Thanks for all the many prayers today...Madeline did great and her surgery ended up being less intense than the surgeon anticipated. We talked to Kelly several times throughout the day and Madeline was doing good each time we talked to her...she could tell when the pain medicine would begin to wear off because Madeline would get somewhat restless...more so...just couldn't get comfortable with all the many IVs, etc.The last time we talked to Kelly, Madeline was resting peacefully and Kelly was going to attempt to get a little rest herself...they are in ICU tonight with hopes of moving to a regular room tomorrow. She does anticipate tomorrow to be a little more difficult as Madeline will be out of "lala" land and will be ready to move around...unfortunately, they will have to keep her somewhat calm and contained. We all know that is easier said than done with children.I debated posting the below picture, but I decided I would. It made me feel better to see her look "ok" and "peaceful". Oh...the headpiece...that thing had to go...Kelly said Madeline was having no part of it so the doctor said to just take it off!
Anna Lauren and Madeline...
If you don't mind, will you stop for a minute and say a little prayer for Madeline, our niece, who will be having surgery Thursday morning.After noticing that Madeline's head was a shaped a little "funny", doctors did some further testing to determine that one of the sutures in her skull had permanently closed. What this means is that one side of her upper face will continue to grow and the other side (mainly her eyebrow and her eye socket) will be pulled up and away from midline. The only way to fix this is to have surgery, which will take place Thursday morning in Atlanta. Surgery is anticipated to last approximately 3 hours and she will be in the hospital for 3 days. The surgeon seems to think this is "business as usual" and Madeline should bounce back pretty quickly.Although this may be "business as usual" to the surgeon, our family is very nervous...however, we know that our amazing God will take care of Madeline, and she will be back to her normal self before we know it...And don't forget a prayer for mom and dad too...Michael and Kelly (Matt's sister). Kelly choose for us not to come to Atlanta for the surgery...said she had rather us all do something fun this summer...so we are the nervous aunt and uncle in Jackson saying lots of prayers!
Friday night we went to the Wrights (neighbors) for dinner. We enjoyed visiting while the girls played. We are excited about moving, but we will for sure miss our neighbors...we truly have the best neighbors!
Anna Lauren and Ann Hardie were all smiles while eating their pizza rolls and grapes. Be sure to notice all the cups...Anna Lauren's new favorite thing are my paper products, and yes, she felt the need to take a bag full for she and Ann Hardie to play with at Ann Hardie's house.
Love this beautiful child...AND...she poses for pictures...oh how I wish Anna Lauren would do this!
Saturday afternoon we went down the street for Jace's 5th birthday party...and my oh my, Anna Lauren LOVES these big girls! Left to Right: Jenna, Anna Lauren, and Chaney 
Saturday night we met the Mulhollens at Gatti Town (maybe not the best choice) for dinner and to let the kids play. We choose this place because Parker wanted to bowl, and we knew they had just the right bowling for him. And let me tell you...he LOVED it, and I could not get over his expressions...he was serious about it to say the least!
Anna Lauren and Mallory LOVED the carousel...
The pole kind of hides her face, but you can still see Mallory's sweet smile!
Mallory and Emily (my 1st cousin)...
Parker and Anna Lauren in the dump truck...
Loving her time on the carousel...
And the brave one who thought she only needed to hold on with one hand...
And to end our night of fun, we headed over to Krispy Kreme for one last treat! The kids LOVE watching the donuts being made...and of course, eating them too!
Here are a few more pictures that Jennifer, next door neighbor, took Friday morning. The snow ended Friday afternoon, but we have enjoyed it throughout the weekend. Today all that was left are the snowmen that are leaning every way possible...after the rain tonight, I'm sure it will all be gone tomorrow morning. However, it was fun while it lasted and definitely something we don't get to enjoy very often here in Mississippi!
We are pleased to report that after being on the market for only two weeks, our house has SOLD! It is a bit bitter sweet as this is our first house that became our "home" for the past 7 years, but on the other hand, we are ready to take the next step in our lives, which just happens to be a new house!
And then we look at pictures of our new house and realize we can quickly make it our "home"! All is going well, and we are planning to close on both houses March 12th...needless to say, it is going to be a busy month for us!
