Purple Smiley Faces, All the Way!

Here we are... the blog post for Cast #6!  Can you believe it?  It's been a long journey so far, but I am happy to report that it has been relatively smooth.  Yes, we hate casting days.  They are very long days that are pretty stressful/emotional for Savanna as well as us, her parents.  However, so far, things have gone as well as they could have, and for that we are very thankful!

Before we get into Casting #6, let's review some of Savanna's adventures over the past two months.  We've been having lots of fun!

Savanna's Latest Adventures

Biking at Biltmore

Hanging on the front porch

Chilling with her cousin Julianna over Labor Day weekend

National Alpaca Day at Echoview Farm

Checking out the animals at Hickory Nut Gap Farm

(Yes, that might be a pumpkin in mama's belly too...  Ok, it's a baby!  

Savanna will be a big sister in February!)

Visit to the Nature Center

Dancing with her friend Emery at French Broad Brewery... 

and her cousin Kalia at the Lake Eden Arts Festival...

Picking Apples at Justus Orchard

Casting Day #6
The day started early as usual.  We woke up at 3:30am (and got Savanna up at 4:00) and arrived at Shriners by 6:00am.  We were the first case of the day, which meant things went pretty quickly.  We got up to the pre-op area by 6:30, and Savanna was taken back to surgery by 7:45.

Chilling in the waiting area

Did I mention we got up at 3:30??  Dada was tired...  The nurses kept joking that he was quite big for a two-year-old!

Dada getting ready to take Savanna back to surgery.  

After about an hour, the surgery/casting was over.  Then, we waited another 40 minutes before we could see Savanna while she was in recovery.  Finally, we got to see her again.  She was NOT a happy camper today.  Come to find out that the source of her discomfort turned out to be gas from the anesthesia.  Thank goodness that was it!  (Also, her getting up at 4:00am and not eating breakfast could have contributed...)  Here she is becoming a flower again (a.k.a. getting petalled).

The soother of the day was not strawberries or bunnies today, but videos on the phone!  They were a life saver.

Savanna kept saying she wanted a purple cast, so we got her purple with smiley faces.

Before we left Shriners, Savanna got some special Halloween treats!  It was Halloween at the hospital today, and most of the nurses and admin folks were in costume.  It was awesome!

We left the hospital today by 10:30am, which is a new record!  It was nice being home by lunchtime.  I'm thankful that we live so close to such a wonderful hospital that specializes in what we need.

By the way, we just "officially" started potty training on Monday (three days ago), and it has been going pretty well.  I was worried that today might mess everything up because of the schedule changes, etc., but I'm happy to report, even today has gone okay in that area.  It's because Savanna is just so cool and tolerant. :-)

Again, what kind of AWESOME, UNBELIEVABLY cool friends do I have?  They hooked us up with dinners and desserts again!  It brings tears to my eyes to know that they care so much.  Also, it makes a pretty emotional, long day that much more bearable.  I love my village!

Thanks for reading!  Savanna's next casting (#7) is scheduled for December 30.  I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season!  We'll catch you again around New Years!