Tonsilgate 2013, Part 2

This is how Sydney spent 75% of the week. The other 25% was spent on my lap, sweating and creating a 4 inch circle of drool on my shirts.

 Eileen brought her carnations.

Finally on Friday she felt a little better. She was playing in the house when she got upset, almost crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she needed to ‘get out of this house’. She then suggested we go to Des Moines and go shopping. I laughed in her face kindly reminded her that up until today she couldn’t even muster the strength to put on more clothes than a pair of underwear and that there was no way in hell we were going to go shopping.

We compromised on a drive about and I headed north. We ended up at Springbrook State Park. It was a beautiful day. We walked on the beach, explored some trails, and more. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit. We stayed about 1 ½ - 2 hours and headed for home.

Super fun day!

Tonsilgate 2013

After fighting 8 bouts of strep throat in a year, the doctors decided it was time for Sydney to get those pesky infected tonsils out. We scheduled the surgery for May 13 to avoid all the events of the week before. Unfortunately, after we did that, she came down with tonsillitis again and it made me rethink my decision. We stuck it out and made it to the 13^th with some maintenance antibiotics.

K and I took Syd to the Greenfield hospital early Monday morning and got her checked in. She got her gown on and put on the socks she brought from home.

 

She was doing really well until the anesthesiologist came in the room and started explaining all that was going to happen. However, he was SO good with her and did such a great job talking to her that I think her fears were eased a lot. He started the IV right there in the room when she was sitting on my lap and didn’t have any trouble finding one of her veins.

There was one surgery before hers so he took off to do that one and then a bit later the nurse came and got Syd ready to go into the OR. They said I could come with and hold her hand while she went to sleep. I was happy to oblige. When we got into the OR the anesthesiologist came in and said ‘Hi Syd’. In true Sydney form she quickly greeted him too ‘Hey Steve!’ He laughed at the fact that she called him by his first name.

Syd got on the table and was holding my hand. ‘Steve’ was explaining to her about the mask and what was going to happen. He asked her where she would like to be instead of here. She didn’t hesitate. ‘Hawaii!’ He laughed and asked what she would do there. She said ‘Well, the first thing I would do is check the weather for hurricanes.’ All the nurses and docs started laughing. ‘Then if the weather was clear I would go to the white sand beach, swim, and see dolphin askdjf;alskjdfaskldfj;alksdj…..and she was out. It’s very surreal to watch your child wide awake and chipper one moment and then her eyes roll back in her head and she’s out for the count. But I was glad to be in there with her.

The surgery went great, her tonsils were ‘ugly and full of junk’ as the doctor told us. He also said that her throat is so small that she didn’t have any adenoids so all they had to remove were the tonsils. She was in recovery for a while and then they wheeled her back to us. She looked a bit like a zombie, albeit a cute one. I got her out of the wheelchair and held her on my lap. She rested for a while and eventually got up and walked around.

We were discharged around 1:30pm and headed for home. K stayed with Syd while I ran to the grocery store to stock up on soft foods, the pharmacy to get the Tylenol 3 prescription, and to the Coach’s Corner to pick up a treat for all of us. Syd had an upset stomach and ended up throwing up 4 times that afternoon. My couch will never be the same. Nor will my throw pillows.

Mother's Day 2013

Mother’s Day was the day after Syd’s tumbling meet. We met up at Gram and Gramps’ house for lunch. Becky and Larry were in town so they brought Gram Doris out and we all ate together. Nat’s mom Vicki also joined us. The weather was beautiful, so after lunch we headed outside. It was a nice relaxing day, which is the perfect kind of Mother’s Day. Syd got me a couple flowers so we planted those when we got home.

2013 Tumbling Meet

Sydney’s annual tumbling meet took place Saturday, May 11^th. As always, she did a great job with her two tumbling passes. She scored an 8.25 this year. She didn’t place, but we are super proud of her, regardless. At the end of the day, they do handstand and headstand contests. Syd is too advanced to participate in the headstand contest this year, so she decided to do the handstand contest. She rocked it! She is so good at handstands. It’s weird to watch her walk the length of a room on her hands and not break a sweat. Uncle Adam is jealous because he always wanted to be able to walk on his hands and never could. Sydney walked ¾ of the length of all the mats put together and ended up placing 2^nd in the handstand competition! She got a medal and everything! It was a great day.

Sydney Stories 5-10-13

(Riding around outside on her scooter, pretending she and her family are being chased)
S: And the family is getting away! No! Now they’re being chased again!
(Rides around some more)
S: And the family has made it home safe and sound. They were faster than the Applebottom Gang!
M: The who?
S: The Applebottom Gang.
M: Do you know what an ‘Applebottom’ is?
S:  A gang.
M: No, what it is really?
S: Yes.
M: Um…I think you really mean the Apple Dumpling gang.
S: Whatever.

S: She said to pacifically watch out for that one.

M: Like the ocean?
S: What?
M: The pacific ocean.
S: Mom, that has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. Sometimes you’re so weird.

S: Mom, if you had to pick the order, who would you kiss first: Justin Bieber, Usher, or Adam Levine?

M: My order would go Adam Levine, Usher, and then the Biebs.
S: Mine would be Usher, Bieber, and then Adam Levine.
M: Really?
S: Yes, Adam is hotter, but he reminds me of my Adam. And that would be just gross to kiss my uncle!

(Last week one night Syd was making herself a salad. She put on Blue Cheese dressing accidentally instead of her Ranch. What ensued was a dramatic performance worthy of an Oscar nod.)

S: Mom, member the other night when I put Blue Moon on my salad? That was GROSS!
M: Blue Cheese.
S: Blue Moon Cheese.
M: No, just Blue Cheese. Blue Moon is a beer.
S: Gross! Why would I put beer on my salad?!?!?
M: You wouldn’t! That’s just what you said…Blue Moon. But you meant Blue Cheese.
S: Right. Blue Moon Cheese. I mean, Blue Cheese!! Ugh!! Whatever.

(Playing Barbies)

S: Mom. This Barbie is in big trouble with her mom!
M: Why?
S: Well. She and her friends went to the mall. They stole her mom’s credit card and went and did all this stuff. Like bought new shoes, a new purse, new clothes, and all that stuff.
M: Well…that’s not very good. Why would Barbie do something like that?
S: Don’t know. She’s just in a bad phase right now.
M: Oh. I see. Well, I bet she’s going to get in a lot of trouble.
S: Maybe not.
M: Why do you think that?
S: She did something good while she was at the mall so her mom couldn’t get all the way mad at her.
M: Really? What’d she do?
S: She got her flu shot.

One Year.

May 6, 2012 is when it really blew up. They had been bad, but on May 6^th they got really bad. K and I spend the entire weekend fighting. I cried, I yelled, I didn’t sleep. He worked, came home, ignored me, accused me of cheating, and convincing himself that this time things were like all the other times. They weren’t.

One year ago today, May 8, 2012, was the day I told K that he had to move out. I didn’t know exactly where we were headed, most likely divorce, but I knew the environment we were putting Sydney and ourselves in was completely toxic. I spent the next few days in a frenzy, crying at work, contacting and securing an attorney, telling my family, taking pictures of my belongings, transferring money to accounts K had no access to, and more. I was at my lowest point. No matter how hard I tried, I could not picture my life one year later. Yet here I am. I made it.

I took Monday off. Originally I had planned to do some things around the house. As it turned out, one of my college roommates, Stacey, was going to be in town and wanted to meet for lunch. We met up at Mel P’s house along with Jess and Stacey. We ate pizza from Papa Murphy’s, caught up on each other’s lives, laughed, and hung out. We talked briefly about K and about how things are between us and how Sydney is handling everything. But, really, it was just another day. I didn’t celebrate, I didn’t wallow, I didn’t do anything to mark the day. Because even though I’m happier now than I’ve ever been, it’s still not a happy occasion or situation. I didn’t ever want to be here. I’ve cried more tears, had more sleepless nights, and played the ‘what if’ game too many times to count. But I put one foot in front of the other and ended up in a better place than I ever thought I could.

I am acutely aware that I would not be in this place without my family and my friends. I am one lucky lady to have so many of both and so many people that truly care about myself and Sydney. I hope that none of them ever need me in the way that I have needed them over the past year, but if they do, I will be the first one there.

She's 9 and feelin' fine!

Sydney wanted to have a pool party for the 9^th birthday. We went to the AmericInn and she invited all her closest friends and relatives to swim on Saturday, April 20^th. She had a blast and got lots of nice things from her friends.

After the pool party two of her friends, Casey and Cameron, came home with us. The girls had a slumber party, though they didn’t do much ‘slumbering’. They stayed up playing until 2am when I made them lay down and then they proceeded to stay up until 4am watching TV and talking.

That left Sydney in a pretty good mood on Sunday afternoon. Yikes. But, she had a great time and that’s all that matters.

For her pool party she wanted pool party cupcakes. I did a little internet researching and came up with the following design:

We made blue frosting for water, took a gummy lifesaver as the inner tube, inserted a teddy graham, and topped it off with a paper drink umbrella. They were a hit and Sydney was thrilled!

This past weekend we had our ‘family’ party at Gram and Gramps’ house. She got some E-Z Bake Oven stuff and a pair of capri pants from Adam and family. She got the Twilight Barbie Dolls (Edward, Jacob, and Bella) from Gram and Gramp along with some fairies for her fairy garden and a couple cute dresses. She got a pair of new sandals from myself, along with a baby seat for her bike, and the game of checkers.

I made a Gooey Butter Cake for that party, but there are no pictures because it went very fast. I think it was a hit.

Syd’s actual birthday was Tuesday, April 30^th. She took treats to school and we ate dinner at the Rusty Duck with Gramp and Gram.

She went to bed last night with a big smile on her face. I’d say turning 9 has suited her pretty good!