Zoo, Month Two, and Summer Highlights (Just a Few)

 ***This is the beginning of Blog Book Number 2! I published our July 2011-July 2012 memories and loved the result, so here's to another fabulous year of special family moments!***

At the beginning of the summer, I made two lists. One was things we needed to do around the house (clean pantry/closets, paint deck, landscape, etc.) and the other was summer activities just for fun! I can definitely report that we crossed off more of our fun items than our work items! So while our house may not look in the best of shape (especially with all the kitchen and living room repairs going on), we have managed to have quite a few exciting excursions!

Here we are at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. We headed down on a semi-cloudy day (hoping to avoid the heat, but ended up sticky with humidity). Nevertheless, Riley had a blast seeing all his favorite animals in a zoo for the first time! The highlight of our trip was when Riley saw the giraffes and went up on a landing to feed them. He found pieces of lettuce (people had left behind) and fearlessly fed the giraffes as they poked their heads through the railing. He got such a kick out of it; we had to come back again a second time before we left! Other sweet moments included when Riley "hugged" the gorilla through the glass cage, waddled like a penguin at their exhibit, and tried Dip 'N Dots icecream for the first time! 

 On August 2nd, we celebrated our darling Maggie turning 2 months old and our dear daddy turning 41 years old! Maggie (unfortunately) had to go to the doctor for her 2 month shots in the morning and her regular check-up. She weighed 11 lbs. 10 oz. and was 23 inches long. She's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height. Her personality is starting to shine through more and more each day. Her smiles come easily now and we even think we've heard her cackle! She's still sleeping through the night most of the time. She is content most of the time to lay on the bed and watch a fan or listen to her brother play.  She is making more babbling sounds and loves to hold a hand/finger when she falls asleep. To celebrate Chris' birthday, Grandmama and Aunt Kelly came to stay with Riley and Maggie so we could go out to dinner at Lupie's (Chris' favorite dive restaurant that serves up great Chili Mac). This was Kelly's first time meeting Maggie since she had been away at a camp for 2 months.



A few weeks later, we had to evacuate our house so that workers could sand, stain, and finish our hardwood floors that were also damaged by the refrigerator leak. So luckily, we were able to make a family vacation out it and headed to Charleston for about a week. We arrived on Monday and went to play with Amanda, Liam, and Tripp before checking into our hotel in Mt. Pleasant. Then on Tuesday, as you can see by the picture below, the weather was rainy most of the day so we took the kids to the Children's Museum.

 The boys all had a grand 'ol time playing in the pirate ship, shopping area, ball ramps, water table, craft center, Medieval castle, and the toddler area. It was the perfect rainy day activity!


 The following day we were hoping to go to a water park in the area, but the weather chose not to cooperate again. So we made the best of it and headed to the Aquarium instead. We'd been once before, but now Riley is really able to appreciate it more.  Our fearless little man loved touching the shells in the touch tank and liked having his picture made holding a starfish. Can you tell that he is now saying "Cheese" for every picture? Hence the wide eyes and slightly open mouth! :O)  We loved having Tripp, Liam, Edward, and Amanda along to share in the journey! Maggie, surprisingly, was actually awake for part of the time this time! We ended our time at the aquarium with a 4D movie that lasted about 15 minutes and was full of special effects (water, bubbles, smoke, snowflakes, etc.). Riley loved it so much that he actually cried when it was over and kept saying, "More movie!"

 

 

Ah...the beach!!  This is by far my favorite vacation spot and is a family tradition! This year, we headed to Folly Beach and had a blast digging in the sand, making homemade peach icecream, playing games like What's In Your Milk? (ask Kelly!), Categories, Greedy and Stickem (a very complex, yet intriguing game that Edward taught us), and eating out at places like the Crab Shack and the Taco Bar (yum!!). Most of what I enjoy the most about the beach is just the fact that we can all hang out together and enjoy each other's company and the craziness of the kids. In fact, Chris and I gave up one night of our hotel stay to camp out on the condo couches and be near family. It sure was a nice week and we were sad when it finally had to come to an end. Oh well, there's always next year! 

Photo Book

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Smiles, Trials, and Hotel Dials

Well, we officially survived our first ever road trip with 2 children to Indiana and back! We left on the 4th of July around 3 pm and drove until 10 pm (stopping in a little town to stay at a Budget Inn).  Both kids did really well in the car and were calm and content most of the time (of course the DVD player and bag full of toys and arts and crafts  certainly helped with this as well!). 

Riley had been asleep for about 2 hours when we arrived at the hotel and that’s when he caught his second wind.  You should have seen our little maniac running back and forth and around and around in our tiny room all the while pushing every button he could find and turning every dial in sight (especially the fun-looking ones on the AC unit!).  What an adventure! It took over an hour to settle him back down again. 

Thursday just happened to be my birthday and my darling husband surprised me with a beautiful pair of pearl earrings! Pearls are Maggie’s birthstone, so it’s extra meaningful. We drove about 4 more hours and pulled into Nan and Pap’s driveway around noon.  We let the kids play and be held and then ate lunch. I got to order my favorite treat….a pork tenderloin sandwich. For the life of me, I don’t know why we don’t have this down South. I mean it’s fried, slathered with mayo, on a bun, and extremely tasty! That night we let Riley try out the pool before the other “campers” arrived for Camp Nan N’ Pap.  We didn’t really think he wanted to get wet, so we didn’t bother putting a swimsuit on him and just let him splash around with his hands.  But one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we had a “Nature Boy” running around with no clothes  on hopping in and out of the pool.  Such fun and I bet it entertained the neighbors too!

 The next day, Ben and Brandy arrived with Lucy and Alice around 3 pm and Tim and Jen came about 5 with Anderson.  Then the excitement really went to a whole new level! All four of the grandkids (Maggie didn’t participate this year), got in their swimsuits and splashed around in the pool.  It was so neat to see their different personalities shine through. 

Nan and Pap were extremely brave and decided to keep all 5 kids Friday and Saturday night, while the parents got to go spend some adult time.  What a nice, relaxing time we had together! We hung out for hours at the hotel pool and then on Saturday we went to Hoosier Park where Chris won $200 on his very first 5 cent slot machine and Jen won $100 by the end of the 2 hour period. While our children were busy sponge painting,

  filling buckets with dirt (dumping them out and and then reloading them) , 








making spider crafts, reading books together,    

 going back in the pool,  and decorating photo frames with Nan and Pap, we found the kid inside ourselves and went go-karting.  Then after freshening up a little, we had a delicious dinner at The Nile restaurant in Anderson, IN which served Egyptian, Greek, and Mediterranean food. The highlight of the meal was definitely the flaming cheese appetizer and the wide selection of foreign beers. By Sunday though we were anxious to get back to our little ones and couldn’t wait to kiss their little faces.


Some time during these last 2 weeks, our sweet Maggie has learned to smile! Here are two of her precious grins we managed to capture on camera along with a few other candid moments:

I am so proud of Maggie! On Wednesday, July 11th our almost 6 week old slept through the night! That really made Mommy and Daddy smile!! She slept from midnight until we woke her up at 7:30.  Then the next night, she slept 9:45 pm-6:15 am (8 1/2 hours), and to keep up the streak the following night she slept 7 1/2 hours (12 am until we woke her again at 7:30).  Then she had a few nights of the regular 4 to 4 1/2 hour awake times, but last night she graced us again with 7 hours of sleep (10:45-5:45).  It’s so nice to get a solid 7 hours of sleep (I had forgotten how much I missed it!). Thank you, Maggie! Keep up the good work!


Now onto the “trial” portion of the blog. Within a day or two of arriving home from our Indiana vacation, Chris felt like he kept stepping in small puddles in the kitchen and his sock was getting wet.  Upon further analysis, we discovered that we had all kinds of new cracks in our tiles where water was seeping through!! The culprit:  

 (a leaking valve in the back corner of our refrigerator that sprung a big enough leak while we were gone to saturate our floors and cause mildew behind the fridge and all the way through the wall to the garage sheetrock outside).
We have had to call in a water damage restoration company (Rainbow International) and they began trying to dry out the floors and underneath of our house where the installation and subfloors were also very wet using massive fans and dehumidifiers.    
 It sounds like a landing strip 24/7 in our downstairs living area now.  We have to unzip a tarp to get in and out of the kitchen. It’s made for a very stressful living situation this week.  We hope to hear good news from our insurance adjuster when he arrives to inspect the damage tomorrow.  I’m hoping with all my heart that we can get the kitchen floor replaced and put back in working condition very soon!

UPDATE: Our insurance company has agreed to cover the claim and replace not only our kitchen floor, but also help with the damage that is now being done to our hardwood floors in our living room.




So our summer is halfway over and while the kitchen fiasco is causing a lot of unwanted frustration, there are still many bright spots in our day.  Here are just a few recent anecdotes that have brought a smile to my face lately:

• Andrea (my hairstylist who dabbles in photography on the side) came last week to take pictures of Maggie.  She was able to recreate several shots that she posed Riley in 2 years ago.  I can’t wait to get back the pictures so I can see my precious babies at this adorable stage of life and start framing them! It’s hard to believe how fast the baby stage goes by!
• Riley picked up his toy cell phone last night and said “Hello, it’s Riley Fisher (pronounced Peesher). Come play?” and then promptly hung up. When asked who he was calling, he replied, “Some kids.” Upon further investigation, he said he was calling Blake and Delaney (who have been away at the beach for several weeks and it’s obvious he’s missing them!). So sweet! We’ve set up a playdate when they return!
• Chris caught Riley reading books to himself the other night before bed. He has a few new favorites right now like one by Eric Carle titled Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?.  He was able to flip the pages and recite the text almost verbatim.  Then he picked up another book and transferred the same pattern.  This time instead of saying “Does a giraffe have a mother? Yes! A giraffe has a mother too.” He said, “Does a motorcycle have a mother? Yes! It has one too!” How cute!
• Chris also swears he heard Maggie give him a full-on giggle recently too! I can’t wait to hear it myself! For now though, I’ll just busy myself with trying to make her smile during her awake time. Although I must admit she responds to Daddy’s voice more than mine right now! Guess that whole Daddy/Daughter bond is starting early!
• Whenever Riley sees a bug now, he automatically says: “Just look. Don’t touch it!” That might just be his mother’s influence! Something he gets from his dad is his phrase “Be careful!” which he says often as he’s climbing down the stairs.
• Riley really enjoyed going to the Toddler Time at our local library to sing songs and listen to a book be read aloud. He knew almost all the songs and when in the right mood, loves to show off his dance moves. For instance, we took him to a fundraiser at church this past Sunday that served us a BBQ dinner and then had people in our church performing songs and skits like an old-time radio show.  Our son danced in his highchair, played air drums, and nodded his head up and down to show his approval! The skits didn’t quite hold his attention as well so after a while, we decided to head out.
• Maggie must be going through a growth spurt! She’s starting to eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours instead of every 3 to 3 1/2. Her little belly is starting to stick out now and her cheeks are getting chubbier which makes her all the more adorable!

Summer Lovin’

I can’t believe our first month of summer is over! So sad how quickly time can fly by.  Our little family has started getting into a somewhat of a routine.  One or both of the kids usually wake up around 6:30 or 7 and we all eat breakfast (bar and banana for Riley, the usual 4 ounces of Similac blue box special for Maggie, cereal for Mom and an Everything bagel with cream cheese for dad). Then Riley gets to watch a show (typically Elmo but sometimes Animals or Thomas the Train).  At some point during the morning, we get dressed and lately one of us has been heading to the YMCA with Riley.  We can workout for about an hour while Riley goes to ChildWatch and plays. He’s always hesitant at first to go in, but within 10 minutes he’s stopped crying and is distracted with a new toy. Sometimes we go to the pool afterwards.  Riley really enjoys going in the “big” pool (holding on to Mom or Dad) over the “little” pool which is a kid-friendly water park.  On occasion Riley will work up the nerve to go down the Frog slide or put his hands in the water jet that comes out of the ground. Then we head home for lunch and nap.  Our afternoons vary but usually include time spent riding a bike in the park, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, coloring or finger painting, playing trains upstairs or some sort of ball game downstairs, and eating snacks. Once a week, we’re trying to go somewhere special.  This past Thursday we had a blast taking the entire family on a train ride from Pineville to Uptown Charlotte to go to Discovery Place museum.  Riley absolutely loved looking out the window and all the stop and go of the Lynx train. 

He also had a great time splashing in the water table in the Kid Zone, playing drums, creating a giant LiteBrite picture, and going over a pint-size bridge in the well-padded toddler area.

Of course, I forgot my camera so these are just random Google image pics. Oh well! Next time I’ll be better prepared!

So here are just a few other highlights from our time together so far this summer:

• While staying at Grandma and Papa’s last weekend so Mom and Dad could go out to eat and celebrate our anniversary, Riley heard Aunt Jeannie sneeze and without any prompting, told her “Bess You!” She couldn’t believe his manners.  What a proud moment!
• One of the other afternoon activities I forgot to mention above is that Riley likes to dance to a CD that Blake and Delaney gave him for his birthday.  It has exercise songs that are personalized with his name. We caught on video Riley doing the grapevine which I think he learned from me doing a Zumba Wii workout with him awhile back. It’s so cute! He looks like a crab sliding sideways! His favorite track right now is the one about jumping up and down which Riley loves to do now.  I’m so happy he’s learned how to jump (that was his next big milestone that Kathy, his physical therapist for a year, mentioned that we should look for around age 2). 
• Another precious moment occurred at naptime a week or two ago.  Riley has started saying “Love You” to us before we even say it or when he’s pretending to take a nap and playing downstairs. It’s so sweet.  And after our usual routine of bath (every other night), pjs, teeth brushing, and reading 2 books, Riley will climb in his big boy bed with all 3 blankets, Ruff the Pillow Pet, the big-eyed turtle (that Kristin gave him before we left Washington), George the monkey, and most of the time a random toy like a motorcycle or train and he’ll repeat a prayer.  Two nights ago, Riley said “Thank you my family” and then named Mom, Dad, Riley, Irving, Maggie, and the wall!! Too funny!

Haphazard Hodge Podge of Happy Memories

• When we got back from our 5 day “vacation” to Georgia to get Maggie, we came home to Riley speaking in full sentences.  One of his first statements was “I want ‘sometin’ to eat!” Now, that’s my boy!
• Speaking of eating, sometimes Chris will ask Riley if he wants to eat chicken (to which Riley when he’s in a contrary mode will reply no), so he’ll keep going: “Do you want to eat ham?” “No.” “How about yogurt?” “No.” Then he’ll randomly throw in--“Do you want muskrat?” Well the other night, Chris asked Riley what he wanted to eat for supper and Riley replied: “Muskrat!” Great, just great!!
• One of the sweetest moments we’ve experienced lately is listening to Riley say a blessing at dinner. He requests to sing the song and then proceeds to belt out his rendition of “God our Father (repeat), We thank you (repeat), For our many blessings (repeat), Amen (repeat)” that is sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques”.
• We continue to be surprised by how many songs Riley knows. Some of his favorites right now are “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”, and “Where is Thumper?”.  It is so cute to hear him sing.

• Well, it’s official.  Our son is ALL BOY!! He loves every kind of ball there is on earth and he likes kicking them, hitting them, swinging at them, catching them, dribbling them, shooting them, and throwing them.

Recently, Riley turned a pink balloon into a ball game where he’d ask someone to throw it to him and he’d kick it with his foot.  He was only satisfied if it went really high in the air! Just this past Friday, Riley went to a half birthday party for his friend Blake and while everyone was running through sprinklers, splashing in a pool, and sliding down a Slip ‘N Slide, our son had managed to find a golf club and ball and was busy entertaining himself on the lush green lawn. 

 

• Overall, Riley has adjusted fairly well to having a little sister.  A big improvement from the first day he saw her and he turned his head and refused to look at her! Now he helps bring her a pacifier, kisses her on the head, tells us if her eyes are open or closed, and lets us know when baby Maggie is crying. One of the biggest changes we’ve noticed however if that Riley is a little more cuddly these days.  He loves laying down with Daddy on the couch to “take a nap” and watch golf (or baseball, or hockey, or race cars).  He’s very attached to his green and blue blanket now and won’t let it far from his sight when he’s tired. 
• Another big interest of Riley’s right now is dinosaurs.  His new favorite toy and show is called “Dinosaur Train” and the talking dinosaurs have taught him everything from being an omnivore to forest fires being hot and burning trees.  It’s amazing to me still how much this little guy can take in!
• Not everything is all smiles all the time though.  Take yesterday for Father’s Day for example.  We took the whole family out to eat at Buca diPeppo’s and met my mom, dad, and brother Joel there as well. Riley proceeded to refuse to sit in his highchair, throw his milk down, sling his green guy toy into Chris’ plate of food, and scream at the top of his lungs for fun.  Not an enjoyable eating experience to say the least.  We did damage control the best we could and took Riley outside several times, but being 2 and being quiet and well-mannered for an hour just isn’t quite his forte right now.  We’re also still dealing with Riley getting upset and wanting to lash out by hitting.  We’ve used time out and for the most part it’s been effective.  Up until just the last few weeks, that is! Riley now scoots himself out of time out the minute you put him there and then tells you NO over and over again when you tell him to move back or we place him there again and he repeatedly tries to escape.  Meanwhile, he’ll laugh while he’s doing it, so that really makes him hard to discipline.  Ah, the joys of parenthood! Oh well, our saving grace is that everyone keeps telling us this is “just a phase!”





• Let’s focus on baby Maggie for a minute.  This little one is starting to track objects and sounds and move her head from side to side very slowly.  She responds to Chris’ voice very well and will often open her eyes for him instead of anyone else.  She’s beginning to hold her head up off our shoulder and check things out.  She’s still a great eater and burps well most of the time.  But the poor gal has yet to figure out that she’s supposed to sleep soundly during the night (not during the day!!).  Chris thinks she’s part vampire because she’ll fuss the majority of the night and the minute the sun comes up, she’ll pass out and no amount of noise, jostling, or putting an ice pack on her feet will wake her up (yes, I’m ashamed to admit I’ve exhausted just about all options).  It helps that when one of us starts to get frustrated, the other can step in, but it’s still no fun to go hours in the middle of the night without sleep.  Hopefully, “this too shall pass!”

Welcome to the world Maggie!

(Note: My 1st draft of this blog was deleted, so I'm starting over again.  I hope to capture all the excitement, but I must admit I'm a little bitter about losing the first story.)

 

 

Our precious Maggie Grace is here! Friday, June 1st was our last day of school before summer vacation and it was the first day of our adventure to bring home our little girl! At 3:32 pm, I got a text from our birthmom Tabitha that read: "Get ready.  Possibly inducing today."  I immediately texted Chris (who was sitting in the Fort Mill High School graduation and had to get up and leave). I tried to remain as calm as I possibly could while putting in a pizza to eat on the road (so we wouldn’t have to stop) and giving Riley something to eat when my mom arrived to take care of him.  I started gathering items and finishing our last minute packing while I waited for Chris to come home.  I tried not to think about how much I would miss Riley since we’d been told we could be gone for 7 to 10 days. He was so sweet playing with his golf clubs and Weebles as I packed.  I had to keep stealing kisses and hugs because I knew it’d be awhile before I’d see his sweet little face again.  As soon as my mom arrived around 4:30 pm, Chris and I jumped in the car and began the 4 1/2 hour journey to Douglasville, Georgia.  The trip seemed to go rather fast because we were updating friends and family on our news and talking about how we could hardly believe the big day was finally here! 

We pulled into the hospital parking lot of WellStar Douglas Hospital around 8:45 pm and rushed up to room 202 of the  Women’s Birthing Center. We found Tabitha hooked up to an IV receiving fluids that would prepare her for labor.  She told us the doctor was not formally going to start the pitocin to induce her until the next morning.  So we sat and chatted with her for about an hour. We brought her some Lindor truffles since she had mentioned her love for these chocolates and she gave us a Little Princess outfit and hat for Maggie to wear along with 6 pairs of newborn socks (which you can never seem to have enough of). Tabitha talked about her labor and deliveries of her previous children and at one point made the comment that she hoped this delivery would be fast.  Little did we know how that wish would become a reality in just a few short hours!

Chris and I weren’t allowed to stay at the hospital that night because the baby had not been born yet, so we found a room at a Hampton Inn which was the closest hotel.  We managed to fall asleep around 11:30 and woke up around 6:30 the next morning.  After showering and eating breakfast, we packed up and sent Tabitha a text around 8:30 telling her we were going to stop by Target to get Chris some more socks before we headed to the hospital and to see if she wanted us to pick her up anything.  Seven minutes later, I received a call from the nurse that said Tabitha was in labor and about to have a baby “very soon” and we should come to the hospital.  Needless to say, Chris and I grabbed our bags and scurried down the elevator and out the door.  I almost had to knock down a few priests who were standing by the door and blocking the exit.  :)

We made it to the hospital about 8:45 am and I immediately saw in the partitioned room to the left that our baby girl had been born and was busy being cleaned and attended to by several nurses.  We called out to Tabitha who was separated in another section of the room by a curtain to let her know that we’d made it and to check on her.  Our hearts filled with joy as we gazed at our darling daughter who was calmly laying under the heating light and taking in the world around her. Nurse Tammy and Oretha were busy trying to get Maggie’s oxygen level up to 90 or above because it kept dipping down and hovering around 80 to 87.  Just as they were about to hook her up to an oxygen mask, our little girl rallied and started transitioning and breathing much better on her own.  At this point, the nurses put Maggie on the scales for us to take a picture.  She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and they measured her height at 19 3/4 inches.  Tabitha was recovering and they opened up the curtain for us to go and see her.  I ran over and hugged her and cried my eyes out telling her how thankful we are for this amazing gift! She hugged back and let us know that she knew this was God’s plan and she felt like this was the right choice.  Tammy wrapped our precious Maggie in a blanket, put a pink and navy hat on her head, and then let Tabitha see her and touch her.
Then the moment we’d been waiting for—Tabitha said that we could hold her! See the pictures in the next blog of how happy we are to finally hold and meet our Maggie Grace.  What a precious moment! Chris and I were both so overjoyed.
Around 9:30 or 10, we were told that they had a room ready for us down the hall, so Chris and I left Tabitha to rest and went to feed Maggie. She ate just about one ounce her first feeding.  I fed her first and noticed that she latched on great and had a strong sucking reflex and was super easy to burp. 

The rest of the day seemed to pass like a blur! Chris and I sent pictures and talked to family and friends. We held and cuddled our sweet newborn and took tons of photos. We were able to get a guest lunch tray from the hospital cafeteria for lunch and Chris picked up some chicken salad sandwich. We tried feeding Maggie several times from 1:30 to 4:30, but she refused to eat until she was ready. Around 2 pm, Tabitha called and asked if we could bring Maggie down to her room, so that her dad could see her before he had to go to work. Of course, we were happy to oblige.  We visited for about an hour or so before we went back to our room to rest.  At some point in the afternoon, the pediatrician (Dr. Fox) came in to check out our girl.  She moved her limbs and listened to her breathing and said all looks well.  She did notice that she may have a hernia that should go away by the time she is 3 or 4. We posted a few pictures on Facebook and were overwhelmed by the love and support we were receiving! After supper, we met the night nurse (Tish) who fixed a “bed” for Chris to sleep in and checked Maggie’s vitals. We had a rather calm night.  Tabitha texted around 9:30 or 10 and wanted to come to our room and visit.  So she did and one of the most precious moments occurred. While holding Maggie, Tabitha leaned down and whispered, “I love you.  I will always love you.  I know this is the best decision to make because I can’t give you the kind of home you deserve.  But I want you to know I’ll always be here for you.  I know you’ll have plenty of people to love you, but if you ever need anything I’m here for you.”  I can only imagine what a selfless love it takes to place your child’s needs so above your own.  Tabitha has given us the most amazing gift in the world and we have promised her that we will never take this decision for granted and will raise Maggie with the knowledge of her courageous, loving birthmother!