The Other Side of the Continent

My mother went back home this morning.

One of my least favorite things about living in Othello is the distance we are to large airports. Spokane is two hours away and Seattle, which is much cheaper when flying to South Carolina, is three hours away. In order for my mother to make her 6 a.m. flight, we went to Seattle last night and stayed in a hotel. Eliza joined our "big girl night out" and came along for the adventure.

On the way to the airport, my mom called my sister, Marian. While they were talking, my mom said: "Well, Celia does live on the other side of the continent--I mean country." I thought about it for a second and realized I do live on the other side of the continent. I don't know why that made me feel even further away from my family, but it did.

2, 773 miles. That's a lot of mileage (I still cannot believe we drove there and back). 

I loved our life in Utah, and I really have grown to love Othello; I just wish these places were closer to my family. I miss my parents, siblings, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My dad is an only child, so my dear grandmother only has three grandchildren, and my mother's family has always been extremely close. Being this far away, especially for so long now, is difficult.

Of course, I feel very fortunate knowing we have family so far away that loves us dearly. Eliza has been spoiled by her aunts, cousins, and grandparents in South Carolina and knows anytime we receive a package, it is usually for her. The distance has not created any shortage of love, and I consider ourselves lucky that we are surrounded by Nathan's wonderful family.

It's been hard trying to keep that mindset throughout today. This morning, when my mother kissed me on the forehead and whispered her goodbyes, I was hardly conscious. I knew she was leaving to catch the hotel's shuttle, but I didn't register much more than that. It was 4 o'clock in the morning, and I was exhausted after a long day. She said she loved me, and I automatically responded, "I love you, too" and promptly went back to sleep.

Waking up a few hours later and seeing her bed empty made my heart drop a little. I tried to ignore the tug of sadness I felt and instead went back to sleep. When Eliza woke up a short while later, her first words were, "Where is my Grandma Homa?" I explained that Grandma had to go home and Eliza cried, "But I want my Grandma Homa!!" I felt like crying a little, too, so we drowned our sorrows in some Frostys on the way home.

We're home now, and the sadness I felt earlier is still there. It's kind of like when you are about to cry and you swallow it, so the nagging feeling remains in your throat. My mom isn't here reading a book or asking what she can do to help or trying to change the channel this evening; she's asleep in her own bed.

I guess I'll be more okay with that tomorrow. 

Surgery (x2)

Tuesday began very early.

The boys woke up wanting milk at 4 a.m. Unfortunately for Ezra, he could not have anything to drink except for water. Because Elliott's surgery was later on in the day, he was able to receive one more feeding before we left for the hospital. I was worried about them both fasting and envisioned screaming, hungry babies in the waiting room. Ezra is all about his milk, so we intentionally scheduled his surgery first. I knew Elliott would do better fasting longer during waking hours. 

We checked in before 6 a.m. and settled in for a long day. 

Despite being denied his morning milk and breakfast, Ezra was truly happy. He was calm and cuddly, which is a definite first. Nathan held him and sang to him before he received "goofy juice," which made him a little loopy and relaxed for surgery. The nurses and doctors loved seeing the boys and kept saying they were impressed with how calm the babies were. The anesthesiologist had twins boys himself and immediately won us over when he told us, "Having twins is the joy of my life. They are my heart." Of course, I trusted him with out little guys even more after we spoke.

Although I felt anxious the days and months before surgery day, I was surprisingly calm once the actual moment arrived. I felt peace that their little operation would go great. We received updates every 30 minutes and tried to keep Elliott entertained for the three hours until his surgery. He was an angel and did great fasting. He won the hearts of everyone in the waiting room with his cute little smile. At last, Elliott was given "goofy juice" (which didn't affect him much at all because he is always happy!) and was sent back for his operation. The OR nurse was laughing as she took Elliott away because he was so smiley and content to be with a stranger.

The pediatric urologist, Dr. Starr, then came out to speak with us and informed us that Ezra was out of surgery. She is such an amazing doctor. She stays with all of her patients in the recovering room and comes to get the parents herself. She let us know Ezra had done wonderfully and then went off to prepare for Elliott's surgery. 

Walking in and seeing Ezra laying on a little cot with wires and chords all over him was a little upsetting, but as soon as I held him, he began to wake up. He cried for a minute and then returned to his normal, silly self. As soon as he had some milk, he was perfectly content.

An hour after Elliott's surgery began, Ezra was discharged. We went back to the waiting room with a very drugged baby and waited for Elliott to be out of surgery. We were told in the beginning that no siblings were allowed in the back, so I was prepared to go back while Nathan stayed with Ezra in the waiting room. When Dr. Starr came to let us know that Elliott's surgery was also a success, she invited us both back to the waiting room. I let her know about the "no sibling" policy, and she immediately laughed and said: "Give me that baby. They won't say anything to me." She picked up Ezra and walked us back to the recovery room. All the nurses laughed when they saw her obviously breaking the rules, but I was grateful we could all be together.

Elliott had a harder time coming out of his post-surgery daze and nursed until he made himself sick. While Ezra had looked funny and even smirked once he saw us, Elliott remained motionless and looked up at us with huge, scared eyes. It broke our hearts. Nathan said, "I think this is the first time in months where Elliott hasn't smiled when I looked at him." He was pretty out of it for the rest of the day. 

After being at the hospital for 10 hours, we finally left with two very sleep boys.

We made it home, and Nathan and I were grateful to have both of our mothers there to help. Ezra was screaming in pain most of the night, and we had to supplement his Tylenol with Ibuprofen. I will be glad when the stitches are out and our boys are no longer in pain. Nathan and I are so relieved that the surgery is finally over and are grateful things went as well as they did.

Two side notes: 

1: I got ten inches cut off my hair last Friday (it looks so short in pictures to me!)

2: We got more comments about our stroller (in the hallways, elevators, and cafeteria of the hospital) than we did about our twins!

Pre-Surgery Jitters

We're in a hotel next door to Sacred Heart Medical Center with Ezra and Elliott. Their surgeries are back to back tomorrow, beginning at 6 AM. I know the procedure is relatively minor, but like any mom, I am stressed out of my mind. I will be one happy lady once tomorrow is over. In the meantime, we'd gladly welcome any and all thoughts and prayers for our little e's.

How To Prune Your Roses

Eliza has developed a love for her grandmother's flowers. She loves to say hello to them when we are outside playing and always takes time to stop and smell the roses. A few days ago, she asked if she could have a flower inside like Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

How could I say no?

First, we asked Cheryl if it was okay to cut a rose. Grandma said yes, so we found a pair of scissors and walked outside. Eliza insisted that she cut the flower herself and took the scissors as I watched her carefully.

Definitely intimidating.

 After closely examining each flower, she finally picked the lucky winner.

 She then cut the rose, and I brought it inside and placed it in a "vase."

She named the rose "Minnie" and has loved looking at it the past few days. It looks like we may have a future gardener on our hands.

Preschool

This Thursday, Eliza not only celebrated her third birthday, but she also went to her first day of official preschool. Last year, she was in the toddler class, which required parents stay during the two hours. This year, she gets to stay by herself. She's so grown up!

I apologize for the plethora of photos in advance. She was just too precious not to photograph that morning (and always).

She was so excited to get back to the familiar classroom and see her friends. There was one big difference this school day, though: Grandma Cheryl is no longer her teacher. Eliza is now in Miss Dena's class, and she seemed to do okay without Grandma after the initial disappointment.

When I tried to coax her into making new friends, she insisted on playing with Mr. Potato Head. Very matter-of-factly, she looked at me and said: "I'm making friends again with Mr. Potato Head today. He's been real sad without me."

I guess she'll work on making new friends next week.

Elliott's New Tricks

Today, Elliott did a couple of new things. First, he took a baby step on his own. He was holding onto the side of the couch and let go for a second, took a small step, and promptly fell. He is motivated to walk! He never figured out how to crawl on all fours, but I think he will skip that phase altogether. Ezra is still army crawling everywhere and doesn't seem too interested in pulling himself up to stand or walking. I love how they are interested in accomplishing different tasks already. Ezra wants to really crawl, and Elliott wants to stand all day.

Elliott's second trick involves posing for the camera. He may be only 9 months old, but he definitely knows what the camera is. We have done countless photo shoots with our children, and we have our camera out almost everyday. I find myself smiling at the babies often and saying, "Cheese!" with a grin on my face, hoping they will smile back at me.

Well today, Elliott smiled back. At first, I thought it was just coincidence that he immediately smiled after I said "cheese," but I then realized he was actually smiling. He did the same thing this weekend when I was documenting the Elmo/Ernie race, but I didn't think too much of it. Tonight, though, I couldn't stop taking pictures because it was so hilarious.

Here are a few samples:

Before I said "cheese"....

After I said the magic word...

Before...

After...

Here are some more "cheese" pictures. All from tonight. 

 I could probably take a million. It is so darn cute.

Maybe he's telling me he wants to be in commercials or an upcoming sitcom. Perhaps I should find an agent. People love twins, right?

Happy Third Birthday, Eliza!

Eliza has changed so much in three short years....

Her adorable factor has remained constant, though. She was a beautiful baby (in my unbiased opinion), and she is a darling (albeit precocious) three year old.