and...we're done with that!

There will no longer be beauty sessions like these in the kitchen sink

we got the all clear from the MD! He informed us that the aspirated infection was Strep-??? He's never seen that before and thinks it may have been what made the node inflamed in the first place???? Lot's of ????, but one thing is for sure, this was our last visit and ice cream.

Kindergarten

{September 4, 2012}

Aniston is officially a Kindergartner. She comes home every day saying how much she loves it! She adores her teacher, and so do I, so this year will start elementary school off on the right foot!

Grammy is always good to support all that Aniston does! We were so happy she came to be with us on Aniston's first day. There were lots of theses faces throughout the day, but she willingly went into school with half of a smile. I think the anticipation put her over the edge! I was just so glad that she went in to school without any tears, I had been worried about that for weeks!

I wanted to do a fun dinner, but Aniston wasn't in the funnest mood. After she lightened up a bit, she ate her whole corner of pizza(cheese only, her fav!).

August 21, 2012

Surgery day came; we were all nervous. Aniston was scheduled to have a few lymph nodes removed from the right side of her neck. Chris and I said bye to our dazed little girl as they wheeled her to the OR in a wagon, we grabbed a bite to eat, and then waited for the doctor to come let us know how things went. He came out, told us things were great, said nothing looked suspicious, and said Aniston had done well and that a nurse would come get us soon. I got to go see her first. She was pretty confused, tired, and insisted on sitting up a few times. They took her to another part of the recovery room where Chris and Grammy were able to come be with us. We let her sleep, and then once she was more awake we talked her into a slush. Her only complaint was the IV, and she wanted it out pronto! Once she was awake and the IV was out, we were ready to go. The ride home was comical. Aniston was grabbing at the air trying to get her straw and giggling at all the mommies she was seeing! When we got home, she was starving! She ate more for lunch(2 bowls of mac and cheese, 2 jello cups, and a pudding cup)than she's ever eaten before. I was so worried it wasn't going to stay down. Other than some tears later in the afternoon and evening, she was a champ!

Waiting with Daddy

Waiting with Mommy in her "ugly" hospital outfit-she wasn't impressed.

Sleeping, finally. She refused to take a nap and stay on the couch, so by evening she wasn't a happy camper. The pain meds were awful tasting, so that just added to her misery. The cute little dolly next to her was given to her while we waited. A cute hospital worker brought it to her, let her draw on the doll, and then Aniston got to use medical supplies on the dolly. She named the doll Analyse, and that doll has been one of her favorite sleeping buddies since! We wanted her close that night to make sure she was ok, so we made her a "pillow bed" next to ours for her to sleep in(she milked it and slept there over a week).

She did really good for about a week, and then the Monday after surgery she started to act different. She had her head tilted to the side and her shoulder scrunched up. That evening I took her temperature and she had a low-grade fever. I called the on-call resident and he suggested we bring her in the next day to be evaluated. So, exactly a week after surgery we headed back to the hospital. One of the residents looked at her incision, suspected that an infection was starting, and sent us home with an antibiotic. Before we left though, we had to get ice cream and see the rainbow horse!

We were low key that afternoon...

and I kept my eye on the incision.

Grammy came Wednesday to be with Aniston while Chris and I were working. When I called to check up, Grammy wasn't ok with how things looked. I decided to come home for lunch and check on things, and snap a few pictures to show the doctor and nurses at work and get their opinion. I had also called the nurse to let her know things weren't better and that they had become much worse. She told me to wait it out for at least another day.

The responses at work along with my instinct took us back to the hospital. The first opinion was to wait it out, but thank goodness the first resident asked another to come look. The end result: a drained incision(with one of the biggest needles I've ever seen), a very scared and sad little girl, a freaked out mother, and ice cream(2 scoops this time) by the rainbow pony. It was a tough day, but thanks to some sweet treats and a get well gift, she survived!

The upside down kitty sticker was placed that way on purpose. I had to do a lot of distracting and so did the nurses. They gave her a cute koala, which she named Sandy, and a sticker. I put the sticker upside down so we could talk to the kitty while they put that enormous needle in Aniston's neck. She didn't say a word to the kitty and neither did I.

She made out like a bandit, but it came at a cost. I hope to never have to go through that again. Things have looked better and better each day. With all the bandaging we've done though, Aniston's neck is a mix of sticky residue and red spots. In my attempt to save her neck, we wrapped gauze loosely around it to hold the bandage in place. When I was getting Aniston in the shower that night, she asked me if I was going to take her collar off. She also asked me after her shower if I was going to "put that choke thing back on". We had a long discussion about that.

the party

{August 11, 2012}

celebrating on her Birthday {August 12, 2012}

5 years old

Aniston turned 5; I seriously am still in shock. She has changed so much lately and has started acting so much older and more mature(yikes!). Some things about her haven't changed, like the phrases she uses: *I just love you so much(sounds completely different from when she first started saying it). *You're the best mom/dad EVER! *I want to be just like you mom when I grow up. *Gotta go play with my Barbs. She also still requires a straw in her drink and still plays with her hair when she is tired. She's also started playing with it when she gets nervous or when she is telling a story. It's so cute and I love it!! She is also always asking for a bubble drink and wants gummie sharks anytime we're in 7-11. We have to visit the Barbie and Princess isles every time we're in Walmart or Target. More recently she: *actually likes "quiet time" but only because it usually involves a movie *says cute prayers asking to protect our hearts, for Mom/Dad to keep me in their hearts, and for a fun day *loves fruit snacks, grapes, pears, apples, peanut butter jam and white cheese sandwiches, carrots, cucumbers, yogurt-key lime pie and blueberry, and chicken *no longer likes to eat mac and cheese or chicken noodle soup because they are "too googely" *picks out her own clothes, most of the time they match and are usually pink *loves to write out words, ask what a word is and spells it to us, types her "scriptures" on the computer, and loves writing letters and then asks what the letters say *counts to 50!!!! *only wants to check out Barbie and Princess books at the library and then wants to sit and read all of them before checking them out *likes to talk about what food is healthy, how our bodies work, and will say that she's eaten way to much sugar and needs something healthy to eat *helps clean: dusts, sweeps, vacuums, puts dirty clothes in laundry, folds clean clothes-towels usually, puts her dishes in the sink, empties the dish washer-usually only the silverware *gets her own snacks using whatever she can find to knock them out of the fridge or pantry shelf(forks are her tool of choice) *MOST of her clothes bother her and she lets everyone know about it *asks me to save certain items from my closet for her to wear when she gets bigger-LOVE it!! *boosts mine and Chris' self esteem by telling us how nice we look and how cute we are *asks to wear my make-up, usually she wants a little mascara and some cheeks *loves playing games on the computer-Barbie.com and the ipod-her fav is a coloring game *loves to listen to music. Aniston is so aware and she remembers so much. I cannot believe our little 5 year old knows so much and has grown up so fast. She isn't really looking forward to Kindergarten, but I have a feeling she is going to love it. At her 5 year check-up she passed with flying colors and is still in the 99% for height and weight! We're so lucky to have such a sweet, healthy, and happy girl!

Yellowstone 2012

We (Papa, Grammy, Christian, Aniston, and I) piled into the Suburban,

and set out for Yellowstone!

We came upon the wildlife before we even made it to camp(Yes, camp. Like in a tent, in the park, with the wildlife).

We made a quick stop before camp at one of the geyser basins.

Aniston noticed a few hats out by the geysers, and to make sure she was aware of the rules, I used those poor souls as an example. Those hats were all that was left of the people who did not stay on the paths. My point was made, and that's all we heard about the rest of the evening. We did a lot of hiking/"trail walking", and Christian, Papa, and I did some stair climbing(300+ straight down and then 300+ straight back up; SCARY!!)

We experienced only a few minor interruptions from the wildlife.

This big beast was right off one of the paths, and there were a bunch more along the roads. We only had to stop a few times to let them cross. We were able to see Old Faithful go off a few times.

Aniston wasn't a big fan of waiting for it to go off, but she entertained herself by taking a few photos.

We had to hide from the sun for awhile, but not before we went shopping per Aniston's request. Grammy and Papa bought Aniston her very first ball cap, and she looks pretty dang cute sportin' it!

Aniston was excited to explore around our camp site, so Papa took her out with her newly purchased bear "Poly Ester"(Papa is known for his names, and they usually have something to do with what's written on the tag or stamped on the belly)

My favorites were the pools and Yellowstone Lake. Aniston was not interested after the first pool and view of the lake, but she hung in there and smiled towards the end.

Yellowstone was beautiful!

I was so thankful that we made it out of there with no wildlife run-ins. I did however think we were not so lucky, when one night Aniston woke up and needed to use the toilet. As I unzipped the tent I was sure I heard a bear, but it ended up being one of our neighbors. We had a few storms, but that's typical for camping trips this year. The last night we ate at one of the lodges thanks to a lighting/hail storm. I'm just glad no bears decided to have us for a snack!