Same Song, Second Verse...

Much to our dismay, Olivia had to get another set of tubes put in her ears this week (as well as removal of her adenoids).  We went through this process last year and had great results for several months, but unfortunately the tubes fell out after about 5 months and the ear infections started again.  Given that she was getting some pretty nasty ear infections during the Spring/Summer time-frame, our doctor thought it best to go ahead and put them back in before the "cold and flu season" started in the Fall.

Here's a "then and now" picture -- she looks so little and sad in the first one!

So, we woke up bright and early and headed back to the hospital.  This time because she was a little older, she wasn't first in line for surgery.  That meant longer to distract her from the fact that she couldn't have her beloved "ous and mik" (Cheerios and milk) for breakfast.  But, she did great and even made some new friends!

She wasn't too thrilled about the ankle bracelet......until the nurse gave her a purple butterfly sticker

Finally it was our turn.  We had been prepping Olivia for weeks that the nurse was going to take her back. Given her extreme attachment to mommy, we both knew that the prep would likely be for not and had mentally prepared ourselves for some major tears.  But, to our extreme delight, the sweet nurse and anesthesiologist saw how attached Olivia was and anticipated the freakout that would ensue.  So, they snuck me into the surgery room and let me hold her while they put her out.  (This was a pretty traumatizing experience for me - one minute it took 3 of us to hold her down and put the little mask over her face, the next minute she went completely limp and her little eyes rolled back in her head.  I definitely cried a little!).  But, I was glad that I could be there for her.

And then we waited.  The doctors assured us they would get us in less than 30 minutes.  And, just like last time, they made good on that promise.  24 minutes after she went back, they brought us to the recovery room.  The surgery went well and the doctor said there was a lot of fluid in both ears and her adenoids were very large, so it was a really good thing we did the procedure again.

Like last time, we hated seeing her look like this.  She was O-U-T and slept much longer than last time.  

After about 15 minutes she woke up completely groggy and confused.  She was crying and calling for "daddy."  Matt picked her up and she immediately snuggled up to him and went back to sleep for another 10 minutes.

When she finally woke up again, she was pretty miserable.  I think the anesthesia must have made her itchy because she kept scratching at her face and crying.  As soon as she woke up, I tried to give her some water. She closed her eyes, drank for a few minutes and then opened her eyes and asked for a chocolate chip. (Side note: She actually had an ear infection at this point and had been on medication for the past week.  To get her to take the medicine, I always bribe her with a chocolate chip.  So I guess she had them on the brain!).  Anyways, the nurse was shocked by the request and said they were fresh out of chocolate chips.  But she did have a purple popsicle which Olivia begrudgingly ate.  She was fussy and crying most of the time.  After she drank enough, they finally let us go home.  She slept most of the way home and then for a few hours in her crib.  She woke up hungry and not feeling well.  

Some pizza cheered her up a little, but she was much more miserable and grouchy for the rest of the day than she was last time.

We laid pretty low the rest of the day....watched lots of Sesame Street and played on the iPad 

By 6:00 she was a pumpkin so we gave her a quick dinner and put her to bed early.  Matt and I ended the stressful day with our new favorite summer drink -- margaritas!  

The next morning however, she woke up happy and back to her usual self.  I knew she was feeling better when she insisted on picking our her own outfit (purple dress and "fip fops") and wouldn't leave the house without her necklace, purse, baby, and sunglasses.  She's not high maintenance.  Nope.  Not at all.  And, if she is, she certainty doesn't get it from her mother. ;)

Hopefully this will be our last experience with ear tubes and sweet Olivia will have some relief in those cute little ears of hers!

Find That Baby

Last weekend we were having a lazy Sunday afternoon at home, playing with our babies.  And by "babies" I don't mean Olivia.  I mean Baby Ed, Baby Stella, Baby Carol, and Baby Naz.  Yes, 4 babies.  Poor Matt barely liked it when there was only 1!  Olivia's new favorite thing to do is spread every blanket we have on the floor, wrap up the babies, and rub their backs to put them to sleep.  This seemingly easy and mundane task is complicated by a couple of things:
1. Olivia has a certain way she wants the babies blanketed and patted.  The proper way is only in her head and if you do it wrong, she will FREAK OUT.
2.  The babies are apparently eating a lot of spicy foods because they literally have a poopy diaper every 5 minutes.  And Olivia won't let you just pretend to change the diaper -- you have to get the baby completely naked and then change the diaper.

As we both sat, patting and changing our respective babies, Matt commented: "I guess I should have anticipated this when I found out we were having a girl, but I gotta say - I spend A LOT of time playing with dolls these days, especially clothing them."

So, I guess it is no surprise that my game-loving, competitive husband would try and mix things up a bit.  I was getting dressed last night for our date night and Matt was playing with Olivia before the babysitter got there.  I hear Olivia cracking up laughing and I walked in to find this:

4th of July Weekend in Austin

We had a great Independence Day! We started the day at the Woodlands 4th of July parade. We've never been, but Olivia loved it. Hopefully we can make it a yearly tradition. It was even better that the Born family came with us! Olivia loves them and asked all weekend to tell her the "Casey and Noah story" (i.e. tell her about what happened at the parade!)

After the parade we met Popo and Tutu for a quick lunch at Lupe and then we headed to Austin.  Matt and I hit the jackpot because Olivia slept the entire way up - made the drive very easy!

On Friday we introduced Olivia to the deliciousness of Rudy's breakfast tacos.  She's a fan!

Then we spent the morning at Zilker Park

After another awesome nap, we spent the afternoon at the hotel pool.  Olivia also got a butterfly painted on her hand which she was very proud of!

We continued the unhealthy eating on Saturday morning with a trip to Krispy Kreme

And we spent Saturday afternoon with some dear friends from college.  Our friends the Gleesons are always wonderful hosts and let us call them at the last minute and come hang out at their house.  Luckily our good friend Keith, as well as his girlfriend and daughters were able to join us too!  Their neighborhood has this amazing splashpad and baby pool.

Their 2 year old son William must have picked up on his parent's good habits, because he was such a gracious host sharing his toys and snacks with Olivia. 

After a swim, we went back to the Gleeson's house for more snacks (these 2 are very like-minded when it comes to snacks!) and William introduced Olivia to Mickey Mouse.

After dinner, it was time to leave but we were so grateful for the quick visit.  We visited these same dear friends last summer and it was so neat to see how much these babies have grown!  We can't wait for these 2 to grow up together and be good friends like their parents.

We had a great weekend!