a

L O N G day. We had to be at the surgery center at 7 a.m., having not fed or given a drink to Lucy. She of course woke asking for both. Oh well. That was just the beginning. This poor unsuspecting child had no idea what was in store for her.

If you know me at all, you know I hate medicine, doctors, basically, anything medical related. I am a doctor's worst nightmare. I ask a lot of questions, self diagnose perhaps too much thanks to the internet, worry, and if you are going to do a procedure...forget it! I am going to barf, pass out, or if you are lucky...both, right there in your exam room (once it was in the lobby :) Anyway, the thought of putting Lucy through another surgery and 2 weeks of medicine sort of freaked me out, especially since she'd had 2 other visits to the hospital in the past 2 weeks. However, after way too many sinus infections to remember, we KNEW we had to get the adenoids removed. The ear tubes have made her a new child, and we have high hopes for the lack of adenoids too.

So all that being said, we arrived at 7 a.m. and registered Lucy. She was cool. Then we went back to pre-op. She was not so cool. Too many nurses, beds, machines, etc. for her liking. It reminded her of the ER I think. Luckily I had some ammo in my Mary Poppins purse. I brought a new Barney animal to distract her, and later showed her the new Minnie outfit I got for her.

The Minnie outfit thrilled her, but we were at home and all procedures done when she saw it. Barney didn't help out the way I had hoped. As soon as Lucy saw the blood pressure cuff, it was all over. Luckily, with the help of some "happy juice," Lu relaxed and let the nursed do whatever they wished to her. We talked to the anesthesiologist who informed us she'd breathe gas for a bit, then switch to a tube since the doctor need to get in her mouth. He said she'd have an iv this time (different from the tube surgery before) as well. The doctor (John Little-who is AMAZING) came to speak with us and told us it would be about 20 minutes for all the surgery. We then said bye to our drunk kid, and waited...

Exactly 20 minutes later, they called for us. We spoke with Dr. Little who said everything was great. Lucy had a polyp on the right ear near where her tube was lodged. He assured us it was noting to worry about and that it had been removed. He had to do a paper patch on the right side which would require $90 antibiotic drops for the next 5 days. YIPEE. Anyone need a kidney? Also, her adenoids had been removed and all was well. She needed to CHILL for the next 5-7 days, eat soft foods, etc. They'd given her some antibiotics in the iv, but we'd need to do more for the next 10 days. SUPER.

Lucy woke from anesthesia almost immediately but was rather combative. She was screaming and trying to get out of the bed when we went back to see her. She was definitely out of her mind. She wouldn't really lay down and chill out, and when she discovered the heart monitor attached to her toe and the iv in her hand, whoa boy! It was not fun. They'd given her tylenol with codeine but she was far from passed out. We had just pulled into the garage from the hospital when she puked all over herself. Her first puke! N A S T Y. Poor thing didn't really know what had just happened. I hope she's not a barfer like me. Bryan can count on one hand how many times he's done it in his life. Me on the other hand, well, I can count on one hand how many times I barfed in the last YEAR.

She did finally fall asleep when we got home. She slept for a couple of hours and woke as her old self. We had to keep her calm, which if you know Lucy, isn't easy. She wanted to dance, ride her rocking horse like a "cowgirl," sing, and run. Please note that she is also wearing a purple "gwub" that the nurse gave her. Wore it all day!

Her Mimi and Papa sent her a package with red balloons (helping to fuel her obsession) and a Dora doll. She was thrilled! We also ate about 5 popsicles and several helpings of cheesy noodles. Please note the gwub is still on while eating the popsicle. Also, Bryan took advantage of popsicle time :-)

Dinner was breakfast, and Lucy ate a plate of scrambled eggs, laid her head on the table, and then asked to go to bed. It was 5:45. Eeek! I knew she'd either sleep for a couple of hours and wake raring to go, or sleep until about 3:45 a.m. Both scenarios were crappy for me. I of course slept with her, as my neuroses were at a heightened level post-surgery. Do you that kid slept for a SOLID 12 hours?!?! If anyone knows where I can get some anesthesia and a mask for each night, that would be great!

Today Lucy seems quite normal.

She was in time out by 8:00!

She's BAAAACK!

I Can Do THAT!

I am a sucker for hand-painted canvases. I go to the Southern Market, and I am in hog heaven. We have one in our "playroom" (see below) called "How to Really Love a Child." My parents just bought one while we were at the beach called "The Joy of Grandparenting." They both came from www.gloryhaus.com. It has such cute stuff! However, we are poor, and spending $50 is going to be on gas and groceries, not cute canvases.

So, I just found a great deal on a cute little bed side table for Lucy's room (you might have read that post). I took the lamp off her chest of drawers and put it on the table, thus creating a bit of a "hole" over the chest of drawers. It has been driving me nuts, but we don't have the money for me to go buy something to fill it up. However, I am slightly crafty and I remembered that we had a blank canvas under the guest bed. I have good handwriting, after all, Samford made me take a class in it before I could get my teaching certificate! I am not the greatest artist, but I figured I was capable of making something suitable for Lu's wall.

Before she was born, I was looking into those words for walls decals. I was going to do a verse from the Bible on a wall in her room. However, it was quite expensive to custom order one, AND time just ran out. I did have a professional make some small canvas monogram paintings to match Lucy's bedding. She did such a great job! But I looked and looked at her work and knew I had it in me to do such cute things.

So I thought last night, why not just make a canvas with a verse on it? I went to Michaels and spent $6.72 on paint and a small brush set. Then, I dove in! I found a verse Bryan and I both really liked, sketched it out, taped up my canvas, and 5 hours later...a masterpiece!

Well, it might not technically be a masterpiece, but pretty darn good for my FIRST canvas NOT being painted in a class while I was drinking (see www.sipsnstrokes.com OR www.paintingwithatwist.com OR www.myspiritedart.com). I highly recommend THOSE types of classes. FUN! Anyway, here is the finished product in Lucy's bedroom. Now, if only I had time to make more.