Niagara Falls

We headed out on our adventure very early Saturday morning. Our drive to Niagara was long, longer than it could have been, but when you're traveling with little ones it can be unpredictable! Throw in an hour long detour and we were finally able to reach the falls. Yes, it was raining, but the falls are misty anyway, so it didn't bother us-we were just glad to be out of the car! We were able to stop and see how beautiful the falls are-none of us had ever been, have dinner and head back on the road. We stopped in Syracuse, NY for the night-and to catch the end of the ND game. Sunday we started on the road again-making much better time! We got to Dover in only 6 hrs of driving with only one stop-pretty good, thank you to my children (and the magic of a DVD player in the car) for being pretty darn good while spending so much time in the car for 2 straight days! We arrived in Dover yesterday evening to nothing but gloomy rain. We had dinner and made a run to Target to stock the kitchen in our room and settled in to our new home for the next 5 days:) We don't have much of a plan at this point because what we get to do depends on Artie's work schedule. I am hoping to see as many things as possible while we are here because we've never been, it's Spencer's 1st big trip, and New England is just awesome!! I do know that I will be sad to leave here because I love it, but knowing that we get to see Cindy and Tom-and meet Colten!!!!!-on our way back makes it much easier to leave:)!! For now, I'm enjoying the fact that's it's actually sunny here today and my kids are getting back into their normal routine! Much more of our adventures to come...

Oh yea, and by the way, I chopped off all of my hair off. I think that everything we have been going through with Spencer caught up with me and I did something crazy and outrageous by cutting my hair super short! I'm no Halle Berry or Victoria Beckham, but I'm totally loving the short amount of time it now takes to be done! Also, on another side note-I have clearly not posted in a while-Spencer had his 4 mo. check Friday before we left. I am so happy to report that the hydrocele we were worrying about has apparently cleared up on it's own because she said she did not feel any fluid-big sigh of relief!! On the other hand, we did have a conversation about what we should be watching for if Spencer's bowel starts narrowing where it was sewn back together instead of growing with the rest of his intestines...I really need this to end and not worry anymore! But, at the moment he is doing great! He now weighs 13 lbs. 11 oz. (25th percentile) and is 24 and 1/2 inches long:)

Though it doesn't look like it here, Spencer was actually really enthralled with the falls!

Daddy and Avery-she wanted to get too close for mommy's comfort to the edge of this observation tower we were on and did not like being held!

A little shot of the observation deck we were on and to the left is Canada.

Such a beautiful part of our country...those blue specs at the bottom-yep, those are people!

Such a cute picture. Avery wanted Spencer to "sit with me" as she says...this was taken before we left.

This is what Spencer loves to do-watch everything his big sister does! I laughed at your comment, Cindy, about Colten and his bumbo because Avery even still fits in it!

Bumbo

It's been a gloomy couple of days around here, weather wise. After so much nice weather, it's a little sad to see some rain. However, we've been staying in and getting stuff done inside the house. Let me just say that we still have not fully recovered from the flood we had in our house last August! This, combined with Spencer being born this year and we have had one heck of a messy/unorganized house for over a year!! We decided that we really need to get on the ball and get stuff done inside before we leave for NH this weekend and then the week we come back from that trip we are having Avery's birthday party!! We won't have a weekend to "get ready" for the party when we come back so we're going to have to use the few week days in between...! We managed to get a few things done this weekend-small things-mostly because Artie has come down with some sort of cold and the ND game was so stressful on Saturday that we really couldn't get motivated! I did, however, manage to get drawers cleaned out in the kids' room. You know, the task of going through not only seasonal clothes, but clothes that may no longer fit, etc. Spencer got to spend a lot of time sitting in his bumbo while I did this, which was good because the kid would not sit in this thing at all, he hated it. Now, he'll actually sit in it for a while and play with his feet:)

We leave Saturday for our big adventure-and by that I mostly mean driving 15+ hours with the munchkins! I only hope that we can keep them on their schedules as much as possible because we are in such a great routine at home that I want to keep that going! A long week of packing is ahead, but I think we will have fun and if anything spend a lot of family bonding time in the car:) Enjoy the last week of September!

Here's the little man sitting like a pro in his bumbo. Wacky Willy was keeping him occupied:)

Of course, chewing on his mini blankie! His hair is starting to come in, which you can tell a bit in this picture. I'm holding out hope that it's actually coming back in dark-it's really starting to look like it!

Congrats Anderson Family:)

Congratulations to Meghan and Ben on the birth of their beautiful daughter, Keira! Baby Keira has finally joined big brothers, Luke and Drew! Check out pictures of their newest addition on their blog-Andersonmania.

Almost 2!

One month from today my little baby girl will turn two years old. I absolutely cannot believe it. Though I know she's more than ready to be a two year old-I'm thinking the way she acts, so grown up, that she was ready months ago!! I know all parents feel their kids grow up way too fast, it's part of life. The last few months have been a major adjustment and while I feel like it took time away that I would normally have gotten to spend with Avery, it let me see things about Avery that I wouldn't have otherwise. She's a great big sister and a real sweetheart with a vibrantly strong will.

I'm so blessed to have the amazing kids that I have-I thank them every day for letting me be their mommy. I want to keep that sentiment in my mind as we embark on a very long road trip as a family in a week! That's right, we're off to New Hampshire. Why NH you may ask. Well, Artie got the "assignment" to head out there for work to help close a plant that his company has out there. He decided the trip would be better if we all went along:) We're very excited to be taking this family "trip" this year to break Spencer in to traveling. In Avery's 1st year, she went to Chicago for St. Patty's Day, LA a few months later and then Charleston, SC! So, I'm happy to get to take Spencer a few places-including the ocean-in his first year:) I'm even more excited that it's New England during fall! We'll be out there during prime autumn time-including a few weeks from my favorite holiday, Halloween!! We may even get to take a short trip to Salem, MA!! I hope I'll have some good stuff to post:)

The weather has been so great the last few days, so this morning, I loaded the kids up and took them to the park. Avery had a blast, I pushed her on the swing for probably 35 minutes or more out of the hour we were there! Spencer slept great in his carrier on my chest:) We even chatted with a mommy/daughter pair! Hope everyone is getting to enjoy this beautiful fall weather:)

My little Spencey Cole...he was making that face because the wind gusts were gettin' him!

Such a big girl now...so different from when we'd bring her to the park a year ago!

She's a champ at going down...and then back up the slide!

Really loving the tunnels today:)

NICU Party #2

Today we had Spencer's 2nd NICU party. This was for Lutheran, the hospital where he had his surgeries and spent the bulk of his NICU stay (5 out of the 6 weeks). We had a great time. It's sort of a double-edged-sword-kind-of-feeling going to these parties. On the one hand, it's kind of painful. This is a party you wish you didn't have the privilege of attending. But then, you go and it's so great seeing all of the wonderful people that helped take care of your sick child, and so many other children. And when I say so many, I mean soooo many. There are tons of kids/families that come to these. That's what is the great part. You get to see all of these families that know what you went through and you know what they have gone through. Then there are all of the children that are flourishing after spending their first moments, days, weeks, months, etc. of their lives in the special little nook of the hospital called the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We got to see so many of the nurses that took care of Spencer. While checking in (it's a private party-how fancy!), we mentioned to one of his nurses that he had been released from his surgeon this week. Word quickly spread among all of the other nurses that Spencer had been released from Dr. Smith-it was so amazing to see that they all still cared and were so happy to see how well he was doing (I'm of course a little biased, but Spencer was among the favorites-well known babies-because he was full term and had such a rare situation). Though the party started off a little rough for us-the line to get in was loooong-and Avery had little patience for waiting in line, the rest of the afternoon went really well and we had some good family time together!

Spencer and one of his primary nurses, Jillian.

We went to the zoo after the part and the first stop was the monkeys...Avery fell in love. Everywhere we went in the rest of the zoo, she kept saying "more monkeys"!!

Avery getting some quality daddy shoulder time while resting her feet walking through the zoo.

First water fountain drink ever!

Mommy and Avery getting a really close up look at the lion:)

The kids posing in a tent in the African Safari portion of the zoo.

She thought she looked so cool in mommy's shades-I'm thinking that she did indeed:)

I have my hands quite full here. Notice how Spencer is eyeing Avery's ice cream...only 2 more weeks little guy and you will be introduced to the magic that is solid food!!

This girl just loves horses (actually both girls in this picture!). She was excited because she got to ride Sadie-her favorite pick when she rides the ponies at the zoo:)

This girl is a pro-seriously, she needs no help. I think she could one day be an equestrian champ!

Bringing Sadie back in just like a pro!

I had a picture taken in a train just like this (with some color variation) at this very zoo when I was a wee lass-many years ago!

Very excited about the turtle (fact: Avery's nickname while in the womb was "turtle")

You may appreciate this picture more when you see the next few and realize just how big this slide was. See the size of the kids around her-yeah, much bigger than her. The man running this giant slide was so amazed that Avery climbed right up with absolutely no fear!

The first slide down with not even one hesitation at the top!

See that little pink peanut in the middle...that's Avery!

She was so excited about coming down the big slide...we'd be the best parents ever if we just got her her very own bounce house to permanently reside at our house!!

Magical Words

Avery said the most magical words a parent can hear for the first time yesterday..."I Love You". Artie and I have been waiting for this to happen since we tell her we love her like a million times a day! She's such a chatter box and picks up everything, but for some reason was waiting to say these words. That's fine because they came yesterday, a day that-clearly from my last post-was kind of a dark day for me...so to hear "I love you, mommy" made all of the darkness go away and melted my heart. When I got her out of bed this morning. I told her I loved her-like every morning when I get her up-and she said it back, so I know yesterday wasn't just a fluke:)!! I'm one happy mama right now!! Don't worry about Artie being left out because once he came home from work, Avery greeted him with an "I love you, daddy" and Spencer was not to be left out either as she told him "I love you baby Spencie"...I know it will be a really long time until Spencer can say I love you, but I can't wait!!

Today was...

A day I always dread.

Spencer had a checkup with his surgeon today. I pretty much make myself sick with worry in the few days leading to the appointment. I'm happy to say that his checkup went really well today-in fact, unless we notice something (we're watching a condition unrelated to surgery right now that he was born with-in addition to everything else and his heart murmur, ugh), we don't have to see Dr. Smith again! This is good news for us. To be honest, Artie and I (and Avery, for that matter) have really been struggling with severe grief from Spencer's "ordeal". It has been very rough on our family and though we are more than blessed to have Spencer with us, we are having a hard time coming out of the darkness that was our lives for 6 long weeks. We are constantly reminded just by changing his diaper and seeing the huge scar across his belly-all the memories flood back multiple times a day. As we have learned more details about the situation and the reason why Spencer went through what he did, we are haunted. I'm not really ready to be open about the exact situation, but I hope one day I can be.

Though we aren't ever really going to be out of the woods, I have my baby here, to see him smile and grow. I'm thankful for that every second of every single day. I love you Spencer and Avery, I will do my best for you-always.

On a cheerier note, Artie and I were lucky enough to enjoy the ND season opener from our field- level seats in the stadium! What a beautiful day for a football game. It was so great to actually see them win, convincingly! Thank you, mom, for watching our darling children all day so that we could go. We had a great time and you have no idea how much we needed that!!

Here are some pics from game day!!

This is a picture of Spencer today I thought I would put up since he's changing SO much. I put him in his 'Tough Cookie' shirt (Thanks, Nickey!) for the occasion of his doctor's appointment. He's also really starting to grab things-he loves his blanket bear (Thanks, Janelle!). I still can't get over where all his dark hair went:(!! Just for the record, Avery never lost her hair as a baby, so this is new to me (though she was born as a blond and is still blond).

You SMCers and Domers know this shot-the Dome and Basilica from the lake...taking a picture of that golden dome NEVER gets old!

Artie proudly standing outside Stanford Hall-his home for 3 of his 4 years (and 2 summers) at Notre Dame.

I just had to take a picture of these snazzy garbage bins around campus. Being the recycling advocate that I am, I would have loved to have these when I was a student-better late than never, I suppose (notice it even has a place for smokers to put their cigarette out!).

A little pic at half time while the band performed...Artie said I must wear these beads now every game, they may be good luck!

Here Come the IRISH!!

Ah, butt pic...yeah, I took this one:) We were pretty close to the action.

Huddle time!

Wait, Jimmy, get in here, you need to tell us the play!

1st touchdown of the 2009 season-awesome!

Student section...how I miss that-though I do enjoy being able to sit a bit while watching a game now. However, I still find it very hard to keep myself from doing the cheers along with the student section-people around you don't appreciate it as much now and I never get to do the jig anymore:(

A New Friend

Not much going on this week...still trying to nurse my knees back to health. The weather has been beautiful, making me even more mad that I can't yet get outside to run:( Oh well, because I have been enjoying watching tons, and I mean TONS, of tennis this week as the US Open started Monday-I'm teaching my kids early how awesome tennis is and they enjoy watching it too:) Spencer has started rolling over this week:) He really only goes from front to back, but we're so excited that he's making this much progress already! I'm fine if he's a little more laid back than Avery was and takes his time becoming mobile!!

We're heading to South Bend this weekend to help the Irish kick-off the new season!! I hope the weather continues to be this beautiful-no matter, Artie and I will enjoy an all day outing-our first-without the kids. I'm getting a little nervous about being away from them all day, but looking so forward to the game. We have tickets on the field, opposite end zone of the band, so look for us!!

Have a great weekend and I hope you'll be watching Notre Dame on Saturday!! GO IRISH!!

Here's the new friend of the family! After doing some research on strollers-again-I came across this one and we found an incredible deal on it so decided to try it and see if it would help our problem of taking Avery in public when she has to be in a stroller...for the time being, it has worked! She loves this "big girl" stroller. We had to run an errand at the mall today for about a half hour and she didn't scream once-you have no idea how remarkable that is!!
Spencer being really interested in the toys on his jumperoo...this is a new thing-he is really starting to pay attention to toys and grab onto things. If you notice in this picture, I'm losing my dark-haired buddy...he has blond hair coming in:( But, I'm still holding out hope that eventually it will turn back to the beautiful dark hair he was born with:)!! He's cute no matter what color his hair is, though!

Oh, Avery! She has found a new favorite spot-and favorite hobby! She loves to climb on everything and make mommy very nervous! Her new spot is climbing behind the chair.

Just thought I'd throw in a picture of the yummy homemade salsa I made yesterday to go with the homemade taco pizza I made for dinner...the mexican cravings that I had while pregnant with Spencer have stayed very persistent-Artie, however, is very sick of mexican food!

This is just so funny because she was playing with this box and all of a sudden she fell in and got stuck and it freaked her out! Check out her cute new crocs-her very first pair. They have mickey mouse shaped cutouts on top and this girl absolutely loves these shoes...I think she's going to be a shoe-lovin' kinda girl:)

I've had some inquiries about the status of my knees so I thought I'd post a picture of one of my knees. This picture really doesn't do justice for how gross it really looked, but other than the sever bone bruise I received playing softball in 8th grade (that sucker hurt for a year-no joke), these knee bruises are the most painful things ever! Two weeks later and I'm still having a hard time bending one of my knees and running on it because of where the bruise it (right under my kneecap) so it makes it very sore to run on. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon!

I thought I'd post this short clip of Spencer bouncing in his jumperoo. He hadn't been in this for a couple of weeks and then I put it in him this week and to my surprise, the little guy could touch the floor already! He can get himself really going in this:) He has had a major growth spurt in the last few weeks, jumping from 3 month clothes to 6 month clothes in a matter of days because he has gotten so long!!