MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We've had quite a month here in the McNeely house.  Macey's surgery went well, and she is getting better each day.  Grandma Charlotte came to visit for a few days, and that is always fun.  And now it is Christmas, which is a great reminder of how precious the gift of a child is.

On Christmas Eve we headed to church.  Because Lake Pointe is so big, they have many services, so we went at 2pm.  It was perfect for Macey, who watched the entire thing without making a sound.  She was asleep for the first part, until I squeeled like a school girl when Jason Castro came out singing White Christmas.  Oh well!  After the service we came home to fix dinner because the Swansons were coming over for our annual Christmas together.

Kevin cooked a tri-tip, and we had mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls and raspberry jello salad.  Priscilla made a yummy lemon cake dessert!

We were very impressed that we got a good picture with three kids

The kiddos

Today we woke up and had our first Christmas as a family.  We realize that Macey has no idea that it is Christmas, but we knew, so we wanted to make it fun.  She usually wakes up really happy, and today was no exception.  We made our way to the tree and started opening her gifts.  Kevin and I didn't really do much for each other, it's amazing how our needs and wants completely get over looked now that we have Macey!  We wouldn't have it any other way.

Macey's First Christmas

New socks from Grandma

We know that with our new addition this year we had a different perspective on what it meant for God to send His son to the earth.  We would do anything to protect our sweet baby girl, and knowing that Christ loved us so much that He sent His son to a world where He knew He would be persecuted makes the sacrifice even more amazing.  Even among all the presents and food that we enjoy this time of year, we hope that you have enjoyed the greatest gift of all, sent in the form of a baby!

Merry Christmas!

Drumroll please....

Introducing Macey's new smile!

As you can see she still has some healing to do, but if I do say so myself, her new smile is equally as adorable as the first one!  Her upper lip doesn't move very much due the swelling, but in time it will.  As she heals her smile will change some more, so I will continue to post her smile as it evolves.  She gets her stitches out on Tuesday and the arm restraints (notice her really thick left arm) will come off too.  We can hardly wait.  Macey has grown increasingly angry with the arm restraints, we will be glad to have our happy baby back.  I will post some more pictures on Tuesday since her face will be clean. :)

Macey also met someone new today, Santa!  As you can see she was completely oblivious to him.  Again, her arm restraints are under the shirt, so she looks a little bit like a line backer, but cute all the same.

Getting Started - Now we're done!

Macey is starting her surgery now.  She did real good this morning.  She was able to eat at 4:30 this morning and she only cried about being hungry for about 15 minutes starting at 6:35.  We just talked to the ear, nose and throat doc who did an endoscopy, and he said everything looked normal.  Before we know it, she will be done.

ADDED at 1:15pm

We are now in Macey's hospital room as she recovers.  The surgery went great.  The Dr was very pleased with the outcome, and so are we.  Her little nose is just as cute as can be.  She still has quite a bit of swelling, so every day we will see improvement.

Thank you all for your prayers, we felt them.  We were both very calm and at peace while she was in surgery, something I did not anticipate.  The surgery took a little longer than I expected and just as I started to get anxious, I prayed a little harder and minutes later they were done. 

I must admit, it is very hard to see her like this.  We can hardly wait for her little spunky personality to return once she recovers from the anesthesia and she can flash us that new smile!  

Prayers Please

Well, tomorrow is the day.  The day we have been anticipating since I was 20 weeks pregnant.  From the moment we were told that our baby had a cleft we knew that surgery would take place when the baby was about 3 months old.  It is amazing how fast that time has come.

We are filled with emotions, some we cannot even explain.  Part of us is sad to see Macey's first face go.  This is the face we fell in love with, this was the face we first laid eyes on when we were told "It's a girl!"  We will miss it.  Part of us is completely anxious and worried (more Allison than Kevin, I guess it's a mom thing).  Anxious because Macey will be having major surgery and someone else will be responsible for taking care of her, and worried because it is out of our hands.  But, we are excited, because not only did we get a smile with her first face, but we get another first smile.  Not many parents get two first smiles!  We are also ready, up until this point we have been waiting and wondering what her new face would look like, and very soon we will know.  Most importantly we are blessed, we are blessed with a beautiful, healthy daughter.  We know that if her lip was never repaired she wouldn't be loved any less, but life will be easier for her after her repair, so that is our choice.

We know God is in control.  We wish we had time to tell you all the people God has put in our path since the moment we heard of the cleft, but it would take all day.  Through all of these people He has made Himself very present in our lives, and for that reason we have no fear.  So, if you think of us tomorrow around 7:30am Texas time, our baby will be in surgery, so say a prayer.  Pray for the doctors, pray for us and especially pray for Macey.  

Here is one last picture of the face and smile that warms our hearts every day...but don't be sad, we're sure her new smile will be just as adorable and can't wait to show it to you, so stay tuned!

Some random Macey pictures

We have found that she loves to sit up on the couch.  I think we have a little girl who is in a hurry to grow up.

She was doing a great job of holding her head up REAL high during her tummy time.

Macey's first time seeing a Christmas tree, she loves it!

These were taken for Aunt Stephanie's 40th birthday (see the cupcake bow!) and I just thought they were cute!

I loved this confused look.