Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Ty's surgery

Ty had his second surgery at the end of August.
 I will spare you some of the more graphic details but, in summary, he had an inguinal hernia that would pop in and out randomly at times.  We had no idea what it was at first and were a little freaked out.
 Based on initial exam at our pediatrician, of course, Ty looked totally normal.
  But, after listening to my description, he pressed further.
 He pushed on Ty's stomach and told Ty to resist him with his abdomen then he flipped Ty upside down and kind of "shook" him while holding him with one arm by his stomach. Sure enough, it was confirmed that Ty had a hernia that needed repair.
We were referred to a Cooks pediatric surgeon who confirmed Ty needed to have surgery.
Ty was never in any pain or uncomfortable at all but without surgery it would continue to get worse and eventually cause problems. The surgery is very basic with very little risk but the sooner the better.
There was to be a two week period of "restricted activity" after surgery which we knew would be the toughest part.
We decided to have the surgery right away so he could recover and only miss one soccer game and be ready to play by the time school started the second week of September.
We checked in early at Cooks and Ty wore some new superhero pjs that Gram bought him for surgery. 
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We prayed over him and with him and pretty quickly he was given his giggle juice. It was pretty much just as funny this time as last time but, I was so, so nervous about how he would come off general anesthesia considering how poorly it went after his last surgery. 
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No matter how "routine" a surgery is...it is still so hard to see your baby being wheeled off into surgery in a hospital gown. We smothered him with kisses and went to grab some breakfast to eat in the waiting room. 
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About an hour later the surgeon came out to say that everything went well. Coming off the medicine was MUCH easier this time and without one tear and THREE bombpops later, Ty was ready to go home.
Smiling and eating his first popsicle before he could really even open his eyes. 
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He could choose between a wagon and a wheelchair to be taken to his car and he picked the wheelchair. 
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We got home and had a few sweet visitors come to check on him right away.
 You would never guess this guy just had surgery.
He never slowed down a bit. 
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The very next day was his first soccer game of the season which we had to miss but, he wore his jersey in support to root on his fellow Vipers.
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A week later was Labor day and we decided on a very quick trip to the lakehouse with some friends. This was THE hardest part of the whole surgery. Ty's incision site was closed only with steri-strip...not glue or any external stitches. I am still not sure why. But, it busted open just a little and was oozing with pus for a few days. We had to keep it aired out and dry and protected from germs with gauze for a while. There was just no way he could get in the lake. It was SO tough to watch him sit off to the side while his friends played in the lake. He handled it pretty well and I was so proud of him for sitting and resting, sometimes isolated, while his friends and siblings played in the water.
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We are so glad the surgery is DONE and was overall successful and we pray for no more surgery for a while in the Harrison house.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

August - Birthday, Couwee and End of Summer Fun

Well, I turned 34.
In my head, I know I'm kinda old...but, I seriously still feel like I'm 17 and could walk right in to high school as a senior tomorrow.
It's just that I am double-17 right now.
Weird.
I came home from work and mom and the kids had made me cupcakes and helped the kids get me some presents from the Target dollar aisle.
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My birthday was on a saturday and we really celebrated Alex's 30th at the lake that weekend with his and Mendy's besties.
Mendy tried to make it a double celebration which was so sweet...but, I would so much rather celebrate Alex's big Bday!
34 34 34 34 Cannon, the lone kid of the weekend, perfect as always.
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Fave moment of the weekend was how Mendy schooled Alex in slalom skiing. She rocked it. 34
Sunday we came home from the lake and celebrated with my side of the family by grilling out and swimming.
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 Birthday celebrating with the Harrisons too!
CouWee 2016


The next weekend was COUSINS WEEKEND! Or as we call it - CouWee.
 Can't even explain it. BEST weekend of the year.
I am already in mourning I have to wait another year for it to happen again.
My screen on my phone was cracked at this time so every selfie is bad and we only took selfies...but, oh well.
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We even had a guest visitor this time, Bret!
CouWee 2016
 Brothers....all the heart eyes possible....
I tell Kinley all the time that she is one lucky girl to have two little brothers.
CouWee 2016
CouWee 2016

It was rainy most of the weekend but we still loved just being there all together.

 Some hashtags from the weekend:
 #neanderthal #sabateur #canjam #dannyisreallygood #wheresbret #whyalexsface #olympics #bunkbedtalk #surgeryonthekitchentable #missingbrooke #collegeisbetter #aggiesforlife
CouWee 2016
Cannon was the lone ranger baby again this weekend....
Uncle Matt-Matt looks good holding a baby.
 Just sayin.
 CouWee 2016

I posted this pic on instagram with some super, sappy sentiments about how thankful I am for every.single.person in this pic.
And I meant every word.
Love them to my core.
CouWee 2016

We had our annual summer sleepover with Aubrey.
She is an absolute delight and just a joy.
She and Kinley have the sweetest relationship and I totally want to foster it forever.
 I think next year Ty and Grady will join in on the sleepover fun too.
Usually we have tons of fun activities planned but this year, I was tired and poor Aubrey had to go with us to the pediatrician for Ty's vision and hearing screen.
 Good news is he passed!
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 She did "love" the chickens though.
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 We ended the sleepover with a trip to Chuck E Cheese!
So fun.
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 A few more August happenings....
We love to visit Momma Gay!
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 Ty got his first sleepover ever and had Sean Ryan over to our house.
They played superheros, ninja spies, had ice cream cookie sandwiches, set up a tent to watch a movie in the living room.
 It went pretty well for the first time!
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Meanwhile, Kinley was having the time of her life with AG matching all clothes and playing Liv & Maddie until they passed out.
 End of summer

We finally used our free NRH2O tickets on the last possible day of summer.
The Nordells were in the same boat as us so they joined us.
 It was a rainy day but ended up being so fun!
 Dylan came and stayed until naptime when mom swung by to pick him up and Stacee and I had the big kids for the rest of the day.
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Stacee & RyRy
 End of summer
Kinley & Ella
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Ty & Mila
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As we ended the day, the sun came out and we had a quick Sonic run.


End of summer

After Kinley started school we had a few more fun days with just the boys to soak up every minute of summer we could. Honey & Boss were out of town so we helped them water their plants and swam in the pool.
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We made a visit to the Fort Worth Children's museum to see the Great White Shark Omni movie and play for the morning.
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 We also visited the Sea Life Aquarium at Grapevine Mills 
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We had a dinner at our new favorite restaurant Craft & Crab, with its outdoor playground. 
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Always so sad to see summer come to an end!