Aidan's Birthday and First Surgery (Or turning 4 and getting sedated!)

Oh my, it's been forever since I've posted something. Ugh. Time just gets away from me. Doesn't help when I find lots of "projects" for myself. Well, let's pick up where I left off. First up, Aidan's birthday! Aidan is now officially 4! I have always loved this age. It was my favorite room at the daycare. Kids at this age are so inquisitive and are really starting to put the pieces together mentally. Aidan has always asked a lot of questions but now, his questions are more in depth and detailed. And one question usually leads to another. How does this work, why does it do that, what is it for? I love this! I love the challenge of taking a challenging concept and breaking it down in a way that he'll understand and make sense to him in his frame of reference. He's also more independent now and makes friends quickly. He's still not very interested in sitting down and writing letters or counting for me. It's boring, he says. You have to trick him into doing it or if he shows interest, pounce on the opportunity. He's grown into the sweetest, kind hearted, smart little guy and I can't imagine my life without him.

This year we had his party at the Transportation Museum. This having the party out of the house is totally the way to go! They did everything but the cake. Party favors, snacks, plates and cups, you name it. So much easier and less stressful and the kids had a fabulous time. After the party we took everyone for a train ride. What a great day!

The week after Aidan's birthday was his surgery. Off we went to the children's hospital, after a stop at Walgreens to pick up a new toy to ease our anxieties, where we were checked in. We got matching wristbands and Aidan got cute little scrubs. I wish I had had my camera! After we were briefed on everything, Aidan was given a sedative before we moved to the holding room. They said it would relax him and make the separation easier for him. (Where's mine then is what I was thinking.) They warned us it would make him loopy. Oh boy did it. It was hilarious. I laughed so hard at him, I cried. At one point we were telling jokes when he tried to tell the nurse a knock knock joke. Half way through he stops talking and starts staring off into space. After about 30 seconds he looks back and gets this goofy grin. He was so out of it. From holding they took him to the OR, which he says he remembers as being full of cool stuff. I guess the sedative didn't "block" his memory like it was supposed to. Oh well, he didn't freak out being separated from us. We had pretty well prepared him for most of what went on. The book Franklin Goes to the Hospital was fantastic for helping him understand what it would be like. While he was in surgery we waited. It went pretty quickly and the surgeon popped out to talk to us afterwards. When we were finally able to go see him in recovery, only I was allowed to go back. (Well only 1 parent was allowed and Julien knew better than to protest.) Aidan was still asleep when I got there but when he woke up he was none too happy. He wanted his IV out right then. He didn't want to drink anything. He wanted to go home. It took a bit to calm him down and when we were moved to post-op the IV was removed. There was more fighting about drinking his juice, which he had to do before we could go home but he finally calmed down and drank it so we could go home. For the first few hours at home Aidan needed help getting around due to a caudal they had given him. Think like an epidural but, just a shot in the back that numbs. Once that wore off I gave him some Tylenol 3 to be safe. Now, the doctor had said a day or two recovery and I thought there was no way. But once that Tylenol 3 kicked in he was ready to go outside. The next day he was playing like nothing ever happened. It was incredible. He did get a little sore that week from walking too much but overall his recovery was very fast. The week after surgery we returned for a post-op check where we were told we could remove the surgical bandage and he could take a real bath again. And that was it! All repaired and all better. I wish adults healed that quickly.

Well, that brings us up to the beginning of October. Next time I'll tell you about 2 Iowa trips, a half marathon, another project I've given myself, and Olivia's costume. It's never dull around here

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I know this is late but, better late than never. The end of July brought a big day in our house. Our little baby became a toddler. Olivia turned one! How is this possible? Where did the time go? I spent most of the day reminiscing about what I was doing a year ago on that day. Getting to the hospital, getting prepped for the c section, getting to our room and getting to hold her. Now, she's taking steps, uses a sippy cup and points at everything. She even looks like a toddler now instead of a baby. I kept thinking about how little she looked as a newborn and all the changes over the year. I love seeing all the new things she's learning and doing. This is one of the most exciting times and I love having a toddler. At the same time, it's bittersweet as now the time of babies in the Ross-Boon house is over. No more formula, bottles, or newborn clothes. We're on to bigger and better things.

Olivia had a great birthday party. She enjoyed being with her friends and family. And she enjoyed her chocolate cake a little too much. Poor girl got sick at nap time. Too much food! Thanks to everyone for their cards, presents and well wishes. They were much appreciated. Next month it will be Aidan's turn.

Turning 30

Saturday marked a big milestone for me. I turned 30 this birthday. People have asked if I think this is a big deal. Frankly, you spend so much time during 29 worrying about turning 30 that, when it comes it's not really different than 29. I had such a great start to 30 that I'm not really worried about it anyway. So here's what happened. I really didn't have any expectations for this birthday. Julien had told me a couple weeks ago that he had wanted to throw me a big party but then I got pregnant. He didn't think being big and pregnant and not able to drink would make for a fun party for me. I told him it was ok and not to worry about it. So, as the weather held out, Julien started on the big project of fixing the grading and drainage in the yard. Big thanks to Mike our neighbor and good friend as we never could have done it without him. He helped us get a truck to get the trencher home. (Aidan loved it! It had a backhoe on one end.) So Julien and Mike spent all day doing that. I watched Baby John in the morning so Mike could help as Jen had plans. So Aidan and cleaned the house a little and played with the baby. I also kept checking on the boys outside to make sure everyone had water and sunscreen. It was 95 degrees that day with a heat index over 100. Around 4 or so they called it a day. They compared sunburns and Mike won. (He was soooo red. I feel really bad.) We got ready and went out to chinese for my bday dinner. Then to Oberweis to get an ice cream cake. Julien took me to get a new phone as a present but, we aren't able to upgrade for another 6 mos. So that didn't work but, I didn't mind. Having no expectation at all for the day I was really laid back about what we did. Julien told me that Mike and Jen wanted us to come over after 7p to hang out. He suspected that they had cake. So we stopped to get beer. And then Aidan was fussy so we stopped by the fireworks stand to pick up some fireworks for him that night. (Welcome to living in Missouri. :) ) Then Julien's friend from work Mike called. Julien said he was asking about an outage they were having Monday at work. Suddenly, I started wondering why we were making all these stops. And why was Mike calling about work on a Saturday? I decided to give Julien the benefit of the doubt. Expecting a party was expecting too much in my mind. I was happy with the day I had had so far and wasn't going to hope for more. But, still I wondered. When we got to Mike and Jen's, I saw a neighborhood kid pop out of her door. Then it clicked.....those sneaky devils! I walked in and SURPRISE! My neighbors and friends were all gathered for a surprise 30th bday/Baby shower! (Julien's friend Mike from work had called to make sure he had the right address. I don't know how I didn't see his car when we drove up.) Jen decided on Monday to do this and even called Julien while we were in Iowa with his family. So in less than a week she got ahold of the neighbors and my friends (Facebook is invaluable for this kind of planning I see.), arranged for a Coldstone Cake and decorations. Everyone was so generous and I ended up with lots of clothes, diapers, and blankets. It was so much fun! Aidan had a blast too as he got to play with all the kids. In fact he had his two girls there, Gabi and Lana, and got to play with them at the same time. All the guys drank beer and watched the kids play outside. It couldn't have been better. At the end of the night, Aidan, Joey and Gabi watched Julien light Aidan's fireworks. They even got to hold a morning glory each. So, that night I went to bed having had a fantastic birthday. If this is any indication of how my thirties will be, I welcome them with open arms!

-The next day Julien and Mike got back to work on the yard. This time with much cooler weather. The big part of it is done. Some hand digging and back filling is left to do but, the trencher was returned this morning (thanks to a big favor from someone Julien works with, 3/4 ton trucks are hard to find, especially first thing Monday morning), and now Julien can finish it as he has time. He's eager for it to rain now and see how well it works. Keep your fingers crossed that we get rain soon and that everything flows how it should.