Bye Bye Birthmark

Lacey's been nervous and anxious this week because of her surgery that was scheduled for the end of the week (today).  So, when this package appeared in our mailbox out of the blue from a good family friend, the timing couldn't have been better!  Flamingo everything! Thank you sweet, Maricarmen!  We 💗 you!

Lacey was born with this birthmark on the right side of her face.  Over the years, it has gotten darker and bigger and we have thought about having it removed on and off for the past 6 years.  But ultimately, Lacey decided she didn't want it removed.  She said it made her special.

In fact, on her last night with her birthmark, she did this all on her own, took the picture and everything and texted it to me and Dave.

So despite agonizing over this decision for years, we ultimately decided that it was the right decision to have it removed and the right time for a number of reasons. So we found a highly recommended Pediatric Plastic Surgeon at Johns Hopkins and decided to move forward.

We got up early this morning and were at the hospital by 7:45 am.

Sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called back for surgery.  A little sad and a lot nervous.

But putting on a brave face!

Once we got back in the pre-op area, they gave Lacey her anesthesia mask and let her pick out some scented chapsticks that she could rub on the inside of her mask to give it a customized smell.

Dressed and ready to go to the OR

They let me go to the OR and stay with her and hold her hand until the anesthesia kicked in. And then I went and sat in the waiting room and waited and waited and waited until finally Dr. Redett came out to get me and to tell me that all went well!

I joined her again in the recovery room (notice she was in Room 23 - a good Chicago omen (Ryne Sandberg, Michael Jordan, etc) I say!

She had a hard time waking up out of anesthesia - she kept crying and shaking and teeth chattering, etc.  But it eventually wore off enough that I could take her home to finish resting and recovering at home.  She is doing great!  Her face is covered in stitches and steri-strips at the moment.  It will take a few weeks to heal and probably a year and a half for the scar to go from bright red to flesh-colored, but it's done and went well and we are hopeful she will continue to heal.

And in the mean time, we are assuring her that it wasn't her birthmark that made her special - it's a million other things about this sweet spunky girl that make her special... with or without a birthmark!

I Am a Child of God

Each year, the Primary Children do a "Primary Program" at our church.  As Primary President in our congregation, this takes months of preparation.  We have close to 60 children in our Primary.  We write the entire program, making sure each child has a part and we incorporate all the songs that we have learned since the beginning of the year.  It's a huge undertaking.  But for many people in the congregation, it's their favorite Sunday of the year and I tried very hard for it to be a special program for the congregation.  That they would feel the Spirit and their hearts would be touched by all the sweet kids in our ward.

My niece was in the congregation and snuck a few pics ;)

This is of Ella doing her part.

Riley saying her part.

The many faces of Tanner

While most kids read from their papers, this boy practiced his and had it memorized.  Proud of him!

This year, we had four "Narrators" who introduced each topic.  They were the four "main" parts of the program.  We choose older kids for this special honor and Lacey was one of them as it is her final Primary Program (Primary only goes through Age 11 and she turns 12 in January - sigh.)

She did great!

This was my 2nd and final Primary Program having all four of my kids in it, which made it extra special.  This year our theme was "I am a Child of God." So to hear my four children (and my other 51 children in our ward) testify in word and in song about knowing they are children of God is always a heart-warming experience.

But now, I'm ready for a long-winter's nap!

80's Band Version of "Where Are They Now?"

Do you ever hear a song on the radio and then think "Whatever happened to that singer/band?"

Well, I have the answer!  For at least some of them anyway..... they're on tour in Baltimore!

My friend Shawna heard that a bunch of 80's bands were coming to Baltimore to perform some of their big 80's hits and got a group of us to go together.  It was a lot of fun!

We even got to meet some of them.

Here we are with "Animotion" who is probably most well known for their hit "Obsession."

And then "When In Rome" performed several songs including their hit "I Promise" which was actually pretty cool to see live by the original band.

And then we saw Wang Chung!  Who of course is most well known for their song "Everybody have Fun Tonight, Everybody Wang Chung tonight."

We also saw Bow Wow Wow (I want Candy) and Flock of Seagulls.

And most importantly, we had fun going out on a date with a bunch of other 40 year olds re-living the music of our childhood!

Firsts and Lasts

This was my FB post on Friday documenting my LAST day with my LAST baby before she started her FIRST day of Kindergarten.

She's been very patient waiting for her cone since her three siblings started school last week and she was the only one who didn't get one.

But alas, it was finally her turn!

Her "biggie" was a Kindle (only because I'm sick of her always asking to use my phone!)  And although I know it's ridiculous to give a 5-yr old a tablet, the fact of the matter is, since all of her older siblings have one, she is constantly feeling left out.  So, the baby, by default, gets things the older kids would have never gotten at this age!

Her FIRST day going to school with her sister.

And after 25 (I counted!) FIRST days of school between all four of my kids since pre-school, this was my very FIRST time crying. Ever.  I've cried on and off all day long.  I just am so sad to be leaving this stage of life of having babies at home with me.

There's two songs that come to mind:  Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life" and Abba's "Slipping through my Fingers":

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning

Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile

I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness

And I have to sit down for a while

The feeling that I'm losing her forever

And without really entering her world

I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter

That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time

I try to capture every minute

The feeling in it

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Do I really see what's in her mind

Each time I think I'm close to knowing

She keeps on growing

Slipping through my fingers all the time

I know this post is dramatic, but it's exactly how I'm feeling.  This has been so hard for me.  So bittersweet.  I'm trying hard to let go of the bitter and embrace the sweet.

Your First Cubs Game

Yesterday, we started out the overcast morning by going to Tanner's third football game of the season.

He was on the starting offensive line.

He's 2nd from right.  When I can't see his number, I pick him out by his shoes (gray with neon/lime green soles/trim).

Last year, Tanner was on an undefeated football team that went all the way to the championships.  But this year, a lot more boys went out for football, so it got divided into two teams.  The good part of that is that he gets more playing time.  The down side of that, is they don't win every game like they did last year (because a lot of the really experienced players ended up on the other team).  In fact, before yesterday, they were 0-2.  BUT, yesterday was their first home game AND their first win! They won 12-0 which was a great way to start the day!

But as the title of the post implies, the main reason for this post is to document not how we started the day, but how we ended it!

On the first day of school each year, I give each kid a "cone" filled with small gifts/school supplies/treats.  In Tanner's cone this year, I gave him tickets to the upcoming Cubs/Nats game because 1) He's never been to the Nationals Stadium and 2) At 10 years old, it's high time he went to his first Cubs game!

Friday night's game got rained out, so that made tonight's game a double header.  It was supposed to start in the late afternoon, but kept getting delayed due to rain.  They finally finished the first game ~8pm (Cubs lost 😔).

But, being the Cubs fans that we are, we stayed for the second!

In between the first and second game, Jayson Werth was honored by being added to the "Ring of Honor" which was actually a really cool ceremony to see.  It was neat to be there for that.

The only downside to that was that Game 2 didn't even START until 9pm!

It rained, it was windy.  We were cold.  It got late.  We got hungry (Nachos helped!) and tired.  But we persevered all the way until the bottom of the 6th inning (after seeing Victor Caratini's Grand Slam!!).  I told Tanner, it's not very often you get to see a Grand Slam in person, so that was pretty cool. We didn't make it home until 12:30am.

But it was worth it.  It was worth it because my birthday buddy and I got to spend tons of quality time together which we both love.  And it was worth it because when you're from Chicago (or you came out of the womb of someone from Chicago), you remember "firsts" like 1) Going to the top of the Sears (I will never call it Willis) Tower 2) Seeing the water dyed green on St Paddy's day and.....3) Your First Cubs Game.

Sorry, it wasn't at Wrigley, Tan, but I hope you always remember this night.  Your 1st Cubs Game.  And I hope you always remember you did it with me! 😘