Pumpkin Patch

Mark's parents came into town on Thursday and we were definitly ready to have some helping hands again. We decided to take the girls to a pumpkin patch to pick out some small pumpkins and just enjoy the nice weather. This pumpkin patch was put on by a church. It was very small, but there were pumpkins everywhere. The girls just loved walking around and trying to pick up the pumpkins. They also had a little maze there for kids. I am not quite sure they understood the concept of the maze especially since the adults who were leading them could see over the walls. I wanted to let them all three loose and see who would finish first, but no one went for it. Regardless they had fun walking around. We picked out 3 little pumpkins and bought face stickers this year. With the girls running around and keeping me busy, I don't have the time or the energy to carve 5 pumpkins again this year. We will be carving one big one as a family this time.

The girls and Mark and I actually have a wedding to go to on Halloween this year, so stay tuned for our eventful Halloween pictures to come soon.

The girls visiting the graveyard at the pumpkin patch

Chloe the scarecrow

Jillian the Scarecrow

Payton the scarecrow

Quick snap the picture...they are impossible these days!

Chloe and Uncle Derek walking through the maze

I sent Payton off on her own, but she came back to me.

Finding thier way through the maze

The puzzling maze

Payton: "I want this one"

Jillian: "Can I have this one Mommy?"

Jillian:"Yeeeaahhh...I'm gonna need some help with this one!"

UUUUUGGGGHHHHH!...This is heavy!!

Payton: "This one's mine!"

Chloe: "hmmm...I like this one I think"

Payton: "YYYEEEAAAHH..What do I do with this?"

Uncle Derek met us at the Pumpkin Patch!

Payton

Payton: "I don't know which one to pick"

Jillian: "What am I gonna do with this?"

Jillian: "A little help here"

Jillian's Surgery

Today was Jillian's surgery. Let me start off by saying she is doing very well. If you didn't know she had surgery today, you would never guess it. She is acting like her normal self. It is amazing to see her tongue come all the way out of her mouth. I am so happy for her. :)

Her surgery was at 8:30 this morning. We had to be to the outpatient center by 7:15. So needless to say it was an early morning. Jillian was a trooper the entire morning. I think she really just enjoyed the one on one time with Mommy and Daddy. They took us back to our little room and we had to dress Jillian in a hospital gown. It was at this point when I started to cry. Not Jillian, but ME! As you can see she was very happy..

All of there were before surgery...

The nurse came in and walked us through the procedure and told us exactly what to expect. At this point I was very nervous and sad for Jillian (crying like a baby, again ME not Jillian). As the nurse started to leave she handed us a wavier explaining all the complications that can come from being under anesthesia. Some of the complications listed were paralysis, permanent nerve damage and even death. She informed me the anesthesiologist would be in to talk to us about his part of the surgery. So at this point I am doing everything I can to contain my fears/tears and be brave for Jillian. When the anesthesiologist came in and I was sitting just like this...

Jillian was hiding behind me because we were playing a game. He thought the baby on my lap was Jillian, and he was NOT joking. This did not calm my nerves AT ALL. When they finally came and took her they carried her into the operating room. This made me feel a little bit better. I was worried about seeing her rolled away in that bed. She didn't cry when she left us at all and they even let her take her baby with her. The doctor was back out in about 7 minutes (the longest 7 minutes ever). He said everything went perfect. We were released about 20 minutes later. She came back to us a little out of it, but she was happy just laying on Daddy and drinking her apple juice. She slept most of the way home from the surgery center. Now she is just happy as can be. She is doing a lot better than I would have expected, and I am glad to have this behind us.

snuggling with Daddy just after the surgery

Drinking apple juice...the first thing she got to have since 8 pm last night.

Sleeping on the way home. She didn't want to let go of that baby.

Jillian's new tongue. She could never stick it out like this before. I am so happy for her.

18 months

Friday we took the girls to the doctor for their 18 month check up. It was good all around! Payton weighs 24 lbs 3 oz. , Chloe weighs 24lbs 10oz, and little Jillian weighs 23lbs 1 oz. Jillian is still behind in her weight and height. She is the shortest and skinniest. I am sure one day she will appreciate being the skinniest. The good news is that both Chloe and Payton are now in the average column for both height and weight. The doctor says sometime it takes preemies almost 2 years to catch up, so we are still holding out for Jillian. Most normal 18 month old babies are in the beginning stages of speaking and saying about 5 words on their own. Our girls say at least 5 words, but it takes a lot of prompting to get them to say anything. The goal would be to get them to start volunteering words to us. So we will be trying to work on this in the coming months.

Last Monday, we took Jillian to the ENT specialist. As many of you may or may not know, she is what they call tongue tied. It is where the tip of the tongue is tied down to the bottom of the mouth. Sometimes it can cause eating problems which makes babies not gain weight. This was not a problem for her. However, it can cause speech problems as she gets older. The ENT noted that her tongue was a severe enough case that he could almost be certain that she would have speech issues. His advice was for Jillian to have surgery. He thought it was best to get it taken care of now so she doesn't develop "bad" speech habits. We were very hesitant, but in the long run it is something she needs so we have to do it for her. It is an outpatient surgery. She will have to be put under anesthesia for 30-60 seconds . From start to finish the procedure should last 5-10 minutes. They will just snip the piece that is holding the tongue down and put 2 stitches in it. Her surgery is going to be this Tuesday, October 11th. Please pray for our little Jillian.

On a lighter note, we took the girls to get their pictures taken today. Jillian was not into it at all. The photographer somehow got some good ones and then some not so good ones. They are all in there so have a good laugh. I will post on Tuesday to give everyone an update on Jillian and her surgery.