Ava's Christmas Tree

Tonight we put up Ava's tree in her room. She picked out the tree and the ornaments at the store! She was so excited!!

She took to hanging the ornaments very seriously! Love this kid....

More importantly, we added Randy Reindeer. We have Elf on a Shelf, but we are trying something a little different this year. Same concept, but Randy watches Ava go to bed and sleep in her own bed and makes sure there are no tears. He will then report to Santa and if Ava used good behavior, there will be a little gift under the tree in the morning. My sleep relies on Randy....

Just Stuff

Today was my first day back to work. It felt really good to be back in the swing of things. I enjoy schedules too much!! LOL!

I also took Ava back for her 2 week followup on the bump on her jaw line. **Sigh** Unfortunately, the bump hasn't gone down at all. Which may have put me in a borderline nervous breakdown. We saw Dr. Tracy...love.her. (After she calmed me down), she had a hard time finding the bump at first. She has no explanation what it is but feels it is too small to biopsy at this point. I have to keep an eye on it and see if it changes sizes at all. It doesn't bother Ava at all, she actually calls it a cheeseball in her mouth. I wish that's all it was. I know I should feel better about it, but I really don't. But according to everyone in my close vicinity, I need to stop obsessing. Hmph! Just keep saying prayers for my little girl!

Here is a picture of us from the cheerleading competition a few weeks ago. Gotta love this kid!!

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Daddy has to work Wednesday night so Ava and I cuddled up with popcorn and watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It never gets old!

We spent Thursday at Pat and Jenni's with my side of the family. Ava had a blast playing with all of her cousins! Plus, she had the CUTEST dress! Thanks to Julienne Originals from Etsy!

 

Friday we hosted John's family. Ava loves all of her cousins on that side and especially loved playing dress up with cousin Quinn!



 



And this girl was super happy that I got to finally meet my new little niece!! Baby Leilani was born a few weeks ago and she lives in Medina. Luckily her mama was able to make it and I snuggle on the little girl!

 

Saturday was spent cheering on the Buckeyes!

 



And putting up all of the Christmas decorations! We got a new tree the day after Christmas last year and I love it!!

 

Today was a lazy day and tomorrow will be as well. I go back to work on Tuesday and I'm not gonna lie. I'm nervous. I'm still not 100%. But I have an amazing boss who will let me work from home if needed. Good wishes this way, please!!!

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Now on to the Christmas season!!

 

Sara

One Week Post Op

This may be a whiny post and I apologize ahead of time. But I need to vent...

One week ago was my surgery. While I'm feeling more like a human and am off those horrific pain meds, I'm still so miserable. I think I have cried every day for the last 3-4 days. The worst of the pain is in my ears. It is truly the worst pain that I have experienced. Worse than a gall bladder attack. I know, SERIOUSLY!!!

Mornings are the worst. My throat is so dry and my ears are horrendous. With John's snoring and being unable to wear earplugs has came to me sleeping on the couch or Ava's bed. It takes me about an hour to feel decent in the mornings. And then I'm good.

What's weird is that even without pain meds, I'm seriously having the weirdest, scariest, vivid dreams. I've found myself trying to stay awake to avoid sleeping. It's like Nightmare on Elm Street. Haha!!! They are so vivid that I woke up this morning and was so ticked at John!! After about 10 minutes, I realized it was part of my dream.

I still can't really eat. Which is bad because I'm so hungry! I did have a barely grilled cheese sandwich the other night. I cut it up in smaller pieces than I would for Ava and it took me about 40 minutes. But I did it! I may have possibly taken a bite of something, chewed it up, and then spit it out a couple of times. .I know, GROSS TMI. Sorry.

Ok, I'm done being a baby.

The plus side?? I've lost 16 lbs in a week.

My list of food when I can eat normal again (yes, it's that bad):
PIZZA
Pretzel sticks from TGI Fridays
Subway Club toasted with lettuce and mayo on wheat
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Bean Dip with extra cheese and sour cream at Ernesto's
Did I mention PIZZA?
Oh, and Diet Coke!! LOTS OF DIET COKE!!!

Prayer

I belive in prayer. Small prayers, big prayers, and even unanswered. Though I'm not an avid church goer, I pray so many times a day. And Thursday was no exception. Ava had spent the night at my mom's house since my surgery on Wednesday. About 10am her teacher calls and mentioned that the right side of Ava's face was swollen and there was a small lump. I didn't panic at first because I thought maybe it was a tooth infection. So I took her to the dentist and within a few minutes, these were the words I heard. Lump, Lymph Node, Biopsy. My heart stopped. The tears started. I was a wreck! The pale look on John's face told me he was feeling the same way. I called the pediatrician from the dental office and they wanted to see her in an hour. So we took her to lunch and tried to play normal.

The pediatrician made me feel a little better. He thinks it's a bacteria infection in her salvatory gland. He put her on an antibiotic and she has to go back in two weeks. As we were leaving we saw our normal pediatrician who said she sees these all the time, not to panic, and stay OFF GOOGLE! LOL!

So, if you could add little Ava to your prayers too, it would be appreciated.

As for me, I'd like to think I'm healing. Sometimes I don't feel like it. I missed two days of my life by sleeping round the clock. But today it the first day I felt like getting on the computer. Today is Day 5 and I heard it's one of the worse. Ugh...I'm mostly suffering in my ears right now. This surgery is NO JOKE.

Hopefully we'll be back in the swing of things soon.
S.

Ava's First Cheerleading Competition

Today was Ava's first cheerleading competition held at Woodmore High School. I have never, ever laughed so hard in my whole entire life! My child is CRAZY!! She was so funny! At the end of the dance portion, she was in a hand gesture argument with her coaches on where to stand. I hope she is still part of the squad! LOL!!!

Here are some pictures of her big experience!

 

If we are friend on Facebook, you HAVE got to check out the video! It is worth every second! 

iPhone Pics

Life has been really quiet lately...shhh...don't tell anyone we have extra time right now....

Although we are gearing up for a busy next couple of weeks.

Friday night we head to Findlay to see Genoa play Ottawa Glandorf. We beat Columbus Ready last week. Keep your fingers crossed that we keep up the winning streak!!

Ava has her first cheerleading competition this week. Say prayers for Coach Cari, Coach Staci, and Coach Jodi! They may be possibly some of the most patient people I have ever met. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to follow!

Wednesday is surgery day for me. I am soooo not looking forward to this. I'm having my tonsils out and the horror stories are in full affect! But what a way to kickstart a weight loss plan! Apparently, I'm going to be laid up for quite a while. That's going to be hard for this social mom!!

Since everything has been quiet, I thought I would share some iphone pictures from the last few weeks. I love this kid!!

Ava's treat she took to school for Gotcha Day. Thanks, Pinterest! 

Making my own laundry detergent. Thanks, Pinterest! (pattern???) 

Yes, she has on shorts and a winter coat. This is what happens when you have an impromptu sleep over at Nana's. #FAIL 

Trick or treating with her friends from school.  

Shouting out like a rockstar while watching The X Factor.  

Hot Tubbing with Daddy 

 Sweet mail from our friend, Roz for family day!

 Making Mommy go broke while circling things in the American Girl catalogue...

 My little sticker girl!!



Happy Halloween!!

First, let me say our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.

We have spent the last week celebrating Halloween. A week...this is all thank to Hurricane Sandy. Yes, we live in Ohio. And yes, we were feeling the effects of the hurricane. Most of our festivities were postponed due to the bad weather. And I am super thankful because we had a beautiful night trick or treating!

Ava had a class party on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was actually Halloween and we spent the evening carving pumpkins. Thursday was a low key day and Friday was trick or treating at school. And then Saturday was Genoa's trick or treating. I feel like it's Christmas with all the celebrating!! Haha!!

Yes, we know that we are completely horrible at carving pumpkins. I think next year, we will paint.