Surgery!

Well last Tuesday, Nov. 30th Mackenzie had to have her tonsils and adnoids removed... I have to say that was and still is the highest on my list of the scariest things I have ever done as a parent... Having to watch your child being rolled off while you stand there and pray nothing goes wrong and no freak accident happens... is just a terrible feeling! As Gary and I stood watching Mackenzie being rolled off all that kept going through my mind was, "God please if this is the last thing I ever ask for, let my baby come out of this okay." Thank you for listening! 

Her Dr. said she did absolutely amazing... and her Anesthesiologist fell in LOVE with her. They had some nice 'pillow' talk before she fell asleep on the OR table! The surgery took about 45 minutes which was just enough time for Gary, My parents and myself to go get something to eat @ the cafeteria and get back as they were wheeling her back into her room... The poor thing was just zonked out, but I guess strong drugs will do that to a 3 year old! 

Ready to go in... Such a big girl!

I'm ready mom! 

Thankfully "momma" brought her ipod and Mack was able to play games while waiting patiently!

Right after surgery... 

When she woke up about 11:45am the poor thing was in so much pain all she could do was cry... and here I am telling her not to because it will hurt her even more... Oh it was a huge train wreck that first 30 minutes or so! =) But we finally got her some ice chips and some more "feel good" drugs and she was on top of the world again. She was LOVING the nurses... at one point I went up stairs to have lunch and when I came back she was having a full blown conversation with her nurse about the Nickelodeon channel! It was absolutely adorable! 

Been awake for about an hour... Happy juice and ice chips! 

She loves these slippers... 

Laying down watching Dora the Explorer!

Her and her ice chips and of course her monkey and puppy dog watching over her! 

*Thanks momma and Pop-A for my monkey*

Playing Peek-A-Boo with daddy and the camera... Finally caught her face! 

Unfortunately we did end up having to stay the night in the hospital as Mackenzie has sleep apnea and they needed to monitor her breathing. Needless to say that was a sleepless night as she was up about every 3 hours crying her little eyes out because she was hurting so much! I felt so useless that I couldn't comfort her with just a hug and a kiss... it was much more intense and needed a a little something stronger! lol =) We did get to go home EARLY the next morning which was very nice because as said before I HATE being in the hospital and I needed sleep... 

When we got home on Wednesday it was all just a blur of exhaustion and then sleeping for the both of us... Since then she has been doing really well with all of her medicines and taking her pain stuff, except for at night when she is half asleep and I literally have to pin her to take it so she can fall asleep again! Poor thing... but other than that nothing bad has happened and she thankfully hasn't gotten any side effects of the surgery which is a miracle for this child! I am hoping that this is the start to something great for Mackenzie considering she has been sick so much in her short life... Maybe this is what we needed in order for her to start off healthy and remain healthy! 

Thank you too everyone who prayed for her and sent her well wishes! 

Thanksgiving 2010

Well although Gary wasn't home this year we still had a great Thanksgiving... We spent it with my parents and had a great day just relaxing, cooking, playing Dr, and playing "bags" AKA Corn Hole! It was weird having my mom relax with us for most of the day but she had prepared a lot of the food the night before! 

It really is nice having family and so close too because I know so many who miss their families around the holiday because they are so far away! Until I had Mackenzie I really didn't listen or know the true meaning to Thanksgiving and Christmas! But having her has brought so much more to my eyes and I love it! 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 

Mom finishing up the last bits of cooking! 

Monkey and Uncle Michael waiting patiently to eat! 

Dad carving the turkey...

Playing bags with the brothers... Dad/mom was next to me...

Perfect way to end a perfect day! 

Until next year.... 

Whats new!

So many things have been going on in our house and it is so hard to keep up with everyone and everything thats happening! =) So instead of always telling one person at a time I figured," Hello I have a blog for a reason!!!"

Mackenzie: 

Oh the little one... She is way to smart for her own good. She loves getting into trouble and doing things that she knows mommy is gonna lose her mind over! I seriously think children do this on purpose! LOL She is going through a growth spurt right now all she wants to do is eat and sleep all the time! I LOVE it... My big girl =) She just recently stopped going to daycare 2 times a week as I am done with school... but she misses it so much and asks me every day when she can go back... I may just have to give in and take her once a week just for fun! This month she will be having surgery to get her tonsils and adnoids removed... mommy is freaking out... but Gary and I know that it will be a good thing for her since she is always sick and and her sleep apnea is getting worse! Other than that she is just being a normal 3 year old running around all day long playing with her toys and getting into trouble like she should be doing! =)

Gary:

Oh this poor man... He has been working his butt off the last year... Always gone from us and when he is home he gets about a day or two and then is off to work again, sometimes even working while in town. This year he will be missing Thanksgiving as he is still in Washington =( But we both know that he has to work in order to keep our family going! **Cant wait till he is home though** Although he will be missing Thanksgiving we are so excited for Christmas and New Years as he is taking 2 weeks off. During those two weeks he will have his older girls for an entire week... We are so excited about that since we havent seen them going on a year and a half! Mackenzie misses her sisters and Gary misses his other babies for sure! It will be a great holiday this year for sure! 

Adrianna:

Well not to much is going on with me... I just finished my Pharmacy Tech program and can now take the boards to become a certified Technician! I am so excited and proud of myself as I finally actually finished part of my education! Now onto just getting the Associates in General Studies so that when I can get into a nursing school I will only have 2 years instead of 4 years to complete it! =) I am really excited about the future and what it holds for our little family! So many good things have happened this year and a few sad and bad things have happened but that is the story for everyone! I am also still playing softball 2 nights a week now instead of 3... I dont think that I will ever stop as I love it too much and it keeps me active at least 2 days a week! Along with that I am continuing to go to the gym and make an effort to take off the extra "CUSHION" as i like to call it... lol! =) 

Its been an interesting and long year... and its not even over yet! =) WE are looking forwards definitely to the holidays this year and can't wait to see the older girls! 

Until next time... 

**Picture taken by Erin Hicks of http://www.elhicksphotography.com/**

AMAZING!

That is all i have to honestly put for what my mom is... she is the most amazing person i know. She is the type that knows just what to say to her children to make them understand when she is mad, happy, sad, excited, etc. I dont know if i will ever be able to tell her how much she means to me and how much i love her! 

She has gotten me through so much and has changed my life the last 13 years! She knew what i needed, LOVE, and she has given me that more and more each day and continues to do so! She has always been there for me through EVERYTHING... when I was in trouble, when i needed cry, when I needed to yell, or just sit there and be there with her. I can't believe sometimes how she puts up with my nonsense... i put her through so much and yet she is there and never gives up on me. When I tried hurting myself in high school she was there with open arms and she cried with me and helped me through what was bothering me and what was making me want to not go through life anymore! I have a picture from the night i graduated high school, she was standing right next to me with the biggest smile and shine in her eyes. I knew she was proud of me and she would have never had to say a word. 

Now I am not saying that my mom and I haven't had our ups and downs we have had many downs... some that I didn't know if we would get through, but being the amazing person she is... she waited till I pulled my head out of my behind and was there with open arms ready for more! 

Why do you ask am i making a point to say so many things about my mom! Aside from the fact that she is my mom and she is AMAZING! But because I owe her a thank you for the person that I am right now and someday hope to become! 

Mom,

Thank you so much for always being here for me... through anything that I may have put you through and will put you through in the future. Thank you for doing what she wouldn't for me and being my mom! You will never know how much you have changed my life! Thank you for helping me to admit that I do have things that need fixing in my life and that before I can move forward that i need to fix what is behind me so that i can have a great future with my daughter! You are the type of mother that i want to be and hope that i can be to Mackenzie! I love you mom! 

Adrianna

So proud!!!

On June 21st, almost 6 years ago my nephew, Dom, was born! It was a hard time for all of us considering all that he had to go through and how he had to fight to stay in this world! I can still remember the day that my family and I had to go down to the hospital to baptize him just because we didn't know if he would make it or not! It was a very hard time to deal with for me as this was my first nephew and I was his Godmother, I just remember going to work after and crying in the bathroom because I was so scared... All the things this little man has endured over the years is almost enough for a person to go through in there whole life! But he has taken everything head on and never had a doubt in his own mind that he would make it and become a strong little person!

On Tuesday, May 25th, Dom graduated from kindergarten and I couldn't be more proud of him! Although I missed the ceremony I was able to make it for refreshments and to get a few photos of him. He looked so happy and it just made me realize how special this little boy is and how much he could do if he really set his mind to it!

On the way home this evening we were talking about just random things and he just so happened to tell me what he wanted to do when he grew up, "auntie, I wanna be a soldier." I just thought it was the cutest thing in the world, and as we got to talking I asked him if after high school would he want to go to college, and he told me no! I was curious so I asked him why, he said because school isn't as important as being a soldier, and I cried, tears of happiness! He made me so proud and happy when he said that... I eventually told him that although a soldier is an important person, school is also important. I continued to tell him about how becoming a soldier could help him pay for school and that just made him so happy... so he finally told me, "okay auntie, i am going to be a soldier and then for you ill go to college. *tear*"

I cannot wait to see what this little boy does with his life. I love him so much and cannot believe that he will be six in just under a month!

I love you sweet boy!

Mothers Day 2010

In the 3 Mother's Day's that I have had, Gary has not ever been home for one of them so this was a very special time since he was able to be here this past weekend. He started out the morning by getting up with Mackers and heading out of the house for a little while! As soon as I got up I went and showered, quite and alone *one of the best gifts ever*, I got ready alone as well which was nice since I didn't have to tell the 2 year old to stop it 1200 times! After that I headed downstairs to finish up the dessert for my family...

Gary and Mackers showed up about 45 minutes before we had to leave to take my brother to work and to head out to lunch with my family! We are making a tradition of going to one of my mom's FAVORITE restaurants Buca De Beppo, every year! I love spending time with my mom on Mother's Day. We had a fun lunch and a awesome time afterward at my parents house with my grandparents here from out of town!

All in all it was a great day and I got some wonderful gifts from the loves of my life!

I LOVE my coffee cup that Gary and Mackers got me! Say's MOM in all different languages!

The AMAZING cross that Gary and Mackenzie got me...

The flowers my grandparents got me...

The cake I made for Mother's Day!

Thank you everyone for a great Mother's day and happy Mothers day to everyone I know and love!

Aubut Family...

I found this AWESOME blog about a year ago and just started participating in her giveaways.... I love everything that she reviews and even if I dont win I try and go and get something from all the posts!

This week I entered a contest to win a Misikko Hana Professional Flat Iron since mine is about to go bad on me! I hope to win this one!

But check it out whenever you get the chance she has some great stuff on her blog! =)

http://www.aubutfamily.com/