Water Babies...

MORE FUN IN THE SUN...

A FEW OTHERS FROM THIS WEEKEND...

(we found the hat in a box and couldn't resist trying it on)

Memorial Day Fun...

We finally saw the sun again today...and decided to take full advantage of it! My sister and her kids drove up from St. Augustine, and we all headed over to the swim park. Gerald's brother & his family were also there.

Christopher, Dylan, Brady, and Madison


Cousin Kelsey


Dylan & Madison


Madison



After the pool, we hit the park...

Christopher, Dylan, & Brady on the slide



He's still a bit small for it, but Brady LOVED the swing!

Even though he was barely moving, he'd "gasp" every time the swing came forward...


Then break out into a huge grin or laugh!

Throughout our fun-filled day, we were mindful of the true significance of today...honoring those who've given their lives while serving our country. DAD, we love & miss you, and thank you for everything you gave to your family and your country. It is a blessing and honor to be your daughter.

Brady Einstein & "The Sock Monkey"

With all the rain we've had lately and everyone being cooped up in the house, Angie decided to entertain Brady with Baby Einstein last week. What a HIT! He absolutely loved it and has been watching the videos every day since (my mom has dubbed him "Brady Einstein")! I even carry a portable DVD player with me in the car now, and PRESTO...no more crying! He's totally mesmerized by these videos. All he needs now is a bowl of popcorn and some coke! :-)




You'd think he was watching a horror flick...



He's still putting his hands up around his face, especially at night. Even with his nails trimmed, he's still scratching up his forehead. We don't want to take the chance that he'll end up re-injuring his eye, so here's our temporary solution...



Yes, those are socks, and so far, they seem to be doing the trick...although last night, he put his hands in his mouth and pulled the socks off (clever little monkey)!!!

The Climb...

Let me just preface this by saying...as a general rule, I am NOT a Miley Cyrus fan! That being said, I absolutely LOVE her new song, "The Climb." If you haven't heard it, check out the video on Youtube. The chorus always makes me pause, reflect on what's important in life, and think about what lessons God is trying to teach me along the way.

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side...
It's the climb!

I don't know if Miley Cyrus wrote the song herself, but if she did...what an amazingly insightful song for a 16 year old!

Lastly, here are some new photos:

Brady with his shirt on his head...


"Excuse me, but what are YOU looking at???"


My Handsome Men...

What A Week!!!

Last weekend, I was feeling really bad...sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, horrible fatigue, and achey all over. I assumed it was the flu since EVERYONE seems to have it these days. Then a thought occurred to me: while we were moving two weeks ago, I found a tiny tick on my left hip. It had bitten me twice by the time I found it. I removed the tick, but within a few days, the two bites became itchy, red, inflamed, and irritated. I put some antibiotic ointment on them which helped a little, but they still bothered me...then came those flu symtoms. Being buried up to my eyeballs in boxes, it didn't occurr to me that the bites and the symptoms may be related...until this past weekend. I discussed it with several friends & family members, and the unanimous consensus was that I needed to go to the dr's. I went on Monday, and am being treated for Lyme disease!!!! The dr. isn't 100% sure that it IS Lyme but, given my symptoms, she'd rather be safe than sorry. Within 2 days of being on the antibiotics, I was feeling much better. Then came the nightmare with Brady...

Brady is a very sound sleeper...he sleeps from about 8pm until 7am the next morning and ALWAYS wakes up smiling, laughing, and cooing. Really, I couldn't ASK for a better baby! On Friday, he woke up SCREAMING at around 3am. I picked him up and could feel his tummy gurgling so I assumed that he had a bad case of gas. I got him settled and back to bed. At 5am, the same thing...hysterical screaming. I got up, gave him a bottle, and held him until he fell back to sleep. Dylan said, "Mom, I think something is wrong with his eyes...he won't open them." I had noticed some puffiness and swelling, esp. around his left eye, but assumed that it was from crying and/or rubbing it. I took him to Angie's and headed off to work. Around 11:30, Angie called and said that he was inconsolable and that his eye was all swollen. I made him a dr's appt. and took him in. After examining him from head-to-toe, the dr. dyed his eyes and shined a special light on them to illuminate the dye. There was a huge scratch inside his left eye!!! The dr. gasped and said that she had never seen such a bad abrasion in a baby's eye. She said that I needed to head straight to Nemours to have him checked by a pediatric opthamologist. She called Nemours and let them know that we were on our way. Once there, he was given a thorough eye exam and we were told that he had torn his cornea, likely with his fingernail. Brady is a "snuggler" and LOVES to have his blanket up around his face.

In fact, sometimes when I check on him at night, his entire face is covered with his blanket and I have to "unbury" him. He also loves to nuzzle his face into your neck, shoulder, clothes, etc. Needless to say, his hands are always up around his face in an attempt to pull his blanket up there. I try to keep his nails short, but sometimes they end up growing out before I have a chance to trim them again. So, the opthamologist tells us that, luckily, he didn't do any further damage to his eye (other than the tear) and that most corneal abrasions heal fairly quickly. He said he'd likely be very fussy and agitated, though, because the cornea is THE most sensitive area on the body and that any injury to it causes a great amount of pain (no wonder my poor baby woke up screaming)!!! Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be given except for Tylenol and antibiotic eye ointment. Here's a shot of his poor eye...


He's still recovering but seems to be doing better today. Here he is, watching Dylan play with his wrestlers...


THEN my sister called and said that they had found their beloved dog, Rock, dead when they came home. He was her "baby" before she had babies! Rock had been throwing up for a few days but so had their other dog, Zoey. Zoey had recovered so they assumed that it was just a bug and that Rock would get better as Zoey had. Unfortunately, Rock didn't recover. He was a "gentle giant" who will be greatly missed. Despite his big size and "dangerous breed" reputation (he was a Rottie), he had the most gentle & loving nature. We will miss you, Rock! :-(

Candid Shots...

No time to blog, but here are a few pictures from the past week that I wanted to share...

Brady hangin' with Austin...


Brady in his "surfer dude" outfit from Angie (complete with fisherman hat)...


Brady & Dylan...


Brady post-bath...


Dylan crashed on the couch...

New Digs...

Well, we are finally (almost) settled in our new house...but boy has it been a CHORE! We love the house, but the move was horrendous! In fact, it was the worst move we've ever had! Everything that possibly could have gone wrong, DID! Seriously, it was almost comical! Had I not been so stressed out and upset, I probably would have had to laugh at the magnitude of our bad luck! Details later...more unpacking to do!