Sunday Best: Then and Now

I asked a friend to take a pic of our family after church today. I couldn't help but compare it to our church pic from last Christmas. Last year I made a NYE goal to lose 60 pounds this year. I actually lost 65, but then Thanksgiving and my birthday happened and I am hovering around 55. Either way, I am proud of myself and I plan to lose another 40 next year. Merry Christmas Eve!

What's a party without a little murder?

Y'all know how I like to stretch out my birthdays and celebrate them in a big way.  Well, this year my friend suggested we double up and throw a joint party.  Even better!  We decided to do a murder mystery party.  The setting was an ugly Christmas sweater party and everyone's characters were Christmas-themed.  My character was Holly Bells, a travel-agent who dreams of summer and warm-weather vacations.  My sister was kind enough to host at her house and we didn't even have to decorate!  I brought stuff for a hot cocoa bad and everyone brought desserts or appetizers.  Everyone really got into it and we had a lot of fun.  It was a good way to relax and be silly after all the stress from Sam's surgery.




My birthday buddy, Candy Cane

Sam's surgery

Sam had strabismus surgery last Friday.  It was the moment I have been worrying about and dreading since I first heard it was a possibility 4 years ago at his first ophthalmologist appointment.  None of my kids have ever had surgery before or even been put under general anesthesia.  I was very apprehensive about Sam being the first.  I knew Sam wouldn't be able to eat or drink after midnight on Thursday, so we had a "Sam Party" Thursday night where I let him stay up late and eat and drink whatever he had picked out at the grocery store.

Apparently a "Sam Party" involves cheese balls and hot cocoa

We then drove around looking at Christmas lights while the kids snacked on apple slices, string cheese, and Nilla wafers.  When we got home, Sam requested scrambled eggs and bacon. We ended the night watching "The Christmas Story."  None of my kids had watched it before and I was surprised how into it Sam was (he has since watched it about 5 more times).

Friday morning, the morning of the surgery, we woke up to SNOW!  It almost never snows in Houston.  The few times I have seen it, it is just a few flurries, but the snow doesn't stick.  This snow stuck and was enough for the kids to have a little snowball fight before we had to leave.  My little southerners were totally enthralled by the snow.  I was relieved to have something to distract Sam from the fact he couldn't have any food or drink.

We checked in at 7:30am, filled out the paperwork, and then went back with Sam to the pre-op room.  He was more excited than nervous.  They even gave him a cute bear.

The surgery took about an hour and then they called for Tom and I to come back.  Sam was not happy.  He was fighting mad once the anesthesia wore off and he wouldn't stop screaming about his eye hurting and wanting his patch off.  They had initially told us we would stay for 30 minutes for observation, but they ushered us out after 5 minutes of Sam's screaming because he was distressing the other patients there for surgery.  I told you, his screams are POWERFUL.

That day was rough.  We had to take off the eye patch around 5pm and he freaked out because he was seeing double.  He kept screaming about how he couldn't see and that there were two of everything.  He adjusted to seeing double and calmed down after about 30 minutes, but then we had to put in the eye drops.  We have 2 different drops that have to be administered 4 times a day.  It involves Tom pinning him down and me prying open his eyes, all while Sam is kicking and screaming and literally frothing at the mouth.  I hate it.

My sweet friend brought us dinner.  It cheered Sam right up.

However, other than administering the drops 4 times a day, Sam is doing great!  He says his eye doesn't hurt, even though it is bright red and swollen. He still sees double, but he is cute about it.  He was saying he sees "real daddy and fake daddy" Then he told Tom to turn his head and asked him if he saw fake daddy.  Tom said no so Sam turned to me and asked if I saw two daddies.  The whole thing was pretty comical.

Happy birthday to me

Tom and I both took the day off for my birthday as we do every year, but this year I'd also scheduled Sam's pre-surgical eye appointment on my birthday.  Sam has been going to the pediatric ophthalmologist for his strabismus since he was 6 months old.  He feels very comfortable there.

 After Sam's appointment, we dropped him off at preschool and picked up lunch to go at The Cheese Bar. I wanted to eat comfort food and watch a cheesy Hallmark movie with Tom for my birthday. We even had time for a nap (a real nap, not code "nap") before the kids got home from school.

 Unfortunately, Tom had bus driver training from 6-10, but my parents dropped off a delicious homemade dinner.  Then I let the kids stay up with me and watch yet another Hallmark Christmas movie. It was a thoroughly enjoyable birthday.

Church Santa

The church a Christmas party was last weekend. Sam was so excited for Santa that he was the very first in line.