Our first night out at The Homestead

You might have thought Steve and Debbie were a couple, the way that matched so perfectly!

A fantastic picture of Pam, Debbie and me.

"Hi! I'm a celeb and this is your one lucky shot to publish in all the big mags."


More pictures from The Homestead to come!

Our Sixth Anniversary

I don't know if we've ever had a better meal than at the 1766 Grille at The Homestead. The service was fantastic, the complimentary champagne, appetizer and anniversary cake made it so special and the meal--to die for!

This is so fun!

"He's my best friend"

Priceless.

Wes celebrating his independence

Sometimes there are photos that just grab you. A look on the face. An expression. And no words will express why you love it, but the image is one you are so glad to keep.

Oh my! How he's grown

I'm starting a special album for each of the kids: First Day/Last Day. (well, right now, only Carson applies, but I already bought 2 albums for this purpose.) Each year, I'll take a pic of him on the first day of school and on the last day. Here are this year's pictures. Now that I'm looking at the pictures next to each other, I'm really starting to get teary with a big lump in my throat. This whole childhood thing goes way too quickly. Look at how cute his little arms and legs were--what a peanut. I LOVE my big guy now, but oh how I already miss the baby days.

BLACKOUT part III

Yes... those "I"s are roman numerals, so you're reading correctly. Part 3. PART 3!!

The storm hit really badly last night. Thankfully, after the kids were in bed and after Steve was home. And very importantly, after I finished reading Vanishing Acts. (because with an ending like that, I would have gone out to buy more candles so I could finish!)

Power went out around 11:30 and, when we left for camp this morning (early, because we had a picnic breakfast, courtesy--okay, not free, but thankfully cold-- of Wawa, at KI, the power was out. According to the clocks the power came back on around 9:30. PECO impressed us this time. They had estimated late afternoon.

Meanwhile, Steve, in an act of heroism, saved a bunch of the food by placing it in the cooler. The chicken actually acted as ice and has barely began to thaw, so we'll have a full weekend of chicken salad.

Stay tuned... but keep your fingers crossed that there won't be a Blackout part IV.

Sesame Place with Nana

A few pictures. (Carson doesn't like the characters, and Wes wasn't too sure of them either.)

When narcissism is cute

Wesley's First Haircut

I've been promising some pictures of this special event. Aunt Debbie came along and held him for a few before shots:





















During:













And after:

BLACKOUT PART 2

The day after the storm, I picked up Carson at camp and took the boys to Wegmans for what was supposed to be a quick trip to replace the dairy in the fridge.

Of course, the dairy section is in the WAAAAAAY back of the store. Carson was out of the cart, walking a few steps ahead of Wes and me, and everything went PITCH BLACK. I'm not exaggerating. Their wasn't even a glimmer or a reflection of a light. There was nothing. And dead silence!

I instructed Carson to freeze and he listened. And instinctually, I found my way to him, while still holding on to the cart and Wesley. I whispered to the boys that everything was okay and they just needed to wait with me. They didn't even whimper. Carson only whispered back "okay, Mommy." After what seemed like forever, a few lights flickered on. My guess is that these were the generator lights. And then flickered off again. And on again. I glanced around and it was amazing how many moms were in the exact same position as me: holding tight to their children, whispering that every thing would be okay.

I strapped Carson into a seat in the cart, grabbed my necessities and started to move through the store. The few lights continued flickering. We began walking with a 50ish year old woman who was shaking. She basically threw down her foods and said "This is the scariest thing ever. I just screamed so loud in the soup aisle. I can't handle this--I'm leaving."

Carson's priceless reply: "I think this is so much fun."

I'm so proud of my boys! They were exceptionally well behaved and strong in what could have been a terrifying situation. Both were happy, smiling and patient--and had a great story to tell Daddy at dinner!

BLACKOUT

{started 7/19}So, you might have heard about our storms last night. Driving home, Steve thinks he may have seen a tornado. And I'm not surprised. The trees were literally turning circles.

The electricity went off pretty early--the last time I looked at the clock was 7:01 and I was about to make dinner (quick dinner--salmon only takes 10 minutes to cook.) Suddenly the lights went off, which was a big surprise to Carson, who wanted, of course, to know "why?" Almost immediately, we heard knocking, no, pounding, on the front door. Steve couldn't open the garage door.

Our beautiful salmon dinner quickly became chips and salsa for me, fluffernutter sandwiches for Steve and Carson (though Carson helped himself to a lot of chips), and babyfood for Wes (luckily, I just bought his favorite applesauce!) Very romantic over candlelight.

As the blackout continued, Carson became aware that the TV wasn't working. Well, that was about the worst thing in the world. And instead of accepting that it just wouldn't work, he insisted that Steve fix it. Again... and again...

We ended up having a wonderful night. We all went into the basement and played for a while. There was very little natural light, but it was cooler down there and we had a great time doing gymnastics, rolling and tickling, and crawling in and out of tents and tunnels. (a big fave activity in this house.)

After getting the boys ready for bed, we turned in early. We were a bit worried about the food in the fridge and a vacationing friend's cats (we later learned that after 4 hours, an unopened fridge's food begins growing bacteria--so we had to trash all the dairy and defrosted meats, but items in your unopened freezer are good for 48 hours) but were relieved to know that the lights came back on around 3:45.

{continued 7/24} We were lucky, the next day at preschool, most people didn't have their power back on. Many dropped off their kids, went home to pack, picked up their children and left to go to their family's houses. One of Carson's friends didn't get power on until Friday night.

After a beautiful weekend of temps in the comfortable 80s, we hear the heat is coming back on--really strong!

Birthday Wish Lists

You may notice the new links on the right side of the page. Carson has been going through catalog after catalog (ever notice that you seem to get more around "holidays"?) "I want this for my birthday!" "Put that on my list, mom!" "Yeah... that's what I really want!" Today, at IKEA, when Steve said, "would you like that?" Carson's reply was "No... don't put that on my list, Dad."

Fearful of forgetting all the items in the list in my head, Carson and I sat down a few times this weekend, armed with a few catalogs, and found the items he really wants. If you click on the links, they'll lead you to a pretty cool webpage: The Things I Want.

The lists are suggestions--and as usual several people are already asking. Currently, Carson is really interested in playing pirates and buried treasures and castles, knights and dragons. And he has nothing around these themes. He also loves playing in the pretend kitchen and "snuck" that onto his list (not too sure how Daddy feels about that.) Carson still wants to be a doctor and pulls out his doctor's kit to announce that someone isn't feeling well, and he also loves arts and crafts. Of course, ever the athelete, you'll see some atheletic gear on his list as well.

He just received his first computer tonight! Steve set it up and Carson is SO excited. (I know, I can't believe it either.) So I'm searching for software titles that will be appropriate for him.

Wesley's list is a bit smaller--but we're working on that. As Carson was "shopping" for things for his list, he'd find things and say "put that on Wes' list." For the most part, he did a good job. Wes loves Carson's toys--especially bigger cars and trucks. Right now, he really enjoys putting items in and taking them out--everything from a small toy into a bigger toy to opening and closing drawers. He is also enjoying Carson's old wooden puzzles that we have moved into his room. Just this weekend, Wes found out how to pull Woody's string and make him talk which he gets a kick out of. Basically, anything Carson find interesting, so does Wes.

If the lists work, we'll keep them up for the holiday's as well. :)

Potty Talk (warning: a bit TMI)

Comment on the toilet this afternoon:

Wow! There's corn in there! Its just like corn on the cob! That's so cool!!

--flush--

Oh what a night...

We all know parenting has its ups and downs. And Steve and I are learning a lot about one of the more exciting downs, tantrums. Last night, after going to bed, reading stories, etc., Carson came down stairs to read another book (as he's been finding ways to stay up with us lately). After quickly sending him back upstairs, twice, he came down again. Only this time, I was working and Steve was in the basement working and I snapped at him to go upstairs. Scared, he ran back up.

And then he started yelling. As it turned out, Carson came downstairs to tell me he wanted to go to the bathroom. Now, he had wet pants. Well, the screaming woke Wes so now we had 2 screamers. Two very tired screamers.

After a long bout of screaming (which, thankfully, Carson faced Steve most of the time and didn't see me as I erupted in giggles) we finally understood that he didn't want to use his bathroom. And I put the past 2 nights together and realized that maybe there are monsters in the bathroom!

That's when my most creative husband jumped in. He gave Carson a tour of the bathroom. Told him he saw a monster in there and got rid of it. Steve showed Carson that there are no more monsters there!

And now... for the cute part... Carson's comment when I kissed him goodnight: "Daddy got rid of the monsters. He did it all by himself!"

Carson's first day of camp

Awww... the milestones. I'm so proud of my big guy. He woke up this morning--actually, Wes and I woke him, and sat up and said "I'm going to camp today and I'll be in Miss Linda's classroom!" He quickly got dressed, ate breakfast, ran to the bathroom, and literally raced to the car.

Upon arriving, Carson remembered the drill from school. He greeted Miss Katy to check-in for lunch with a big smile and "hi!" then turned around, as he always does, to show her his backpack. He raced ahead with his older friend and neighbor, Julia (This is the first time they are going to camp/school together, as last year they went on opposite days.) I had to catch up -- he remembered from the open house where the classroom was.

Anyway, Carson opened the door before Miss Linda--he was that excited. She came out and greeted him, and he ran right over to the craft area, and completed a craft before I even left the room. As I was leaving, I saw a few of his classmates who were all so excited to see he had returned! (we skipped the first session, this was the first day of the 2nd session.)

He came home exhausted and slept VERY well--full of mini-stories of his first day at camp.

Cookie Monster

While on vacation at The Homestead, Wes' crib was pushed up against a desk/table. One morning, I put him down for a nap, then quickly collapsed on Carson's bed for a nap as well. He playfully made noises for about 10 minutes, then got very quiet. I didn't think anything of it (may have even fallen asleep) and assumed Wes was happily sleeping.

So wasn't I surprised when I heard more noise from Wes. I turned to check in him, and noticed that he was eating! Not just eating, but there were cookies all over him, all over the crib, and a bag upside down in his hand, with a cookie in the other hand. Upon quick inspection, I noticed that a great number of these cookies were eaten--or at least sucked on!

No, Wes wasn't sleeping heavenly, he was eating heavenly!

Milestones: Wes gets teeth!!

So, along with the sleepless nights that Carson was having, Wes hasn't been sleeping well for about a month or two. But, really, ever since his anesthesia wore off from his surgery, we were noticing lots of screaming and ear holding. Took Wes to the pediatrician on a Tuesday (when we should have taken Carson--we ended up there 3 times that week!) and she said it must have just been a growth spurt, no ear problems, no HFM, nothing...

Hmmm... guess what?! Saturday morning, Wes had a tooth (bottom left)! And just 2 days later, his bottom right was coming up. I got a few last minute pics of him without teeth (will post shortly) and, now, the teeth are here to stay.

And FOOD!!! YUM!! He's an eatting machine! Chicken nuggets, pizza and grilled cheese are some of his favorites. And tonight he gave a big MMMMMM to a cheeseburger bite!

Carson's update

As soon as the 1-week wait from swimming that we endured after Wesley's surgery ended, Carson came down with Hand Foot Mouth Disease. This was not a fun week! Between the late-nights of screaming in pain, and the long, long wait for the blisters to go away, we were all going stir crazy! Carson really only had 3 blisters--one tiny one on the tip of his tongue, one larger one (about a 1/2 cm in diameter) on the front/side of his tongue, and a large on in the back of his throat.

We quickly learned that lollipops are painful, sleepless nights exist even when kids are almost 3, and popsicles and chocolate milk can make an entire diet for 3 days.

We're really lucky that Wes didn't catch it!

Wesley's updates

Wesley's surgery went very well. It was a one-day procedure--that only lasted a few minutes (though, of course, it seemed like forever.) After giving him a some Tylenol mixed with a med to help him relax, the anesthesiologist and nurse took Wes back to the operating room. About 20 minutes later, Dr. Casale came out and told us that everything went well and that he didn't expect to need to see Wes again. The cyst was sent out for testing, but expected to return benign (which, presumably, it did, as we haven't heard back in 3 weeks.)

Dr. Casale did apply a Dermabond liquid bandage. The bandage usually lasts several weeks and should not itch. However, in the hours after the surgury, the area under the Dermabond became swollen and purple--almost black. We were concerned, of course, and had to drive down to CHOP in the city. A few days later, when Wes had scratched the Dermabond off, everything cleared up. Obviously, we think he had a bad reaction to the Dermabond, and will make sure not to allow doctors to use that again.

Of course, you may be wondering about the heart murmur. We did have to postpone the surgery a week, as we quickly got an appt. with a Pediatric Cardiologist, also at CHOP. Everything was fine--no problems at all. The murmur is "innocent" but won't go away. They performed an EKG and an ultrasound--which was amazing! Its so great to see your child's heart! It seems there is something similar to a skin tab hanging in an artery. As the blood passes, this makes the murmur sound. While this will never go away, it will also never get in the way.

So... Wes is GREAT! Everything has now healed and he has no idea what we went through for him. Hooray!! All is well!!