Under Reconstruction

Stage 2, Week 7

We are really pleased with how Nicholas' ear is looking. Five weeks until Stage 3!

And as long as we are counting down...where in the world did the summer go? Two weeks from today is "First Night" where we can meet the teacher's and take our supplies. Yikes! I guess Zachary won't be able to sleep in until 10:00 anymore!

Today is my day off, and this is the first day this summer we haven't had anywhere to go. Zachary decided he was going to run a restaurant for lunch, and Nicholas ordered a PB&J. Those of you that know how picky Nicholas is will certainly appreciate the photo:

Jelly all over the place and the crust on, the perfect recipe for a meltdown...but there wasn't quite the tears that I feared. He actually did rather well with it!

Oh, and the tooth fairy made a visit to our house last night. Nicholas lost another tooth. And now he wants to go to town and buy a toy for him, one for Zach, and a pair of shoes for me! Is that one of the sweetest things you've ever heard???

Snips and Snails

and Bug Eating contests...

While I really can't imagine having a daughter, this nearly sent me over the edge...

The library had a movie and bug eating contest for Zachary's group. He made the front page of the paper for eating a fried worm. And he was lucky enough to bring the above sucker home. I let him lick it for awhile, but when he was getting close to one of the cricket's legs, I just had to make him stop. Totally disgusting.

The boy's were at a baseball game today with Grandma and Pop, and I had the day off, so I took off. Did a little shopping at the new outside mall up North, and walked by an Aveda salon. I haven't been too thrilled with my hair stylist, and so I decided to see if they had any openings. Two hours later I walked out with a different cut. I'm really not sure what I think of it. And yes...it took 2 hours for this girl just to cut my hair! She was s-l-o-w. I really couldn't take much more. All I can say for now is that it is definitely shorter. And if I don't find someone I like soon to cut my hair, I may get kicked out of the house!

The fair is going on through this weekend and the boy's are already planning tomorrow's "boy day" for Scott! I'm thinking they can go do as much as they want tomorrow at the fair while I'm at work...sounds like the perfect scenario to me! Afterall, Princesses don't really like hot, stinky, dirty places. Or maybe I can meet them for dinner ;o)

Have a good weekend, make it count!

Don't cha

Really. Not much needs to be said. Video was taken after Nicholas' second surgery in June. Obviously, he was feeling fine. Enjoy!

Saturday morning fun

One word: Wordle

It takes words from your blog and then you can edit it (colors, design, etc.) to your liking. I'm thinking it would be cool to frame it in your creative area, or make a scrapbook page with it! Enjoy!

Slip and Slide Fun

equals a little bit of Photoshop fun ;o)

SOOC (Straight out of the camera):

and after a couple of Pioneer Woman actions and an Ali Edwards brush:

and again, because I love them both equally ;o)

SOOC:

and the same actions with a different brush:

Obviously, once I resize the pictures to put on the blog they lose quality and are smaller...still trying to figure this all out!

And a funny story from the other night...I mentioned that Nicholas had fallen asleep early. We tried waking him up, and couldn't, so Scott carried him upstairs. About 8:30 he came downstairs, convinced that it was morning and wanting his breakfast. We finally gave up and gave him a breakfast bar, and he finally realized we were telling the truth that it was night time when it started getting dark. Silly boy!

Someday = Sunday

Last Thursday I took the boy's to the Orthodontist...it was Nicholas' first time, so on the way there Zachary and I were telling him what to expect. At one point during the conversation, I told him "someday you may need to have braces" and we explained to him what braces were. I was very impressed with the Orthodontist. He really took his time measuring Nicholas' jaw and making sure his bite was good. Due to Nicholas' hemifacial microsomia we will need to watch closely as he grows to make sure his jaws and bite stay aligned. The good news is that at this time he thought everything looked great! Fast forward to Thursday evening and we were sitting on the couch. He said "I don't want those things on my teeth Sunday. I'm too little for them." Thankfully, I realized right away what he was talking about and assured him that I said "someday" and not "Sunday." After Sunday came and went without a trip to the Orthodontist, I think he finally believed me!

So, the other night was I was looking at the 300+ photos I've taken over the last few weeks and I realized a few things: 1) I need to delete a lot of photos! 2) I need to learn how to use my camera better, because I know that my camera has the capabilities to take fantastic photos 3) I need to learn photoshop and 4) I need to start using my computer for more than email and the internet!

And here's what happened. I decided to read my daily blog favorites and this was my first stop: Ali Edwards. And all last week she had posts on digital scrapbooking. And I got sucked in. I just know the very very basics in Photoshop, and I was determined to figure it out. And without too much frustration, here's one that I've edited:

So fun!

And other way exciting news for me...a few weeks ago I went to the mall during my lunch hour to get my nails done, and instead walked out with a broadband card from Verizon. Right now they are free and you have a 30-day trial to see how it works. Hooked. It works fantastically! I'm really surprised at how much faster the internet is! So, my 30 days is almost up and I'm thinking it's a keeper...afterall, I wouldn't want to hurt it's feelings...I guess I'll have to come up with a name for my new friend!

Yesterday I called and scheduled Nicholas' next stage for reconstruction. It will be September 12th and this is the surgery where they will take a skin graft from his hip and elevate his ear from his head. Unfortunately, he will need to be out of school for a week, but it will be worth it...almost done!

Speaking of skin grafts, here's a picture of his arm from his canalplasty in April of 2007:

And here's a picture of his scars to date (he fell asleep at 6:00 tonight after swimming...I'm thinking he's going to be up pretty early tomorrow!)

Work has been going great for me. I'm surprised at how much I like being in the coporate world, and it has certainly given me a new appreciation for all they do. My days go by very quickly, which is a great thing. If I have to be there, I'd rather be busy!

I purged and am re-organizing my scrapbook area, in the hopes that it gives me some inspiration to do something! If so, I'll be sure to share!

Catching Up.

First, I missed three important posts while on vacation:

Happy Birthday, Mom (July 5th)

I didn't want you to feel left out.

Thank you for leading by example. Thank you for loving all of us unconditionally. Thank you for loving and caring for your grandchildren. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for all of your sacrifices. Thank you for teaching, even when you didn't realize you were. I love you and I finally get what being a mother is all about...I think!


Happy Birthday, Pop! (July 6th)

(I didn't want you to feel left out either!)

Even though I can't believe the boy's are at this age already, I love hearing them talk to you about baseball and sports. I love the excitement they feel when Pop is going to play ball with them.  Thank you for the love you show your family and for being there for us. Thank you for being such a wonderful role model and for teaching your son many things.


Stage Two, Week 3

It really is hard to believe that it has only been three weeks. It feels like so long ago already, and it is looking so great!

I guess it's time to call and get a date for September!

and on to other happenings..

or not. because i just spent a bunch of time editing some photos to make them all pretty for the blog and now i can't find them. so maybe tomorrow i will post more updates with photos.

 

Lookin' Good!

Nicholas got the rest of the sutures out Monday morning...it looks so good! Monday night I told him to look at it in the mirror...he hadn't had any interest in seeing it. He looked, and I said "You have an ear!" and he said "But it doesn't move like my other one." I told him after the next surgery it would. He got the biggest smile on his face and now seems pretty excited about the whole thing!

Tonight he gets to play his last T-ball game and then tomorrow night, if the weather cooperates, Zach's team, aka "the team to beat," begins tournaments. We are pretty excited about it all!

Stage 2, Week 1

Nicholas had most of the sutures removed this morning and seriously,
the worst part....getting the tape off his hair from his bandage. I
haven't seen him cry that hard and be in that much pain in a long
time. After that, the sutures were no big deal! The doctor decided to
leave 4 in, as she didn't think they looked quite ready to come out,
so we'll go back Monday morning for the rest. Until then, he has a
couple of Band-Aids on his ear and he needs to keep his head
dry...thank goodness for cool weather!

I think it is a little swollen, as there isn't as much definition as
before. I also think it looks pretty darn amazing!!!

Home!

We got home last night at 9:30. It felt so good to sleep in our own beds!

We were able to see Nicholas around 10 a.m. yesterday, and when we saw him he was laying in the bed, wide awake. When he saw us, he immediately told us he wanted his I.V. out...he was pretty mad about that. And then he told us he was hungry. Definitely a good sign! The nurse got him some juice and crackers, and he ate half a cracker and drank some juice. They discharged him about 11:15 and we were on our way! We gave him a suppository of pain/nausea meds before we left (it took him awhile to stop being mad at that, but who can blame him???) and we decided to start driving for awhile and see how he did. When they wheeled him out to the car, a nurse on break told us that she assisted Dr. Jones in the OR and Nicholas' ear looks amazing! We can't wait to see it! Nicholas slept for awhile, and then started in on small amounts of crackers and juice. Finally, after hours of hearing how hungry he was, we gave in and around 4:30 pulled into a McDonald's for chicken nuggets (and more medicine). He ate two and did great. He was begging/whining for a cookie, but I did draw the line there! He slept for maybe a total of 3 hours. As soon as we got home last night, we went right to bed and slept until 7:00 this morning. He's had his normal breakfast, plus a couple of cookies and doing great. He'll have his bandage on until Thursday, then we'll put some ointment on his ear for 5 days and he's good to go! He hasn't complained of any pain today and when I asked if his ear hurt he looked at me like "why would my ear hurt?"

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers...time to head to the grocery store!