Pretend I'm not here...

That is my new philosophy for the next 11 days. John took the girls to spend Christmas in Ohio with his family. It was their turn to have them and I can't travel because I am so close to my delivery date. No one can believe I let this happen, but in reality, the kids don't know Christmas morning from any other day. We will celebrate when they come home.

I have been hanging out at my mom's house because Kelsey and the girls are here. Let me tell you, watching Kelsey with them makes me even more appreciative of this time by myself. They keep asking me to do things and I keep saying..."Pretend I'm not here." I told my mom that the minute Kelsey leaves I am out of here and going to lay peacefully on my own couch. I will be here at night, but in reality, I shouldn't be here, so...PRETEND I'M NOT HERE!

In a matter of seconds

This will only be funny to those of you who know my dad and even then, it might not come out as funny as it was, but I have to say it now before I forget.

Situation: My dad is on the couch watching the news, I am at the sink peeling an orange, and my mom is on the friend with her friend Nancy.

Mom: okay, well have fun on your trip.

Courtney: where is Nancy going

Mom: she's going to Chicago for Bob's company Christmas party.

Dad (out of nowhere): Courtney, tell me what your mom just said that she won't tell me right now!

Courtney: WHAT?

Dad: what did your mom just whisper that she is keeping from me?

Courtney: She said that Nancy is going to Chicago for Bob's Christmas party.

pause

Dad: Bob's company is going under?

Courtney: WHAT?

Dad: they shouldn't be taking people to Chicago if their company is going under with the economy.

I have no idea what conversation he was a part of.

Not 3 seconds later, my mom leaves the room in annoyance and the news comes on with that little 3 year olf from Florida who is missing. The news says they found a child's body in Florida a 1/2 mile away from her grandmother's house.

Dad: Who is that?

Courtney: That is that little girl in Florida who's mom killed her and they can't find her.

Dad: Oh that little girl in Florida who's mom killed her and they can't find her.

He is a horse of a different color:)

Gingerbread Lane

A dropped purse led to a lot of picking up during the walk!

The big kids lining up for a picture.

The little kids sitting so nicely in their strollers

All the kids minus Kona.

Hannah making herself right at home. As soon as we walked in the door she found this costume and didn't take it off!

This afternoon the girls and I took a drive out to Corona to meet up with a few of my friends that I got my masters with at Fullerton. They are really good about getting together and I always seem to have something to do. This time I was worried Kate not feeling well would stop me. She was fine though. We got together for pizza and drinks and then took a short drive over to an area in Corona where the people go all out in decorating. The kids had a great time looking at the lights. There are 11 kids total between the 5 of us. 7 girls and 4 boys. Poor Kai could not be convinced to go and play dress up. He's gotten a little to old to be around all these girly girls.

Update

It's been a rough few days. We are home and healthy most importantly. Kate has had a rough last couple of days. She was in a lot of pain which has now subsided slightly and because she can't talk her choice of communication is whining and pointing. It is very frustrating. She is not a big fan of her medicine which has us on a schedule of every 4 hours every 6 hours, and every 8 hours...which equal medicine every 2 hours when you time it. We have tried every trick in the book. She blocks it from the back of her tongue and spits it up and out! It totally sucks!! Today was her first good day and I tried to enjoy it:) She is starting to eat and drink more so we'll see where we go from here.

Hannah is busy being Hannah. Last night John told her she was built like a tank and she replied "no I'm not, I don't have any fish in me!" She is so sticking smart. She has been a bit challenging the last couple of days with the attention being directed towards Kate. She is right up in your face when you are loving Kate giving you something she made or telling you something she did. She is a little bit of an attention whore like her daddy. She started Ballet/Tap class and absolutely LOVES it. I have added a video of her. Sorry that it is sideways:)

We're home :)

Kate and Hannah the night of her surgery
My friend came to visit and brought Kate this crown and earrings. She slept in it.
About 3 hours after her surgery. She was not a happy camper!
Right before surgery, they give her a relaxing drug called verced. I tried to get a perscription, but they weren't to on board with it:)

We are home safe and sound from Kate's surgery. She ended up getting tubes in her ears, her adenoids had partially grown back so those were removed, and she had her tonsils removed. It is not a fun recovery.

We left her with the drs about 7:20 am. The surgery was almost an hour exactly. The ENT came out and told us that there was definitely fluid in her ear. It was so thick he referred to it as gel as opposed to the fluid normally in there. He actually had to suction it out. Her adenoids had grown back a little, and her tonsils were not only enlarged, but had puss all around them. He was very happy with what he saw in the sense that it was an answer for what we were seeing at home. The not talking, runny nose, snoring. He is cautiously optimistic and he put it that this would solve it. I am hoping more than anything that this is it and it's over!

We were in our room resting very quickly and had an uneventful day. The night...not so much. She was on medication every 3 hours and she was not feeling well. She couldn't break the fever, so I had to pat her down with wet towels. She was not happy. Luckily it was a pediatric floor and she wasn't the only one crying. Her fever would not go down. The next day, tired, cranky, and dirty, they tell me she also needs to eat. Well she doesn't eat anyways, much less when she is sick. She won't even look at food. I can tell that it hurts her so much when she swallows. Finally at 8pm they tell me I can go home. I was more than excited.

She had an okay night and okay today. She is still in a lot of pain and pretty cranky.

We are so thankful that it's over and hopefully everything went okay. I on the other hand have probably lost all my friends. Any one I talked to I said "hey what are you doing, want to watch Hannah for a while?" I pawned her off on just about anyone who would answer their phone. My poor dad was picking her up and dropping her off all over La Mirada. I even had her going to our family friend who already watches her 3 grandchildren. My mom was in SD with my new nephew and John had to fly out of town. Needless to say it has been a very difficult time!

Thank you to all of you who kept us in your thoughts. Hopefully we are on the rode to recover, a clean nose and no more snoring. As J.J. said..."I'm glad to hear that snots is doing well!"

A little prayer

Kate will be having surgery again tomorrow to put tubes in her ears, redo her adenoids, and post probably remove her tonsils. If you are up and looking at the clock around 7:30am, a little prayer would be greatly appreciated. I am very nervous, but I know we need to do this for her! I will keep you all posted!

Courtney

Kenly Braylen Axline

I am happy to report that Candace and Matt added a new little boy to their crew on Monday. I didn't ask what he weighed or how long he was or any of those other things, so you will have to check her sight.

The girls and I can't wait to meet him. Bennett is so happy to have a boy to play with. He bought him a General Grievas from Star Wars today at Walmart:)

Congratulations Candace, Matt, Bennett, and Mallory