Surgery Update

We got the call this morning. We have to be there at 7:40 am, and her surgery will start about 8:30 am. It should last about 45 minutes, and we will have at least a couple hours in recovery. Last time she had tubes, she screamed when she woke up from the anesthesia until we took her out of the building. Please pray that she will not scream or at least allow us to comfort her while we have to wait in recovery. We have to stay there until she drinks something. Hopefully, with this surgery she will be a little more sedated afterwards and not so disoriented when she wakes up.

I told her tonight we were going to see the doctor tomorrow, so that they could fix her throat and ears. She said, "I don't want to go to the doctor. I want to go to the hospital." She was enamored with the hospital when I was in there last time, so I guess that is why she wants to go. We'll see how much she likes it after tomorrow.

The Many Faces of Emma Mei

There were so many good shots from this photo shoot last week, that I couldn't help but post almost all of them. My Mei-mei is growing up to be a little girl. She doesn't look like a baby anymore. She talks in full sentences. Her latest favorite is, "I need to finish!", especially if she is doing something she deems important with her toys. She plays so well independently. She loves to play blocks and little people. The little people have quite the conversations, and they dance, swim, swing, and go on rides together. Mei-mei plays with dolls way more than Katelyn ever did. For Katelyn, it was all about the stuffed animals. For Emma, she loves any doll from Barbies, to Groovy girls, to little people. She is doing pretty well on the potty, we are just starting to get the hang of big girl panties. She still likes to cuddle, and that is what I love the most! She climbs like a monkey, and has absolutely NO fear on play equipment. She took to the bounce house at the KC Kid's Fair like a champ. Last winter, she would hardly get into one. Her personality and joy just brings so much life into our home. I cannot imagine life without her. I never could have imagined that this amazing girl could be my daughter. Not in a million years. We have been so blessed by God that she is a part of our lives.

Emma Mei has to have her tonsils and adenoids out/tubes replaced on Wednesday. I feel really sad that she is going to be in pain, but I know she needs to have it done. Her tonsils are just huge. They always have been since she's been with us. Her previous ear tubes had already come out, and she still struggles with retaining fluid in her ears. Hopefully getting all of these things taken care of will help improve that. Please pray that she has a quick and easy recovery, and pray for strength for Ma-ma as I will need all the physical strength I can muster to help get her through this. I am getting some help from my mom and Aunt Kim (who will provide entertainment!), so that should help! :-) We have lots of yummy soft foods to eat like jello, pudding, popsicles, ice cream, and soups. I am ready to plug in the videos as needed and administer the pain meds! Any other tips from the pros?

Feedblitz

Okay, so I think I did a BIG goof, and I am going to have to ask everyone that was subscribed to my Feedblitz for the blog(s) to re-subscribe. Something to do with changing e-mails messed the account up, and I had to re-do it. I hope this isn't too big of a pain for you all. I know I had about 25 people subscribed, so all ya'll just sign on up again, PLEASE!!! I am sorry for messing it up, I promise I will try not to let it happen again! :-)

Because I am Not Ready to Let Go of Summer Yet. . .

even though it is almost the end of September.

FYI, if you want to see the pictures on my flickr site, just click on the slide show or any of my pictures and you are there. For the family, you can dowload the full size of the pictures on flickr for prints if you click on all sizes at the top of the picture you want and download the original size. That will give you a great quality print to have! And if you bloggers want to make a slideshow for yourself, just click on the little link underneath the slideshow and upload a flickr set and post the code to your blog. Wa-Lah. If you don't have flickr, well, then, I can't help you there. You'll have to sign up for it.

Anyways. . .


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

More Summer . . .

Beach Mosaic, originally uploaded by fisher52.

Hilton Head Island, June 2008

A Favorite

afisher_080613_084, originally uploaded by fisher52.

If you pay the kid, she will smile.

Arrgh, Arrgh!!!

afisher_080919_120, originally uploaded by fisher52.

Ahoy Matey's

afisher_080919_121, originally uploaded by fisher52.

For me matey Sara and National Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Trying Something New

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

To Score One for the Boys

afisher_080906_041, originally uploaded by fisher52.

See, the nephews are pretty cute too when you can catch them!

Another Gorgeous Niece

afisher_080901_031, originally uploaded by fisher52.

I have way too many cute nieces, and I love to take their pictures.  I take that back, you can never have too many!!  My two nephews are adorable too, but they aren't quite as available as models!

Found: One Card Reader

 

No comment shall be given on the causes of the card reader's whereabouts.  Nor shall the perpetrator be named.  

On the other hand, while looking in the closet of doom, I did find a missing lens cap as well!  

Second Grade is Now in Session

These photos are from the Open House last week.  I can't believe Katelyn is going to be in 2nd grade.  It really blows my mind!  I also cannot believe that the summer is over.  It seems like yesterday we were driving by Poppy's house and I was admiring the spring apple blossoms.  How is it September now?  We did have some good times this summer, but wow it went way too fast.  

Katelyn was ready to go to school today.  She was a little nervous, but I think meeting her teacher, Mrs. Rich at open house last week calmed her nerves.  She has many old friends in her classroom, most notably Nathan and Anna.  I am sure she'll make lots of new friends as well.  She is kind of a social butterfly that way.  Her teacher seems very sweet, and I think Katelyn is going to really fit well in her classroom.  

Our Katelyn is really growing both physically and emotionally.  She has blossomed into being a great big sister to Emma Mei.  I hear myself in her a lot when she is telling Emma things.  She'll explain to Emma that we are going to the zoo, but that we have to go to the store first.  It is funny to listen to them play and talk.  We have had a lot of the normal girl ups and downs.  We did have a week of "reform" school here at home where we were writing down things we were thankful for and memorizing a couple of verses in hopes of correcting some bad attitudes.   I felt like the super nanny or something.  But things turned around and the last couple of weeks have been great.   She is such a sweet girl, and I love watching her grow.  It is an honor to be her Mom.  She is a pretty special kiddo.   I will miss her when she is away at school, but I am happy for her because she loves it so much.   

I have been meaning to brag on Katelyn for her giving to the orphanage project, which Mom is still trying to raise the funds for.  She decided on her own that she wanted to give some of her birthday money towards the incubator.  It was neat, because she had saved up some money all winter for a bike, and the bike ended up being on sale.  She saved exactly the amount of money on her bike that she was giving towards the project.  Talk about seeing quick rewards for her generosity.  It made me proud that she was willing to give from her own money to something besides her own self.  

For her birthday, we were up north and we used some free passes that we had to go to the water park in Mackinac.    We all loved the lazy river, especially Emma, who called herself a little froggie and hopped through the lazy river with her frog life jacket on.  Katelyn made me ride all of the slides with her, but she and Dad went down the humongous speed slide!    The video of it is hilarious.   Josh wasn't too sure on his first time down!   Crazy Emma girl loved the wave pool too.  She would just get on the tube and let the waves knock her over, and then she would just laugh and do it again.   The water park made for a good birthday event for our family.  We didn't really have a big party, just lots of little celebrations here and there with family and friends. 

For the American Girl doll lovers, Katelyn used her birthday money to buy the Kit doll.  Mom loves the Kit doll, so it makes me happy too!  Gosh, I would have the whole collection if I could!  We loved the Kit movie this summer.  It is such a great film to help kids understand how it was in the Great Depression.  It was neat, because I was able to tell Katelyn how her great grandpa caught a train out west with his brothers when he was only 11 or 12 to go work on a ranch, because they didn't have enough money.  Papa told us a little bit more about that story when we asked him about it this summer.  It was such a hard time in our nation's history, but the stories that come out of the hardship are so amazing to me.  

That is my "All about Kate" post for now.  I will share pics from this morning if I can ever find my card reader!  By the way, we are still using our weekly organizer for clothes.  It helps the mornings go so much better!