Daven's Surgery

Daven had surgery yesterday. Here is a picture of him right before they took him back. 

He had a birthmark (nevus) removed. It was on his buttocks. Because of the location it is hard for me to monitor it and there is a chance it could turn cancerous when he gets older. 3 different doctors told us they thought it needed to come off. We felt like it was the right thing to do. But, still, with general anesthesia, a mom just gets all worried about things like this. Unfortanutely, it is too big to take off with one procedure. So, we have to go back and get the second part taken off in a few months.

Daven was a very brave boy. He did cry on the way to the hospital. I think it was out of sheer frustration from not being able to eat anything all morning. He was sick of popscicles :). The surgery was at Phoenix Children's Hospital. We got all checked in & then Daven cheered up. They gave him a stuffed animal when he first got there. He named him Yoda since he was too little to be called Darth Vader :) They let him pick his jammies & socks. He looked so cute in them. They showed him the mask. I was glad Mike piped in, "Look you can breathe into it like Darth Vader." He wasn't scared about that at all. Way to go, Daddy!

Then, they had a big playroom in Pre-Op & let him play until the surgery. He was super excited about that. 

The surgery went well, but was the longest hour of my life. I kept thinking, what if this was heart surgery and was 3 hours or something like that? I don't know if I could do it.

I am so thankful everything went well. He hasn't even needed pain medication yet. I am amazed at how quickly kids bounce back. Oh to be 5 again! The hardest part is keeping him down to rest. He has so much energy.

It's Official: Logan is a Preschooler

Logan has been waiting almost his whole life to start preschool. I think when you watch your older brother go for two years and you CAN'T go, it makes you appreciate things so much more. 

Logan relished his first day. He couldn't wait until preschool started. He was so excited to put on his backpack. When school was over, he came up to me. The first thing he said was, "I got a folder." He has always sat by my side the past two years, every day as I go through Daven's folder. So, you can only imagine his excitement that he now has one, too. He HAD to show me the minute he got in the car. Nevermind that there were several cars behind me. I loved it & was so happy for how happy he was. Logan is very thankful for things; I love that about him. His folder is already demolished from taking it out and putting it back in his backpack so many times because he's so excited to have one.

Logan is going to Miss Lisa's. This is where Daven went for his first year of preschool. I am super excited for him. He is absolutely loving it. And the best part is, Miss Charen (Karen) is one of the aides. Karen is one of my good friends and Logan LOVES her in a very special way. I was so exicted when we walked down to the preshool room the first day. It looked like so much fun down there.

I have to comment on his cute shirt. Take notice of it. It is a few sizes too big. We bought it in LegoLand, and it was the smallest size we could find. Well, it is his favorite shirt. He has worn it the Last Three Tuesdays! And school's only been in session for Three Tuesdays. Gotta love it. 

And the picture with Daddy will always be a memorable one. It was his special request - to get a picture with Daddy. I asked if he wanted one with mommy, but nope, just daddy.

At dinner that week, he kept bragging over and over. "I go to preschool now."

All the Reasons I Know She's a Girl

1. She is already great at throwing parties. This week she has woken up every morning at around mid-night and thrown herself a little party in her crib. Mike and I partially think it is cute. She lays there, kicks, squeals, and babbles. I am trying to teach her that I will not feed her before 3:30 a.m. So, Mike and I just lay there and chime in every few minutes, "Avery, it is time to go to sleep." She eventually does. It is oh-so frustrating & cute at the same time. Her paries last about an hour.

2. She loves to look at herself in the mirror. I nurse her on our bed. That is her "Special Spot" as one of my friends calls it. She has a very hard time nursing anywhere else. When we are done, I burp her. She sits up and ALWAYS looks at herself in the mirror for a few minutes. Whenever we pass the bathroom in the hall, she always turns to see her cute reflection.

3. She loves her clothes. Every day, I hold up her outfit. She always smiles, laughs, kicks her legs, and then flaps her arms. She loves to see her outfits, seriously. My boys NEVER did this. Logan practically hated getting dressed as a newborn...wait a minute, he still hates it.

4. She likes to watch me get ready in the mornings. The boys hated this. I would set them in their bouncer while I got ready and they would immediately protest. Especially when I brought out the BLOW DRYER - you would think the world was coming to an end. But not with Aves. She will sit there and hang out the whole time while I get ready. And, she doesn't mind the blow dryer one bit.

5. When she gets mad, she gets MAD. Overall, she is the sweetest little girl. And she is very patient. But, if you push her too far, then she does get mad. She can go from sweet to very mad in a matter of seconds. We laugh at the drama. It is quite cute.

6. She doesn't forget easily. If you do something to make her mad, she doesn't let go of it for a while. For example, the other day, some friends watched her for us. She was not a happy girl for them, she was very mad we had left her. Mike went to pick her up. She YELLED at him when he got there. She has this very distinct "Lecture Voice." She had apparently been crying, she was sniffling when he picked her up. Well, about every 3 minutes in the car ride home, she would burst out SCREAMING. Then, she would calm down only to remember a few minutes later that she was mad. I got home from work an hour later. She was asleep in her bed, but kept waking up every 20 minutes or so, yelling. She was mad all night long that we had left her! This kind of stuff happens a lot, especially if you hold her off feeding...etc. etc.

We love you Aves! We wouldn't have you any other way. You are such a precious little girl. No wonder your brothers & mommy & daddy love you so much. 

Daven's a Kindergartener!

Daven started Kindergarten 1 week ago. I am happy to report that his first week was a success. His teacher is Miss Keegan. We are on a modified year-round schedule here, that is why school has already started. They do 8 weeks of school, then get a 2 week break. I am really excited that he is in school already. It is so hot here that most of the kiddos were starting to feel couped up. I am looking forward to 2 weeks off in October, December and March when the weather is much nicer!!

I can't believe he is in Kindergarten. He was so excited to go. I did some crying the week before. I was so sad to think of him being so grown up now. Even Mike got a little choked up the night before. But, when the morning of came, I was surprised at how un-sad I was. But, I have to say my stomach was in knots for him! I don't think he was nervous but I sure was. We were driving to school and I was clenching the door handle. Mike just laughed and said, "You know, your son is not even nervous."

He was so happy to go. Mike and I drove him to school. We got to the kindergarten door. I got out of the car. He gave me the FASTEST KISS and HUG EVER. He ran through the door. He didn't even look back. So how could I cry? I ended up feeling really happy for him. He had a good first day.

I'm loving all the random tid-bits of info he gives me. If I don't ask for more information, I would seriously wonder what kind of school he is going to. It is hillarious sometimes. 

Here is the low-down on his 1st week according to him:

Day 1: "We didn't have time to eat lunch."

            Translation: I didn't eat my lunch fast enough :) He finished it in the car on the way home.

Day 2: "We didn't get to go to recess."

            Luckily, I probed for more information. I guess it was too hot to go outside. Yes, it was 115 degrees that day. So, I was glad they stayed in. I guess they got to watch a movie in Miss DeHart's room. Phew!

Day 3: "Jimmy is in my class."

           I had no clue who Jimmy was. But, apparently he colored all over his desk with crayons. He didn't get in trouble because the teacher didn't see it. Hmmm, very interesting.

Day 4: "I played patty-cake games with RAMONE."

           I have no clue what patty-cake games are.

Day 5: "They only had chocolate milk for lunch."

           What kind of school is this? This was the day he had hot lunch. I'm hoping they were just out of regular milk. He decided on a juice box.

Day 6: "Mom, our school went on Lock-down. We have to go into Miss DeHart's room."

           How scary does that sound?? I guess they had a drill. But he continued to tell me that it was for sure really going to happen. They would have to stay in her room until they told them they could go. I certainly hope not.

            "I lick my hand-sanitizer with Nicholas." We had a discussion about why you shouldn't like your hand sanitizer off. It sounds like he is having fun to say the least.

Way to go, Daven! You are growing up & I am so proud of you. You are such a good boy.

My Polka-Dot Dress

Okay, I had to post these pictures. I can't believe how utterly in love I am with my little girl. Last Sunday she wore this darling blue and green polka-dot dress. A friend had made this bow. Up until now, the bow has been way too big. It is still gigantic, but it looked WAY too cute with this dress.

Mike called it her satellite. He said his cell-phone reception improved when he held her. She seriously looked like you could pick her right out of the garden.

I had to put this last one in. We call this her ace-bandage headband. She loves her saucer.