Carter's First Surgery

Carter had to have a circumcision revision done today. That just means that his circumcision when he was born didn't work quite like it should have. We met with a pediatric urologist a couple of months ago and made the decision to get it fixed now. His surgery was scheduled for 7:30am at St. Vincent's Hospital in Beaverton. We had to be there by 6am, so we left our house by 4:45 which means we got up at 3:30. It was quite the morning! Carter did so well! We woke him up at the last minute, changed his diaper, and put him in the car. He couldn't eat anything this morning which made me a little nervous. He was great! He just jabbered most of the way, happy as a clam, and then fell asleep for the last ten minutes. He woke up happy and energetic and loved looking at everything in the hospital lobby. They checked us in right away at 6. The kids part of the lobby was so cool. There was a big boat that Carter loved! He just sat and steered the wheel until it was time to go back.




We had a wonderful nurse that was so good with Carter and us. I was a little bit of a basket case. I just hated the thought of handing my baby over to a stranger and seeing the look of panic in his face! She was great and did all of his stats, we got him dressed, and all ready for surgery. This part took about an hour. Carter was a champ! Then they let us hang out in another little waiting room that had lots and lots of toys. Carter was again in heaven!



Waiting to be taken to surgery.


This was right before they took him from us. They gave him a little medicine that would help make him really drowsy and out of it. This was so that he wouldn't freak out when they took him from us. It helped so much! He didn't even look back at us when they carried him away. No crying or anything! This was the part that I had the most fear about! Thank you Lord for making that easier on him and me. I still cried however!


We were able to grab something to eat while he was in surgery. We couldn't eat anything in the pediatric lobby so we sat right outside that lobby in the main hospital lobby. There were signs everywhere saying no food or drink but the receptionist told us it was fine. We thought it was funny that I was eating right by the no eating sign though.

They took him right at 7:30 and the nurse let us know that he was almost done in surgery at 8:20. Two minutes after that, the surgeon came out to the lobby and told us that everything went great. He would be waking up soon and we could go back in just a couple of minutes. Two minutes after that, the nurse came and got us. As we were walking back there she said he was freaking out. He had woken up in the operating room and was inconsolable. I was trying everything to keep myself from running, since I had no idea where he even was. When we walked around the corner of the room, the nurse was holding him and he looked like he was asleep. Then he saw us and cried hard again until he was all snuggled up with me. I was able to feed him which helped a lot since he hadn't eaten since the night before. Then the hardest part came when they needed to show us how to take care of the surgical site. He freaked out and didn't stop crying for at least 20 minutes. The nurse couldn't even take his final vital signs because he was screaming so hard. He finally settled down when we left the hospital and were walking to the car. He fell asleep within minutes of starting the car and slept all the way home.

This is right after they handed him to me. Thank you Lord that my baby is okay! That's all I was thinking at that moment! I know this isn't a big surgery, but I was still so nervous!



After he nursed, he scarfed a whole banana down! He loves his bananas!

Our Carter man was a champ today! He did so well and we are so proud of him. He even took a three hour nap this afternoon and let us also take a three hour nap. We all needed it. He is definitely in some pain and he screams when we have to change his diaper and put Vaseline on but other than that he has been doing really well.

What a week!

Our sweet Emma girl

Our Emma girl lost her fight yesterday. She was my baby girl and a part of our family and she will be missed greatly! I wanted to write about her a little on our blog since she was such a big part of our family. We found out just before Carter's first birthday that she had a tumor near her kidneys. We were devastated since we knew we couldn't afford to do any treatment or medications. She was only seven years old which is super young to have a tumor! She had been losing weight fairly quickly which is why we took her in. After blood tests and x-rays they discovered what they thought was a cancerous tumor. We did do a couple rounds of meds just to help her feel better and to get her to eat but they were expensive and we had to stop. The vet reassured us that they wouldn't do much for her anyway. At some point this would take her life. She seemed to be doing okay but over the last week started declining quickly. She stopped eating and drinking and then on Friday started showing signs that walking was very difficult. By Saturday, she could hardly walk at all. We started carrying her into her food and litter box but she would just flop to the floor as soon as we set her down. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible and had decided we would take her in on Wednesday (tomorrow) to put her down. Yesterday, however, she was showing obvious signs that she wouldn't make it that long. Jay was able to stop by at noon from work to verify for me that it was bad. We called the vet and made an appointment for 1:20. We got her in the car and I started driving. By the time I made it to Commercial street, she had stopped breathing. It was heartbreaking!

I got Emma my junior year of college. I was living in the on-campus apartments with three other girls. One night we came home and she just showed up and followed us to our door. This happened for a couple of days. She would even follow us out to our cars and then be there when we got home and follow us back to our apartment door. One of the times this happened, she ran into our apartment before we could stop her. We fell in love with her quickly and just couldn't stand the thought of throwing her back out, so we kept her. She lived with us for a couple of months until people found out we had a cat. Apparently, you can't have pets living with you on campus ;) She ended up going to my mom's and living with her for a while. Well, my mom also fell in love with her and let me keep her there until I could take her. Once I was done with school she came back to me and has been my baby girl ever since. She was super sweet and super sassy! She loved to snuggle with us, but was a little sassy and scrappy with other people. She loved laying on our chest and snuggling while we watched tv at night. If we stopped petting her, she would paw our face until we continued. I actually grew up never liking cats! I didn't really think they served much purpose and always said I would never have one. Emma changed me. She made me see how great cats can be and now we have Max as well. We truly loved her!

She loved high places and always looked like she was the queen of this family!

Meeting her new brother Max for the first time. She was not sure about this small, annoying, crazy little guy at first but quickly realized he was okay. She really did love Max and was always good to him. He adored her till the moment she died! Emma was so patient with Max and would let him lay on top of her, lick her face, bite her neck, wrestle her, chase her, etc... Whenever they were playing/fighting, you always new she had the upper hand. When she was done playing, look out Max!
Queen of her house!

Here is her sassy and scrappy side. She loved playing and wrestling!

She LOVED boxes!!!!



She also loved this new man in my life. They became quick friends! Sometimes I actually felt like she was Jay's cat and Max was mine. She always loved me but she definitely loved her daddy too.


Max has never understood personal space!




At our apartment, we finally discovered that we could let Emma out on the balcony. She would hang out there for hours and never try to jump off or come back in. She was in her happy place sitting on the balcony, watching the world go by. We have always felt guilty when we moved to our house and she couldn't go outside at all anymore. She didn't like the snow however!

Our first picture as a family a few days before we got married.





Before Carter was born she loved sleeping in his crib. As soon as Carter came home, she never tried it again.


I think she was in heaven those six weeks I was on bed rest. She laid with me all the time!

Meeting her new baby brother for the first time.

She was so good with Carter. He would pull her tail so hard and she never tried to hurt him! She let him pet her so much and would just lay there and take it. Carter learned really fast how to pet "gently." He was so precious when he was petting her!

She even took it like a champ when Carter spit up ALL OVER HER!

Max loved his sister!



This was on Carter's first birthday. She was sick here and was sleeping a lot. She was such a sweet girl and we will miss her always! She blended in with our area rugs in the living room and hallway and would get kicked quite frequently because we couldn't see her. Yesterday, I caught myself looking in the hallway before walking in there to make sure I didn't step on her. It is really weird not having her here anymore. Everyone asks if we will get more cats. The answer is no. We loved our two kitties but when they are gone we will probably be done with cats. We need a break from all the hair and litter. I sure loved my sweet girl though!

Eagle Crest Cont...

The rest of our trip was nice. We got to take Carter swimming, have lunch with my cousin and her boyfriend who live in Bend, visit the Alpacas, and relax a lot! I am thankful for the chance to go on this trip and for the time away with my family. Here are lots of pictures from our trip.

It was pretty cold, so on our only walk, Carter had to be all bundled up.

Our condo

Carter loved swimming. We spent the whole time in the kiddie pool which was a foot and a half. Carter got so brave! He was walking all over the pool by our second time swimming.





Carter is obsessed with stairs and of course our condo had a lot of them. Thankfully, the owners had a baby gate in the closet. We were able to put that at the bottom of the stairs which saved all of our sanity. We would have been pulling him off of the stairs or following him up and down all week if we didn't have that gate.

Playing with daddy. Boy do these two love each other and love playing.

Getting more and more brave. This time he wasn't even walking to anyone.


Having a conversation by the window.

I took a photography class with Eric John (our wedding photographer) and decided it was time to start practicing what I learned. It is so hard to figure out what settings to have the camera on for all the different lighting but I thought these turned out cool.




On our way to see the Alpacas, we saw a bunch of cows so we decided to take Carter out of his car seat. Don't worry, we were on a gravel road out in the middle of nowhere with NO traffic! He even helped Daddy drive the car a little bit. He was in heaven!






Watching the alpacas


As soon as we walked up to the gate, they all started running toward us. I loved these guys! They were so funny and really social. They liked watching us and getting pretty close to us.


This guy wasn't scared at all. He just came right on up to us and even let us pet him a little.


Carter loved them!

This picture is far away but look at the two white ones in the middle. They would wrap their necks all the way around each other. It was the cutest thing ever!

More story time with Great Grandma. Carter loves his Great Grandparents!

Breakfast with his Great Grandparents.

My aunt Peggy was here also but she took the picture.