Jack's Trigger Thumb

About 6 months ago we noticed Jack's thumb was bent funny, also called a trigger thumb. I would of done nothing about it (cause that's just how I was raised). But, since we have awesome insurance and three doctors who said it needed surgery, we decided to have it fixed. I was nervous because Jack usually has a cough (due to his asthma) and I was worried about his airway through the whole surgery. It doesn't help that I'm married to an anesthetist who was also worried.  But, of course everything went well and the recovery was perfect!!

           Before Surgery

   On the way...

If you look close, you can see his cool blue "cast". 

Thumbs up for thumb surgery! 

I don't have an after picture yet, but now it looks normal.

And, he can pinch his sister more effectively now! 

Staycation

For Valentine's weekend I had a great plan, we would stay in a hotel room on Valentine's night (with the kids) and then we would wake up the next morning and go to the zoo with some friends. My plan was botched completely. But, we still had fun!

First of all, we got about 6 inches of snow the Wednesday before Valentine's Day. This place shuts down when it snows, people were ditching their cars and walking home because the conditions were scary. The funny thing is that in Idaho/Utah people would rarely ditch their cars in a snowstorm because that's where you feel the safest and warmest. Corey was stuck in traffic for 3 hours trying to get home from work, but he refused to sleep at the hospital. He saw so many people walking, including a woman with an infant. It was crazy. If you want a good laugh, Casey (my brother in-law) said people were really struggling to drive up a hill on Glenwood Ave and he felt lucky his car got up it and he made it home. About an hour later the photo below went viral from that same location. People were making jokes about it looking like the Apocalypse. After a few days things settled down and we were MORE than ready to get out of the house! We packed up and went to a hotel in Mooresville (a ten minute drive from our house). The kids were SO excited to swim, and eat breakfast at the hotel. :)

The second reason my plan was unsuccessful was because the Zoo was closed due to the snow! I was super disappointed about this, but once I realized they didn't have the equipment to plow the walkways, I was more forgiving.
The third reason my plan was botched is because Corey came down with flu-like symptoms on Thursday night and was VERY sick all weekend. This is what he did while the kids and I hung out in the swimming pool, well this is actually what he did all weekend. I regret not being more sympathetic towards him because he was SO good to me when I got the flu. That's why he is the nurse in the family, he's very understanding.

So, we had a blast hanging out in the pool and just cuddling up to watch the Winter Olympics and eating ice cream.  OH, and I almost forgot, we did go to dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We have lived in Raleigh for 2 1/2 years and never really found a Chinese Restaurant we could call home, but after we found Chopstix, there is no turning back. :)

 The love of my life.

 This girl would give her right leg for seafood!

 Corey's meal, I couldn't even begin to think about eating raw fish...

So blessed to have these 2 kiddos!

When we got home, I found this picture on the camera from Valentine's night:

Corey was so lucky to have me as his Valentine date!

Silly Jack

 This kid LOVEs his Superman shirt, he insists on taping a piece of paper to the back of his shirt, so he can "fly"! 

 Throwing a snow-ball 

 Oh, and he enjoys the snow with no coat on. :) 

 He has a thing for cooking his own Mac and Cheese!

 Spending time with his Dad at t-ball class

He even tagged his Dad out! 

Learning how to "play ball" with Coach K

                                            His home-run video (not bad for a 3 year old)!

Brr...with SNOW!!!

We are forgiving "Mother Nature" in this blog post, because she has officially redeemed herself. We didn't just have cold air, we got SNOW! It looks like we got about 4 inches here! We have been out this morning playing in it. I think this is Jack's "real" experience with snow. And, of course Addy had a snow-day from school! (but, from what I hear this isn't too exciting because they will have a make-up day). But, for now we are hanging out reading the mass amount of books we got from the library and looking out the window at all the SNOW!!!

I should also let you know that Corey is the sweetest husband EVER. He is out of the dog house for a while now. ;)  He got a gift card from work because it was nurse anesthesia week, and he didn't go spend the money on himself! He told me I could use the money for a camera! So, we went to Best Buy and found the camera we wanted. Before we bought it, Corey decided to look it up online and check the reviews. He found it on the website for $20 cheaper. As a result, he made a deal with the salesman and we walked away with a camera that cost us $13.00! Woohoo! Now I will be better at blogging, because I have semi-decent pictures to share with you all!

 He wanted to make a pirate snowman, but the snow wasn't the kind that sticks together. :-(

 Addy's snow angel

 Jack's attempt.

 Beautiful snow angel from Addy. 

Jack's snow angel?!?

 

 Grandma Koyle was so worried that we wouldn't use these snow-hats she sent the kids, 

they are happy to have them today!

Brrr...with a few Christmas Pics

It's January, does anybody like this month?!? It is actually COLD in North Carolina right now, so I'm ready to go somewhere tropical, but Corey is on a kick to pay his student loans off ASAP. So, I'm stuck in the house trying to stay warm and just dreaming of traveling. :)

I've had a lot of people ask what we have been up to lately, so here goes:

Corey works Monday thru Friday from 7-3 p.m. We love his schedule because then he can pick up Addy from school! Corey is also in the Army Reserves, and so far he hasn't had to complete any "work" for them. But, I'm sure they will put him to work when they need him. :) His "newest" obsession is a huge punching bag that he filled with sand and threw in the attic. When he feels like punching something he goes up there and gets his exercise. I think Jack will be learning how to use the punching bag soon too. It's a great workout and a good way to channel some energy. 

I don't have a camera that takes decent pictures so I haven't blogged forever. I want to share decent pictures with my friends, not semi-blurry phone pictures. So, hopefully I get a camera for Valentine's Day (that's romantic, right).

Jack goes to speech therapy 3 times a week through Wake County. His teacher is awesome and his speech is really improving! Trying to get him to speech and doing his homework keeps me busy. He is also in a t-ball class. He made a home-run in his last class, and tagged 2 people out. Corey came home to let me know that Jack is the coach's favorite. We are proud of Jack!

Adelynn is obsessed with American Girl (AG) dolls. As a result, I have joined some facebook pages for Mom's and I've become a little obsessed myself. We have read all the Molly books together and she got the Molly doll for Christmas. We have also read all the Addy books and she ( I ) can't wait to get the Addy doll next Christmas. Corey is actually going to help her build a doll bed for her Molly doll. She is very excited!

Addy came home about a week ago and said, "My teacher said I'm the best reader in the class". My teacher-self kicked in and I thought, "wow, I hope she didn't say that in front of the other kids?" So, I said, "how did that make the other kids feel, and why would she say that to you." Corey made sure to pull me aside and say, "Be happy for her"! So, I am!!! She has worked hard to become a great reader and now it is paying off. She will be the narrator for her upcoming play called "Brownilocks and the Three Bears".

I think that's about all we've been up to, I've been busy with girl's camp plans, and trying to recover from the terrible flu. I'm so grateful that I am alive to get my flu shots from now on. :) I had never had a flu shot, but I had never had the flu either. I will be getting the shot every year now!!

Pizza on Christmas Eve because Mom was in bed with the flu. :)

Adoption

This is a topic that is very dear to my heart...

My best friend, and aunt Angela will be adopting her daughter in a few short weeks. She has been waiting for 40 years to be a mother. It is something that little girls dream of, they cuddle their baby dolls waiting to become mothers. The reason for my post is to express my gratitude for my new little cousin, Olivia. We went to the store to buy her a little "gift" for her adoption day and we found an angel ornament for the Christmas tree. Addy insisted that we have it engraved with the words, "Olivia, you're our angel". Adelynn and Olivia are about the same age and they are such great friends. We are overly blessed to have Olivia join our family.

As I browsed Facebook tonight I noticed that my dear friend and "old" roommate had posted that she had an update to her adoption blog. So, I was eager to read. Unfortunately, she had this to say: "Over the past couple of months we have came so close to welcoming a baby into our home a couple of times, but for whatever reason it has yet to be our time.  Right now we are healing from a VERY painful failed placement. Our hearts break for anyone who has had this experience.  We had the bags packed.  We had the tickets bought.  We had the baby shower.  We had a name.  We were ready, we had prepared for 3 months, done the paper work told our family and friends. We were ready.  Unfortunately because greed over took this birth-mother things did not work out.  We were and still are broken. A part of us died that day.  We loved him. So while we are picking up the pieces and trying to help our daughter understand. We pray everyday for OUR baby to find us."

                                                         http://prandm.blogspot.com/

 

My heart breaks for this family who is trying to find a sibling for their little girl and a new addition to their family. I can't even imagine the sorrow and the anger that I would have in this situation. I know that because they have been through this experience they WILL find their baby. But, I also know that the best way to inform people is through networking. If you can: share their blog. I have shared their adoption blog alongside my blog for over a year now, but I just wanted to add a post to let you all know that this little family in Idaho is looking for a sweet child to join them. 

My Birthday Month

I Love October! This year, I was spoiled more than ever because my Aunt Angela, her daughter, and my Grandma June came to visit from Utah. We decided that we wanted to have a relaxing girl's trip, so we went to the beach. The weather was perfect, and we had a blast!

                                         Some of the coolest ladies I know

                              Olivia and Addy climbing trees 

                       Grandma June, she is the life of the party!

                       Fried pickles at Amos Mosquito's

                              She loved them!

                     Ange + Jack = Long, lost buddies

  

We had s'mores for dessert and almost burnt the place down.

The adults all had a salad, but Addy ate baked oysters and loved it. She's my seafood eater!!!

                          Ice cream in Beaufort, NC

        We went for a boat ride and saw a real pirate ship.

                 Of course this was our favorite boat!

      

                                            Best friends

                     Love this girl!

                                             Adorable!!

                             She is ready to hit the beach!

                                      Sand mermaids 

                      There were three in the hammock...

                                            And they all fell out!

Ange is finally a Mom, it makes my heart melt every-time I hear Olivia call her "Mom"!

        NC aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

Look how happy Grandma is in a wheelchair. Now, if I could just get one for me!

                  A baby sea turtle = WE FELL IN LOVE

                      Touching sting-rays

                        She's a turtle

The last day of their visit we were back in Raleigh, we hit up Pullen Park and the Farmer's Market. We headed to Cook-Out for lunch and then said our good-byes at the park near the airport. Corey got to join us, for the last day of their visit.

               Our favorite memory: The Carousel, enough said!!

 

    Olivia's "cooking" with Ginger Ale at the Farmer's Market. ;) 

       Corey and Grandma saying, "Cheers!" with the last hush-puppy.

                               Goofy girl!

             HATE, HATE, HATE goodbyes!

We wore them out, they slept the entire plane ride home!