Post-Op

After 3 hours of surgery and receiving hourly updates, they directed Matt and me to the place where Alayna was.  A nurse was at her side to make sure she stayed stabilized - standard protocol, I'm sure.  Seeing Alayna was everything I thought it would be.  She looked puffy and swollen and BEAUTIFUL!

 Matt stayed with her the first night at the hospital while I went home and got 6 hours of straight, uninterrupted sleep.  I haven't experienced that since the year 2011!  I was going to spend the next night with her while Matt went home to sleep, but she was swallowing the formula I'd squirt into her mouth so they took that as a sign she could go home early.  (I was relieved I didn't have to stay the night at the hospital.  I'm not too fond of those places.)

Instead, I met up with Grandma Sorensen in Provo to get Gavin who spent the 2 days at his cousin's house in Mt. Pleasant.

 It's been 4 days since surgery now and Alayna is doing well.  She still struggles to eat, but is getting better each day.  Sometimes she cries in her sleep and gets pretty irritable the half hour before her next dosage of pain meds is due.  Other times, she smiles and giggles and lets us know she's amazing in every way.  I must admit.  I miss her little cleft lip.  It's what made her... HER.

Surgery Day

Today Alayna is having her first surgery.  Matt and I are in the waiting room - waiting.  Alayna is with our surgeon right now, and I'm pretty sure angels are attending her.  

In my mind, I pictured the night before this day as one of little sleep with a crying hungry baby.  Instead, she was quite the opposite.  In fact, she was better this night than most!  We had to stop feeding her formula at midnight but could feed her Pedialyte until 7:30am.  During her middle of the night feeding, she gobbled up the Pedialyte and went right back to sleep.  We had to wake her up at 7am to give her medicine and give her one last feeding of Pedialyte.  She was super happy and all smiles.  

Car ride to the hospital.

Check in time at the hospital was 9am.  She was weighed, measured and vitals were checked.  Our surgeon and anesthesiologist came to talk to us and through all this, Little Laynie was a champion.  She was definitely hungry, but she didn't cry at all!

Hospital PJs

She made a new friend - Noelle.

Our awesome surgeon, Dr. Siddiqi.

Pre-op Kissies!

She's in good hands.

They've warned us many times today that parents get very emotional seeing their baby with a new face.  I'm pretty sure that will happen to me too.  I'm going to miss her little broken smile.

Focused

After 6 months of encouraging this boy to use his own potty and big boy underoos, he decided on his own one day that it would be a good idea.  He successfully used the potty 3 times.  Then the next day he decided diapers were his thing again.  I didn't pressure him to keep using the potty b/c Alayna's surgery will be in a few days and I don't want to have to deal with one more thing.  But once she is healed, I'm going to rid the house of diapers and force this boy to potty train - after all, he's proved he can do it!

One week prior to surgery, Alayna figured out how to push her NAM out with her tongue.  Needless to say, this little Houdini got out of wearing it more times than not.

3 Month Stats:
Length: 22 in
Weight:  12.2 lbs

At three months, Laynie laughs and giggles, is sensitive to loud noises, does't like to be left lying down for long but instead prefers to be held and see everything that's going on (who wouldn't, right?), and she will only take no longer than 15 minute naps in Mommy's baby carrier...

Birthday Boy

On Gavin's actual birthday, we went bowling then out to eat.

This was Gavin's first time bowling and he loved it.

The bowling alley had tons of things to waste your quarters in.  We were suckers and gave in to just about every one of them.  

We ate at Chuck-a-Rama afterward.  This was a candid shot.  He was really wolfing down those fries!

Natural History Museum

Uncle Lloyd (or Uncle Woyd as Gavin would put it) came to visit the first part of April.  He stayed a couple days to visit as many SLC sites as he possibly could.  We were able to go with him to the Museum of Natural History.  It was pretty much never-ending!

Gavin playing in one of the play areas.

Dinosaurs!

I think he's mad.

At the top of the museum you can look out over the SL valley.

Easter 2015

On March 28, we attended WX City's Easter Egg Hunt. It was a fun little event that consisted of an egg hunt, a few carnival games, and meeting Mr. Bunny himself.

On April 4, we decorated Easter eggs.  When all was said and done, I believe there were more cracked eggs than not!

On April 5, the Easter Bunny came!  The Easter Bunny hid eggs around the house that Gavin had to find.

 Alayna's first Easter.

It was also General Conference weekend.  It's getting increasingly harder to listen to conference with a rambunctious toddler and now a baby, but I'm so grateful for the messages of truth I'm able to hear and look forward to studying the talks more fully when they come out in the Ensign magazine. 

I know Christ lives!  I know He died for us and was resurrected so that we can all live again.

I'm thankful for a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, who is God's oracle here on earth.  I sustain him, pray for him, and try my best to follow his guidance and counsel. 

During the Saturday afternoon session, a group of people came to the conference center to purposefully give a dissenting vote when asked if they opposed those called to the prophetic offices.  Instead of silently raising their hands, they shouted out "No!" in order to make a scene.  This broke my heart.  I felt sorry for those within that group.  They just don't understand.  They are confused. 

My love grew for those serving in those apostolic offices, and I have a renewed commitment to try even harder to help sustain them in their callings.

He lives!