Children's Museum--in Pictures

September 24, 2011

Free Museum Day courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute.  It was a nasty rainy day but I ventured out with the three little ones and met Mandy & Frankie at the Children's Museum of Portsmouth.  

All together it was a very good day!

My view of Luke for most of the day.  From behind, chasing after him!

Trains!

This train set up had a button to push to make the train go.  Luke LOVED it.  He ran around & around & around the table over & over again chasing that train! I got some video of it too!

More trains.

Checking out the fire truck.  Luke was actually terrified of the display & didn't go much farther than that!  

Which is funny, because yesterday (10/22) we went to the fire station up the road and he was totally fearless.  

Checking out the soapbox derby cars.

Oh hi Mom.

Mandy, Frankie, and the kids trying to make a huge bubble.

Frankie figured out you needed less people to get the bubble higher....Carolynn wasn't much phased by being surrounded by the bubble.

This is how Luke "blows" bubbles.  

And we ended with some playtime in the kiddie area. 

So our overall goal in going to the free day (super-mega-crowded) was to decide if we wanted to get a membership.  We decided the train room alone makes it totally worth it for us....especially since it is literally 15 minutes from home.  Our new double stroller will come in super handy at the museum!

Luke enjoyed playing on the Thomas tables they have set up & just exploring the entire place. 

The art exhibit is a bit over his head & the circus themed exhibit area was much too loud & overwhelming for him, so there is plenty for him to grow into.  I think we'll have plenty of visits JUST to see the trains!

Luke's Surgery-In Pictures

September 13, 2011

Luke had his "surgery" in the middle of September, it was a huge pain in the butt and trying time for me and I have no desire to relive it via blog, so this will be a short recap. 

We had to be at the hospital at 5:45 am.  Mom was here to go with us and help out with Vince.

We started out in the "play" waiting room.  Then we got taken into this room for triage & to get Luke into his surgery gear.  

 In this room we met a few of the nurses & they took turns taking Luke away from us for a few minutes at a time to get him used to walking away with them.  That didn't help at all when the time came for them to take him.  In the future if we ever go through this kind of procedure again I think I will refuse to leave him.  I hated that part.

After the triage room we went to the recovery room.  Luke was allowed to play with some toys but ended up slipping on the dumb no-slip socks and busting his head.  He was in tears when they came to get him to go back and they had to rip him away from me.  My poor boy.  I hated that they didn't put him to sleep in my arms like they did for his MRI when he was a tiny boy.

When they woke him up he was alone, they brought us back to the recovery room and he was crying for us.  My heart was breaking.

I was not impressed with the recovery process.  They had to take x-rays and didn't want Tim or I to be near him while they did them.  That wasn't happening.  I ended up getting in there & they forced him to lay down for a ton of x-rays only to find out the darn machine was broken.

So, I pulled him into my lap and then he immediately ripped out his tube.  :(  So, we decided to let them have ONE try to re-insert the tube into his nose (with only mild sedation) and then re-do the x-rays.   They managed to get the tube in and  then do the x-rays.

Luke was hysterical and I snuggled him until I got him to sleep.  Then we put the "no-nos" on his arms so that he couldn't pull the tube from his nose again.

When we got up to his room he took a little while to get the anesthesia out of his system and to get used to the no-nos.  

He ended up perking up pretty quickly & we spent the entire day chasing him around the hospital and the room.  They did have a couple play rooms but they were only open sporadically.  He took a good nap and was in bed by 9:30.

Around 11:00 Mom took Vinnie home with her and left us at the hospital with Luke.  Tim stayed up with him until 3:30 am and then I took over until about 5:30.  I ended up falling asleep for a bit before Luke got up for the day.

We had to record every time Luke nursed, ate, sat up, laid down, and cried by both pushing a button on his "pack-pack" and recording it on a chart.  It was a pain in the butt.

Ultimately, we got the results of 16 biopsies (from his throat) and the pH probe test and learned a lot of nothing.  Luke has reflux.  He didn't spasm/twitch at all while the probe was in, so there is no way to confirm/deny that the twitches are in fact Sandifer's syndrome & NOT real seizures.

Fortunately he hasn't had ANY twitches since the last week of July.  (knockonwood)  

We are glad we did the test, even if we didn't learn much.  If Luke does have more spasms/twitches we will be heading to the ER at CHKD to have them treated as seizures.

Wordless Wednesday-Blog Face Lift

The blog got a seasonal face-lift and a little side-bar clean-up!  If you're reading on a "reader" please click through & let me know what you think! I made the header myself!

Sunday Update Sept.4-26

So, this is going to be brief!

Life with a newborn (he's 7 weeks old today, is he still a newborn?)  is hectic & hard to predict.  We do have a rhythm and we are getting stuff done, but finding time to blog, when I should be getting stuff accomplished is hard!

Sun. 4
After church, we went to Mt.Trashmore park & let Luke play on the new Kids' Cove! It was really nice, but we definitely need 2 adults to keep up with him!

Mon. 5
Vincent 4 Weeks Old!

Tues. 6

Weds. 7

Thurs. 8
Laura came to visit!  Mom & Dad were also in town for doctor's appointments.

Fri. 9
Vinnie smiled his first intentional smile!

Sat. 10
La Leche League Family picnic in Norfolk--it was SO nice to get out & see some of my friends & reconnect after almost a year of being sick & miserable!

Sun. 11

Mon. 12
Vincent 5 Weeks Old!
Took Vince to the doctor for reflux medicine.

Tues. 13
Luke's surgery--separate post!

Weds. 14
Happy Birthday Colton Fisher Hayes!
Got home from hospital, everybody over for chili & hot dogs dinner at our house.
Tom & Peggy came over and took care of the boys while Tim & I cleaned & showered.

Thurs. 15
Happy Birthday Mom!
Cancelled my doctor's appointment
Took Beth & ran errands--Carter's, Wal-Mart, Stride Rite
Dinner at Tom & Peggy's

Fri. 16
Visited James & Missy in the evening

Sat. 17
Relaxed at home all day!
Tim had a meeting at church

Sun. 18
Luke 23 Months Old!
Zoo trip!

Mon. 19
Vincent 6 Weeks Old!
Mom's surgery...we spent the morning cleaning house & headed to the hospital around 4:30, we visited for a couple hours and then headed home for dinner.

6 Weeks old--time to break out the Halloween clothes!

Frankie & Vinnie snuggling in the hospital.

Tues. 20
Luke fell asleep in his high chair after eating spaghetti!  It was cute.

Smiling in his sleep :)

Weds. 21
Happy Birthday to Dad!
Dad spent the day at the hospital.
Tim grilled steaks and we had baked potatoes and corn on the cob with Mandy & Frankie.  Mandy bought an ice-cream cake too!  It was a good party for Dad.

Thurs. 22
I went to the hospital & stayed until about 10 pm.

I love those big blue eyes!  He is such a handsome little dude!

I took comparison pictures of Vinnie this week to make this collage. Can you tell who is who?  No cheating if you already saw the answer on Facebook!

Friday 23
Happy Birthday to Evangeline Grace Goetsch!!
Mom got transferred to the nursing home.  Frankie & I were there from about 12:45 until 4:00 getting her all set up.
I started taking a low-low dose of "happy pills" for PPD.  I'm sad that I wasn't able to keep it away this time, but glad that I have supportive friends & family who help me recognize the signs & symptoms and get the help I need.  This low dose of medicine really does the trick for me and hopefully I'll be able to wean from it before Vince's birthday. :)

Sat. 24
Carolynn, Luke, and I met up with Mandy & Frankie at the Children's Museum in Portsmouth for Free Museum Day.  We had a good time exploring the museum for a couple hours.  I'll post a separate post about it with all the pictures!
I went to the hospital around 7:45 and stayed until 10 pm.

Sun. 25
Happy 28th Birthday to ME!
We got up and attempted to get ready for church.  Luke & I were dressed and ready to go, but Vinnie was still asleep (in pjs) and Tim hadn't even showered yet when it was time to leave, so we skipped out.
We ended up doing a whole lot of nothing all day, except for the normal housework & tending to the boys' needs.
Luke was feeling off and really cranky/whiney.  Vinnie was his normal self!
Dad came home around 12:30 to have lunch, play with Luke and take a nap.
We had dinner at 3:15 (shells & sauce, with meatballs& sausage) and then got ourselves ready to head out.
We ended up not leaving the house until after 5 though and missed our chance at having a babysitter, so we turned around and headed back towards home.
On the way, I talked to my parents and we decided to go visit Mom.
Luke was naughty as usual (he really doesn't like the nursing home) but Vinnie was good.  We visited for about 40 minutes and then headed to Wal-Mart.  We picked up a few groceries and some pictures of the boys. Then we headed home...both boys fell asleep on the way home, but neither stayed asleep when we carried them in.
I nursed Luke back to sleep and then sat up with Vinnie until around 11.

Mon. 26
Vincent 7 Weeks Old!
It's 2:00 today, so I'll go ahead and start this post out.  I've gotten a bit of housework done, a lot of laundry done, and bathed/dressed both boys.  Vince is napping on the boob & Luke is asleep in the bed.
The Corolla flooded in the rainstorm on Friday but we didn't realize it until Tim went to leave for work today, so he's home from work & out there working on that.  It's not pretty.
Today was his first day back at his old job.  (Almost 2 years ago he left HP to work for CACI and now he is back at HP in his same position but with maybe a bit more responsibilities.  They didn't do well without him & are now willing to pay him what he's worth!)
We're planning tacos for dinner with home-made cheese dip, since I didn't get to go to Cheeseburger in Paradise for crab dip like I wanted for my birthday!

And that my folks is the month of September minus a few days!  

Favorite Toys By Age: Vince

Newborn to 1 Month

talking to Mom & Dad"

Playing with Luke


2 Months
The barbell rattle is another favorite.  He enjoys tracking it, when he has a rare happy, quiet moment. 

Favorite Toys by Age: Luke

Another blog that I read mentioned making a list of "favorite" toys by ages for her kids to help others with toy selection & gift buying.  I thought it was a great idea for those reasons, but then also just to have that momento, to remember what my boys were "into" at different ages/stages of their lives.

Now, remembering back to Luke's infancy will be difficult for me, but hopefully keeping track of it from the get-go for Vincent will make his list a little more complete!

This post is a work-in-progress,  but I'm going to go ahead & publish it anyway!

Newborn-One Month
Talking to Mom & Dad--Luke was a BIG talker

2 Months
Taking a bath!

This Bright Starts barbell rattle!  I haven't met a baby yet who doesn't like it!


3 Months
Spinning rattles--these ones.  We suction cupped them to his high chair tray.

6 Months

8 Months

10 Months

One Year

14 Months

16 Months

18 Months

20  Months

22 Months 
Cars!  Cars dominate Luke's life right now.  He recently got some Hot Wheels/Matchbox type cars and he can pretty much always be seen with one in his hand.  He loves having a "table" to drive them on,but is just as happy driving them on his lap or flying them through the air.  

He also loves trains & driving on the "tracks".  He has all of the Little Engineers from Thomas & then has a handful of "real" trains.

2 Years