Summer thus far...

So, I've started a lot of blog posts and not finished them. This is one of those. I started a photo dump at the beginning of summer but we were busy having so much fun and I continued to take so many pictures that I thought I needed to add them to this post before posting, in the meantime it got shoved aside and forgotten. I still want some of these memories to be solidified so I'm just going to post this...so I can relive the glorious summer days. I think most of these are from June and July...so my boys look a lot younger. 

Oh the hammock-time...I've been itching to get it out again

  

A neighborhood walk to the lilacs and playground

This was when  Charlie said "it smells like gummy worms"

These were the days!

And Charlie likes to set up his own obstacle courses.

Bathroom Visitors.....ALWAYS!!

I love Costco shopping carts!

We planted tomatoes and they grew and we ate them!

Oh yeah, I'm reminded that there was a time when we played in the sun daily!

Even if it was inside!

And we planted a peach tree which has since grown, I will need to take another picture of the boys standing by it in the Spring to see how the boys and tree have grown!

One of our many Summer trips to the "park with the green swing" as Charlie likes to call it.

There was one time when we went to the children's museum and it was randomly closed on a Friday so we went to the massive park right next to it where everyone else went that wanted to go to the Museum. It was incredibly stressful because my kids each wanted to go in different direction and it was too huge and busy so I couldn't see them both. I ended up holding Miles most of the time.

We liked to have weekly lunch dates at Costco. That way Max would get lunch on his lunch break and help me shop, or at least take the boys for a bit.

This may have been his first experience finger painting.

They didn't get the memo that it was a silly face picture!

One time ducks came to visit us at our front door...so we fed them!

Another Children's museum outing, this was a really fun exhibit!

Charlie put those eyebrows on Miles. I think this was the first time, we do it almost every time now...and mustaches!

Playing in the tent in our yard

Ummm...It's supposed to be 60+ degrees, I'm tempted to put the hammock up!

More tent play, this was when Miles first really started loving books.

Remember the days when bedtime was before it got dark? Charlie didn't seem to like that much and we often found him like this. Especially when Max and I went out to the hammock after putting the kids to bed.

Waiting for Daddy to come home from work! Oh yeah, it was still light back then!

Art project. So this is totally something I did in Kindergarten and it left such a lasting impression that I did it with my kids. Marble painting!

My little workout buddies!

Oh yeah, and there were a couple months when we didn't have a couch.

And then there was a time when I dressed up in one of my prom dresses (a prom which I attended with max) and made chocolate covered strawberries and I was sitting on the floor (since we didn't have a couch) when he got home from a meeting. Haha! Gotta keep things exciting.

And there are some memories...I guess it's better that I have some documented instead of none. Life is great!

Mud Puddles

 Surprise Surprise. We went to the forest to get some wiggles out! I love our little hikes, and that each time Miles is able to walk a little more of the trail. My children can be grumps if they stay inside too much, and when they have chocolate chip banana bread for breakfast. So, this time we went to the forest to bring down a grumpy sugar high.

Oh, and I love seeing how the landscape changes with each season, it was like we were in a forest of moss and ferns this time.

 And sometimes they are cute and smile at me!

And this time the forest had Mud Puddles. I think that was the highlight of this trip for the boys. 

Charlie was coveting Miles' large stick...

 

...so he went and picked up a big log! Boys!

 cool moss jungle right?

Exploring!

I love my rough and tough (and sometimes gentle) boys!

Miles' binoculars

There is occasion when they both decide to run in different directions...

 

 And then I decided to let loose and just allow them to splash in the mud puddle...and they loved it. So many squeals of delight going on!

 (Sidenote: Look how beautifully Charlie's eye is healing!!!)

 

They were some happy boys. Although, once we left the mud puddle,  Miles realized he was tired and cold and hungry so he made me carry his muddy self and screamed the whole way to the car, and most of the way home. We made everything right with a baby-wipe bath in the car and hot cocoa with lunch when we got home. 

 In the meantime, I still have a pile of muddy clothes I need to get out of the car. But yes, it was worth it!

Miles' Jokes

Our boys have been cracking us up lately. Miles has found a series of jokes that get us to laugh every time so he just keeps doing them. If these don't make you laugh, you can kindly remind yourself that they come from the mind of a one year old...I just wanted to remember his sweet little humor so here are a list of Miles' original jokes! And I sometimes miss that I didn't write as much down when Charlie was starting to talk so....there you go.

Miles blows raspberries on his arm, hand, or anywhere else he can, then puts on a sly grin and says "stinker." he waits for our reaction then laughs and laughs!

This one he picked up from Charlie...
We have taught Charlie that if he would like to say something while mommy and daddy are talking, it is polite to say excuse me. He is actually pretty good at this and it comes up nearly every dinner time. Miles has picked up on it and sees that it is a way to get attention. He starts quiet and gets louder and louder
'scuze me mommy 'Scuze Me Mommy "SCUZE ME MOMMY!
Until I say "Yes?" He then scans the room looking for something to say, usually while pointing. His usual responses include "dinner" "charlie" "water" "wall"  "mommy" "house" It makes us laugh every time so then he starts laughing and starts it all over again. So, pretty much every dinner is filled with the noise of my boys yelling "Excuse me mommy" While Max and I are desperately trying to talk to each other.

In the movie Inside theres a song that goes..."who's your friend that likes to play? Bing Bong Bing Bong!" Miles loved singing the bing bong part but he decided to change it up to keep us on our toes. So when we sing  "Who's your friend who likes to play?" He says "Nemo!" and laughs and laughs!
I have no idea where he got this idea and why he thinks it's so funny.

Juke Box Miles!
Miles likes to request songs and then interrupt those songs with another request. Usually he asks for Twinkle Twinkle, once you start singing, he'll call out "Jingle Bells!" Once we start singing jingle bells, he'll immediately request twinkle twinkle again. Those are his usual requests but sometimes he throws in Hallelujah, Bumblebee, or "song" which is any song he doesn't know the name of. 

I love his little personality and how he acts all shy but proud when we laugh at his jokes

Eye Surgery

Charlie had Eye surgery on January 19th. The surgery was to correct his strabismus, which is a fancy name for lazy or wandering eye. The doctors were hoping that his prescription glasses would correct his lazy eye. Which is what happened to mine, when I was a kid. (my eye only drifts when I'm not wearing glasses or contacts) But for Charlie, even after increasing the prescription strength of his glasses, his eye was still wandering with the glasses on. If this is left untreated at a young age it could cause serious issues with his depth perception and in the long run he would favor one eye and he could eventually lose the vision in his lazy eye. (we've worked so hard with patching to improve the vision in this eye and it has been working!) 

Anyway, they say the surgery is pretty routine. It still made us a little nervous. They had to put some sort of stretcher on the eye so they can reach the muscles on the sides. they relaxed the muscle on one side and tightened it on the other side. Charlie was under anesthesia during the surgery. And I just had to wait outside. 

So this is how it went...We got up nice and early and got everything ready, when it was time to go, I pulled Charlie out of bed. It was still dark but he woke up happy. My mom was coming down to stay with Miles so Max could go to the surgery too. She got stuck in some bad traffic from an accident and we needed to be at the hospital by 7:15am So Charlie and I left, Max stayed behind for just an extra 15 minutes or so until my mom got there. It was still dark once we checked in at the doctor's office. We waited in the waiting room. My cheerful little Charlie had no way to comprehend what was going to happen even though we had explained it to him quite a bit.   

Once he was all checked in they gave him his very own sea creature quilt and Casey the Elk animal. He was enjoying all the attention. They also gave him a heated blanket which he thought was the greatest. 

After this initial check in, we had a little more time to wait for the anesthesiologist, ( I just want to point out that I miraculously spelled the word anesthesiologist correctly the first time)  I was excited since I had just started reading aloud Charlie's first chapter book (My Father's Dragon) the night before and he was loving it. I was happy we would have time to read more. Before I could pull out the book, the nurse offered him his own personal DVD player and a ton of DVDs to choose from. Charlie's eye's lit up while picking a DVD. I was a little disappointed.  Partly because I've been waiting for years to read chapter books with Charlie and I wanted to have special time with him. He picked the Lego movie and was immediately sucked in. Max pointed out that it's his special day and it's okay for him to get this special treatment and we will have time to read later. haha!

He didn't even flinch when they came in and marked his face. 

After a bit of waiting we said our good byes and they rolled Charlie away and we had to go to the waiting room. Max had to leave for a bit for a meeting with a contractor but I stayed in the waiting room. Researching preschools, preparing for Armenia, returning emails, and whatever else I could do in the hour and a half I was waiting. The surgeon came out and reassured me that everything went well. Although the way she said it made me think something went wrong...Like I think she said..."the surgery went pretty well" When someone is operating on my kid I want them to say the surgery went perfectly or better than expected. Those things make a difference. Anyway. She told me that Charlie was still sleeping and they wanted to monitor him as he woke up so I would be able to go see him in about 20 minutes. I was finally able to go in and I heard him crying before I got to him. It's such a sad feeling to have your child in pain and not know how it feels or what to do to help him. He kept having surges of crying followed by more sleeping. He already had a handful of medications but he kept crying about pain in his eye and his sore throat. They ended up giving him a little morphine which let him sleep for a little longer while he was in my arms and he could get more rest while the painkiller medications started working. 

He was able to calm down and sleep a bit in my arms which was relieving to me since he could relax enough to sleep. It was also great that my mom was with Miles so I didn't have to worry about hurrying back to the babysitter. I could just enjoy holding and comforting my big boy. 

When he woke up, he seemed to be in a lot less pain. We were released from the hospital They asked if we wanted to carry him or take him in a wheelchair. Max started to say he could carry him but then we quickly realized that Charlie would love a ride in a wheelchair so we decided on that. 

 

We went home, Charlie was happy to see grandma, we made Strawberry waffles and sausage. The nurse warned us that Charlie may not have a huge appetite, especially after he had the breathing tube in. Charlie ate quite a bit, maybe not as much as usual but still quite a bit. It was the afternoon and he hadn't eaten since dinner the day before. We had fun with Grandma, and Charlie was acting more like his normal self. He still had surges of pain in his eye, and we had to keep the children's Tylenol coming. He slept pretty well through the night as well, except for the part when he woke up at 2 am to throw up. But he mostly made it to the toilet so that was a win.

He had a follow up appointment with his eye doctor the next day and she said his eye looks great and he shouldn't need anymore surgery on it. There is a 20% chance that the surgery can over correct the problem and it has to be fixed. He seems to be recovering well. He really hates his eye drops that he needs 3-4 times per day so we have to pin him down and put those in his eye while he's screaming so that isn't super fun. The whites of his eye were really red but are slowly turning white again. He hasn't had to have Tylenol in the last couple of days so he seems to be feeling a lot better. And he still has his vision so that's really great! We love our tough Charlie!