The Tale of a Mirror

So I'm kind of obsessed with blog stalking some fabulous DIYers. I love to see them take thrift store finds and make them into beautiful pieces of furniture. I saw this post on Centsational Girl and immediately went on the hunt for Rustoleum "Night Tide."

Kate's fantastic piece

Thankfully, some Wal-Marts carry it and after googling it - we finally located a Wal-Mart near us that had it in stock. I just had to have it some place in my home. I'm really wanting to spruce up our master bedroom so I figured that would be the best place to start. I had a mirror sitting on my night stand that Lee had before we got married. It matches all the wood in our house but I'm kind of over the Tommy Bahama matchy matchy look....so....I decided to paint the mirror and see how it turned out...

Here's the mirror before - not too shabby. It's sitting on a 20.00 desk I use as my night stand.

After taping it off and priming

And the end result. I love the blue color and once the desk gets transformed - I think it will be the perfect combination. I'm thinking the desk will look fantastic with the same dark stained top and heirloom white legs and drawers. Hmmmm......

I followed Kate's step by step directions and while it does have a few brush strokes from the poly - you can't really notice them unless you are right up next to it. I dinged it while I was bringing it in from outside so I do have one little touch up to do - but other than that - it didn't turn out too bad. Kind of a fun project!

The Art of Keeping a Toddler Entertained....

We've been keeping busy around here trying to keep Elle as entertained as possible. Pre surgery, she had therapy every single day of the week, sign language once a week, gym class once a week and multiple play dates throughout the week. We kept ourselves very busy. While this down time in quarantine is nice, we can't wait to start back up with therapy and get to play with all our friends again.

The other night Lee gave Elle a "Larry the lobster tattoo"....

We've done some baking....

We've opened some very special gifts from some very special friends...

And last weekend we had some very special visitors come over to our house for a little bit...Auntie LaLa and Mad Dog (aka Lauren and Madison)

All in all I think we're doing a pretty good job at keeping the little miss entertained....or maybe she is entertaining us!

A Little Marching Band Action

While I was at Bible study tonight, Lee took Elle to feed the fish at the local community college. Across the street, a band was practicing and this is the video Lee sent me...

Maybe Elle will be in the marching band one day....just like her momma was...hmmmm

And...since this post has a musical theme I feel inclined to include this video as well...Elle didn't want to take a nap the other day...she wanted to sing...

Post Op Appointment

We had Elle's post op visit today. I am so thankful that Lee was able to go with us! Elle just loves to have her daddy with her during the day! When we got to the hospital, we saw our friend Jordan and his mom. It was so nice to see them! We also ran into our CV nurse, Jennifer. All these doctors and nurses really do become like family!

The first thing they had to do was take Elle's pulse ox and blood pressure. She was sitting on Lee's lap and when the nurse wheeled the blood pressure machine up - Elle pointed to her leg and said "leg please." This little girl knows what she wants! Unfortunately for Elle her blood pressure had to also be taken on her arm but at least she was polite in asking for it to be taken on her leg first! After pulse ox and blood pressure, it was time for x-ray. Elle did great and got to stand up to have her x-ray taken...such a big girl! After that we were moved to a room and met with the nurse practitioner and then one of the cv nurses who took out Elle's stitches. Elle was a rock star and did so well!

Elle got bored and started taking pictures...that's her shot of me

Elle's reward for doing such a fantastic job was a sheet of Dora stickers which she promptly put all over her legs...

While we were waiting for our car, we ran into Guill, one of Elle's ICU nurses. He is just amazing and it was so nice to see him outside of ICU! We are so thankful that Elle's appointment went so well. We are one week closer to being out of quarantine - 2 weeks down - 4 weeks to go!

Bands with a Beat - Benefit for Jordan Merecka!

We were honored to meet Jordan and his mom while we were staying on the CV Recovery floor. Elle and I watched his tv interview before her surgery so she could see their surgeon, Dr. Morales on tv. It was amazing to watch Jordan do his 4 laps around the unit while someone was pushing "Big Blue" - the machine that is keeping Jordan alive until they find him a heart. Please click here or on the picture below to get more information on Bands with a Beat - a community fundraiser for Jordan and his family! You can also follow Jordan's Caringbridge page here.

Paging Doctor Eleanor on Animal Print Friday

We've been trying to keep Elle as low key as possible - but that is pretty hard to do with a two year old! Friday Elle found her doctor's kit that one of the volunteers gave her in the hospital. She spent a good part of the afternoon listening to my mom's heart to be sure she was ok. She knows exactly what to do with the tools in her little doctor's kit! She listened to our hearts and then our lungs with the stethoscope, she took our temperature with the thermometer and then yesterday afternoon, she lifted up Lee's shirt to give him medicine in his belly button with the syringe. Elle gets all her medicine through the g-button on her stomach so she just assumed that's how everyone gets their medicine!

Elle in her chicken shirt being a good little doctor

She spread out her blanket on her chair before she put down Minnie and Mickey to listen to their hearts

I'm just amazed everyday at the progress she is making. She's back to all her old antics and except for not wanting us to see her chest/belly she is almost 100%. That's the one thing we have noticed and we noticed it in the hospital. She doesn't want anyone to look at her chest - she is super modest now (which is probably a good thing!). I think she is just afraid that whatever we are going to do to her will hurt her. I'm afraid for tomorrow when she gets her stitches taken out!

Elle in one of her Aunt Mel original t-shirts!

It's funny how things happen. I was super worried about Elle not being able to wear her feeding tube backpack for 12 weeks. She's really not eating anything orally now except for maybe an ounce or two of soup several times a day. The Lord works in mysterious ways because this (what I thought would be a hindrance) has turned into a blessing. It is forcing Elle and I to go on an hour long walk every morning during her first feed of the day. It's so nice to walk with our friend Tina and when Tina can't go with us, it is amazing quiet time for me. I find myself in prayer for a majority of our hour long walks. It is such a blessing and wonderful way to get our day started!

Please pray for us tomorrow as we take Elle in for her post op visit. They will be taking out the stitches from her chest and where the chest tube was. We're praying for a smooth and quick visit!

Home Sweet Home

Well - we finally made it out of the hospital around 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon. We were all packed up and waiting on our nurse to remove Elle's final iv for what seemed like hours...well...that and we were also waiting on Miss Priss to wake up! My mom and Laura spent the morning and afternoon with us. It was so nice to have such fun company! My mom and Elle painted in the play room on our floor while Laura and I went down to the food court to grab some lunch. Elle loved having Eldy and Nana there with her for a majority of the day!

Laura and Me and Laura saying goodbye to Elle Belle

Elle's room - you couldn't miss it! Lee packing up the stroller while Elle slept through all the ruckus of us trying to pack

The patient when she finally awoke waiting on the nurse to come pull that final iv...please disregard the massive bed head - at this point her brush had been packed and was already in the car!

waiting on the elevator to take us to our car! whoo hoo!

We got home around 6:00pm and that evening was such a blur! I remember running across our street to give my sweet friend Ali a huge hug and I remember telling Lee the cooler was still in my car as I was drifting off to sleep. We all fell asleep super early Tuesday night - every light in the house on and I think I even left one of my car doors open. Oh well - at least we made it home! Wednesday morning, Elle woke up bright and early and was rearing and ready to go! Only bad part about having a toddler at home 5 days post open heart surgery is trying to keep them on the down low! Our cable/Internet was out so we watched Madagascar and Madagascar 2 at least 6x - one was going in our room and the other on the tv in the den. We read a lot of books and colored and other than a few minor melt downs - Elle did really good. We have to be super careful about Elle's incision right now. We can't lift her up under her arms - we have to scoop her up, she can't climb anything, throw balls, or fall. She also can't wear her feeding tube backpack for 12 weeks. This is going to be the hardest because she isn't eating anything orally and hates to be strapped to her highchair during feeds. We are going to have to get creative with this! My brother stopped by and played with Elle for a few hours - she loves her Uncle Benny so much and we are all so proud of him for taking the plunge and starting graduate school at The University of Texas. He's already moved to Austin so his visits are extra special. I guess this means we will be adding burnt orange and white to Elle's wardrobe! This morning, Elle and I took a walk with our friend Tina to pass the hour (plus) that Elle's feed was going. It worked out well with Elle being in the stroller and we went early enough that she wasn't too hot. We were walking nearly everyday pre surgery so I got super excited when the CV nurse told us that we could continue with our normal early morning walks. We have had so much help from our wonderful family and friends. From my mom helping with Elle while I try to unpack all our stuff from the hospital to Ali going grocery shopping for us to sweet friends making dinner for us - it is all just so overwhelming. We are so thankful to have such amazing friends and family! Thank you to everyone who has helped us! Each passing day, Elle is getting stronger and walking around more and getting a little steadier on her feet. Our main concern right now is her falling and busting her chest open - that would be awful. So for now, we are just trying to keep her occupied with books, coloring, painting, movies and mickey mouse. Lee and I watched her this evening prepare a feast in her play kitchen for the gaggle of toys she now carries around with her everywhere...mickey, minnie, donald and daisy duck, pluto and a pink baby doll a volunteer gave her in the hospital. They are all in bed with her right now as I type this! It's crazy for me to think that at this point a week ago - we were sitting by Elle's bed side post surgery. This recovery has been so different and so much faster than the last surgery! Thank you Lord for the amazing gift of our precious daughter and the miracle I see every day as she gets stronger!