Lauren's Surgery

It was decided that Lauren was to get her tonsils out, and so the time had finally come. (7.27.11)We planned to meet Grandma Debbie, Hillary, and Marcus in Billings the day before and eat at Chuck-E-Cheese and try to relax and have as much fun as we could (for Lauren) before her surgery.

After Chuck-E-Cheese we ran a few errands and then headed to the motel that was convienetly right next to the Yellowstone Surgery Center. Lauren had to check everything out in the room we were staying in! She thought the fridge was pretty neat!

So the day of the surgery fnally came.(7.28.11) I slept pretty good that night, but I was up early. My mom had loaned us her Ipad so I was able to occupy my time with that and getting myself ready for the day as well. I woke up everyone else when at about 8:30 (because I didn't want Lauren up too early because she wasn't supposed to eat or drink). My mom had come up that morning so she could be with Sawyer while we were with Lauren. Our arrival time was 9:00 and we got checked in with no problems. The nurse that came and got Lauren was so sweet and talked to Lauren a little in the waiting room before she took her back. They weighed Lauren and she was 18.1 kg (I thought it was weird they weighed them in kg, but I guess it is more precise). Then they took us into a little room and we put Lauren in a gown. The doc came in and said hi, and then the nurses gave Lauren some medicine that made her loopy, relaxed, and all sorts of fun! Erik thought it was hillarious! She was talking really slow and she would rub her thumb and pointer finger together while she talked! haha! Anyway they strolled her away (happy as could be) in a wagon and we went to the waiting room! About 40 minutes later the doc came and said all was well and what to expect and said we would have to wait for about 20 more minutes while she woke up. A nurse came and got us and took us to a crying Lauren. The thing that seemed to be bothering her the most was the IV, but we were able to rock her and she feel asleep. The poor thing couldn't talk really well and would cry unconsolubly and we would try to take her mind off things asking do you want a trampoline for your birthday, did you know we didn't tell Aimee happy birthday (she loves birthdays), should we have Grandma Jolley come here... and on and on and on. We were able to talk her into eating some pudding and taking some medicine and then she was able to get her IV out. After the IV was out she was doing pretty good, she was drinking and eating a little bit. The nursing staff was great and gave Lauren lots of little things to take home including a little stuffed sheep named Ramsy! We decided Lauren was ready to leave and so we checked her out and her nurse wheeled her in the wheel chair all the way to our hotel! I was impressed with Lauren because she wanted to get off the wheel chair herself and walked (wobbling) to the bed! So at this point things were looking up and I was grateful that it wasn't the horrible recovery I thought it was going to be (I shall be proved wrong later in the story). So Lauren was happy to watch Caillou (a PBS show) on Grandma's Ipad and we tried to relax! My mom had stayed a while at the hotel with us only because she had locked her keys in her car and my sister Lila so graciously brought them to Billings for her!

Grandma and Lauren watching Caillou..

Sawyer relaxing :)

This was later on in the evening, Lauren was up and moving and playing with the water! I was again gratefull that she wanted to play with anything!

You can tell she doesn't feel well, look at those eyes.

Erik and Lauren playing with the FILM camera they gave her at the Surgery Center! Haha! I haven't used a disposable camera for a long time!

Me and the Lady!

Lauren watching more Caillou.

That night of her surgery we were talking about what we should eat for dinner and so Erik and I decided that we would go for some Taco Bell, and Lauren said she wanted a taco. Ok, so we got her the taco thinking she wouldn't eat it. Well she ate it! I was surprised, but glad she was eating! We later went to sleep, Lauren and Erik in one bed - and Sawyer and I in the other! It was a good night and Lauren slept all the way through with no problems! The next day we slowly got on our way, did a few more errands in Billings and then headed to Laurel to grab some lunch at McDonalds. Lauren requested a hamburger, and to my surprise again, she ate the hamburger with no problems. We made it home and settled in.

That afternoon my mom was at the Byron park with my nefews so we walked over to the park and played with them for a little while! (When you don't have a double stroller, you just have to get creative!) Again at this point I am still a little shocked that she was doing so good. The only reason I knew she had just got her tonsils out was because she talked so funny! We got everyone in bed and it was another successful night of sleep for Lauren. The next day was Thursday (Day 2 after surgery) Erik had to work that night, so us girls made our selfs sparce and went to my moms house so we could make noise! Lauren was doing ok, but wasn't interested in eating or drinking as much as she had been. But this day was still a good day. The night came and it was just me and the girls because Erik was at work. This night was not a good night, Lauren woke up and was crying and was unconsolable. I tried to be as patient as possible and be sympathetic, but at the same time I didn't want her to wake up Sawyer. So after a while all I could sadly do was put her in another room and let her cry :(  Friday (Day 3) was an ok kind of day for Lauren, but medicine was harder to give to her because she didn't want it to hurt her throat, and she didn't want to drink much either. (note. she wouldn't eat icecream, popsicles, anything cold, soft, or sweet, along with all other yummy foods you think kids would love to eat)  We had family picutres for the whole Jolley family set for that evening and I was hoping we could have a happy Lauren that evening for pictures, and they went ok! Friday night was a repeat of Thursday night but a little worse.. Lauren woke up a couple times crying and I couldn't sooth her... Small house + everyone in one room + no Erik to help = unhappy Lacey. Anyways we made it through the night, and the next day was her birthday (Day 4). We didn't do much this day because we were going to have her birthday party on Monday the 4th. We let her open a few presents to give her something else to think about other than her mouth hurting. We went out to Horseshoe Bend with my mom, Lila, Kandace and her kids. The night came and Lauren woke up crying a few times and to top it off Sawyer puked! Yes, what a good night! It was one of those pukes that come every 20 minutes, so after a couple rounds of pukes we all got back to bed. Day 5, Sunday- I called my mom that morning to see if she could come and get Lauren because I could tell Sawyer was going to want to cuddle and sleep most of the day because she was still running a fever. At this point I knew that Ibuprofen was the only thing that made Lauren feel better and it would only work for about 2 hours, then Lauren would be misserable.. and you are only supposed to give them ibuprofen every 6 hours :(  When I called to check on Lauren that afternoon my mom said she wasn't doing so good.. very lathargic and had been sleeping most of the day and NOT drinking. Not peeing. ugh. So I worried and thought she was most likely dehidrated or pretty darn close. We tried and tried to convince her to drink water every chance we got, and made it through another not fun night - Erik got to experience this night with us because he was done with the night shifts. The next day (Monday, Day 6) was her birthday party, so I tried to occupy her thoughts with that! She was ok during the days, but I never knew what would set her off.. and once she started to cry about something it was VERY hard to get her to stop. Oh yeah.. I don't know the last time Lauren had taken a bath, or when the last time it was she washed her hair, combed her hair... I hadn't been to the store in a long time so I depended on my mom and Debbie to bring most of the party supplies and food (Thanks!) I also talked my mom into coming early to help me get things ready because I was close to crazy and Sawyer was needy, as was Lauren! Lauren had a few melt downs at her party, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. The pattern continued and the recovery seemed to be never ending. My mom graciously took Lauren on Tuesday night (Day 7) and when I went to get Lauren that morning for swimming lessons she willingly (after a dose of ibuprofen) drank water and ate some coco puffs. YES! THERE IS HOPE! When she was willing to drink, we took advantage of that precious time and had drinking contests and tried to make drinking as fun as could be! But our sweet Lady Lauren just did not feel good, her eyes didn't sparkle and it was so hard to see her like that.

I think it was Day 10 or 11 when I finally started to see the sparkle back in her eyes. This picture is so comforting to me because this is the day that she started to come back around!

We made it through the tonsil surgery and are extremely happy that the recovery is over with! I waited to write this post because I would have been much more bitter about the whole situation, but now I can just sigh a big sigh of releif and be glad that is over! I am gratefull that Lauren doesn't have any hard feelings about the doctor and she seems to have forgotten the whole recovery!

Happy Birthday Lauren

Wow! Lauren is 3 years old! I cannot believe how fast time fly's! Most people already think Lauren is 3 and sometimes she has be mistaken as a 4 year old! She is so tall and is such a talker that it's sometimes hard to believe that she is just only 3! Lauren is such a sweetheart (when she wants to be!) She has started to say (out of the blue) "I love you mom" or "I love Sawyer so much", "You're the best!" and sweet little comments like that! She also says things like "I'm a good mommy helper" (if she is helping me) or if I am using her brush she says "mom it's ok if you use my brush" (well thanks Lauren!) then her newest thing is "mom when I say I want more juice then more" I think she gets that from when I tell her, Lauren when mom says it's time to go you say ok mom.. She loves anyones birthday, and birthday parties, but she is especially excited for hers! She just had her tonsil's taken out the Tuesday before her birthday (Saturday), so she wasn't fully feeling well but we partied anyway :)

At 3 years old Lauren loves clothes, but mostly loves to change clothes! She will change her clothes every hour of the day if I would let her. She has her opinion of what clothes she likes and what clothes she doens't (those choices are usually the opposite of mine and I have to pick my battles!) Lauren likes to change into anything different, at any time or any where! Grandma Jolley always has extra panties that where left overs from Kynlee and Kaya and Lauren always sneaks in and changes her panties! Grandma Debbie has a few different outfits that Lauren always has to check out and change into! I put exclamation marks at the end of those sentences, but sometimes it is quite anoying, like I said... I pick my battles.

Lauren loves to talk on the phone if it is pretend or for real and sometimes she calls and talks to people without my knowledge!

Lauren has a pretty sharp memory, and it is amazing at the things she can remember! She remembers what clothes she wore for certain events, like the shirt she wore to chuck-e-cheese and the shirt she wore for family pictures! It was about a year an a half ago when I was looking for my keys one Sunday morning and could not find them.. I was a little irritated and finally decided we needed to walk to church and Lauren went in the stroller. Why I told you that little story was because I was with my sister and Lauren just recently and I think I had misplaced my keys and Lauren out of the blue said when you lost your keys we had to walk to church (or something to that effect). Sometimes she remembers the silliest things!

I could go on and on about my Lady Lauren, she is such a sweet girl, a wonderful sister to Sawyer and the perfect daughter! I love her so much and am so glad she is part of my family!

Now for the birthday party! We had her party on Monday July 4th and poor Lauren had just had her tonsils out the Tuesday before (6.28.11). At this point she wasn't as chipper as I would have hoped but we made it through!
Lauren got a tramp for her birthday :) (After last nights wind 7.19.11 it is now a goner, I.am.so.irritated.)

Lauren with her Dora!

The Bassett clan!

Some of the Jolley clan..

Lauren with her sing-a-ma-jig!

The ditch is always a hit! Notice my nefew Triffen with the cowboy boots... here is pants are on

His pants are off (we are lucky he has anything on really! I think it was made clear he could not go naked!)

Kennedy and Lauren with Dora. Kennedy was so sweet and asked me if I would take a picture of them with Dora at the table!

Lila and sweet Sawyer

That changing thing I was talking about, this is her in action! She got new clothes from Grandma Debbie and just couldn't resist!

Hillary and Marcus, even though they live in Texas Lauren has been lucky enough to have them at two of her birthday parties!

Aww, Benson!

More time enjoying the ditch! It is truley fun for all :)

Lauren and her cake made by Grandma Debbie!

The Dora cupcakes that Grandma Debbie made. Is it clear that Lauren likes Dora!

Dad helping Lauren blow out the candles! There are 3 candles this year and it was pretty tough to blow them all out I guess!

And we ended the night with some fireworks!

Sawyer @ 8 (and a half) months!

I love the summer time, but most of the time it equals crazy busy time! Our sweet Sawyer is growing like a weed and is gaining her own personality more and more! She has yet to crawl and has no teeth! She is close to crawling though.. when she is sitting she will bend over her belly and get to her knee's and then just stretches out to her belly, so it's coming. I don't know why I am so anxious for her to crawl, because I know when she does start to crawl I will wish she would stop!! She is already starting, and has sucessfully pulled her self up to standing position a few times! I was looking back at Lauren's baby book and this is the time when she started to crawl and broke out her first tooth. I have been saying for the past two months that Sawyer is teething (and we even went to the doc a month or so ago for him to tell us that "oh yeah she is teething") but NO teeth! I guess she is grouchy sometimes because she wants to be grouchy.. nothing wrong with that I guess, I fall into that trap sometimes myself! I really have thought today that she is teething because she has been sleeping alot and has a fever, and threw up a little bit, but again.. what do i know! And believe me when I say this, I am not trying to brag.. I am her favorite person! She has been a momma's girl from the start and now she has the lungs to prove it when she would like to be held by me and not by dad, grandma's, grandpa's, aunt's, and uncles (aside for Uncle H.B. who feeds her icecream! They are great buddies!) I try to enjoy it, but sometimes I want someone else to be able to enjoy her :) She loves to babble, and still just knows the bababa, or to Erik it is dadada! She is at the stage where if she is sitting on my lap facing me she wants to turn around, and when I turn her around she wants to face me, then she wants to dive off my lap, and so on and so forth! She sometimes gets bored with her toys so I have to get creative with giving her wrappers, straws, and those things that she shouldn't probably play with.. but hey, it buys me a few extra minutes!! (just being honest here people!) Sawyer is not lacking in the hair department, and it is still full of curls! She definitely gets peoples attention, and people always say "look at all that hair!" She is a show stopper :) My mom had her in Costco and she commented on how many people stopped to comment on Sawyer's hair! I love your hair too Sawyer! Sawyer is a good 20 pounds, and maybe more! She is not missing any meals! She is healthy, and happy (to be with mom) and we love our Sawyer so much!!

Silly Sawyer

Sawyer is changing more and more every day! Sadens me a little bit, but it is so fun all at the same time! She has just figured out the b sound and some times it sounds like a d. Erik will tell you she say's da da da da! Anyways, she thinks she is pretty cool! I have a video of her showing off her new sounds, it is pretty long and she doesn't really do much but i give her some pea's about a minute into the video that is pretty funny to watch!
The video is mostly for Aunt Lila (watch her hands Lila, she moves her hands like Benson used to do!)

Artist

While we were across the mountian visiting Kysar was playing some serious soccer and the girls were drawing! The always amaze me at what good drawers they are for being almost 10! I am a horrible drawer and can draw only stick figures, and am easily amazed with anyone who can draw :) Kynlee drew a picture of Sawyer that was SO cute and she had ever little detail right with the bangs curled hanging down almost in her eyes!

This is a picture of Lauren and Sawyer that Kynlee drew!

It is a little blurry because I wanted it to be bigger so you could see it, but it very detailed!

I will have to have Kaya draw a picture for me to "feature" because she is a good little artist herself!

Around and About!

On Thursday Lauren had an appointment with an Ear Nose and Throat specialist in Billings to look at her overly large tonsils. About a month ago I noticed Lauren's tonsil's while she was crying and noticed that there wasn't a lot of room for her to swallow. I was so worried when I first saw it because I thought that she wouldn't be able to breath because they were so huge. So I took her to the doc the next day and they gave her some antibiotics and 10 days later her tonsils were the same size. It doesn't effect her eating habits, and she doesn't complain that there is a problem.. So after some searching for a doc who removes tonsil's we decided to go with the same doc that my dad uses for his sinus problems. It was about a month wait to get into the doc and that day finally came. I really liked Dr. P. and he was so informative, very friendly and was really good with Lauren. His reaction was the same as mine when I first saw Lauren's tonsil's.. wow! Tonsils are scaled in size from 1 to 4 and Lauren's left tonsil is a 4 because it is touching that thing that hangs down in the middle of your throat and her right tonsil is a 3. He also was saying that he could tell Lauren was a mouth breather because of the roof of her mouth because it was high. He said that when your a mouth breather it causes the roof of your mouth to get higher and higher causing your top teeth to grow narrower causing the top teeth to not match up with the bottom teeth. This all leading to very painful orthodonture problems in the future. I was very happy that we chose to see Dr. P and was glad that we can get Lauren taken care of and hope that it helps her feel better! I was so worried that we would go in there and her would be like, so what she has big tonsils.. deal with it! But he was very nice and said that it was good that I brought her in, and that this needed to be taken care of. So we have about another month to wait and then it is surgery time. I am a little nervous about Lauren's recovery and how whinny she will be (I am a little selfish, I know) but they say children handle it better than adults, so we shall see!

My mom made the trip with us, and we thought that since we were in Billings we would make the round trip through Dayton/Sheridan to see my brother Spencer and his family. The road to Sheridan had just opened up the night before due to flooding and we only had to trudge through some water over the road in one spot. It was crazy to see all the flooding throughout that area. We made it to Dayton safely and had some happy kids waiting our arrival!

The sleeping araingments!

Our lovely host! This was the first time that I got to see Spencer and Aimee's new house.. and I approve! I have some problem with the location (meaning it would be much better on the other side of the mountian) but it is a beautiful house!

The next day Aimee and the kids had already had plans to go roller skating and they invited us to come along! It was the perfect activity for our day! I have not been roller skating for SO long, and it brought back memories of roller skating at Skate-a-way!! It even looked like Skate-a-way inside and they did all the same games, 4 corners, limbo, when the wistle blows you squat down.. and more!!

Lauren and I getting ready to skate!

Lauren wasn't really diggin' the whole skating thing, and I was a little wobbly my self.. so the next best thing was stroller/roller skating! They let you take strollers out on the skating rink and it is the BEST idea ever!! It also made the time go by faster because no one had to sit out and stay with the baby, everyone could enjoy! We had Sawyer's stroller, but Lauren thought that she needed a stroller too. They had some extra stollers and we were able to get one for Lauren! She is such a Diva and loves to be carted around!

The best thing about taking the stroller on the rink is that it was a security for me insureing me that I didn't fall!

Everyone enjoyed pushing the strollers around (I am so mad.. I didn't get pictures of Aimee and my mom on stroller duty) Even Kynlee and Kaya had fun pushing the strollers around! Kysar, a.k.a. RED RACER was to fast and to busy to push the strollers. He did have a blast though!!

Here is her highness in her stroller "Lady Lauren"

And Sawyer also enjoyed the skating as well!

We had such a fun time with Aimee, Kynlee, Kaya, and Kysar!! Spencer didn't get to make the trip because he was working, Aimee assure's me that they go skating often so Spencer will get his skate on later! After skating we ate some pizza then made the journy back over the mountain to end our round trip!