Caitlyn's Eye Surgery

At the beginning of May, Caitlyn had eye surgery to fix the muscles in both eyes. Her eyes would go off to the sides or up whenever she would look a certain way. We have been fighting with this for a while now and decided since it wasn't getting better, we just needed to do the surgery. The thought of any surgery is scary, but surgery on the eyes was very nerve racking to us because with one little slip something bad could happen.

We went in May 7th at 7:30am to the CHKD Surgery Center in Newport News. She was all happy at first, but when we got to the room to change into her scrubs, she wanted to leave! The nurse gave her stickers to put on her hospital band and ours as well. We finally got her changed and they let her play in the play room until the Dr. Chamblee came to talk to us. They usually let the patients ride a Power Wheel back to the OR, but since Caitlyn didn't even want to get he scrubs on, we did a sedation before she got back there. Once the sedation kicked in, she was hilarious! Few minutes later, she got wheeled back and we had to go in the waiting room. The DR told us before that it would be a 2 hour procedure. About an hour and  half later Dr. Chamblee came out and told us everything went great and she was in the recovery room and we could see her shortly. About an hour later, she was still sleeping and we aren't allowed to go back their if the child isn't awake yet. Finally she started to wake up and we were able to go back and see her. She was still very sleepy, but we were able to wake her up enough to give her some water and get her dressed.

Once we left, she ended up getting sick in the car, but the Dr told us that would be normal for anyone that had been put under. She got home and took a nap. We had to keep wiping her eyes very carefully to get all the blood tears out.

The next day she was able to open her eyes again. I ended up sleeping with her the first few nights to make sure she didn't rub her eyes and reopen the incision. She did really good. She missed a few days of school and her classmates and teachers missed her dearly. They sent a little something for Caitlyn home with Ashton.

Her eyes are now fully healed and the surgery was successful! We had our 6 week check up and everything was great! The Dr.  was extremely happy with the outcome of the surgery.

This was Caitlyn's second surgery. In November 2010, she had hernia surgery. The picture below is a picture of her from her first surgery & this surgery.

Trip to Ohio

My cousin was getting married Memorial Day weekend in Ohio, so we decided to take a little family vacation the first part of the week. We left bright and early Monday morning to Ohio. We arrived in Toledo around 3:00pm and checked into the Hotel. We wanted to eat at places that we can't find in VA. We also had wanted to take the kids to the Toledo MudHens baseball game that night as well. So we found a restaurant called Fricker's that was at the ball field. The windows on the back wall of the restaurant looked right out onto the field! After dinner, we went and got tickets to the game. We sat right behind home plate. The kids had a great time and did pretty well considering we were driving for 10 hours! They got to meet Muddy (the team Mascot) and Ashton & Brittany got a gameball at the end of the game. Unfortunately the Mud Hens lost, but we still had a great time!

Tuesday we took a trip to the Toledo Zoo. My cousin Jennifer and her niece Alexa drove from GA Monday so they could spend the week with us before the wedding! Jennifer, Alexa and my cousin Holly met at the Zoo for a fun filled day! Of course, I didn't check the weather very well, well I did, but it changed since that last time I checked, and it was COLD! I didn't pack very much cold weather stuff for us! But we still had fun! We got there at 10 when it opened and left at 3pm. The kids had a blast! They got to see Flamingos, Elephants, Giraffes, Penguins, Tigers, Gorillas, Orangutans, Zebras, Polar Bears and other animals. After the Zoo, we went to Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano in Perrysburg, OH. I love Italian food so this was perfect! After dinner, I couldn't just go back to the hotel, so we went out to Franklin Park Mall in Toledo to walk off dinner. I found some stuff that I liked, but I didn't end up buying anything.

My parents and Aunt arrived early Wednesday morning and checked into the Hotel in Port Clinton that we were going to be staying at the rest of the week. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Port Clinton. Once we were all unpacked, we got in the cars and headed back to Toledo to go to Tony Packo's. Everytime we go to Ohio now, I think that is going to be a place that we have to go to. Tony Packo's is a hot dog joint. Well, technically, it is Hungarian sausage. So good!! After lunch, we did a little shopping at Wal-Mart since I needed some Cleveland gear and I can't find it here in VA. Then we met my cousins, Aunt & Uncle at Cleats for dinner. I wasn't very hungry since we had a big lunch so I ordered the appetizer Nachos. I didn't realize that the Nachos could easily feed 10 people! Needless to say, I didn't finish half of them!

Thursday we went shopping at Sandusky Mall. There were some Ohio State National Champion shirts on sale, so I had to get some! After shopping, we went to Berardi's Family Kitchen for lunch. Definitely a good lunch! Then back to hotel to relax until dinner.  I wanted to get Bell Mel's Pizza so that's what we did for dinner. The family that lived in Ohio met us up there and ate dinner with us. After dinner Aunt Linda, Jennifer and I walked back to the hotel with the kids. We stopped for Laffy Taffy's on the way. Every stop sign that we got too, the kids would laugh. Then we had ice cream outside of the hotel waiting for everyone else to get back. Thursday was our relax day!

Friday was Cleveland day!! Mom Dad Kevin and I went off to Cleveland in the morning and Aunt Linda took the kids for the day. My Aunt Cindy was having a perch dinner, so she took the kids over there. They played with sidewalk chalk, bubbles and played baseball in the back yard. We went to Winking Lizard for some yummy Wings! Then off to the HorseShoe Casino. I played a couple of games. My last game I played, I won. Once I was up, I stopped! My cousin Jennifer and Alexa met us in Cleveland and we went to the Indians game! We had a blast at the game! Finally got to see a Win!

Saturday morning we went to Haley & Nick's rehearsal brunch at Nick's parents cottage in Port Clinton. After brunch, we headed back to the hotel and took the kids to Walley Festival. They had a parade that was going right in front of the hotel. The kids loved it! Most people in the parade threw out Candy. It looked like we just got done trick or treating by the end of the parade! After the parade was over, we went back to the room and cooled off a little. Then we took a walk down to where the vendors were set up. After walking around the Walley Festival, we went to the Moose for dinner! Yellow Perch Sandwich was dinner! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to start packing up. Sunday was Haley & Nick's wedding and we were checking into another hotel closer to where they were getting married.

Sunday we checked out of the hotel and made our way over to Tiffin, OH. When we got to the hotel our rooms weren't ready yet, so we set out for a place to eat. Again, we didn't want to go somewhere that we could find in VA. We ended up going to T.J. Willie's in Tiffin and ate some lunch. I called the hotel after lunch and the rooms still weren't ready, so we went over to the Tiffin Moose Lodge to hang out until the rooms were ready. Once the rooms were ready, we headed back to get ready for the wedding. They had shuttles available to take us to the wedding and ceremony.  The wedding was very short and sweet! Once the ceremony was over, Nick & Haley dismissed each row individually. I loved that idea because it gave them a chance to say Hi to everyone that was there for them. After the ceremony, we took a few pictures, then it was reception time! They had a table set up for the kids to color and draw on near us. They also did a Candy toss before the bouquet toss! I thought that was a neat idea to not leave out the kids! We all had a great time at the wedding!

Monday it was time to head back home. We had a fun and memorable trip!