Arden’s 3rd set of tubes

I knew when she had an ear infection on Christmas that we were probably on the road to tubes again. And of course after being on antibiotics for 2 weeks it was still there, sealed the deal. But I would rather her have these than have to be on antibiotics on and off for the next few months. And with all that fluid in her ears, I’m sure it’s hard to hear and I know it’s making her not sleep well.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am. She was schedule to be the 2nd one of the morning. When we got there they told us that the kid that was supposed to be before Arden had called in and had a fever so they couldn’t do surgery so they would be getting Arden back as soon as possible! We got there at 6:30 and we’re in and out by 8:00! Crazy!! It was the first time we had a surgery at the new hospital and it was very nice! She had a private waiting/recovery room and that was new for us!! Arden was so good! The only time she gave us any trouble was when we tried to get her to drink the “goofy juice”. She didn’t want to take it, but we finally got her to, it just took awhile. And then just a couple of minutes after she got it down they were ready to take her back so we didn’t even get to see her all silly! What a bummer! I’m not sure if she would have rivaled Stratton in the entertainment department or not! He’s a trip! She was much more low key during the check-in process. She was very quiet and observant. But she didn’t cry or fuss at all.

We got to go back to holding with her and after they took her back to surgery we went back to her room to wait. I bet we weren’t there 10 minutes before Dr. Lansford was coming through the door to tell us it all went perfectly and she had been taken to recovery and would be back to her room soon. 10 minutes later here she came! She wasn’t happy!!! She cried and cried and cried. . . I think it was the anesthesia more than anything. We stayed a few more minutes, got her ear drops and they let us go! I was very surprised how fast it went this time!

 

Once we got home, she got a snack and a drink and she was back to her normal self in no time! I did give her some tylenol just in case she had some pain, but she really didn’t act like she felt bad at all! I decided I would let her wear panties since I knew we’d be home all day. Well after being in them approximately 5 minutes she peed all over herself and SOAKED the couch. Nice. She had to put on some clean clothes and she found a t-shirt of Stratton’s in the clean laundry basket and put it on. Silly girl! She played and watched TV most of the morning.

Having a banana. And she asked to put the bib on. I don’t make her wear them anymore! She found it in some baby stuff I had in a basket for the garage sale and had to have it.

I guess her ears felt funny, she picked at them all day.

Such a lady!

Jarrod took down all the outside Christmas decorations, and ran some errands and shortly after lunch Arden went down for a nap. I decided to take this opportunity to clean out Stratton’s room and toys! I got a huge trash bag full of trash, and several smaller bags of yard sale stuff! I should have taken before and after pictures! Jarrod took all the garage sale stuff to the storage unit. We ended up getting quite a bit done! After Arden’s nap Gigi came to see her. She and Pops had been in Florida on vacation for the last week and she brought the kids some prizes from their trip! Then a little later, Jarrod’s parents brought Stratton home. The kids were glad to see each other! They played and played! Mom left to go visit with Darcy for a bit and we got some supper then Terry and Margie headed home and we all went to bed! What a Long day!!

Mom and dad got Stratton a pirate skull mask that came with a gun, knife and a sword. Well, Arden got ahold of it and the gun and it might as well have been hers! They should have bought two of them!! She was a very convincing ruthless pirate!!

Chasing each other around with guns and swords. . .a normal Monday night in our house.

Ha! Stratton’s muscles.

And notice the cushion missing off the couch, it was still drying from the pee incident.

One day I WILL HAVE nice NEW furniture, but not anytime soon.

Reading with Nan before bedtime.

A restful weekend for us girls!

Friday

She asked for a “pitty dess” and “hair-tails” this morning!

Friday night Stratton and I were going to have a date! We decided that daddy and Arden could eat supper with us, then we were going to the movies to see Paddington Bear! Well we ate at Lazzari’s (Stratton’s pick) and then Jarrod and Arden headed home and Stratton and I headed to the theater. We got there about 6:40, I thought plenty of time to go to the bathroom, get popcorn and not have to sit for long- Stratton as you may have heard,can’t sit still for long. We got in line to get our tickets and we got up the counter and they told us it was SOLD OUT!! What?! A kids movie at 7 o’clock??? Yep. And there were no other age-appropriate movies playing that we could see instead. He was heartbroken! He shed some very quiet tears and we left. I asked him if there was anything else he’d like to do, and he just shook his head no. I felt horrible!! I decided to take him to Hastings and rent a movie, I thought that might be fun. . . . my poor kids will never know the days of walking the rows of movies trying to pick JUST ONE. . . .ahh, the good ole’ days! He chose a baseball movie and we looked at books, too while we were there. He got a book about Alligators and Crocodile and picked out a Calliou book for Arden (that is currently her favorite cartoon) then we went home. When we got home Stratton got a bath and laid on the couch and made it about 10 minutes into the movie before he feel asleep! Jarrod and Arden fell asleep in our bed, so I ended up being the only one who watched the movie. Had I known that I would have gotten something I wanted!

Saturday the boys left right after lunch and headed to Searcy to pickup Archer and Pa, then they went to Little Rock to the monster truck show! They had a great time! They stayed the night with Nan and Pa and Stratton got to stay till Monday since we had to be at the hospital for Arden’s procedure at 6:30 am and they were out of school for MLK day a “in-service” day.

Meanwhile, Arden and I took a nap, then I got a shower and we got dressed to run some errands. We stopped by Dillon & Brandye’s to drop off some stuff and got to visit with them and love on Darcy. Then we decided to go out and grab dinner at Sumo (Japanese steakhouse) with them, D&B had never been. We had a fun time, and Brandye’s friend Allison came too. Arden was phenomenally well behaved. She ate so well, too! I was impressed! She ate the soup, chicken, rice and some broccoli dipped in their yum-yum sauce. Then we headed to Kroger (my first time to really shop at the new one-wow!) to get groceries. Arden was SO good! We really did have a great time! She even got to get a prize since she was on her best behavior! We got home, unloaded the groceries, made the bed (with flannel sheets! Ha! When Jarrod’s away I get to do things my way!) we got ready for bed and hit the hay- probably about 10:30ish. Which is really late for her!! I let her sleep in our bed since the boys were going to stay the night in Searcy. It worked out well! We both slept the entire night with no interruptions!

Getting to sleep in daddy’s spot!

So I didn’t set the alarm for Sunday morning, since Arden was sleeping with me and she’s usually an early riser, just like her brother. But it just so happens that she didn’t wake up till 7:45am! Bible class starts at 9am, so that was just an hour to get us both ready and out the door! But, we made it just fine. She was good during church, and it was strange to be there without the boys. It’s amazing how calm and well behaved she is when Stratton isn’t around to pick at her and provoke her!! After church we went home, changed into comfy clothes, ate a sandwich and were back in bed for a nap by 12:30! She was ready for a nap, too! I thought she’d sleep for an hour or two and I’d catch a cat nap then get up and get some more laundry done. . . . well, that didn’t happen! Neither of us woke up till I heard the garage door opening, signaling that Jarrod was home. I looked over at the clock and it was 4:30pm!! Ha! I guess we both needed some rest!! Jarrod came in and kept Arden busy for a few minutes so I could get ready for church and we headed back out!

I love this : )

After church we went to get some dinner and I think Arden was enjoying the alone time! She was really really good. So good in fact, that we even ordered dessert (and also that I feel less guilty about making my kids go through something traumatic, like surgery, after I’ve treated them to dessert) . It was a disappointment. Don’t get the chocolate hot fudge cake from Ruby Tuesday. Then we went home and got ready for the early morning on Monday.

Showing off her cute new outfit from Dillon & Brandye

Bossing Coloring with daddy