Already MUUUUUUCH better!

 Just a few days after surgery and we can already see a HUGE improvement!! Maddie seems happier, her speech is clearer, we aren't constantly repeating ourselves....hopefully it keeps on this path!

            

The day of surgery and a few days after, she wasn't sleeping well and her breath, wow. We were warned it would be bad but this was "lemme-check-your-pants" bad. But little by little she's getting back to normal!

 Bella came over for a playdate and they ran around, chasing bubbles and laughing. Ahhhh, the sound of happy, healthy children is the BEST sound in the world!!



Maybe, just maybe....

 I didn't realize how sick Maddie was. In general, that is. I kept hearing kids in daycare get sick all the time. But I also kept having this nagging, "but this sick?" feeling. I expected common colds but Strep, Pneumonia, kidney infections?? It finally all made sense when, after a recommendation by the Pediatrician we saw the Pediatric ENT. He told us Maddie had an antibiotic resistant film in her ears that cause multiple ear infections as well as various bacterial other infections that antibiotics weren't curing. The bacteria apparently roams around the body as rests where it may...all over this poor child, apparently! He also suggested her adenoids be removed as her sinuses were also having issues.

Getting checked in!                                 Giggle juice!                               Ready to head in...

 Luckily, it was a quick process. We were in a week after the consultation for the procedure and it took only about 40 minutes! He came out and said it all looked "bad" and that we should see major improvement in her health and her demeanor. He explained that she probably hasn't felt good in so long (which kinda explains her, um, rotten attitude lately??) and that as she heals her hearing and overall personality should get much better.  Maybe, just maybe all of this awful illness will abate and my kiddo can feel good and we can get our sweet baby back :).



Key West post nuptial partay!!

And while I'm playing with collages, here's the gist of the post nuptial weekend! We originally planned to get married in Key West and once the semantics became too much, our friends were kind of disappointed so we figured, "why not still go??" And we did....we do plan on a belated honeymoon in the fall so having a fun weekend with friends was just the perfect way to relax and have a blast! And we did....

We finally did it!

We got hitched! It was AMAZING. Exactly what we wanted...low key, fun, meaningful....absolute perfection. There are SO many pics that I thought this fun collage would sum it up! Enjoy!

Hoppy Easter!

Bella's school had a great little fair for kids complete with Easter Bunny, bounce houses, pony rides and an egg hunt. We didn't know about the egg hunt, so thankfully Uncle Rob had a couple of plastic bags in his car. Phew!

First Pony Ride!!! she loved it!!

Easter morning, Maddie and I made Banana pancakes (her request!). She loves to cook...here's to hoping she's much better at it than I am!!

We kept it very small, with the wedding being next weekend. Just family and a small brunch!

Monique offered to make dessert, and while on crack, um, I mean, Pinterest, I saw this and "suggested" she make it :)

I think hers came out even prettier!!Ya ya brought a singing bunny for Mads (kind of her M.O.) and it indulged in some Mimosas...

We did a small egg hunt for the girls in the backyard. Bella is quite competitive but Maddie managed to grab a few :)

And once again, attempting the impossible: getting these girls to smile, at the same time. Again, no luck but they sure are cute anyway!

WHY didn't I do this sooner?!

So I've learned a few things as a first-time mom. Alot. One of the many lessons is listen to my gut...from something as serious as knowing something is just wrong although no obvious symptoms presented themselves (when she had pneumonia) to little things like deciding which of the well-intentioned pieces of advice to take about Maddie's hair. My sister vehemently discouraged me having it cut. Her theory was it'll all just eventually even out (the current "mullet" had about four different lengths). Other schools of thought suggested cut it in hopes it would somehow thicken up. My feeling was, it looked ratty all the time, it's baby-fine, so why not shorten it to make it look fuller and healthier?? Well....I had enough. I picked her up from school the other day and my beautiful child looked like a mess. That's it, I decided, we are going (the $5 off coupon I snipped certainly helped the cause).


                  What an improvement! So precious!!

Heading into a local kids' salon...she was excited. Probably moreso about the ice cream I promised if she sat still!

These people are genius! They give them a cool "ride" to sit in
AND park them in front of the TV!
Brilliant!

She was such a good girl and was quite proud of her certificate (note the sweet blond lock of hair in the left upper corner :)

It never gets easier.

It never gets better, you just get better at it. 4 years ago today, Caleb passed away. I can't believe he's been gone as long as he was here. It still all seems so unfair. Sure, life has continued for us all, but not without a constant nagging feeling that something, someone is always missing. I wanted to see Monique and Rob, give them a hug, so Maddie and I brought some dinner and an orange rose (Leukemia awareness color) to their house.

The girls had fun in the hot tub...it wasn't turned on but the smaller body of water was warmer than the still-cool pool!

Monique found these beautiful lanterns online. They are biodegradable and supposedly float for a long time. Ours sank fairly quickly and we were mortified that we started a brush fire...
We usually do balloons, I'm thinking we'll stick to that in the future!

Hopefully Caleb noticed and knew they were intended for him in Heaven.

We miss you every day. XO