Andon's Surgery

Last Thursday Andon went in for his 10th, 11th or 12th surgery?? I can't even remember now but it has been quite a few for this sweet little 6 year old. This surgery was a little more involved than the ones in the past but he went through it like a champ. :)

We left the house at 4am and headed to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. After getting admitted and meeting with all the Dr's he went back around 8am. They told us it was going to be about 3 hours but around 9am they call us and tell us "we are just getting started and so far everything is going good!" I was a little shocked that they had had him back there and hadn't even started. My emotions were getting the best of me at times during the next three hours. Just thinking about my boy being back there and what they were doing to him. Jared and I took a few walks around the hospital and watched a bunch of shows on HGTV in the waiting room to keep occupied.

Once they were finished the Dr. came and told us everything went great and that she got to do everything she wanted to do. Which was take bone from his right hip and graft it into the roof of his mouth and front gumline. Also, she did some scar revision on his nose and lip from previous surgeries. She was very pleased with the outcome and said we could go see him. Jared and I were totally expecting to turn the corner and hear a wild screaming child because every other surgery has gone that way. But this time he was still sleeping. He was pretty swollen which was hard for me to see. Once he started waking up we were able to start talking to him and telling him how great he did and how proud we were of him. He never even cried!! Still hasn't. I am just amazed at the strength of this child. Soon after they took us to our room where we would be staying for the night. On the way there Andon was trying to be funny and cracking jokes!! He kept saying "I have a mustache" because he had some tape on his top lip. :)

I was pretty worried about this surgery because Andon is a little older now and can talk about things and understand more. But that has proven to make this time around a little better. Instead of crying a lot about everything he can talk about it with us. We explained everything to him from the beginning. No it wasn't easy but easier. One thing that made it easier for Andon was knowing when he came out of surgery he would have a HUGE GIFT waiting on him. He looked forward to that gift for a month! And within an hour or so he was ripping into it. We had got him the Batcave toy he had been eyeing for a while. He was so excited he said "this is the best day of my life!!!" Amazing what a good gift can do. :)

Anyways, we have been home now for a few days and he is doing so great. He is on an all liquid diet until we go back to the Dr. on Friday for post-op. Hopefully then we can move up to soft foods. It has been very funny listening to him talk about food because Andon could really care less about it unless it's cake or ice cream, that's a different story. :) He is not supposed to be moving around too much so his hip can heal and that is starting to get a little hard. We have 3 floors in our house so before Jared goes to work we have to wake Andon up around 6:30 to clean his mouth out and brush his teeth with this prescription mouthwash. Then Jared carries him downstairs and that's where we stay until he gets back around 6. (I am 35 weeks pregnant so I can't carry him right now.:)) Yes, I am starting to go a little stir crazy! :)

Thank you all so much for praying for Andon through this surgery. Please continue to pray for healing on his mouth and hip. Hopefully within a couple of weeks he'll be all healed and back to some normalcy before our little girl arrives!!

Here is a pic I took with my phone as we were headed home. He was so excited to get to ride in this huge wheelchair. He kept asking me to push him really fast and then let go! Wild boy. :)

Only 8 weeks left!

I am now 32 weeks pregnant and feel SO swollen! :) My tummy feels so much bigger this time around. I have a hard time getting out of bed and getting up off the couch after laying down. It is so funny!

I am still working on getting her nursery put together. My sweet friend Abby gave me a dresser that she had. It needs a new paint job but it is adorable! I think i'm gonna post some before and after pics of it.

Andon has been talking so much about Adelyn and what it will be like when she gets here. The other day while talking he asks "What color will she be? Yellow or Black?" I just smiled and said i'm sure she'll be the same color as you. :) He says she will be sleeping in his room and he'll show her how to climb the ladder on his bed!! That makes me nervous. :) He say's he's gonna do everything for her except change her diapers. So cute. I know he is gonna be the sweetest big brother!

Here is a pic we took a couple days ago of my swollen self.

We have quite a bit going on before she gets here. Andon will be having that surgery that got canceled in December. The reason it was canceled was due to insurance and now we have a new policy. So, as soon as the new cards come in we will be scheduling.

Also, mine and Jared's 8 year wedding anniversary is March 9th. I want to do something really special. I'd love to go away for the weekend or something. I'd better get the plan put together for that because it's my year to do so. We take turns planning what we're gonna do for our anniversary. It makes it so fun to surprise each other! I always get nervous when it's my year because Jared is so good at planning these and I want mine to be as good. :)

Other than that we have lots of school to stay on top of before she gets here. I know it will be an adjustment when she arrives so I want to be ahead of that if we have to take a little time off. Speaking of school we went on another homeschool field trip. We went to the RDV Sportsplex to learn about ice skating and then got to go ice skating. It was Andon's first time and he loved it. He did pretty good for his first time! I was bummed to not be able to be on the ice with him but quickly realized that even if would have been able to he wouldn't have wanted my help anyways. I did take a ton of pics that day and then somehow deleted ALL the pics on my memory card!! There were other pics on there too that I hadn't downloaded to my computer. What a bummer! Here is a pic of my boy in his skates after we were all done. I really only had like 6 pics on my card and this was one of the best ones. :)

I went to the playground with him...

We were meeting a friend at the playground last week and Andon comes downstairs and says "this is what i'm wearing". I said "are you sure you want to wear that". He had nothing on underneath it so there was no going back once we left. He said "yeah mom, I look cool in this." Then I thought, you sure do.

Andon is 6 years old and just now starting to talk about looking "cool". Jared and I have already had a few conversations with him about it. He has been wanting to wear his hat backwards because he thinks it makes him look cool. What we say to him is "do you think it's cool? yes? then it is. That is ALL that matters. Being cool is not worrying what anyone thinks of you." It has been pretty interesting talking to a little 6 year old about this. We want Andon to be in this world but not of this world. We love talking about how God makes everyone so different and that that is AWESOME!

I can't believe my sweet little boy is growing up. I see him so little but I just know once that baby is here I won't see him so little anymore. I have adored our time alone together. God knew what He was doing giving us 6 years alone with Andon. He has been such a precious gift to Jared and I.

Here are a couple more pics of my "Cool Little Wolverine" posing before we left the house. :)




And you better believe after each and every shot he would run over and say "let me see". He'd come check it and then run back and do a new pose!! He is so funny! :)

28 and 1/2 Weeks!!

I am now 28 and 1/2 weeks pregnant! We are starting to get so excited around here to meet our newest addition. I keep thinking that I only have a little more time alone with Andon so I am really wanting to enjoy every minute of it. I just adore my sweet little guy and love that he is still my baby but know that when I am looking at a 7 or so pound little girl he is not gonna be the baby any more! :)

We finally went out last weekend and picked up a few things for her. I was really wanting to find her "coming home" outfit but nothing stood out for that. We did find a few other things being that the Gap had 40% off all of their sale items! We got some great deals and it was so fun. Jared was just adorable holding out these little dresses and telling me which ones he liked. :)

Here are a couple pics of me and my belly.


In just a short couple of months we'll be holding our sweet little girl!! And as soon as I have the nursery complete I will post some pics here. :)

Happy Birthday Jared!

Tomorrow is my sweet husbands birthday. One of the things we do for birthdays is let the person who's birthday it is pick what they want for dinner whether at a restaurant or at home. Jared has asked for my baked chicken and for dessert a chocolate cream pie. Funny thing, this is what Andon asked for his birthday the year before last. :) I think that is so cute that they love this meal so much.

I love this picture of my sweet boys. Andon wants nothing more than to be exactly like his Daddy. They have such a great relationship and I know it will only grow with time.



I am so thankful for my precious husband. Thankful for the Daddy he is to Andon and the Daddy he will be to Adelyn. Thankful that I am able to stay home with Andon because he works so hard for our family. Thankful for the friend that I have in him. He is so fun! ;) Thankful for his leadership in our family. Thankful for all the sacrifices he makes for us seen and unseen. Thankful for all the late night conversations. Thankful for his thoughtfulness. (He gets so aggravated if I mention a gift around my birthday or holidays because he takes pride in listening to me and knowing what I like. It is very funny!) Thankful for his gentleness. Especially with my up and down emotions lately he has been so sweet and understanding. We have been together almost eleven years. I can honestly say that our relationship is so much stronger and better than it has ever been.

Happy Birthday Jared, I love you so much and look forward to being that couple that we saw in Target today one day!! ;)

24 Weeks

I am 24 weeks pregnant now and feeling so good. Finally no more sickness and the placental tear that I had must have healed because I haven't had any complications with that either. I am now getting heartburn every couple of days and lots of cramping in my legs at night. I am not complaining just saying what I am going through. :)

This pregnancy has been so interesting. I think if there is a symptom to be had I have either had it already or will in the next couple of months! :) And I will gladly go through them all to have our little girl.

I just wanted to post a picture of my belly because it has changed quite a bit since the last picture that we took.

What a difference a month makes!!! Just a few more and our sweet Addy girl will be here!

In Transition

Wow, we have been pretty busy since moving from Tennessee back to Florida. We spent the last week or so at our friends Jon and Christie's. We are so thankful for them and for the time they allowed us to stay at there home. We felt so comfortable and enjoyed every minute of it! Now we are staying with our friends Larry and Terri until the house we are renting becomes available which could be the week of Christmas. It is so fun getting to stay with your friends but I am ready to have our own home. :)

I am now 23 weeks pregnant and showing quite a bit. I still can't get over how fast I started to show with this little girl. She is one active little thing, actually kicking as I write. I will post a new pic soon. I am still having a hard time sleeping. The combination of pregnancy and getting up with Andon every night a few times a night is starting to wear me out. In the last week he has started having a lot of nightmares about strangers. I am sure it has to do with all the moving around and getting reacquainted with old friends. So we have him sleeping on a mattress on the floor where we are until we move into our house. Sweet little thing.

We went to see our families for Thanksgiving and took a couple of pics before heading out. We are in desperate need of some family photos but I figure we will just wait until Adelyn comes. Here are a couple pics of my handsome boys and one of me and Andon.



Andon goes in for surgery on December 29th to have (hopefully) his final palate surgery. This will be the big one where they take bone from his hip to fill in his palate and gum line. We have been talking to him about it to prepare him as much as we can. That has been the hardest part about this surgery. In all the surgeries he has had (10) he has always been so small. Now he is old enough to talk about it and have some sort of understanding. We were taking a walk one day and he said "Mom, when will I be be able to stop having surgeries?" It was so interesting to be talking to him and explaining this to him. He is such a precious boy. I couldn't be more thankful for him and the experiences that his life have brought to mine. We would be so appreciative of prayer for him on that day and the week following. Recovery will be quite a bit harder than in the past because not only will he have a lot of mouth pain but also hip pain and trouble walking.

Other than all of that, Andon and I have been having so much fun hanging out with all of our friends again! We actually had a beach day last week and I think we are going again next week. Bummer I didn't take any pics, I was just relaxing and enjoying the scenery way too much. :)