Fall Raking - A Rite of Childhood

I am pretty sure it is a requirement in your childhood that you spend at least one day every fall raking leaves in your yard.  That day for Ella Kate was this past weekend.

This is a perfect picture of how I feel about this day every year.  Though lets be honest, I just photographed the activity - never to pick up a rake during the event.

We also decided to throw in an improptu modeling session before we really got down to business!

Keith has a small shrub rake and Ella Kate thought it was perfectly made her for and did a great job raking up the leaves.  Though at first her idea of raking was to rake the leaves away from the piles Keith made.

My two favorite people hard at work! 

She even helped fill the bags with leaves.  We could regret this a little later in the week though when EK's allergies are killing her from spending all that time rolling around in the leaves - but hey at least we don't have to worry about her tonsils swelling up to the size of golf balls anymore. 

Surgery and Recovery

On November 1st Ella Kate had a tonsilectomy and adnoidectomy.  After our stay in the hospital in September both our pediatrician and ENT thought this would be the best way to avoid any problems in the future.  Keith and I quickly agreed (both he and his brother had this surgery when they were little) and surgery was set so at 5 am on 11/1/12 we reported to the hospital for the big day!

Ella Kate was great as we waited and waited to get called back for pre-op and as we waited some more to get taken back to surgery.  By the time they finally took her back at 7:20 she was so tired and delirious I think she would have done anything for those sleepy drugs!

We had Ella Kate's surgery done at Trinity Mother Frances and every nurse and physician that we came into contact with was just great and so caring!  When they took her back to surgery they let her take blankie and Minnie with her so that she would feel more comfortable when she woke up.  The staff on the pediatric floor even had the infamous pink car in her room when we got up there just to make her feel more at home.

It took EK quite a bit of time to recover from the anesthetic thanks to some sleepy time meds they had given her to relax before they wheeled her back but once those wore off she was ready to tear up a few popsicles!  As Ella was so young (only 2 years 2 months) our ENT felt more comfortable having her stay overnight in the hospital to keep her hydrated and help to get meds in her a little easier.  I think this really helped though I wish they would have given those meds through the IV she had in her.  Might have helped a little with the medicine drama we had upon returning home! 

This is how we recover at casa de Underwood.  It requires Minnie ears and heels (see I told you she loved those things) and walking around with that stroller - well at least for the first 3 days (days 4-8 were brutal)!

Granny and Papi came for the weekend after her surgery and they were such a huge help.  With my mom being a kindergarten teacher she was full of activities and fun things for Ella Kate to do to keep her mind off of the pain.   

Ella had a blast making pasta pumpkins, sorting alphabet blocks, and playing I Spy with a huge I Spy mat my mom found.  Unfortunately after Granny and Papi left on Monday things deteriorated a little bit and as I mentioned above days 4-8 were pretty rough on the little patient but we have survived and are thankful the recovery is behind us!

Now we hope that we can stay out of the doctor's office through the winter... 

Halloween 2012

It definitely wasn't hard to decide what Ella Kate was going to be for Halloween this year!  My child is beyond obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so Minnie Mouse was an easy decision - plus I already had the ears thanks to an impromptu gift from Granny during one of her visits.

I ordered the costume from Disney.com and since I had to wait until the last minute to order to make sure we wouldn't be homebound from tonsil surgery I got a great deal on it and even decided to splurge for the fancy yellow high heels!  EK loved her costume and we have worn those high heels on at least 20 occassions since and if we aren't wearing them they are usually close by just in case.

I have to say that this was probably the first time that I have gotten EK to stand and pose!  It was great to actually get pictures of her where she was looking!

We had a short go at trick or treating and had a visit from our favorite people The Clemmons (though Brandon's costume scared the pants off of EK and she refused to go outside after she saw him).  Ella Kate was having surgery the next day so we kept it low key in order to get her in bed at a decent time thanks to our 4 am wake up call!

I decided this year that we finally needed to get a little festive outside of our house and put something on our porch so I did a little search on pinterest and found these beauties

Source: redesigningwomen.wordpress.com via Tracy on Pinterest

I have to say that I was impressed by my rendition of them (seen above).  Maybe I am not completely incompetent when it comes to DIY projects... hmm what can I do next??

Pumpkin Carving

I know I am almost two weeks late on our Halloween posts but we have spent the last 10 days recuperating from Ella Kate's tonsilectomy and adnoidectomy.  I think we have finally recovered as EK finally seems to be herself again.  Well at least we can hope we are all back to normal... I couldn't take anymore of EK's recovery!

The Sunday before Halloween we went over to our friend's house to carve up the pumpkins we got at Moore Farms and roast pumpkin seeds!

We tried to get the girls involved in the pumpkin carving but that only lasted until we got the top off the pumpkin and away they went after that to play.

 

This was the best picture I could get of the kids.  I give myself credit as they are all at least looking at the camera.  It was pitch black outside by the time we finished so all they could see was the flash of cameras!

Our finished products... we went the classic route while everyone else got all fancy on us!  I defnitely think we will be making this an annual tradition.  Though next year their might have to be some chili and The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown involved!