Dylan's Surgery

Dylan had his surgery on Tuesday.  We were supposed to check in at the hospital at 6:00 a.m.  In some ways, it's really nice to be the first surgery scheduled for the day.  In other ways, it makes it tricky.  We worked things out with my mom to be to our house to help the kids get off to school and to tend Rachel.

Dylan was surprisingly happy when we got to the hospital.  He knew why we were going so I thought he would get upset when we got there.  He played with toys and did things he was asked without much question.  He did start to get nervous at one point and kept saying he wanted to go home.

When they were wheeling him toward surgery after we kissed him and told him we would see him in a little bit, he cried out, "But don't go home!"  I thought it was cute that he was worried we would go home while he was still there.

A little bit into the surgery, one of the nurses assisting called us in the waiting room to let us know that the cyst didn't appear to be a thyroglossal cyst like they had thought, but a dermoid cyst, which is much easier and less involved to remove.  That was good news.  Later when the doctor came out to talk to us, he said he saw no reason why Dylan would have to stay the night like we had been planning.

After spending some time in recovery (doesn't matter if they give Dylan anti-nausea medicine, he still hurls at least once after anesthesia), we were able to go home.  Dylan perked right up on the way out of the hospital.  Sitting in the car, waiting to go, he said to me, "It's morning."  It was about 10:30.  It had been very dark for the drive to the hospital, so Dylan hadn't realized it was morning.

It was easy to tell when Dylan needed more pain medicine that day and the next couple of days.  He would hold his neck very still and move kind of stiffly.  Once the pain medicine kicked in, he acted like nothing happened, so I let him go to preschool yesterday.  Today he hasn't needed pain medicine at all, but I'm sure he will be even happier once the steri-strips come off.

I didn't think Dylan would feel well enough to go to preschool at all this week.  Thought going to church this coming Sunday would be questionable.  I'm glad he's doing so well and that his surgery is behind us.

I did get a call today from the doctor with the pathology report.  Said it seems to be the dermoid cyst like they though, so nothing to worry about.  Yay for good reports.

Quick Trip to Idaho

About a month ago, I mentioned to my mom how Molly had written a small story at school about taking a trip up to Idaho to visit her cousins.  She wrote how it was a really long drive but how she had so much fun and hopes she gets to go again.  We said it would be fun to take another quick trip up over UEA, which was coming up in the middle of the month.  That chat set things in motion and we decided to go.

Jimmy stayed with Russ' parents for most of the trip.  He had just gotten a leopard gecko and was worried about Russ taking care of it. Plus he didn't want to drive that long.  We made good time heading there and so decided to wait until we got there for lunch, having left in the morning.

We had a good time visiting.  We didn't go swimming that first day, but did the next.  The pool wasn't as cold as I remembered it.  Might have helped that the weather that weekend was cooler.

We spent time just hanging out at Stacey's house, which was interesting with my youngest two being afraid of dogs.  They did eventually get brave enough to actually touch Ozzy, Stacey's Great Dane/Mastiff mix.

On Saturday we went to the open house for the Boise Temple.  Rachel kept taking off and kids were excited to be with cousins, but overall it was a better experience than going to the Brigham City contractor's open house.  I think counting the drive to a ward building, riding the bus to the temple, touring the temple, then the bus ride back to the ward building took less time than we stood waiting in line just to get in the Brigham City open house.

We drove home on Sunday.  Emma sat by Rachel for the ride home and was very good with her.  Played with her and kept her entertained for the 5+ hour ride.  Rachel stayed awake until we were just a few minutes from home.  It was nice that Russ had picked up Jimmy from his parent's house the day before so we didn't need to get him on our way home.  After that drive, making an extra stop didn't sound fun.

All in all, it was a fun trip to visit my sister and her family.

Going Diaperless

A few weeks ago I drove to Idaho with my mom to visit my sister.  The day or two before we left, Rachel started to show a lot more interest in using the toilet than she had for a while.  She stayed dry for the drive.  I took her to the bathroom once during the trip and she happily used the toilet there.  Her diapers stayed dry most of the time in Idaho with Rachel often saying she needed to go and running to the bathroom.  Once we were home from the trip (I'll post about that momentarily), I put her in underwear.  She hasn't used diapers since.  She essentially trained herself.  Man, I wish all of my kids had been this easy.  As it is, 2 out of 6 isn't bad.

The last time I didn't have anyone in diapers was a brief month just before Dylan was born.  I've gotta say, it's kind of nice walking past the diapers in the store and thinking how I don't need to buy them any more.