Taking the plunge (hesitantly)...

So after 10 years of writing the bills, balancing the checkbook (or not balancing it at times), depositing the money, etc. - I am handing it over to Shawn. With the addition of a 3rd child and a 3/4 time job, I find I just don't have the time to do it! Bills weren't paid late, but they were getting paid a little too late for me. I think Shawn is excited about it and he will probably do much better than me. He told me today "I will always know the balance of the checking account" - which I wouldn't know without doing some major subtraction.

But handing it over is hard. I suppose it is giving up control of what I have always had. He says he is going to pay the bills as they come in but I had always paid certain bills at a certain time of the month. I will write that out for him but he will choose if he wants to follow my recommendations. Other than that last simple explanation of how "I" do things, I am going to try my hardest to let him do things "His" way.....this is gonna be hard!

Now I will still have the checking account that we set up for my college expenses in 2006-2007. We just kept it open and now I have my pay direct deposited in it. I hope this works out better for us.

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On to other things, Delainey had her first sleepover party last night for a friend's birthday. I thought that she may not stay when I dropped her off. She was all teary but she was determined to stay - and stay she did. About 10pm she called to tell me that she was having a good time, she missed us and she was going to be ok. We picked her up at 7:45 this morning so that she could go to church with us. She had been up since 5:45!!! Crazy girl! The party didn't end until 2pm so we took her back after church so she could take part in the swimming. Ohhhhhhh is she a crispy critter! The Mom put sunscreen on the other kids but they were already swimming when we got there and it didn't cross her mind to slather D down. And D didn't think of it either. She is sleeping now and I'm sure will sleep the majority of the night into morning. We will have to wake her atleast for a bit to put lots and lots of aloe vera gel on her burn. Poor baby!!!! I guess it is the age for sleepovers because she gets to turn around and do this all over again on Friday night for another friend - but I don't think they have a pool. Those are some brave Mama's - no sleepover parties here yet!

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Oh and Cait is doing pretty good. Her ears are still a little sensitive. I think she may be teething on top of just having the tubes in. We do think that she is hearing better though!!! We used to have to say her name several times before she would look our way and now she looks at us on the first time. She is also repeating what we say a lot more now. Honestly, she is quite the chatterbox!

We are back!

We are back and Cait is doing great! We got to the surgery center at 7:45. They took us back and we changed her into a little tigger hospital gown. It was so cute and so pitiful! We had everything explained to us from the nurses, anesthesiologist, and Dr. Stith. I think we waited in pre-op for 30 - 45 minutes. Then a nurse took her and carried her back to the OR and Shawn and I went out to the waiting room. I don't think we were out there more than 15 minutes and they came back to get us because she was in recovery. When we got back there, she was so pitiful. One of the nurses was holding her and she was in and out of sleeping on her shoulder. She gave her to me and she cuddled a little. Then they brought her a sippy cup of apple juice and she drank it straight down. Dr. Stith came in and let us know that everything went really well. She didn't have any infection or fluid at the time of the surgery. We have to go back in 6 months to be evaulated. Then we left to go home! We got home around noon. Cait is pretty much back to her normal self now with just a little more moodiness. She isn't acting like she has any pain or discomfort. We are just very grateful that everything turned out ok!

We couldn't have asked for a better staff at the surgery center! The nurses were just wonderful, upbeat, and did anything and everything to keep Cait and us comfortable. You could tell that they really enjoyed their jobs. Dr. Stith was great! We really appreciated his kindness and willingness to answer any questions we had. Shawn and I both think that it was well worth the travel to St. Louis and the expense for the treatment that she recieved!

So thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers!!! Cait is doing great!!

Countdown....

We are on the countdown now to Cait's surgery. I had the pre-registration phone call today to let me know what we need to do to prepare her for the surgery. She can't have anything to eat after midnight then can only have clear liquids between 12-4am. After that, she can't have anything. While we were at NanaK & Bill's this weekend, she did pretty well without eating until we got there - which some days was near 9am. So, we will be leaving for St.Louis tomorrow night and spending the night near the hospital. That way we don't have to drive from home to St. Louis with a baby that hasn't ate. We are going to try and totally wear her out the night before so she will sleep a long time in the morning. We have to be at the hospital at 8:15 to prepare for surgery at 9:15.

We are so hopeful that this surgery is going to help Cait not get ear infections - atleast not as frequently. I spent a lot of the day on the phone trying to reach her ENT because we are almost 100% sure that she has another infection. She has been pulling at her ear since this weekend and has gotten progressively more crabby each day. If she has a fever Friday, there is a chance she wouldn't be able to have the surgery. So, this afternoon, I finally got a prescription for yet another antibiotic to hold her over until Friday and to help prevent a fever.

So if any of you have the urge, please pray for Cait and us Friday!! Thanks :)

Some pics from the Abe Lincoln Museum - enjoy!

Pics from NanaK & G'pa Bill's