The Surgeon Speaks

On April 11th we met with the surgeon again.  He looked Andrey over and said she looked "perfect".  I responded with "I know, right?".

He's obviously a smart man.

He doesn't think anything needs to be done about the cyst for a while.  We are set to go back in 6 more months.  The cyst is barely visible, it doesn't affect her movement or cause any pain.  There is a chance she won't ever have it removed.  It could stay small and continue to blend in with her neck.  There is also a chance that she could get sick (with an ear infection or something else just as common) and the cyst could triple in size.  Freaky.  She will most likely get another MRI in the future to make sure it isn't changing or growing into any muscles.

Side note: Dr. Surgeon Man said he just saw a two year old who came in with a cyst the size of a grapefruit on his neck.  Great.  The parents didn't even know he had one and BAM!  Citrus fruit bubble.  So at least I know she has this and I'll only panic a little when/if this happens to her.

Then on Friday Andrey had her four month check up.  She got her shots again and cried like a baby...which made me cry like a baby.  She weighed 11lbs 8oz and was 23inches long.  She is in the 10th percentile for both height and weight.  Just a little stinker!

Finally, what fun is a post without pictures?

Little Peanut was crying in almost all the fam photos we tried to take.  

This isn't the best shot but it will have to do.

Nostrils anyone?

So sweet with her daddy.

Art For The Nations

As most of you know, I volunteer as a small group leader with high school freshmen girls.  It's exhausting and wonderful.  I've been with this same group of girls since they were in 6th grade and boy have they changed in four years.

They challenge me every Wednesday night.  They make me laugh hysterically.  They have more energy than I know what to do with.  They are desperate to learn more about God, life and...boys.  I love the strange questions they ask.  I love their creativity and growing maturity.  I love them!

It's an awesome experience to be a part of their lives.  Fo sho.

This last Wednesday we went downtown for a service project.  We went to Art For The Nations.  They provide free art supplies to groups of people going on outreach projects around the world.  These people help create fun art projects with children from the area they are serving.

What we did on Wednesday was create canvas bags to hold all the supplies.  The bags are usually given to children all around the world.  I put a postcard on my completed bag with my address on it.  I'm hoping the person who ends up with it will send me a little note so I know how far it travelled.

I'm opting not to include pictures of the girls.  Just in case I get in trouble.

We started with these blank bags.

Then each girl let her creative juices flow.  I tried to mess with my cameras settings, which is why all the photos look so different.  I'm learning.

We loaded each bag with a predetermined amount of craft supplies.

Finished bags filled with goodies!

There is something so rewarding about serving with kids.  They are desperate to help others, to make a difference.  They think they can change the world.

I think they're right.

Andy Warhol

We're practically famous. 

We're like Marilyn Monroe.  

Only much better looking of course.

DIY Delirium

I love DIY (Do It Yourself) projects.  I love them like a teenage girl loves Justin Beiber.  My house is full of them.  DIY projects, not teenage girls.  Many are complete, some are in the works, and most are a figment of my imagination.

I'm ambitious.  I think I can fix, recreate, beautify just about anything.  Especially with a can of spray-paint.  I rock spray-paint.  And every time I buy it, I get carded.  It's hilarious.

The problem is, I'm not motivated to get started on anything.

But I was thinking if I posted about what I want to do, it might make me do it!

Blogaccountability if you will.

Let's see how that goes.

The biggest project is my kitchen cabinets.  I want to paint them white and put new hardware on them.  They are the builders fugly cabinets.  They give me the willies.

I also need to recreate this bench and put something on the wall above it.  I think I'll keep the seat the same, maybe just stain it.  And then paint the rest.  I'm not sure. This is at my entryway.  It's an unwelcoming, plain and sad way to come home.

I read a lot of books.  Like a ridiculous amount of books.  I have overflowing bookshelves.  Several stacks of books overwhelm my bedroom (this is not a good representation of the books, but you get the idea).  I want to build a bookcase thing-a-ma-jig.  It must have silver leafing on it somewhere.  I've never built anything like this before.  Should be interesting.

Our backyard is embarrassing.  It's the red pimple on the face of our house. We have a huge deck that Nate refinished last summer, and that's the only nice thing back there.  I took this barrel planter from my parents when they weren't looking.  It needs some TLC, and flowers galore.

Goodwill!  How I love thee.  Two little chairs await my creativity.  Oh, and they didn't come with a table.  So I guess I need to make one of those too.  Dang it.

Wish me luck!

Month by Month

Babies change and grow so fast.  You already know that though don't you?  I love to see these changes documented monthly.  I'm excited to see her after a year.  For now, I'm sticking with month by month.  That's already moving too fast for me.

I'll look back at these photographs and remember her at each stage.

I'll remember her sleepy little self at one month.  Her angelic little face.  Her constantly poopy diaper.

I'll remember her first smile at two months.  Her baby acne.  Her move to 0-3 month clothes.

I'll remember her bight eyed at three months.  Sleeping though the night.  Her ability to melt my heart.

I can't wait to see her in April...

NICU Days

Andrey spent five days in the PSL NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).  Three of those days in the level three NICU.  The level three unit is the real deal NICU.  It's where the sickest babies are.  Machines are constantly beeping and alarms are going off.  Nurses are checking and rechecking vitals.  It's cramped and chaotic.  We saw other parents come to visit their tiny and sick babies.  They had to put their hands though small holes on an isolette to touch their children.  They had been there weeks, some months.  It's wonderful that this place exists, but you never want to be there.  After three days she moved to the "graduated" NICU.  Here, babies go to grow and get ready to go home.

On her second day in the NICU she had a MRI to assess the cystic hygroma.  She needed to be sedated for this procedure, and that was really difficult to see.  We were not allowed to follow her to the MRI, but we waited by the elevators to see her being wheeled back.  I was a mess.  When she came out of the elevators the nurse saw us sitting there and told us to give her five minutes before we reentered the NICU to see her.  She assured us everything was fine, and it was.  It took Andrey about 12 hours to come out of the anesthesia and that was tough.  She had a feeding tube in, oxygen (just in case) and was hooked up to several machines.  The results came in the next day and the surgeon said there was no need to do anything about the hygroma right now.  We were so relieved that she wasn't going to have surgery yet.

Each day we went to visit her with a sad and heavy heart.   I felt sorry for myself that my little girl was not well enough to be home with me.  Upon entering the secure unit, my bad attitude changed from selfish demands to empathy for other families.  Our girl was by far the healthiest baby in there.  She was HUGE compared to other babies.  She was breathing on her own.  She was pink (most of the time, she did have two bouts of jaundice though). We were originally told by the Neonatologist that she would probably be in there until her due date.  Nate and I mentally prepared ourselves to make the 40 minute drive everyday- trying to wrap our minds around how we would do it for 5 or more weeks.  We got a call on December 23rd when we were about to walk out the door to the hospital.  It was one of the nurses saying we could take Andrey home that day.

We were so thrilled and terrified at the same time.  She was just 4lbs and 12oz at this point (but gaining really fast which is why they let us take her then).  I didn't know if I was capable of taking care of her.  I had never been with her without a staff of highly trained people around us.  About three hours later, we left for the hospital.  I needed to clean my ceiling fans, vacuum everything, wash baby clothes.  I needed to panic and pray.

I'm incredibly grateful for the NICU staff.  I'm grateful she only spent five days in the NICU.

I'm just, grateful.

Growin' and a Changin'

She has already changed so much.

I don't want to miss a moment.