Wax on, Wax off

Charlie asked me the other day if I would take pictures of him doing "Karate skills" before he went to class the other day. I never pass up an opportunity to take pictures, especially of my kids! So I obliged! Above is his "ready stance"
This is "at ease"

This is "at attention"

And this is some push up action. He's so damn cute!

Charlie being his handsome and goofy self
my love bugs

poor Charlie still has a nasty bruise (seen above) on his left hand from the IV for his surgery:(

eating a cupcake

Cousin E and CW

Da Bunny Buns

We love James. He's become an integral part of our family and provides some serious comic relief for Alex and I.
He's the most curious bunny you'll ever meet, as well as the most friendly.

He spends 90% of the daytime out and about running around the top two floors of the house (minus the bedrooms). He comes to his cage to use the litter or to get a drink and then he's off and running again. I love that he's so low maintenance but provides so much entertainment!

The other night he actually took a sip of Alex's vodka that was resting on his knee. He was too fast for Alex and got to the glass before Alex could move it! Crazy wabbit!

This is by far my favorite picture! James does love Sidney although he would rather mate with her than just hang out! James is an unfixed male and Sidney is a a fixed female. She looks puzzled an slightly annoyed when James "approaches" her. James just looks eager. So funny though!

Karate Charlie

These pictures are all dark...my camera doesn't know what to do with funny gym lighting and bright windows, so the pics are crappy...but I took some pics of one of Charlie's MMA lessons the other week. Above they are doing line drills. He is on his hands and knees doing the bear walk...
Above he is going over some of his strikes (punches) with the instructors
above they are playing tug of war with the instructors...Charlie thought this was so awessome!

the kids won!

I find it all terribly adorable!

James loves Alex

the other night, James hopped up and laid next to Alex on the couch
this rabbit is like a dog! I was totally cracking up!

Charlie had surgery this morning on his right ear to fix a hole in his ear drum. The ENT did a "complex tympanoplasty" where they harvested cartilage from behind his ear and placed it over the ear drum. He built a "scaffolding" on both sides of the graft using foam to keep it in place. This is all to ensure that his ear is functioning from now on. His hearing is diminished in that ear and it will only get worse if we did nothing. He also would be at a huge risk for nasty inner ear infections if the hole was just left there. So...

We arrived at CHOP this morning at 6:15am. When it was time to get his hospital jammies on, he thought the above picture was a funny way to wear them!
He got a few fun gifts at the hospital (one being a star wars book)...he read it to Barky (the big dog in the above picture)...Barkey went into the OR with him and watched him and kept him safe!

I was freakin' exhausted but Charlie was in a great mood so it made the morning bearable

He got his "giggle juice" and they took him back around 8:30am

The surgery was about 1hour 45 minutes long. I got very antsy after about 45minutes. He did well, the Doc is pretty confident that it's a good fix...the back of his ear looks nasty but he can't see it so that's good. He had some emergence dilerium again which was stressful and no fun. Once they took the IV out, we got our instructions and went home. He laid around almost all day. Threw up a few times, didn't eat much at all until right before bed. The morphine and tylenol with codeine kept him super comfortable all afternoon which was good. He got up and colored and painted for an hour or so and then crept back to the couch and crashed some more. He's staying home from school the rest of the week and I really hope this is his last ear surgery!


I don't know how parents cope when their kids have surgery for serious issues. I know that Charlie's ear is a relatively harmless surgery, but intubation and anesthesia scares me. It's so aweful to watch strangers wheel your child away from you, and all I could think was, "please don't let him die. Keep him safe and make it all ok"...I hope we don't have to do this again!

Aaron flying solo at the please touch museum

I like to take Aaron to the please touch museum without Charlie sometimes so he can do HIS thing. Charlie goes to school (pre-K) 4 days a week, and Aaron is only in 3 days a week, so some weeks, when I am off work and not running to doctor appointments with Aaron, we'll head to our favorite little spot and play for a few hours. Once the weather is warmer, we'll likely spend time at parks and the playground instead, but it's a great option for cold/rainy/or even too hot days in the summer!
We of course don't mention our escapades to Charlie (who would be devastated that we did fun things without him). We do have fun though, and Aaron just kind of wanders from thing to thing, spends a few minutes doing his thing, and moves on! By 11:30 we are having a light lunch and we are home and down for a nap by noon!

He likes the one on one attention, and I like that he plays without whining and fussing at me (for the most part!)

This (above) is my favorite picture!

Two boys in a box

I recently ordered some large items and they were delivered in a large box (imagine that!)
Well, my boys decided it would be the perfect fort/rocket ship/pirate ship/clubhouse...

Charlie got his markers and busied himself decorating it the way he needed it to be, and they've played in it every day since. The sides are breaking and it will be put out with this week's trash, but it's been fun while it lasted. The great thing...I will order something from this company on a regular basis so we'll have many boxes to play with and decorate!

Happy Birthday Aaron David!

Aaron two weeks old

Aaron 6 months old


Aaron 1 year old

Aaron 18 months old

Aaron 2 years old (minus a few days!)

My baby, the youngest in my perfect little family, turned 2 today! I have mixed emotions about this. My first emotion is one of great joy. He's made it a long way, through lots of scares and not so fun times...here he is, two years old! He also gets a little easier the older he gets. Every few months I think back (or look back at my previous blog posts) and notice that slowly but surely, he is getting easier. This week, he suddenly started speaking more than ever...out of the blue, just when we were getting ready to add more speech sessions to his therapy that he currently gets. What is he saying? Well, all the things he could already say, but he's initiating it. He's not just saying what we ask him to say, or copying what I say. He wakes up and say, "hi mommy". He sees charlie and says, "hi charlie" or "bye charlie". He says, "see truck/light/fan/doggy/charlie/mommy/daddy" All of this speech makes me so happy because he is actually trying to communicate with us! His eating is still not stellar but he/we are managing ok with it. His tantrums are less...partly due to his increased awareness of how to actually get what he wants, his better speech, and our handling it better thanks to a few books I am reading.

The other part of me is sad. Sad that I no longer have a baby in the house. I have a toddler and a 5 year old, but no babies! He's getting bigger, doing more, and before I know it, he'll be 5. Time is flying and I feel bad that I kept wishing Aaron would get older, get past the "tough" ages (he had many!). I knew at some point I would sit back and feel badly that I wanted him to hurry up and become less needy. But, here we are, he's 2 and still needy, but not as hard as he was when he wasn't growing well, had terrible reflux, was hospitalized, was being tested for genetic problems, etc, etc. Now he's this beautiful little 2 year old who LOVES trucks and his older brother and his blanket!

He has taught me alot about myself, about what i can handle, and what being a mom is really about. I have never felt the "mother bear/protect your cub" instinct the way I have with Aaron. I have literally dropped everything and rushed him to the hospital. I have stayed up with him many nights snuggling, rocking, wishing him back to sleep. I have cried for him, laughed at him, and screamed at the top of my lungs aout him. He was given to me for a reason. Just when I think I'm not doing it right, or that I can't make it better for him, he runs up to me and gives me a hug and says, "hi dare mommy". He melts me like no other. I love you Aaron David!!!!

Please Touch Museum Fun

I took the boys to the please touch museum recently...they literally ran to the steps!

I love this place! So do my boys!