Surgery Update

Scott took Jarika back to the surgeon this afternoon for another post op appointment. She got her ten staples removed and is now in a new boot. Her old boot wasn't as good I guess! She likes this one better since it is smaller and has a built in air cast. Pix are gross so if you don't like that sort of thing skip on down to Addy hanging out on top of the refrigerator and then resting peacefully on her Daddy! She was really grumpy tonight, I'm really hoping that she was just tired and not coming down with something!!!

Look Who Came to Visit!!!!!!!!!!!

Addy got a special visitor today! He came loaded with presents for her and her siblings too! She was one spoiled little girl! She got a phone, a merry go round, three DVDs, a CD of Fisher Price Christmas Music, two touchy feely books and one Mickey Mouse book that sings!! She wasn't so sure of her special visitor at first but as you can see by the pix, she decided that the big red guy was a okay! He even knew how to sign to her! He showed her how to sign all of his reindeer, I wish I had turned my video camera on for that, she was mesmerized! Thanks for the wonderful visit Santa!

Ah! Who is this big red guy???

Getting a little closer, they guy does have presents!

Maybe I'll just smile at you a bit.

Not sure about this!

Yes, Addy Santa has a hat!

You're not so bad Santa!

Thank you for reading me this Mickey book you brought me!

What a special treat for a special little girl! Merry Christmas Santa!

Recovery

Jarika had her ankle surgery on Thursday. We had to get to the hospital at 10:45 for the 12:45 surgery. Not so bad, much better than me worrying about oversleeping! We had a little time so we ran to Target for a couple of gifts then off to the hospital. We didn't have to wait long at all! By 11:30 they were telling me they were taking her out of holding so it was time to say good-bye. Poor girl was so anxious she was just in tears! The Versed helped quite a bit though! She was quite funny on it! I went on out to the waiting room and was told it would be about 3 hours. Okay, I had my book and a couple of magazines I was good. Scott couldn't get off work and my mom isn't exactly in a position to walk through a hospital right now! My pastor showed up about 12:00 and he was surprised that Jarika was already taken back. We talked and talked, it was really nice having him there. At 2:20pm they paged me. They let me know that the doctor just started at 2:00!!!! I was NOT happy! I knew my poor girl was probably in tears that whole time waiting. Sure enough I was right! I told my pastor to go on with his day he had already been there over two hours! At 3:45pm Dr. Ankle came out to let me know that everything went fine but the surgery was more extensive than what was planned. Jarika did need her ligaments to be re tightened so she did that. She also had some extra muscle build up at the back part of her ankle where a lot of her pain was. So she thinned down that muscle and ended up having to remove a bone as well! So recovery is going to be much longer than initially thought. She was planning on going to school on Friday but the doctor said "No way!" The earliest she will go back is Wednesday afternoon! Finals start on Thursday! Fortunately her teachers are working with us so hopefully she won't end the term behind! She's had a rough go, she got violently ill from the pain medication for several hours and has been miserable. That's getting better but she's still in quite a bit of pain :(. I sure hope she is much better in a couple of days!

Addy decided to help me wrap some presents. Sorry for the quality of the pix, she was in the middle of two rooms so I had a horrible angle! The paper kept making her so mad!!!

Very Busy Week!

This week has been crazy busy! Monday we had the typical after school piano then I went to help my friend Susan work concessions at the girls basketball game. Tuesday was an okay day, not too busy and I canceled Addy's PT since she was cranky and running out of her diaper! I had Wednesday off so I could take Jarika to the hospital for all of her pre-admission paperwork and lab work. Then we went and saw the surgeon. She really feels this surgery will help Jarika out immensely so we are very hopeful! She even convinced Jarika to get a turnabout scooter to get around on after her surgery! Jarika was very against it until she took a spin on it! I'll get pix after the surgery so you can get the full effect! She was also instructed on how to use crutches. The PT took about five minutes with her and agreed that she is obviously a pro at crutches! Poor kid has been on them so many times! I took Addy back to Dr. Pediatrician Wed. afternoon to have her ear re-checked. This ear that is so infected is the one that still has the tube in it! Go figure. Anyway, it was still infected but much improved over Sunday since he could actually see into the middle ear this time! He also wanted to make sure that I called him on Friday if Dr. Tummy hadn't called us for an appointment. Fortunately, Dr. Tummy's office called Thursday and we are going to see him on February 1st!


Thursday night our preschools had a Polar Express Make It & Take It night. I took Addy since technically she is one of preschoolers! She had so much fun watching everybody. We tried to get good pics of her by our little backdrop but she just wanted to crawl away on the slick floor! She made a jingle bell, mitten picture frame, an ornament and some reindeer dust. She kept signing "book" to me all night and I kept telling her that I didn't bring a book. I should have known that all of the kids got a book at the end of their ride! So she came home with "Mooseltoe" as you can see, she LOVED it!


Last night Scott and Jarika went to Miami, Oklahoma to go to a concert that Scott had won tickets to. They saw Jason Michael Carrol. I LOVE his song "Alyssa Lies" if you haven't heard it, it will bring you to tears. The concert was at a casino and Jarika was pretty tickled that when they entered they both were asked if they were drinking for the night and she wasn't carded! It didn't matter anyway since they both wouldn't be drinking but she thought it was pretty funny since she's not even 18 yet! I'm assuming that if Scott had said they were drinking they would have carded her though! They didn't get home until 2 o'clock this morning! Yuck!

We left the house by 8 to get all of the kids to "Breakfast with Santa" at the high school. Cooper's singing group, the Junior Jays were performing at 9 and we had to eat! The kids did some crafts and socialized then we had to whisk away from there at 10 to get the boys to church for their Christmas pageant practice.

They were there until 12 then we headed to Springfield for the Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks Christmas Party. It started at 11 so we missed lunch but that was okay. The kids sat on Santa's lap and each got a present! Did you know that some of Santa's elves have Down syndrome?? How cool is that??? The boys got remote control cars and Addy got a little Mickey Mouse car that she feels needs to be flung across the room instead of driven! After we left there we went to Cici's pizza for lunch. Once we got home Addy took a way late nap that I am sure I'm really going to mad at myself for letting her take! I'm sure she's gonna be up until midnight! Tomorrow our family is lighting the Advent candle at church then the boys have their pageant tomorrow night. We're really looking forward to it! Can't wait for pics of that! It's freezing cold here and I've decided that it's definitely no fun unless there is snow! We had some flurries on Wednesday that were gorgeous! Addy and I were driving back to Springfield for the doc and she kept signing "snow" it was so cute! It didn't stay around though :( I want snow but no "Snow Day" yet. If we get a snow day we have to make it up on December 23rd!!! I'm hoping not!

Poor Addy

My poor little girl! She blows my mind sometimes! Yesterday she slept in until 9 o'clock, which is about 2 hours later than usual. At first I was like Woo Hoo! Then a little while later it happened. Yep, she's sick! Scott was holding her and sure enough she had blood coming from her left ear. Mind you she has not fussed a bit, complained or run a fever. So we head to Urgent Care. We signed in at 12:15pm and was called back in about ten minutes, before three other children that were waiting. I guess that's one of the perks to having special needs, we get seen faster! The doctor was really nice and my little one weighs 22lbs and 4 oz!!!!! Big WOO HOO on that one! He tried to look in her ear but it was so nasty he had to do a little cleaning. He was very gentle and was able to get a little stuff out. No tube came out though but I'm pretty sure it's already out and so was he. He was unable to see her eardrum because the outer ear is so swollen and infected there was no way he could see all the way down the ear canal! Poor thing! So she now has an ear wick in and is on Augmentin (bring on the poo) and an ear drop that has an antibiotic and numbing medicine in it. We go back and see her Ped on Wednesday to have the wick removed and to see if he can see the middle ear at all. The Urgent Care doc said that with an infection this bad she really needs to have tubes again. I agree but I guess we'll have to convince Dr. Ears who discharged her in August! So here's my happy girl with her poor little ear!

Blogging Slacker

Addy LOVES a Parade!

I know I know, I haven't blogged lately! I've just been too busy or too tired I guess! Everyone is doing fine and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my brother's house. It was different this year though, my sister-in-laws parents are in St. Louis. Not for vacation, but because her dad had surgery last week that involved removing a part of his kidney. The surgery went fine but he's developed some complications so it looks like they won't be home until next Tuesday or so. We missed them! They are some of the best people ever! I love how my nieces and nephews love Addy so much! My nephew, John, is 16 and he is amazing with her! It was so cute, Addy was signing "star please" to him and he was "What does she want?" and I told him that she wanted him to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". He just laughed and said "I don't sing." Sure enough, when he didn't think we were paying attention, he was singing to her! How sweet is that! Holidays are always a reminder of my dad too. I miss him so much. I think everyday about how much he would have adored Addy. It makes me so sad to know that she will never know the love her has for her! I love watching the Macy's parade and so did Addy! She was so cute dancing along with the musicals and marching bands. She would wave at everyone too, very cute! These are just misc. Thanksgiving pics of my gang, enjoy!

Pulling Up

This girl cracks me up, you gotta love how she pulls up! Just look at her feet!