More Halloween Fun

We visited EdVenture last night for their HalloWonka preview party.
Everyone had lots of fun, but it was a little too crowed for my taste. So,
I don't think we'll return next year. We'll save that trip for when we
can leave strollers at home. The kiddos enjoyed their balloons.
Sydney got a flower and Ethan got an interesting dinosaur on a leash.

Adelyn has a new favorite toy. She likes to gab on the phone.
Apparently this was a very funny conversation.

Boo at the Zoo

The kiddos had a great time at Boo at the Zoo last night.

Sydney and Ethan got lots of candy, and Grant and Adelyn slept:-)

Yes, we are still alive

Hello to all. We are all still alive and doing well despite my lack of updates to this site. I am actually wondering if there is anyone out there who is still checking it. If you are, thanks for hanging in there with us. We actually just increased our Internet speed after learning that our connection was barely faster than dial-up. No wonder it only took me about five minutes on the computer to get completely fed up.

All is well in our crazy world. We have stayed incredibly busy lately, but we are having lots of crazy fun and that's what really matters. This month, we have travelled to Baltimore for a follow-up appointment that went well. We had our first attempt at a picture of the four kiddos which didn't go so well, but it did make a memory that I won't soon forget:-) My sister got married in Charlotte and Sydney, Ethan and I were all in the wedding. And, we spent a weekend in Atlanta visiting friends, watching the Thunderbirds take to the skies and touring a dairy farm.

........................

We are beginning to wean Sydney's seizure medication and so far she is doing very well. She hasn't had any seizures and we are seeing a little improvement in her behavior. Sydney is much more consistent with her sounds and few words and that has been extremely exciting to witness.

Ethan is doing well and is sporting this lovely fake smile in every recent picture I have taken. He is in 3-K now and really enjoys it. He has a new found fear of fires since they had a fire drill a couple weeks ago, but we are working to help him realize that all will be okay, and even though everyone does need to practice escaping the building during fire drills, there isn't a danger of the building spontaneously combusting. Also, we have had to reassure him that the firefighters will always have enough water and his teacher will always know where he is so she can tell him where to go.

Adelyn and Grant are doing great! They are 3 months old now, and they get a little more personality each and every day. I took them to the doctor Friday to get their RSV shots and they both weighed the same thing-crazy:-) They were both 6lbs 5oz at birth, 5 lbs 8 oz when we came home from the hospital, 13 lbs at their 2 month appointment and 14 lbs 8 oz on Friday.

We are looking forward to keeping our busy streak alive by going to Boo at the Zoo and getting all decked out for Halloween this weekend. Well, I better go, Ethan is crying because he was put into time out, which made Sydney start screaming and the babies need to be fed. Life with four kids is a blast!

Summer Fun

Sydney and Ethan like to begin their mornings covered up while taking in a movie, when they can with Sydney's busy schedule.

It is hard work picking strawberries in 100 degree heat, but it is definitely worth it for the fresh berries. Grandma Waack frequents the fields and we tag along sometimes.

Ethan enjoys the pool. He seems to pull out a new

trick each time. He loves to jump off the diving board

and swim between adults with no floatees (sp?).

Sydney taking it easy at the pool, one of her favorite places to be (glasses courtesy Aunt Adrienne).

Sydney attempting mind over matter with her birthday candles. She is very proud to tell everyone she is five by holding up five fingers.

Sesame Street Live

We all went to the Sesame Street Live show this Wednesday, and the kids had a blast!! Ethan got to give the Count a high five (after he chased him down during the show:-)), and Sydney clapped along to the music and enjoyed people watching as much as she did watching the characters on stage.

On Thursday, we went to St. John's to visit Sydney's old classmates. She walked right in and started playing as though she hadn't missed a day. Ethan got to go with her which made the trip extra fun. Sydney was able to see all of her old teachers and friends, and she even got to stay and have a special morning snack with the class. It was nice to see everyone, and it was nice that everyone got to see how well she is doing.

Back from the Blogging Dead!

So, there have been tons of things going on in our lives since my last post in November. Most, if not all of you, know about all of them through Sydney's Caringbridge website. Anyway, here is a quick re-cap. Sydney's seizures got really really bad and we had to resort to a hemispherectomy on February 14. It was one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make, but we couldn't be any happier with the results. Sydney came through like the true hero that she is. She hasn't had a seizure since the surgery, and she makes progress every day. She is walking and making new sounds and she amazes everyone who meets her with everything she has been able to accomplish.

Our other major news involves the two new little people that will join our family later this summer. We are expecting twins to join us sometime at the end of July, and we couldn't be happier. If the many ultrasounds are correct, we will be having a boy and a girl, so Sydney and Ethan will both have their own special playmate. They love feeling the babies move in my tummy, and I can't wait to see how they will both react when the babies are here in person.

Ethan is growing up more and more every day. He is the best little helper. His favorite activities, other than the usual fun boy things like playing with cars and trucks and making muddy messes in the yard, are helping with the dishes, and the laundry. He is a wonderful big/little brother to Sydney as well. Whenever he asks for a treat he makes sure that he gets one for Sydney too, and he applauds all of her new accomplishments on a daily basis.

I am looking forward to sharing lots of great stories and pictures with everyone in the coming days, weeks and months. It seems as though our entire lives were put on hold while we rallied around Sydney to get her through some rough days. Now, we are finally able to exhale a little and truely enjoy every day to its fullest. It's good to be back:-)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Halloween

We had an awesome Halloween! The kids had a great time, and Sydney willingly participated the whole time. She practically ran up to the houses holding her candy bucket and smiling from ear to ear. Ethan did all the talking for the group, and he made sure to point out all of the houses with lights on so that we wouldn't miss any. At the end of the night, we had to full buckets of candy and two exhausted children:-)

To turn on the music for the slideshow, double click the speaker icon at the bottom of the images.

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ethan's ABCs

Ethan singing his ABCs with a little Old MacDonald thrown in for good measure. I was shocked that I was able to get this on video. Ethan isn't a big fan of performing on command.

Staying busy

Sydney and Ethan enjoying the fire truck ad Edventure's firefighter appreciation day. Ethan has a goofy look on his face because he was cracking up over kicking off his fire boots.

Sydney getting suited up and ready to strut her stuff at the gait lab in Virginia.

Ethan admiring the new painting on the wall at Hitchcock.

Sydney pausing during play for a quick picture

We have been staying busy even though I haven't posted lots of info or pictures to prove it. I guess by not posting everyone probably assumes we've been busy anyway, or else everyone thinks we have just been so bored that there isn't anything exciting to talk about . Anyway, we are doing well. The kids had a blast last weekend at Edventure! Ethan especially liked the firetrucks that they had parked outside to climb on even though he was a little too shy to actually get in one.

Ethan's vocabulary seems to grow a little more every day. He still mispronounces a lot of words, but it makes him even more fun to listen to. He has recently started pointing out words on everything- signs, trucks, buildings, etc., and he wants to know what they all say. It is neat to see his understanding that words stand for something, but it also a little taxing on the one trying to read every vehicle that passes by. His favorite phrase is "What that truck says mommy?" Which is fine except for when I forget to read the truck before it passes.

Sydney is doing okay. The diet is unfortunately not working for her. We reduced her ratio yesterday to a 3:1 (3 fats to 1 protein and carb). She has been a little agitated lately which has made her a little challenging. She is getting a cold though so that might explain the grumpy moods and the increased seizure activity.

Sydney started preschool a few weeks ago and really seems to enjoy it. Ethan started mother's day out at the same time, but he doesn't share Sydney's joy of school. He says that it takes me too long to come pick him up, and he has cried the last few days that I have dropped him off. He uses the word my instead of me or I so his favorite phrases lately regarding school have been "my no like school", "my no like my friends", and "take mommy too long pick my up." Hopefully this will be a short lived phase-the not liking school and the using the word 'my' incorrectly. He even says "next time won't you sing with my," at the end of the alphabet song.

We are going to try to take the kiddos to the State Fair in the next few days, we are going to go to Boo at the Zoo soon and Halloween is right around the corner. So, I'm sure we will stay nice and busy in the coming weeks, but hopefully not too busy to update:-)

John's Hopkins Play Deck

Here are a few pictures we took on the play deck at John's Hopkins. This is where we spent most of our time while we were in the hospital. Most days, we had it all to ourselves. Ethan loved the playhouse and all the riding toys and trucks, and Sydney enjoyed being pulled in the wagon the most. The play deck was on the third floor of the children's wing.

Fun with trucks

Here's a cute picture I took of the kiddos a few weeks ago at touch a truck day. Ethan is obsessed with anything with wheels or tracks lately. He has really loved going to his grandparent's house to watch the construction teams as they add a new room and pool. We haven't done anything really fun and exciting lately so I haven't had much to post about.

Now that I realize that we haven't been doing many fun things, I will have to make sure we have an awesome weekend full of fun things to photograph.

Ethan made the move from his crib to a bed this week. He had been sleeping in his "big boy bed" for several days, but he didn't want to part with the crib. Yesterday however, he said he was ready to take his crib down. So, we helped him complete the transformation of his room from a baby nursery to a big boy's room. He has talked about his crib being gone all day today. I'm not quite sure if it is because he is excited and happy about this new adventure, or if he is feeling a little overwhelmed by his leap into big boy land.

Sydney got a new pair of shoes to wear with her braces that she is very happy about. She has always preferred her girlie little white keds over any other shoes, and I was finally able to find a pair that would fit over her braces. We did have to have extra velcro added so they would fit, but they are still cute and Sydney seems to enjoy wearing them.

Ethan still talks about his fire station party every day. I don't think he grasps the fact that he is going to have to wait a whole year before he gets another party. Nor does he understand that grownups don't get to have fun parties like kids do. When we tell him that "daddy's birthday is next", he says that daddy's party will be at the firestation too. Who knows, mabe we can cook up a little fire truck birthday cake to help Andrew celebrate his third decade.

Well, now that I wrote all of this I realized that fun things did happen the past few weeks, and I will try to get a picture of Sydney's fancy new shoes and of Ethan in his big boy bed.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ethan!

We celebrated Ethan's birthday this morning with a party at the fire station. He had a great time and so did his big sister and all of his friends!