Catching Up

We were truly delighted to have my dad and Lisa (Poppie and Lili) come to visit this weekend. We loved getting to see them, and we appreciated the extra help with the kids while I'm still recovering from surgery. Josiah would not stop playing long enough to smile for the camera, so we have a couple fun pics!
Josiah, just being himself, with Mackenzie, Lili, and Poppie. :)

And a couple weekends ago, we met up with my mom and Mark (Nona & Mzee) for a weekend getaway just before school started. We were able to spend two night in a hotel, with was great fun for everyone, especially the kids, and enjoy some time together. We even visited the zoo and did a little shopping! I love the above picture of my mom coming down the slide at the zoo. She and the kids had a great time! :)

Here is the best picture I got of Nona, Mzee, Mackenzie, and Josiah together that weekend. I wish I had snapped more pictures, but this one of them riding the carousel will have to do!

We are thankful for family and the wonderful memories made together.

Appendectomy!

Our last 24 hrs was a little crazy, to say the least. However, I never cease to be amazed at the timing of our Lord. He is one amazing God and can do amazing things! To Him be the glory.

I had a "stomach ache" since Friday night, with no other symptoms. It was dull enough that I, being a good RN, ;0 ignored it until Monday night after we celebrated Mackenzie's birthday. I then headed straight to bed. I felt terrible. It was 6pm. I could not sleep because the pain was so intense. I started vomiting, which I thought would bring some relief (believing at this point that I had a GI virus). There was no relief, but I continued to vomit frequently as the pain increased until about 2am when I decided the ED sounded like a GREAT plan. I needed help. David had already suggested to head on in sooner, but I'm stubborn and did not want to be seen at an ER with a GI bug.

At 2am I was ready to go. We called our neighbor, who graciously came over to stay with our two sleeping kids. David drove me in to the hospital. Amazingly, they were NOT busy! They were quick to get us in a room and get the initial set of labs, all around 3am. My WBC was 15.7 and my glucose was 158--I'm not sure what to make of that...might have to get that checked out as that is too high. Anyways, they suspected appendicitis so they sent me for a CT scan after giving me Zofran and Dilaudid via IV. When they came in with the results of the CT, they had already consulted the surgical resident. Another neat thing, the resident, before paging the attending MD, asked David's preference on surgeons since David works at this hospital--WOW. That was nice. Come to find out, David's choice surgeon IS the one who was on call! Again, God is good. They wheeled me on to the OR prep area, while David signed my consent forms. Dr. Akin arrived and asked several questions. After answering more questions from more individuals, well...that's all I remember! ;) The surgery lasted 1 hr and 28 min and went completely as expected! I am grateful that my appendix had not ruptured, making the whole ordeal as smooth as possible. Pray for the individual in the ER whose HAD ruptured already. Dr. Akin did their surgery immediately after mine was finished. It was much more complicated. Again, I am thankful.

Because I was the first surgery of the day, I had the entire recovery room staff all to myself initially. We had SO much fun back there! Those RN's are great. They were on top of it and catered to my every need, even before I asked. They laughed as I woke more quickly than anticipated and began to spell the word they were struggling to spell. They decided I was just determined to wake up; they were right! This was the first time I'd every been under general anesthesia and actually intubated.

Dr. Akin was good to be in touch with David who was, in the meantime, taking our children to school. Another blessing: this was the first day that BOTH kids were in school simultaneously. Like I said, God's timing is amazing. David was able to come join me about 10am. By this time, Dr. Akin had decided that he really did not need to admit me for the night as originally planned. He made sure I had all the supplies at home, just in case I should need to reinforce the dressing. I am SO thankful that he decided to send me home! I had not asked and was not expecting this, but tis very nice indeed. So, off to ambulatory care I went for a couple more hours. They prepared my discharge papers, and Dr. Akin came by one final time. David went for the van and the staff rolled me out in a wheel chair. I'm home and so very grateful for what could only be God's timing.

Whew. That was a long story. ;) Please continue to pray as I recover. (They were able to do this laproscopically, so I have 3 puncture sites...lined up like buttons on a snowman! Ha. One just below my rib cage, in the middle. The other just below it in my belly button. The last one lined up just below that one. Too funny. At least I'm symmetrical. He, he.)

Mackenzie's Baby Pics

Five years ago today...Mackenzie Kristen Watson was born. She was 20.25 inches long and weighed 7 lb 0 oz and arrived at 2:29pm after a very complicated delivery, of which I'll spare you the details. In summary, 16 1/2 hrs labor at the hospital, meconium present, an intrauterine flush began immediately after the amount of meconium realized, shoulder dystocia, two different types of vacuums, a baby who did not cry upon delivery, a mommy and daddy who DID cry at the silence which seemed to last forever...an answer to prayer: a healthy baby girl Praise the Lord for his blessings and mercy. Mackenzie with a very proud Momma.
Sweet Baby Girl (check out that cone head from the vacuum!)

Our little family.

Mackenzie, a few minutes after delivery, receiving oxygen after having been thoroughly suctioned. (meconium present)

Trying to get her more pink and less purple! He, he.

What a day! Our lives were changed forever, and we wouldn't want it any other way. We love you, precious Mackenzie. We are proud of you. I just can't believe you're in Kindergarten as I type this post today. The early years have gone by too quickly. (See the previous post for this year's Birthday Info!)

Oh, yeah. Mackenzie now weighs 37 lbs and is 43 inches tall! She has grown so much in the past five years.

Happy 5th Birthday, Mackenzie!

It is hard to believe my baby girl is FIVE years old today. While she's at school (Kindergarten!), I'm updating the blog! We celebrated her birthday at The Little Ponderosa on Saturday morning. She wanted a My Little Pony party, complete with real pony rides! My precious baby girl.
Here she is this morning, on our way out the door to school. I had to take a picture of the birthday girl on her birthday! (We'll have a small celebration at home this evening, too.)

Mackenzie feeding the goats on Saturday.

Josiah feeding the goats.

Avery, Mackenzie, and Lauren. Mackenzie was SO excited as everyone sang "Happy Birthday" that she could barely contain herself!

Blowing the candles out.

Josiah, Adde, Avery, Mackenzie, and Lauren

Allison, Josiah, Adde, Avery, Mackenzie, Lauren

Mackenzie enjoying her cake!

Josiah riding a pony.

I love that proud little face.

Mackenzie riding the pony.

You have to click on this to make it bigger to see the expression on her face, but she has her head back laughing. I love it!

I though the profile was pretty sweet, too.

Josiah, Avery, Adde, Mackenzie, Lauren, Allison

Mackenzie and Avery
(I love the fact that these girls were in MDO together last year, and they are now in the same K class!)

Mackenzie enjoying the swings.

Uncle Zac, who drove a long ways to join us for the party, enjoyed swinging with Mackenzie. :)

I love this picture!

Mackenzie hugging a baby goat.

Josiah posing for a picture with the goat...he said through laughter, "Mom! The goat's eating my pants!"

And, indeed, the goat was eating his pants!

Aaahh. That's better. The goat's even posing for this picture! (Notice Josiah protecting his pants.) ;)

Josiah, Mackenzie, and Uncle Zac

I took this picture after Mackenzie came home from school on Friday. I had just finished the cake before we picked her up. She was SO excited to see the cake. She declared, "Mom, my cake is just beautiful!" That made my day, as I'm obviously not a cake decorator. ;) I did have fun making it, though, and I just could not bring myself to pay a whopping $25 for a My Little Pony cake at a store. I enjoyed watching her climb up near the cake and just sit and admire it Friday evening! Ha. She really was pleased.

Happy Birthday to my precious Mackenzie. I just simply cannot believe that you are 5 years old. We are so thankful for you. You have been a blessing to us, and we are proud of you. I pray that you grow to know, love, serve, and honor the Lord in all that you do each day. Know always that you are loved.

Maybe later I'll post a baby picture of Mackenzie! We'll see how much time I have later... :)

Josiah's First Day Ever! (Updated)

Today was the day. I took my baby boy to his first day of "school." (Mother's Day Out). He'll go two days a week from 9am to 2pm. I really think he's going to love it, but I could tell he was a little nervous this morning. Here he is before getting into the van to head to school. He got the two wheeled scooter from my mom and Mark for Mackenzie's birthday (she got one, too), and he loves it! I could not get him off of it for the pictures, so the scooter made the picture, too. ;)
Josiah, his Lightening McQueen backpack, and his scooter.

Josiah


I tried to get a picture of him standing in the kitchen just before we left for school, but he would not stand still! He was literally jumping up and down, so this is the best one I got! :)

In his classroom (3's) attempting to get his backpack onto the hook with his name.

Mackenzie stepping in to help get the heavy backpack, full of school supplies, onto the hook.

Josiah at his desk, with his supplies, ready to begin the day!

Josiah about to open his supply box and looking a little nervous. (There were a lot of other kids crying as their parents were trying to leave, so he was looking around skeptically, and rightly so!)

He decided he was just fine and began coloring his picture.

He was incredibly focused on coloring! (I, meanwhile, was still in the room as I was waiting for the teacher to be free long enough for me to snap a picture of him with her.)

Here's Mrs. Missi with Josiah, who continued coloring instead of looking up for the picture! He really was focused. I think he was ready for the other kids to calm down and join him at the table area. He was quickly picking up on the other children's names. He will make lots of new friends, and fast, I'm sure!

Here's the sign outside his classroom door.

Today was a huge milestone for Josiah, and I am very proud of him! We all did just fine. Mackenzie and I both gave him a hug and a kiss on the head as we headed out of the room. I thought that was sweet! I think he's proud to be in school. My prayer is that he has a wonderful experience as I believe it sets the tone for education in general. I'll be eager to see how his first day goes, and I'll update the blog later!

Update: Josiah did, indeed, have fun at school today. He was quick to tell us about getting to play on the playground at recess, and he loved getting to paint his hand today! They helped him put paint on his hand and make a hand print on a piece of paper. They put a poem on the paper beside his hand print:

It's my first day of school

And "The Kissing Hand" is what we read.

It's about a raccoon

Who did just as his parents said.

Like the raccoon's first day at school

I was scared and a little shy.

But because of what you said

I was brave and I got by.

All through the year

I'll make more things for you.

So as I change and as I learn

You can see my growth, too!

I thought that was cute and sweet, too. Somehow, I don't think he was that scared or that shy, but he certainly was brave! I love his hand print. Anyways, he seemed to really enjoy the day. I think it helped a ton that he had walked Mackenzie into her MDO classroom so many times. He had watched her sit down and begin her work. He knew what to do today and was ready for his turn! Just wanted to give you the update! :)

Kindergarten! (Updated)

My Big Girl! I had to wake both kids up extra early today in order to get Mackenzie to school on time. We made it with 4 minutes to spare!
She wears uniforms to school, and she decided to wear her plaid jumper on her first day. (She can choose from jumpers, dresses, polos, shorts, jeans, khakis, etc.) She told me that she wanted her hair in a plain pony tail for her first day of school. How funny! I thought I might braid it, or at least put a bow in it...but, nope. She had a plain pony tail today! :)

Here she is with her backpack... all set to go!

More pictures in front of our house on this big day.

Enjoying a banana nut muffin on her way to school. She had requested muffins for her first day breakfast. David ended up making them last night as I was finishing the laundry! Thanks, David! :)

Walking down the hallway toward Mrs. Haluska's classroom.

Standing beside her cubby, ready to begin the day.

Mackenzie with Mrs. Haluska, the Kindergarten teacher that we prayed for all summer long! Out of four possible teachers, she was definitely my first pick. However, no one asks parental preference on that, (and I did not tell the school of my preference)...the school prays about it as they assign children to teachers. We prayed at home, and when we got the letter telling us that Mrs. Haluska would be Mackenzie's Kindergarten teacher, I cried tears of joy! What a blessing!

(I had observed in all four classrooms last Spring, and this lady is amazing! What stood out most to me during the observation time is that she speaks in the positive, such as telling a child to please sit down instead of saying it in the negative, such as don't stand up. Children hear and respond to the positive so much better than the negative. I was really pleased with the way she encouraged the children, even if they gave a wrong answer.)

Up close of Mrs. Haluska with Mackenzie. She loves to sing and she even teaches the kids sign language through the year.

Mackenzie at her desk, ready to begin the day.

The sign in the hallway near the classroom door.

As I dropped Mackenzie off this morning, Mrs. Haluska handed me a poem. I thought that was a neat thing to do! The poem, called "The First Day," is as follows:

I gave you a little wink and smile

As you entered my room today.

For I know how hard it is to leave

And know your child must stay.

You've been with him for five years now

And have been a loving guide.

But now, alas, the time has come

To leave him at my side.

Just know that as you drive away

And tears down your cheeks may flow

I'll love him as I would my own

And help him learn and grow.

For as a parent, I too know

How quickly the years do pass

And that one day soon it will be my turn

To take my child to class.

So please put your mind at ease

And cry those tears no more

For I will love him and take him in

When you leave him at my door.

Love,

Mrs. Haluska

A prayer has certainly been answered as we made the transition smoothly, though we'll have more adjusting to do as we get used to the early mornings and full days. I am thankful that Mackenzie's first day went so well. She has more new friends and enjoyed the day. Neither one of us cried at all today. Surprisingly, after my emotional evening last night! All went well, and I am thankful.

Update: As the day progressed, I heard more and more and more about what Mackenzie learned in Kindergarten today. She now knows at least five different things in sign language! She is able to say "I'm thirsty, I need to go to the bathroom, just a moment, yes, and no," all in sign language! I'm impressed. AND, Mrs. Haluska read, "The Kissing Hand," to the class today. Definitely a good first day.