Cast Change

Last week Ashlyn got her cast change, which means we are half way there! I have to say having a child go into surgery is such a hard thing. No matter what the surgery is for the fact that they are in an operating room while you wait down the hall to hear how it went just turns your stomach into knots. The first time Ashlyn went to have the hip surgery done it took 3 hours! Basically you wait in this room while nurses come in get her vital signs, ask the same questions over and over again. Her doctor comes in to see if we have any more questions and he KNOWS me so well so of course I have my list of questions ready. Then its GO time! We walk down the hallway us holding Ashlyn while one of the nurses pushes her crib. We get to these double doors and this is where we say good bye to her. This is THE hardest part of all. Of course she doesn't want to go in the crib she wants to be held, to be loved and she starts crying. We hug and kiss her and I am doing everything I can to be strong so the tears don't stream down my face that will just make her more of a mess. We hand her over to a nurse who seriously acted like she had never held a baby before. I mean come on my child is screaming show some compassion. The nurses start walking towards the double doors the doors open and we just see Ashlyn crying and her eyes are just fixated on us and there is nothing at this point we can do she is on her way to the operating room. The double doors close and I just loose it and grab onto Jeff and just cry. Now fast forward to last week. I knew what to expect although still not easy I knew what was next. This time we got a nurse who adored Ashlyn, who wanted to hold her when we handed her over and although Ashlyn still screamed as she was being taken away I was able to take a deep breathe and tell myself it was a cast change no surgery and in ONE hour she would be in recovery. Its never easy and its so hard on everyone involved. Thankfully Ashlyn forgets about it all as soon as she sees us again. As for us its a memory we will share with her in years to come.

Here she is in recovery with the oxygen mask still on. Ahh sweet baby girl!


Still looking a bit foggy, but she woke up very well in recovery


There's her thumb





Of course Jeff had her laughing in no time after this picture was taken he can always get her to smile:)


The girls don't miss a beat this was them when we got home. Jillian loves to have Ashlyn drag her around the house.


I'm ready to play!


A couple of weekends ago we all attended a wedding. It was at the Vintage Steakhouse in San Juan Capistrano. Here is Jillian ready to go with her cell phone with her in case anyone needs to get a hold of her.


Eating bread Yumm!


Ashlyn doesn't fit in highchairs so thank goodness there was a booth for us. Here she is just relaxing with her crackers.


Jillian enjoying her food





I tried to capture Jillian dancing so this was the pose I got


More dancing she loves music

So happy to be able to play together again!

When we first brought Ashlyn home Jillian seemed sad because she didn't have her sister to play with since Ashlyn mainly just sat in the bean bag or in the recliner. Ashlyn is now all over the place pulling herself through the house and actually trying to stand in the cast. Jillian was so excited once we put Ashlyn on the ground. Jillian started laughing with excitement and was even giving Ashlyn kisses it was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes seeing how close these girls are.


For the love of cleaning! Jillian loves to clean she tries to get a hold of the baby wipes and when she does she is so happy taking the wipe and wiping down everything. From the furniture, the floor to even wiping down Ashlyn's cast and feet. Jillian will purposely spill her milk on the floor just so she can wipe it up. Its so cute and the poor thing doesn't know it yet, but if she continues to like cleaning she will be doing chores by the time she is 3:) Here she is cleaning the wall.


The floor


The furniture


I'm free. Look at how happy she is. She is just laughing! This is the first time we put her on the ground.


Getting tired. When we first put her the ground she would get tired very quickly. It was a lot for her to hold her head up especially since she had been sitting for 2 weeks.





Jillian leaning in to give Ashlyn a kiss. Of course I missed getting the picture of the kiss


Excited to be playing together again





Laying together watching TV


Jillian giving Ashlyn a foot rub


Trying to balance to get inside the toy box


Sure Mom you can take my picture


Ashlyn making sure Jillian stays away from the bus by trying to push her away


Trying to stand


Now trying to stand with the bucket


So happy! Love this smile


Ahh I love you sister


Gorgeous girl


Smiling Ashlyn