Surgery - Part 2

Reese had her lip/nose surgery on Tuesday the 17th. We had a preop appointment on Monday and it was terrible. They were over 2 hours late then we had to pre-register. Our appointment was at 1:15 and We got home at 7....what a day! I was hoping this was not indicative of what was to come! On Tuesday we woke her up - straight out of bed, sip of water and straight into the car. We got there right at 8 (on time) they however were running 30 minutes behind. This was better than 2 hours which is what happened with her first surgery. Once we dressed her in her scrubs she just played, so content. Kurt and I decided that she either didn't remember the trama that happened to her last time she was in this predicament or she just didn't care! We said goodbye, I kissed her and told her bye and off she went....no drama, so good. Everything went smoothly and we met her in the recovery room. She slowly woke up, no crying with this surgery, she had some water, sat in my lap and after an hour and a half we were able to go home. It went about a smoothly as possible. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement friends!

 When Reese got home the boys were very sweet to her, bringing her pretend food and playing with her.  Truitt kept saying "Reese you look so different!"

Feelign better the next day...wearing random hats and shoes :)

Last Day in CO

On our last full day we went to Black Hawk, wondered around a bit and had lunch. After lunch we took a tour of the Hidee mine, the boys had fun.

Everyone had to pick a hard hat...love this photo

They each got to mine a bit of gold for themselves to take home. Braden was disappointed that he couldn't trade his gold for a Lego pack :)

      

 Blake with the big chunk he chipped out of the wall

 Truitt really enjoyed panning for gold, the man explained it to him and showed him how it was done. He must have stayed there doing it for about 10-15 minutes while the other boys had no interest.

 Reese LOVES watermelon....can you tell?!

Reese finally decided she would feed the ground squirrels on her own....feeling brave!

One day drove out fairly close to the cabin and found what was left of a very small town. The boys had fun climbing and running around. We also did a hike at the end of the road, very pretty.

Truitt with his ground squirrel, that was 'pick' from the souviner shop at Rocky Mountain National Park. He was only lost once on this adventure but thankfully found.

There were lots of wildflowers everywhere - so pretty. Just wonderful scenery....so thankful God has given us such beauty.

Blake is getting a ride from Dad

Blake finally felt brave enough to feed the critters

This was the Boulder fire we could see from our cabin. Fortunately the winds (and the Lord) were in our favor. This cabin has been in the family for so long, it would have been so sad to see anything happen to it. We are very thankful for them letting us use it for almost a whole week!

Kurt and the boys were busy building a dam, Reese and I sat on the side and cheered them on....and played with flowers.

We drove out to Estes Park and went into Rocky Mountain National Park. We did a small hike, had a picnic, played hide and go seek in the rocks.....just had good fun outdoors. The higher up we got the cooler it became, the more snow we saw - very nice!

 We started the morning out like each morning - feeding the ground squirrels. They got more brave as the days went on :)

 Truitt put the peanut on his shoulder...he found it!

 There were tons of kiddos in the water here - it was cold!

 Crossing the stream via rocks

 Feeling a little left out...throwing rocks on his own

 We saw 2 elk. They crossed the street and we watched them eat some snow and just be pretty. That is volcanic overflow in the background :)

This is how we ate most days....loved it! Clean up was easy....

CO continued.....

We went up to Rollins Pass on our second day. We all piled into the 4WDR vehicle and bounced up to the very top :)  The road ends and you can hike the rest of the way to the tunnel (it's close to traffic now). Surprisingly Reese and Blake fell asleep on the way back down - maybe they were rocked to sleep!

 We found some snow patches and had some fun.

 Braden and Reese walking to the top of the pass.

 LOVE this photo! They laugh together so easily, typically about nothing - just out of happiness :)

The crew

Colorado

Last Friday we left for Colorado - drove through the night and arrived at the cabin, just outside Nederland. It is so nice and quiet there - just the sound of birds and the occasional train...much to Blake's delight! The first day we settled in and when Oma and Grandad arrived we took the older 2 and went hiking up to Lion's Head (there on their property). It is pretty much all uphill, the boys did great. We climbed lots of rocks and explored and made it to the base of Lion's Head. Here are some photos below...more to come too!

 safe in the cabin....Blake liked this bear :)

 Lion's Head is there on the left - see it? That's a profile view just beyond the tree

We made it to the top! Although Braden told me "you might not be able to climb everything we climb mom"...cute. One day....but I can hang for now :)

This was our view of the cabin from Lion's Head

Double Digits

Reese has been home for 10 weeks now, almost 11. She has been such a trooper with all this change in her life. We've got one surgery down and another to go (this year), a new country, new home, new way of life, new language, she's gained 3 brothers, a new mom and dad as well as other family - I could go on and on.  She can say "eye", "nose" (no), "hi", "all done", "mama" and "bye". She's constantly busy just like the boys. The boys love her - Blake and Truitt are constantly asking for hugs :) She loves her brothers, shoes, hats, purses, blankets (anything soft), play food but she'll also play with cars, trucks and legos too.

she is affectionate - loves to hug and cuddle

 

 loves the rainboots

 loves her blanket

 LOVES food!

 loves the bucket on her head and a random shoe (doesn't have to be hers)

more cuddles

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was wonderful. Kurt made breakfast for everyone - which is an accomplishment in our house some days! At church we had Reese's dedication, what a special treat on this Mother's Day. Kurt did the grocery shopping and got me Pei Wei for lunch - yummy! Kurt and the boys went out for a long bike ride while Reese and I went to Grandma's house to visit with Grandma and NaNa. I just had such a nice relaxing day...so thankful for my hubby who made it happen.

Braden made this book at school for me. It is very sweet and will be fun to look back on in a few years.

 Reese's dedication

Reese's Surgery - Part 1

So I am finally posting about Reese's palate surgery. She was scheduled for 11am but didn't get it until after 1pm. By the grace of God she did not sign for food once, not once! After they took her in Kurt and I grabbed lunch - we were super hungry. I knew if I (who had breakfast) was so hungry she must have been even more so.  We have so many friends who loved on us...brought dinner, goody bags, toys for Reese - ya'll really know how to make a girl feel special :) We are very thankful for the blessing of friends.

 She was given a purse, keys and cell phone by a sweet friend of ours - what a life saver! Just when she'd start to fuss I'd give her a new toy....she LOVES having a purse.

 It was very hard to see her after surgery. She is all cleaned up in the photo but she was a bloody mess at first. I don't do well with people I love being in pain...so I had some issues in recovery but after the crying and nearly fainting I was able to walk up to her room with everyone :)

 This was the next afternoon, she started to feel more like herself while on pain medication. She was happy with her cups, bowls, teapot and spoons.

She was given a cute book and the boys made her get well cards. While we were there a group of med students came by with a cart full of things for her to choose from (they were Aggies - whoop!) and I picked some stickers. She had fun putting them all over her coloring book.
We have since had a follow up and she is doing well. We have scheduled her lip/nose surgery for July 17th. The recovery time is shorter for this surgery but will still be painful I'd imagine. We'll all be happy when this is behind us!