Crazy Kids

Just a day in the life at our house...

Grandma has a way of getting the little ones to do certain things. Like eating. Grandma told Christopher, "you take a bite, then I'll do my exercise" (her incentive spirometer from surgery).

Well, it worked! She'd take a turn, then he'd take a bite. Got to love a clever Grandma!

Starting the day with some snugglin'.

Christopher has taken interest in Lilly pod chair. I can't believe the tray fits.

What a goofy little guy.

Lilly hanging out in Christopher's room. She is currently up scooting forward!

More on that to come.

Christopher perfecting his clothespin skills. He really liked this activity.

Sunrise with Mommy

While staying down my parents, Christopher had a very early morning. He awoke at 5 am to a house full of sleeping people. So we went for a walk down to Sandy Beach to watch the sun pop up over the Chesapeake Bay. It turned out to be a beautiful morning. It was such a special time spent together.

Swimming At Hammerman 2010

The kids and I met up with two friends and their kids at Hammerman Beach last week. Lets just say Christopher loved it. He just walked right in the water, up to his chest and proceeded to go under and swim, swim, SWIM! In retrospect, I wonder if this helped along the double ear infection he developed by the week's end. After a picnic lunch we all headed home for naps.

Is this the face of a boy who likes to swim, or what?

Christopher saying "cheese" to the camera.

Lilly afloat. She enjoyed herself too.

Christopher with his buds, Elias and Zach.

Cousins Sleepover

Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of keeping Sophia overnight. It then occurred to me this might be considered a legit first "sleepover" for both of them.

Brushing their teeth before night night. Notice Sophia is wearing Christopher's PJ's? I couldn't find any in her overnight bag.

Ryan entertaining the kiddies before bedtime.

Popsicles and pools, the definition of summer.

The sleepover was complete with story time, sing-a-longs and, in the morning, buttermilk pancakes of course. We all had a great time!

A Sickly Month

As I write this, Ryan is rocking and comforting a very sick Christopher. These past weeks have been busy in our house. It began over 2 weeks ago when Christopher started with a croup cough at night. A couple doses of steriods had him right as rain (with a tad of 'roid rage). Then Lilly didn't want to be left out of the loop so she followed suit. Then Ryan, then finally me. In the midst of this Grandma had her scheduled surgery. The week leading up to and after said surgery were busy in itself. My Mom and I shared the workload of keeping Grandma healthy throughout the ordeal. So Friday I was in good spirits. Everyone in our house was healthy, Grandma was recovering well and things seemed to return to normal. Then it really hit us hard. Christopher got sick. I mean really really scary sick. We were down the 'dena; house sitting for my parents and keeping an eye on Grandma. Christopher developed a fever Friday night and by 2 pm Saturday he was croupy and making that scary wheezy/stridor sound when he breathed. So he and I headed to Patient First, where I learned how sick he really was. (I, for some reason, still had doubts that is was that bad). The verdict: strep, double ear infections and pneumonia! He cried so hard and was screaming "I want Lilly!" This sounds cute, but it made me so sad. I hadn't seen him this bad off before. As we waited in the pharmacy for his antibiotics and steroids to be filled, Christopher deteriorated before my eyes. He had panic attacks where he couldn't breath. He tried to talk ("I want Daddy!") but had no voice left. And his head was flushed and hot with fever. I gave him his medications asap and Ryan and I decided to leave for home, where we could manage better and keep germs away from Grandma. That night he became sicker still. He couldn't breath, couldn't talk, couldn't swallow. So off to the ER we went. Let me just tell you how happy I was with the care we received at St. Joe's Pediatrics After Hours. We were in and out in less than two hours. They gave Christopher a large dose of steroid, one shot in each leg. It turns out he was under dosed at Patient First. He began to improve almost immediately. The sweetest moment of it all came when I was putting him in the car to go home. He looked up into the sky and said "Mommy, I see the full moon and bright stars." I then realized it was the first time he had spoken in almost 8 hours. It was such an intimate and peaceful moment, just him and I staring at the stars together. We headed home and all slept straight through the night.

Fun at the "New Property"

Even though there isn't a single standing structure at our lot in Jarrettsville, we still have fun going there and tramping around. Christopher is always excited to go as he announces enthusiastically "we are going to the NEW Property". He also informs me that "Daddy is going to build Christopher and Lilly a house at the New Property" and "Daddy uses the saw to cut down the trees at the New Property". This is seriously how he talks. I think we need to teach him another name for the "New Property", because one day the name just won't fit. While we are there, we point out many things of nature that we see. So far we've seen: owls, bluebirds (one of which is inhabiting Granddad's bluebird house), fox, groundhogs, several cute little fawns, six and eight point bucks in velvet, hawks, chipmunks, rabbits, among other common wildlife creatures.

Christopher is glowing in the sunbeam in the background. Lilly enjoys hiking on my hip in the sling.
Little nature girl.

Christopher's favorite part of the "New Property" as he calls it, is the stream. Ryan and I tossed some rocks and stones to create a little dam resulting in a small wading area.

Meandering through the cornfield behind where the house will one day be.

PICNIC! We have gotten into the habit of bringing Ryan a picnic lunch when he's up the property working. He spends most the time cutting trees, stacking wood and mowing the tall tall grass.

Fourth Of July

Our July 4th weekend was packed with fun. On Saturday, Ryan worked on the property cutting down trees. So Christopher, Lilly and I made our way up to the Kingsville Independence Day Parade. It was a first for all of us, and the kids really enjoyed it. We met up with our neighbors, which made it more fun. They have a boy, Stephen, who is four years old. He taught us the art of stuffing our pockets full of candy the parade participants were tossing out. We ate hot dogs, snowballs and of course, the candy. We made it home just in time to get everyone down for naps. Then we were off to Aunt Mary Ann's house for a family picnic. Sunday was another busy day, as we went over the Eastern Shore for a pool party with Ryan's parent's friends. All I have to say is "pool" and you know Christopher had a good time. On our way home over the Bay Bridge around 9:30, we were delighted with several (I counted 8) firework displays along the western shore. It was truly a unique experience.

A perfect sunset on July 3rd.

Christopher and Daddy looking at the fireworks over the water.

My kids up way past their bedtime to view the fireworks. Lulu had Lilly snuggled in a beach towel to keep warm.

All the cousins on Ryan's Dad's side. We had a great time at the party Aunt Mary Ann put on. It was complete with swimming, fishing, fireworks and of course good food.