Trick or Treat!

What a difference a year makes!  Last year, Drew refused to put his costume on for school and was the ONLY kid in the preschool who didn't wear a costume during the parade.  This year, he wanted to sleep in his costume the night before because he was so excited.  Last year, Kayley burst into tears the second she saw me during the parade and cried the rest of the party because she didn't want me to leave.  This year, as she walked by, she had a big smile on her face and waved at Andy and me.  When I went to her room for her party, she was happy as can be.  No tears even when I told her I had to leave. 

They were also more into trick or treating this year.  Drew more so than Kayley.  She tired out pretty quickly and didn't like being cold.  Sounds like me!  When we came back to our house, the kids helped me hand out candy.  Drew loved it.  Kayley cried at first when she saw us giving away candy.  She thought that candy should be hers too.  Ha! 

Happy Birthday, Amelia!!

Drew, Kayley and I drove to Davenport yesterday afternoon for Amelia's 4th birthday party.  The kids were excited to play with Amelia and new toys and I was excited to see some of my friends from law school.  Since it was so close to Halloween, it was a costume party.  This is the first year that Drew and Kayley were excited to put on their costumes!  Kayley's princess costume is for ages 3+, but it is too big for her.  I said something about her looking like a stripper princess when one of her shoulders was exposed and of course she heard me and looked at me and said, "Stripper princess?!?!  What's a stripper princess, Mommy?!"  Ah, little ears are always around.  You would think I would know that by now!

We had a great time and as always, Ang put on a great party! 

Lightning McQueen driver and Princess Aurora

Patiently waiting for cake

Birthday Girl

Another Busy Week!

I feel like we have been going non-stop again.  Last Friday, we took the kids to Monkey Joe's for a birthday party.  We got to see some of our friends who also have kids in Drew's class so Andy and I enjoyed ourselves too.  That said, I won't be upset if I don't go to Monkey Joe's for another year or so (or maybe ever)!  The kids and I spent Saturday running a lot of errands while Andy worked outside in the yard.  Saturday night, we went to Washington for dinner and a bonfire with our friends Chuck and Jamie and Jeff and Amy.  Drew, Sam and Brody are all in the same Pre-K class and Maia is just a year younger than Kayley so the kids play really well together. 

The boys dressed up in Sam's costumes for the bonfire.
Brody, Sam, Drew and Maia

The first s'more Drew has ever eaten.  Nothing
like a little peer pressure to get him to try it!

Way past their bedtime and enjoying
some late night cartoons!

I left really early Monday morning for Toronto for work and then flew home first thing Tuesday morning.  So early that I was back in Peoria by 10:30am after a layover in Detroit.  I went straight to Kayley's surgery follow-up appointment.  The doctor said she is looking great and everything appears to be completely healed.  She was just happy about the sticker he gave her.  :-)

Yesterday was dentist day for the kids.  When I picked the kids up from daycare on Tuesday and told them we were going to the dentist the next day, Drew said he wanted to eat healthy for dinner.  He wanted pizza and an apple and said he was going to brush really good that night.  :-)  Last time we went to the dentist, Drew cried most of the visit while Kayley was great and sat in the chair by herself and didn't cry or whine at all.  I was nervous this time for how Drew would do so on the way there I told him he could have a new monster truck if he was really good without any whining or crying.  Even though I knew Kayley would do good, I told her she could have a small toy too for being good. 

When we got back to the room they asked who wanted to go first.  I looked at Kayley thinking she would be easier to get up in the chair.  She burst into tears and Drew quickly volunteered to go first.  He jumped up into the chair and sat perfectly still the entire time.  No whining.  No crying.  Kayley, on the other hand, was trembling in my lap.  The girls noticed and asked if anything with her had changed because she was so good the last time.  I said no except that she had her tonsils out earlier this month.  They started shaking their heads and said her reaction is very common after having tonsils out.  By that time, Andy had arrived and they took her and Andy to another room.  I got off easy with Drew who was happily watching a movie while they cleaned his teeth.  After they were done, I was helping Drew into the car and I told him how proud I was that he was such a  big boy (yes, I realize most 4 1/2 year olds are good at the dentist without bribery).  He looked at me and said very matter-of-factly, "well, that is because I wanted a monster truck."  I learned two things yesterday - (1) Drew is VERY easy to bribe; and (2) Drew doesn't need to be bribed next time because he is clearly capable of acting like a big boy at the dentist. 

Kayley got a small toy too because I felt bad that she was so traumatized by having her tonsils removed!

Bribe toys

After all the hard work at the dentist, Andy let me have a girls night with some friends!  We went to the neighborhood bar Andy and his friends own.  That is probably why he was so willing to let me go out - we were bringing him business!

Fall Fun

Kayley is getting better each day.  She is certainly back to her sassy self and talking much more now...except with a much higher pitch in her voice!  Andy's worst nightmare come true!  :-)  She is much smarter than we give her credit for though.  She refused to eat pasta the other night because her throat hurt.  I gave her ice cream instead.  Later that night, I caught her eating pretzels.  Every time she doesn't want to eat something she says her throat hurts because she still isn't better.  Then she tries to eat some sort of snack food about 20 minutes later. 

Mom left Friday afternoon and when Kayley woke up from her nap and saw me instead of Grandma, she burst into tears.  Hmmm...made me feel good she loves her Grandma so much, but didn't make me feel that good as her mom! 

We had a very low-key weekend for the first time in a long time, which was very nice!  The kids played outside and enjoyed the fall weather.  I thought it was a little chilly, but the kids had a great time.  They helped Andy rake leaves and jumped into them over and over and over again! 

Tylenol with Codeine is Our Friend

Kayley's surgeon and the nurses warned us that days 5 and 6 following surgery are usually rough.  They sure know what they are talking about!  Kayley woke up pretty unhappy Saturday morning.  She was back to refusing all medicine so Andy forced some tylenol with codeine down her.  Within 30 minutes, we had a totally different child!  And then she happily took her amoxicillin.  It seems to be the roughest for her right when she gets up in the morning and right after her nap.  Once the tylenol with codeine kicks in, you wouldn't even know she had surgery.  Well, other than the fact that she doesn't eat.

She is down to 29.0 pounds.  I think she was a little over 31 when she went into the hospital.  The only thing she ate the last two days is ice cream with sprinkles.  She refuses jello, popsicles, pudding, mac & cheese, potatoes, rice, etc.  She did eat a little salad with ranch and goldfish tonight.  Hopefully we will see some more progress tomorrow. 

Kayley was VERY excited to go with Andy today to get her fish.  A beta she named Nemo.  Very original, I know!  She named her baby, Baby so at least she didn't name the fish, Fish.  :-)

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that her voice could change after her surgery.  Mom, Andy and I talked about it tonight and we all agree there is definitely a higher pitch in her voice now.  Not sure how we feel about that!

Taking a break while helping Dad in the yard

Picking up sticks

Drew helped too

Not happy after her nap.  Refusing her
tylenol with codeine.

One hour after Andy forced it down her...I'm telling
you, it is wonderful!  Eating ice cream with sprinkles!

Showing off her new fish

What a Difference a Day Makes

Who is this kid?!?!

Playing in the sand (in the outfit she put together!)

Enjoying the beautiful day

Look at me taking my medicine like a big girl!

Kayley had a great day!  We thought it would be another rough day when she woke up in pain at 5:30am and Andy had to pin her down to give her tylenol.  She fell right back to sleep and woke up in a great mood around 8:30am.  Andy poured her antibiotic into a medicine cup and walked over to her.  She started whining that she didn't want it.  He set it down in front of her and told her she had to take it and she could take it when she was ready.  She looked at the cup and then back at him and then picked up the cup and took it like a shot!  When we were really struggling with her a few days ago to take her medicine, Andy promised her a fish if she would take her medicine like a big girl.  Looks like Andy is buying her a fish!  They decided they will go pick out her fish tomorrow.

She drank relatively well throughout the day and even ate some food.  She drank gatorade, water, white milk and a lot of chocolate milk.  She also had a little bit of scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, black olives, peaches, cheese and a soft cookie (hey, whatever she wants right now).  She didn't have any interest in ice cream, pudding or popsicles.  On the other hand, Drew has been enjoying lots of ice cream and popsicles because every time we offered either to Kayley, he lets us know that he would like some. 

I don't want to give the impression that she is completely back to normal.  When her tylenol is wearing off or she is getting tired, she becomes very dramatic and whiny!  She is over the top at times, but you can't get mad at her and it is pretty funny.  Actually, as I think about it, she is pretty much back to normal!  :-)

UPDATE:  As I write this, Kayley is refusing to take her tylenol with codeine, which we give her at night to help her sleep better.  It does not taste as good as regular tylenol and she is having no part of it.  Guess we still have some work to do.

Kayley's Surgery

Kayley was scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids taken out on Monday because she has obstructive sleep apnea.  She was in a great mood that morning and was almost excited for surgery (clearly we didn't do an adequate job explaining what was going to happen).

Kayley and Baby getting ready to leave
for the hospital to have their tonsils
and adenoids out

Like my cool hospital shirt, shorts and socks?

Right before she and Baby went back

The surgery went great.  Her surgeon said her tonsils were each the size of a ping pong ball and her adenoids were half that size.  Andy and I couldn't believe it.  We knew she had large tonsils, but how do two ping pong balls fit in the back of her tiny mouth?!  No wonder she had trouble breathing at night and no wonder she chewed her food forever!  The surgeon said we should notice a huge improvement in her breathing.

Recovery has not gone as smoothly.  The nurse in the recovery room gave her a lot of pain medication that knocked Kayley out for hours.  Kids who had surgery after her were going home before she was even awake!  We kept trying to wake her because she needed fluids in order to go home, but eventually a nurse checked her chart and explained that Kayley had a lot of pain medication and she would probably be out for another hour or two.  Great.  When she finally woke up, she refused to take even a sip of water.  We tried EVERYTHING.  Water, ice chips, juices, popsicles, ice cream, jello, milk, chocolate milk, pudding, etc.  Fail, fail, fail.  Eventually they had to move us from the pediatric recovery area to the adult recovery area because all of the other pediatric patients were home.  The nurse wanted to admit her and called the surgeon several times, but the surgeon kept telling the nurse to "keep working with her" rather than admit her because kids do better at home.  I totally understand his logic, but it is during times like this that you would like the surgeon to come into the recovery room and try to "work with her" himself!  It would be one thing if she had taken even 1 or 2 of the 4 ounces she needed to take, but she refused even a sip for hours.

Right after she came out of surgery

Sleeping off all of her pain medication in Daddy's arms

After sitting in a recliner holding her for over 7 hours after her surgery, we got word that they were going to admit her.  That was bittersweet.  It was a relief because we knew she would get enough fluids, but I can't tell you how disappointed Andy and I were at the same time that it came to this. 

Not happy to have to stay at the hospital

Tuesday was a day of working on getting Kayley to take her fluids (and her meds).  She refused anything we offered.  Then a hospital staff member who works with kids to take their meds and fluids asked if we would like her to try.  Yes, please!  She asked if Kayley liked stickers and tea parties.  I said yes.  She came back in with a purple cup, a small medicine cup and a ton of stickers.  She talked Kayley and Baby into having a tea party with her.  She had Kayley drink from a straw out of the small medicine cup and when she got to the bottom she got to make the noise you make when you are still sucking out of the straw but there is very little liquid left (you know, the super annoying noise you hear and you want to tell the person doing it that their drink is gone and to stop it!).  Anyway, Kayley loved it of course and loved her sticker rewards.  She got Kayley to drink a little over 6 ounces!  We asked her if she would be willing to move in with us for 2 weeks!  It was great that she got Kayley to drink, but the fact that we had to go to such great lengths wasn't good enough for the doctors.  She needed to be able to drink with minimal bribing!

In all, we got her to drink a little over 11 ounces on Tuesday. But, it was all through tea parties with her and Baby. I have to admit, after a 1.5 hour tea party with Kayley and Baby that resulted in Kayley drinking 3 ounces, I was having serious flashbacks to Kayley's feeding aversion days. I realize other kids refuse liquids too after this surgery, but this hits a little too close to home for me and I just wonder if part of her reaction is related to her prior bottle aversion.

Right after we told it was time for her medicine

craft time...with her water and milk of course!

Stop taking my picture!

So happy Drew came to visit!

Getting ready to watch Micky Mouse Clubhouse

She was even crabbier and less cooperative this morning than yesterday if that is possible, but they decided to discharge her anyway.  The hope is that she will do better at home.  She has had a little bit of ice cream with sprinkles and some water since we have been home.  She is not cooperative at all when it comes to her ear drops, antibiotics and tylenol.  We haven't had a problem with her taking medicine since she was a baby so this is a new fun twist for us.  She certainly keeps it interesting!

She found this toy today before she was
discharged.  That made leaving a little harder!

We Have Pictures!!

Drew's last professional picture was when he was 9 months old.  We tried to get 1 year pictures.  Fail.  Tried again at 15 months.  Fail.  Then Kayley was born prematurely so the last thing on our minds was updating Drew's 1 year pictures.  We tried to take Drew a few times when we took Kayley in for pictures, but he would have nothing to do with it. 

Kayley never had a problem with pictures.  However, she hasn't had a professional picture since her 1 year pictures.  She turned 2 when I was in Peoria and Andy and the kids were still in Phoenix.  Things were very hectic so her 2 year pictures never happened.  She turned 3 in June.  It is October.  Oops. 

But, our failure ended yesterday!  I took the kids for pictures and it was a success!  Drew was REALLY into it and loved it.  Who is this kid?! 

Kayley was much more timid than him so we had less to choose from of her, but at times she got really into it and loved to say cheese and show off her new cheesy smile!  They took quite a few pictures of her like this:

Instead of Drew being the youngest Thiel grandchild in the pictures at Grandpa's house, he'll be the oldest again!  Of course, at the rate we go with updating pictures, he'll be stuck in time at 4 years old for awhile!