Lots of firsts!

We celebrated our first holiday as a family - Halloween! I had an adorable ladybug costume for Cadence, but then realized that it was for a 9-12 month old child, aka one who isn't walking. It would have fit but Cadence would not have been happy with bulky padded feet when she couldn't walk! Last minute I found the perfect costume. The superhero that she is, Cadence wore a "Super Cutie" costume, complete with a cape! She rocked it!

Laurel fit into Sierra's old glittery red shoes and decided to be Dorothy which was perfect since we still had the costume that Sierra wore. The outfit was completed when we petsat Tupelo and were able to take their picture together. I real, live Toto (she's a Yorkie, but close enough!

Sierra has wanted to be Harry Potter since she started reading the series this summer. Due to the chaos of the year I was a little behind ordering her outfit and worried that it wouldn't get here in time, but it did!

We carved pumpkins. Laurel drew the faces on hers and Cadence's and insisted that Cadence's pumpkin have a cleft lip. I love that she thinks that Cadence's cleft is so special that it's carve-worthy! We all attended a couple of Halloween parties and trick-or-treated on the 31st. The McDaniel's joined us for the 7th year in a row, which I loved! It's amazing to see the big kids running house to house and remembering that we used to pull them in a wagon and carry them up to the houses! We had 2 other families join us... it was quite the crew! The kids kept some of their candy but left some out for the Great Pumpkin (aka - me!) for which they received a small toy. They also decided to send some of it to the military overseas.

Now we prepare for Cadence's first surgery. She is first case in the OR tomorrow for dental work, skin tag removal, ear tubes, and then her cleft palate and lip surgery. The plastic surgeon estimated she may be in the OR for 5 or 6 hours. The last thing to be done is her lip and if she is too swollen he isn't going to repair it right now. She would have to go back in a couple of months to repair her lip. I've been so focused on the recovery period that I really haven't thought too much about the actual surgery... until now! Brad is planning to walk back to the OR with her and then we'll wait. Wish us all luck! I know everything will be fine, but I'm a momma... it will be a rough day for all of us!