Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Tonsils

Ruthie got her tonsils out yesterday. She has had throat pain almost every day since mid February so we were VERY ready to get her tonsils out (although, I'm pretty sure our pediatrician might be going through Ruthie withdrawals...we were there all the time between February and mid April).

We headed to the hospital yesterday morning. Ruthie of course charmed everyone and was super patient before surgery. She had to get a finger stick and did awesome...she didn't even flinch! Child life came in and played with her while she was getting the finger stick and that definitely helped. Then she had to drink some medicine and she took it like a champ. They loaded her up with prizes for her fabulousness. Then she got to pick out her hat to wear during surgery. She picked a princess hat of course.
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The nurses in preop were wonderful. I was really happy because Ruthie's nurse anesthetist came in and it was one of my sorority sisters. Lauren was a year or two behind me in school and I was so happy that she was going to be taking care of Ruthie! Ruthie happily headed back to the OR with Lauren and the doctor and Paul and I headed to the waiting room.
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Ruthie's surgery was just over 30 minutes and I was able to go back to the recovery minutes within a few minutes of getting the call that the surgery was over. I walked into the recovery room to a VERY angry little girl. She was hurting and mad, mad, mad!
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We finally got her calmed down and settled in my lap. Paul headed to work once I texted him that Ruthie was ok. We were being admitted overnight and of course the Children's Hospital was full that day so we were in the recovery room for about 4 hours waiting for a bed.
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We had a really nice nurse in recovery and I was very thankful that she asked me if I wanted something to eat after we had been in there awhile. I had eaten a small breakfast at 8 and so by 2pm I was pretty hungry! The goldfish she brought me were pretty great! Ruthie was pretty angry and fussy the whole time we were in recovery. She did eat a popsicle and drink some juice.
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Getting a little snooze in recovery.

After we had been there for a few hours her doctor came back through and Ruthie started crying and glaring at him when he came by. As soon as he walked back around the corner she instantly stopped crying. The nurse and I were pretty amused!
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A little bit happier after her nap.

We finally made it up to our room around 3:30. We were on my floor and so of course we were very well taken care of! Ruthie was very glad to get into her bed and be somewhere quieter. She just laid around in bed all afternoon and watched TV. She was pretty glazed over. My friend Meredith was our nurse and she took excellent care of us, as did all of my coworkers who dropped in to see us. Ruthie ate a another popsicle after we got to her room. I had brought her favorite lime popsicles and put them in the freezer on the floor a few days before and she was thrilled to have them. Our child life specialist, Kendall, came by and brought Ruthie some movies to watch and a teddy bear and coloring sheets to take home. Paul came by at dinnertime and brought me Groucho's...yumm. That was the first real food I'd had all day and it was sooo good.
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She was so glad to get to her bed!

Once Lauren, our night nurse, came in and did her assessment I settled Ruthie down to go to sleep. Ruthie had a REALLY rough night until about 3am. She was waking up crying and holding her throat about every 15minutes. Sometimes she would settle back down with just a little pat and sometimes she could cry and scream and kick and just be really mad. She was fussing enough during those episodes that a few times Lauren came in to check on her. Poor Lauren had the fun job of bringing Ruthie her pain medicine 3 times. Ruthie was not amused. After her dose of pain medicine around 3am we got her settled back down and she actually slept until about 6:30. By then I was sooo ready for some good sleep!

This morning my coworker Cari brought me Chick-fil-a. I was sooo happy to see that CFA chicken biscuit! I had been trying to get Ruthie interested in some food like applesauce or a muffin but she was not interested at all. Well that CFA came in and her eyes lit up. She ate a couple bites of the biscuit part which made me quite happy. then she decided that she might like some chocolate ice cream for breakfast. I was happy to oblige. She scarfed down her ice cream and was pretty excited to have such a special breakfast!
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Ice cream for breakfast earned a half smile.

Ruthie's doctor came in to see her and that little flirt, who hadn't cracked a smile or talked to anyone who wasn't family since surgery, popped up in bed with a big grin on her face and held out her arms for a hug. I guess she felt she had to make up for crying when she saw him in recovery. After the doctor left Meredith came and took out her IV and discharged us and we headed home! I was sooo glad to get out of their quickly and get Ruthie home to her own bed! She was definitely pretty blah feeling when we got home (by way of a quick stop at chick fil a to get her a plain biscuit). She laid around and watched TV for a bit. Then she started perking up. By lunch time she was much more willing to eat and had a few bites of fruit, biscuit, and cheese and a bowl of chocolate ice cream. She also had a popsicle before lunch. We played a game with Gran and then Ruthie and I laid down to take a nap. It was such a good nap. We were both worn out and then it started raining. Perfect nap weather.  My mom went and got the big girls from school and Ruthie slept until after they got home. The big girls were so glad to see Ruthie and Emmie was excited to give Ruthie the book and card that Emmie's teacher had sent for Ruthie. Ruthie felt so special. Within an hour or so of the big girls being home Ruthie had perked up enough to go play in the puddles outside with them. She asked for noodles and cheese for dinner and ate two servings and was going strong tonight long after her sisters went to sleep! I am so happy that my little curly headed baby was back this afternoon. I know there will be some rough days ahead but it was nice to have a good day early on!
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My mom came and helped out while we were at the hospital and she's staying until tomorrow and then Paul's parents are coming to help out tomorrow and Friday. I am so thankful to have grandparents that are so willing to come help and that live close enough to come help!

We had such good care the whole time we were at the hospital. It is definitely different being on the "other side" and you have a whole different perspective. I couldn't have asked or a better experience! Everyone was so friendly and helpful and so sweet to Ruthie. I have always been proud of our Children's Hospital because I work there and I think we do a pretty fabulous job but experiencing it as a parent makes me even prouder of my hospital and my coworkers! (On a side note as relates to having a different perspective: We had talked to Ruthie beforehand and told her that she would be spending the night at the hospital and I would stay with her. We got all settled in our room and everyone left and she looked at me with big, tear-filled eyes and said "I thought you were spending the night?" I reassured her that I was. She then said "but where are you going to sleep!?!" as a big tear rolled down her cheek. Poor baby. She didn't see another bed and thought she was being abandoned! I assured her that I would be sleeping on the couch in the room and she immediately calmed down. Poor baby! It has never occurred to me that a small child might not realize their parent can sleep on the couch!)

Monday, May 22, 2017

Dance Recital

Emmie and Ruthie both took dance this year. Emmie took ballet and jazz and Ruthie took creative movement (ballet and tap). They both had WONDERFUL teachers and enjoyed dance so much. The dance recital was this past Saturday. They were really excited and had a great time dancing on the stage!

Ruthie was in the 9:30 recital and Emmie was in the 11:30 recital so we got a babysitter for JP!

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Ruthie's class danced to the Aristocats. They were adorable.
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Ruthie and her friend Ellie

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Emmie's ballet class danced to "True Colors". Emmie does such a good job in ballet...I love to watch her dance.
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Emmie's jazz class danced to "I'm Still Standing"
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Ellie got a flower for being such a trooper. She had to sit and watch from 930-130 and she was awesome!

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We had dress rehearsal last week. Gin-g came to watch since they weren't going to be at the recital and I was so glad to have the extra pair of hands! I was able to video the girls during the dance recital.


(Emmie is on the end of the front row)



(at the very beginning Emmie is the second from the left)



Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Roo's Swim Lessons

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Ruthie just finished up 2 weeks of swim lessons with Palmetto Aquatics. She was SO excited for swim lessons this year and she learned a lot over her 2 weeks. We still have to work on getting her to kick her legs out instead of bicycle kicking but other than that she was doing awesome! We got lucky and Ruthie had the same teacher both weeks AND it was her teacher the second week she took last year. It definitely helped the first day for Ruthie to have someone she already knew. I LOVED her attitude throughout the two weeks. She was always ready to swim and she kept a big smile on her face the majority of the time. The first week she was having a lot of throat pain and then she drank a lot of water the first day which did horrible things to her stomach but she never complained during her lessons and she didn't let it slow her down when she was swimming. This kiddo is a trooper!

Week 1




Week 2


(Also, apparently roo can dive!)




She is so ready for the pool this summer! Ruthie gets to be on the mini team for swim team this year and she is beyond excited to do swim team like the big girls!

Monday, May 15, 2017

Emmie goes to Summerville

A few weekends ago Emmie got her turn to go to Summerville to spend the weekend with GiGi and PaPa all by herself. Of all the kids she was definitely the most anxious about going. She is very much a Mama's girl who likes to be at her own house with all her people. She gave us lots of hugs before she left (as opposed to Ellie and Ruthie who grabbed their bag and bolted for the car)! She of course had a wonderful time...although she was stuck to me like glue when she got back and told us she missed us over and over. She has had the best time telling us all about her adventures! Like the rest of the girls, she's already planning what she's going to do when she goes back!


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Gin-g sent me this picture Saturday morning. Emmie got up and made her bed. She loves to make her bed and have things neat and orderly!


They did SO much on Saturday. Emmie had lots of great experiences!

They went to Angel Oak.
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They went to the Fire Museum.
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Emmie told me she got nervous driving the fire truck. I love her and how serious she takes things.
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She made badges for herself and JP.
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There were replicas of the Nina and the Pinta docked in Charleston and so she got to go see them. So neat!
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They took her out for a nice dinner. She really, really enjoyed that! She's at a great age to do things like that but at home if it doesn't have a playground we generally don't go so I'm thrilled that she got to have this experience!
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Emmie wanted to go to a River Dogs game but it ended up being sold out so they took her to Folly Beach and the pier instead. She was excited that she got to watch some people catch fish!
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Krispy Kreme doughnuts! AND they brought us back a dozen doughnuts...win!
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When Emmie got home she lined up Ellie and Ruthie and told them all about her adventures. She had a few small presents for them and she gave them their presents in a very orderly fashion.
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Monday, May 8, 2017

Cousins Weekend


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Love these sweet kids! Laura Ann, Ruthie, Emmie, JP, Mary Jane, Ellie

Two weekends ago the kids, Gin-g and I headed to NC to stay with Paul's Aunt Suzy and Uncle Clyde for cousins weekend! We look forward to this every year. This year we only had 2 of the older girls and we really missed the other cousins but we had a blast!
Friday we got there and JP immediately spotted the dogs. He was immediately smitten. We had to go over and visit with the dogs before we did anything else. Then we ate dinner and the kids played a bit (they had a ball playing hide and seek outside) and then it was time for bed.
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My little man loves a good hat!

Saturday we got up (JP immediately wanted to check on the dogs), watched some Saturday morning TV and ate a HUGE, yummy breakfast and headed down to the river.
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snuggle time!

There was a little playground that the kids played on for awhile and then we walked down a little overlook and they loved throwing rocks from the deck into the river. We then took the kids down to the river wehre they could stick their toes in the water. They LOVED getting all muddy. JP had lots of fun until those mean adults wouldn't let him go all the way in the water!
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Ellie and Uncle Clyde
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The adults had fun too!
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Ruthie and Danny
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When you're one of the littles you get piggy back rides everywhere you go!
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having a blast!

We headed back (checked on the dogs), ate lunch, and let JP get a nap. The girls played play-doh while he napped.
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We pulled out some bubbles for the kids after naps and they were entertained by that for a few minutes. (JP was really more interested in the dogs than the bubbles!).
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Aunt Suzy and Roo
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Carla played lots of songs for us on the piano and the kids loved "helping" her. Ellie now wants to learn how to play the piano!
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Carla was very tolerant of all her little helpers!
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JP wanted to dance with his GiGi.

We then headed over to check on Jennifer and Danny's animals and let the kids jump on their trampoline. You may remember from previous posts that they are slowly adding animals onto their farm. We LOVE seeing the changes every time we go (they're talking about adding pigs next!). We visited the chickens, goats, and llamas. The kids loved seeing the animals. And JP was thrilled that they also have a....DOG! (Seriously, this kid is obsessed.) The girls jumped on the trampoline for awhile as well.
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Ellie was a little nervous about Mary Jane's dog at first but she was super brave and after a few minutes they were big buddies.

We headed back in time for dinner and then they played some more hide and seek before bed (and JP checked on the dogs a few hundred times).
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JP and Patrick
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JP and Bailey

Sunday we ate a light breakfast, checked on the dogs, packed, checked on the dogs, ate an early lunch, and then headed back to Columbia!

We had a great time visiting with family and we can't wait to go back!