The long wait....

It is kind of surreal that we are sitting here waiting on Mayleigh's big surgery. I knew this day would come. I had talked to the surgeons even before we accepted Mayleigh's file and knew this was in her future. But for some reason it is still crazy that we are sitting here. Surprisingly, we are doing ok. Well, there are moments I feel fine and calm and then there are moments when I feel like I could just start balling. But we are resting assured that Mayleigh is in the best hands. Dr. Levitt is the best surgeon at this specific issue. Cant get any better than that!
Yesterday after checking in to our room they started Mayleigh on an IV and her meds to clean out her bowels. Bigger kids can drink the stuff but they said at her age is hard to get as much as they have to drink down. So they did the NG tube to get her meds in. She did great apparently getting her IV and NG tube in. They took her away to do that so we didn't have to watch. She wasnt crazy about the NG tube. It took some time getting used to. She gagged a lot at first and it made her drool.

It took a few hours to get the poop moving but once it did we were draining her colostomy bag often. The nurses looked at us like we were crazy for using the double diaper technique. But it works for us. They advised us using bags with the clean out since there would be so much and it would be pretty much liquid. (sorry for TMI) :) We are so used to the poop talk at our house! ;) So we spent about every hour during the night helping the nurses out. When they came in to drain her bag or check her vitals, Mayleigh flips out. She DOES NOT want anyone messing with her. She has had enough done in her short life that she gets it.

This morning we were taken down to surgery around 8. We talked with the anesthesiologist and Dr. Levitt. The hardest part about today is that there are still unknowns. With imperforate anus they have what is known as a short common channel or a high channel. It is better at 3cm. When they went in to look around a few months ago and check out where everything is, they saw that hers is 5 cm channel. He said sometimes these are inaccurate so that is the big unknown that changes a lot for her today. Dr. Levitt will make an anus opening and the vaginal opening (she also has what is called chloaca which means she does not have a vaginal opening.) Then if it is too high for him to reach the rectum they will have to make an incision in her belly to go in to reach. We are praying that his earlier test were wrong and everything will be done from the back. This will be a much easier recovery for her. It also will change the length of surgery. 4-5 hours to 6-8 if they have to go in through the belly. Depending also on how things go she will maybe be given an epidural at the end of surgery for pain. She will also be on pain meds through the IV.
We are expecting her to be pretty sleepy and out of it today but honestly have no idea what to expect after that. Poor thing. Praying her pain can be managed and we will be able to give her the comfort she needs.
We are so thankful for all the love and support we have recieved. We feel your prayers and thoughts!! Mayleigh is so loved...she has no idea!!

Happily playing before she got messed with! 

Love this picture of the two of them. So sweet.  

It was a long day. Up very early and not a lot of naps. 

Girls weekend

After a long 6 months of pure chaos in our life, I was soooo looking forward to our girls trip. We had this scheduled a few months ago....before the moving date, and before there was ever talk of a surgery in the summer. Last weekend was not the most ideal time for it and took some tricky planning, but was SOOO worth every second of it and all the stress planning for me to get away! Unfortunately our fab 4 was only our fab 3. At the last min. a girlfriend had a family medical issue and couldn't come. We were really bummed but understand that family comes first.

So we headed to Michigan City, IN and stayed in a cute cottage. We enjoyed the sand in our toes, some shopping, sleeping in, and a lot of laughs! Our car was full of shopping bags and that is always a true sign of a successful girls trip!! There is no doubt about our group, we do LOVE to shop!
I am going to miss seeing these girls and their families on a weekly (ok, or daily) basis but we are looking forward to the weekend sleepovers we will now get to enjoy together!

We started the weekend off right with pedicures!! 

AHHH!!! so relaxing!

Me and the cute preggos! ;) (Jessica, I was missing you my non preggo friend) 

Yes, this was my view for a few hours on Friday! Could have been a little warmer considering it is July but we enjoyed just relaxing.

We are hoping to book a beach house for next summer for our families! Or TWO beach houses...we do have big families! ;) 

Girlfriends like these girls are hard to find. Girls that you can TOTALLY be yourself with. Girls that will be there for your successes, your failures, and struggles. Girls that are basically second moms to all my kids. These 3 girls are irreplaceable. I thank God everyday for bringing them into my life and I know they will be friends for life!

A new chapter...

2 weeks ago the movers came and started boxing up the house. A quick two days later and the whole house was empty and the truck was loaded and ready to go. It was sad to leave such a great home...our home. The home we moved into when I was 36 weeks pregnant with my first baby! 6.5 years later, 4 kids coming home to that house, and lots of memories made, but it was time to move on. As hard as this transition has been for me to swallow, I think I was finally ready. Ready to quit thinking about the move and just do it. Ready to get settled and move on with life.

Before we left we spent a few weeks fitting in time with all the special people in Mt. Zion/Decatur. We had a blast. Although I do have to say, sometimes it was hard to not come home and just cry knowing what great friends and family we were leaving. But so beyond thankful for the friendships that were made...for my kids, Jeff and I.

Love my "ADM" girls! Over the years we have had many family BBQ's and many wonderful girls nights out. So fun that some of us have been friends since before kids! Love you guys so much!!

And the kiddos! Such great memories and so fun watching them all grow up!

We squeezed in a few playdates the last week were in Mt. Zion. Going to miss these Talty boys!

This pictures just makes me happy. Our last day in Decatur was spent with this awesome crew at the Zoo!! What a special group of friends!!! And a whole lot of kids!! ;) 

Chase and Olivia. Olivia tells her sisters that she is going to marry Chase someday! I think I would be ok with an arranged marriage! These two are just too cute! 

The three musketeers! These 3 had a special friendship. 

Big kids!!

The mommies to that awesome crew! Love you all so much!!

Kristin and I have been friends for 10 years. We spent many weekends together pre-kids and then continued to be there through all the births (and adoptions) of our kiddos. Our hubbies have been friends for 15 years. Love this family and we are looking forward to fun family weekend get togethers in the future! 

After a few years going to First Christian Church we joined a small group. For 3 years we have enjoyed getting to know the other couples in the group and their kiddos. We had a going away party at the surf club with our group. Look at all these kiddos!! Those poor babysitters that watched all of them in our basement during group meetings. We will miss this group so much. Such a wonderful group of people that supported each other. We love you guys and you will always be very special families to us!

The fab 4! (Thanks Leslie for the cute name!) There are just no words. You girls are like sisters. Love you all so much!!!!!  

And most importantly we celebrated my parents birthday before heading out of town. Enjoyed one last dinner before parting ways. A new chapter for our family. With my parents moving to their house in AZ full time, we are looking forward to having them in Chicago often for visits!

Happy Birthday Dad!! Going to miss having you down the street but looking forward to our visits in AZ!!! A special thank you to both my parents who have helped so much during the move. We appreciate it is so much.

Thanks to all our friends and family for making this place so much fun these past 9 years (3 years before moving to MO and then back)! We will miss Decatur/Mt. Zion so much. The people are simply the best!! 

And to leave you with a laugh...Brennan wanted to strike a "power ranger" pose! :) Hope Glen Ellyn is ready for this crazy crew!!!!

Mayleigh's 2nd Birthday Party

After canceling the first scheduled birthday party, Mayleigh finally was feeling good 3 weeks after her birthday....so we partied!! Honestly with the move and the 3 weeks of being sick, I was pretty worn out and kinda wasnt in the mood for party planning but I knew I would regret that later. This was after all her first birthday home with her forever family!! WE HAD TO CELEBRATE!!
So with a pink lemonade theme, a bounce house, beautiful weather, and lots of wonderful friends and family...we celebrated! Mayleigh had a blast and after 3 weeks of not very many smiles, it was wonderful to see her smile and laugh and feel good!!
I will leave you with lots of pictures!! :)