Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Surgery

Yesterday, almost a week after her first birthday, Joselynn had her dermoid cyst removed.  I first noticed the small, hard lump above her right eye when she was about 6 months old and we learned it was a dermoid cyst at our initial appointment at the eye institute.  It has slowly gotten bigger over the past few months and every time she attempted to walk (and subsequently fall) we worried that she would hit it and rupture the cyst, so we decided to have it taken out shortly after her birthday.  We were very nervous about her undergoing a surgical procedure so young but also anxious to have it removed. 

We arrived at the Virginia Eye Institute surgical center at 7am on Tuesday.  Josie was in a good mood despite not having anything to eat since I nursed her at 11:30pm.  We checked in and headed back to a room where we went over a few things with a nurse.  We met the anesthetist and less than an hour after we arrived, I had to hand Josie over to two doctors.  She was NOT a happy camper.  She's at the age where she's scared of strangers and it broke my heart to listen to her scream and cry as they walked her back.  David and I went to the waiting room and tried to keep busy.  It was not easy, especially as we watched one doctor come into the waiting room 6 different times to talk to parents about their kids getting tubes.  Apparently this is a very fast procedure and we were a little jealous.  Neither of us are very good at waiting patiently.  Finally after about an hour and a half, the doctor came out and told us that the surgery had gone well.  He said the cyst was larger and had deeper root nerves than he had anticipated but that they removed it all.  When we were finally able to see her she was crying and pretty cranky.  The ride home was not fun.  She alternated between screaming and sleeping and her poor voice was horse.  She slept a lot that afternoon and woke a few times last night.  Today she was a little better in spirit but her eye was really swollen and bruised and she's in some pain.  She looked pretty pathetic!  We also have to change her bandage and add ointment three times a day and be very careful that she doesn't fall and rupture the stitches.  Hopefully she'll start feeling better over the next few days and we'll have our happy baby back!   

 Happy baby before her surgery
 A picture of the cyst they removed from Josie
 The first evening
The second day

Monday, March 28, 2011

1 year Check-Up

Josie had her 1 year check-up last week and she weighed in at 18lbs exactly, keeping her in the 5-10% and is 28 5/8 inches tall putting her in the 25-50%. She was such a good baby up until the shots.  She got one in her leg and one in each arm. She also had her finger pricked, which I think she hated more than all three shots combined. Luckily she was her happy self by the time we got to the car. :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Time to Party!

On Saturday we had Joselynn's first birthday party here at the house.  Yay for turning 1!  :)  The party's theme was a Spring Fling (of sorts) since the first day of Spring was earlier in the week.  But....the weather did NOT cooperate.  It was really cold and it even snowed the next day.  Definitely not the 80 degree and sunny weather we had the weekend before.  Regardless of the weather, planning this party was a lot less stressful than Juliann's party the month before since we weren't doing lunch and there were no games to plan for or goody bags to make.  However, I'm not one to make things easy on myself so I decided to make chocolate flower suckers and potted some seeds as favors.  Additionally, I opted to make Josie's cake instead of doing my usual and buying it from Ukrops Bakery at Martins.  I wanted to make the cake festive and keep with my flower theme but didn't want to spend the $13 for the flower pan, so I decided I'd just cut a round cake into the shape of a flower.  Ha!  Not as easy of a feat as I imagined!  Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed the day before her party.  Not to mention I had to also make and ice the cupcakes for the 3 big kids (Juliann's age) and Josie.  Just call me crazy!  :)  Luckily it all turned out and the party was a success! 

 Cutting out the flower
 
The final product!
Joselynn also got her first taste of sweets at her party.  She was a little tentative at first but after the first lick of icing from her finger, she devoured the entire cupcake in a matter of minutes!    
 Not too sure about the cupcake.
 mmmm-this is good!
All done!

She was also spoiled by our family and friends-the child made out like a bandit!  Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us for Joselynn's first birthday!
 Waiting patiently to open her presents
 Jules had fun at Josie's party
She loved her balloons!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY JOSELYNN!

At exactly 3:04 AM one year ago today we were blessed with another WONDERFUL little girl.  I seriously can not believe an entire year has gone by and our baby is now 1!  It amazes me how quickly the time has flown and how much she has grown over the past 12 months.  She's so interactive now and a true joy to have in our family.  Josie has such an easy going personality and absolutely adores her big sister!  And she loves sleep as much as the other members of our family!  :)  We are having a party for her this weekend with a spring theme and I'm looking forward to watching her take her first bite of a cupcake.  She loves food so I have no doubt she'll devour it quickly!  Happy Birthday Josie-we love you!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Baptism

Joselynn was baptized at Lexington Presbyterian Church on Sunday, February 27, 2011. She was an absolute angel and seemed to enjoy being up front and the center of attention! I was a little worried that she might cry at some point during the baptism, but she did a great job!  There was one moment, when David handed her to Dr. Klein, that she looked extremely unsure about what was going on.  However, it was short lived.  Once David's dad began to speak, she immediately looked at him and was calmed.  When Dr. Klein walked her around the congregation she was waving and smiling at everyone, especially her big sister!  A number of people told us after church that we had two beautiful and happy children.  We completely agree and know we are lucky to have such great kids!  Enjoy the pictures below from this wonderful weekend!

 before church
the men with the girls
all the "girls"
with Dr. Klein
the fam at Joselynn's baptism in 2011
the fam at Juliann's baptism in 2009
crawling around the church
Josie at lunch with Mimi
Jules with Oma