Abigail's Port Removal Surgery

Because her tumor looked stable for six months post-chemo, the oncologist said we could move forward with removing Abigail's port. Her surgery to get it out was on January 22, 2021. 

She made sure to bring her blanket and a couple of other things for this outpatient procedure. 

Even though it was a relatively straight-forward surgery, I was super nervous for some reason. But all went smoothly! 

Ready to go!

The surgery was maybe an hour or so but then it took Abigail FOREVER to wake up. The nurses couldn't believe it and went from "let her wake up naturally when she's ready" to "let's see if we can get her to wake up" when it had been like two hours. 

The surgeon had asked Abigail if she wanted to keep the port and take it home, which of course she did! 

She came to briefly after a couple of hours and asked if they got it out, then went back to sleep.

After heading into surgery around 11am, she was finally awake enough to head home at 3pm!

She was so excited to show everyone her port! 

And since she was brave and did such a good job, we celebrated with her favorite treat - a three scoop ice cream cone from Braums!

Excited to be port-free! 

Boyd at 5 Months

5 months doesn't get much cuter than this! It's also my favorite age! Able to sit up but not yet mobile - the very short lived sweet spot! And cute spot! 

Trying out his crib in his new room - I guess until this point he was still in our room? This must have been when we switched and put him in his own room and moved Seth into our room? 

Likes to sit in his bouncy station and watch Cora play!

Here are some things about Boyd at 5 months:

-Ready for size 3 diapers, but finishing a pack of 2's

-Wearing 6/6-9 month clothes

-Usually eats just once a night, around 4am after a 10pm dream feed

-Has mastered sitting up!

-Can't roll over yet

-Drooling like crazy but no teeth yet

-Has tried and liked baby food squash and peaches

-Loves to play with toys or be in one of his jumper toys

-Has his hand in his mouth constantly

-Likes to chew/suck on his blanket as he falls asleep

-Transitioned to the crib and now Seth is in our room (yep - I verified this in my notes)

-Still drinking 6oz bottles every three hours during the day

-Takes 3 naps a day: morning, right after lunch with Seth, and a quick one around dinner time

He also was a good sport about going on LOTS of walks with me!

It's so fun to play outside!

Not as fun - riding in a dump truck pushed by a sister.

But chewing on toys is an acceptable form of entertainment! 

Seth's new spot in our room now that Boyd is in his. This lasted for a few months before we had to switch them back because Seth was worse about keeping us up at night than Boyd was.

Starting 2021 Off Right

Apparently this dead bird in the bird house that we can't get out of the backyard (the previous owners really made sure it was in the ground good!) was the first picture I took in 2021?

And the second was the pile of baby/kid stuff in our room that I needed to go through. The fight with kid clothes and the ever-changing size requirements is indeed endless. Maybe this would be the year I finally got a handle on it? 

(Spoiler alert - it wasn't.)

But we did get some projects done as we started the new year! First up, painting the boy's room! 

And for me....folding laundry. 

Seth was busy relaxing....

We tried out our new bread machine and were pleased with the results! 

And Boyd decided he was ready to try baby food. 

"Hmm....I'm not sure...."

"Ok, decision made - it's yummy!"

Abigail was so excited to be able to go back to in-person school for the second half of first grade!

I can't speak for the high school portion, but this is a pretty accurate representation of our experience with online 1st grade. :)

Boyd was eager to see what the new year would bring!

We started piano lessons with me as the teacher. It tapered off after a couple of weeks, but we picked back up mid-year and have been going strong with lessons since! The three oldest girls are progressing rapidly! Which is impressive given their less than stellar teacher. 

It's so fun to be a baby and jump on the tramp!

Also fun - being surrounded by huge soft things.

Andrew picked the color for the boys' room and it turned out a bit darker than either of us were thinking...

Boyd's head was chilly!

Fighting naps until he drops:

Apparently we got donuts, I'm sure for something special but now that it's a year later, I can't remember what that might have been....Oh! I think maybe after we cleaned the church one Saturday morning?

Me, Kelly, and Mom set a goal for 2021 to walk a combined 2,021 miles between us during the year. That ended up being a little more than 2 miles a day each. Eve joined me on as many of my walks as she could, including this one when despite the freezing weather, I walked to Kohls to run an errand. 

Enjoying homemade mint oreo milkshakes!

Sometimes church is hard...

And sometimes the boys matched!