Christmas Picture Outtakes

On Saturday we enjoyed a nice day at home. Sometimes isn't it nice to not go anywhere and hang out in your pj's all day?
I thought that since we weren't going out we should dress the kids up in their Christmas outfits and try and get some good pictures for our Christmas cards. Isn't it funny how you take a million pictures and only get maybe three good ones? I now have a ton of crazy looking pictures where Claire was acting silly or Grayson was crying or Claire was crying and Grayson was drooling! And since the best of the pictures are going to be on the card, I thought I would share with you...the worst of the worst. They should be good for a laugh or at least a chuckle!

Every single picture I took in this pose had this expression on Grayson's face. Every. Single. One! And then he started drooling so much, we had to dig in his drawer for a Christmas bib. Nice!

It looks like Claire is punching Grayson out!

I guess my hand was in the way...

Claire absolutely refused to look at the camera and smile at the same time!

And when she did smile, this is what I got!

Poor Grayson took it all in stride, but by the time we were done both kids had had enough! Why are taking pictures so hard? And where is a Portrait Innovations when you need one?! :)

Four Months!

Grayson is four months old! I really can't believe it! We have been so busy with all of his appointments that the last month has really flown by!

He is doing really well and looks so different now that he has had his surgery. The arm splint wearing will be officially over on Thursday. I am not sure whether we should burn those things or save them for him to see when he is older! Ha!

Grayson is now wearing six months clothes. He weighs just over 15 pounds. He is still in a size 2 diaper, but we are considering trying out a size 3 while we are home for Christmas.

He is eating every 3 hours and takes two good naps a day. He gets up about 1-2 times a night...and one of those times is usually early the next morning. So, he is doing pretty good! He has developed a few bad habits because of his surgery. Mainly, he uses me like the pacifier he can't have! We are hoping that having his hands and his pacifier back will help with the soothing trouble.
We are so proud of our boy! He has tolerated everything like a trooper!

Claire and Grayson at four months.

We are so excited to be taking Grayson for his first visit to the US in a couple of weeks. We have so many family members who haven't met him yet, and they are so excited! And we are looking forward to being back in good ole Tennessee. There truly is no place like home for the holidays!

Goodbye, Stitches!

Yesterday was Grayson's stitch removal day! We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am...so after I got up at 3am to feed him for his fast before being put to sleep, I felt like I had been up all night! He has had quite a few bad days lately. It has really been wearing on Charlie and me, but we just think that he has been uncomfortable because of his stitches and arm splints.
We got Claire up and managed to make it into the car and to the hospital right on time. Whew! That was a miracle in itself! We checked Grayson into day surgery and waited for a couple of minutes in the waiting room before being called back.
Just like the week before, they checked his vital signs and I had to put him back in a little hospital gown.

A nurse came and led us back to the same waiting room we sat in for his surgery and again the doctor, anesthesiologist, and nurse came by to briefly talk to us and answer any questions we wanted to ask. I felt really good when the doctor told us how great his lip looked. I had been worried because a few of his stitches had come out.

When the nurse came she took Grayson with her and told us it would take about 15 minutes to get his stitches removed. We were given a beeper (like at a restaurant!) so we went to eat breakfast while we waited to hear that Grayson was done.

We ate muffins from the only kiosk that was open this early. Claire got apple cinnamon and Charlie and I tried blueberry-banana. I think Claire chose the best kind!

She was so happy that she got her very own muffin and didn't have to share!
After we finished, the beeper went off. So, we rushed to the nurses station to see Grayson.
I could hear him screaming all the way down the hall!! The nurse had a hard time trying to calm him down and it took a few minutes (and some feeding him) to get him to relax. Then the poor boy fell asleep!

He looks great without his stitches! The doctor told us that his lip might draw up a little, but that in four weeks we will meet with him and he will teach us how to massage the area and that would help.
We stayed at the hospital until Grayson's vital signs had been taken a few times. Claire got two popsicles from the nurse and that made her day! We were told to give him Tylenol every 4 hours because he could be in pain from having the stitches taken out.
When we got home we all crashed on the couch. We were so tired from getting up early!
I really can't say enough how happy I am with how we were treated at the hospital.

Everything went well for Grayson. He looks great and we are just so pleased! The red line from his nose to his lip will fade and we don't think it will even show up in a few months!

With and without a cleft lip!

Grayson's Big Day

Well, the day finally came for Grayson's big day...the repair of his unilateral incomplete cleft lip. I set my alarm for early in the morning so he could be done breastfeeding by 7:10am. He had to have four hours of no food before being given anesthetic. We hurried and got ready and our friends came to get Claire at 8am. She was full of excitement! She told me, "I be right back later!" before she left. She could not wait to spend the night with her good buddy, Amaia.
Charlie and I got to the hospital at 9am and checked in. Then, we went to the Pediatric Admissions Clinic and checked in there too. We waited  for a while and were told that they had a shortage of beds and were going to call some others and cancel their surgeries, but that we would still have ours. It would just be delayed a little. Grayson was all smiles and after a while he took a nice nap. I read some and Charlie worked on a paper he is trying to finish. At around 11:45am a nurse came and gave me a gown to put him in.

The nurse put some ointment on his hands to numb them for the IV and then wrapped them in gauze to keep him from numbing his face. He looked like he had on boxing mitts!

A nurse came and led us to a small waiting room outside of the operating room. While we waited the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and two nurses came by to meet us and answer any questions we had. It was really nice to talk to them before they took Grayson!
After a while, they came and took Grayson away. I looked at Charlie like, "what do we do now?"
We went down to the lobby and ate subs for lunch. I looked around in the gift shop and then we went in search of the room they were going to bring Grayson to when he was done.
A nurse led us to the room Grayson and I would be staying in and Charlie and I sat down to wait. I tried to read, but after a while my mind was wondering and I kept staring at the clock. I got a little paranoid because every time I heard a baby crying I thought it was him. So I went out to the lobby to call my mom.
When I got back, Grayson was already there.

Wearing his splints to keep him from scratching his face.

I think I held it together really well until this point. Seeing him like this was hard.
Grayson was so sleepy. We let him rest and I went to make calls to family to tell them he was out of surgery.
After sleeping a little while, Grayson woke up in pain. We called the nurse and she gave him some Tylenol and then got him some morphine to put in his IV. Poor guy!

We spent the next few hours trying to get Grayson to eat and then eating dinner ourselves. I was so proud when Grayson finally ate, but then he went several more hours without eating. We got some more pain medication in him and he started to settle down. He only wanted to sleep in my arms!
Around 9pm, Charlie had to leave. Only one parent could stay the night. He let me get all ready for bed and I attempted to get as comfy as possible on my pull-out chair!

All ready for bed! Check out my TV!

This is when the battle of the cords began! Grayson had an IV in his hand and a monitor on his foot that kept track of the oxygen in his blood and his heart rate. Those cords drove me crazy! Every time I got Grayson to sleep and got up to put him in the bed, the cords would get all wrapped around the monitors and he would wake up, arms flailing around.
I finally got him to eat around 12:30am and then put him in bed. Again he woke up. The nurse came in to check on him and I said, "I can't get him to stay asleep! What should I do?!" She helped me swaddle him really tight and he got really still and fell right asleep. Thank you, Lord!!
It was a rough night. Lots of getting up and down, the IV machine and foot monitor beeping, and wrapping myself up in those cords! The nurses came in and out, checking on him too. Thankfully, Grayson and I did manage to get some rest.
Early in the morning a resident doctor came in to check on Grayson. She said he could go home as soon as I signed the release form! Charlie stopped by before going in to school for an hour.
I got up and dressed Grayson and by the time I was done packing up and feeding him, Charlie was back.

Ready to go home!

We filled a prescription for Grayson and went home. It is good to be back on my couch! Grayson has been in a little discomfort, but is doing really well! He is now in his splints and we are getting used to taking them on and off to change clothes, put him in the car seat, etc. We go on Thursday to get his stitches removed and he will stay in the splints for two more weeks after that.

Before...and After!

We are really thankful for all the prayers that went up for Grayson. Everything went really smoothly and it really was a positive experience for us. We are happy with Grayson's "new look" and are looking forward to seeing him without his stitches in a few days!

P.S. Here is what Claire was doing while we were away...

Trick or Treat!

This Halloween was, by far, one of our best as a family. Claire really understood the concept of trick or treating and could not contain her excitement! I had to tell her multiple times that we were going to put on her costume after she woke up from her nap. She wanted to wear it all day!

A bulldog and a princess!

We got pizza and our friends came over and after we ate we set out! It was in the 30's here...but for Canada it wasn't too bad and there hasn't been any snow (yet!). Claire went up to every house and said "trick or treat" and "thank you." She had the most fun! Charlie carried Grayson in the Baby Bjorn and he made it to a few houses before he started crying. Poor boy, he didn't like the trick or treating so much!

We had some great houses in our neighborhood. They were decorated so well! My favorite was the house with Beetlejuice in the yard. It took me a few moments to figure out whether he was real or not!

He was quite scary...and he would leave every once in a while to chase some poor kids down the street!

When Claire got tired, we came home and had dirt pudding. Charlie and I had made it into a graveyard with candy pumpkins and cookie tombstones!

Me and my dog!

What a fun night! Wish it wouldn't be so long before we could do it again!