I don't know about you, but the first work-day after Christmas is always a little hard. This year especially. The ground and roads were frozen this morning as I made my way to work, leaving the house for the first time in days. Wishing I had made coffee before I left the house so I could be just a bit more awake when I got to work. The last several nights have been rough. Lyle had surgery on Tuesday to have his tonsils and adenoids removed, and since then sleep has come in much shorter intervals.
Sort of like last year at this time when I had a newborn. ;)
We were able to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family early, and we enjoyed a day full of good food, opening of presents, playing with cousins, and catching up on life.
We have some professional tissue paper flingers on our hands!
Our attempt at a cousin picture. For some reason the littles didn't want to be held still! HA! (Just missing the newest edition baby Mae!)
Tuesday morning(i.e. the middle of the night) we headed to the hospital to get Lyle ready for surgery. The admissions and pre-op staff were great. He was nervous that morning, but was pumped that his hospital bracelet made him the official "elevator button pusher." In fact he didn't want to take it off once we got home in case we came accross any elevators. LOL. There was a play room in pre-op that completely distracted him until they were ready to go.
He got a dose of medicine to help him relax, and it turned him completely goofy and giggly, talking about alien poop of all things. It actually was a huge blessing, gave us some comedic releif, and calmed our nerves. We left him smiling and laughing and that was good for this mama's heart.
Surgery went well, and fairly quickly. I was thankful we didn't have to wait long to know that things went okay. I went to recovery to be with him, and that's when things got a little rough. The nurse warned me that a lot of kids that age wake up angry, and poor guy did exactly that. He hated his IV and wanted it out, and nothing would calm him down. I was in bed with him, holding down his arms, while the nurse worked on getting his oxygen up and his medicine worked out. He finally fell alseep for a few minutes and woke up much calmer. He didn't touch his IV once after that.
We were taken up to the pediatric floor to stay overnight. The staff was wonderful and we even had visits from Christmas carolers and Ronald McDonald (little bud was on the channel 3 news!). He took full advantage of the popsicles that were offered! And begged for rides around the floor in the wagon as often as we would take him. We were very thankful for family and friends who kept Aria and brought us much needed food and coffee.
He seems to feel better and worse in waves, following whether he has pain or not. His best day was probably Christmas Eve. He woke up ready to make cookies for Santa, and had energy for the whole process.
We used every single cookie cutter, type of sprinkle, and color of food coloring to make cookies that morning. So Santa got a blue Star Wars ship (with a million sprinkles) and a green dog bone for his treat.
Aria and I headed to our church's Christmas Eve service. She was a wild woman and hammed it up for anyone that would pay attention!
Lyle with his cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. He insisted on a silly face picture.
Christmas morning in matching pj's!
His "chomper dinosaur" he asked Santa for!
Where's Waldo books
Making ice cream with Papa.
Bear Cheeks!
Lyle is still recovering, but after spending time in the hospital during Christmas we are very thankful for the health that we do have and the family and friends that surround us. I know not everyone has that, and that some years, Christmas is just plain hard. Today I am resting in the fact that God is in control, just as he was so many years ago. So if you are looking at everyone's Facebook and Instragram posts and feeling a little down, know that Jesus was born in a not so picture-perfect setting. He has it all in his hands.
