Lauren is doing well

Today started early with a 6 o'clock start. Lauren had to be at the hospital at 8. She hasn't eaten since 9 last night. I'm sure she's starving!! She was taken back this morning at about 10:15 and was done around 11:15. Michelle got to go and hold her around noon. They were speedy in getting us a room. We were in a room by 12:15. Lauren is doing well, and when I left this afternoon to get Kristen, she was sleeping. She does wake up and cry, but I think its because she is uncomfortable, not because of pain, yet. The doctors said she should start feeling sore about 8 hours after the procedure. They will then give her pain medicine. If she does well eating in the morning, they have said she may be able to go home as early as tomorrow evening. Michelle will be staying the night with her and I will be up there during the day with them. Kristen keeps asking me "Where's Mommy, Where's Sissy?" She will be happy to see them both. Thanks to everyone for your prayers for Lauren. God has pulled her through this one as well. He is faithful.

The Fair

We went to the fair tonight. Kristen loved it...Lauren hated it. I felt so bad for Lauren and my mom who ended up holding her for the whole night. She didn't like the noise, the lights, the screams, the heat. She just didn't like anything about the whole experience. She is very happy to be home, bathed, fed and fast asleep in her bed.

Kristen on the other hand loved it. I really thought we would have issues with her not wanting to ride anything, but she did really good. When we were eating prior to going to the rides she kept pointing to this one ride that wasn't a kiddie ride saying she wanted to ride it. The first thing she got on was the airplanes with Papaw and absolutely loved it. She even road by herself four times. I was so proud of her because at the beginning of the summer when we went to the zoo she didn't even want to ride the Merry-Go-Round.

It's hard to take pictures on moving rides, but we got lucky on a few. I hope to have them posted the website soon. We ended the fun filled night with a snow cone and a funnel cake. Fairs are much more fun when you have children.

Also, I wanted to add before I close that we had to delete out the whole website and re-add it in order to get rid of a "read more" icon that kept appearing. That is why all of the first three posts now have the same time and date stamp. Some people that were added as followers got deleted. Sorry about that. As I stated before, I am new at this.

Pre-Op Appointment

So, tonight our power went out right as Paul and I were eating. Having no power is horrible. There is nothing to do. It has made me aware that I am way to dependent on modern technology. And just think, I have always thought it would be nice to live back in the late 1800's. Not anymore!!! Electricity for me.

Lauren had her pre-op appointment today. We got the all clear for surgery. When I had talked to the GI doctor's office they said a pre-op appointment was optional. I decided to do it just in case and it is a good thing I did because the hospital says it is required. God was looking out for us there. When the lady called I had a lot of questions for her. Do I need to bring diapers? Do I need to bring her bottles? Do I need to bring her formula? How long is the surgery? I am going to be staying with her so will there be a cot for me to sleep on? Will she be in a double room? If so, will she be put with someone who has a sickness and is contagious? Will she be intubated? How long after the surgery will it be before I get to see her? Poor lady. She definitely had question overload. She said she would have to check with the Pediatric unit for some questions and asked if she could just call my home number and leave the response on my answering machine. I guess she was afraid I was going to think of some other questions. Even though it is "minor" surgery, which by the way, there is no minor surgery when it comes to your children; I am still nervous. Please pray for the doctors and a fast recovery and for her to start gaining weight soon.

Bath Time

I thought I would share a couple pictures I snapped tonight after the girls baths. I thought they were cute. Bathtime for Kristen was rushed because she didn't want to clean up. She thinks if she sings the cleanup song she can continue to play. When you tell her to cleanup, she looks at you with the most serious face and says "I clean up", like, don't you hear me singing the song Mom. She is a cutie but I will be glad when the terrible two's are over!

Potty Training

So, we have had a relapse in potty training. Our pastor's wife warned me this would happen, I just didn't expect it to be so soon. Kristen is no longer interested in the potty and when I ask her if she wants to go she responds "No, Kristen pee pee in her pants". I read an article in Parenting magazine about parents sending their kids to Potty Training School and within a couple weeks their child is potty trained without the headaches. I thought that this was ridiculous and a total waste of money. Now, I am changing my thoughts. I think these parents are quite smart and have obviously tried the potty training thing. I wonder if I have tried to potty train too soon. She seemed ready, but of course, I am new at all of this, so I really don't know. I will keep trying and hopefully we will conquer it soon. Any advise anyone can give is greatly appreciated.

Lauren's Occupational Therapist came out today and she was doing a lot of nice things. At one point she was standing up all by herself holding on to her peanut ball that my cousin gave me. (Thanks Tonya!!! We are able to do a lot of things using that ball.) The other day her bouncy chair was leaned all the way back and Lauren actually leaned up and ended up sitting up all by herself. I was hoping she would do the same today because I was so proud of her, but she didn't want to. That's okay though. We think she will be sitting independently soon.

I am working on putting all of our pictures on to a website called Fotki. (Thanks Pam for letting me know about this site.) I am hoping to have a link put on here tonight. Of course it will take me a little while to get all the pictures downloaded, but I will at least have Lauren's birthday on there for everyone to look at.

New Post

I have decided to create this new site for several reasons. First being that Lauren is doing so well. Caringbridge has been a wonderful site, but more for families in crisis situations. Because of God we have made it through that time and our prayer is that He will continue to bless our family and keep our children healthy and happy. Another major reason for me deciding to create this blog is because Kristen is becoming more aware of things. I have said from the beginning that I don't want Kristen to ever feel like she is in Lauren's shadow. Kristen is just as much a miracle as Lauren, it is just easy to forget. I don't want Kristen to wonder why Lauren had a site but she didn't. This new blog is going to keep family and friends posted about our family as a whole. I know it will be hard to get used to coming to this site, but I hope in time it won't be so bad. This is new to me, so be patient.

We want to thank everyone for following our journey on Caringbridge and hope you will do the same here