Recovery

Everything went great yesterday. We arrived at office at 7am and went back for surgery around 8:30. It seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye, we were home by 2pm. My mom and Jeff's mom kept the girls. So of course they were happy and well taken care of all day.

Jeff has been keeping me on pain meds. The only time I have really been in pain was this morning- after sleeping all night without taking my pills. So I have been re-medicated and I am feeling pretty good again. My chest doesn't really hurt, the muscles just feel sore- kid of like I worked out too hard. But my hernia repair is pretty uncomfortable. Although none of this compare to c-section recovery!

I go back in today for a re-check. I am hoping that some of my dressings can be removed so I can get a better look at the results.

I do want to say how much I appreciate everyone's help, sweet phone calls, and emails. And Jeff gets the "Dad of the Year" award for being such a rockstar!

Renovations

So we have been busy making our home more 'us'. We completed the paint and most of the decor inside. Then Jeff said, "When do I get to pick a project?" Apparently things like wing backs, mercury glass, and white painted furniture just weren't hitting his crafty button. That's when he looked outside.

We live in our pool in the summer. It is our outdoor living room. The calcium deposits on the old maroon brick drove him crazy. For two years, he scrubbed relentlessly on those old bricks. But that stubborn calcium didn't budge.

So he called and got bids for a pool face-lift. The bricks and tile were all removed in one day. I was impressed how easily those men destroyed our pool. Then beautiful Oklahoma flag stone was installed and as well as new larger tiles. The bigger the tiles- the less grout that is used. Lots of grout = bad, because grout can get grimy.

 I love the new look of the pool. It brings my design from the inside (neutrals/natural materials with dark accents) to our backyard. I only have a few photos of the finished product. My hubby has not finished the landscaping along the section of the fence that he replaced. So limited photography until then :)

On another note, I am having surgery on Thursday morning. After having my two precious girls and running, running, running- my figure isn't as a curvy as I would like. So I am having some curves added! While I am under, I am also having a small umbilical hernia repaired. When I was pregnant with Maisy, my abdominal muscles separated to accommodate my growing baby. This caused those muscles to become thinner and eventually made a small tear. (When I cough, my belly button pops in and out- yuck!)

Everyone in the family is pitching in to help out with the girls. Aunt Amanda is even flying in to stay with us for a while. I won't be able to lift Maisy for 2 weeks, so Amanda will be my lifter, mother's helper, and general 'life saver'. Wish me luck! I feel so fortunate to have such supportive family.

Oh and more happy news, my mom is moving back! She sold the farm in Idaho and is driving back to Texas as I type this. She and Dave close on their new home in Timarron on Thursday. Oh Happy Day!

Bluebonnet Pictures

This is a Texas tradition, spring pictures taken in bluebonnets. My dad has a fancy camera and I think he did a great job of capturing my girly-girls!

We had our friend Painter with us while his dad helped Jeff put up a fence. I wanted to get a few pics of him with Afton, since they have known each other since they were born. Funny thing about boys, they don't really "love" having their picture taken in a field of flowers. 

But look at Afton in these pictures. She is such a GIRL!

Spring is here!

Maisy is 6 months old

My sweet Maisy Lou is now six months old. She is such a doll. We love our good baby. She is sitting up on her own, eating baby food, babbling, passing objects from hand to hand, reaching for everything, and rolling from her tummy to her back. She is going to bed at 7:30 and getting up between 6:30-7pm. (Generally sleeping through the night, although last night she got up a lot!) This past Sunday she went to the church nursery and did so well. So we are going to start going to church again and hopefully try the gym nursery soon too.

Here are the growth stats:
Weigh 15 lbs (27th percentile)
Height 25.5 inches (38th percentile)
Head 42.5 (50th percentile)

So she is still petite, but with nice round cheeks!

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby.

Here is her new nursery upstairs. We are still needing curtains and a few things on the wall. But I love the new colors and bedding. It's like sleeping in a cloud.

Last week Afton had a little 'choir' performance at church. Of course that was when I realized my camcorder was not charged. But I got a few pictures. 

She and Greta seemed to have more fun playing with each other than actually singing this song.

She was delighted to get to play the triangle, apparently she usually gets the rhythm sticks- Ha!

And since Maisy is now 6 months old, she can enjoy swinging!

And don't worry about Afton, of course we got her a new 'big girl' swing. 

So now we spend the afternoons swinging in the garage and playing on the driveway. 

Finally here are more house pictures. I finished the burlap curtains for the kitchen nook and got my plate wall done. I am so happy with how everything turned out. Now it will just be a process of adding a few more accessories and getting curtains for our bedroom and office. 

View from the stairs

My computer area- I am looking for a cute, neutral ottoman to put under here.

My plate wall- love it!

Dining Room

Stairway- we had the banister done in white.

The kitchen- no border- yippee!

Have a great week!

Easter

This year, Afton was extra excited about Easter. We went to an egg hunt at TCU last weekend with the Mills, had an Easter party at Chapel Hill School and then traveled to Houston to spend Easter weekend with Jeff's family.


Sunday was the egg hunt at TCU. It was a very, very windy day!

Afton got her face painted like a bunny.

Jeff, Sean and Michael at the picnic prior to the egg hunt.

Kendall, Brooke, and Afton waiting to hunt eggs.

The eggs weren't really hidden, just strewn across the campus lawn.

Afton actually ended up a bit sad that day. When the hunt started, she stopped and opened each egg she found. So by the time she had put 4 eggs in her basket, all of the other eggs were gone! But a trip to McDonald's for ice cream afterwards helped to restore her spirits :)

Maisy enjoyed watching the girls.

 

She loved the egg hunt at Chapel Hill. All of the eggs were numbered 1-12. Each kid was assigned a number and only hunted for eggs with that number. That way each child was ensured 12 eggs. 

Afton looked for number 8.

These are her BFF's at school. Avery and Whitney!

The party back in the classroom.

Chocolate covered peep on a stick with sprinkles... yummy!

Modeling the matching dresses from Grandpa & Grandma.

We went to Houston to see Jeff's sister, Jessie. She, Matt and Luke just moved into a house down there in January. This was the first time the entire family got to visit them. 

Jenn and Jessie

Mimi with Miss Maisy

Coloring Easter Eggs

Luke!

Analeigh and Maisy are just 7 weeks apart.

We bravely took all of the kiddos out to the Houston golf tournament. This is what they looked like when we got home.

We bought all the babies and Afton matching outfits for their Easter present. So of course, we had to take pictures in those outfits.

Don't you just love the azaleas? Reminds me of spring in south Louisiana.

The girls and Mr. Luke.

These pictures make me smile. It was hilarious trying to get all three babies and Afton in a picture. As you can see, Afton kept sneaking away....

This was the last picture!

On Easter morning, the Easter Bunny hid two giant eggs in the yard for our girls. 

One in the azaleas for Afton....

One in the palms for Maisy Lou.

Hope you had a happy Easter too!