Trevor's Big Ear Day!

We arrived bright and early to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis for Trevor's double ear tube surgery. Well, not too bad - 7:00am.

Once we got checked in we met nurse Doreen who took Trevor's vitals. He wasn't really a fan of getting that done. He's like his Daddy - no poking or prodding allowed!

Since no eating or drinking is allowed for many hours before surgery, Trevor was a starvin' marvin. The Tylenol he was given before surgery must have been a real treat to his empty tummy!

Children's Hospital really is bright and cheery and good for kids. We were very impressed with everyone we met!

The anesthesiologist was great! He spent lots of time making sure all of our questions were answered. And we had a few given that the anesthesia was the most scary part of the procedure for us!


It was a rather long wait for the 8:30 am procedure but luckily Mommy's iphone can pass the time pretty easily for our little techie!

Hey Trevor - don't you know that a watched pot never boils? Same can go for a door and a doctor arriving!

Trevor had no problem making himself right at home with a TV and a lounger!

He was also very content given the huge pile of books we brought and that they had in the room!

And before we knew it, it was time! Only one parent could go to the operating with Trevor so Mommy went because he is all about Mom these days :) When we stopped in the hallway for Mommy to put on her gown and cap, the male nurse anesthesiologist held Trevor. Trevor didn't want to go back to Mommy once she was done so he went in the operating room being held by the male nurse anesthesiologist. What a big boy!

As soon as we hit the operating room door though Mommy got a bit teary (can you say memories of her c-section) and Trevor wasn't at all excited by the numerous people in scrubs all staring at him. When the anesthesiologist sat him on the operating room table Trevor was very resistant and started crying, screaming, and flailing around. They struggled a bit to get the mask over his nose to start the anesthesia because Trevor is feisty and strong. So he's crying and scared and Mommy's crying but trying to calm him by singing "our song" but she can't help but keep saying "I'm sorry pooks. I'm sorry" over and over. About 45 seconds later he was out and a nurse walked Mommy back to the room where Daddy was waiting.

We heard from numerous friends not to hold him while he went under (because of the feeling of limp, dead weight) and luckily we didn't even have that option but the visual of him laying there all calm after struggling because he didn't understand what was happening to him was pretty much the same thing for this Mommy. Ugh :(

After Mommy got back to the room and settled down and said some prayers we snapped a quick photo of the clock. Ahead of schedule - that's a first! Don't hospitals and doctors offices always run late?

In honor of Trevor, we continued to watch Handy Manny while we waited for news on his operation.

And after what felt like forever the Doctor surprised us by saying Trevor was all done and did great! YAY!!!! He said that Trevor had a lot of fluid and pus so he sucked that out and placed the tubes (which are the color white). We snapped a picture of the doctor by the clock so we could remember how fast it really was!

And about 20 minutes later our brave little boy was back in our arms! The nurse said that when he woke up in recovery he was confused so they gave him Skip It to which Trevor made clear that wasn't what he wanted by continually throwing it to the ground. Hello, he just wanted Mommy and Daddy!

When he first got back to the room he was just all cuddly but about 15 minutes after that he must have remembered that he missed breakfast and took full advantage of the Popsicle:

and two juice boxes!

We were discharged about 9:30 and stopped into the gift shop after he spotted a balloon. Instead of the balloon though, Trevor reached out for the Curious George stuffed animal and wouldn't let go of giving it a big hug. Guess what came home up with us? Yep, that and a book called "Pacifiers are not forever." Our goal is to be done with his nuk by June 1. Wish us luck :)

Since Trevor was back to his old self we stopped at Perkins for a special breakfast. Trevor definitely made up for not having anything for the past 3 hours by downing pancakes, bacon, muffin, breakfast potatoes, and some sausage. He is definitely a good eater! Big surprise, right?

Once we got home he was excited to play with his toys. It almost seemed like he was going around to each one to really hear what they sounded like. But he was pretty tired so his play time was pretty short. He then took a 3 hour nap!

When he woke up he and Daddy went to play at 2 local parks and at 3:15 Mommy got back from work (she had to go in for leadership training. Well, didn't have to but since Trevor was sleeping it worked out for her to go in for about 3 hours). Trevor is chatting away today and happily greeted Mommy by telling her what he and Daddy had been up to (none of it was really understandable but it was fun to see him attempt!) After that Grandma and Grandpa Hillins stopped over and were glad to see that Trevor was a happy boy!

We got out a new toy for Trevor - a water table and he loved it! He is so proud when he can figure something out for himself!

After he'd do something, Grandma and Papa would clap and Trevor would turn around and smile!

Yay Trevor!!

Hmmm...not sure if Dada or Trevor likes the water table more!

We finished the evening by making Trevor's other favorite meal - mac-n-cheese. But on Trevor's special day he got the homemade version made with lots of love!

We feel so lucky and blessed that everything went so well. We need to put in antibiotic ear drops 3x/day for the next three days and then see the doctor again in three weeks. He does have his 18 month appt with his pediatrician on Monday so it will be good to have that in between appt to make sure things look good. Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Your support really helped us to get through this :)

Ear Success

Trevor's ear surgery went perfect! Pictures and story to come but wanted you all to know as soon as possible!

'Twas the Night Before....

...Trevor's big ear tube operation and our boy got whatever his little heart desired - as has been for the whole week :) Tonight he got one of his favorite meals - pizza. He was so excited when Mommy said the word that he pulled his chair over to the side of the table and waited patiently for it to come out of the oven! Once it did he seemed to be thinking 'wow! is that all for me?'



Yay! Pizza!


'Mom - what is the hold up'. Actually he's been doing this pose a lot so we're glad that we captured it on camera. He does it a lot too when we ask him what happened to something. He seems to say, 'I don't know'!


After eating, Grandma Pauline and Grandpa John stopped over since they arrived in town earlier in the day. We spent most of our time together outside since the weather is finally cooperating! Trevor is fascinated with the garage lately. Not sure what that is about but you'll often find him climbing the two steps to go into the garage and just standing by the door hoping someone will go in! Well, that is when he is patient. Often times is the case that he stomps his feet, whines, and points until someone opens the door.


The bubble machine and sidewalk chalk are favorites these days. Luckily his bubble machine is working again!


Bubbles!


Randle is such a sport - he actually likes being pushed around in Trevor's car by the man himself. Seriously, how cute is this?


Our neighbor has a trampoline that their two kids play on and Trevor wishes that there was a way for him to get over to them. Just a few more years until you are a big boy Trevor, but we don't need to rush the process. Until then he's stuck on our side of the fence with his bubble maker! Such a rough life!


But Grandma Pauline may have beat the trampoline excitement by pushing Trevor around on his tricycle. He loves pushing the bell to announce his presence.


And with that it was bath time, bed time, and prayers for our little guy. Sweet dreams and may angels keep him safe from harm during surgery tomorrow :)

Trevor Happenings

Trevor has been a very busy boy. He is growing so fast (too fast for this Mommy and Daddy) but it is so fun seeing his personality really emerge. He LOVES to color so we recently got him a big boy size coloring book which he spends much time with.


Still figuring out if he's right or left handed. Sometimes he likes to use both hands at the same time to show off his mad coloring skills!


Trevor also really enjoys getting squeezes and kisses from his Mama. We can hear him laughing in this picture!


Even better in this one!

We recently purchased a high chair for Trevor that fits on our kitchen table chairs. He really likes this set-up since he sees Mommy and Daddy sit on these chairs every night. Now he feels more like us! He's also very into Toy Story things these days so we got him a Buzz cup which he loves. He can even say Buzz! Last but not least, this picture reminds us of his new love for cottage cheese. He had it this past weekend at the Godfather's Pizza buffet so we had to get some for the house now too.

Trevor is still very into bath time. Although he's not such a fan of having water poured over his head :( Recently he's really taken to naked time after his bath. Pretty funny! He sits and read books on his stool:

As well as climbs up to read on his chair:

He even plays with his toys on the ground stark naked. Not sure there is anything cuter than watching his bare little butt run away from us when it's time to get his jammies on!

Otherwise, the only other thing going on is preparing for Trevor's ear tube surgery on Thursday morning at 8:30 am. We're nervous and scared and just about every emotion in the book but we do believe this will be best for him. At his pre-op appt on Monday we learned his ears are still awful so we'll pray that God will watch over him and keep him safe from harm during the procedure and beyond. Thanks for all of your love, support, kind words and prayers during this time. We appreciate each and every one of you for being part of Trevor's life!

Mama's New Look

So Mommy had enough of her long hair. Given how thick it was as well as the length, getting ready each morning was just too consuming so off it went. Luckily we had taken pictures of it recently so we can do a true before and after.

Some days she wore it curly (which surprisingly was much easier than wearing it straight):

Some days she wore it straight...like on Friday....

...and this was Friday evening. 9+ inches gone!

Pretty amazing it is very similar to when Sara cut her long hair off in September 2008. She loves it! And Brian really, really loves it! Yay! But if she wakes up tomorrow or another day and doesn't like it, that's a-okay. Her hair grows so fast that it would probably take 10-11 months to grow back out. But, we don't need to worry about that for now.

And before you all worry that you aren't going to get a recent picture of Trevor. Don't worry! He didn't miss out on the hair fun either. On Friday he sported a faux-hawk! Cutie!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! We had a wonderful day celebrating starting with taking Mommy out to breakfast at one of her favorite spots - Einstein Bagels. This Mama is not a fancy Mama and really appreciated her boys taking her out for her favorite meal :) Then we headed down to Sara's parents house to take part in he annual Mother's Day bbq. Trevor was the ham of the event, making people laugh by putting a bucket on his head and twirling around!

He took a lengthy nap but still was sleepy so he cuddled up next to Grandma until her arm fell asleep like an hour later!

Uncle Bill got his cuddles in to! Love this picture of the two of them! Bill's smile makes us smile :)

Back at home in the evening Mommy and Trevor finally got their picture together! You can see too one of the gifts she got for her special day - a long strand of real pearls that she can layer or wear long. Love it!!

Before bed our little guy also got in some motorcycle time. No real motorcycles though...ever. Got that T?