Sore Thumb

We are home from Peyton's surgery! Here is a quick update. (mainly for you Mom).

We arrived at 8:30 AM because the doctor's plane from Hawaii was delayed. I think the day would have been smoother if we were ready to roll when we got there, but we ended up having to wait until closer to 11:00 to start the anesthesia. I am not complaining though, remember it is a free hospital! The nurse gave us some shades to play with after going through the day's procedures.




After multiple walks through the hospital- where Peyton got to play with two therapy dogs- one named Honey that was wearing a dress, and a black lab named Cowboy- we started the process. First they had him drink a sedative to help him calm down for the IV, anesthesia, etc. It worked right away.....I think we all got a little loopy. (see pictures below) He was seeing double and was really amazed by his fingers and some simple stickers. It was kind of like truth serum because he looked around the room at me, his daddy, and his Bebe and said "Where's Papa? Why Papa not here?" Papa arrived shortly after hearing he said this. :)









Volunteers made him this sweet Raggedy Andy doll. So sweet. :)

After marking the thumb to be operated on, the team came in and wheeled him away to put him to sleep. It is a horrible feeling having your baby wheeled away from you, but we were counting our blessings to be there only for a thumb, so I managed to keep it together. It was such a fast procedure that we barely got lunch down before they called to say he was ready to be brought back in. They carried him him crying, they thought he was crying for "Mom", but it was actually for "Rome". Whatever makes him happy! He was completely out of sorts and cried for a long time. He wanted his cast off and kept saying "Take it off! It too big! NO LIKE THIS!"




When he finally settled and seemed stable we were able to go. They even gave us free pain medicine at the pharamcy that is in house. Amazing place. Peyton was allowed to have some popcorn and Papa wheeled him around in a wagon because he was still pretty unsteady on his feet.




Now we are home and trying to rest but we have one cranky boy on our hands! The trickiest part will be caring for the cast and remembering to keep him away from all water. This is not an easy feat! it is still a little early to process it all but I can't say enough good things about Scottish Rite Hospital! This is an amazing mobile they have on the ceiling of the main area. It (and Papa) kept Mallory WELL entertained.

Pulling the Trigger

Peyton is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow on his left hand. His preschool teacher discovered that he has a trigger thumb and is unable to straighten his left thumb. (see above picture) We had never noticed it! He did a few things weirdly with that hand (like crawled with a fist), but we just attributed it to quirkiness.

Trigger thumb occurs when a bump exists on the tendon that moves the joint at the tip of the thumb, causing the thumb to be locked in a bent position.

Although a bent thumb may sound trivial- think of all the ways you use your thumb(carrying things, clapping, holding a pencil, hitting a golf club, playing the piano, and my favorite- doing cartwheels!) Our pediatrician referred us to Scottish Rite Hospital here in Dallas and the hand team there recommended surgery as soon as possible to correct it and move on with his development. We were lucky to get a last minute opening tomorrow.

Peyton will have to be put under anesthesia while they do a simple procedure so we ask for your prayers tomorrow. He will be able to return home at the end of the day with a soft cast and pain medicine. He will be in a cast for about 10 days and that will be the hardest part of this process- it has to stay completely dry (no playing in sink, water hose, arm in bath, etc.) because if it gets wet he is at serious risk of infection. I also anticipate this cast being used as a weapon! Watch out Mallory! :)

Scottish Rite hospital is an amazing, amazing place. It was started by the Texan Masons, and runs entirely on donations and focuses on children with orthopedic conditions, such as scoliosis, clubfoot, hand disorders, hip disorders and limb length differences, as well as certain related neurological disorders and learning disorders, such as dyslexia.

They treated us like royalty at our first appointment and I know tomorrow will be the same. The children are so loved on there. I left the hospital knowing how blessed our family is, many of the patients have serious conditions, we saw many babies and toddlers being pulled in wagons because they cannot walk. The hospital does not charge a dime for their services and it is a happy/cheerful environment. I know we'll be donating/volunteering there in the future to say thank you for helping our son.

I'll post again with an update. Goodbye Trigger, Hello Future Cartwheels!!!

A new Cousin!

What's up World?


I'm John David and I am Meredith and Marshall's new nephew, and Peyton and Mallory's baby cousin! I was born March 25th and am a perfect baby boy with lots of blonde hair.



John David is the first baby of my brother and sister in law and we are so blessed to be his Aunt/Uncle and his Godparents. We can't wait to meet him in May!




I love this picture of my sleep deprived big bro with his sweet baby. He is going to be the BEST Dad! (and Lauren a great mommy too!)

Sophie

Have you heard of the Sophie? It should be on every new mom's registry! It is Mallory's favorite toy. The Sophie is available on amazon.com and although it looks/sounds/feels like a dog toy, it is worth every single penny. 2,000 pennies- to be exact.

Here are James and Mallory on a walk in Hot Springs chomping down on their Sophies. We don't go anywhere without it. Squeak! Squeak!

Pajamas, Pancakes, and Playgroups

Eight 2-year-olds + Pajamas+ Pancakes= Chaos! We hosted our weekly playgroup this week and borrowed an idea from Peyton’s school- We had a pajama playdate, read If you Give a Pig a Pancake, and decorated/ate pancakes. So fun! All of the children sat in a circle while I read the book- amazing. Peyton has told me numerous times that he did a good job shearing (sharing) his toys. And he did!

We were so lucky to find this playgroup. Rewind time to about a year ago. I had just moved back to Dallas, was living with my inlaws, and felt absolutely miserable and nauseous since I was about 6-8 weeks pregnant. The only things that gave me any relief was the 5 piece Wendys nuggets and a Sprite. I also had to find ways to entertain Peyton all day, every day since we had left all of our friends, toys, and activities in Raleigh. Well, about 2 weeks into our Dallas life I took him to the park next to my inlaw's house. I had in my hand a bag of wendys nuggets and a sprite. (Note: It was only 9 AM) The only other person at the park was a tall, thin girl with 2-year-old twins. I did not feel like talking, did not feel social, and basically wanted to vomit in my Wendy’s bag. Somehow we managed to have a conversation and we realized our children were 10 days apart. God has always blessed me with chance meetings when I need them the most, and this was no exception! We started chatting, she said she had a playgroup in her neighborhood (which we do not live in), and yada yada yada- we now have a playgroup every week with a room full of 2-year-olds. It was such a blessing to have a playgroup to take him to when we didn’t have many friends here. It definitely helped our transition.

Katie took such an interest in including us and I just love her! She is one of the most amazing mothers I’ve met- her family is so lucky to have her. I don’t think I would have liked Dallas as much without her- she helped us make friends, set up my meal calendar when Mallory was born, cooked me lunch and entertained Peyton those first few weeks as a mom of two, and even gave Marshall and I two date nights before Mallory was born. What an angel! They seriously don’t make them any better than Katie. We love her husband and twins too. On that note- We love all of the moms and babies in our playgroup!

Anyways- Katie’s twins, Reese and Campbell (not to be confused with our other friend Reese), are quite the characters. I stole this picture off of her facebook because this is the image I always have of the twins, and it makes me smile. She dressed them up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat for their first Halloween. Awesome!




I digressed, but felt that I needed to give some background story, here are some pictures from the pajama playgroup!







Doesn't Henry have the coolest hair you've ever seen?


Fun Times!

Little Leprechauns

We had a fun Saint Patrick’s Day this year. The fun started when Peyton and Marshall met some of our friends at the parade on Greenville the weekend before. Daddy gave Peyton cheetos AND a rootbeer at the parade. Aren’t Daddies the most fun? :) The cheeto evidence was all over Peyton when he returned home, but I would have found out anyways when my friend Sarah sent these pictures out the following Monday. He has a cheeto moustache.




On Wednesday we went to Peyton's playgroup at Grier’s house. Here are Peyton and Grier making St Patty’s cookies.


Mallory was a little young for the activity- so here is what she did while we were decorating…… She chewed on her festive green dress and tried not to fall over.


Second babies have to fend for themselves!

That afternoon we had a playdate with Mallory’s friends. My sister in law and my new nephew Tripp joined in the baby fun. Taylor and Anna (my nieces) entertained the toddlers in the backyard. Look at our adorable little leprechauns!










I am one lucky mommy!

Jesus is Coming

We just returned from a long weekend in Hot Springs, Arkansas. One of our favorite things to do there is to sit out on the deck with a warm fire under the night sky. Peyton loved rocking with his Bebe and when he saw two lights in the sky (house lights across the cove) he assumed this was Jesus and talked about how Jesus was watching him from the sky. Later that evening I put Peyton to sleep with Bebe in her bed, and started to teach my friend Lindy my favorite card game Spite (or Spike) Malice. I was having a hard time remembering the card set up so I snuck into Bebe’s dark room to whisper with her about the game, trying hard not to wake Peyton. Our conversation went like this:

Me- “How many cards do I lay on top? You are going to have to re-teach Lindy how to play this tomorrow because I am not doing a good job.”

Bebe- “Well I may not be here tomorrow to teach her!” “Peyton just told me that Jesus is Coming to Take Bebe.”

After stating this he promptly rolled over and fell asleep! So she was left with this knowledge that Jesus was on his way to take her, without any other details.

Well, we were all on pins and needles all night. No one more so than Bebe! She was still with us in the morning and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. Of course I am not ready for her to go be with Jesus, but also, how would I ever discipline Peyton again with him having such a direct line to God?

He keeps us (and especially Bebe) on our toes!

Red Hot

A little boy's first trip to a fire station is a monumental event! We were so excited that Travis had his second birthday party at the University Park fire station because we had never been to a station before. The party was perfect and Peyton was pretty perfectly behaved! Yes, you read that right! He did find a way to climb on almost everything in the station, and had to be removed from the top of a fire engine by a real fireman- but other than that- things went very well!

I am so glad I captured this expression. This is Peyton's face that he makes when he is excited/embarrassed/knows you are watching him proudly. I love it :)




Climbing.


Climbing.



Anything else to climb?



Happy birthday to our dear friend Travis!

Where's Rome?

Meet Gerome. A Giraffe. Peyton's most prized posessions. So prized, in fact, that we bought an extra one in case the first one ever went missing. Result: Now Peyton has Rome and Other Rome. He must have both at all times. I guess I need a third one because Other Rome is ALWAYS missing. I am about to put key finders on both of them because I spend too many hours of precious time hunting down these giraffes. I hear "Where's Rome"? all day long.

Peyton smells them like he is addicted to them. (Picture Mary Katherine Gallagher smelling her armpits on Saturday Night live) He gets upset when I wash them because they lose their "special" smell. We don't let Rome Rome leave the house and used to make him put them to bed each morning, but when Mallory was born we became a little more relaxed. I thought he needed some additional comfort that only Rome could provide. I even made up a song about Gerome- the chorus "I'm talking bout Gerome, He's my favorite Giraffe, The best friend I have, it's Gerome!. It's Peyton and Gerome, We're glad we gave him a home, It's Gerome"

Love at First Sight- Peyton and Original Gerome at 1 month old


Is this Rome or Other Rome? Only Peyton would know- 2 1/2 years old.



I am taking a different approach with Mallory and am rotating between 3 lovies so she doesn't get too attached to just one. So far we have Lion (named by Peyton, it is actually a horse), A pink giraffe named Rowena or Rome-ena, and Tootsie the Owl. I have a feeling Tootsie will become her "Rome" because it is the same brand as Peyton's- Angel Dear. But only time will tell, you never know what they will attach to. As of now- her lovie is my boob. :) But I really don't want to have to make up a song for her about that!

Meet Tootsie!
Mallory and Tootsie, 6 weeks old


And as I write this "Other Rome" is missing. I'm sure we will find him somewhere totally unexpected. I just hope it is soon!

The Oscars

The end of February, beginning of March always marks a special event in the lives of my friends. The Oscars! We have been getting together with my best friends and our moms to watch the Oscars since around 2001. Leslie and her Mom started the tradition 19 years ago when they found themselves in New York City for surgeries after a serious car accident. It is a beautiful story that I won’t do justice- but The Oscars brought them much happiness during that time so 19 years later we still watch it with the same food they ate in their hotel that night (including cheetos and chocolate ice cream). We all fill out ballots at the beginning of the night and compete to see who will get the most right, Leslie always supplies the most awesome prizes too. This was my first year to be a part of it in a long time since we lived in Raleigh and Denver the past 3 years with new babies. It was also Mallory’s first year and she was captivated! You'll see in the pictures that she really watched most of the show. Here is a picture of her helping Paige complete her Oscar ballot. I should have had Mallory help me with mine because Paige and I ended up tying for first place! Thanks for a fun night girls, can’t wait til next year, the 20th Anniversary of Our Oscar Party.