A Trio of Miracles: My sad little blog

Quoteth my uncle! :) We've had quite the busy holiday season and I have neglected my cyber space.

First comes Halloween! Natalie was a lady bug, Caroline was a bumblebee, and Townes was superman. I specifically spent way too much money on his costume so he could have some muscles! He loved it and really thought he could fly with his cape on. We are with our cousins Dew, Bebe, and Hylton getting TONS of candy. They thought they were supposed to eat their candy after every house. Needless to say, we a zillion breakdowns it it was really funny.

Thanksgiving was super fun too with a stop at my parents then dinner at one of Nate's brother's house. Happy Thanksgiving morning

Townes made this awesome Indian vest at school. I told him he could sell it in Pigeon Forge for $$$! Despite not taking naps at my parents, they went crazy and stayed up until 10pm chasing cousins around at our dinner celebration.

Caroline had a big appointment with her cardiologist on 12/5 at Vanderbilt Kids. She was born with a VSD and we needed to get an echocardiogram to see whether it had closed or not. I was very scared because I read that surgery may be necessary. Thankfully, we received the best case scenario and her VSD has closed. The doctors once again explained what it was and where it was located. If she had a more severe case, it would have required open heart surgery because of its location. A catheter wouldn't have been a good idea because they have had some infections.

Once we got the ok from the heart docs, she finally got her tonsils and adenoids out. We were scared but knew she REALLY needed it. She snored loudly and had sleep apnea. Our ENT is wonderful and we knew he would be conservative with it if she didn't need the tonsils out. She had the surgery on 12/13 (ha Friday the 13th) and did great. She did need everything out. Her adenoids were blocking 90% of her airway. Our dr uses a surgical methos called intracapsulary removal which shaves the tonsil down and lessens the risk of re-bleeding. It never touches the muscle so is MUCH less painful. I would encourage anyone who has a child needing a T & A to find a dr who uses this method. The day of surgery was really rough because she wouldn't drink anything afterwards or eat a Popsicle. She is also super stubborn! We finally were released after an ounce or two and promising that she would not be dehydrated.

Poor boo boo beforehand. Nate had his company Xmas party that night but I stayed home with his parents because I knew she would need me. It was a rough night for the other 2 because they couldn't eat her jello and were a bit jealous of the attention. She finally ate some applesauce and had a Popsicle. As long as we kept up rotating Motrin and Tylenol every 4 hours, she was fine. She even had a hamburger the next day! I cannot say enough about how amazing her recovery was. I had my tonsils out at 7 and I still remember how awful it was. I had an infection and some nasty abcess all down my throat. Huge thanksgiving for the blessing of a quick recovery.

Sooo our little monkey pictured about decided to climb out of her crib several nights in a row. I consider it amazing that they made it so long without having an incident. We decided to get toddler beds and go for it.

Panorama pic and Natalie about 2 am. :) We got them personalized little sheet sets because we thought it would give them something they would be excited to stay in. Ha! :) The first few nights were rough but they were ok. Naps were awful so we made the big decision to move Townes into his own room. He loves it! I thought he would get lonely but he jumped right in his bed and was so happy. We put Natatlie in the guest room bed during naps because they girls would literally play for 1.5 hrs then fall asleep until 5pm. This was after multiple spankings and clearing the room of absolutely everything. This has worked so far. I guess potty training is the next big thing but I'm in NO hurry.

On to Christmas...

I found these and can finally laugh and remember the horrific first Christmas with our stomach virus. Cute babies. Nate's sister in law stayed with us for a few days and so we had a full house. She lives in Boston and we don't get to see her or her kids much.

They were being so patient waiting for their presents. :)

All the 16 Jennings cousins! CRAZY TOWN. The first year we didn't need an adult to hold someone.

All my sister in laws from Nate's side.

We actually attempted Christmas Eve church! No nursery so we lasted about 30 minutes before they started to hit each other and eat their candles. They loved the music. The readings weren't too popular though. :)

Christmas Day we went over to my parents and opened more presents.