me and my boys.

Week 3 done and Christmas.

2011-12-25T19:53:00.010-05:00

Since I never did a post all about the boys as promised, this one will have to do!

Update on week 3 of Dan's treatment
Dan completed his 3rd week of treatment and once again, did great. We won't find out his lab numbers until Tuesday since they are closed tomorrow for the Christmas holiday. One thing that did happen this week is his hair loss has begun. I noticed it immediately on Thursday when I came home from work and he was eating dinner at our breakfast bar which has lights overhead. His hair just seemed much thinner in the area being treated. We knew it was bound to happen but just no idea when. He texted me later that night when I was having dinner with friends that he is noticing it too since it's often in his mouth and on his phone. Not even 4 days later and he now has bald patches all over. He is just so positive about it all and is really taking it in stride. He is not shy about it and even let me take some pics to further document his journey. Here is your warning.

If you are skiddish about seeing stuff like this, don't look because I am posting a pic of what it looks like so far.

Oh and a big milestone this week also happened on a positive note, Dan was able to shower today STANDING UP! For the first time in a month he didn't have to use the shower seat. So proud of him.

Moving on to Christmas Stuff....
The kids had a ton of activities going on at school for the holidays. Both of them participated in the annual holiday show which is just too cute for words. Tyler's was a matinee show followed by some entertainment for the kiddos and Carson's was an evening show.

Tyler was supposed to shake his bells and sing jingle bells but had stage fright so instead he put on his own show at home for just us!

Carson wanted to be the center of attention and instead of singing with this friends, he put on his own show of bouncing around, laughing, frowning, and pretty much every other personality you can have but all in a 15 minute timeframe.....here you can see his friends cooperating while he lies flat on his back on the stage. Atta boy!

Christmas came so fast and the day was just magical for the boys. It was also so nice to have Gammy and Poppy here to help out with opening all the boxes and assembling everything - which is something Dan used to do. (((insert sad face here))) They got so much great stuff and it was so great to have them side tracked on just a day to play play play!

Here is our living room right after Santa left, so calm and peaceful.....

And here it is when the tornado came through!

So all in all, it was a really nice day (although I am exhausted). I had a few moments of sadness especially when I was helping him get dressed this morning. I gave him a big hug and told him we just need to be thankful he is alive right now to celebrate and we will look back on this time as just a bump in the road.

Week 2 - done.

2011-12-19T22:01:00.006-05:00

We made it through another week and Dan is still doing great. He still isn't feeling any of the fatigue that is supposed to come and his appetite is still raging from the steroids he is on so he's eating non-stop! We got the go ahead to decrease the decadron to 2x daily since they want to eventually wean him off. The side effects aren't very appealing so it would be nice to get him off of it. So I cross my fingers he does well with the lower dosage this time around.

His labs came back fine again this week with his platelet count actually increasing a bit. They don't want the platelet number to go below 100 and right now he's in the 180s. If he goes to 100 or below, he has to stop the Temador and wait until his body builds them back up to begin again. We definitely don't want that to happen since he is on such a great track but it's really out of our hands. Some patients are doing fine one week and the next week they come in and their counts show a significant dip so there's really now saying from one week to the next. Oh and he did gain 5 lbs according to their scale but he did have on layers of clothes and shoes so we (he really since we bickered over this in the waiting room!) estimated maybe 3.

I had mentioned in an earlier post that we are surrounded by amazing people and his radiation oncology nurse is one of them. Today upon arrival we see him decked out in red scrubs and a Santa hat and when it was time to meet him, he came in with his Christmas CD that he recorded a few years back. He always knows how to put a smile on your face and really is perfect for his job. He explained that he plays piano and sings and his friends and family are also featured on the CD. The inside of the CD talks about healing in the cancer world is more than just physical and his words really mean a lot to me even though it's not written for me, it speaks to me. Here is a pic of the cover and of Ron!

Next week we skip our long Monday since they are closed for the holiday so labs will be done on Tuesday most likely.

I hope everyone doesn't think we eat, sleep, and breath cancer because even though Dan is fighting it right now...I am as busy as every getting ready for the holiday and keeping life normal for my boys. I really need to post some pics of them too because if you know me, you know I take a ton of them!

I promise to do a post this week all about the boys.

Week 1 - done.

2011-12-12T21:08:00.007-05:00

Dan finished his first week of treatment which means only 5 more to go! He is so brave and such a good sport especially with allowing me to document his journey. If you have ever been curious what it looks like to get radiation, here is your up close and personal view.....the netting you see on his face is the mask I talked about in one of my previous posts and it holds his head steady on the table. He gets comfy and they crank up the music for him too, which I can hear from the waiting room across the hall!

Today was a long day and each Monday will be this way. After check in he goes to the lab for bloodwork, vitals, and they also measure his height and weight. He is down about 25 lbs since diagnosis and although that sounds like a lot, he says it's a good weight for his height - see how positive he is!? And apparently he shrunk too. They measured him about 1/2 inch less than what he's been telling people all these years!

Next was his 11:30 treatment and than we meet with Dr. Kleinberg (radiation doc) and also separately with Dr. Holdhoff's nurse (oncology). So far everything is right on track and his numbers look great with no changes from last week which is the news we wanted to hear.

By the way, Dr. Kleinberg was so backed up today with appts (around 2 hrs wait time) and it's hard to be patient when you are tired and hungry but I kept reminding Dan that all of these people have cancer too. I am just so sickened that so many people are there fighting to be healthy. I look around the waiting rooms and even talk to so many people who are from all over the world (some with translators even) and seeing other young couples like us, it's hard to hold back tears. I found out today that 200 people were coming to the building for radiation - that's just radiation alone in one day. I think the number was 600 that the medical oncology office is treating for chemo.

I will continue to update as he progresses. Thanks for reading!

Home. Recovering. Treatment. Etc.

2011-12-06T20:34:00.014-05:00

I wasn't sure what to title this post since so much has happened since my last post and I can barely find a few minutes to sit down and update. The day I wrote my last post, I left to go home from the hospital around 8 pm and Dan called me 20 minutes later to say he was being discharged! I tried to talk him into staying the night since he had to be back the next morning very early for his radiation oncology simulation and chemo consult but he insisted on coming home. I couldn't blame him really. It had been a week and he wanted to be in his own bed and get a nice shower too because truthfully, he was stinky! (sorry honey but I know you agree!) So I turned around and drove back downtown to get him.

The next day was a pretty long day at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and we left there armed with so much information and felt educated on what was to come. They did an MRI and CT scan and did his mold to build his radiation mask. We have a fantastic nurse named Ron who is Dr. Kleinberg's nurse (radiation oncology) who was by our side walking us through all the steps of the process and showing us the ropes. After that, we met with Dr. Holdhoff again (medical oncology/chemo) and he showed us all of Dan's MRI scans from the past month, discussed the position, size and shapes of the tumors, walked us through the oral chemotherapy procedures, side affects, survival statistics, etc. He showed us the tumor cells and where they are located and that even though Dr. Weingart did a great job on the resection, they can never get all of these types of tumors out during surgery because they have tentacles that cannot be seen under a microscope during surgery.

I am not going to lie. When Dr. Holdhoff was explaining why they use oral chemo alongside radiation therapy , it was hard to hear Dan ask the question "how well has it been working?" I knew at that point he wanted to know what his chances are of survival because up until this point it had not been discussed and we've been told to stay off the internet. Dr. Holdhoff explained that since Temodar (the oral chemo drug) has been introduced, survival has increased about 20% each year since 2005. So before Temodar, they studied a group from 2000 to 2005 and the average survival was 12-15 months. Typing that out just now makes me so disgusted and sick to my stomach. I want to scream. HOW?!! How can there not be a cure or reason???? He also said there are people living at 5 years and we are holding on to that hope. That Dan will beat those odds and be living even longer. We know Dan is tough and he is going into this with good spirits and fighting HARD. Just like all of his friends are saying "he's got this."

---------------------

Fast forward 2 weeks - Dan got his staples removed on Thursday last week and he won't see Dr. Weingart again until 11 weeks which is his next MRI. He started treatment this week and is taking Temodar everyday, one hour before treatment (which is at 11:30 am 5 days per week for 6 weeks). After the 6 weeks of radiation, Dan gets a 4 week break and than an MRI which establishes new baselines, not to see if treatment worked since apparently the area can look very aggravated from the treatment. Next he has to take a higher dosage of Temodar for 5 days per month for 6 months and an MRI is repeated every 2 months which at that point they can see how it's working.

What else? He will probably feel some fatigue and just a general feeling of lousy. They said he will probably feel fine though for a few weeks so I am crossing my fingers he is fine for the Ravens playoffs. He's on an antibiotic since his immune system can be compromised and there is a risk of a particular type of pneumonia. We meet with Dr. Kleinberg (radiation oncology) every Monday in addition to him getting blood drawn as well to watch for signs of anemia, low platelets, etc. so we also meet with Dr. Holdhoff's nurse every Monday to go over his labs and how they are looking. He is also taking Zofran to prevent nausea but they say it's pretty rare with the oral chemo. Oh and he will probably temporarily lose his hair in the area being treated but that's ok, Dan is known to rock the winter hats all season long anyway. (see pic I took in the waiting room on Monday, doesn't he look so cute?!)

Dan is also back to PT and OT since his left side is still very weak. He rates it to about 30% right now and it's very frustrating for him to be so reliant on me for everything. He says you never know how much you take for granted until you are not able to do simple things like putting on a shirt and get in and out of a car. He is using his cane to get around and I see a huge improvement in his stability and just overall walking. He has given me a few scares but we have a good sense of humor over here and take it in stride. It's really all you can do when you are given something like this to handle. He has to continue OT and PT until his strength plateaus which is unknown right now but his therapists both say it's coming back and he just needs to keep up the exercising.

Right now we just continue to ride the Hopkins bus and take it day by day. We are all just happy he is alive and is home fighting. The week in the hospital was taking a toll on all of us and I think Tyler felt it the most. He's only 2 and cannot comprehend all of these changes. My boys just miss their daddy and I hate cancer for turning their little worlds upside down. I will leave this post with the family pic Dan already shared on Facebook taken by our friend Dawn's sister Terri. This was 2 days before we found out Dan's tumor grew larger. I wanted a keepsake of us all together and she captured it for us....

Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming. Thank you!

The road to recovery...again.

2011-11-21T18:25:00.004-05:00

Today is 3 days since surgery and I am gushing with pride. Dan has come a long way in just 3 short days. Remember I mentioned in my last post that he couldn't use his left arm or hand and barely lift his leg? Well today during his PT and OT evaluation, he was able to walk 200 feet! Granted he had to use a cane and have someone next to him for support, but he WALKED!! And he is moving his arm up and down too. His hand is more challenging but he is practicing. We know it's not dead so in a matter of time, all his strength will be back. Seriously amazed at his strength in such a short time.

Dan spent the weekend in here recovering while watching TV. Really, that's all he has done the last few days, I mean other than being online too. We knew he wouldn't be going home until he got evaluated by the therapy team because they talked about him possibly going to a rehab facility for a week or so to jump start his therapy and we wouldn't see them until today.

The PT was very pleased with his strength. She got him up out of bed, tested his balance standing, fitted him for a cane, and took him in the hallway to practice and even attempt steps. He did very well and said that since he's 'borderline' meaning he could really benefit from inpatient rehab but as long as he has 24/7 supervision, she would OK him to get discharged to home but she had to wait until the OT eval was done. The OT was also very pleased with all the tests she performed. She tested all of his fine motor skills, mental memory tests (I failed it but he passed, lol!), and more. She did find that his left foot was tight and he has a drop foot or foot drop (can't recall all these terms) which is a weakening of the muscles that enable him to flex so he has to wear a boot that puts his foot in a 90 degree position. It has to be worn to sleep and during the day (4 hrs on/off). That should be fun for him. So basically, both agreed he can go home and immediately begin his outpatient PT and OT again. Whew, one step closer to our family getting back together. We have to wait for the surgeon to give his green light too so crossing fingers it's tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, Dan has an appointment with his radiation oncology team who we actually already met last week. We had a consult scheduled but due to his unexpected hospitalization, they came to his room to do it. Dr. Kleinberg is a radiation oncology expert at the Kimmel Cancer Center here and he specializes in brain tumors and specifically glioblastomas. He came to see Dan on Wednesday of last week which was a really bad day for Dan but I was able to meet with him and his fellow to go over what is expected, side affects, etc. So tomorrow at 9 am Dan will have his 'simulation' appointment and get fitted for a radiation mask. The mask is made of a plastic material and helps position the head when treating the brain during radiation. I believe they said he will get a CT and MRI tomorrow too that are used for treatment planning. Than a team of doctors and super smart physicists get together and simulate his treatment. The simulation takes a week and than Dan is able to begin treatment - which will probably be in about a week and a half.

We are also supposed to meet with the chemo team but they won't meet with him while he's inpatient so it will be delayed a week due to the holiday. We did have a short consult with them on Thursday of last week too and again, his team leading with Dr. Holdhoff is an expert in malignant gliomas.

So that's all I got for now. Dan wanted me to let everyone know that he is doing great!

Here we go again.

2011-11-19T15:52:00.017-05:00

Warning - this is long!

We did not expect to be back at Hopkins until Dan's treatment was to begin but unfortunately he had a pretty major setback this week. He was recovering so well, really. He was even back to himself bitching about my driving and asking to start driving himself soon (which terrified me, not going to lie!). And I was back at the office pretty regularly since my mom was there to prepare meals and my stepfather to drive him anywhere he wanted to go.

So let me backtrack a bit...

Monday - My mom called me at work around lunch saying he had not gotten out of bed and had a headache. He had an OT appt and didn't want to go. He texted me before I left the office asking me to call his doctor to see if we can increase his Decadron which is the steroid he's been on that helps with pressure. He said he was feeling a lot of pressure. When I got home later he progressed to vomiting and couldn't keep the pills down. I was pushing to go to the ER but Dan insisted no. I called the on call neuro once everyone was in bed and he asked me a list of questions and advised me to try to keep him comfortable and get through the night and that if we went to our local ER they would hear his recent history and get him transferred out which is no fun after hours.

Tuesday - I was up half the night with him and emailed Dr. Weingart with a list of his symptoms at a very early hour because I knew something was seriously wrong and he needed medical attention ASAP. I was surprised to get a reply at 6:30 am telling me to bring him to the Hopkins ER. Getting him up to go was difficult since he was so sick and I felt so incredibly helpless. It's so hard watching your spouse in so much pain and there is NOTHING you can do. NOTHING. He was immediately taken back upon arrival and after speaking with the neuro resident and the CT scan showed swelling, they told us he was being admitted. He got settled at around 10 pm and I went home to rest and to be there when the kids got up the next day.

Wednesday - I dropped off the kids and headed down to see Dan and I cannot even explain how I felt seeing him. I guess i expected to see him sitting up watching TV and that the meds would've kicked in over night. I was wrong. There just are no words and I think it was the first time I cried so hard that a nurse had to comfort me. Dan was so out of it that he didn't even notice. I mean, WTF happened overnight was my question. When I left him on Tuesday he was able to walk to the bathroom alone and when he asked me to help him when I got there, I had to call for help. His left leg was just too weak to stand on and hold his weight. He was in a ton of pain and just moaning in bed begging for morphine. He was taken for an MRI and his severe pain lasted ALL day. He had double vision and pretty much kept his eyes closed all day too.

That afternoon, Dr. Weingart came by and delivered the news we did not want to hear. The MRI showed that the tumor that they couldn't get to fully last time has already increased in size - hence the fast onset of symptoms - and he would have to have surgery again. He explained that this time it's very risky based on its position and we won't know until after the surgery if his left side has movement or not. Seriously, it's not even a month and it's grown. And his symptoms were wayyyy worse than even before the first surgery. My head was spinning and Dan was barely awake so I just had to leave the room to process it all. Thankfully my sister and friend dawn were there to be the voices of reason. I came to terms with the fact that he was in the very best hands possible and even if he had limited motion on that side, he was going to be alive and that was all that mattered.

Thursday - Dan made a big improvement when I arrived on Thursday morning. He was up in bed watching TV and said he was no longer in pain. He immediately asked for his phone too which is always a good sign. We found out that surgery was scheduled for Friday so I caught up on work in the room while Dan hung out and even had a visit from his two buddies (Stalls and H as he calls them). I have to say that it was so great seeing him laugh as they reminisced and talked sports. Dan had a smile on his face most of the visit and I realized just how much I missed that smile. So while he had a distraction, one of my best friends Mimi arrived for me. She came to give me a hug and bearing magazines to help occupy my mind with something else. Since Dan was doing so well, I was able to leave to get the kids and have dinner with them. I needed it and so did they.

Friday - Dan was taken to pre-op at 11:00 and surgery was to begin shortly thereafter and expected to be done by 3:30. It was a long day of waiting. Those magazines came in handy and I did a lot of anxious eating. Finally around 5:30 they took me in to see him. He looked good and was very sleepy unlike last time where he was up telling jokes. He did immediately request a chocolate milkshake though! He was also very happy to see Rosemary again, she took care of him after his first surgery. She's just a sweet sweet soul.

Dr. Weingart came in to give us an update on know it went and said he was very pleased and was able to get the whole tumor out but (there's always a but) there are cancer cells in there that need to be treated with radiation and chemo ASAP. Additionally, these glioblastomas like to come back which is why treatment is so crucial.

Saturday - We did find out on Friday that his left side was in fact affected after surgery, and Dan was not able to lift his arm and his leg only a little bit. We've been told some of the lack of movement is from the swelling after surgery and it should continue to improve each day. He can't yet move his fingers on that hand but I saw the thumb moving when the nurse asked him to give a thumbs up and tonight he lifted his arm up a little by himself and it brought me to tears. I could see him willing it up and there it went. That's huge! I know he will get this movement back and it may be slow, but he's got the will and strength.

The rest of today I spent keeping him company while he watched sports. He was moved out of critical care tonight and he has his appetite again and hopefully should catch up on all the meals he missed the last 4 days. When I ask him how he feels he says he's ready to move on and recover at home. Atta boy! Last time he was discharged in 2 days but this time they plan to keep him longer I think due to the left side weakness. Hopefully he proves them all wrong and he gets out in 2 days again.

This is so long and I'm exhausted but I have to add that I find comfort seeing familiar faces since this is his third time on this floor. They all know us and our story and are just full of compassion. You never want to say "it's good to see you" under these circumstances but really, it's good to have the same faces caring for him.

Thank you again everyone for reading and sending all your thoughts, positive vibes, and prayers. They must be working!

Three weeks later.

2011-11-11T21:22:00.002-05:00

This may turn into a whiny post but I feel like I am allowed to whine right now. I am sick (literally I have a cold) and exhausted. This weekend is 3 weeks since Dan came home from the hospital after his brain surgery. What a crazy and busy few weeks it's been. I am not going to lie and sugarcoat things since I am just not that way, I will be honest and say I don't like our new normal right now. Not.at.all.

The past 3 weeks have been full of taking Dan to his PT and OT appointments (with the help of some family too), keeping track of his meds, running errands, taking the kids to birthday parties, driving them to and from daycare (since we are trying to keep things normal for them), keeping up with Dan's appetite, making sure everyone is getting lots of love, kisses, cuddles, and attention....oh and did I mention I work full time?! So basically if my parents weren't here, we wouldn't be eating or have any clean clothes or dishes.

Don't get me wrong, life was hectic prior to his brain surgery since we do have a 2 and 4 year old but now I am doing it all alone and this is not what I signed up for at all. I just want my husband back to the way he was before and I want my kids to have their daddy back rolling around on the floor making forts out of blankets and pillows and playing hotwheels and football. I'm not the fun one. That's Dan. He's the creative one making garages out of shoe boxes, teaching them what every make and model of their hotwheels cars are and making a game out of every car ride too. I just want to yell and scream that it's not fair and trust me, I do yell and scream but never in front of my kids and husband. I guess the "why him, why us, why now" is normal but really, WHYYYYYYYY DAN?????

So every weekend around this time when the kids are fast asleep and I finally get to sit down, I give myself a huge pat on the back that I made it through another weekend. That sounds so silly but it's not even a joke, I say to Dan "I made it! and he says "good job babe." I think to myself how much longer will I have to do this alone? I hate this unknown and I know Dan does too. I cannot even imagine how he feels and he's not the best at communicating his feelings. I ask him often and he tells me he is ready to fight. He is brave and I need to be strong and brave for him too.

This week is the week it will all begin. Dan has been scheduled for his radiation and chemotherapy consultations. We've been told his treatment will begin immediately. I will update at the end of the week once we know more.

Keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming. Your words of encouragement truly lift us up.

Thank you!

p.s. I realize this post is all over the place rambling but you can see how my mind is working these days!

What Cancer Cannot Do.

2011-11-02T20:57:00.005-04:00

Last night as we were leaving Carson's end of season soccer team dinner, one of our friends handed me a bag and said it was something for Dan and I.

Let me back up and explain more about this friend. We met Jenn and her husband Tim through our sons who were in the same daycare for the past few years. I used to see them at pick up and drop off and say hi in passing but vividly remember the time they sat behind us during one of the school's performances when the different classes sing for the parents and as Tim cracked jokes and Jen nudged at him to stop I thought, they are just like us! I knew I liked them. They seemed like a lot of fun and as we got to know each other through school events, t-ball, soccer, etc, I was right. They are just like us.

So after the kids settled in bed, we opened the card and bag and there was a framed poem with a heartfelt note from Jenn explaining that this poem was passed back and forth to Jenn and her sister when Jenn's nephew was diagnosed with Lymphoma as a young child. This child is now a healthy active boy who beat the cancer but I get chills just thinking about what her family went through at the time as no child should ever have to deal with something so awful.

Here are the words from the poem:

What Cancer Cannot Do
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot destroy peace.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot suppress memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot steal eternal life.
It cannot conquer the Spirit.
- Author Unknown

Thank you jenn for sharing your story and for passing on the poem to us. No dry eyes for us last night, that's for sure. We were very touched.

Just like daddy.

2011-10-31T14:06:00.003-04:00

The boys always want to be just like daddy whether it's wearing Ravens gear, hoodies, baseball hats, etc and now that Dan has his hair buzzed, Carson wanted to be just like him!

Dan has always taken the boys for their haircuts and had been going to the same place for years. Carson started going when he turned 1 so even though it's far from where we live now, he continued to go since the boys were used to it. If you have a kid, you know how traumatic it is when they get their haircuts for the first few times, right?! Tell me it's not just us. LOL.

Anyway, I was just not into traveling that far and the boys really needed hair cuts. Carson decided he wanted to look just like daddy so he got buzzed on Saturday. Doesn't he look cute?! He is so proud of his new buzz cut and telling everyone he looks just like daddy!

By the way, my friend Lisa owns a salon in Bel Air and cut it for us. So if you need a good salon you should go see her! We have been friends since HS and she really does a great job. I get my hair done there too. Her salon is Subtle Rebellion. Tell her I sent you!

One week post op update.

2011-10-28T13:16:00.005-04:00

Thank you everyone for reading our story and for the comments of encouragement and thoughts. We have read every one of them and will continue to do so as we move forward so keep them coming - Dan needs all the thoughts he can get!

Dan had his 1 week post op appointment yesterday with Dr. Weingart. It ended up being a very long day since he was running an hour and 45 minutes behind schedule. We had a lot of time to wait in the Hopkins Outpatient Center where the docs take their appointments and believe me when I say, you see things that make you so humble and things we take for granted like being able to walk and talk.

So it started out with Dan getting his staples removed which he was dreading. He kept thinking they would need to put some numbing cream on it but I told him, no, they have a tool like one we use on staples for paper and do it that way. I had 2 c sections and my 6 staples were nothing compared to his almost 50 but at least I can understand how it works! Dan said it didn't hurt after all and was just a quick pinch and time went fast since Dr. Weingart was talking to us at the time too.

I have to add that every time I meet him, I am more impressed. He is just so nice and caring and gentle and has the best bedside manner. He doesn't rush through anything, he takes his time and makes you understand every word he throws out at you. He genuinely cares and it shows through and through.

Once the staples were out we sat down to talk since he did receive the full pathology report and told us that what the pathologist saw during surgery was confirmed. Dan's glioma is "high grade" which is something we did not want to hear. I wanted to go in and have him tell me it was low grade and actually had a dream about it too. A high grade glioma basically means that he has a malignant brain tumor (writing that makes me want to get sick). Gliomas are rated in grades unlike other cancers where they use stages. Gliomas originate in the brain instead of coming from elsewhere in the body which means they don't spread. High grade gliomas are fast growing and may come back and sometimes more than once. He explained that they cut him in a way to be able to get deeper should Dan have to undergo multiple surgeries down the road - something he has done many many times with other patients since they often recur.

So what next?
Dr. Weingart said "Dan is on the Hopkins bus and they will tell him when to get off." We have to wait for the oncology team to call us to schedule his treatment plan. The plan will be radiation and chemo for 6 1/2 weeks 5 days per week. He than will immediately begin a more aggressive chemo pill for 6 months. He has to get an MRI one month after his last radiation treatment to see how his body responded and than every 2 months thereafter.

I mentioned in my last post that Dan had his evals for PT and OT which will work on his balance and strength. PT begins today actually.

So right now we just wait for the treatment schedule and try to live our lives in the most positive way that we can.

One day at a time.

2011-10-26T20:50:00.010-04:00

I have neglected my blog for almost 6 months and I wished I had an exciting reason to bring it back to life but sadly, I decided that this would be a great place to update and keep track of what we are currently going through as a family - cancer.

Cancer. Gosh that's an ugly word but the fact of the matter is my husband, the love of my life, my soul mate, father of my beautiful boys has it. And one week ago today (October 19th) he had brain surgery.

So let me back track a little bit to explain how this all came about because really, it's sort of crazy that someone can be so healthy one day and undergo brain surgery the next. I have written this story out many times but could never finish it because it just makes it so real. So here is the story. Bear with me since it's long.....

Around the end September he started to complain about headaches. He was never someone that suffered migraines or ever got sick. So he saw a doctor who told him it was probably allergies and to try claritin. I was suspicious and told him that I have seasonal allergies and never felt like he was describing. So a few days later he went back and got a zpack. That put an awful taste in his mouth and he began having a loss of appetite and vomiting. At that time, he also started to have a little bit of blurred vision every once in a while when bending down (putting the kids shoes on for example) and told me he felt a bit "off" when typing.

So a week or so later, he saw an ENT who told him he probably had a sinus infection. She prescribed prednisone and some nasal spray. Again, I was suspicious. I have had sinus infections (he was never sick remember so he never knew what they were like) and mine were never like he described. She did tell him he would get a sinus scan at week 3 if he still felt bad. We went through a few weekends with him having debilitating headaches where he couldn't take Carson to soccer, couldn't eat, couldn't play with the boys or handle the loudness of them playing, or even go with us to get ice cream. He did a lot of lying in bed with a pillow over his head. He told me he felt a lot of pressure and like something was going "woosh woosh woosh" over and over in his head. I admit, I was getting frustrated and told him a few times to go to the ER to get it fixed! I feel awful now that I may have been hard on him and wish I could go back in time and take back my words. It was just so hard to do it all and I wanted my husband back and the kids wanted daddy back too. I even recall him calling my sister Cara a few times for help since she's a nurse and he thought maybe she would have some advice.

By the time the prednisone kicked in, it was my birthday weekend - October 9th and about 3 weeks after the onset of the debilitating headaches. Dan was feeling really good. We were so excited that something finally worked and we went out to celebrate with some great friends. Little did we realize that would be the last hurrah before his diagnosis but I am glad we had fun and laughed a lot that night! That Monday the 10th, Dan was in a golf tournament and came home feeling terrible again. Back in bed he went. He was miserable all week and spent most of it in bed or on the couch again with a pillow over his head. By this point he was still vomiting and losing a lot of weight too.

October 14th - the day our life changed.

Dan moved up his sinus scan by a week to figure out what was really going on. He scheduled it for after lunch to see about this so called sinus infection. I didn't even think to go with him. I honestly thought they would see fluid and tell him he had to have it drained. Wrong. He had the scan and was instructed to not drive and go directly to the ER. I was 45 min away at work so he called our good friend Dawn. Thank goodness she was home since she travels a lot for work. She came right over and drove him and sat with him through everything. I dropped everything the minute he called and of course sat in 2 hours worth of traffic. TWO HOURS. I never have traffic leaving work and the one day I have an emergency I can't get home. That 2 hours felt like 8. I cried my eyes out most of it and had road rage too. Looking back, I was irrational. I mean the people around me had no idea where I was going and why. As I sat in traffic on 95 I was calling and texting Dawn for updates and knew she knew something but wouldn't tell me while driving. I finally arrived and both of them just looked at me and I knew at that moment, it was not good. My heart sank the minute I saw their faces. Dan was not talking. I mean what could he say to me at that moment. He just shook his head back and forth. It was not just a sinus infection. He had already had a brain scan and was told there was a large mass. He was waiting to get an MRI when I arrived and an hour later they found 2 brain tumors.

The emotions we felt when they told us cannot even be described. I have tears coming down my cheek just typing this out. We immediately got on the phone to figure out our next steps and got a lot of great advice from friends who we cannot thank enough for the support that night and day after. Around 3 am, we had Dan transferred to the neuro unit at Johns Hopkins (how thankful are we that we live so close too) and he got hooked up with Dr. Jon Weingart. He actually was able to come home Saturday night to rest at home with surgery scheduled for a few days later.

Dan had 2 brain tumors sitting on top of each other. In the brain, they are called a glioma. We were told that they had not seen two in this position before and the bottom one was very large and close to the area of the brain that controls your motor skills. They said it was pretty much a miracle that Dan had no issues with his motor skills as a symptom. So going into surgery we knew that one would be removed and they would scoop out as much as they can of the second.

The days leading up to surgery were very hard. Lots of tears. Lots of hugs and cuddles. Calls and visits from family and friends, etc. It was the unknown. We had no idea what would happen next which is why I say we are taking it "one day at a time." I took Dan for a number 2 buzz cut to help when growing in the hair they would shave because if you know Dan, he loves to look good...even if he was going in for brain surgery. Boy that was emotional too.

October 19th - surgery day.

We had to arrive at 6 am for an MRI with surgery scheduled for 12:30. All went according to plan. Dan was so brave. I never left his side until they pushed him away into the OR. We were told he would be done at around 5 pm. I was with Dan's mom, dad and stepmom, and my sister Cara and we all waited and waited and waited. At around 2:30 they told me they were closing him up and he would be in the NCCU (neuro critical care unit) and I can see him soon. My initial thoughts were "why was it done so quickly?" but I tried my best to not let my mind wander. I had to be strong for Dan. I wanted to be brave just like him. I cried often but pulled it together by the time the surgeon came to talk to me.

He told me how well the surgery went and that Dan was moving his left side which was great news since the surgery was very risky for the left side of his body. He said what he told us before, that the large one could not be removed fully and that Dan will need chemo and radiation to try to shrink it. He said we will know more details when the full pathology report comes in. I also learned more than I ever wanted about gliomas but it's way too much to include here. More waiting.

Dan was in NCCU for 24 hours and transferred to the brain recovery floor. His nurse Rosemary in NCCU was amazing! She will always have a special place in my heart. She laughed at all his jokes which made him feel special too. The staff on Meyer 9 was also amazing and we thank every one of them. They sent him home on Friday evening. We were just shocked and amazed that it was so soon but honestly, it made it so much easier on us with two little kids who really don't understand what is going on. The left pic below shows him being moved from the NCCU and the one on the right is right before discharge.

We know this is going to be a long road. Starting this week, Dan has had an evaluation for PT and OT and will begin both immediately. PT will be 3x per week and OT 2x per week. He is young and otherwise healthy so they do expect him to rebound quickly on his strength and balance which was what we wanted to hear.

Tomorrow we go back to Hopkins for his post-op appointment and to get his staples removed. Hopefully we will understand more and what the next steps are for treatment.

I know this is long and I left so much out but I just have to add that we had so much support from friends and family and again, words cannot express how grateful we are to everyone. Just the number of calls, texts, and FB messages brings tears to my eyes. From friends bringing over dinner, to taking the boys to play, driving them to daycare, etc. It was amazing and we thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts.

I will continue to update and hopefully our story can be shared with others going through the same thing. I am a very positive person and need to be strong and brave for Dan and the boys. We hope this is just a small bump in the road and remain optimistic until told otherwise.

I am sure Dan is reading this and I hope he knows how much I love him.

The other apple doesn't fall far from the tree either.

2011-04-22T13:44:00.003-04:00

Anyone that knows us knows that we are very organized and neat, and we really hate clutter! I posted back when Carson was around 23 months old that he was showing signs of neatness (you can read the blog post here).

Well today after Dan got the kids in the car I looked over and saw that Tyler had lined up all the ride on toys along the fireplace. He had been playing with them all but I wasn't paying much attention to what he was actually doing with them since I was too busy trying to get out the door for work.

This makes me so happy and that probably sounds crazy but who wouldn't love a neat child?!

Carson's 4th birthday party pics!

2011-04-17T20:36:00.008-04:00

We celebrated the day before his birthday with his friends at a bouncy place nearby and he had a blast. So much fun that he didn't speak to me the entire time! Every single time I tried to stop him, he would run away. I think he thought I was telling him it was time to leave or something. The 2 hours were a complete whirlwind.

Here are a few pics of the party.

Looks like daddy even had some fun....

Batman cupcakes.

The baby brother was along for the fun.

And than the next day on his real birthday, we celebrated at home with grandma, and aunt cara and family with another batman cake!

Happy Birthday my little love. I hope your 4th was everything you wished.

My letter to Carson on his 4th birthday.

2011-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Dear Carson,

I can’t believe you are 4 today. I know you’ve been telling everyone you are 4 for a while now but guess what, now you really ARE 4!!! I get so sentimental on your birthdays and I always go back and look at all the pictures I have taken over the past four years. I am truly amazed at how big you are now. You have grown into a sweet, confident, funny, intelligent, witty, sensitive, and silly little man.

I still remember all the vivid details of the day you were born and how you took your sweet time to make your appearance 9 days late. You were my first born. I always wanted a boy and you gave me that gift. YOU made me a mommy. I had no idea what I was doing but you were such an easy baby. Your giggles and smiles always assured me I was doing it all right. You slept through the night very early on and I used to check on you obsessively (just ask daddy) to make sure you were ok. Oh how I Ioved watching you sleep. In fact, four years later I still sneak up to your room when you fall asleep just to watch you. I don’t think I will ever stop loving it.

I love the little person you have become. Your imagination at the age of 4 is hilarious and I just love listening to you tell us stories. You are a great big brother and I know you can’t wait for Tyler to get a little bit bigger so you can really play together and I assure you it’s only a few short months away.

You have made me a better person. You taught me how strong I am, how capable I am to have a career and take care of my boys. I miss you so much when I am at work and love when you run to me with that great big Carson smile when I pick you up so please don’t ever stop. That smile on your face at the end of a long day and the way you tell me all about your day on the way home makes it all worth it.

I love you stinker. And please take your time getting to 5.

Love always,

Mommy

Top Banana.

2011-04-06T21:18:00.002-04:00

Carson's class theme is monkeys and prior to him being in this room he used to call it 'the monkey room' and now he's so proud to be one of them! Each week a child is selected to be "Top Banana" and last week was Carson's turn. The teacher sends home a sheet that we need to complete which is basically an interview with him. They also ask for you to work with your child to select their favorite photos to showcase and he gets to bring in his favorite book. Only he couldn't just pick 1 book, he brought in 3. I wonder how may times that has happened!

So I got out our external drive where I save all of our photos and we took a trip down memory lane. I let him select his favorite 5-6 pics. I think it was actually way more fun for me than him getting to look back on 4 years worth of photos and reminded me I need to do it more often.

Here is a photo of the bulletin board with his spread of pics and his interview sheet. I know you can't read it so here were his answers, and I promise these were ALL from him and completely unprompted....even the one about mommy (melt!).

My favorite color is - brown
My favorite book is - my 3 Curious George books from my cousins
My favorite movie is - The Bee Movie
My favorite sport is - soccer
When I grow up I want to be a - police man, no wait...I actually want to be Ray Rice!
I'm special because - my mommy loves me
I was born in the state of - Maryland
My favorite food is - pizza
I have a pet - NO!
The person I most admirer is - my baby (he calls Tyler his baby. This made my heart melt too.)
My favorite school subject is - housekeeping
My brother's name is - Tyler
My sister's name is - I don't have one of those.

Countdown to 4.

2011-04-03T13:18:00.003-04:00

One week from today, this batman look alike will be the big 4. He is so excited and asks every day when he wakes up if today is the day of his party. Yesterday he had me run down the list of friends from his class who are coming and as I said their name he told me what gift they got him. I guess this is the topic of conversation in a preschool class. I can see it now "so what did you get me for my party?"

He is all about batman and super heros right now so he walks around in this costume on a regular basis! Oh and he changed his mind a few weeks ago and wanted a Ke$ha cake instead of a batman cake but I am glad I talked some sense into him and we are back on track with batman. What 4 year old even knows who Ke$ha is anyway??!! It would have been hilarious if I actually did print a cake with her on it.

Makeover

2011-04-02T19:48:00.005-04:00

The blog got a makeover today. I found a perfect free blog template to use and spent way too many hours of my precious time while Tyler napped today perfecting it and I could not get all my old posts to format correctly. SOOOOO I decided to just go with a basic blogger template instead.

This is all for me by the way. I needed a new fresh look to kick start me into blogging my kids lives again. So hopefully this means I will be posting a lot more soon. I am sure you will love that mom and my 3 other loyal readers. : )

Tyler 19 months - words

2011-03-03T15:59:00.006-05:00

I have terrible momnesia and just cannot for the life of me remember anything these days.

Tyler has been talking like crazy lately and adding more and more words to his list. Some of them only we can understand or he just uses the first half of the word like how for house while he points to a house in the book but he knows exactly what it is and trying his best to show off his skills to us. He is so good at picture books now and either says the word or makes the sound. Many of his words are perfectly clear though too. So I made a list while he was napping this past weekend and before I lose this piece of paper that has been in my bag for 5 days, I need to write it down.

So these are the ones I remembered on Saturday:

dada
mama
bubbles
water
milk
chair
tree
tractor
momo (carson's lovey)
lovey (his lovey)
baba (his paci)
hot
sock
sticker
pretzel
cracker
not nice (said to carson all the time, hahahaha!)
eye
nose
book
bath
fish
house
choo choo
hi
bye bye
apple
banana
burger
pizza
trash
umbrella (totally surprised me but his teacher said they teach the weather and he loves to say brella!!)
up
doll
hat
bath
towel
more
ball
shhhhh
waffle
uh oh
whoa
no
hello
puzzle
phone
more
elmo

He also does some 2 word phrases like nigh nigh dada, bye bye dada, up mama

He does the following sounds:
elephant
lion
monkey
dog
cat
duck
pig
owl
bird (he won an award at daycare for best bird caller "caw caw caw")
sheep
cow
horse
fire truck
race car
motorcycle

I love this age!!! LOVE it.

edited - I added a few more words I heard the day after I posted!

How to entertain an 18 month old.

2011-02-05T15:21:00.005-05:00

Well at least my 18 month old.

All you need is a plastic laundry basket and a deck of cards as shown below....

At this age they love to push things around and take items in and out of larger items as you can see....he kept dumping and cleaning them all up over and over.

And then push the basket all over the house cackling along the way as I chased him...

Dump and repeat...

See, hours of fun! Who needs remote control cars and expensive toys when you can look around your house and let them have at it. : )

Back to Santa...

2011-02-02T10:43:00.003-05:00

I just found this pic on my computer and had to show you what I meant by being afraid of Santa. This is how far away Carson stayed from the sweet old man, or rather young man dressed as an old man. I guess he didn't fool Carson!

Busy...Busy...Busy

2011-01-29T14:13:00.006-05:00

That is the only word that summarizes us right now. I did make a commitment to blog more often and than haven't logged in since. So here is my very short update on us from the past few months!

We had a great holiday season. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our wonderful neighbors that took us in for dinner since we never have Tday plans. The food was delish. We actually hosted Christmas here with my FIL and his wife Nancy (Pops and Nan as the kids call them!) on Christmas eve, and Christmas day with my MIL and sister and her family. My sister ended up getting called into work so my BIL and nephews came alone until she got off of work. The kids had a blast and got so many nice gifts from everyone. THANK YOU!

Here is a pic of Carson with his pilgrim hat he made at school....

And our visit with Santa. Tyler took one for the team since Carson stood 50 feet away!

Than January rolled around and work has been super busy. There is literally no down time at all. It definitely makes the days go faster though so that's good. This month was fun though.

Tyler is now 18 months old and soooooooooooo much fun. His vocabulary is really increasing and he's so darn smart. He understands anything you tell him to do now, he knows all the obvious body parts, and his animal sounds are hilarious, esp the monkey which I take credit for teaching him! He sleeps great and eats great too. We really cannot complain much at all I guess. He did have the stomach bug earlier this month but after 24 hours he was back to normal.

Tyler at 18 mos...

Carson is going to be 4 in a few months and he moved up to the 4 year old preschool room this month. He's 4 going on 14 I swear. He keeps us on our toes. Right now he just loves to sing and dance all the time and make us just sit and watch him. He is still really into hotwheels cars but also now obsessed with superheros. He started indoor soccer this month too which we thought would wear him out and make him nap but no such luck. He's got so much energy it's crazy.

I have to run since Tyler just woke from his nap and apparently I am the only one that can walk upstairs to get him.

More updates soon!

Bye bye October - it was fun!

2010-11-02T21:05:00.015-04:00

I've been such a horrible blogger lately and even tossed around the idea of stopping altogether but then the guilt set in and got the best of me. I don't keep a journal, nor did I keep baby books for either child so this place really has all of their memories all wrapped up in an online journal of sorts I guess. So here I am. I am back and making a commitment to blogging more regularly. They are growing up so fast and if I don't continue to document their lives here, than all of those memories will be lost. I mean let's face it, I can't even recall what I just had for dinner never mind remembering all of Tyler's new words!

October was a fun month for us. There were birthday and Halloween parties, my birthday, pumpkin farms, Carson turning 3 and a half and more. Oh and Tyler turned 15 months old. HOW did that happen?! I stare at him in awe of how grown up he is and he's so darn smart! He says a ton of words. He basically understands everything you tell him to do and takes direction really well - unlike a 3 year old I know! He pretty much now knows all of his body parts (the typical ones that is), he tries to repeat everything we say, he LOVES books. I mean just loves to sit down on your lap or anyone that has a book and just point to the pages and listen. He is recognizing different animals and so far does the sounds of ducks, lions, and pigs. Dan says he does an elephant too but I've yet to hear that one! He is also learning colors at school and so far knows blue.

Here are some recent pics of the past month of fun.....

A visit to the pumpkin farm.

Me and the boys.

At Carson's BFF's Halloween party. Tyler got the first swing at the pinata! We took his costume off since it was so hot outside and he was sweating.

Carson got a few tries too.

Halloween parade at school.

Tyler loved it too. You may recognize that costume from here.

Taking a break to read to his little bro. I told you that Tyler loves to sit on laps. : )

And some kisses too. Tyler loves to give out kisses and hugs. My little lovebug.

And Halloween. Daddy and the boys.

My attempt at a pic of the two of them together. Tyler wasn't having it.

I also took Carson to see Toy Story on Ice but my pics are all from my phone and bad quality. He LOVED it. We had a nice one on one date which rarely happens these days.

So on to November.....be back soon.

Body parts.

2010-10-01T20:58:00.004-04:00

Sounds like an odd title but you will see what I mean in the video! It's a few weeks old but I am finally getting a chance to upload and share it here. He's been obsessed with body parts. He is constantly pointing to our heads, noses, ears, you name it. It's like a game to him! He especially loves doing it to Carson since it makes Carson laugh!

He knows his head, ears, nose, mouth, eyes, toes, and belly and points to all of them - not always on demand as you can see! He also loves to blow kisses and give open mouth ones too. You will also see his sign language skills which I cannot take credit for since I had to look up his signs on the internet to figure out what he was doing, lol! His teacher at daycare has taught him more, yes, please, all done, and a few more.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tyler's 1st year montage (a tad late).

2010-09-23T15:56:00.002-04:00

Bad mama again for forgetting to post this here. I always forget what I post on Facebook vs. here. Ugh. So here you go, a one year montage from my little man's first year.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just another Saturday morning.

2010-09-06T15:15:00.004-04:00

Tyler loves to lie down and drink his milk on weekend mornings and of course Carson like to copy him. Oh and is my 3 year old the only one who insists on still wearing footed jammies? He LOVES them!!!

If you notice they also have the same cup. Carson has to use a sippy when walking around the house with it and Tyler will only drink from the same kind as Carson. Life is fun, I tell ya!

Than shortly after breakfast, it's motorcycle time!

When mommy's away....

2010-08-28T14:00:00.002-04:00

I had a hair appointment last night and went straight from work so Dan had to take care of the boys. I am so glad I wasn't here to clean up this mess!

Tyler - 13 months

2010-08-27T13:20:00.005-04:00

Ok so he turned 13 months about 2 weeks ago but who is counting?! I am so busy that I just forget to do things lately and I really need to get better at writing things down. Mommy brain is in full force!

So before I forget I wanted to jot down his new "words" since he really is adding to his vocabulary these days. I believe that if he goes to the same object saying the word, hands you the object saying the word, points to something saying it over and over, or even takes something from one of us saying the word, then he knows what it is and it's a word. Right?!

- has been saying dada and mama for a while but he doesn't say mama TO me (insert tear!) but he does squeal for dada. He hears the garage door opening and he runs for the back door yelling dada dada dada. But I think he calls Carson dada too. Dan thinks maybe he thinks all males are dadas to him!
- as I posted before he says thank you or dadu
- his favorite toys are balls so of course this had to be one of his first ones. He says bah for ball.
- he points to our noses and says nuh nuh nuh
- he says ni ni when it's time to go to bed
- he plays with a lion in his room and has been forever now and I always tell him it's a lion. Well now he points to it and says blabla

Hopefully I get better at updating.

Rough day.

2010-08-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

If they only knew what it was really like to have a rough day.....

Baseball AND Football...in one weekend.

2010-08-08T20:48:00.012-04:00

Carson had a busy weekend in the sports department. Dan took him to his first minor league Ironbirds game Friday night and I wasn't there to witness it but he had a blast. Whoever took this pic of them caught him mid bite in his popcorn!

Than on Saturday we all went to see the Ravens practice since they were at M&T Stadium. We had so much fun and Carson couldn't believe he was so close to all the players and got to see Joe Flacco in real life.

He insisted on wearing his jersey and it was so hot outside and we were in the sun!

Tyler and I ran around on the concession area. He wasn't very interested in the practice!

No fear.

2010-08-08T20:24:00.008-04:00

Tyler is our little daredevil. I swear this kid has no fear at all and he's so intuitive so he figures out that something might hurt him or be dangerous and he stops himself.

This little episode happened this afternoon and instead of getting him down and redirecting, what do I? I grab my phone and start snapping away. Yeah, mother of the year award goes to me!

Sports Fanatic.

2010-07-30T21:25:00.004-04:00

Nope not talking about Dan, I am talking about Tyler. At the ripe old age of 1 he is obsessed with footballs, baseballs, tennis balls, and most of all golf clubs. This makes daddy very happy I might add since the apple does not fall far from the tree.

I have a ton of pics of Tyler with all sorts of balls since the kid carries them around the house at every waking moment. I have to document this to prove to ESPN or NBC Sports some day when he makes it to the Masters that he really did start golfing at 1!

Oh but he really has a thing for the orange putter. It's the first thing he goes to upon waking and upon coming home from daycare or any outing.

Every pic is blurry or like this since he's on the move with golf club in hand at all times. If you dare take it away, watch out!

Tyler says "thank you!"

2010-07-18T20:52:00.003-04:00

Love him.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby Tyler.

2010-07-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

Dear Tyler,

One year ago I questioned my ability to love another child and now one year later, I can’t even describe in words the way you make us feel. You made us a perfect family of four.

Just to give you a recap of July 14^th, 2009, your birth was so much different than your brother’s since your due date was planned, and you had some difficulty breathing on your own. Daddy and I were very scared when the doctors didn’t immediately bring you over to meet us but we knew you were in great hands. We were sent to recovery and waited patiently to meet you. Finally you arrived all wrapped up like a burrito. We breathed a sigh of relief that you were ok. The moment our eyes met for the first time and I saw your sweet little face, it was magical. My heart opened up so wide and any previous thoughts of my inability to love two children quickly disappeared. You came out with chubby cheeks and looked exactly like your big brother. You were perfect and we were in love.

It is so surreal that it’s already been a year. We have enjoyed watching you grow and cheering you on as you accomplished all of your “firsts” from smiling, rolling, laughing, crawling, waving, clapping, and even walking. You are an angel, you love to cuddle, you are loud, curious, smart and intuitive, full of life, hilarious, charming, and boy do you love your big brother!

This last year has been amazing and I can’t wait to see what your second year brings. You and Carson mean the world to us; you are our purpose in life – our everything. Thank you for making our family complete, for making our lives even more exciting and rewarding.

Happy Birthday baby T. We love you forever.

Mommy and Daddy

And because I can't post without pics....here is a pic from his newborn session that still makes my heart melt.

And how much he has grown.

And another from his 1 year photo shoot. I love them!! (photos by Anni from www.anniohphotos.com)

Some things never change.

2010-07-13T09:00:00.002-04:00

I always loved this pic of Carson sleeping at about 6 weeks old. He looked so sweet and peaceful - a far cry from his crazy personality now - but we always laughed since I sleep the exact same way!

Well last week he was napping in our bed since he refuses to nap in his own these days (that's for another post!) and I walked in to him passed out watching Toy Story and had to take this pic. It reminded me SO much of the one from above. Three years later and he still sleeps the same way...and so do I!

On a side note, check out the bruises on his legs. The kid plays HARD.

Tyler is 'almost' walking!

2010-07-12T20:50:00.003-04:00

He's been taking steps here and there for about 2 weeks but just last week he started walking more and more. He is walking across the room now!

Click the arrow to start the video...

A few more Carson funnies.....

2010-07-06T21:09:00.002-04:00

Setting - in the car ride home from Target as we drive past lots of farms since well, we live in farm country USA!

Carson: "mommy I wish we were farmers so we can ride on tractors alllll day."
Me: "oh honey, farmers have really rough lives. It's not really that glamorous."

Then I think why did I even open up a can of worms here, he is so inquisitive that I end up going way deeper than I planned about why they have rough lives but then I think that maybe he's so darn smart because I talk to him like an adult and not a 3 year old so I continue, LOL!!

So I changed the subject by telling him that Tyler and Daddy will be having birthdays soon and asking if we should throw parties....

Carson: "mommy, how old is daddy going to be?"
Me: 40!!!
Carson: "wow that is really tall!

I just love the fact that he relates age to height, too cute. And we continue on....

Me: "carson, you need to stop growing. You boys are just getting sooo big and mommy wants you to slow down."
Carson: "you mean tyler is getting big not me mommy, I'm already big."

Tyler's 1st haircut.

2010-07-04T07:30:00.008-04:00

Everytime I tell someone that Tyler got his first haircut last weekend I get crazy looks or comments like "what hair did you cut?" and believe it or not, he did have a lot of hair. It was just concentrated in one place! I always regret not cutting Carson's before his first birthday since many of his pics from that age have his comb-over bang in his eyes and it just looks like a straggly mess.

So here are a few before pics so you can see his mohawk.

He was not a fan of the actual process at all!

But he was so happy once it was over. Look how cute!!!

One big MAY update.

2010-06-14T20:42:00.016-04:00

I was going through pics and realized I slacked off in May and have some catching up to do so I thought I would just do one long May update post. I think the main reason I slacked off was because Tyler is my crazy one and all over the house!

So, we have been incredibly busy keeping up with him. He is so fast and it takes all 3 of us to track him down and keep him out of the plantation shutters, bathrooms, and anything else he can get his hands on.

Carson just adores him but we are having some territory issues already since Tyler wants NOTHING to do with baby toys, I mean nothing at all. I am going to either give them all to my friends with babies or donate them since he has already advanced to trucks and cars and plays with all of Carson's toys - or rather the ones that Carson allows him to play with while he is playing with something else!

We had a triathlon go through our community and the last biker was trailed by police cars. Carson wouldn't leave the back doors until they were all of of sight. This kids loves "emergencies" as he calls them which in his world means that anytime we see an emergency vehicle it has to be an emergency, right?

Dan and I celebrated 5 years together. He got me this cute little chocolate cake in addition to flowers and we went out to dinner to celebrate. I had just gotten some Mother's Day $$$ the week prior so no gifts were exchanged this time.

Oh and here is a pic of our first kiss as a married couple!!
Tyler started taking rides in the red buggy - which was Carson's first bday gift from me! He loves it and Carson loves to push him around too.

We hit the playground and Tyler had his first swing experience. I am actually surprised we hadn't taken him before. Carson refused to get his picture taken.

And we went to the beach the weekend before Memorial Day with our dear friends. Tyler disliked the sand so he hung out in the stroller the whole time.

There is a lot more but this is getting long and I am tired of trying to get the pics arranged in the right order so I will just highlight some other things that happened in May:

- Tyler started to walk with his walker all over the house and he loves for us to hold his hands and walk with him.
- He also waves hi, claps, and does a full arm point to things. He does things on command as well and knows objects by name too. Oh and he is 11 months old TODAY!!!!
- Carson helped daddy hang flags for Memorial Day and decorate all around the house too. They also built a bird feeder and hung it from a tree outside the window.
- Carson participated in his school pre-k graduation and performed in front of lots of people as Pup in a Cup from a Dr. Seuss book.
- Tyler had his first ER visit after 4 hours of non-stop crying and it was a double ear infection. Earlier in the same week he had croup and pink eye. Now he has eczema and something else called keratosis - all harmless but so annoying that he has had so many issues!

So that's it for now......

cars, cars, cars, and more cars.

2010-06-11T15:31:00.004-04:00

I guess this is going to be my life so I may as well get used to it since I live with 3 males and the leader of the pack is obsessed with cars himself. {insert eye roll here}

All 3 so excited over cars. They were actually looking for the Porsche with shiny wheels and I think daddy was more upset than Carson that it was lost. I found it about an hour later of course and have been declared "the best finder ever!!"

Here's an example of the number of matchbox cars we own....this is what is downstairs.....

Just so you can see how deep it is....

My boys. I love them so.

2010-06-08T22:15:00.003-04:00

We have the best time on the way home from school every day and Carson and I used to spend this quality time catching up on our day since once we get home it's all about daddy. But lately it's getting more challenging since Tyler is now in a convertible carseat since he outgrew his infant seat and their seats are right next to each other since my LATCH system is situated so that one seat it off center and one is next to the window - totally does not make sense at all.

Anyway, now that they are so close to each other Tyler likes to play games with Carson. You would think it would be the other way around but Tyler just laughs and throws his paci and lovey and makes Carson fetch them and if he doesn't he screeches so loud until he does!! Carson sings songs and makes Tyler laugh and I just love seeing them engage with each other. I have to cherish these moments now since in a few short months they will be fist fighting, right?!

So as we approached the house yesterday Carson says "mommy can I have a pet dinosaur?" and I replied with "I don't think dinos are alive anymore Carson" and he proceeds with "yes they are mommy and I would like a red one puhlllleasseeeeeeeeeeeee can I?" and he is dead serious. I felt so bad that I had to let my innocent 3 year old down to tell him they are extinct so I told him to go ask daddy. LOL!! The joys of parenthood.

Dearest Carson... you still need a nap.

2010-06-06T21:32:00.004-04:00

He naps at school every single day but on the weekends he tells us he isn't tired, doesn't need one, etc. We gave up asking but we know he needs to nap still since he gets so whiny and every little thing sets him off. I mean, a matchbox car can fall off the couch and he will cry or my foot might be too close to his, etc. Such drama!!

Anyway, without fail every single weekend he falls asleep in the car or stroller. And right before it happens he slurs his words and acts like an angry drunk!!!

Tyler says hi!!

2010-06-06T13:26:00.002-04:00

I swear he imitates the way I say hi when he waves!

Click the arrow to see the video...

Just need to jot this down before I forget.

2010-06-04T21:51:00.004-04:00

Carson just gets cuter and funnier by the day. I wrote this down and need to blog it before I forget since it's the only place I keep track of stuff these days.

Last Sunday when we woke up I was super tired from being in the ER the night before with Tyler (that's for another post).

Carson: "mommy, you go back to bed and I will watch Tyler for you. Is that a good idea?"
Me: "no honey, you can't really keep track of him since you are too busy with your matchbox cars."
Carson: "oh yeah. but please mommy, just let me try. I will be very carefully."
Me: "give me a hug. you are just too cute."
Carson: looks down at his jammies and points to them saying "no mommy, you see these words? this says no hugs for big people, only lily, cati, and tyler. see it says it right there."
Me: "well I'm the mommy and you do as I say" as I grabbed him and squeezed him tight as he screamed and kicked his way free. Sigh.

I just love this kid. Melt.

Dear Dan (and Carson)....

2010-05-11T09:34:00.004-04:00

Why must you open up new bags of Tostitos when you want a snack? There are perfectly good chips left in the opened bags. Seriously!!!

PROOF

p.s. if you are reading this and aren't Dan, he told me I haven't updated the blog in a while so I just had to publicly out him for this one because I find it funny and annoying too! I was cleaning the pantry after grocery shopping on Sunday and couldn't believe my eyes when I found 8, yes EIGHT opened bags of Tostitos. He had to remind me that some are lime. Ummm ok, and your point issssssss?!!!

Just a quick funny.....

2010-04-23T11:12:00.003-04:00

I just got an email from Dan that said "carson took the tape measure to school today" and burst out laughing. I wish I had an emoticon to post that explains why but for some reason it cracked me up. Why would he need a tape measure you ask? We have no idea! He loads up his school bag every morning with random things. It's not like he plays with them at school but when I pick him up, he tells me exactly what is in the bag and sure enough he is right.

I swear my child is a hoarder and I say that being funny. I mean I know hoarding is not funny, heck my grandmother and aunt were hoarders!

Brotherly love.

2010-04-15T14:37:00.000-04:00

This just makes it all worth it. Melt!

Carson is THREE.

2010-04-10T20:20:00.004-04:00

Today is Carson's birthday and we had an action packed day and both boys are finally asleep. Carson had all of his friends join him for a party at My Gym and had a blast!

I am exhausted to say the least. I took a ton of pics but wanted to share a few before I go to bed.

This kid is just too much. He loves to play air guitar and pretend he's a rockstar. When we arrived they had music playing and this was him in action....

I am such a mean mommy!! He got stuck in the ball pit (well he thought he was stuck) and I took pics instead of helping him!

Happy birthday to my sweet first born baby boy. We love you very much buddy!!!!

Easter Egg Hunt.

2010-04-04T09:25:00.008-04:00

Happy Easter!

We had so much fun yesterday at an egg hunt. One of Carson's little friends from school lives on a farm nearby and they invited us over for an egg hunt. We missed it last year but another mom told me it is tons of fun but I had no idea really how much fun it was going to be. The home is just amazing. They have acres and acres of land, horses, stables, a gorgeous pool, and even riding areas or whatever you call them where they train horses to jump!

Carson had a blast to say the least. Will even has his own tractor that he rides around and Carson cannot wait to go back for a playdate. He cried so hard when we left. They had about 80 people there I think from all ages. It was hard to take pics since I was carrying Tyler but I tried my best.

Listening to the rules:

And they're off....

Coming back to show me his stash...

Checking out his candy...

Confession - I ate all of his candy!

Milestone - crawling!

2010-04-01T15:16:00.003-04:00

Baby T has been flirting with crawling for a while now. He was army crawling backwards and spinning on his belly but somehow always getting what he wanted that way. Then he started to rock on all fours last week and do some crazy yoga poses too (that is for another post!) and last night after work he actually crawled forward. I had the camera nearby so I got a short clip of his first steps. He only took a few steps forward in this one but he is getting more and more confident and I have a feeling by tomorrow he will be all over the house!

Just click on the arrow below.

Comments from Carson....

2010-03-27T15:18:00.002-04:00

This kid is absolutely hysterical.

Driving to school on Monday he asks me why my truck doesn't have a loud engine like daddy's does and why can't I revvvvvv it up. I tell him that my truck is more luxurious than daddy's, that's why!

His response:

"Well maybe if you take it to the mechanic shop, he can tune it up and it will be LOUD like daddy's truck!"

Surrrrrrrreeee ok then.

Then on the way home on Thursday out of nowhere he says:

"mommy, I love your pretty toes."

Ok so my toes are definitely not pretty since they haven't been pedicured in a good 3 months but I will take it. He just melts me....

dadadadadaaaaaaaaaahhhdaaaa!!

2010-03-27T15:16:00.001-04:00

Before I forget I had to post that Tyler's new sound as of today is dada but he says it with so much passion and with lots of ahhhhhhs in front of the dada. Too cute!!

Our first no nap weekend.

2010-03-23T12:49:00.003-04:00

Carson decided he didn't feel like napping this weekend. This kid loves his sleep and his bed and this was the first time ever he has refused to nap. He's turning 3 in a few short weeks and I know that naps become short-lived in the next year but I want to hang on to them as long as I can!

But here is proof that he still NEEDS them.....we decided to go grocery shopping around 3:30 which was a few hours after his normal nap time....

Disclaimer - I take no responsibility for his clothing. : )

Tyler - 8 months!

2010-03-14T20:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, 8 months already and it just keeps getting so much more fun!

I hate to post and run but this mama is exhausted. I need to get the bags ready for school tomorrow and get myself organized for work. I hate Sundays.

My big boy - the countdown to 3.

2010-03-09T20:34:00.003-05:00

A month from tomorrow Carson will be THREE. I cannot even believe it. He is so big. We had a nice weekend with weather warm enough to play outside and I was in shock at how much he has changed from last year. He really is a different kid and I get teary eyed thinking that my first born baby boy is now big.

He is so smart and I'm not just saying that because he's mine (hahaha!), he really is smart and I think he outwits me too! And he's so freakin' funny. He keeps us laughing all day long. I know I should really write down the conversations we have and my mom keeps telling me to do so but I just forget. Ugh.

So maybe I will start now. Hmmmmm. Anyway, just wanted to post quickly and share a recent pic of him.

Giggles.

2010-02-25T21:50:00.002-05:00

He's a keeper!

Just pay attention to the cute baby and ignore the loud annoying mommy. :)

Winter Pro Pics - how could I forget to blog them?!

2010-02-23T10:05:00.007-05:00

I guess to answer my own question is that life just gets in the way. Half the time I don't even know what day of the week it is anymore and that's no joke! I love my life and have totally embraced the craziness that it is but I used to be so much sharper. I guess my age has something to do with it too, huh?!

So once again the fabulous Anni took these pics. You all know how high strung I can be sometimes, right? Well Anni is just so calm and easy-going. I had one kid crying every time I dare put him down on the blanket and the other begging for treats after each shot she took or complaining that he didn't want to put his head down on the grass for fear it would mess up his hair! I thought for sure she didn't get anything good until I saw them and was blown away.

Thanks again Anni, you totally rock and I cannot wait for you to do a spring/summer shoot when Carson turns 3 and Tyler turns 1.

You can find more info on Anni at the link above or at www.anniohphotos.com.

Tyler - 7 months

2010-02-14T13:43:00.004-05:00

Another month gone by already?! Soon I will be planning his first bday party. This little man has such a sweet little personality on him. He is always smiling, I mean just always! He also just LOVES his big brother. He always wants to touch him, grab him, and see what he is doing. Carson just eats it up and loves it just as much too.

I won't get into a long list of everything he is doing now but just give you my top 7 since he is 7 months old!

- He has this sweet little giggle that sounds exactly like Carson's laugh and he has 2 tickle spots that really get him going. I found one under his chin and Dan found one in his chest/belly area.

- He still loves to jump in the jumperoo and actually he jumps anywhere now too. He will jump when in your lap, in the exersaucer, on the floor, you name it. The funniest thing is when Dan and Carson start jumping along with him. He goes nuts!

- He LOVES to stand and wants you to hold him up standing all the time. It gets old really quick! But he plays this game I call "1 2 3" and he grabs my hands and when I get to 3 he stands up on queue. It's too funny. He has also hoisted himself up on my legs all by himself a few times too.

- He is very close to crawling. Last weekend he began to push himself backwards like an army crawl and then spinning on his belly to see who was talking. He also does what we call the "boot scoot" where he sort of jumps while in a sitting position and moves across the room. It's amazing where he ends up!

- He loves playing with balls already. He loves to play catch w/daddy and he really tosses it across the room too.

- He is eating lots of different foods now and so far he loves them all.

- He is LOUD. Very very loud I might add!

So that is Tyler in a nutshell at 7 months. We love him so much and think we will keep him!!

snow on top of snow on top of snow.

2010-02-13T19:20:00.012-05:00

That's what's it has been like around here for the past week or two. We haven't gotten this much snow in years but we just had two blizzards in a row. I guess 2010 will really be a year to remember!

We took a ton of pics of it since we were housebound. It was so pretty coming down and Carson had a blast playing in it but now a few days later we are over it and want it to melt. It starts to get ugly when it gets all dirty, know what I mean?! Too bad it's so cold here that it will probably take until May to do so.

Blizzard Number One - this was the view from our front door once it stopped. It was so windy that our cars were spared!

Thankfully Grandma just got Carson his very own snow shovel. It was put to good use as he helped Daddy dig us out!

And more digging out the next day when the sun came out...

And then it was time to take the jeep out for a spin. Daddy had to help get up the hill though. Carson kept telling us he had "work" to do as if he was going to shovel people out!

And then a few days later, it comes again and it snowed ALL day and into the night.

Carson ran from window to window in awe of the John Deere tractors hired by our HOA to plow our streets.

The next day the sun came back out but the roads were just so bad that the kid's school was closed so we were all home once again. We had lots of family bonding time but we were all ready to get out of the house so we went to Panera for lunch to get out.

I took this pic of Carson in the car on the way there....

and he decided it was his turn to take pics so he took one of me....

and one of the trees from his window too! He LOVES taking pics so I let him play with our cheap p&s camera for kicks. I love to download them and see what he actually captured and he's really not that bad.

We have had enough snow for a while now. Come onnnnnnnnnnnnnn March!!

Purple Pride.

2010-01-31T14:18:00.004-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah I know I'm a few weeks late BUT I am just now downloading pics from January and found these so I had to post. We were very proud of our boys even though we ended up losing to the Colts.

Here we all are in our PURPLE!!!

Tyler - 6 months

2010-01-26T11:32:00.005-05:00

I apologize for not coming back 'tomorrow' as I said last week but life just got so busy. So here is my official 'happy 1/2 bday to Tyler' post!

Here is a little bit about Tyler at 6 months:

- He loves to jump all the time and spends a lot of time in his jumperoo which he just LOVES.
- He has been sitting up independently for a while now.
- He has completed my sleep training "bootcamp" and has been sleeping through the night more frequently in addition to becoming a great daytime napper too.
- He loves to reach for anything he sees in front of him and often does face plants into the carpet just to get what he wants.
- He is trying to move across the floor and does it two ways. He sort of lifts his butt off the floor and moves closer to objects that way or he spins around while on his belly. He also sometimes pushes with his feet and digs his knees into the carpet too.
- He has started to eat rice cereal and oatmeal and just loves it all.
- He still loves his baths and loves to crack up at me when I pour water all over him.
- He just loves his brother. He is always reaching for him and grabbing him whenever he comes close by and Carson just loves it. When he wakes up either in the morning or for naps Carson loves to come and greet him and Tyler reaches out to him as if to give him a hug. It makes me melt!
- He isn't too fond of the carseat and would rather be up and in the action.
- He loves riding in carts and I think he loves Target as much as I do. :)

Here are his stats at 6 months:

Weight - 16 lbs 13 oz
Height - 27"

Bad Blogger Update.

2010-01-13T15:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry, just had lots going on since Christmas that I have been unable to update. Happy 2010 to all! We had a fabulous Christmas and a great time on new year's eve but Tyler ended up with a double ear infection, a bronchial cough, a fever, and a body rash shortly thereafter. He is better now but still some side affects from his meds that we ended yesterday. He will be 6 months tomorrow so I will update more then along with a pic of him and and update on his new tricks.

Oh and I resigned from my job. I have been here for almost 7 years and it was time to go. I will miss my dear friends but know we will keep in touch.

More tomorrow......

Santa baby.

2009-12-24T21:26:00.003-05:00

I totally forgot I bought this outfit for Carson's pro pics back in 2007. If you remember this post, he really didn't like it at all! Tyler actually didn't mind it though.

Here's my little cutie santa baby....

Merry Christmas Eve.

2009-12-24T20:33:00.004-05:00

I am sure tomorrow will be super busy since we have Cara and the family coming over and Dan's mom too. My parents aren't making the trip east this year and we will surely miss them. Dan's dad and his wife Nancy came over tonight which has been our Christmas Eve tradition for a few years now. Last Christmas Eve was when I told them we were pregnant with Tyler, boy does time fly.

The boys are both in bed and before Carson went up for his bath, he left a plate for Santa. He told me he had to leave a "really big plate with 3 cookies and a juice box too." He also left the reindeer food which was a gift to him from one of his teachers. Here is the plate he set up:

Oh and Santa has already eaten 2 of the cookies!

Carson is also so afraid of Santa that he refused any opportunity he had to go see him and sit on his lap. I didn't push it because I figured we have many more years to do so and why traumatize him now. He's even afraid of any santa looking ornament and our tree topper! Then tonight at bedtime he was so upset and crying because he didn't want santa to come into our house. Finally I convinced him that I would call santa and have him leave the gifts at the door. I mean, I kind of don't blame him. He's only 2 1/2 and the thought of a man in a red suit breaking in to leave gifts is kind of scary!

I have to run and help santa put the gifts under the tree now. I will be back, I have some pics to share of Tyler from today too.

Carson's Christmas Show 2009.

2009-12-23T20:50:00.005-05:00

Remember this? Well last week was Carson's Christmas pageant and my gosh has he grown up. He totally rocked it. Check him here!

p.s. I've been having issues downloading the video which is why I had to link it above, sorry but it's worth a look!

Gingerbread House.

2009-12-23T13:36:00.006-05:00

I thought it would be fun to do a few projects last weekend when we were snowed in so I bought a Gingerbread house kit and a Christmas tree paint your own cookie kit.

My sister has always done the gingerbread house kits with my nephews and made it look so fun and easy - yeah not so much. I somehow didn't get the crafty/artistic gene because this project was SO challenging and I even bought the house pre-made!

Carson sat oh so patiently while I attempted to put the icing on the thing but I gave up after the roof, windows and doors (only on the front and back). The side of the house has no icing at all. But honestly he did not mind at all. He thought it was just perfect and I love him for it!

Admiring his work. He called the peppermint candies "wheels" since we have an ornament that is Santa in a car with wheels that look just like those candies. He cracks me up!

The finished product. As you can see I skimped on the icing.

Oh and I won't even dare post pics of our cookie debacle.....

Sledding with daddy.

2009-12-22T08:42:00.002-05:00

Snow.

2009-12-22T07:44:00.008-05:00

We had a ton of snow fall this past weekend and Carson had a blast. There was well over 2 feet by the time it was done in addition to the wind that caused some pretty large drifts. To say that Carson enjoyed it is an understatement! He begged to go out in it and didn't want to come in. Thankfully we were prepared since we had just gotten him a sled as one of his Christmas presents.

The day after. Carson uses his sand shovel to help daddy shovel the snow!

I took Baby T out to check it out. He was not very happy with me or his big bro who threw a shovel of snow in his face.

Tyler - 5 months

2009-12-15T09:00:00.005-05:00

The day got away from me yesterday so better late than never to say that Tyler is now a 5 month old!

He is just so much different than Carson was at this age and I am wondering if it's because he has a big brother to watch and there is always so much going on around him or maybe because he is in daycare and stimulated by all the people and noises while Carson was alone with a nanny all day. Who knows but Carson was so "chill" while Tyler is just CRAZY!

A little about Tyler at 5 months:

- He loves to grab everything in sight and whatever toy Carson is playing with he wants to hold it.

- He loves blankets and covering his face with them so we got him a lovey which he now cuddles with nightly.

- He loves to pull up and sit up and is no longer content in the bouncer or bumbo. And if he is sitting on our laps he is constantly moving and kicking. This kid does not sit still.

- He can self soothe and put himself to sleep but he is still waking up a few times a night. Ugh!

- He loves bathtime and kicking water all over the place.

- He loves to watch us eat and gets mad when he doesn't get a tostito too.

- He is still spitting up a ton and still on his reflux meds at an even higher dosage. There is never any warning and one of us is always covered in it.

- He had his first ear infection last week.

- He is rolling back to belly and belly to back although for some reason he only does it for us and not at daycare!

- He can sit in a tripod but gets frustrated quickly because he just has to grab whatever is in sight.

So all in all, he's a very sweet and cuddly little guy who is definitely keeping us on our toes and up at night, lol!

A very unhappy Christmas tree.

2009-12-10T14:39:00.006-05:00

Dan (aka Mr. Christmas) decided he wanted a real tree this year and not only that, he has gone all out with the decorating. It's actually kind of fun seeing him get all excited for the holidays now that we have kids. Carson is just all about it so it makes Dan want to do more more more I guess.

Anyway, back to my story. So last weekend Dan went and got the tree on Friday since they called for rain and snow on Saturday and we knew it would be too wet the rest of the weekend to get one. Great. So we spent the better part of Saturday getting it all arranged in the house, putting the lights on, then the ornaments and then finally just enjoying the fruits of our labor. Carson just loved every single minute of it. He had to touch every ornament, ask all sorts of questions, etc.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, the tree FALLS DOWN. Oh my gosh. I cried. Dan wasn't home, Carson was napping and Tyler and I were just sitting there playing when it came crashing down. And of course it fell on the wood floor so I heard ornaments breaking.

(unhappy tree)

Carson woke up shortly thereafter and came downstairs and immediately got upset because I was so upset. He said "mommy that is not a happy tree" and he was so right. I was so ready to throw the thing outside and put up my fake pre-lit tree that I've been happy w/ for many years but in my heart I knew we had to fix it. We had to do it for Carson. So we removed all the ornaments that survived and along with the help of our amazing next door neighbor, Dan cut down the stump and got the tree secured and ready for round two of decorating. Dan even glued the broken ornaments back together too.

Happy Tree!

And now he does the tripod pose.

2009-12-03T15:37:00.002-05:00

Baby Tyler is on a milestone roll this week. From rolling to giggling and now he tripods like a pro. Check him out!

He's a roller.

2009-11-30T08:42:00.006-05:00

Tyler's been rocking back and forth for a few weeks now and rolling from belly to back which I read is what a lot of babies do as early as 3 mos but on Thanksgiving he officially became a back to belly roller! He was perfecting his moves all weekend and now can get on to his belly, remove his stuck arm, hang out, and then go roll back to his back.

When he first started doing it, he was rolling at every nap and waking himself up but night sleep hasn't been affected yet and I am hoping it's not so bad and he can figure out how to get back over and not need me.

I looked back to see when Carson started rolling because I wasn't sure if he was early or right on track and he's definitely earlier than Carson. Carson started rolling at 5 mos 1 week and Tyler is 4 mos 2 weeks. Maybe when they get older they can use this milestone when they try to "one-up" each other!! I can just see it now "well I am smarter because I rolled before you did so there!" LOL!!

Here's a video of him from the weekend showing off his new skills!

Thanksgiving 2009.

2009-11-26T19:15:00.006-05:00

I asked Carson what he was thankful for today and he told me "race cars, tractors, mommy, daddy, and baby tyler." Yes in that order too! Gotta love the mind of a 2 year old.

We had a very low key Thanksgiving today with just the four of us. Dan and I had been going out to eat every year but Tyler's age is a bit hard to do that right now so we decided to stay home all day. It ended up being a VERY long day since Tyler only cat naps and Carson was just ON all day long but we are so very thankful for our crazy life right now because we know time flies!

I do have some good news from today though. Tyler has been rolling back to belly all day. At first I loved it but then he started to wake up in his sleep at every nap today from doing it and getting stuck on his arm. So I have a love/hate relationship with milestones I guess.

I also wanted to share Carson's Thanksgiving art project from school. He actually had 3 but this one was too cute to not share. We had a hand turkey from his hand print and inside what he told his teachers he was thankful for:

Tyler - 4 months

2009-11-17T18:59:00.003-05:00

Tyler turned 4 months old on Saturday but we just had his 4 month well visit today so I wanted to update with his growth stats.

Height - 24 1/2 inches
Weight - 14 lbs 6 oz

The doctor said he is thriving and is a very strong little guy with great muscle tone too. He was impressed with the fine and gross motor skills he is exhibiting so far and put bets on the fact that he will be early in some of the gross motor skills like sitting up and crawling. We shall see! He got 2 shots and a third one orally and barely cried.

Here is a little more about Tyler at 4 months old:

- He is moving all over the place. He is often found in his crib in a different direction and he likes to spin and kick his music on and off.
- He loves to sit up in the bumbo, on our lap or the exersaucer and see the world in a new way.
- He smiles all day long. It literally melts my heart.
- He talks a lot and is starting to giggle in his own way too.
- He lunges at toys from the bumbo and likes to always be holding something.
- He rocks from side to side.
- He can roll belly to back and has done it a number of times.
- He loves to watch Carson play and Carson loves to entertain him.
- He doesn't sleep that great. He was waking up only once to eat but now sometimes he wakes up to 3 times per night. Ugh.
- He gets so excited when you walk into his room to get him and starts to kick his legs and smile so big at us.

I can go on and on but I will stop now. He is just such a love. It's amazing that a year ago this week, I found out I was pregnant with him and now he is here and filling our lives with so much love.

Conspiracy.

2009-11-16T09:08:00.002-05:00

I think my kids have a conspiracy against me. They sleep great on the weekends and then when I have to go to work, they decide to wake up at crazy hours.

This morning for some reason Carson woke up before 5 am. I had already been up at 11, 1, and 3 with Tyler and was back to sleep and hoping no one needed me before my alarm went off at 5:30 but at 4:54 I hear "mommmmmyyyyyy" come across the monitor and in my sleepy daze I imagined it was Tyler but then quickly realized he can't speak yet. So I go up and get him and he said "I just want to be holded mommy" and of course I don't deny any cuddling time these days since they are so few and far between. I embraced it even at 5 am.

Yawwwwn!!

Fast forward to as I'm leaving for work and I was saying my goodbyes. Carson didn't want me to leave and I told him that mommy has to work and his response was "why?" as always so I said "because I have to make money" and he said "so you can buy more toys?" and that put a huge smile on my face. I just love how the mind of a 2 year old is so focused on toys so I said "why of course, yes that is exactly why I work honey!" and all was good.

My sleeping babies.

2009-11-13T10:28:00.003-05:00

They just look so sweet and peaceful when they are sleeping and I love to peek in on them and just relish in the moment since they are growing so fast. Plus, I know I will never get this time back when they are both contained in cribs!

This was last night before I went to bed at 9 pm. Yes I go to bed very early but I also wake up super early and am at work by 7. Oh and last night was nice. Tyler has been killing this mama with multiple wakings since he's been so congested. Last night however, he went back to normal and only woke up once in 12 hours!

Wordless Wednesday.

2009-11-04T19:18:00.002-05:00

So....what do you think?

2009-11-04T15:41:00.000-05:00

Do you like these colors better? I was sick of the blue and green and really didn't like it with the orange.

Worst picture taker ever award goes to....

2009-11-03T08:43:00.005-05:00

My darling husband. He claims that he 'tries' to take good pics but either he just really sucks or he just doesn't care! I have maybe 5 pics of me with one of the boys in total from the past 2 1/2 years and the reason is because most of them end up needing to be deleted because they are out of focus, too dark, bad angles, you name it.

And the reason I am posting this is because I was downloading pics and came across these....

And you are probably wondering what I am. WTH are they supposed to be?! Knowing my husband like I do my best guess is that he was trying to take a pic of him and Carson and thought the mirror would be a great idea for self portraits!

I really do try to give him the benefit of the doubt but it doesn't matter what the light is like or the event, the pics are just horrible. I asked him to take one of Tyler while he was in my arms at the pumpkin farm and this was the end result. Grainy and out of focus!!

I am not saying I am that great or anything but at least I try!! Honey, I love you to death but you really need to work on your skills!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:24:00.007-04:00

I just wanted to post some pics of the kids and a few of Carson from his previous Halloweens.

Tyler didn't have a costume because I couldn't find one I liked in his size and I figured he wouldn't know the difference anyway. But today I really wanted to get a cute pic of him so I put the hat from Carson's first Halloween costume on his head and hit fit. The rest of it was way too big since Carson was 6 months old when he wore it.

So here is the cute little pumpkin!

He could care less what I put on him and how many times I take his picture but what I discovered is that you get to dress them in cute costumes that YOU like for the first two years and then they get an attitude and an opinion and actually want to pick out their own costume and you have to just relax and go with it even though you don't like it!! Oh and they also start to hate getting their picture taken too. (((rolling eyes))))

Carson was Diego because at the current time he LOVES Diego. And here is he is telling me that he doesn't want me to take his picture and to stop. And the costume was so thin and cheap that he had to wear it over his clothes as you can see here.

He even had a rescue pack like Diego too and Dan had to fill it up with his favorite cars and random things from around the house. The imagination of a 2 year old is just so much fun!

And here is my sweet innocent Carson at 6 months old on his first Halloween...

And as a monkey on his 2nd Halloween.....

Oh and what am I going to do with all this leftover candy?!! We live in a neighborhood full of kids and got like 10 trick-or-treaters total. Ugh.

Wordless Wednesday.

2009-10-28T08:38:00.002-04:00

Long story about our long week.

2009-10-26T08:57:00.003-04:00

I am sick and typing this all out because I am feeling sorry for myself and can use some happy thoughts please!

I have a terrible cold and a cough, I can't stop sneezing, my nose is running like a faucet, and up until last night I was achy for 2 days and my throat was on fire. I don't think there really is anything worse than being sick when you have 2 kids to take care and work full time.

Let me rewind a little bit to give you the full story. Last Monday, Carson went to bed just fine but woke up at around 2 am (I guess that would be Tues morning!) crying. This is so out of character for him and he felt a tad warm so I gave him some motrin and he came into bed with me. He has never slept in our bed before but since Dan had fallen asleep on the couch and I was very tired having just finished feeding Tyler, I thought one night won't hurt anything. I went to work as normal and got a call around noon that he was running a fever and I needed to pick him up. I got there about an hour later and he was burning up. I gave him more motrin and lots of cuddles the rest of the day. Then at bedtime, he sounded terrible. His breathing was definitely off and it was making me nervous so I let him sleep in my bed. I always tell him that when he is sick we have to see the doctor and that he has to speak up and tell me so we can fix it.

So around 9 pm, he is crying for me from my room and I go in there and through his tears he tells me he can't breathe and wants to go to the doctor. He had a pretty high fever and I was definitely scared since he was gasping a bit to speak and you can hear how his breathing was very labored. I quickly got ready and took him to the ER while Dan stayed home with Tyler. As soon as we got there and they heard him breathing/gasping (it was very loud even from a distance) they took us right back to pediatrics and got us into a room. Within minutes he was given a steroid shot and a breathing treatment. Turns out he had stridor which is basically like croup where his upper airways were inflammed from a virus he had caught. We were there until about 3 am because they wanted to monitor his oxygen levels and make sure he was breathing ok.

He ended up sleeping in on Wednesday because he was up all night and when he finally woke up he came busting out of my room to show off his hospital bracelet and stickers. He continued to have a terrible cough but his fever went away. Then on Thursday he was acting fine and still no fever so he went to school. Thankfully I was working from home because they called me again after naptime to tell me his fever is back and is pretty high. So I go get him again and we repeat the motrin and cuddles. etc etc. He's not allowed back into school at this point since the fever has to be gone for more than 24 hours so he stayed home on Friday and Dan took him to the pediatrician. Turns out he has croup and it's lingering which is why the fever is coming and going. Also, the ER doc should have given him a prescription for a 3-day oral steroid but didn't. So we get that filled and going and cross our fingers he is better for school on Monday.

This is when I start to feel like I am coming down with something too. He has been sleeping w/ me every night so it was inevitable that I was going to catch something. So we go about our weekend and didn't really do too much at all. Carson slowly got better as I got worse and still has a yucky cough but thankfully no more fever. Much to his disappointment, he had to sleep in his own bed last night too. He begged and pleaded to sleep with me but in the end we won and all was good. Now I know what it's like when my friends tell me they can't get their kids to sleep in their own beds. It's much more comfy with mommy!! And secretly I sort of enjoyed it too. I loved his snuggles and the middle of the night hugs but I didn't like the kicks that woke me out of a deep sleep or finding his stinky lovey on top of my head.

So now I just need to feel better and make sure that Tyler doesn't get sick too. I love my husband to death but if he felt as yucky as I have been feeling, he would have spent the weekend in bed but noooooooooo, I had to be supermom too. Maybe he will read this and realize that he should have let me stay in bed all day yesterday!!

This is getting long and if I continue I will start to sound really whiney which is totally unlike me since I am normally very happy and grateful for my family and the life I've been given.

I will come back in a few days hopefully feeling better.

He will hate me for posting this some day.

2009-10-19T08:36:00.002-04:00

But I have to! I keep telling my mom that he does this with food and so I finally took a video. Tantrums are few and far between in our house thank goodness but when it comes to eating, Carson is a nightmare. This is an example of him wanting snacks and not dinner. Oh the drama!

Feel sorry for us?!

Mommy brain or what?

2009-10-15T07:43:00.002-04:00

Not sure if it's the fact that I am now a mom of 2 or just that I am exhausted but I totally forgot to post the news that my maternity leave ended and I am back at work now. I confess that I was practically running out the door on October 5th which was so different from July of 2007 when I went back to work after having Carson and I cried for days that I had to leave him. Gosh, typing that out made me feel so guilty.

I do love my boys to death BUT I also love my paycheck and using my brain in such a different way then making bottles, getting tyler to nap, washing clothes, cleaning the house, playing with trains, begging carson to eat, and all that other stuff I was doing all.day.long!!! I give stay-at-home moms SOOOOO much credit because it is so hard and probably the hardest job in the world. Quite frankly, it's just easier to work. There I said it!

So I am back at work and it's all good. Tyler goes to the same school as Carson and the infant care is top-notch. We LOVE the teachers and feel 100% secure with the care he is receiving. Plus, Carson gets to visit him when he wants and I love hearing him tell me that at the end of the day.

Three months old.

2009-10-14T11:59:00.004-04:00

Baby Tyler is getting so big. He is such a little love and his little personality is starting to shine through already.

You can see in this pic that all of his hair is officially gone. Now we wait and see what color it will come in as and I secretly hope it's dark like me!

Happy 3 months baby boy. We love you!

Last night was a good night.

2009-10-14T07:32:00.000-04:00

Tyler only woke up once to eat at 2:30. Woot!! The night before he was up about 5x between 4:30 and the time I left for work at 6 which means I was up from 4:30 on. Thank you Tyler for letting mommy sleep last night. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!

It's not too late for a summer recap is it?!

2009-10-07T14:16:00.024-04:00

Yeah yeah yeah it's already the first week of October BUT I have a great excuse to be a slacker since I was on maternity leave and my hands were full (literally) all the time with no time to download pics.

So, I would like to recap our summer of 2009 if you don't mind....we stayed home and didn't go anywhere really but we still had a nice summer.

-Carson got a new tricycle and a helmet too. He got to take his bike to school on Fridays in the summer for "bike day" and ride around the parking lot with his friends.

- Carson and daddy enjoyed MANY trips to Home Depot.

- We hit a local fair on the 4th of July and Carson won his first goldfish.

-Daddy and Carson also enjoyed swimming in the pool while I watched with my big pregnant belly since I wouldn't dare put on a bathing suit!

-Carson washed cars, rode his bike, cleaned the garage, and played lots of t-ball.

- We decorated and got ready for baby Tyler's arrival

- The papi fairy came and took away the papi!!! She left behind lots of new presents too.

-We played with a spray bottle day and and day out and also had to deal with a tantrum when it was empty!

- We welcomed baby tyler into our family

And watched Carson fall in love with his baby brother

-And last but not least I fjnally got a double stroller that met my needs and did a ton of walking and got this baby weight off!! Only a few more lbs to go.

Oh and I realized I had tyler in july and I didn't include any updated pics of him but I am getting there, I promise!!

Our BIG baby!

2009-09-18T15:07:00.004-04:00

Just had to share a few pics I snapped of Carson "acting" like Tyler. He loves to do whatever it is we are doing with Tyler and I just laugh it off since he's so darn cute!

Here's Carson doing "tummy time" and let me tell you it's so easy with him since Tyler likes to fuss after a minute. :)

And here he is enjoying the swing which again Tyler hates right now! At least someone likes it.

Tyler - 2 months stats!

2009-09-17T20:34:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update from Tyler's 2 month pediatrician appointment today.

Height - 22 1/2 inches
Weight - 12 lbs 1 oz
Head - 41 cm (no idea why they give it in cm??)

He got 4 shots total and took them like a champ and only cried for a few minutes. We discussed a number of things today including a flat spot that Tyler has developed on his right side. I just noticed it on Monday and I am sure it was caused from all the holding I had been doing during his "awful" phase in addition to him sleeping in the bouncer all those weeks too. Our doc always has a way of making me feel better though. He thought Tyler's flat spot was nothing bad at all whereas I see it as pretty bad and thought a helmet might be in our future. I guess he's seen it all. I've been rolling up a blanket and propping it under him so he leans toward the other side when sleeping and trying to do as much up and tummy time as I can. He said this is so common between 1-4 mos since they do spend so much time on their backs and their heads just like to favor one side.

We also discussed his horrible sleeping and he said it's a phase I unfortunately have to go through and there isn't anything I can do but keep trying over and over and over to get him to sleep like I have been doing. He has to get used to sleeping on his back and in the crib and I just need to keep at it so at least I am doing something right. I haven't given up. He said I can count down the days to 4 months where he says it's ok then to sleep train. Maybe Tyler will surprise me and start to sleep better by then.

And finally we discussed the reflux, formula, etc and I've been instructed to stop the meds today and see how he does for a week. There's a long story as to why they want me to do this but basically it's to see how his body reacts to just being on soy. We haven't had any episodes of the arching and the gasping has only happened a few times with one being yesterday. So that's where we are. I have to call them back next week with an update or if he gets bad for some reason I have to call immediately.

Tyler is 2 months old today!

2009-09-14T13:37:00.005-04:00

Happy 2 months baby Tyler!!

I cannot believe how fast the time goes and I say it ALL the time. We don't have his 2 month appointment until Thursday so I will have to update then with his stats but for now I wanted to let you all know that the soy formula is a life changer for us. He is now like a new baby and no longer crying and fussing 10+ hours a day. I cannot believe I didn't use my mommy instincts sooner to know that it might be the formula causing him so much discomfort and could kick myself for it. We lived in hell for 4 weeks and I cannot imagine how his little body felt too, poor guy. He is still on the reflux meds and I plan to talk to his doctor on thursday on a plan of action because I am not sure if he still needs them or not. I do believe he has reflux and still see the signs and symptoms but not sure if he is on the right medication or not since they never seemed to help when he was on the regular formula.

Anyway, here is the little cutie this morning doing some tummy time....

Future all-star.

2009-09-08T13:10:00.002-04:00

Carson loves sports just like his daddy so we have all sorts of age appropriate sports toys for he and Dan to play with which they do on a daily basis! He has really gotten good at t-ball and can now hit the ball pretty hard and far. When he first started he wasn't even holding the bat correctly but in a few short weeks, he was a pro.

Check him out...

Tyler update.

2009-09-04T16:19:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update to let you know the men in white coats haven't come to pick me up.....yet! We have had a rough few weeks with Tyler and I haven't been able to even get on the phone to update anyone. To give you the short version of the story, Gammy (my mom) came to visit about 3 weeks ago and it was that week that we noticed something was not right with Tyler. He was super gassy and irritable and just overall uncomfortable. Things got worse and more like he was in pain. His sleep became bad, he would pull off of his bottle and cry, arch his back, kick his legs, etc. This was happening 24/7.

Fast forward to last week when we had him seen by a GI specialist at our pediatrician's office and they determined by his symptoms that he has "silent reflux." Not fun for a little guy at all. So he's not spitting up the formula but rather swallowing it back down so it's causing him a lot of pain. He is now on meds for a week now and still no sign of them helping. He cries and fusses non-stop and gets so inconsolable at times that it makes me cry and feel so helpless.

We are supposed to keep chugging along until the 17th when he goes for his 2 mo appt and at that time determine a next step but we took matters into our own hands because that is way too long to wait it out. A lot of moms I have spoken to have told me they had similar issues and they switched to Soy formula which seemed to help a ton so that is what we did today. Wish us luck that he does well on it and our baby starts to feel better.

It breaks my heart to see him so upset and unhappy. No baby should be this miserable, right? I will update once we give the formula some time to do its work. Cross your fingers.

Here he is oh so cute....

And one of him with his Gammy...

Tyler's first smile.

2009-08-28T11:36:00.004-04:00

We saw it this week a few times and finally got it on camera. Carson smiled at 6 weeks old too so I knew it had to be soon.

Awwww!!!

Back to my one month old post.

2009-08-19T15:40:00.005-04:00

Forgot to post a pic of the little guy at 1 month old. Sorry he's nakey but I was taking pics for some friends showing off his cool new blanket they sent to him. Don't ya love it?! It's from the noodlesandmilk shop on etsy.com. Thanks again mamas!

Also, you can see his horrible case of newborn rash in these pics too. I had to take him to the dr last week because it was draining on the side of his nose so now we just put ointment on it and it's slowly clearing up. Doc said it was like having cradle cap on the face, poor guy. It doesn't bother him but it's so flakey and he is so over me trying to clean it for him too.

Tyler's newborn photo shoot - adorable picture overload inside.

2009-08-16T15:14:00.009-04:00

We had Tyler's newborn photos taken when he was 9 days old by anni at http://www.anniohphotos.com/ who did a fabulous job on them. We couldn't be more pleased!!

She took so many and since I can't possibly post them all, I thought I would post a few of my favorites:

Tyler is one month old today.

2009-08-14T17:33:00.003-04:00

Time is flying as always and baby Tyler turned one month old today! I don't have a lot of time to post right now since my toddler tornado is coming in the door from school, Tyler is waking up and my mom is in town and we are having crabs in a bit. YUM!!

Oh and I have Tyler's newborn pro pics to share too so stay tuned. Be back later....

Two week update.

2009-07-28T12:55:00.006-04:00

Tyler is two weeks old today so I thought I would give a quick update on us. We are all doing great so far and just enjoying our new family of four!

I am so proud of Carson. He really has embraced his new status as a 'big brother' and has been such a big help. He calls him 'baby tyler' which has sort of stuck and now Dan and I refer to him that way too. He loves to come and watch me change his diaper, hand me supplies, hold his bottle, and anything else that goes along with caring for a newborn. Most of all, he wants to hold his hand all the time and it just makes you want to melt. He doesn't really get why tyler sleeps so much or fusses but it doesn't seem to bother him. He is still going to school most of the day during the week so that has been a huge help in keeping his routine while I am home and caring for tyler. Then on the weekends Dan and I just tag team to make sure both boys are happy!

Tyler is definitely growing and filling out and I can already see the leg rolls forming. I really hope he has the same chub that Carson had as a baby, it's just too cute. He is sleeping great too and gives me 2 good stretches of sleep at night and only waking twice to eat right now so I really cannot complain. Maybe the 'i love my sleep' genes were also passed down from Dan to Tyler too. One can only hope to have two great sleepers!

My recovery so far has been GREAT. I am going a little stir crazy being in the house so much since I wasn't supposed to drive or do much until two weeks postpartum which is today so I cannot wait to get out on my own soon. I barely had any pain this time around too but I've been taking it pretty easy so that is probably why.

We have Tyler's two week pediatrician appointment on Thursday so I will report back in on how he's doing on the weight gain and anything else that comes up. Until then, here are a few pics of the boys....

Carson's way of holding hands with Tyler...it's the finger hold I guess!

My first post as a mommy of two little sweeties!

2009-07-21T20:30:00.005-04:00

I'm a week late for obvious reasons (ha!) and actually today was my due date but I wanted to write an official "welcome to the world little tyler" post so here it is!

On July 14, 2009 at 10:23 am Tyler Michael was born. He was 7 lbs 8.6 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. His middle name is actually Dan's first name so each boy now has a part of their daddy as middle names. He looks identical to his big brother Carson at this age too, it's actually like looking at the same baby!

We came home a day early from the hospital on Friday because I was feeling good and missing Carson SO much. He has really adjusted nicely to the change and is such a great little helper. He loves to watch Tyler eat and when he is awake he likes to hold his hand as much as possible. He calls him "baby Tyler" which I find so endearing. I hope they develop a strong brotherly bond and grow up to be best buds!

Introducing Tyler.....

All ready in his carseat ready to go home

Day 6

And he does have hair. I just love little newborn hats and have a whole pile of them. He makes the funniest faces!

My last post as a mommy of just one little sweetie.

2009-07-13T20:15:00.002-04:00

And I am so full of emotions that I cannot stop the tears. I know that Carson will be an amazing big brother but just the thought of him no longer being my little baby is just making my heart ache. His entire world is about to be turned upside down and I just want him to know how much we love him and know it will all be ok.

It's been an amazing two years and as I watch him grow and change into the sweetest little boy I can't help but smile from ear to ear as I think about what is ahead for us with our family of four.

So tomorrow at 10 am I will be having a C section and we will welcome Tyler into the world.

Wish me luck!

Carson 2 year pics!

2009-07-04T10:24:00.004-04:00

I totally forgot to post these adorable pics I got done of Carson. There are a few of the belly too but believe me it's gotten much larger since these were taken at the end of April.

Here are some of my faves below:

Byyyyeeee thanks for looking!

Interesting.

2009-07-01T20:22:00.002-04:00

That is exactly what I said to myself when I opened up Carson's art project he came home with today. He loves "art" and always says "I made that for you daddy" with so much pride when he comes home with his masterpieces. Sadly, nothing is ever for mommy! Anyway, I was glad this one was for Dan since it looked like something from a crime scene. Apparently they traced their bodies and the kids got to color themselves. Cute idea but when I put it down to take a picture of it, I just couldn't help but laugh!!!