We spent today with Hailey and her entourage of kidlets for the first time in a really long time! We spent the morning and afternoon chatting and catching up in person while chasing children and drinking coffee. It was such a nice date, and a long overdue one at that. Hopefully we don’t wait that long again, deal?

After they left around 3:30, we put both of our kids down for naps, and essentially ourselves as well. We cuddled up in bed and watched an episode of the Bachelor and just lay low while the house was quiet. We fed Dekker some leftovers when he woke up, watched some TLC, and I chatted on the phone with my mom. It was a nice low key day, really.

While talked to my mom on the phone, I recounted how I was feeling about Dekker’s recovery. I’m having a pretty difficult time actually, because Dekker is not getting used to the drops. He anticipates them, and he is louder and faster and more panicked than he was in the beginning. It would be different if I could just lay him down where he was playing, drop them in, stand him up and keep moving, but his glasses are on with that adjustable strap that makes it take a few extra minutes. I can barely get him to stand still long enough to get the strap off, and by then, he is freaked. I’ve watched him go from crying and fussing to full blown fits. He sees the dropper coming and started hitting the wall, kicking things and us, and thrashing. He’ll make his mouth into weird shapes and bug his eyes out and makes these unnatural noises. It has escalated amazingly, and I find myself fearful of putting his drops in. I know my fear only adds to the situation, but I’m struggling to find the balance between his physical health and his mental health. I feel like these outbursts are pure mania, and are only getting worse and worse. I’m at such a loss. Please pray for us in this. I’m so thankful we’re over halfway through that two weeks of drops (the surgery was last week Tuesday!) but I can’t imagine this continually getting worse and worse for the next several days. It is truly awful.

Going into his room this evening, I was so compassionate towards him. And then he hit me harder than he ever has. It stung for several minutes. I hate punishing him before bed. My heart hurts.

That being said, I’m more tired right now than I thought I would be. Time for supper, a bath, and bed.

I plan to do a bit of bragging on this post, so beware.

One thing I can’t not brag about (double negative, I know. Eat my shorts.) is that I finally won a coffee on the first day of Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim. The last time it came around, I didn’t win once. Granted, I probably only consumed like 15 drinks in that time, but it still seemed strange. I have never had an entire season of Roll Up be completely unsuccessful, until the last one! But today, Brady went into the city for groceries and came back with my token early grey tea, double double, and I won a free drink! What I love is that instead of coffee, I can cash it in for a latte! I’m not a coffee snob, unlike some people I know. You know who you are. So I love a Tim’s latte if I can get one! And I can now get a free one! A massive, free one! Yay me!!

Once Brady was back home, the kids napped and we got ready to go back out. We haven’t really exposed Dekker to people since his surgery, since we wanted him to sort of heal in a calm, relaxed environment. However, our small group from church was getting together this evening for the first time since Christmas, and we hadn’t gone at all in the fall. This, being our first meeting in a while, was just an evening of touching base, eating together, and catching up. All kids were welcome, and it seemed like a very forgiving bunch to try and bring Dekker out to. He doesn’t always do great in groups, and we had no idea how things would roll now. But they’re our friends, and we like them. So we got Dekker up and dressed, and put Laela in fresh jammies and went on our way.

I was sooo proud of him this evening! He didn’t exactly branch out and go chase the other kids, but he did venture much further from us than ever before. He played and talked and ate without complaint. He hardly shied away when people addressed him. He only cried once or twice, which is actually a huge deal over here. He had it sooo together! Also, one of the other mothers there has kids that also had eye surgery around Dekker’s age, and she told us that his eyes look awesome for just one week post-op. It was really encouraging for me to hear that, as I still see glaring red staring back at me when I look at his eyes. Yet, if I’m logical and I really look, its amazing how great his whites are looking. They are more pink than read, and more yellow than pink! Soon they’ll be white, I just know it. He has been medication-free for three days now!

We had a great first evening out, but it had to end sometime. Dekker was sad to go to bed, but I still got some awesome cuddles and kisses out of the deal. I love that kid.

Now for a bath, and possibly a snack. I’m finally not super sick feeling anymore. Heck, I ate pizza tonight! I can do anything, lol!

Looking forward to spending tomorrow with Hailey and her littles. Gonna be a good one!

 

 

 

So this is probably weird information for you all, but Brady and I do mad libs before bed almost every night. They’re funny and make both of us really tired. Ya, we have an app. Every once in a while, we do a mad lib using words Dekker knows. The “things” are easy, adverbs we sort of have to twist a little, but adjectives are getting fun. Dekker knows adjectives, but he’s only really starting to piece them together. Right now, everything is BIG! And lets be honest; not everything he says is big is actually big. Right now, trucks are called “rums,” so when driving anywhere on the highway, he’ll excitedly point to semis and announce “Asa BIG rum!” However, at home, a tiny little bouncy ball is a “BIG ball!” So who knows. We also have fast running, hot tea or hot food, and lots of things are nice. He’s so cute 🙂 I’m enjoying talking to him more and more. When he requested his snack today, I asked him what he wanted, and he told me what he was hungry for without me giving him suggestions. For a not super opinionated kid, I love seeing that part of him coming out.

This evening, he struggled with having his eye ointment put in. I hate putting it in, because he hates it so much. He cries and thrashes and panics. He is such an obedient kid, and I just hate constantly poking at him and ticking him off. However, he pulled it together after just a few short minutes and we had incredible nighttime playing and cuddles. Dekker was probably two before he ever even let someone kiss his lips, much less kissed back. Now he LOVES kissing! We goofed around for several minutes, with me just saying “Kiss me again!” and him trying to purse his lips but laughing too hard to be able to kiss me back. It was hysterical, and he was laughing so hard, he was sweating. Then I would hug him sooo tight and he would almost hold his breath, and just when I figured I had him too tight, he would burst out laughing and deflate a little. It was so much fun! I looked forward to actually being able to hug my kid for a really long time. You can’t really hug a baby, you know? You can cuddle and be soft with a baby, but you can’t really squeeze a baby the same way. Now that Dekker is a bit tougher, he’s fun to tease and wrestle and yes – squeeze with the power of a python. Its ok, he likes it. It was hard to leave his room tonight. He is sooo adorable!

Almost one week of drops down!! I feel like we should all get a prize at the two week mark. Suggestions?

Oh! Last thing, I promise! A picture I forgot to post yesterday from nap time. We were kind of miffed when the kids alternated naps but it produced a cute little shot anyway 🙂 Worth it.

 

Good night, all!

I felt so much better after getting away for a few hours on Friday. Then Laela slept in until just shortly before 7:00 this morning and that was awesome too. And then I felt sick for most of the day. My spirits are up for the most part, but almost everything I eat doesn’t sit well. I’m sure it’ll come back, but right now, my appetite is really unpredictable. I tried to eat some leftover pasta for lunch and that was a HUGE mistake. I had to stop because I knew it would come back up if I wasn’t careful. I’m still trying to eat, though. For supper, I had a ham sandwich from the ham I made yesterday, and that sat beautifully, so who knows. Maybe this will be the answer to finally losing the rest of this baby weight!

Feeling icky, plus having a baby girl with a cold and a baby boy who has solid meltdowns every 2.5-3 hours for his eye drops, and a super lethargic husband, we took our day to veg. We accomplished nothing except trying to get our health back. I’m not sure yet if it was successful. Might still take some time. However, Laela did accomplish something.

She cut her first tooth!!! We have her bottom right front tooth 😀 Its just barely made its way through, and she’s still completely drooly and soaked all day long, but she chewed her hands way less, which makes me think she’s not as uncomfortable as she was before. It also proves to me that she was uncomfortable, but handled herself really well. Very rarely did she fuss and fuss and fuss, bringing me to the conclusion that she was sore. She is so easily calmed by sleeping or eating. I love you, Laela bean! Great work building teeth!

Its 9:20pm and I’m so ready for a bath and bed. Sooo ready! I’ve been cruising around online today, daydreaming of going on a vacation. Perhaps it’ll translate into a nighttime dream too…

I bailed on my family for a few hours today. Maybe that sounds selfish, but I assure you that I was a better mother and wife because of it. I have been shaky on my feet for the last few days, and it was a huge relief to go out on my own for a little bit. Laela woke me up an hour before I was expecting to get up, but it was nice to spend a bit more time awake with her and Brady while Dekker slept. I left the house at 9:30am, cranked the music that I wanted to listen to (regardless of who was or wasn’t sitting in my backseat), and took my time getting to the city.

I arrived sooner than expected and decided to go fill the car with gas before my waxing appointment. I don’t know about you guys, but there is this one awesome man who works at the Costco gas bar, and he just makes my day every time I run into him! He came over to “tend” to me while I was filling up, and we complained about winter weather, but about never wanting to leave our homes here in the prairies. Once my car was full, my gas cap wouldn’t close. He got down there and figured it all out for me really quickly so I could be on my way with my car in perfect working order. I like that guy. I gave him a can of Pringles once…

I’m glad I filled up first because I still made it to my waxing appointment fifteen minutes early. Luckily, my waxing girl is freaking amazing and was ahead of schedule, so I got in pretty much right away. Its probably a weird thing to talk specifics about, but I’ve been waxing my legs consistently for upwards of six years, so my leg hair is sparse and weirdly cooperative. Therefore, my appointments go really fast. I can even book into a smaller slot than most people. Yay, Hailey’s leg hair! That aside, though, I love my waxing girl. She asked about Dekker’s surgery, and we talked about her baby boy who just turned one TODAY! I like our visits. I guess I should wax my legs more often.

Since I got in with her much quicker than expected, I was done early. My next place to hit was my chiropractic appointment, but I would be super early. However, I didn’t have enough time to really do anything in the middle. I hate it when that happens. However, my phone had begun to explode with encouraging messages that I was eager to respond to, so I drove to my appointment but doddled in my car for a while to answer the messages. (Thank you, by the way. You know who you are!) I still ended up in the waiting room fifteen minutes early, but I waited less than five before I was put into a room.

As per usual, Dr. Mike was great. He remembered from seeing me a few weeks ago that Dekker would have had his surgery. He asked lots of questions and was a great sounding board, actually. I told him about not being able to walk back with Dekker, and how upset it had made it. I said that the anesthetist insisted that it was safer for Dekker that I not be there, in case of some problem that I could hypothetically get in the way of. I said that we found out later than Dekker went down screaming his head off and woke up the same way – scared. And then Dr. Mike asked the question that I hadn’t been able to verbalize until now. “What about that is safe? It sure isn’t safe for his mental health.” Right?!? I was so relieved to have another medical professional back me up and agree with me. He actually became visibly angered that we hadn’t been rushed into recovery when he woke up, but they tried to comfort him themselves for several minutes first. He insisted “The first thing he should have seen when he woke was your face.” I agree. It was just reassuring to know that I’m not crazy for wanting these things. Once we cooled off from that, we made jokes about how to keep a two year old from touching his eyes. Somehow, picturing Dekker wearing a cone around his neck lightened the mood. It was a nice appointment, and a good visit. However, my body is completely out of line, and I’ll need to get back in with him next week. No wonder I’ve been feeling so crappy.

I left there feeling quite a bit better than I have since Tuesday, and I headed over to the nearby mall to drop in on Jerilee. I bought a couple candles and ate a cupcake before hitting up Walmart for groceries. They had my favorite frozen pizzas (no judging!) on sale, plus crackers were nice and cheap too. I picked up a few other things and figured I was done and done! Until I remembered two very important things!

Thing number one: $46. We’re doing that year of savings challenge, but we’re doing it backwards with the big numbers first. We’re pulling out money every Friday for it. This week was $46. Let me tell you, going to a teller and asking for such a specific number gets you some weird looks, but I didn’t even explain it. Let the guy thing I’m strange, I don’t care. I’m excited to have so much money saved already!

Thing number two: The largest passion tea lemonade in the world.

I had been feeling so ill, but today I was finally feeling a bit better and I figured I could justify some Starbucks. But not coffee. So I opted for passion tea lemonade, light on the ice. It was massive and refreshing and delicious.

Upon arriving home, Dekker was sooo happy to see me!!! I’ve been struggling with him for a few days. I’m usually the one who does the eye drops, and because of that, he’s scared of me. If I initiate any interaction, he freaks. Its awful, and it breaks my heart. But when I came in the door, he ran up and gave me a big hug like kids do in movies. Brady went back downstairs because she had been left there when I arrived, and I told him we’d be right there. But Dekker didn’t want to go down. He just wanted some mommy/Dekker time upstairs. We read books and tickled and cuddled. At one point, I kissed his toes, and he giggled like crazy. He reached his hand out and made a kiss sound. So I kissed his hand. He offered me the other, so I kissed that hand. Back and forth, over and over, until he closed his fists and leaned forward with his lips pursed, looking for a real kiss. I cried. I adore that boy. Its nice to know that he still loves me.

My parents came over for the evening, to enjoy supper together and possibly help us fix our ever-squeaking washer. Well, supper was a success anyway :s The washer – not so much. At least we have ideas. Now, they are off, the tub is run, Dekker is sleeping, and while Laela should be sleeping, instead, she is taking a dump right beside me. Thanks for that, sweetie.

All in all, it was a better day for us all. I feel a bit refreshed from being away, having my body straightened out, and finally eating a full meal this evening. I’m thinking this early morning, together with a soak in the tub, should help me get a really solid sleep tonight as well.

You guys are great. Once again, I appreciate you all so much. Our family feels so very loved.

 

Today isn’t a great day for posting. I know Dekker has been thru the mill, and I know that my time and energy is ideally spent on him right now, but my body is feeling it.

I feel sick to my stomach today. We have such great leftovers right now, as well as lots of yummy and easy food to prepare. It shouldn’t be hard, but today, I just didn’t want anything. I pulled a soup out of the freezer from when Laela was born, and was looking forward to it, but it didn’t sit well at all, just like everything else from the day.

I’m pretty confident that my “sickness” is psychological. Not in the way that its made up and doesn’t exist, though. I very truly feel sick. My stomach turns, I’m dizzy, and I struggle to keep my eyes open. But I don’t think I have a bug. I have some pretty solid anxiety from earlier this week, and I feel like the anticipation leading up to Dekkers surgery did a number on me without me realizing it. I’m hoping I can get it together sooner than later.

Tomorrow, I’m heading to the city on my own for a couple of quick appointments. I haven’t had my legs waxed since before Christmas (I know, I know, not something I should share…) so I’m happy to have that taken care of! And chiropractic, which I always look forward to, since I see the best chiropractor in the world. I won’t be gone too long at all, but I’m wondering if that little reprieve will be exactly what I need. I’ll know soon, either way.

Ok, shorty post. Just not feeling comfortable in this spot and I’m having a low tolerance for discomfort right now. Sleep well!

Yesterday was exhausting. I know you guys know that. Yesterday’s post is officially my most read post to date! More popular than Laela’s birth story even. Thanks, guys, for caring so much about my family and our well being. We feel the love.

Dekker slept through the night, which we didn’t expect. We figured he’d wake up once his medication wore off. But we were pleasantly surprised by our little boy. He was chipper and with it and didn’t seem to be in any pain at all!

Yes, his eyes are still completely bloodshot, but see how much straighter they are?! If you look closely, you can see that the whites on the insides of his eyes are red, but only the one outside is red. Those are the parts that were worked on, just FYI.

We gave Dekker a dose of Advil to be safe, and then did his drops. Ya, I wont sugarcoat those things. He hates them. But we sing this cute, little song while we put them in and once the song is over, so are the drops. Its ok. His cry is pretty big but the irritation seems to wear off faster than I thought it would. Once they’re in, he really wants to rub his eyes, which we can’t let him do. So I take a kleenex and ask him to close his eyes, and I give them a good, solid wipe so he feels a bit of relief that way. I’m sure he rubs his eyes when he’s falling asleep and in moments when we’re not with him, but we can only supervise so much.

I know everything only just went down yesterday, but we had a follow up appointment this morning with Dr. Rubab. It was nice and quick, and Dekker was very well behaved. We expected more of a fight. He tensed up the second we got to the hospital, and was on edge the whole time, but he was great in the actual appointment. We learned that there is zero sign of infection, which is WONDERFUL! We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing with the drops and eye cream. She said that we won’t have full results for a few weeks, but that his eyes look much better already, which I completely agree with. She also gave us the go-ahead to take a break from patching 🙂 Not a “forever” break necessarily, but we have an appointment with her in four weeks, and she said we’ll reassess the need for patching then. I’m very excited at the idea of not having to patch him anymore, even if its just a temporary change. All in all, the appointment was awesome, and we felt relieved afterwards.

So for the rest of today and tomorrow, we are putting eye drops in Dekkers eyes every two hours. I know, a lot, right? Ya, we feel it too. And then right before bed, we use an ointment instead, since it lasts longer by sort of coating the eyes. We were warned it would likely blur his vision a bit, and he definitely didn’t like it last night, but once a day is ok. We can work with it. I am feeling a lot of relief as I watch him heal. I know its really only our first day of recovery, but I feel good.

Ok, some of that last bit is a lie. I like to be honest with you guys, so don’t think I’m a whiner, ok? I am wiped out. Last night, soaking in my tub, my body shook and shook. I am sick to my stomach, but that was worse yesterday too. I held Dekker in recovery for a good couple of hours, sitting up straight on a hospital bed, and his heavy, sleepy body really pulled my back around. I’m looking forward to seeing Dr. Mike on Friday to get that all put back into place. My eyes ache. Don’t worry. I know its sooo not about me, but I want to be black and white with you guys. I’m sure Brady feels the same way. We are tired.

Thats enough out of me for tonight. How are we liking these early posts? I think I like them a lot more!

Check out my super cool Dekker!

 

Many of you have me on Facebook, so you probably already know bits and pieces about today, but I’m going to try and give you a detailed version of our day. And yes, its an early post. I don’t know if I’d have the gumption to write it all out this evening. Trust me, this is the best bet.

We woke up at 5:20am to get ready. I had laid out everything the night before except toys to bring. We gathered those and got dressed and ready before we woke the kids. We took Laela straight from bed into her car seat, and changed Dekkers diaper before getting him bundled up and out the door. He was surprisingly chipper, which was good and bad, because he was more with it than expected, and hungry sooner than I was hoping for. Either way, we made it out the door on time to drop Laela off at my parents house and arrive at the hospital just a few minute early.

I won’t sugarcoat. He was very hands on at the hospital. We sat around waiting for about 2.5 hours, and he was wide awake and hungry. He wanted to be held by one of us, standing up, almost the whole time. We eventually got him into the hospital jammies they wanted him to wear, and he let them check his pulse on the little finger monitor, but not blood pressure! He was pretty loud and out of sorts, but the nurses were understanding and let him express himself.

While we waited, we watched some Olympics and chatted with a man whose son was in for an eye surgery as well. His kid had bigger problems than Dekker for sure, so this was not their first go at it. It was actually very encouraging to talk to someone who was there in the same position as us at the same time. They drive to Saskatoon from Regina every few months for their sons treatment because they love Dr. Rubab so much. That felt so good to hear! We sort of checked on each other periodically. 

As I mentioned on Facebook, the anesthetist did not permit me to carry Dekker to the operating room as I was hoping. A nurse had even said she was sure it would be fine, and that parents did it all the time, but it wasn’t up to her, sadly. She came up and apologized to me later. It wasn’t her fault. The anesthetist fed me some “Its safer for your child” bullshit, and insisted that once he was away from us, he would calm down. That’s what all kids do. I was really angry at first, and part of me still is, but I tried really hard to see the situation differently. Its not about me. Its about Dekker. Whether I like how he was taken back or not, he was now in surgery and we needed to focus on him, not ourselves. Not myself. Dr. Rubab came and spoke to us briefly a few minutes before he went in, and was very soft with us, telling us exactly when she’d be back to speak to us. When it was finally time for him to go in at 9:45, four people sort of came at him at once. He freaked. The only male their volunteered to take him, and Dekker screamed and screamed and screamed until he was too far away. I bawled like a baby on Brady. Like, bawled. It was awful to listen to. We left fairly quickly after he was moved to grab some coffee and shake it off. 

Once our huge coffees were sugared to perfection, we went back upstairs and waited.

About an hour later, we were informed by Dr. Rubab that everything had gone well, without complications, and that Dekker was in recovery. She said we could see him soon. A nurse came by shortly after and said we could go see him only if he got upset in recovery. Is it wrong that I hoped he would be upset?? We sat and waited, hearing kids crying but knowing his cry, and knowing it wasn’t him.

Well, he got upset. A nurse came into the room looking for “Dekkers mom.” I jumped up right away and she asked me to go with her. Only one of us was allowed to go, and Brady was gracious enough to let me, since I was so shaken from not being able to take him back. As I was walked to the back, I could hear him screaming. It was a sound I have never heard come from him. It was awful. The woman said that they had been trying to comfort him but it he wasn’t having it. He had woken up quite startled, they said. When I finally got to him, he was sitting on someone’s lap, cars in hand, screaming, and crying big blood red tears. I scooped him up from her immediately and they helped me sit down with the few wires and things still attached to him. He was sooo heavy! He shrucked a lot, but calmed down almost right away. They wrapped a warmed blanket overtop of us and we just sat silently for maybe fifteen minutes. I won’t lie. He looked awful.

We just rested together for a while, the nurses making sure his blood pressure and pulse were in good shape. Once, very quietly, I heard Dekker whisper “love,” which both broke and warmed my heart. Once everyone was assured that he was in good shape, I sat on the stretcher while holding him, and they wheeled us back to our original spot. The other family we had become friends with came and checked on him right away. They were actually really encouraging and said he looked great for coming out of the surgery. Once we got all settled, he fell asleep.

With his cars.

Lots of nurses and medical staff came by to see how he was doing in those hours that he was in and out of sleep. The man who had carried him to the OR was very honest with us, and said that Dekker never did relax. He was screaming the entire walk to the operating room. It grew worse once they went in, and he was panicking when they put him under. No wonder he woke with a start! He had made the joke that he was now deaf in his left ear, but that he would do it all again. I hugged him.

They wanted him to drink an apple juice before leaving the hospital, but he really didn’t want it. We waited a while and kept trying but to no avail. The nurse finally just said she trusted us (for once today) to get him full of fluids once we got home, so she discharged us. We changed his diaper and jammies without any fight from Dekker. While we were getting him ready to go, our friends across the curtain got their son back. He was in rough shape. As a seven year old, he could verbalize a lot better how he was feeling, which included him screaming “my eyes!!” at the top of his lungs. I felt terrible for them. Its a small space and we were very aware of ourselves when Dekker cried too. I think we were all pretty shaken up.

Dekker perked up quite a bit as we were leaving. He was happy to be in the car and didn’t actually seem bothered by the bright sun. We drove to Superstore to get his prescriptions filled, and he and Brady went to grab us some food. I asked for a soup and bun from Tims, and Dekker asked for the bun. I was kind of amazed, as we were warned that he would likely not want anything. I gave him half of the bun and he slowly but very hungrily ate it up and asked for the rest.

Hopefully that was a good move. He hasn’t seemed nauseous since, but we’re keeping a monitor in his room while he naps in case he throws up and we’re not there to witness it. However, he needs pain meds in ten minutes and drops in forty minutes. Do we wake him? I don’t know. Not for drops, for sure, but maybe for meds.

Thats all I can find within myself to write out right now. If I can be honest, I feel very shaky on my feet. I know some of it is fatigue, some is hunger, some is anxiety, and some is from holding him for an hour or two. That kid gets heavy fast!! I’m so glad the surgery is over and eager for the recovery to begin.

Thank to everyone who prayed and cared and asked and showed concern. Thank you for offering to watch Laela, to bring food and drinks, and to be at our disposal today. We feel the support very much, and it was and continues to be truly needed.

What a day.

 

 

 

 

Dekker’s surgery is tomorrow morning. 9:15am, for those of you who have been living under a rock, haha! Thats not meant as an insult, I swear, I just have struggled talking about anything else this last while.

Have I ever described the surgery on here? Sorry if I have, but I searched my posts for certain words I think I would have used and came up with nothing, so I’m gonna. Our eyes are held in our head by muscles, right? What Dr. Rubab is going to do (as I understand it) is detach some of the muscles and reattach them in different places. So Dekkers eyes currently turn in. She will detach the muscles on the inside corners (closer to his nose) and attach them further back, essentially loosening them. Then she’ll take the muscles on the other side of his eyes (closer to his ears) and reattach them closer to the front, tightening them. That second part is only being done on his left eye, as it seems to be a bit weaker. So thats the procedure, anyway.

It sounds a bit gory in the sense of cutting on his eyes, but I like understanding the exact step-by-step procedure, because that all makes perfect sense to me. It seems very basic, and fairly foolproof. There is risk, of course, that his eyes won’t be fully corrected, and might still turn in a touch. Or the opposite – they could look outward. We can’t really know until he wakes up. Either option can be rectified, with either glasses or a second surgery. But as you can understand, the concept of Dekker losing his vision or anything awful like that isn’t even on my radar. I’m not one to read too much into stuff, but this one particular article has proven very informative without being scary for me, if you’re interested.

We don’t usually give Dekker bedtime snacks, but since he’ll be up waaay earlier than usual and won’t be allowed to eat until after his surgery, we brought him upstairs a half hour before bedtime and offered him a snack. I asked if he wanted cereal and he sort of tilted his head all cute and asked “Apples?” So I sliced him up an apple. He also asked for crackers, so he got some of those too. He slugged back some milk and announced that he was done. He chased me into his room and we got him dressed in sweats and a long sleeved shirt that we’re going to leave him in for tomorrow. The less we have to do to him before we leave in the morning, the better. We’ll have to leave our house at 6:00am!

I think he could tell we’re all feeling it. He was pretty touchy while we were saying goodnight. I’ve been torn up about how to tell him whats happening. I try to tell him whats going to happen, just in a story form, but so its not so foreign when it happens. But even in a happy voice, using totally comfortable words, he gets upset. He doesn’t want to to talk about the doctor or going to sleep or having his eyes all better. He’s so sensitive, and so am I. It breaks my heart.

So. I’m pretty much done talking for this evening. We had a really rough time with Laela last night, and we have to hit the hay early. Final prayer requests for those who would like to pray are as follows. If you would be so kind, please take a quick second right now and lift us up in prayer.

* A good nights sleep for everyone.

* A morning where Dekker isn’t starving the second he wakes up.

* Permission to carry Dekker into the operating room.

* Steady hands and confident medical staff. Safety for my boy.

* Total and complete healing for Dekkers eyes! No more patching!!!!! Heck, no more glasses even!!!

* Uneventful few hours coming off of the anesthetic. No barfing!

* A completely successful recovery for Dekker! That he gets used to his eye drops, and that his eyes don’t bother him enough to need to rub them.

Ok, I think thats enough for now. Perhaps the last patching picture I’ll ever post…

Good night, everyone.

 

Brady and I had the opportunity to celebrate our five year anniversary this evening. My parents arrived at our house around 4:00, and we left shortly after 4:30. We went out for dinner to this kind of hilarious restaurant in a nearby town. I know I’m not going to be able to do it justice in words, but it certainly was more than just a meal. It was an experience. We were the only patrons at the time, so we got lots of attention! What I loved about it was that there was a huge menu, and it boasted of big portions. They weren’t kidding. Brady paid less than $20 for a peppercorn steak the size of my head (ok, not really, but it was pretty much enormous) and my order of perogies and sausage consisted of thirteen perogies and three smokies. And I think that was $12. It was huge and very freshly made. They were lovely enough to pop us a bag of popcorn before we headed out to our next destination.

** Before anyone accuses us of doing questionable things in our car, we didn’t!!

The backseats of our car were folded down and loaded up with blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows. We found an approach off of a random gravel road, and cuddled in (half in the trunk, basically) for snacks and a movie that Brady had rented off of iTunes on his iPad. It was hilarious and quirky, but super warm and comfy! And the movie was super funny, so it was an all around wonderful evening. I know I’m sort of replaying the evening in short form but I know I wouldn’t be able to describe everything the way it should be described. It was way too entertaining for words.

We are now home, the kids are in bed (thanks mom and dad!), and the tub is running. How lucky am I to have such a funny, thought out date planned for me, and then a bubble bath on top of it?! Yay!!!

 

** On a separate note, tomorrow is our last day before surgery on Tuesday. Please pray for extra patience for me as a mama, to give Dekker lots of extra love and to choose battles wisely tomorrow. And pray for peace for all of us. And steady hands for all medical professionals involved. And Gods will. Maybe tomorrow can be the last morning we have to patch our boy 🙂 God is good.