Big Surgery October 19th

Good morning!! Greetings from Children's Hospital! My sweet Alice had her first surgery (since coming home) this past Wednesday, October 19th...she had a soft palate revision. Her palate and lip were both repaired in China when she was 8 months old, but Dr Grant felt he could make some improvements with the muscle that would give her better articulation. We talked about it with her and did our best to prepare her for what was to come...I think she understood for the most part...her first words when we told her, were (with both of her little hands on my cheeks) "don't weave me". Oh, no worries, sweet girl...no one could pry me away from you if they tried. She knew we would be there and she knew it was going to hurt...she really did great....Here she is in her pink polka dot pajamas that she picked out, the morning of the 19th, as we waited to go back...have I mentioned lately that she is a precious soul????

Sleepy, sleepy daddy...

Alice with her dog, that she conned the lady at the cleft clinic desk out of on our first visit back in the summer....

Sweet cheeks...

Here we are, after they took us back...waiting on Dr. Grant and some "medicine" to help her with leaving us....

Not happy about something...can't remember what...

When she came back to us after the surgery, she broke our hearts...it was so pitiful...finally got her to calm down and rest a little. We spent the next two days in the bed together and had quite a time. It was hard to see her like this...but, at least, this time, her mommy and daddy were there the whole time, just waiting to love on her and take care of her. There are no other pictures from this night...it was rough and she wouldn't eat or drink anything and was totally out of it...couldn't move her too much or she got sick...

But, when she woke up on Thursday morning at 6 am, the first words out of her mouth were..."can I have chocolate icecream"...from this point on, it was unbelievable how well she did...eating and drinking everything....and had no pain meds for 14 hours, even though her mouth looked so painful...this just shows what a tough girl she is!!!!

She had more than a dozen chocolate icecreams by the time we were out of there...oh well;)

Here she is, closing her eyes to get her treat that mommy and daddy bought her for being so brave, so she could have something to do in the hospital...

her very own Leapster...belongs to nobody else!!!!

She begged me to put her hair in pigtails, so I did. She is always saying..."my hair is wong, wight??" At 3, she has already been through so much...she is such a brave and strong girl...she is my hero....

I love you, sweet Alice...we are so proud of you....

Friday, our last day at Children's with our favorite nurse, Patricia...she was an angel and Alice loved her...

Quite an experience...can't believe we survived and she is doing so well! Once home, it has been like nothing ever happened...we are going to keep her home for a bit, because she is not allowed to have any crackers, cookies, etc and I keep finding her trying to sneak that kind of stuff and also, putting her finger back in her mouth...not good, so, although she is feeling fine, I need to keep a close eye on her.

And, yes, she does have a black eye, but that has nothing to do with surgery and everything to do with mischief! Thanks for all of your prayers and support last week and all of the encouraging messages...we love you!!