Tear duct surgery #2

Wednesday the 10th we were in Wilmington yet again for tear duct surgery for both of Cole's eyes. He had one surgery in April but his ducts were too small for the tubes so the procedure didn't fully fix the problem. We were referred to the next specialist for a more invasive procedure. This time they probed, irrigated and then ballooned out the ducts. He was then to have tubes placed in both ducts. They got one in the right however when it came time for the left (the worse of the two) it tightened and the tube could not be inserted. He tried mulitple times but had to stop. He said this has never happened to him before. Of course it hasn't, until Cole :) He handled everything well. Had quite a bit of swelling and bruising but he returned to himself in no time and is continuing to do well. Lets just pray this fixes the problem.

Cole with his good luck froggy from Aunt Kerry and Uncle Nick.

He went back with him and kept him company during surgery when we couldn't be there.

Thanks guys. He loves him.

Almost time to get this party started.

Cole with his Y's on his head. The doctor was laughing that he had to do this even though Cole was having both eyes worked on. Guess better safe than sorry.

Poor baby!

This was later that afternoon. Not all the bruising had come in yet but you can see how swollen he is. He looks pitiful, but he would try so hard to smile at you and play.

He is such a good boy!

Let's go camping!!!

We've been intending on getting rid of Parker's pacy for the past several months however with all that has gone on in our lives that was quickly put on the back burner. We had a few cute books to help introduce the idea to Parker because even though he only has it at nap and bedtime we knew he really was using it to self calm. In one of the books he was intrigued by a "fall camping trip". We kept telling him that you can't take a pacy camping so when he got rid of it we would go. Well last week we made a pacy box. He decorated it, had one last night with pacy and then the next morning put it in the box and sealed it with his favorite disney characters. They are in charge of taking care of it. And well let's just say that we said bye bye to pacy! Yeah!!! He did great! No screaming just extra tossing and turning in bed before knocking out. Downfall is bye bye pacy = bye bye naps. He can not fall asleep at naps no matter how tired he is. He is required to have down time in his room though.

And we did keep our promise. Last weekend Wally, Parker and I loaded up the camping gear and went camping. Cole got to stay with Nana and Grandad. We had a great time. Parker loved helping put up the tent. We enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmellows and just being outside. It was in the 30's that night but we had enough to keep us warm.

We look forward to doing this again soon.

Parker helping put up the tent.

Daddy has such good patience and lets him help as much as possible.

When can we use this?


Peek a boo

Yay camping!

Roasting yummy marshmellows

Night Night

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween week. It was filled with a pumpkin patch at Parker's preschool, his preschool class had a party at Jump n Jax, lots of Halloween goodies, few fall festivals and of course pumpkin carving. The boys had a great time trick or treating and we did too. We even had an unexpected surprise, but you'll have to wait a see what it is in the pictures.

Cole experiencing the inside of a pumpkin for the first time.

Mommy and Parker's pumpkin

We have a race car driver!!!

and a rock star!!!

Wait! We only have 2 kids. So who is this cute little monkey? Wait it is cousin Paxton!

Yep he and Aunt Susie surprised us all and drove down from VA to spend Halloween with everyone. It was so special to have them with us for trick or treating.

"Hey Parker, I dare you to go touch that tomb stone with me."

Aunt Susie had some extra fun ideas for Parker while we were trick or treating.

He loved them all.

Gigi and Cole winding down after a great Halloween.

As you can see the hair is still going strong though.

Poppy and Parker.

Don't they look like they have had some fun?

The whole crew hopes everyone had a wonderful Halloween.

We can't wait for next year. Oh yes, Parker is already talking about it.

Good Morning!

Cole puts a whole new meaning to bed head!

We really did absolutely nothing to this hair. He came out of bed like this.

Gotta luv it.

Silly Brothers, Need I Say More?

Aunt Bubba's Wedding

On October 2nd Vicki (my youngest sister) got married. It was absolutely beautiful. She and Eric got married at Fearrington Village in one of their gardens. The reception followed at a different part of their grounds. We all had a wonderful time. They honeymonned in France for 10 days following. So jealous!!!

Bubba, me and Cole

Aunt Susie and sweet baby Paxton

Parker enjoying some fun on the rocks with his Cousin Brecken

Daddy with Cole Baby who'd had a little too much fun


Loving the smootches from Uncle Scott


Parker and Cousin Paxton having a chat

Fun at the Children's Museum

On Friday the boys and I decided to try out the Marbles Children's Museum in Raleigh. We had a blast. There were so many fun dress up and imaginative play areas that Parker loved. Fire Fighters were of course his favorite. Both boys made pretty cute ones if you ask me. They had a great pirate ship to play in, a water area, large legos, REAL tools, and many other cool areas to play. I think I had as much fun as they did. We will definitely have to go back soon.

Firefighter in training!

Hey everybody! Where's the fire?

Cole enjoying crawling through the bridge we built out of legos.

Yikes!

Preschool here we come!!!

In the words of Parker "I'm old enough to go to preschool today".

And he's right. Today was Parker's first day of preschool. He did so well. He walked right into his classroom and put his things in his cubby. He went to coloring at the table and we said goodbye. Amazingly no tears but he knew I'd be back after the playground:)

Now how did mommy keep from crying, because believe me it was tough. Well he did great for one and then my good friend Tricia kept me busy with a little shopping and then some fantastic pedicures. Then it was time to pick him up. He said he had fun and wants to go back to play with the hook and ladder truck and go on the other playground.

What fun things to look forward to.

We had lunch with daddy too which was great.

Ready for school

Check out that hot wheels bookbag

Cole hanging with the ladies for shopping and pedicures.

He thought the chair was silly when in vibrated.

This is how I found Parker when I checked in on him at nap time (after school).

Check out the book he wanted with him. For anyone getting your child ready to transition to preschool this is a fabulous book!

Thanks Gigi for the crayon popsicles in celebration of starting preschool.

YUM!

We are Blessed!!!

Wally and I had a wonderful opportunity 2 weekends ago to get away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary - lucky #7!!! We went to Myrtle Beach while Gigi and Poppy watched the kids here at the house for us. Oh yes I said a child free weekend. What did we do you ask? Well we stayed at a hotel on the beach, went to the pool, had drinks in the lazy river, went to the beach and had wonderful dinners out. It was so relaxing and just what we needed. Man is it great when the biggest thing you worry about that day is whether you can find a chair by the pool and where you want to eat dinner.

Us at Joe's Crab Shack. We really enjoyed it. The crab legs were great!

Enough said!

Here are some great pics of the boys!!!

This hair just makes me LAUGH!

Cole and Copper enjoying some floor time.

Who let the lion in?

The boys playing together in Cole's room. They are such buddies.

I couldn't ask for better kids!


Father's Day this year turned into a weekend of fun. We went down to the water slides in Emerald Isle first then headed to the camper for naps. It was then that the ocean air easily convinced us we should stay the weekend. We enjoyed playing in the pool, riding the golf cart and walking the dock. Hard to leave but we had to get back as we hosted a cookout for the Dad's (Wally, Poppy, and Granddad). It started pouring so our cookout came indoors. Wally cooked some AWESOME Mahi and we enjoyed everyone's company.

There are some wonderful Dad's in our family, inclusding you honey!!! You are fantastic!

The boys riding the Whale at the waterslides in EI.

Yep, that's Parker going down the water slide ALL BY HIMSELF. This is a pretty big water slide and it took a little convincing for mom to agree to it (basically Wally and Parker saying come on mom it'll be OK). And it was. He probably rode that waterslide 30 times.

We had a lot of fun!

Our new toy. I found this cool blow up barrel at Target for $20. When I saw it I could not pass it up. Let's just say Wally and I even took a few turns rolling around the yard. The people walking their dogs were definitely getting a kick out of us as they walked by.


BLUEBERRY PICKING!!!

Gigi, Poppy, Parker, Cole and I went blueberry picking last Friday. It was our first official time and it was a lot of fun. Quite a bit easier than strawberry picking too. It was great filling the buckets and our bellies as we picked. We went early that morning but it still got hot very quickly. Can't wait to go back.

Parker finding some blueberries.

Guess these are not going to make it to the bucket!

Man look at all those blueberries! Scary thing is that we've all almost eaten all of them in a week. Guess it's time to go back.

Nothing like a good ol' popsicle to cool you off.