Kindergarten graduate

I just put Caleb to bed. He had a t-ball game at a field pretty far away tonight and so it was past his bedtime. I guess that explains his singing. He never sings. I ask and ask and ask him to give me an idea of what he's practicing at school and he always says he can't remember. Last week we went to a kindergarten graduation program at school and during one of the periods between songs Presley (who is the singer in the family) asked in a not so quiet voice, "mom, why isn't Caleb singing?" Anyway, here he is singing one of the songs from his program. I still can't believe it. I can't stop smiling and playing it over and over and over again.

He's finished kindergarten. Wow! Tonight I'm just as full of emotion as I was when I walked out of his classroom that first day. My heart feels like it'll burst. I'm happy and sad and most of all grateful that he loved it.

Two wheel VICTORY!

After only a few backbreaking sessions for Aaron and I, Caleb was victorious at riding his bike! The first time he kept his balance on his own, he was having a conversation with Aaron and did not realize what he was doing. I think he surprised himself at how fast he was riding on his own. As you can see, he is VERY proud of himself. We're all thrilled for him too!

Dance Party!

Avery and Presley had their first dance recital! They were so excited to dance for dad and Caleb. I LOVE their little waves and smiles out to the audience at the same time. Although it seems like three year old chaos, those girls really did have their itsy bitsy spider moves down pretty well (at least during dance class!) It's very entertaining to watch the video back and notice all the unique little things going on. Presley studies the balloons very carefully off to the side at one point, and did you notice the little girl on the other end standing there the WHOLE TIME? Priceless. I think if I remember my dad telling me about my first dance concert, that girl was me. At least Avery and Presley got into it and enjoyed being on the stage. They loved the big "DANCE PARTY" sign and wanted their picture taken next to it!

Easter 2011

Hoppy Spring!

I think this is the third year we've done "bottom bunnies" to celebrate spring and the Easter bunny. The kids sit on top of a poster board on the table and I trace around their bottoms and legs. Then we use whatever we can come up with to decorate.

So here they are in their pajamas on a Sunday morning (we don't have church until 2) with the final product.

Little art projects are fun around here lately. Caleb of course is the most independent and creative while the girls like to steal an idea but then want to use the glue and scissors all by themselves. It definitely takes a lot of patience and supervision on my part, but when they are proud of what they do in the end, it makes everything worth it!

Megan and Pete

It's funny, as I start writing this I am thinking about when we picked Megan and Pete up from the airport and then the afternoon when we took them back. When they first arrived, I remember specifically telling my kids on the way to the airport that Pete might be sad and tired because he had been on the plane for such a long time. He surprised us however and was so pleasant and fun in his stroller, eating the last of some m & m's, when we first said our hello's. He then surprised us again on the day we took them to catch their plane back to Italy - he was so delightful when Megan swept him up from the crib in the middle of his nap and put him in the car seat. We had never once seen a happy Pete after waking up from his nap the whole time he was with us! Oh, the joys of having an almost two-year-old! Everything is so unpredictable...

For us, the month of March was definitely joyous! Having Italian guests for three weeks was a refreshing change from the normality of our routine, and we have struggled a little bit getting back into any sort of a routine now that they've gone. Because my last post was really lengthy and because Megan knows how long it takes me to get one written, here are some highlights from March:

the kids tried to get accustomed to saying "pasta" instead of "noodles" when referring to most of Megan's cooking

loading up the mini van and Pete having to go under the legs of my kids to reach his seat

we love that Pete repeated everything we said (or at least the last word of the phrase or sentence). His English vocabulary definitely improved while he was here!

Pete calls me "Nae-nae", he definitely says "Caleb" really well, he says "Avery" and "Presley" although he didn't know which was which most of the time, and by the end of his stay he was finally saying "Aaron" instead of "Brian". Oh, and he switched from calling Megan "momma" to "mommy" halfway through his time here!

Megan's tummy was a little more pregnant when she left, and my clothes were a little tighter too! Between chips, ice cream and Trader Joe's snacks we both enjoyed the American food.

I now use more lotion on my skin and more olive oil when I cook and I know how to be a more effective eyebrow plucker.

Pete's smiles

Cars, cars, cars. Pete's whole life revolves around cars. And for the weeks he was here, ours did too :) We got cars thrown at us, pushed across the table at us, we stepped on cars, lost and found cars, and bought more cars.

We consumed food from Great Harvest, McDonalds, Panera, Chick-fil-a, and even had Sushi one night after kids were in bed. Now it's believable that my pants are tight, right?

Megan's singing, reading, coloring and just talking with my kids. There were so many moments when I'd walk in the room and they'd all be attached to her and I'd have to peel them away...

I loved getting to know Pete better. He smiled at me and let me grab his hand more and more as the days went by. I never could shake him out of his after-nap blues, but I don't think anyone can do that! It was so fun to have a sister around all the time to talk to, complain to and laugh with. I feel so blessed to have spent so much time with both of them and am so glad our kids will have so many happy memories! Thanks for coming to NC Meggie!

Presley's beautiful eyes

Last July I started noticing that Presley's eyes were slightly misaligned when she looked at me sometimes. In the beginning, it was so subtle that Aaron thought I was crazy. By the end of the summer he was noticing too. We took her to the eye doctor at the end of August and she was diagnosed as having strabismus. According to Duke Eye Center, "strabismus is the medical term for misalignment of the eyes. It refers to the problem of the eyes not working together and one eye turning in, out, up or down. Approximately four percent of children in the United States are affected by strabismus. There are various reasons for this condition, ranging from a need for glasses to eye or neurological abnormalities. When a vision problem is suspected, a complete eye examination should be arranged as soon as possible. Early detection and management are important for best results."
During Presley's eye exam the doctor determined her vision was not being affected by the condition, therefore glasses would not help her and eye muscle surgery was recommended. Over the next several months, her eyes seemed to get worse as far as the degree to which the misalignment was visible to us. Now it seemed that friends in the neighborhood and at church could easily recognize that there was a problem. The picture above was taken at the end of November when we took our family pictures. In January when we took her to have another exam, the doctor did in fact say there was a significant difference from her first one. So, we scheduled her surgery for the end of February.
What exactly happens during surgery? Well, according to the numerous measurements taken during the eye exam and the expertise of the doctor, the surgery is all about weakening or strengthening the muscles in the eyes to get them into the ideal position. Incisions are made in both corners of the eyes in the white part. The muscles are located under this tissue. The muscles are either detached and reattached at a different spot on the eye, or sometimes even part of the muscle is removed and then reattached at the same spot, depending on what outcome is desired. All the stitches used to reattach the muscles just dissolve on their own.

On the day of the surgery we didn't have to be there until 11:00 am, which was tricky because Presley could only have apple juice in the morning and then absolutely nothing two hours before surgery. I thought it would be worse than it turned out to be; the toughest thing was making Avery wait and wait to have a snack so her sister wouldn't see it and get sad! By the time we got into the little room where Presley changed her clothes, it was 12:30 pm and she was all out of energy. They gave her some medicine to drink that made her sleepy and Aaron put some scrubs on so he could take her back to the operating room. She said goodbye to Avery and I gave her a kiss and told her I'd see her soon. When Aaron came back just a few minutes later he said they had put the mask over her nose and mouth and she struggled for about three seconds and then she was out.
About 90 minutes later they called me to go back to the post-op space to be with her when she woke up. I waited for almost 30 anxious minutes and when she finally stirred, she was confused and frightened. She cried and cried and I was heartbroken because one of the things I had promised her before the surgery was that it wouldn't hurt or sting (she vividly remembered her first exam when they had put stinging eye drops in her eyes). And of course the reason I told her there would be no pain was because I knew she would be under anesthesia. I didn't think about how it might feel when she woke up and her eyes felt like sandpaper! Oh, I was so sad! She cried and slept on and off as we drove home and then did the same thing that evening. She had a banana and cheerios before going to bed and then slept pretty well all night long.
In the morning she was still very upset and wouldn't open her eyes at all. Aaron took her to see the doctor and came back with good news. Everything looked exactly how it should (she actually opened her eyes for a few minutes so the doctor could take a look.) The rest of the day at home was rough. She refused to open her eyes even for a second, so Avery and I attempted to find things to do with her...we listened to music, listened to stories, she even watched Dora with her eyes closed! I had to carry her around, hold her hand or guide her in the right direction all day. I'm not sure if her eyes were sore or if she was just apprehensive about what would happen when she opened them. But, the next morning they must have either felt much better or she decided she didn't want to spend the day bored and helpless again... we all made a big deal about seeing her beautiful eyes again!

We are grateful for:

a doctor who is an expert when it comes to these surgeries
the short 30 minute drive to Duke Eye Center and Hospital
a patient and well-behaved twin sister who accompanied us on the day of surgery and endured the day after surgery with mom
Sushi for Aaron and I (yes, Sushi!) and chicken fingers and fries for Avery at Duke Hospital's cafeteria
health insurance
anesthesia and anti-nausea medicine for the anesthesia
a neighbor who helped me put Presley's eye drops in the day after surgery while Aaron was at work
a healthy three year old who recovered quickly



This is a picture of Presley that Aaron took the other day with the reward she picked out at the toy store after she finished her eye drops (THREE times a day for a week) - she named her "Allie the elephant". I know you can't see her eyes very well-I'll have to take a close-up so you can see how beautiful they are now!