this week in instagram photos...

Well my surgery is over with and went well.

They only did a partial thyroidectomy (hooray!)

Now I'm sporting a large scar in the middle of my neck (super sexy!)

But I'm feeling good (other than my neck being really sore).

I'm hoping I can still go trick-or-treating tomorrow night with the kids (that would be wishful thinking but you never know).

I was lucky and was able to leave a few hours after surgery since everything went great (I was supposed to spend the night in the hospital).

The girls have been so great during this time... as soon as they saw me- Lily went right to work on making some pictures to cheer me up. Grace is my little doctor- always giving me the little stuffed doggy Marty bought me, giving me hugs, rubbing my back or pushing my hair out of my eyes. Grace also carries around her doctor kit and checks me every so often. Gabe has no clue what is going on and I miss being able to carry him around.

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers!

 

Here are some pictures from the past week:

5 year well checkup
Lily weighs 32 3/4 pounds
and is 38 1/2 inches tall
(5th percentile for weight and 1st percentile for height)
She's so tiny!

Gabe's obsessed with our American Girl Itty-Bitty baby and likes poking her eyes (they are the old fashioned blinking eyes) whenever he gets the chance.
He will be a lovely big brother in a few years
 

Lily practicing her handwriting and sight word recognition skills while Grace does gymnastics.
I'm happy Lily likes "playing school" with me.

Also happy that I have the BEST HUSBAND EVER
A few weeks ago I bought Lily a holiday dress from Gymboree,
a week later a bought one for Grace (different dress, matching tights),
and then I started looking for the matching sweater for Gabe. Sold out at both our local stores.
Sold out in his size online. It's sad- I wanted to cry! Then a friend said to try calling a different store.
Ann Arbor had one in Gabe's size and after a night of baton and gymnastic practices we ran to Ann Arbor to get Gabe's Christmas sweater. Seriously, Marty didn't ask any questions- he know that sweater was important to me and just wanted to give him a little love over the blog that HE IS THE BEST EVER!

I finished Grace's and Gabe's Very Hungry Caterpillar costumes!
(Note: When Grace wears her butterfly wings I tend to have her wear them upside down- otherwise I think they look too peacock-y)

Cross Roads Church Trunk-or-Treat
Lily the cupcake!

Grace asking if she can eat one sucker while we wait in line at Cross Roads Trunk-or-Treat

the next day I enjoyed raiding their buckets for a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup :)

Grace the butterfly was tired from trick or treating at Fallen Timbers so Marty held her.
#1 Daddy's Girl

We collected leaves at Wildwood...

this is Grace's "leaf man"

Lily named her leaf girl "Clare" after her best friend.

The kids first high school football game!
Northview vs. Southview
Lily and I were rooting for Northview (my high school)
Marty was rooting for his old high school- Southview
Southview is always way better and like won this game 60-0
After awhile Lily asked me "Can we be on the orange team now, Mommy?"
We still had a lot of fun!

the girls watching the twirlers practice

Lily and I during the half-time show
Lily liked that the band performed Disney songs :)

Gabe fell asleep in his baby carrier. I love this thing!

Gabe wearing his very hungry caterpillar costume while at the girls' preschool Trunk-or-Treat

waiting for the trunk-or-treating to begin!

We love preschool Trunk-or-Treat!

Lily dressed as Tiana while trick-or-treating at the Halloween Hike

Gabe was a frog prince :)

Grace loved when Marty ran around pulling the wagon.
I was running to each trick-or-treat station with Gabe in the stroller.
I'm sure we looked like we were crazy parents, running with our kids.
They loved it though and I got some good excercise in :)

Halloween Hike at Olander Lake

30 minutes after Halloween Hike
on our way to a Halloween Party,
Lily got sick in the car.
So no party for us.
Just quiet time watching Toy Story on the couch.
(Note: Even though Lily had 2 trick or treat things that day she didn't eat a single piece of candy that day. It was a one time thing though- no fever and she was back to normal the next day!)

I made "Monster Dip" for the Halloween Party we were going to attend.
This became some of my dinner.

Maisy (the puggle), Gabe, Grace, Lily and I right before we dropped them off (not the dog!) to spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma's house since my surgery started at 5:30 a.m.
I missed them like crazy!



Pumpkin Patches

A few weeks ago we ventured out to Gust Brothers Farm to see the animals and check out the pumpkin patch. Lily was determined to find a square pumpkin that looked like "Spookley" (Spookley the Square Pumpkin). I didn't get many pictures at the pumpkin patch since it was so chilly outside! Lily never did find her perfect square pumpkin... but we did buy an acorn squash, straw and a white pumpkin.

Lily and Gabe in the wagon. Grace can be a very independent 3 year old and wanted to walk... Lily however, still loves riding in wagons (and strollers!)

Sheep

Playing on the straw mountain

Grace was brave enough to join her (she was scared at first)

The girls love "Peppa Pig" (tv show)  but didn't really like the real pigs

An attempt to get a picture of all 3 before Gabe walked/crawled away.
Lily= fake smile
Grace= NEVER looks at the camera
Gabe= hat in his eyes
I'll take it!

Grace then wanted a picture all by herself

Looking at bunnies



Marty gets the hard job of pulling Gabe (20 pounds) and Lily (32 pounds)
I get to follow around with the camera.

Of course, Grace had found some rocks and had to put them in her pocket.

heading out to the pumpkins

Gabe walking (with Marty's help- this was a few weeks ago when he couldn't walk good)

"Where are the square pumpkins?"

still looking for the square pumpkins

Meanwhile Grace did this....
found a rotting pumpkin and put a bunch of holes in it with her finger
Oh Grace!

"Please leave the pumpkin alone, Grace!"

My girls and I

"What are all these orange balls doing in the field?"

We were able to get pumpkins cheap at our local Andersons market, pie pumpkins from preschool that the girls painted and one from our local fall festival. We still ventured to one of our favorite places for pumpkins- Trabbic Farms! The kids loved seeing all the different size pumpkins. seeing the animals, climbing on top of the hay and taking a hay ride. The hay ride was awesome! We got homemade popcorn on the hay ride, went out to pick our own pie pumpkins and then the hay ride dropped us back off at the farm to eat donuts (so good!) and drink cider. Now that is a fall day! Complete with terrific weather and it was perfect!

Which pumpkin to pick?

Lily on a pumpkin...

Lily standing on hay...

Lily sitting on a giant pumpkin...
Why so many pictures of Lily and not Grace?
Grace (of course) had to check out the bathrooms at the farm.

Gabe looking sweet

Another picture of just Lily
(Grace still in the bathroom)

Love doing this every year!

There's Grace!

My Gabers!

He wouldn't stand straight to get measured.
Too many things to explore.
 



Gabe liked the big pumpkins.
He liked hitting them like drums.



The girls are like best friends most days.
I wonder how Gabe will fit in...
Lily is close to Gabe.
So far I can see some sibling rivalry between Gabe and Grace.

 

"Look at me! I'm standing on a pumpkin!"
 

of course, since Grace could do it ... Lily had to prove she could do it too :)

On the hayride eating popcorn

View of the festivities from the hay ride

Gabe trying to sneak some popcorn

picking pumpkins in the pumpkin patch
still no square pumpkins

can't believe how little they look compared to the tire

they are always hanging off of each other
this is their way of wrestling
someone usually ends up on the ground at some point

Grace liked looking out during the hay ride

and now apple donuts
so good- we ordered a dozen
they were gone the next day!

getting dark and getting late but hanging out on the straw fort thingy they have there

Go me! I've been pretty good about updating the blog every day for the last few days.

I'm having surgery on Monday... thyroidectomy. Hoping everything goes well and there is little pain so I can enjoy Halloween with my littles. Realistically though I probably will have to take it easy and miss trick-or-treating this year. We shall see. All I know is that I'm terrified of having surgery- not worried about the pain or the scar on my neck. I'm just worried about being put under during the surgery.

On a positive note: I'll get a small "vacation" in the hospital. I'm looking forward to just laying there all day. I'm being honest.

I also have a good reason to buy lots of cute fall scarves!

 

I'll hopefully update everyone on the surgery on Monday or Tuesday.

Hoping I can squeeze in one last post on Sunday!