Gracen's Surgery

Back on November 18th, Gracen had surgery.  It was a minor surgery, but I was more nervous than I think I have ever been in my life.  The days leading up to it, I would look and him and just start to tear up thinking about it.  I wasn't really worried about the surgery itself, more the anesthesia.  It's not likely that something would go wrong, but what if we were that one in however many.  

The day really was uneventful.  We arrived.  I cried.  We checked him in.  I cried some more.  We were taken to a room where he got dressed and watched cartoons until it was time to go.  I had off and on moments of tears.  Somehow, I don't think he noticed.  I was trying not to let him see how nervous I was.  

He wasn't nervous at all.  He just wanted to go home so he could have some popsicles.  When it got closer to the time he was scheduled, his doctor and the anesthesiologist came in and talked with us.  My heart started to race.  Nate got dressed so he could walk back with him, and I said goodbye.  I was able to control my emotions just long enough to let him get out of my site.  

I walked down to the waiting room and felt so sick.  It didn't take long for Nate to get there.  We ordered some lunch and waited.

Once the doctor came in and told us that he did great, I felt so completely relieved of all that stress I had been carrying.  He told us that he was coming out of the anesthesia nicely and that he was pretty entertaining for everyone before the surgery.  He had slippers on that looked like dinosaur feet.  Whenever someone saw them and commented on them he would say something like "They're just dino slippers."  

I got down to the room, and to see him laying there sleeping was such a happy moment for me.  Knowing that he was okay was the best feeling.  I waited with him and it didn't take long for him to wake up.  After 20 mins or so they moved him to another room to monitor him.  We waited for an hour or two and then he was ready to go.  

Once we got him home, Nate laid in bed with him to help him fall asleep.  He napped for about 2 hours.  When he woke up he was pretty much good to go.  He kept telling us it didn't hurt.  We had to keep telling him to take it easy.  He only needed to take his pain meds once or twice.  It still amazes me how quickly kids can bounce back from something like that.

I am so grateful that things went well.  That there were no complications, and that Gracen was back to himself quicker than we could have imagined!  

It was hard coming up with ways to keep him from being too crazy.  Riding bikes was one thing I figured he could do without doing too much damage.  This boy has so much energy that it was incredibly hard to keep him quiet for the recommended 2 weeks.  I decided that as long as he wasn't rough housing and jumping around we were okay. 

Little Moments

I've been trying to recognize, and pay more attention to the little every day moments that I have with my children.  There are so many times that I feel like I am just constantly battling with them.  Mostly over the silliest things.  I don't want that to be the biggest, most remembered part of my day.  So, in an effort to remember some of the fun things they do or say I am going to start recording them here on my blog.  

I'll start off with a conversation with Gracen yesterday.

We were at Old Navy and he was insisting that I buy him something.  He could NOT believe that I wasn't going to buy him something.  "You never buy me anything!"  he stated in the whiniest voice he could find.   

After a mild tantrum we were out the door, in the car, and heading down the road.  

Our conversation went something like this:

Me:  "Gracen, your behavior in there was unacceptable.  It is not okay to behave like that.  In fact, I should probably call Santa and tell him how naughty you were being."

Gracen:  "Do you know Santa's phone number?"

Me:  "No, but I could figure it out pretty easy!"

Gracen:  "Mom?  When I get bigger and have kids of my own, will you teach me Santa's phone number so I can call him and tell him when they are being naughty?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that.  I thought he was going to tell me that when he got older and had his own kids he'd be nicer than me and buy them stuff.  Just those simple words, and knowing that he understood helped me feel much better about the little incident we just had at Old Navy. 

How interesting that just a few words can completely change how we feel.

I went from frustrated and upset, to that happy mom I'd rather be.  

October

October came and went all too quickly!  We had a busy and fun month!

Here are some highlights of the month...

First snowfall of the year.  October 7th.  A little too early.  My poor trees still had green leaves on them!

 Gracen's first field trip to Venetucci farms.  I even got to go.  We had fun!

Gracen and his best friend from preschool, Alden.  

We went for a weekend out to Arizona to visit my grandparents and my dad.  I didn't get many pictures, but here are a few at a playground we went to... 

The kids with grandpa Gary.  He has been sick.  It was hard to see him that way, but things seem to be getting better for him now.  

Wishing Star Farms.  We went with our friends, the Solomons.  It was a fun little place with plenty for the kids to do!

Then it snowed again!  My poor trees STILL hadn't lost their leaves and were getting so weighed down that Nate had to go out with a broom to lighten the load.

Trunk 'R Treat.  Violet the rainbow fairy, Peter Pan, and Green Lantern.  I was planning to put Bridger in our little cow costume that Brynlee wore her first Halloween.  Searched high and low for that thing and could't find it.  So last minute he became Peter Pan (Gracen's old costume).

 HALLOWEEN...

I found the cow costume!!  Isn't he adorable??

I went to both kids parties at school, then we went home and carved our pumpkins.

They actually got into it this year, other years it's been hard to convince them to pull out the pumpkin guts!

 Green Lantern, cute lil' cow, and Violet the rainbow fairy (which she had actually decided that she was some other fairy at school that day, but I can't remember what it was.) 

  

And of course we also celebrated Gracen's birthday in there too, but he got his own post for that one!  Busy, busy, busy, and it doesn't look like things are going to slow down any time soon!

Dino Party

Gracen has always loved dinosaurs and was more than excited to have a dino party for his birthday this year!   We had a lot of stuff going on around his birthday, so we couldn't have his party for 2 weeks after on November 5th.  

We started with pizza...

Then we dug for dinos...

After that we hunted for dinosaur eggs,

and broke them open to see what was inside.  The kids LOVED this!  They each got to use the hammer to smash open their own egg.  And, of course, they found a dinosaur inside!

Presents!  

Cake!

He wanted a green dinosaur.  

Blowing out the candles!

Natalie, Ethan, Brigham, Alden, Gracen, Sam, Lincoln, Hailey, Peyton, Ethan, and Nick.

 We almost forgot the volcano!  Good thing we had Brigham to remind us!

They loved this too!  They each got a turn to make it go.

He had the "Best birthday EVER!!"  

We missed Brynlee at his party.  She woke up with a fever that morning so she had to stay in the basement. It was sad, but I didn't want to pass on the germs.  We missed Bridger too, Nate took him out to play.  It was much easier that way.  He probably would have been eating the sand from the dino dig had he stayed!

I have to admit, it is pretty exhausting throwing a party for 10 kids.  So, to wind down from all the partying, we put Gracen's new nerf guns to use and ran through the house shooting each other.  It was fun, and the best part was the smiles and giggles from Brynlee and Gracen!

Happy 4 year old!

Last Sunday Gracen turned 4!  He has been anxiously awaiting this birthday!  He counted down the days the entire week.  

We started the day by letting him open his presents.  He just couldn't wait.  He got a lot of fun things.  A bike, coloring stuff, binoculars, and lincoln logs were just a few of the things he opened.

Riding his new bike!

We went to church.  On the way I said something to him and said, "okay buddy." and he said to me, "You mean Birthday Boy!" he was taking the birthday thing very seriously.  During primary he got a paper candle to take to the Bishop so he could get a treat.  As we were walking down, we saw Bishop and he started asking Gracen about his birthday.  He asked Gracen how old he was and Gracen held 4 of his fingers down near his belly and started quietly counting them.  It was pretty funny.  I think he was just making sure he said the right number.  

Later that day we had a birthday dinner and birthday cake.  It wasn't fancy.  He will be having a dinosaur themed party this weekend.  So I saved my energy for making a dino cake for that.  He liked the simple little cake I made.  He said he wanted a chocolate cake with cherries on top. (Cherries went on after we cut it.) 

He wanted to put his own candles on. 

Birthday Boy!

He enjoyed his day!  It was pretty laid back, but fun!  I love celebrating birthdays with my kiddos.  

This boy has brought us so much joy!  I love everything about him.  He is so sweet and caring.  

At 4 years old...

-He loves superheroes.  He is going to be Green Lantern for Halloween.

-He likes to keep things secret.  If his teacher asks what he brought on his snack day, he gives a look and says, "It's a secret!"  

-He's working on learning to read.

-He's learning a lot, and has a great interest in it.  

-He likes learning about the gospel.  He seems to understand it more than I would expect a 4 year old to.

Driving home last week, I told the kids we'd stop and get something to eat for dinner before we went home. We were in a scary part of town and it was dark, so I told them that we would wait to stop until we got closer to our house.  He asked why, and I told him because there were a lot of bad people that lived in that part of town so I didn't want to stop there.  He said, "I'm going to say a prayer."  I heard him back there mumble a few words.  Then a few minutes later I asked him what he was praying about, and he said, "I prayed that the people wouldn't be wicked anymore."  He has such a kind heart and wants everyone to be happy and not wicked.  I love that he used the word wicked.  

-He loves to play with his friends.  

-He likes to be just like dad!

I love this boy!

Happy Birthday Gracen!

A few recent pictures...