All Is Well

Parker's appointment on Friday was really good. He's cleared to play again! Yeah! We're down to only 4 drops a day. We'll be doing that for at least another month. And, better yet, we don't have to see the doctor again until his next surgery. A HUGE weight has been lifted! So, tomorrow we will start to wade through the mess that our house has become so that we can be "normal" for a few weeks before we do this again.

On a funny note... While I was out today I got a voicemail from Eric and Parker that had them telling me that Parker peed in the potty. That's the good news. The bad news is that Eric let Parker take the "pee bucket" (as he calls it) out of the kid potty and sit in Eric's lap with the "pee bucket" between his legs. Such a guy! I'm laughing so hard right now. Girls? Moms? Would you ever take the bucket out and let your kid sit in your lap to pee? Anyways, potty training is the next thing on the list. Looks like it's off to a weird start. But, hats off to my husband. He got Parker to pee in the potty today. Hmm.

One Week

It's been one week since the surgery. Maybe one day I'll have something else to write about.

Those of you who know me well, know that I am the type of person that HAS to get out of the house everyday. This week has been hard for me. I think it's been hard for Parker too. He keeps asking to go play with friends. We had a great visit from my friend Vicki and her daughter yesterday. Then, today I decided to take the kids to the aquarium because it would be a "safe" place to play. Parker ended up tripping and hitting his head, which resulted in an afternoon full of doctors, nurses, long phone calls, and a tired 2 year old. I've always had a problem with patience. I guess I should have waited to take him out. BUT, tomorrow we go for a checkup. Hopefully everything will be fine and we will be cleared to do more.

Parker and Haley relax with a little bit of Wonder Pets.

Parker's nice head wound.

Abigail eating a frozen waffle. Gotta love teething time!

Abigail's first riding toy.

Overwhelmed

We are overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that all of you are doing for us. We haven't had to cook a meal yet. We've been loaded with phone calls, emails. cards. etc. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Parker is doing really well. He didn't put up a fight today when I tried to put the patch on his eye. The bribe of the day for drops is M&M's. He gets 2 M&M's when he gets a drop. He even asked for a drop a few minutes ago. He's wilder than ever. I attribute it to being able to see for the first time in months. He's just excited. But, with his excitement comes stress for me. I love seeing him happy, but it's extremely difficult to keep him calm. The rules from the doctor are no running, climbing, jumping, bending, pushing, or pulling. Yeah, right.

With looking after Parker and Abigail there really isn't time to cook. And, we're still trying to keep him away from germs of eating out. So, all that to say, you all have been a HUGE blessing. I'm totally humbled by how God has used you all to take care of us.

Drops, Patches, and a New Bed

I'm sitting here drinking my glass of red wine, watching my son in the monitor go to sleep. It's been a long couple of days. Eric finally discovered that if we gave drops to the babydoll that P would take them easier himself. P actually gives the babydoll drops sometimes too. Cookies and lollipops help too. I think P is doing extremely well. He wears his glasses all day, and he only wears the patch for naps and bedtime. He's not a fan of the recovery routine, but he's hanging in there.

We decided that he needed something fun and new. He wants so badly to "go pway and find fwiends" as he would say. So, we bought him a "big boy" bed. We've been thinking about it for a long time. We've been putting it together off and on since lunch. Tonight when I finally finished putting on the sheets and comforter Eric told Parker that he could go see his new bed. He jumped up, ran to the stairs, and came bursting into the room. He literally squealed with delight. He's so excited, I don't know when he'll actually fall asleep. He needed something fun. He needed something to take his mind of the drops and patch. And, I guess I needed it too.

Enjoy the pictures...

Parker and his baby ready for bed

Eric enjoys the new bed with Parker

P climbing on his bed

The Day After

Parker woke up in a great mood. He watched Little Einsteins just like normal. I told him that we were going to get in the car and go see the eye doctor again. He said, "We can't go to the doctor. We can't." He kept saying it as we drove to the doctor's office. The appointment went well. We got to see pictures and a video of the surgery. Parker cried every time the doctor looked at him. But, he could see. We're not really sure to what extent. His eye should continue to gain vision and heal for the next month. I do know that it did something because after the appointment, Parker kept rubbing his left eye (not the one that's been corrected) and saying that his eye was dirty. So, I think he can now tell that the cataract is messing up his vision in his left eye, making it look "dirty". And, that means his right eye is better.

We just started our drops routine. 12 a day and they cannot be at the same time. It's really hard. I hate making my son scream. And, it physically takes 2 of us to do it. I'm nervous about next week when Eric goes back to work.

I think we're doing okay. We are so happy and relieved that the surgery was successful. Eric and I didn't sleep last night because we had to watch Parker and make sure he didn't rub his eye or take his patch off. I'm emotional today. It's probably a combination of being tired and being overwhelmed at the recovery process. I think I was focusing so much on the surgery that I didn't realize all that would come after. So, if I don't return calls today, that's why. On the other hand, when Parker isn't getting drops or having to put the patch on, he's as happy as can be.

Thanks for all of your prayers. We feel them and we need them. The surgery for his left eye is now scheduled for February 19.

Here are some pictures from our adventures:

In recovery.

Last night at home, eating green pancakes again.

In the car this morning. All smiles about some chicken minis.

The drops.

Home

So, 5pm to 6pm could possibly be the worst hour of my life. Parker had a really hard time waking up from the anesthesia. He immediately started trying to pull off his patch and take out his IV. He's calmed down a lot now. We just got home. He's eating green pancakes and goldfish and watching Monsters Inc.

I only have one picture right now from Eric's phone. I'll upload more later tonight when I'm on my awake shift. It's been such a long day. But, I'm glad to be home and to see my little boy asking for his favorites.

Thank you for your prayers! We'll know more tomorrow. I'll let you know when we know.

Recovery!

We just saw the doctor. The surgery is over. It went very well. They actually videotaped it. Parker is in recovery right now. We hope to see him in about 30 minutes. I'll send another email later tonight. Thanks for your prayers!

We will go see the doctor again at 9am. We'll know more about the results at that time. Pray little pain and a lot of sleep for Parker until then.