It has been a crazy couple of weeks around the Todd household so brace yourself, this may be a long one!
1. On Wednesday, November 14, Garrison had outpatient surgery to repair a small fluid filled hernia (hydrocele) that he has had since birth. Before his surgery, he couldn't have anything to eat or drink and we weren't scheduled until 10:30! I was nervous how he would handle not having milk in the morning but he did GREAT! He even went in and watched Mickey Mouse on his own in the hearth room before we left and fell asleep on the floor! When we arrived at the hospital, he did great with checking in and getting ready and when it was time to head back, Daddy put him on the bed and handed him Mickey and off he went - what a BRAVE boy!! He was in surgery almost an hour and the Dr. came out to tell us everything went great and he should be ready to go home in an hour. We got to go back and see him shortly after he was out of surgery and he slowly came out of his sleep, had a little to eat and drink and it was time to go home! Daddy took great care of Garrison while I had to go back to work for the afternoon/evening.
Grammy & Grandpa had come up for his surgery and since I was going to be working late and we weren't sure how Garrison would respond to his recovery, Peyton had a special treat of going home with them! Grammy & Grandma Mintun then returned on Thursday and took Peyton to school before heading to our house to stay with Garrison for the day. He had a pretty laid back day with Grammy & Grandma Mintun but did great! Late on Thursday night, Garrison developed a fever but we just monitored him throughout the night. On Friday, Grandpa & Grandma Todd came up to stay with Garrison for the day. Garrison wasn't doing well on Friday morning but Grandpa & Grandma just let him rest and tried to get him to eat/drink. When Daddy came home around lunch time he decided Garrison needed to go to the Dr. After a few phone calls, we ended-up getting an appointment with the surgeon to have him checked out. We spent the next couple of hours finding out that Garrison had a terrible infection and would need to be admitted. Grandpa & Grandma kept Peyton at our house while we sorted everything out and developed a plan for the night. After dinner with Daddy, they all came to the hospital and brought us a couple of pieces of cheesecake, yum! Garrison got started on IV fluids and antibiotics (after a few tries getting the IV in - G was so dehydrated it wasn't easy!). I stayed with Garrison while Daddy & Peyton went home to sleep. Since Garrison had meds every 4-6 hours plus the fluids plus just didn't feel well, we slept in the chair all night - our poor baby was pretty sick.
The next few days felt like a bit of a blur. Grammy & Grandpa and Grandma & Grandpa Todd came up at different times over the weekend to get one or more of us away from the hospital for a bit and to check-in on Garrison. The infection continued to worsen through Saturday and parts of Sunday but by Sunday evening we started to turn a bit of a corner. We saw lots of Dr.s, had two ultrasounds to check for an absess, rocked a LOT and watched more Mickey Mouse & Disney Channel than I ever care to admit. Monday brought a bit of normalcy for Peyton when she returned to school but we found out Garrison needed to stay at least another night. Tuesday morning, everything was looking great and we thought we were headed home! But, when Daddy was changing G's diaper around noon he found a hard spot of infection on his side so we, with the Dr.s, decided it would be best for us to stay one more night for observation. Unfortunately, this day was Peyton's birthday. Luckily, Peyton was a trooper and we celebrated her birthday at the hospital by letting her pick her own dinner at the cafeteria (I know, doesn't sound exciting but she loved it) and ice cream cake - yummy! On Wednesday, the infection had not grown which meant we got to come home right after lunch. Although we thought all of the Dr.s and nurses were great, we were VERY thankful to head home and to have our family back together. On Tuesday when Peyton had to leave the hospital she told Daddy, "I just want our family all together again." Couldn't have said it better myself, sweetie! Here are a few pictures from our hospital stay...
Daddy & Garrison having some lunch - Garrison is getting much better at using his spoon!
See, pudding with a spoon - yes, a bit messy but he was having fun!
This is on Tuesday night when he was feeling some better - check-out the smile - we didn't have one of those on Friday or Saturday at all! He is getting his antibiotics from the IV in this picture.
Peyton & her ice cream cake on her birthday!
2. So, as you can see in the last post, Peyton turned 4 on November 20th! Wow, where have the last 4 years gone? Our baby had passed the toddler stage and is turning into quite a little lady! We are so very proud of our little angel and can't wait to see how she continues to grow and develop. In the last year she has continued to grow her vocabulary and her ability to count - she is over 30 now! - she loves to spell words out and can write her name. Peyton loves to have books read to her and always wants to love on and take care of her brother. Happy Birthday Miss Peyton!
3. On Wednesday night we found some Reddi Whip Grammy had left in the fridge for some pudding and Daddy put it to good use - straight into the mouths of babes! Check-out these two kiddos with their mouths full of whipped cream. They loved it! What a fun treat after a really rough week!!
4. On Wednesday after we got home we pulled out the Christmas decorations and got to work! We found the perfect spot for our tree in our new house and Peyton had the honor (with a little help from Daddy) of placing the angel on the top after we had trimmed the tree. I got a new 9' slim tree last year and LOVE it! My favorite part of decorating the tree is getting out all of our picture ornaments to see how our family has grown and to pull-out the ornaments from our vacations to recall all of our fun memories as a couple and family!
5. Since Garrison had been in the hospital for an extended period, we didn't really want him to travel to Thanksgiving this year so on Thursday, Peyton & Daddy went to Lexington to visit Daddy's family and celebrate Thanksgiving and Peyton's birthday! Peyton had a great time visiting with lots of family and playing with Wyatt, Whitney and a new friend Cameron (known to Peyton as Camera!). Peyton also got to hold baby Morgan (whom she only refers to as Morgan Clinton!). After a tasty dinner, cake and presents, they headed home for the evening.
6. On Friday, since we couldn't really travel, Grammy & Grandma Mintun came up to our house for our annual baking day! Grammy pre-made some of the cookies and dough to make the process a bit faster for our 4-year-old attention span but we had a GREAT time! We made cinnamon-applesauce ornaments, decorated sugar cookies, made peanut butter kiss cookies and dipped pretzels. Peyton wore her "wedding" dress (my flower girl dress) for the event but thankfully wore her cookie tester apron to save some of the mess. Garrison even joined in on the fun a little this year and took big sister's lead. He got to wear his basketball apron while he helped this year too!
7. After our baking day, and since we had planned on being in Clinton on Friday, Peyton went home with Grammy to attend the Christmas parade on Friday night. They visited with Grandma Minutn, Uncle Mark and Tom before the parade, had fun making some crafts and had some tasty cookies on the square before the parade and of course loved watching the lighted entries go by for the parade. After the parade, Peyton wanted to go see Santa - she waited in line and eventually stood next to Santa and took candy from Mrs. Claus but didn't tell him what she wanted - we are getting closer!
On Saturday morning, Peyton requested a Shark Cake for her Clinton birthday party as part of Thanksgiving. Check-out the cake below, it turned out great! I drove down to Clinton on Saturday morning and Uncle Mark, Joe & Tom joined Grammy, Grandpa, Grandma Mintun, Peyton & I for a tasty Thanksgiving lunch followed by Peyton's birthday cake/party. We had a great time at lunch - and Peyton liked getting to celebrate her birthday for the 4th time - hey, 4 celebrations for her 4th birthday...not sure we can keep up with that one for very long...
Like I said, we've had a crazy couple of weeks. On Sunday we laid pretty low and got a few things done around the house. Although going back to work is never easy after being away, I think we are all ready for a little more routine again.
