Days #351-364

What would be the end of the year, without getting super behind on the blog. The majority of you who follow this blog know why we got so behind (hint hint, brain surgery) but if I have any secret followers out there, this photo montage should help you get caught up with our past two weeks and give you all the insight into the craziness that ensued on/around/near Christmas.

Day #351

 Nothing crazy has happened yet, so we have plenty of time for snuggles on the couch in our sleeping bag :)

Day #352

 SNOW DAY! We woke up to an inch or so of snow. I stayed home so Maddy stayed home for a little while with me until the roads were more clear. We played in the snow and even ate a little!

Day #353

 We woke up in the middle of the night on December 20 to find out that Grammie Merlene's recent headaches had been identified to be a brain tumor. She was being taken to the neurological ICU at a hospital in Seattle and would need surgery soon to remove the mass. We all spent a few days at the hospital (even Maddy!) and visited with her while they developed a plan to remove the tumor and deal with any possible ailments once it came out. The family was extremely upset/stressed/etc. and couldn't believe that someone with such impeccable health would be facing such a terrible prognosis. We cried, we prayed, and we hugged. 

Day #354

 Grammie Merlene had brain surgery on December 23 and much to our surprise (and her doctor's), when they got into her brain, they did not find a tumor, they found an abscess. She had an infection! She didn't have cancer, she doesn't need chemo, they didn't have to shave her head or put a fist size hole in her skull. She's on really heavy antibiotics for 6-8 weeks but is going to be alright! Yay, what a huge relief. We were all ecstatic and extremely grateful. 

Day #355

After a miracle in the hospital, Grammie Merlene insisted that Ted, Maddy and I get in the car and get to Oregon to celebrate Christmas. We were a little hesitant to leave her, but she was pretty persuasive. We packed all of our stuff in about an hour and jumped in the car on Christmas Eve. It was a speedy trip and we got to Grammie Kim and Bumpa Larry's about 10pm. 

Day #356

 Merry Christmas!

Day #357

 Playing on the 4-wheeler at Uncle Dan's house! Bailey had fun too!

Day #358

 So many stickers on Grammie Kim.

Day #359

We went to visit Bumpa Larry's work and got to see crab, sea creatures and even the skeleton of a whale. Maddy had so much fun climbing around.

 Day #360

Bumpa Larry and Grammie Kim are building a new house. We went to check it out with Hayden and Paisley. The two older kids had a blast running around and getting super muddy. The house is coming along and should be done in about a year. Yay, can't wait!

Day #361 

We went to Shore Acres to check-out the Christmas lights with all the Drapers and Great Grammie. We had fun and Great Grammie did great with all of the walking. So proud of her!

 Day #362

One of the reasons that I really wanted to make it to Oregon for Christmas was because Great Grammie was going to be there. She had spent about a month in a rehab facility getting her strength up after being sick and was doing so much better. We were so glad to get to spend a few days with her. Maddy and Great Grammie snuggles before we left!

 Day #363

We got back to Tacoma just in time to celebrate a belated Christmas with Grammie Merlene (who got out of the hospital after a week) and Papa Rick. We opened presents, visited, and had a nice dinner. It was so nice to see them and just be together at home. Also, it's so great to see Grammie Merlene doing so well and feeling so much better. What a blessing!

Day #364

Mmmmm bagels and cream cheese!

Day #350

We turned Maddy's carseat forward facing yesterday and so far it's a big success. It's much easier to get her into the car and see her when you're moving. The only "problem" is she can see where you're going now and yesterday shouted "turn mommy!" Now we have a backseat driver, great!

Day #349

Maddy got a toy train set for her birthday and she's been really into it lately. We'll be getting her some new trains to add to it for Christmas.

Days #346-348

Here's some fun we've been having lately! Things have been pretty busy lately with work and tons of dinners, activities, and events. We're looking forward to a week off for Christmas in Oregon!

Ted got Maddy up from her nap and she insisted on dressing herself. I heard him say, Mom is going to say that doesn't match. She was insistent so I shouted upstairs to let her wear whatever she wanted. Then when she got downstairs I was like, whoa! Crazy outfit kid!

We had friends over tonight who brought some awesome desserts. This included a cupcake with red frosting which ended up everywhere (including on her forehead)! She had a blast though!

Maddy watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse occasionally and loves the song at the end called the Hot Dog Dance. She convinced Ted to dance with her tonight!

Day #345

Maddy decided that Papa needed some pizza from her play pizza toy and they had quite fun with him putting in his order (mushrooms and pepperoni) and her running to grab more and more pizza. She thought it was pretty funny when he would pretend to eat it. 

Day #344

We went to dinner at Grandma and Papa's house this weekend. Maddy scarfed down 3 bowls of butternut squash soup and then ate ribs! She chowed down on the bone for quite a while, getting all the meat off. She was pretty proud of herself. Yay for our good eater!

Day #343

Maddy slept through much of the Seahawks game last weekend but woke up just in time for the last quarter. We snuggled on the couch while she woke up, cheering on our team! Go Seahawks!

Days #340-342

Here's a catch up from the weekend. We had quite a bit of downtime which was nice.

Maddy watching videos on her iPhone with her headphones.

Out to dinner. Mmm minestrone soup and garlic bread!

Ted took Maddy to the Children's Museum in the morning to blow off some energy. They built this contraption and the she climbed all over it!

Day #339

I've been getting pretty bad headaches almost every day at work for the past month so I decided to make an eye appointment to see if that was the problem. The doctor said things looked pretty good but that I have astigmatism and that glasses will probably help when I'm working on the computer and also when I drive at night. So....I'm getting glasses! I tried on quite a few frames and finally settles on blue ones that are really fun. I should have them in about 2 weeks but in the meantime here's a preview!

Day #338

Here are photos of us decorating our tree. This is Maddy's 3rd Christmas but definitely the first one that she's really understood. She had so much fun decorating and she's already been really into the advent calendar we have and likes to move the days. We've told her that Santa will put presents in her stocking so she wants to look inside everyday to see if there's any presents. 

Day #337

Monday night the Seahawks played in Monday Night Football and they were AMAZING! Maddy got all decked out in the football and Christmas spirit!

Day #336

On Sunday we went and got our Christmas tree. Due to a very very busy few days and also a rain storm, we opted for a Christmas tree lot near our home instead of going to a u-cut place as we had planned originally. We still had a blast and it was nice and easy. Here are some shots of our adventure!

Days #331-#335

Thanksgiving! We had a great Thanksgiving filled with family dinners and grandparents, tasty food, fun traditions and much more! Here's a recap!

Grandma Kim and Maddy put on their aprons to cook dinner!

Maddy and Grandma Kim do airplane!

Great Grandma makes her famous apple pie! I even video recorded the "lesson" so I could try to make pie myself.

Black Friday shopping!!!

Snuggling with Nana on Thanksgiving!

Day #330

When I pick Maddy up from daycare, I ask her what she did that day and she ALWAYS says, I played with Natalia. She loves Natalia! Today when I went to get her the two of them were playing with blocks. When we were getting ready to leave Natalia came running from across the room to give Maddy a big hug. I love that Maddy has such great friends who she's been in daycare with since she was 5 months old and will grow up with.

Day #329

Grandma Pat moved to a rehab facility on Friday and was less than pleased with not going home. She was pretty grouchy. Ted, Maddy and I went down on Sunday to visit her and try to cheer her up. We stayed for about 2 hours. We brought her a present which was pictures of all of her great grandchildren for her room. Maddy and her played cards. Also Grandma wanted to put on some makeup so of course Maddy wanted some too. It was a really nice visit especially learning that the physical therapists are working with her so much to get her strength back. Hopefully she'll be back at home soon!

Day #328

Ted, Maddy and I joined a few of our friends for dinner tonight. We went to Korean BBQ. You basically have a small grill built into your table and you cook your own meat. You get tons of tasty Korean side dishes (soup, rice, kimchi, etc.) to go with it. Maddy had so much fun! She ate a ton of food including two bowls of soup! 

Day #327

Maddy had a great week in gymnastics. Ted had to work so it was just the two of us but we had a blast. She did the bars and the trampoline and loved them!

Day #326

No surprise that Maddy likes washing herself in the tub. We got her a loofah to make it a little more productive. Here she is with SO many bubbles!

Day #325 - Grandma Pat

Since the time I was very little, I have had a special bond with my Grandma. Some of my earliest memories are spending time at her house in Oregon (back when I was 2). When I got older, I would beg my parents to take me to her house for long weekends and when I started driving, I would often spend weekends and breaks at her house, watching movies (Shirley Temple was our favorite) and going to get milkshakes at Arctic Circle. When I was in Michigan for graduate school, I got special permission to postpone my comprehensive exams (which would allow me to graduate), in order to be with her for open heart surgery. When I found out I was pregnant, she was one of the first people I told and when it came time to name the baby, I didn't hesitate to use Patricia as Maddy's middle name, in her honor. I hoped that one day, my Grandma would be just as important to my daughter. 

On Wednesday I went to Vancouver to visit my Grandma Pat, who has been in the hospital with breathing issues. At the end of the visit, her doctor told us she'd be going home and was excited about the improvements she's made. Linda, Grandma and I were all excited and I left and came home to Tacoma in a really good mood. It had been a great visit and Grandma was doing better. The next day we found out that she would not be going home. That she instead needs to go to a rehabilitation facility to get her strength up and improve her breathing and walking. While we all agree that this is probably the best decision, especially with the ups and downs with her health lately, it's not a fun reality. She really doesn't like being in the hospital and really wants to go home, and it's so hard to go against what she wants when we know that isn't best for her. 

She will be moving to the rehab facility today and will spend the next 1-2 weeks there. She is sad and feeling overwhelmed. Linda is there with her and is doing a good job keeping her spirits up, but it's hard. All I want to do right now is put my arms around her and tell her it will be alright (like she has done with me hundreds of times). I'm trying to balance my life here (family, work, school, etc.) with wanting to move into her hospital room so she isn't lonely or sad or scared. She has offered me so much comfort over the years and I feel like right now I can't reciprocate that the way that I want. 

Last night, I told Maddy that Great Grandma was sick and asked her if she wanted to make some videos to cheer her up. Grandma can't see really well, but she can still hear, and so we made loud exuberant videos that Linda could play to boost her spirits. Maddy shouted, I LUB YOU GRAMMIE, and she sang her ABCs and she said SEE YOU SOON. Linda said Grandma loved them and was really happy listening to Maddy over and over again. I was happy too :) Here are some photos of them "chatting" last night even though they couldn't actually see each other and weren't even in the same part of the state. 

We're planning to go down on Sunday to see Grandma, once she's settled in her rehab facility. We hope that a visit will be just what she needs to get her strength up so she can get better and get back on track. And let's be honest, hopefully it will be just what I need to get my Grandma fix. We love you Grandma! Get well soon!

Day #324

This is what it looks like when your 2 year old wears a silly construction paper hat that she made at daycare, with only 1 shoe (who knows where the other one went), and stands on the steps singing nursery rhymes. This is our life!

Day #323

Grandma Pat is currently in the hospital. I went down yesterday to visit her for the day to help boost her spirits. We had a really nice time and she had a really good day, making good progress. She's even being released today, yay!

Day #322

Maddy still has a little but of Halloween candy left (mostly the stuff Mom and Dad don't really want to eat). Tonight she noticed her candy bowl and was pretty adamant. We told her she could have a sucker if she ate her dinner. She was a great eater tonight, no surprise! Then she got tired of the sucker about halfway through. Win-win!

Day #321

Maddy got a toy a while ago that we hadn't started using. Tonight seemed like the night. It's a bath toy that's musical AND blows bubbles. It's a cute purple octopus and she loves it! 

Day #320

Maddy and I were on our own yesterday while Ted went to the Seahawks game, so we decided to FaceTime with family. Great Grandma (Nana) and Casey were hanging out together so we visited with them for a while. Here's some pics of our convo!

Day #319

What would be a fun Saturday night without playing with princesses with your dog and your Daddy?

Day #318

Maddy had gymnastics again today and she had a great time! She swung on the rope for the first time and even volunteered to walk on the balance beam with Coach Alex as an example for the class.