Thirty

My Super Hero is ready for surgery number thirty today.

We are heading over to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital for a 1:00 pm surgery. His otolaryngologist will remove the cholesteatoma in his left ear and attempt reconstruction. If you're super curious, and want to see some gross pictures, head here for more details. 

This will be the longest surgery Noah has ever had, 3 - 4 hours, and will require him to be intubated. Bubs has such a delicate trachea and we are nervous about damaging it in any way. Please pray for skilled hands of the surgeon and anesthesiologist and gentle hands of the nurses. 

Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch this year and had so much fun with our new little pumpkin.  Last year, I was pregnant with Miss Ava and all I could think about was what this year would be like.  What would my Sweet Miss look like?  How would she impact our little family?  How would Noah be as a big brother?

And now...here we are.  My Sweet Miss is adorable (if I do say so myself), she is a simple blessing to our family, and Noah is the greatest big brother.  Before finding our pumpkins, we had a little photo shoot.

Look at my sweet babies.

I just love how big Ava looks in this photo.

I mean...seriously...babies in a wheelbarrow...how precious is that?!?

Once we started looking for pumpkins, Noah decided he wanted a "small, green one".  We looked and looked and looked until he found the perfect pumpkin.  It was small and green and had not a single blemish on it.  He was so proud!

While Daddy and I looked for our pumpkins, Noah had fun throwing clumps of dirt in the air and watching them break apart.

Unfortunately, this is our last trip to our beloved pumpkin patch because they have decided not to plant any more pumpkins after this season.  We said a fond farewell to Single Palm Pumpkin Patch and will be on the hunt for a new patch next year.

Five Months - Ava

My Sweet Baby Girl is five months old already.  She has grown so much this past month.  Because of her utter hatred of Tummy Time, she has mastered rolling over from her tummy to her back.  She is grabbing toys with both hands and is putting absolutely everything in her mouth.

Last week I bid a fond farewell to my maternity leave and headed back into the classroom.  It was definitely a bitter sweet day made bearable only by the love and hugs from my students. Unfortunately, Miss Ava has recently decided that she does not want a bottle.  That's right, my Little Miss who used to love bottles given by Daddy or Nana, had decided that she prefers the "real thing" and will not settle for anything less.  Period!  We have tried multiple different bottles, scoured the internet for hints and tricks, gotten suggestions from the pediatrician, and tried, and tried, and tried.  Miss Ava, unfortunately, will have none of it.  She has been marathon feeding while I am home, waking up at least once to nurse {previously she was sleeping 9 PM - 6 AM}, and nursing during my lunch time.  My feisty Little One is proving she has a mind of her own!

Ava's current stats are:

Weight : 16 pounds 6 ounces

Height: 26 inches

Look at that Little Chunky Monkey.

How precious are these kiddos?  Noah was absolutely giddy because he got to cuddle his sister...I mean...seriously...that kid loves to snuggle.

Four Months Old - Ava

Sweet Baby Girl is four months old today.  Oh my goodness how time is flying by.  I have been blessed to be able to separate my maternity leave and use the time before and after summer vacation.  I have four more weeks of bliss with my Little One before returning to work.  While I am looking forward to meeting my students I will desperately miss all the time spent with both of my kiddos.  I love walking Noah to school in the morning, spending time with Ava {one on one}, running errands during the day, making phone calls during "business hours", picking Noah up from kindergarten, playing all afternoon, eating dinner at a reasonable hour {because I am home to prep it}, and not having to grade papers or prep work for school at night.

I have been off dairy and soy since before Ava was born {three weeks before...but who is counting???}.  It was a precautionary measure because Noah was so violently allergic to both.  Poor Noah vomited after every single meal and refused to eat {probably because his stomach hurt so much}which lead to us putting in the g-tube.  While I am so thankful for modern medicine and the ability to keep my son alive {and thriving, I might add}, I am sad that we go to the point where he gave up eating orally and we are now having to battle his oral aversions.  A few days ago, I decided to try dairy and soy and see if Ava had any reaction.  I figured she was {almost} four months old and her tummy was a bit more developed and hopefully she would be able to digest them.  Well...it was confirmed that Ava is allergic to dairy and soy.  Poor girl spit-up after nursing {something she NEVER does}, had a terrible night of sleep {probably because her tummy hurt}, woke up three times during the night {she is currently sleeping all through the night}, and spit-up the entire next morning.  She was cranky and fussy and we were both so very sorry I had dairy and soy.  So, once again, I will continue to steer clear of the offending foods and my Sweet Baby Girl will continue to be happy and healthy.

Ava's current stats are:

Weight : 15 pounds 0 ounces
Height: 26 inches

My sweet little princess!

All of my babies!

First Day of Kindergarten

Can you believe it????  My Little Man is old enough to be in kindergarten!  As in, all morning long, following directions, doing stations, earning Good Time Tickets, doing homework, taking tests, and receiving a Report Card, kindergarten.

The Friday before school started, the kindergarten classes had a "Meet & Greet" where the students and parents could meet the teachers, see the classrooms, and get some of the nervous energy out.  Noah was very excited to go to K-2 (his classroom) and look around.  Because he is attending the school where I work, Noah already knew his amazing teacher and had been in the kindergarten classrooms before.  He was pretty excited, however, to show Daddy and Ava all around the room.

 After a good night's rest,  Noah was so very excited to go to school in the morning. 

We tried to make the morning extra special by decorating his door with streamers.

He was so confused when he woke-up.

He asked me if bad-guys had come in the house in the middle of the night and put them up.  What?!?  We gently explained to our Super Hero loving, good-guys vs. bad-guys enthralled, son that we were all safe and nobody was going to break into our house.  I couldn't help but laugh as I thought, "Yeah...bad-guys broke into our house and all they did was put streamers up".  Ha!

After getting ready, we had to take a few pictures.  Noah wanted his toy Jengo Fet {from Star Wars} to be in the picture with us.

Look at my handsome kindergartener!

 

I put together a cute gift {thanks to Pinterest} for Noah's teacher.  It's a Mason Jar Cup filled with chocolates.  The tag reads, "I am filled to the brim with excitment to be in your kindergarten class this year".  How cute is that? 

 

Once we got to the classroom, Noah was so excited to put his name tag on and play with all the toys the teacher had put out.  It was so nice to see him engaging with other students and confident in his classroom.

I was very fortunate to be able to stick around, after all the parents left and the classroom was cleaned up, and talk to the students about Noah.  His teacher was generous enough to carve out a few minutes of her very busy day and let me introduce Noah to the rest of the class.

I started by talking about how Noah is very similar to the rest of them.  He is five years old...just like {most} of them.  He loves swimming, reading, and playing...just like {most} of them.  I explained that there were a few things, however, that were different about Noah.  He was born with only one eye, but could still see very well.  I had the students cover up one of their eyes with a hand and notice that they can still see.  I talked about how Noah's ears don't work very well and it is hard for him to hear.  Because of that, he wears a BAHA hearing device that gives him "Super Hero Hearing".  {Noah's teacher actually wears a microphone that connects directly to Noah's BAHA so he can focus on her voice and learn to tune out all the noise around him.  It works so well that if he were to go outside, he could still hear his teacher talking.  Hence the "Super Hero Hearing".}  I also talked about how Noah has difficulty swallowing and so he cannot eat food with his mouth.  Noah showed the class his g-tube and told them that his food goes right into his tummy.  I ended by answering the student's questions.  It was such an amazing relief for this Mama's heart knowing that the students in his class were aware of his challenges learn to accept him for the amazing kiddo that he is.

When I picked Noah up from school, he was quite excited to tell me all about it.  In fact, he told me we needed to "chat all about my class".  How cute it that?!?  He said that all his friends are nice and nobody stared at him or was mean to him.  Tears just welled up as I thanked God for the blessings of a safe first day of school.  I know that my Bubs will encounter challenges in the future, but was so thankful for a blissful beginning to what I am sure will be a great Kindergarten year!