Tubes

Today Kendall got tubes put in her ear...let's all breathe a sigh of relief! Oh I can see a happier, ear infection free future:) Our sweet little mess has been quite sick lately, as I am sure you read in my last post, and we were unsure she would be able to go for this scheduled operation. Low and behold, despite being seriously sick last week, she was completely, and I mean completely, healthy! Can I get an AMEN! Wow, so off to Richmond we went for the glorious tubes.

Alley had gotten tubes when she turned one, so we knew how wonderful those teeny, tiny colored tubes were and we couldn't wait. We woke up bright and early and headed off to see the surgeon. Kendall, in her sweet little way, charmed the socks off of every nurse and doctor there. She flirted with the anesthesiologist (who seriously couldn't have been older than 26!!!), and when Dr. Hickman came in, she walked right up to him and grabbed his leg in a big bear hug and laid her head on his leg and sucked her thumb. Can we say precious!! I really wish I had gotten a picture of that, but I'm not one to bring a camera into surgery;) Maybe next time I should...no, no, no, I take that back, there better not be a next time!!! Kendall was all smiles and snuggles with the anesthesiologist when he came to take her away as well. Let's just say she knows how to pick them;)

We proceeded out to the waiting room and had just finished texting our family to say she had gone back, when Dr. Hickman came out to say they were all done...wow, I had forgotten how fast it really was! We went back to see her and by the time we got out of the waiting room, she was back to her normal self. She had a super quick recovery and was back to her charming self in no time. Of course it helped to have Mimi, Papa and Uncle John around to get attention from;) And boy did she soak it up!

Okay, side tracking a bit...remember I said I didn't have pictures from Kendall's hospital stay...well dad reminded me I could text them to his Blackberry and he could e-mail them to me...so, viola, I've got pictures;)

Check out her paddle! She finally found her thumb with that big contraption weighing her hand down

sleeping with her glorious thumb

her hand/paddle was too heavy to stay in her mouth once she drifted off...hilarious;)

Fun in the sun

Kendall was finally cleared to go back to school, but while she was out, she milked her time for all it was worth;) On Monday she spent the afternoon with Mimi and Papa at their cabin. I honestly think this child was born outside. She is completely obsessed with being outside. Periodically throughout the day, she will grab her jacket, throw it on her head and go lean against the door saying, "pup-py, me-ow". She is the happiest when outside:) Of course, after the winter we had, who wouldn't prefer to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather?!! 

Here are some fun pictures Mimi took of Kendall enjoying her"sick days" outside;)

 waving "hi" while eating watermelon...or is that a raised hand saying I want more now...please;)

"soooooo big"

relaxing in the hammock with Papa...doesn't she look laid back?!

Look at the camera? What?! There are too many things out here to look at!

When you can't get into the hammock, Papa's arms will do..."swing, Papa, swing" ;)

I'm just glad to have my happy, nature-loving explorer back! Bring on Spring!

Our crazy life...

I think those three words sum up what has been going on in our family this past week. I sit here at the computer trying to put my thoughts into words while I let my daughter brush my hair for the day. Yes, I didn't brush it and am letting her do it. I also spilled my drink a few minutes ago and she told me I needed to clean it up and not bring drinks into the living room because that's what happens when you do....I think I might have even let her pick out my outfit today, I'm not telling though! Oh yes, this just sums up our life at the moment.
Let me paint the picture for you...imagine being confined to a small room (say an 8x8 or less) for three days and nights with an active really sick 1 year old and nurses coming in and out every 2 hours...sleep?? What is that??!
The craziness all started when Kendall entered her third week of having a double ear infection. None of the medications worked so the poor girl had many rough nights of little to no sleep ( you know what that means too, we had little to no sleep as well). Finally, after going to an ENT and setting up a date for surgery, we thought we'd be in the clear. Whew, things must be looking up right?! It can't get any worse then this...famous last words....Wednesday we called the pediatrician with an issue of possible dehydration and that Kendall's hands were turning blue and purple. She told us to go straight to the ER because that needed to be checked out. In my mind I thought that if it was dehydration, she'd get an IV and we'd be able to go home by evening. Besides, she was acting so happy, friendly and very active...NOTHING could be wrong. Ha! That is when we found out she had pneumonia, RSV, another double ear infection and was dehydrated. So off to the pediatric unit we went. We were released Friday with GAZILLIONS of meds in the hopes that something would help her get over all this crumminess. The funny thing about this whole adventure is that Kendall was amazing. She had the IV put in her thumb-sucking hand (for real, who would do that?!!!) but after she got over being ticked off about that, she happily played, sang, and charmed the socks off the nurses and doctors. The nurses dubbed her the "happy weezer". They say they get two kinds of kids...those lethargic, cranky, not-so-seriously-sick kids....then you get the happy, playful, charming seriously sick kids who they say are happy weezers...that was Kendall all right:) I took several pictures of Kendall while in the hospital, but I can't post them because I don't have a fancy phone that does anything like that;) So, just imagine Kendall in a hospital gown with a huge paddle on her hand  hiding her IV needles, hanging out in the hospital crib jumping up and down and saying bye-bye to anyone who walks in and out of the room. She was a pill;) I am just glad we are home and hope all the meds work so we don't have to go back...whew! That is why our life is crazy...we have entered the recovery stage now.
Oh, Alley is now reading the prayer book...I think she knows we need some help and direction;)

Birthday fun

Here are some more pictures we took of the girls wearing their new dresses. I'm in the process of making new ones and tweaking the pattern even more. Leave it to me to not follow a pattern completely;) I'm excited because I have two projects going on...one is the dress I was just talking about, and the other one is my smocking adventure. I am almost done with the smocking of Alley's dress and then all I have to do is sew the dress...I can't wait to see how it looks when it's done. It's been frustrating at times but I am really enjoying it! I will keep you updated:)

Alley before church

Playing on our neighbors porch

Kendall watching Alley

This weekend Alley and I got to go celebrate Alley's "BFF"'s birthday. We had so much fun coloring, painting and playing outside. Here are some pictures from the day.

the girls coloring with markers, stickers and glitter glue...can we say heaven (for the girls, but not for an OCD clean freak...whew, I survived the glitter)

this decision was a serious one...I hope she made the right one;)

playing in the sandbox

what could be more fun than a huge play gym...they had a blast

the birthday girl and Alley waiting patiently for food

back to the "drawing board"....breathe Catherine, breathe...;)

We had a great time at the party and Andy and Kendall had fun at home as well. We are so glad the weather turned beautiful and we were able to spend most of the weekend outside! It's beginning to feel like spring and we are excited:)!

Oh Wow

And so we have it...the news we have been so looking forward to!

McPherson baby #3 is a GIRL!

To say we are excited is an understatement!! We have been anticipating this moment for a couple days and have been positive it was going to be another girl, so the news was just what we were looking for:) Of course, maybe this is why Andy works at an all boy school...he gets his fill of boys all day and then can come home to our girlie chaos:)

Baby girl is doing wonderful. She is already so precious and quite the diva...every view of her face she had the back of her hand resting on her forehead like she was about to faint....such a Scarlett O'Hara thing;) Everything is looking good and we are hoping and praying for a normal pregnancy this time around!!

Weekend Away

This past weekend we traveled to Richmond to spend some quality time with Mimi and Papa. Okay, the real reason was because we had a baby shower for a really good friend on Saturday night, but we will use anything to make a trip to see Mimi and Papa;) We had an added bonus on this trip...Uncle John and Marion were in town as well...yeah, more playmates!;)

My parents were given some hand-me-down outdoor play equipment this past week and they set it up for Alley and Kendall to try out...oh boy was it a hit!! The girls just couldn't get enough of it. They are obsessed with being outside anyway, so this is perfect. Now we don't always have to travel up to "Papa's playground" at "Papa's church" to play outside...whew, we've been saved from the multiple daily trips up there;)

here are the girls when they first got outside...can you tell Kendall is lovin' it?!

this was just too hilarious to pass up:) She was trying to climb through the hole and fell in!

super happy and being goofy

Kendall is so proud of herself

peek-a-boo!

cheesy goodness...Andy was throwing her up in the air and catching her. This is right after he caught her:)

big girl going down the slide...she loved it

weeeeeeeeeeee....

help, I've fallen and I am stuck

I give up, I'm just going to lay here until someone comes to get me...literally, she waited for me to get her!

pausing for a snack break on their new picnic table

inside playing and getting a little education in;)

my job for the shower was to make cupcakes...yummy!

oh man, which one will I eat...I'm mean test....first

Kendall, John, Marion and Alley relaxing after church

Fun, fun weekend:) We are so happy Mimi and Papa can handle the craziness, that always seems to follow our family, and let us come for the weekend;) We had a blast and can't wait until next time...

Projects

Recently I've started sewing again. I learned how to sew, smock, knit, cook, etc. years ago from my wonderful Grandmother, but I never found time to keep up with it. Not that I have a lot of free time, but for some reason I have been really wanting to sew again. 

Back around Christmas, I embarked on the smocking journey. Granny and I worked on matching Christmas dresses for the girls (ok, lets be honest, Granny did most of the work, but I contributed a good amount!) that turned out so cute. We are now about to begin Easter dresses for the girls, and I am even going to make the dresses, as well as try to do most of the smocking myself (it's a pattern with butterflies on it...why do I always pick the hard stuff!?). I will keep you updated on how that all turns out;)

A week ago I found some adorable material while I was in Richmond, plus a fun pattern, and it inspired me to make the girls a dress. I thought it was neat because it was a reversible dress...it can't be hard right?? Okay, it didn't get hard until I decided to stray from the pattern and add some embellishments to the dresses myself...ha, not a good idea to do on the first dress you make all by yourself after years of being away from the sewing machine! All in all I think they turned out very well (just don't look too close please!). I already have new ideas for the next time I use this pattern...oh I can't wait to go to Richmond and buy more material!!!

Alley sporting her new dress 

(Disclaimer: IGNORE the wild hair! Yes, I brushed it and even wet it down...).

Kendall getting in on the action. Doesn't she look excited;)

Kendall got tired of getting her glamor shot and decided the toys were more interesting...notice who is excited to finally have the rocking chair;)

Watch out for more of my projects!! I found a slew of fun patterns for the girls and myself!!