35/52::Michael's Surgery Day::August 29

35/52 ~ Michael has oral aversion, and it creates some tricky challenges for every day life. One of those challenges is dental work. Mike has to be put under general anesthesia, like in full fledged surgeries, when he has dental work done. On Tuesday, he had a deep cleaning, sealants put on some molars, and a baby tooth "wiggled" out to make room for a rogue tooth that is floating toward his sinuses - hopefully the hole where the baby tooth was will lure it back where it should be.

He always has a nice time meeting new people, and surgery day was no exception. He "stole" everyone's noses (the old "got your nose" trick :) ) and hugged at least half of everyone we met. He only seemed nervous for a minute when he discovered that Steve & I couldn't go back with him, but then he regained his composure when I told him to have fun with Grandma Joyce (the anesthesiologist) and Steven (his surgery nurse). He smiled and said okay. Within 10 minutes, a nurse came and told us that he was already "asleep" and surgery was starting.

Everything went well, and since we're on the 3rd day out from surgery, he can eat normally today. I'm so thankful for his dentist and all of the wonderful people who work with him in his office and at the surgery center. Hopefully he'll start letting the dentist work on him in the office so that this is his first and last surgery for dental work (and that he can keep up his record of no cavities ever!)

♥

Michael's Dental Surgery::August 27

Today was the big day!


Michael and Daddy in the waiting room

Michael has oral aversion and can only stand xrays and the exam at the dentist office, though this time he did sit still enough for the dentist to scale the outside of 1 tooth in the office and allowed the dental hygenist to brush a few of his teeth before he refused the rest.

Since he doesn't feel comfortable having all of the dental work done while he's awake, he has to have surgery using general anesthesia for him to get a good, deep cleaning and any other work done. Lucky for Mikey, when the dentist looked at the xrays, there were no cavities, so today at a surgical center, the dentist cleaned Mikey's teeth really well, "wiggled out" a baby tooth - the adult tooth is angled at the wrong direction to come in w/o help - and used sealants on 3 of his back teeth.


Michael waiting to go back to surgery

Michael enjoyed meeting new friends today. He was only worried for a minute when they put him in the wheelchair to take him back and he realized that Steve and I weren't going with him. He still did pretty well, and I told him to have a nice time with Grandma Joyce (the anesthesiologist) and Steven (his surgery nurse). He smiled and said okay. Before 10 minutes passed, a nurse came and told us that he was already "asleep" and surgery was starting.


Michael and his nurse waiting for Daddy to bring the car to the door

When he came back to us from recovery, he was still sleepy and complained of his throat hurting. He was still sleepy when we left the surgery center, but he did fine on the car ride home. Within an hour or two of being home, he said he was hungry and wanted to eat. I think the hardest part might be keeping him from eating regular food for the first 3 days, since he's only supposed to have soft foods. He already ate a few peanut M & M's before I caught him, and he has been asking for popcorn ever since we've been home. It might be a long 3 days..... ;)

♥

A day in the BIG city::August 25

Steve and I went to my photo club's meeting on Thursday, and since we had about an hour before the meeting started, we took a walk around the city library.

Nearby the library is a museum. We didn't have enough time to visit anything but the main lobby, but here is what we saw:









Then we wandered in and around the library. The inner walls are glass, the roof is glass - it is so incredibly awesome!








After walking around the library up above the roof, we got to a lookout point with these words:


Then, when you turn around and go back down the stairs, here are these words:


This is a spot where you can look down through the spiral staircase and see all the way to the ground floor from the tip topiest place:


And these pics were taken at the tip topiest lookout spot. Very cool cityscapes in every direction!





We told Amber and Tino about it, and we got a call first thing yesterday morning asking if we wanted to go back up with them. We couldn't, but have scheduled a double date with them to go up soon. Hopefully we'll go to the museum this time and I'll have lots more pictures for you :)

♥

Cute Kitty::August 24

Some cuteness for your Saturday: Did I mention that a mama cat had her babies at our house, stuck around until they weaned, and then left? This is one of the kitties:


He sure is a cute little guy, and I love that he'll pose for a picture :)

♥

34/52::This Moment::August 23

I'm back on track for this week! :)



Yesterday was Michael's check up at the pediatric dentist. The fact that this kid has never had a cavity and has mostly straight teeth excites me and yet blows me away! We are very fortunate, since he is oral aversed and doesn't tolerate poking around in his mouth well. He will need to have a deep cleaning though, and for him that means being put under. He also needs one baby tooth removed, since the adult tooth is in a weird position and will not come in naturally by itself. The dentist is hoping that when the spot is opened up, the tooth will turn and come in properly. Keep your fingers crossed!

♥

Bentley::August 21

My grandbaby Bentley was very happy this morning, so I did a photo shoot:




Such a cute little guy! :)

♥

33/52::August 20

Oh man! It has been a rough couple of weeks, so I totally missed the 32/52 and decided to just catch up with 33/52 today. I'll get back on track at the end of this week.


This is a familiar pose for Michael. Popcorn is still one of his favorite treats :)

♥

In my neck of the woods::August 19

Over the weekend, a forest fire sprung up just a few neighborhoods away from mine. It appears that it has been put out, thanks to the many firefighters who worked so hard to keep us safe.

♥

Teryn's Birthday::August 16

Here are the cute Minion cakes Hayley, Amber, and Josh made:


He is 3!!


We gave him some monster trucks that roll by themselves after you "wind" them up by pushing them forward a few times. Two, so he can race with someone :)


I didn't know how he would react to a teddy bear, so I was super happy to see his big smile:


We swam, ate lunch and cake and goodies from the pinata, and visited.

He is such a sweet kid; he reminds us of Jared when he was little - for the most part, he's just a patient, happy kid. At his party he kept wanting the deviled eggs more than anything else :) (With Jared, it would have been apples :) )

Happy Birthday, dear Teryn!

♥

Praying Mantis::Macro::August 14

Earlier in the week, I saw this little guy who had just been hatched - notice how the wings look crumpled:


About an hour later, I took some more pics. He still looks a bit damp, but he was drying out quite nicely:


I tried looking for him again yesterday, but he was gone. Hopefully he went to my garden and he'll eat my bugs.

I ♥ the macro world! My goal is to capture enough "bug" pics to make a book for the grandkiddies and for myself and even perhaps sell them. Common things look starkly differently from a different perspective, don't they?

Have a great day!

♥

This Moment::Katydid::August 9

(Don't forget that you can click on them to enlarge the pic)







(Don't forget that you can click on them to enlarge the pic)

The boys found a katydid outside last night and showed it to me.... of course I had to take pics! (Thanks for the great time, guys! ♥)

♥

Family Pics from Our Town's Celebration::August 7

Emily in the Twist and Shout Drill Team - they wore orange tutus to show support for a little boy in our community with leukemia:


Miah and Teryn liked the parade and got lots of candy :)


Michael liked the parade too:


He also loves to tease his daddy :)


Miah and Teryn with the Apple Tree - as an aside: Miah *loved* this Apple Tree and thought it was wonderful :)


Josh, Miah, Teryn, Michael and I rode the kids' train in the park:


Miah didn't want me to take a picture of her, she wanted me to take a picture of the Apple Tree:


Emily and her drill team performing in the park:


My cousin, Shawna, was in the parade too - I love that girl! :)


It was a good day's celebration. I didn't get a picture of Matt, and Jared stayed home for everything but the rodeo and fireworks that Steve took the kids too later on that night. Besides our Labor Day Family Camp, this celebration marks the winding down of summer. I'm just not ready for that yet, though.....

♥