Ella's Surgery

Considering I had just written this post, imagine my surprise when Ella's surgeon's office called me with a surgery date of June 7th!

[I've been remiss in keeping this blog up to date. There are a few things that I've wanted to post. Mainly, I just can't wait to be able to remember ALL the GOOD things after death. ;) ]

I have a couple of pictures on my phone from after Ella's surgery but until I have a way to transfer them to the computer, that's where they'll remain.

Her surgery (tonsil- and adenoid-ectomy) went well; no post-op complications. I spent the night in the hospital with her but she didn't sleep much after the anesthetic effects wore off. We walked the halls of the unit for a lot of the night. :( She was allowed as many popsicles and jello as she wanted. She wasn't a fan of the jello. She ate lots of popsicles and apple juice after the surgery but then promptly threw it up. Following this, however, she ate and kept down 3 bowls of chicken noodle soup!

Daddy and the kids visited for a short time in the evening. They had to leave expeditiously due to the fact that Averi and Taylor were too boisterous and unintentionally waking kids trying to sleep. Why don't kids ever listen??

Ella had horrific breath for a week or so but that is normal. Averi, among others, constantly checked her diaper to see if she had messed herself! My favorite comment, however, came from Daddy who said that it smelled like something crawled into her mouth and died and then something else crawled into her mouth, ate the dead thing and then died.  lol!  Some of the more colorful versions were longer.

Ella was not a fan of taking Tylenol. She was supposed to take it every 4 hours for the first couple of days. The only way we could get her to take it was to force a FastMelt into the back of her mouth. They're difficult to spit out because they kind of stick to your tongue but we had to monitor closely. The liquid Tylenol was promptly spewed out on most occasions, despite using a syringe and only squirting it in in small amounts. Crushing a FastMelt and mixing it into applesauce or yogurt only worked if she'd eat the whole amount, which didn't seem often.

On the amazing side, her loud breathing and snoring have completely disappeared! The difference has been like night and day! She no longer has her apneic spells and we no longer fear that she won't wake up.

On the negative side, we can no longer hear her coming.

;)

Happy Father's Day

Averi made this in preschool. Some of the answers are HILARIOUS!

You've Got Grass

While snuggling with Daddy, Ella looks up Daddy's nose and announces:

You have grass!

My First Recital

OMGoodness, I'm so ecstatic that this is over!

It may be recalled that I received singing lessons as a Christmas present. My instructor, the fabulous Tanis, is a coloratura soprano and has a Masters in Vocal Performance. She lived just a couple of blocks away (in my ward) so it took me less than a minute to drive there (Shawn: Why don't you just walk??). She has since moved to a small town just south of Calgary but the 25-minute drive there is still worth it.  ;)

My motivation in taking singing lessons is to hopefully acquire the confidence to perform. As is true with teaching, I am fairly certain that the more I perform, the better I will become at performing. I insisted Shawn record me at my recital so I could critique myself. The added benefit is that I got to hear what I sound like. I've never been able to "hear myself" when I sing... Weird, but true.

You can't really tell that I'm dying of nerves (except that I can't breathe and don't smile or make much eye contact), but my usual stiffness is broken up with occasional hand rotations/waving... Whoops. I do that during lessons/practices to help with energy and flow. Didn't think I'd carry it over to my performance. Bah, whatever.

The recital takes place in a United Church building.

Taylor filmed my little pre-recital-footage message so excuse the shaking and noises. ;)