Little Miracle

My friend (and neighbor's) baby was due March 24th.  That day came and went and the whole neighborhood was forced to wait patiently for this little girl's arrival.  Finally, on March 28th, my friend went into labor and was checked in at the hospital.  I wanted to go to the hospital, but you never know how many people will be there, and you never want to intrude on family time.  However, it was about 7pm and I got a text from another friend who was there that told me to "come and join the party".  So I did!  I wouldn't have missed this experience for the world!

My friend was hoping that the baby would come before midnight so she'd have two daughters with birthdays on the 28th of the month.  And, we thought that might happen because from 9:00 to 10:00, she dilated from a 5 to an 8.  We thought, "Great, she's moving right along!  We're going to see a baby before midnight!".  But, the dilation stalled and midnight came and went.  Myself and the other friend who was there decided we'd stay a little longer and wait for the doctor to check our friend's progression one more time.  It was about 1:00am and the doctor thought that it would be OK to start pushing.  Now we're talking!!

I had never seen a vaginal delivery before, and I was in complete and total awe.  When the baby started crowning, the doctor called my friend and I over to see.  How amazing!  Then, with a couple more pushes, the head came out and we saw her little face....THAT was when it all became real for me.  WHAT A MIRACLE!  With the next couple pushes, Quinn Elise was born.

Watching a baby being born is watching the ultimate miracle unfold before your eyes.  I was humbled, in awe, so excited, and so happy for my friend and her husband.  That little girl will always hold a special place in my heart.  Aunt Janie ♥'s you.

Quinn and her mama

Look Ma, NO GLASSES!...Part 3

I had my Lasik surgery yesterday.  I was quite nervous for about a week...not about the procedure itself, but about the outcome.  I can handle pain, I can't handle being blind.  Thank God, I came through with flying colors!  The procedure itself was a cake walk.  So easy!  So quick!  I didn't feel any pain until the numbing drops wore off about half an hour after the procedure.  When I got home, my eyes were burning pretty bad and watering like crazy.  I laid in bed and finally took some medicine to help me sleep.  Around 4 1/2 hours later, I woke up a brand new person.  I could still feel some irritation, but I was amazed at how well I could see! 

Today when I woke up, my eyes felt great!  I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm not wearing glasses or contacts and can actually SEE.  I found myself this morning looking for my glasses when I first woke up, and then realized, oh yeah, I don't need them. 

I think having this surgery was a great decision for Grady and I.  I know that we are going to love it!  No more glasses in the Gaschler house!

Mama's Spring Break

I wasn't one of those lucky college kids who got to go to Padre or Cabo or any other beachy place for Spring Break.  Nope, instead, I was excited that I got to stay on campus and get a whole 40 hours of work that week.  Now that's pathetic...ahh, the life of a poor college kid. 

However, now that I'm 39, I finally got to go away for Spring Break!  No, I didn't party on the beach half naked with my friends.  I spent most of my time with my butt planted in a lounge chair by the pool reading a book, soaking up the sun, and having other people bring me food and drinks.  The perfect "old lady spring break"! 

Grady had a business trip to Palm Springs, so I tagged along.  I had never been to PS, and when I looked at where it was on a map, I was a little disappointed that it was in-land and not on the coast.  However, it is SO BEAUTIFUL there!  I experienced my first "outdoor" airport.  The hallways between the terminals were all outside!  Must be nice to have year-round weather so nice that your airport doesn't have to be covered!  There were beautiful mountains surrounding the whole area as well as lakes and golf courses.  The whole city seemed to be very manicured.  Our resort was gorgeous, too.  It was surrounded by two golf courses and had flowers and lakes all over the place.

Grady had to work each morning, so I had the luxury of going on morning runs that were amazing.  It's so much easier huffing and puffing through miles when you have gorgeous scenery to take your mind off of it!  I also treated myself to a manicure one day and a massage.  It's nice to spoil yourself now and then!  Grady had to "work" on the golf course a couple afternoons, so on those days I was perfectly content sitting by the pool in the 85 degree sunshine being a lazy California girl.

On our last full day there, we found a mountain with a hiking trail and decided to venture up it.  The views were so pretty.  How I wish we had mountains to hike in KS!

By the end of the trip, I was tanned, relaxed, and really missing my girls.  Thank you, honey for taking me on this trip!  And, thank you to Tom & Judy for keeping the girls!

Here are some pictures of our trip:  Palm Springs

Look Ma, NO GLASSES!...Part 2

We have one more family member who has kicked glasses to the curb!  Macey got contacts today.  Holy moly, she is growing up too fast.  She has wanted contacts for the past year and we finally decided it would be OK for her to get them.  She was so excited for her appointment this morning.  It is going to take her a few days to get the hang of putting them in and taking them out, but knowing her, she will have it mastered in no time.  I think the whole concept of touching her eyeballs was a little intimidating!

I know getting contacts is not an emotional event, but I can't help thinking how fast she is growing up.  Today contacts, tomorrow driver's license...  {sniff}.

Look Ma, NO GLASSES!

Grady has been contemplating having LASIK surgery for the past few years.  Well, on Friday, he took the plunge!  The surgery itself took about 5 minutes per eye.  I think that is amazing.  The girls and I watched the whole thing, too!  I'm one of those weird people who likes things like that...yep, I'm that person who, when flipping through the channels and stumbles upon a knee surgery, will stop and watch in awe.

It was pretty amazing.  We got to watch the surgery up close and see everything that was happening to his eyes.  First, he laid down and a laser cut part of the cornea, right above the iris, creating a flap that the doctor peeled back with what looked like a tiny spatula (this part was REALLY FREAKY to watch!).  Then, his eye was held open by a device so he wouldn't blink.  The doctor then used lasers to reshape the cornea to correct Grady's vision.  When the lasers were finished, the doctor replaced the flap on his eye and smoothed it out with a tiny tool that reminded me of a squeegie.  He put some medicated drops in the eye, repeated the whole process with the other eye and WALA!  Done!

He was in some discomfort for the first few hours post-op, but after a 3-4 hour nap, he was feeling much better.  He had a follow-up appointment the very next day and was seeing 20/15...which is better than 20/20!  He is beyond thrilled with his results.

I wanted to watch the procedure, and on one hand, I'm glad I did.  However, it probably wasn't the smartest thing for me to do since I'm getting the same surgery in 2 weeks!  Eeeek!

Getting ready to start the surgery

After surgery and the doctor is replacing the corneal flap and smoothing it out...ewww!

Jolee was holding Emmy on her lap the whole time!

I want my Mommy, too!

The last week and a half sure have been a doosey...and we're not in the clear, yet.  Two sick kids one right after another.  And, this virus just HANGS ON! 

Last night after the girls went to bed, Emmy walked into our bedroom with that, "I want my mommy" look.  So, how could I resist?  She was feeling yucky and I let her snuggle up in bed with me.  After a while I tucked her into her own bed and was looking forward to some much needed rest.

After getting up with her nearly every hour on the hour, I am now exhausted and my caffeine has long worn off.  I want my mommy, too. 

I wish I had a magic wand...take 2...

After 4 days, I am happy to report that Jolee is back to running around the house on all fours pretending she's a cat...in other words, she is finally feeling like herself again!  Hallelujah!

However, Emmy woke up and told us that she didn't feel very good and that her tummy felt "yucky".  Great, just great.  A 101 degree temperature confirmed that she now has the crud that Jolee just got rid of.  Another confirmation that she was not feeling good was the fact that she told me today, "Mommy, will you shut the TV off, I want to take a nap"...two things that NO child ever says.  Yep, definitely sick.  Where's my magic wand?

I wish I had a magic wand

I think the hardest part about being a mom is feeling helpless when your kids are sick or hurt.  Jolee has been feeling yucky for the past couple days and I hate it.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  I wish I could take her pain away.  She told me this morning, "going to school is way more fun than being sick".  Poor thing. :(

We went in this morning and had a strep test ran on her.  It came back negative.  Hopefully she will start feeling better today.  In the mean time, it's lots of gatorade, rest and hugs. ♥

A Gr8t Day to Sk8t!

I took my sk8tr gurlz to the skate park the other day.  We were trying to soak up as much sun as we could.  TWO nice days in a row!  Woohoo!  Macey finally got to break out her custom skateboard that she got from Santa.  Jolee and Emmy brought their scooters, but they seem to have more fun playing on the playground. 

We're lucky enough to live fairly close to a really cool skate park and the girls love going there.  Macey is usually the only girl skateboarding when we go to that park.  This used to make me nervous (my little girl skateboarding with a bunch of teenage boys), but what I've come to learn, is that the boys respect her and some even give her some tips on certain tricks that they see her trying to attempt.  She even got some "props" the other day when she went down a pretty big ramp successfully.  One boy even told me that when he was her age, he didn't have the guts that she has. :)

One Proud Mama

Yesterday was Parent/Teacher conferences at the elementary school.  These particular conferences were led by the students.  Macey's conference was presented by her using a Powerpoint presentation that she made.  She listed her strengths and her stretches and her goals for the rest of the year.  She did a great job and continues to excel at math and reading.  Her "chattiness" is still somewhat of an issue, but if that is all that we have to worry about...I'll take it!  Plus, who WASN'T chatty in 4th grade?  I'm so proud of my big girl. ♥

Jolee used drawings and lists on paper to deliver her presentation.  I was SO impressed at how she just "took charge" and dove in.  She wasn't shy or hesitant at all.  She took us through their writing process...first drafts, edits and so on and finally to a "published" (it was typed by her teacher) story that she even illustrated.  She also showed us her daily writing journal and how much she has progressed from the beginning of the year.  Jolee's reading is continuing to get better and better as well.  At the end of her presentation, she was supposed to say, "Thank you for coming".  However, she turned to us and said (in a very heartfelt voice), "Thank you for coming...and for supporting me in everything that I do at school, I really appreciate it".  It was quite possibly the sweetest thing I had ever seen and heard!  As you can imagine, the waterworks started flowing for me...and her teacher!  I've always known that Jolee has one of the biggest hearts a person could have, but that moment really touched me.  She is such a sweetheart and I'm so proud of her. ♥

75 Degrees in February!!

Can I rewind today?  The sun and the warm temp felt SO good!  The girls rode their bikes, scooters, and skateboards, climbed trees, drew with sidewalk chalk and simply loved being outside again.  I'm trying to ignore the 10-day forecast because I think the "S" word is involved.  I hate the "S" word.  You know we've had too much of the white stuff around when even the kids are happy that it is gone!  So, back to this glorious day, you know me, I had to get my camera out and take pictures of it.

Tulips are peeking out!

Monkey in a tree

My Sk8tr Gurl

Arteeests!

♥ that sweet face

♥ this sweet face, too

Besties on their boards

LifeBridge

You had me at "hello".  I felt comfortable immediately after being greeted by a neighbor at LifeBridge church today.  I've been wanting to attend this church (which is only a couple years old) for some time now.  The other church that we went to was great, but it was HUGE and I didn't feel the sense of "community" that I felt when I walked through the doors at LifeBridge.  The pastor is the father of one of Macey's best friends, Brianna.  We call Brianna our "4th daughter" because she is at our house A LOT, and, because she is such a GREAT little person and we've grown attached to her.  We've known her parents for the past couple years, and I'm so glad that we went to their church today.

I felt comfortable and "at home".  To be honest, I haven't felt that way in church in, well, ever.  I've always felt a little bit of anxiety in church.  I don't know why.  I've never been a super "religious" person, but I do consider myself a spiritual person.  As I grow older and as the girls grow older, I find myself wanting to be the absolute BEST person, wife and mother that I can be.  So, today was very meaningful to me.  I think that we have finally found a church that we will continue to attend.  The congregation was small and I recognized many people from my neighborhood.  The girls enjoyed Sunday school and Emmy even met a new friend.

Pastor Mitch's message today was about encouragement.  He talked about the importance of encouraging words and actions from others and how important it is that we keep those encouraging words and actions going...pay it forward.  He challenged all of us to find a way to encourage at least one person every day this week.  After he said this, I thought to myself, "Gee, I'm not very good at doing that".  Right after that thought popped into my head, Grady turned to me and said, "You are really good at that...encouraging other people".  This actually brought a tear to my eye.  I guess we are always our own harshest critics, huh?  I guess I'm better at doing this than I thought.  So, I'm up to the challenge.  I hope I can live up to it.

LifeBridge's Mission:
To develop a community where spiritually disconnected and connected people become healthy, fully engaged followers of Jesus....

ANOTHER Snow Day

Snow day #6.  So.  Much. Togetherness.

Ok, I love my children more than words can say, but, IT'S TIME FOR THEM TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL!  Routine, I want you back.  When I woke up this morning the temp was -9, not the windchill, the temperature.  But still, the kids have school indoors the last time I checked.  And, for those kiddos who have to wait for the bus, bundle up.  Ok, I'm done ranting.

45 days until Spring.  The countdown is on...

The Blizzard of Oz 2011

Snownami, Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, SnOMG, and the Blizzard of Oz are a few of the terms that have been thrown around the media to describe the incredible snow storm that dumped 14" of snow on us. It also caused 2 MORE days off from school (that's 5 now since the beginning of the year).  On Tuesday we were literally snowed in and could not go anywhere.  Today is Wednesday and thankfully the street in front of our house has been plowed.  I must admit, though, that it has been quite humorous watching the vehicles that did venture out struggle up and down our street.  Many spinning their tires, sliding down the hill and a few of them getting stuck.  Stay home, people!

I had to shovel the driveway twice and the piles on either side are enormous.  They were big enough that the kids were able to build forts in them!  It's funny how inventive the kids get in the snow...Emmy got out her tricycle and tried to ride around, and Macey got out her pogo stick!  Is that inventive, or are they just wishing it was Spring?  As I'm typing this, Macey and a few of the neighborhood kids are snow boarding down the slope in our front yard...very fun to watch! 

To help pass the time, the girls made their own lip gloss (from a kit Jolee got for Christmas) and Emmy & Jolee made home-made Valentine's for their friends at school.  Since we couldn't go to the store, we just used things we had around the house.  I found a website that had printable Valentine cards, the girls used "fancy" scissors to cut them out, then we used some leftover scrapbook paper, glue sticks and Halloween candy (that's right, we STILL have Halloween candy) and wala...Valentine's for school that cost nothing.  I love that.

I'm so happy the sun is shining today.  We even sunbathed (ok, it was on the floor right next to Max), but it felt GREAT!  How many days 'til Spring?  I need to start a countdown calendar...

It's starting to really blow and pile up...

Poor birds! 

White-out conditions

The day after...

Pogo sticking in the snow!

Everyone is digging out...

Taking a break!

Making lip gloss...



ewww...looks like a science experiment



The finished project!

Ahhh!  This feels good!



Addressing her Valentine's...




Jo addressing her Valentine's




Home-made with love!



Wala!  All done!

3 for 3

Ok, let me just say, it has been a few hours since "the incident", and I am in a much better frame of mind now.  My neck, however, still hurts from rotating 360 degrees on my shoulders.  Whelp, we are now 3 for 3...3 out of 3 girls have cut her own hair.  At least we're thorough!...we never do anything just half way around here! 

Grady discovered a wad of hair on the floor and asked Emmy about it.  Then he yelled at me to come and take a look.  (I think this is when my head spun around on my shoulders.)  I thought I could magically fix it or at least make it look better but, nope, nothing was going to fix this!  I was upset and asked her, "WHY did you cut your hair?!!!", she said, "let me think...", then I said, "no, WHY did you cut your hair?!!!", to which she answered (in a teeny, tiny voice), "because I just wanted to".  So, there you have it.  I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.  I look back at it now and am thankful that she didn't cut herself.  Grady and I even laughed about it...after my blood pressure came back within normal sub-hypertension range. 

Can you believe she allowed me to take these pictures and she even SMILED and POSED while I took them?!  She is such a diva.  The things that happen when I go to the grocery store!  Oh, the joys of parenting!

Look what I did!

 

Another view of my handy work!

  

My mommy says it looks better like this.



I think I did a great job! What do you think?☺



Bubbles in January...Pretending it's Spring!

We got one Spring-like day yesterday and Emmy couldn't resist getting out the bubbles. And I couldn't resist getting out my camera...

S is for Sunflower

Jolee's 1st grade class performed their class program last night entitled, "S is for Sunflower".  It was a great program that was all about our great state of Kansas.  Did you know that tomorrow is Kansas' 150th birthday?  Yep, Kansas entered the union on January 29, 1861.  Ok, back to Jolee...first of all, she was SUPER excited about her program and she had been practicing her speaking part for weeks.  She had quite the tongue twister to memorize, here is her line: "On a classic Kansas day, you'll fly your kite with ease, zipping through the blue on the zesty Kansas breeze".  And, she nailed it!  It was so FUN watching her perform, she REALLY got into singing, the hand movements, dancing...she was not shy at all.  I think we have found our theatrical talent in the family!  So proud of her!

Look how everyone in this picture is blurry except for my little sunflower. :)

Speaking part!

 

Top row, 3rd from the right