Christmas week at Mom's (More catch up)

I hope you'll forgive me posting some more old pics. This blog also serves as an online picture journal for me, so here goes:

Kissing cousins

Got this little outfit for $0.60 in an after Christmas sale.

Livy playing her Granddaddy's potato flute. His chess set (handmade by my Grandma Cessna), guitar and trombone are in the background as well. Yep, memories everywhere. Makes it feel like he could walk around the corner any moment.

Ahhhh. Not sure if my niece Brianna is touched about something or singing the national anthem! :)

Merry Christmas, Daniel (my nephew...two weeks older than Maddy)! (Jammies from Granny)

Jammies from Granny

Ok, I'm risking life and limb to post this picture, but it's the only one from the morning we opened presents! Hey, Mom, at least I cropped it a bit! :) Thank you for our wonderful Christmas. Only wish the tags could have said "Mommy and Daddy."

Waiting not-so-patiently for the presents to begin! (Jammies from Granny)

I think she's happy!

Couldn't resist!!! Yep, my missionary brother can act downright silly on occasion.

Wide awake for the presents! Enjoying Maddy's bumbo seat.

Bottle duty. Seems hard to even remember when she was able to take a bottle.

MckMama

I'm not sure of Baby Stellan's current status, but as of MckMama's last update (last night), it sounds as though he's in the fight of his life. Please pray for another miracle for this baby and that MckMama and her family will feel the loving arms of Christ around them, as well as the love and support coming from her thousands of readers. I'm hardly able to think of anything else. Please pray.

To read any or all of Stellan's miracle life, visit http://www.mycharmingkids.net/.

In and out.

Remember when I said that Maddy's apnea alarm was going off for bradycardia? By the time it went off almost solidly for three hours straight, I finally called the doctor on call on Friday night and she said to take her to ER to be checked out. So at 1:30 a.m., I took her on over to St. Joseph's, let her go to sleep on their monitor, and sure enough, she was dipping into the 70s after being asleep for about a half hour. The week before, I remembered she was hanging out in around the 150s.

The doctor called St. Vincent, since that is who normally deals with all of Madeline's various and sundry drama or otherwise, and they send to bring her on down. We rode via ambulance (even though there was no "emergency"), and settled her onto third floor peds once again. The doctors here ran blood and urinalysis to be safe, but were pretty sure that the monitor could simply be adjusted for her age--hanging out with a heart rate dipping to the 70s during sleep isn't all that bad, come to find out.

But while we're here, may as well treat the urinary tract infection. Yep, that again. We stayed overnight to see what the cultures would grow. Kids that are on prophylactic antibiotics (daily preventative, due to vescicoureteral reflux, urine reflux from bladder to kidneys), evidently develop other, more complicated "bugs" that have to be treated with IV antibiotics. So the question was do we have to stay here again, waiting to make sure that we don't need IVs (and thereby making mommy miss the Talley Trio leading worship tomorrow morning) or risk it and go home, and see what the test show tomorrow?

We get to GO HOME, and we'll just follow up with the infectious desease doctor in clinic, and we can do IVs that way too, if needed! Yippee!

So now I can go home and finish cleaning for my dear friend Lisa to come see me. She was supposed to come on Friday, and well, that obviously didn't work out. Can't wait.....

Not Me! Monday

To read a ton of other Not-Me-Monday posts, click on the label above! This weekly event is hosted by MckMamma at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/.

I do not get in a funk when I bring Maddy home from the hospital. And if I did, it certainly would not be because I'm overwhelmed by having to care for her on my own again, as well as two other adorable crumb-crunchers and a house to boot. That would be silly, since I am a SuperMom.

I do not wish that I could sit and read as much as I did in the hospital.

I do not keep posting as an attempt to avoid work.

I am not enjoying watching Maddy play with her fingers and elbows, and a cute little beaded teething ring.

I definitely have not made Olivia stay dressed in day clothes rather than her assorted princess dresses.

We would never stay at a birthday party 5 hours longer than we meant to, just so that we didn't have to come home and be responsible (work).

At the same b-day party, I never, never ever even thought about asking my hubby if he'd let any of the other guys get a word in edgewise!

I would shudder at even the thought of owning a dog, so I would never even think about how fun it would be to have a puppy as cute as the little Cocker Spaniel that I saw this week.

I did not say "Oh, Lord, help us!" (and mean it) when one of Obama's something-or-others said something about another stimulus package being a possibility.

I am NOT taking the time to do a not-me-Monday post because there's a rather cool prize being given by MckMamma!

Christmas at Grandma Cessna's (Yep, it's March, I know, but I'm still playing picture catch up)

Six o'clock a.m. sharp is when Christmas at Grandma's kicked off (which means we were up at 5 at my mom's to get ready). I can't figure out why I only have pictures of present openings, because the whole day was packed with all our Cessna traditions. Next year, I'm going to take pictures of every little detail! :) And again, some of these are fuzzy. Something's not been right with the camera ever since Carli dropped it into the water at the zoo.

So we start with the kids singing their Christmas program songs or reciting lines, much to the children's frustration! We open presents from youngest to oldest. Every year, Uncle Craig will peel one corner of a package and say, "Oh, thank you!" and pretend to put it aside. (Precious Memories! :) )

We have breakfast at 8:00 sharp. This now involves stretching a long line of tables clear into the great room from the dining room. The main menu item on the traditional Cessna Christmas breakfast is date loaf, and this year, I tried it for the first time, and yep, it will be an every year tradition for this little Cessna girl now too.

As soon as breakfast is over and cleaned up, the "older" ladies start setting the table for Christmas Dinner, complete with the best China, silver, crystal, cloth napkins, tablecloths and center pieces. (In order for Grandma to pull this whole day off, she has everything, and I mean everything written down in a notebook, including each part of the table setting. We have a picture of this notebook from one year that shows even how many highchairs are needed.) This year, Jordan, Kayla, Glen, and I took the little ones back to Mom's to get the kiddos changed and combed for the day.

Our Christmas (turkey) Dinner is one of the best parts of the day, especially when Uncle Craig gets started telling funny stories. Especially fun is when he tells one that embarrasses Grandma, but she can't help but laugh!

So we clean up once again, take naps, play games, chase kiddos, and set the table once again for our turkey-sandwich supper. Yep, we eat until we're about sick on Christmas. This year we talked Grandma to push of supper to 6. For supper, we also have all the wonderful goodies and fun foods that everyone has brought with them. Mmmm....

Emily and Olivia

That's Daniel (Jordan and Kayla's little boy) hiding behind Mom's hands. Aunt Pam is holding Landon (Melanie's middle child).


Grandma is the queen of Christmas.





Jordan and Daniel

Kayla (my lovely sis-in-law)

Uncle Craig (who keeps things lively), Aunt Becky, Jennifer and Andrew

Shawn and Melanie

Auntie, RB, Emily and Olivia

PS: I posted last night, so keep scrolling if you haven't seen the adorable pics of Maddy Kate yet!

Sunday update

Maddy was much happier today, though she played the drama queen this afternoon by setting her apnea monitor off every minute or two for about an hour and a half. It was the bradycardia alarm (low heart rate), and I'm not completely sure that it was just the wires, because I was getting a low heart rate on taking her pulse, as well. She popped back up easily enough, so the doctor on call thought we'd be ok to wait until tomorrow to talk to the neurosurgeon, as it is probably related to the surgery. At any rate, she's fine now, but I didn't take her to church tonight because I didn't feel comfortable taking the alarm off and I couldn't let it go off in church, either.

We are enjoying some beautiful spring weather. All five of us took a walk tonight just breathing in the fresh air. Love this time of year.

Granny sent this dress for Maddy, and she just looked so adorable in it today! :)

Carmen passed along this adorable Barbie princess dress for Olivia. She lives in her princess dresses! As soon as she gets up, she says, "I wanna be princess!"

Ok, this is back at the hospital. I was getting ready to take Maddy's picture (yet again) when Dr. Schaefer walked in and offered to snap a picture of the two of us. The look on her face is pretty much how she was every time she was moved from the time she woke up from the sedation until Friday. Not loud cries, but little scowls and wimpers.

Carli's story

Carli's Kindergarten class has some time each day for writing. They do not have any help with the spelling, etc, they just use words they know or sound out words. She's come home with some pretty cute stuff.

Here's this week's, as is, followed by translation. She knows that periods come at the end of sentences, but on this paper, that definitely didn't translate. There was one at the end of every line instead.

My dofins lif.
at calfooy anb it.
is cood her name.
is sally her.
favrit food is
pysu.

Translation:
My dolfins live at California and it is cold. Her name is Sally. Her favorite food is pizza.