And she's off

To Preschool

to share her infectious smile

with lots of attitude

and soft bouncy curls

and big kissable cheeks

Have a great first day at preschool, my sweet baby Kate! I love you to the moon and back!

Katelyn goes to preschool

I am hoping to give Katelyn a similar experience in preschool like Madison had at UCUMC in Cibolo.

Here's to hoping for the best!

the color purple

Madison choose a purple cast

Katelyn wanted her photo taken too

The other day, the girls were drawing on the easel.

The blob has curly hair (the squiggles), two eyes, a mouth, two stick legs, and two stick arms

Guess who?

Sweetness

Madison is ready for school

Madison drew herself in front of the school. She is holding a lunch box (L) and backpack (B) and wearing a bow in her hair...imagine that!

Madison and Mrs. Werner

The teacher asked the class to draw the best part of their first day. Madison said the best part was "meeting my teacher". So that is what she drew. The "M" is for Madison and the "W" for Mrs. Werner. The symbol underneath the black type is the "&" sign. Madison is wearing a dress and holding a pencil and paper. Her teacher has blond hair and holding a camera (she kept taking lots of pictures).

Mrs. Werner told me that Madison melted her heart with this picture and she went on and on about how sweet our Maddy is. I have to agree...she is pure sweetness...when she wants to be (LOL).

Welcome back Caro Captains

Packing lunch was the hardest part for me....

Madison saw her friend Natalie too!

Madison and Mrs. Werner

And then there was 1

Katelyn definitely missed Madison today!

Katelyn: I want to sit in Madison's seat.
Me: But you are not big enough for her seat, Katelyn.
Katelyn: I'm a big girl now. Madison is at school.
Me: no comment

I can't wait to hear all about Madison's first day of kindergarten. Stay tuned!

A new adventure

We all begin a new adventure tomorrow as Madison begins her school career. I did not get emotional until I made her lunch tonight....she has never been to school where she needed to take a lunch.  On a trip to Wal-mart today, she asked me what I was going to do without her. I guess she knows how much I will miss her sweetness. I put on the brave face and just smiled! She is so excited and I cannot wait to hear all about her first day of school.

All Smiles

So where do I begin....

Madison had a appt on Wednesday morning at the Nemours Children's Clinic with Dr. Farris (a pediatric orthopedic doctor). The clinic was awesome and it felt good to know that she would be in good hands. She was taken to the plaster room (where they put cast on) and we waited for the doctor to review the x-rays from the ER.

Cool skeleton in plaster room!

So from the x-rays the doctor told us that Madison needed surgery to repair the dislocation-she was admitted straight to the Children's Hospital at Sacred Heart. The staff, nurses and volunteers were awesome. They made us all feel very comfortable. We decided that Eric would stay the night with Madison in the hospital and I would take Katelyn home after the surgery.

Madison's room-located right next to the playroom.

The volunteers at the Children's Hospital were wonderful. They scheduled craft time and there was a Tae Kwon Do school that came to give a demonstration to the patients. It was very heartwarming because located at the Children's Hospital was an oncology ward. (Side note-the entire experience was very surreal in that most of the kids on the floor were repeat visitors to the oncology department. Every time that my emotions got the best of me, I was reminded exactly how fortunate we are to have HEALTHY kids. I pray that those children will overcome their difficult struggles and grow up to be great adults).

Madison -all smiles-coloring and watching cartoons.

She was taken down to pre-op between 5 and 6. Katelyn got to ride with her on the bed and it was so cute (photos are on my phone-I'll try to get them to blogger).

Ready to go-not all smiles-a little nervous

The nurse got Pinkie ready for surgery!

Madison was so exhausted. She was not allowed to eat the entire day and by the time the anesthesiologist came to give her the sleepy medicine, she was already asleep. We gave kisses and they wheeled her back to the OR around 10pm.

Kate fell asleep with pinky while waiting for Madison to get done with surgery. The white kitty cat was brought to Madison by Lt Col Chuvala and his wife Linda. So sweet!

Around 11pm, the doctor found us in the waiting room. He was all smiles! So we were all smiles! He was able to manipulate her elbow back into place without any breakage of the bones, which meant no pins or nails. He kept saying how pleased he was with her demeanour and what a great patient she had been. So once Madison was recovered (which she slept through) and wheeled back to her room (which she slept through), I left her in Eric's hands for the night.

The next morning, I found Madison sitting up in bed having breakfast.

She was all smiles!

Katelyn jumped in bed with Madison and fed her breakfast

Then we ventured to the playroom for a while.

Did I mention how great the playroom was?

Lunch was served for Madison while Eric went to the cafe to get a salad and some pasta for Kate. While he was gone, Dr. Farris came by to see Madison and give instructions on what happens next. The nurse took out Madison IV....drama! The tape coming off was worth 1000 tears and Madison cried everyone of them. But afterward, the girls shared a lunch together on the bed.

(Side note: On the way out of the hospital, there was a fountain in the hospital. The girls asked for a penny to make a wish. Once we got home, I asked Maddy about her wish and she said "I wished that all the sick kids would get better and go home like me". AWWW I love that girl! She is SO SWEET!)

And then we left for home! Just like that...she was our patient now! Once we returned home, Madison received several "special deliveries".

Pops and Nana sent the lion and balloons, Mimi and Peepaw sent the bear with balloons, the Sawyers sent the flowers with balloons, and the Willis family sent the yummy cupcakes.

Later that night, Madison was all smiles!

She was so brave throughout the entire process-ER-Doctor's office-Hospital-Surgery-Recover-

I am so proud of her!

I'll take three please

Hi Welcome to Bubble Land. Can I take your order?

Me: Hi. Can I get two bubbles, size 6 and size 3, to put my little girls in? And do you have any sizes for infants? I'll need one of those too but not until December.

No---not possible.....well at least I tried!

Madison slept through the night and woke up very upset about how things happened yesterday. She is truly broken hearted about her injury and wishes it never happened. Me too!

Poor baby

Madison fell off of the kitchen chair this morning and got up screaming! I took one look at her arm and knew that we were in for a long day. Eric and I rushed her to the ER on base and after many x-rays, we were told that she had a dislocated elbow. To make things more bizarre, one of the bones from her wrist to her elbow is bent! ODD! The other bone is dislocated.

She was complete d-r-a-m-a. This photo was taken after the morphine shot! Much better.

So since her injury was so strange, the orthopedic doctor has referred us to a Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon. There was nothing more they could do for her on base. She was so sweet and brave through all of the chaos.

Funny things that Madison said today (while driving to ER):
1) "My life is over"
2) "My arm will be broken forever"
3) "I'll never dance again"

while waiting in ER is LOTS OF PAIN
1) "I can't do it anymore"
2) "I can't handle this"
3) "I can't take this pain"

after morphine
1) "Mom, the toilet is spinning"
2) "My arm feels like a pickle"

Surgery is imminent to put the bone back in place-we are not sure what happens to the bent bone-Our appointment is tomorrow at 9:50

~Til Then

Lazy dog

This is what happens when you spend all day outside playing in the water with 2 little girls. He was so asleep that he was on his back and snoring!

Pegleg Pete's

We met the Michaelson's for dinner at Peglet Pete's The kids had so much fun playing on the playground (plus the adults enjoyed the food too). The best part was the kids meals comes in a sand bucket with a pirate patch. My girls are still playing with those silly things!

Note-Nicholas has a sister but Kaylea was already in her carseat when I took the photos.