Busy busy bees

She loves her stuffed animals!
This picture was taken several weeks ago, and she has changed so much already!

We've been busy busy bees here in Clemson! D moved to New Orleans in the beginning of May and is really enjoying his new job. He loves New Orleans and cannot wait for me and A to join him!
We've been fortunate that he has been able to come home every other weekend. A and I love having him home, but we hate when it comes time to send him back to NOLA. We said our last good bye today, which is exciting because in a little over 2 weeks, we'll all be back together in the same state.
I am reminded on this weekend in particular, of my friends who are military wives. I honestly don't know how they do it. I have been without D for about a month and have had the opportunity to see him every other weekend AND my parents have both "taken shifts" coming to help me out with A. My friends whose husbands are deployed do this for months on end! Some even deal with back to back deployments which can lead to not seeing their spouse for 12 months or more. We are fortunate that the world is smaller than it once was, and we can easily talk to people half way around the world. These modern conveniences make things easier, but certainly not easy. This weekend I am remembering our veterans, and their wives who hold it all together while they're away.

Waiting to go back for surgery.
Notice the TV above my head....not sure why they show live images of the surgery.
Do people really want to see their loved one's ear surgery?

A spent the greater part of the last four months with ear infections. It seemed like she barely would get over one before she'd have another one. She developed an allergy to Augmentin, which I didn't even know could happen. Apparently, if a child takes it too often, their body will reject it and develop an allergy. A's manifested itself in the form of a rash that covered her entire body, literally from the top of her head to her toes. The last option was a series of antibiotic shots that she had to get every day for three days. Neither mommy nor baby enjoyed that process. We were so relieved when the doctor suggested tubes, that I wasn't even concerned about the thought of putting her under anesthesia for the procedure! (That concern did come later of course!) I knew that this was our only chance of stopping these infections and reducing the number of antibiotics she would take.

Little girl in her "Tiger Gown"

She was a great patient throughout the whole process. She was laughing and playing right up until they took her away...and even after they took her! I was not sure if I would get upset when they took her, so after I handed her to the nurse, I looked away from her. I did not want her to see me get upset. She was the angel she always is, and just gave the nurse a big hug and snuggled up with her. The nurse said she'd never had such a happy baby. She was so easy going that they were surprised when they saw that her ears were both full of fluid and one was clearly infected.
The transformation in A after the tubes was amazing. You could tell by that evening that she already felt better. She'd had dark circles under her eyes for months, and within hours after the surgery, they were gone.
Since the surgery, she has done very well. We have had to use the ear drops already, so I feel certain we made the right decision in getting tubes. If she did not have tubes, this would have turned into a full-blown ear infection. The drops help to stop the infection before it fully develops and prevent the child from having to take more antibiotics.
She hears better too! I used to think she had selective hearing, but it turns out that she just couldn't hear us!!! When we say her name, she turns and looks right at us, and she repeats everything she hears! She repeats all kinds of phrases, so we've begun the stage of parenthood where we have to be more careful about what we say. She is walking a lot now too. In fact, it is hard to get pictures of her now because she is constantly on the move!! Walking has finally become her preferred mode of transportation!