February Kick-off!

So sorry to disappoint but we don't have a new picture to post today. We've had a bit of drama around here this last week and not much time to pull out the ole camera. We'll update with pictures next time.

February has begun and brought us beautiful days and a few rough nights. Mollie has bacterial pneumonia and her fever has been spiking during the night. We've been up with her a lot because this is when she feels the worst, has chills, coughs, and feels nauseous. Our pediatrician, Dr. Smith (we love him!) told Curt that some little kids get pneumonia after surgery. Thinking back, she actually had a cough before her surgery and we wonder if the tube down her throat, combined with all the other factors of surgery and recovery, just lead to the pneumonia. She has been feeling great during the dayand we thought her fever was just connected to her surgery recovery so she has been doing fun outings here and there: Bass Pro Shop to see the fish, Krispy Kreme to watch the donuts get iced, etc... Never knew whe had pneumonia! Mollie will go back to the doctor today for another shot so we hope she'll be better soon.

Our little Tripp turned 8 months old yesterday. His baby dedication is this Sunday so we hope we can get Mollie well before then. We'd love to have her with us during the dedication service. Tripp was so cute yesterday. I was at work watching him on the camera in his classroom and I saw him scoot backwards across the room. I had to change camera views because he scooted so far out of range! He doesn't do tricks for us too much at home because his sister doesn't let him move around too much. She's usually got him pinned down. She likes to make him lay under a blanket on his belly while she pats his back (hard) and tells him "night-night" over and over. And the precious little boy just lets her do it! We know the day is coming when he gets up on all fours and makes a run for it!

Oh, something else really cute happened the other day.... we saw Mollie loving on Tripp when he was in his exersauceer playing. (By the way, thank you Mark for this! We have used this equipment SO much between these two babies. It's probably our most worn out baby gear!) Anyway, Mollie and Tripp were nose to nose (this was before we knew she had pneumonia...ugh!) and she was being so sweet to him, rubbing the top of his head and saying "hey dah-lin (darling)... hey baby...hey dah-lin"! Priceless. It makes us so happy when we see these moments of the bond growing between these two precious little souls. We know the day will come when they'll have their spats, but for now we just want to encourage them to take care of each other.

Tripp is about to move to a new class at school. He'll be moving to the oldest infant room, the room where so much development happens in such a quick time. I remember when Mollie was in this room (just last year, haha) and she learned how to feed herself little snacks she could gum on, how to crawl and pull up, how to drink out of a sippy cup, etc... They just really learn to get around in this room. I'm looking forward to this new season with my little Tripp. And before long we'll be celebrating his first birthday!

Mollie is really getting into calling her people on the phone. She walks around our house with her toy cell phones and calls all of you! She frequently "calls" Carson. This is how the conversation usually goes: "Hey, tarson! (eyes squint now)..... uh-huh...yes....casey (thats his dog)...cocoa (his other dog)....where's wiwi (william)....mommy, daddy, twipa(tripper).......uh-huh....(eyes get real big here and mouth open wide) tay-tay (kaye-kaye) and sashee ( da-tee, Curtis)......uh-huh.....twipa night-night......andy.........jew-jew(grandjoe)....uh-huh.......i WUB nu tarson......bye-bye". So cute!

We are really ready for Mollie to get well and go back to school. She talks about her friends all the time at home, especially her best friend, Lucy (woo-cy). We ran into Lucy, her mom, and her grandmother at Cheddars recently and it was so cute to see the little friends in a different environment. They really know each other! They've been together since they were 8 weeks old so it would be really strange for them to be at school without each other. (And she still has not forgotten that Brandon bit her face! Her teacher, Mrs. Chavey, says she talks about it all the time at school too! "Bannon (brandon) bite! Hurt! " Brandon really is a sweet boy and we really like his family so we hope she will forgive him at some point!

Our little cousin came home from the hospital this week! Welcome home Nick! We been real tickled that we haven't heard much from the Tucker camp since he came home. They've got their hands full with three little boys, Jack, Drew and Nick!

Looking forward to Baby Dedication this weekend!

The day the maple tree was planted.

The maple tree was planted yesterday. Yes, the day of Mollie's surgery. Not for that reason, just because Curt's parents were here already for the surgery and had been planning to plant a tree this spring. Our yard needs more shade and a home for the birds (so Mollie and Tripp can see them, of course!).

These pictures are really funny to us for a couple of reasons. Notice the way Mollie is dressed. After she came home from her surgery, she insisted on putting on her princess gown. We added pajama bottoms and socks because it was really cool. Kaye-Kaye and Datee (Sa-shee as she now calls him) later added another shirt over the princess gown when we were still inside because her arms were cold. Because she didn't really need to be outside anyway, we covered her really well with her jacket and a warm hat on her head. She looks hilarious! (We didn't let her stay out too long, I promise!)

Another funny thing in this picture is that her grandmother is chasing her around with a plate on english peas and a spoon! Priceless! Kaye-Kaye was trying to make sure Mollie ate her lunch and recovered well. Kaye-Kaye ended up pushing Mollie around in her car outside for awhile and then coercing her back inside by pushing her inside as well. And then Mollie ate some more English peas for her Kaye-Kaye. Thanks to Curtis and Curt for planting our tree.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Curt's parents left for Greenville. We were all really tired because no one slept well the night before. Everyone was looking forward to a good nights sleep. Curt and I let Mollie sleep with us so we could make sure she was okay during the night. She woke up with a fever and a cough around 1:30 AM. We had been giving her Motrin and Tylenol all day and evening so we were surprised that it was around 101 degrees. We gave her more Tylenol but at 2:30 AM her fever was around 102.3 degrees. We had been told to expect a low grade fever, but were surprised it was climbing...especially after Tylenol and Motrin regularly. We usually don't freak out when our kids run fever but it bothered us (me) because she had just had surgery and was so lethargic (and had gooky matted eyes).

I went outside in the middle of the night to find her post-op papers in her diaper bag we had left in the car. I decided to try the number and see if a nurse was on call. They. paged. the. doctor.!!! Oh my! I must say I was so embarrased when he called our house (with a groggy "they woke me up"voice) at 2:45 AM. Dr. Harrison was so very kind and assured me that her body was doing what it was supposed to do by fighting the infection. He reminded me to continue the antibiotic, Tylenol and Motrin. (I knew all that. Why did I wake him up for that! Ugh!) Please send my apologies for having him paged to his family if any of you know them! This really was one of those moments you just cringe when you think back on them.

Mollie's fever broke in about an hour and we all went back to sleep. (I love it when she sweats alot because her hair just turns into ringlets! So cute!) She has run a low grade fever today but is playing with her dolls and her little baby brother. Tripp loves her so much and just gets so excited when she talks to him. It's been fun for all of us to be home playing and relaxing together. And maybe tonight we will all get that good nights sleep we've been waiting on.

Mollie minus her adenoids

Well, yesterday was the day little Mollie lost her adenoids. They were really swollen and acting as a cork in her nose, causing her little nose to run all the time. You can see in this picture that she has on her hospital gown and has already received her Vercet, making her really sleepy and confused. Not Mr. Tripp, he's his normal happy self. Right after this picture Mollie got real silly and drunk and started wrestling Tripp (as always). He had no choice but to just lie on the hospital bed and let her roll all over him. Mollie eventually relaxed and surrendered, retreating around the corner with the nurse with the really warm blanket. (...and her mommy collapsed emotionally).

Time passed quickly and before we knew it we were with Mollie in recovery. She did well at first and drank her juice, but then she started waking up. My, my, she was in "emergence delirium", our friend Linda prepared us for this. It took all of us taking turns at calming (wrestling) the little girl with the IV in her hand. Fast forward to about forty-five minutes later and we are in the car riding home with a slightly groggy little girl glad to see her little brother in the back seat with her..."hey twipa"! All is well.