Dear Cook Children's...

Two months ago my little Hunny Bunny scratched her wittle forehead. No biggie right? Well that tiny spot has been the bane of my existence since then for it decided not to heal. Instead it became a Pylomated Granduloma... a what? A blood blister that just grows and bleeds and grows and bleeds. Poor hunny would wake up covered in blood after scratching it in her sleep. This smallest of scratches turned into spot that required surgery to be removed. So after two months and three Dr. opinions later we were at Cook's Children's. Thats right, I was at the same office with all the families who babies were undergoing serious life threatening operations and I sat alone wishing that this tiny spot had never happened. "How did we end up here?" I kept asking myself as moms and dads alike were praying, crying, and asking their priests for guidance. Well, my baby has special sensitive skin and the best way to take care of it was by putting her to sleep so the doctor could work on a still and non-screeming 8 month old.
We got there at 12:30 to register and get our pre-op consultations. Taeli wasn't allowed to eat past 8:30 so I was playing with fire hoping she would be distracted enough and not remember she was hungry. When I put her in the "little" gown with sleeves that went down to her knees I had to laugh. She looked like the tiniest purple robed thing I had ever seen. She was a really good baby that day.



She didn't like the hospital tags on her arm and leg. She wouldn't let her leg touch the table for about 5 mintues and she successfully chewed off the arm band.


The nurses were SO helpful! There was a baby playing area and I took turns entertaining her out there with balls (her fave) and a car she could ride on. The hard part was that being entertained by me reminded her that she was hungry. So every few minutes a nurse would come by and play with her. They would walk around and talk to other nurses and play with her toy.


She was gifted with three vanilla flavored pacifiers to help ward of the hunger!

The surgery before us took a bit longer than expected so we had to wait till 2:45 before she was taken back. Poor baby was starving by then!!! She got to take her bunny and Blanket with her into the operating room so she would be comfortable. They even put name tags on them. Her bunny still has the tag on its leg. I thought it was cute that Taeli and her friend both had hospital bracelets. They matched! I gave her a kiss and told her to be good and I would be waiting for here when she woke up and the nurse sang to her as they took her down the hall. I waited in the pre-op room till she was down the hall so she wouldn't see me and get upset.
Then I had to wait in the surgery center waiting room... thank goodness for having a large family. Every picture and text I sent had at least 7 replies to keep me occupied and help not picture my poor baby laying on the hospital bed with a gas mask, IV, and breathing tube. They called me when she asleep and said she did really well. She never cried, just went right to sleep. After that I relaxed a little and then noticed my surroundings... yes, the crying and praying families just hoping their children would live. One nine year old had a shattered knee because he has a disease that causes brittle bones and he was playing to hard one day. Apparently last year he shattered his elbow. One family was hoping that their child's tumor wasn't cancerous and all I was there for was a blister. Thank you, Thank you, for my healthy child. All I wanted to do then was hold her, squeeze her, and kiss her all day.
The surgery only took about 30 min and the Dr. came and told me the base of her granuloma was a lot smaller than expected and if she does have a scar it will be as small as a freckle! I got to go sit with her after that so I could be there when she woke up. That way she never knew I was gone and I could feed the poor starving Hunny as soon as she was awake enough.


Little Sleeping Hunny. Her face was all splotchy from the surgical tape.

She looked like such a Tiny big girl lying there asleep on that bed! She had her blanket all tucked up around her and was sleeping peacefully with a vanilla flavored pacifier. She slept for about 20 minutes and then I held her in her gingerbread man suit. They put these guards on her arms so she could grab at her face. good thing they made it so she couldn't reach her foot either because she did NOT like the IV or the pulse monitor attached to her toe. We ate and played until she was awake enough to be sent home. She did SO good! She has a liquid bandaid and a normal one on top of that that will stay on for a week. Then we go back to the Dr. in three weeks to make sure all is well.


Not quite awake but happy and playing with there gingerbread man arm guards.
I am SO glad its over. I love her. <3

Update Time!

Since I"m so horrible at keeping up with this my first post will be an accumulation of moments since Taeli was born. And fun things we've done :)



This is after Taeli's Baby Blessing. She had both her grandpa', her dad (of course!) and her ucle's and friends join in on her blessing. It was a very sweet moment.



Afterwards we all went to my Brother in Law Grady's and had BBQ. This is a testament to how randomly warm it got in Texas this year. It was February... and we didn't even need jackets!



In May we went to Port Aransas, TX after Mike got married. Taeli did pretty good at the Beach. She liked the water but did not like being sticky and sandy afterward. This trip gave me my first experience with mom and baby co-showering... I couldn't get the sand off of her without getting my sand on her! So in we both went! It was slippery and hard to wash my hair but we got clean non the less.




Anna and I walked the beach hunting for treasure and found lots of pretty shells and friend Mr. Crab



I don't know where the family pictures went but here is Taeli and I on the Fourth. It was ... HOT



Taeli's friend Cozi turned one. It was our first time at a baby birthday! The theme was Hungry Caterpillar and Cozi's mom did a great job with the decorations. Some of them ended up on Taeli's head. If you cant tell she is wearing caterpillar antennas.



We braved Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho. Its a spot where volcanos erupted and left a huge "sea" of volcanic rock. There are caves you can go through as you hick around the part. This cave was pitch black by the time you walked to the back of it. Caves and babies are not the best combo but it was really fun! I nursed her in one of the caves haha. By the time we saw all the caves Taeli was pretty done so her and Brett Hightailed it back to the car. We had her in a front carrier and she wasn't a huge fan. We should have used the stroller.




Yellow Stone National Forrest is beautiful!! This was one of many gorgeous places we stopped to see/ take picture/ oooh and ahhh. Picturesque, perfect, love it.



It went off about ten minutes after this. Pretty cool.




Ole Faithful! And Brett.

We had so much fun this summer and I wish I had pictures of every moment! Our Washington Family (Matt and Ashley) came for 4th of July and we had a blast with them! Family pics, Saltgrass, Chillin, and trying to stay cool was the main even this year.
Taeli has learned to sit up, crawl, wave bye, got a tooth, and can even say a few words. Time sure does fly!!