Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

****WARNING- VERY LONG BLOG POST****

We have been incredibly busy and we have had lots of fun over the past few weeks. That hasn't left a whole lot of time for blogging, so I'm going to try to catch up as best I can. First, let me start by tying up some loose ends. I don't think I ever mentioned that Rex did get into the private school we were hoping for (in fact, I've already made the first half of the year's payment- OUCH!) And as for our tub ordeal, well- let me just say that after five different bathtubs (two of which cannot be returned), we finally have one that fits, is made of cast iron, has a drain in the proper place, and is not cracked. That was not easy to come by. It never should have been so hard...ANYWAY-

We started the month of May off with a trip to Uniontown for little Hillary's baptism. It was nice spending the weekend visiting with friends and family, but unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of Hillary! (So if anyone has one, please e-mail it to me!). But here is Jack getting some hugs from Grandma,

Sean getting hugs from Aunt Edie,

and Rex and Morgan looking anything but saintly and innocent in the church pews.

The next week was full of doctor's appointments for the kids. Sean went to the dentist for the first time, and once I held his arms and legs down in a giant bear-hug- he almost cooperated. The dentist was able to get a quick peek and speed-clean his teeth. We'll try again in six months! The next day, Jack had a weight check at the pediatrician's office. When I took him to his six month appt. in April, he had not gained any weight since his four month check-up in February. He slipped from the 90th percentile down to the 50th percentile. I started supplementing his feedings with formula and within four weeks, he bounced back into the 75th percentile. It's hard to believe my ten pounder wasn't gaining weight! It could be because he never sits still! One thing he loves to do is crawl around with his toy in his mouth like a dog.

He has been crawling for about two months now, and just recently, he started pulling himself up to a standing position. (Let me remind you, he's only seven months old!) I put together a little corral he can crawl around in without getting stepped on by Sean and Kaleigh. And he finally pushed his first tooth through last week! His second one just popped through yesterday. Between that, and a terrible cold which we have all shared, he has been pretty miserable, and a little fussy,but he still has that great smile:

On the same night as Jack's appointment, Michael had to rush Sean to Nighttime Pediatrics with croup again. Some kids with croup just get a cough, but Sean's airways actually swell, and he makes this high-pitched whistling sound as he gasps for each breath. It's very alarming, but the steroids they give him clear it up quickly. The doctor that examined him that night thought he heard a slight heart murmur. Many of the doctors and specialists we have seen over the past few years have asked if he has one because of his cleft, but no one had ever heard one. I took him to the pediatrician the next day, and sure enough, he heard it. Some heart murmurs are completely harmless, but this one was heard in a different area of the heart from where those usually occur. It may still be harmless, but we have an appointment with a Pediatric Cardiologist at the end of July to get it checked out. We'll all be saying a few extra prayers that everything is okay.

The next week, I was lucky enough to accompany Rex on his Pirates of the Chesapeake field trip. Imagine... fifteen five-year-olds and a few parents on a "real" pirate ship, searching for "real" treasure, and fighting the evil Pirate Pete. Here is Rex practicing his mad pirate face. "ARRRGGH!"

And here he is, on the lookout for Pirate Pete:

And finally, here he is, attacking Pirate Pete with the ship's water canons:

That was, without a doubt, the best field trip I've ever been on. I don't want to give too much away in case any of you ever have the chance to go, but let me say the kids learned how to talk like pirates, they defeated Pirate Pete, found the chest of treasure, drank lots of grog, and had an absolute blast.

Our busy month continued on with Rex's end of the year KinderGym program. Here is Rex demonstrating how to balance on one foot:

Grandma Bernie and Uncle Paul came down for a visit. The boys LOVED having the extra attention.

Last Wednesday was Rex's graduation from Pre-K. He looked so grown-up in his little graduation gown.

Each child was given an award (i.e. Best Reader, Best Listener), and Rex was given the award for "Most Inquisitive" and "Most Knowledgeable". Talk about hitting the nail on the head! I guess you can't be the most knowledgeable if you don't ask a lot of questions! Rex did a great job during the ceremony, even though he was a little nervous, and I am so proud of the work he has done this year. He is doing a great job with reading, and he reads EVERYTHING- labels, billboards, t-shirts. Michael and I can no longer spell things out in front of him- he can figure out what we are saying! Guess it's time to brush up on my pig-latin. Think he'll figure out what Oy-tay Tore-Say means? (Can you?).

Later that day, we all walked down to the Navel Academy to watch the annual Blue Angels show. I look forward to this every year! The past few years, the weather has been rainy and overcast, so the shows haven't been that great, but this year, it was GORGEOUS, and the show lasted for almost an hour. Sean was in his glory- he had a grin plastered to his face all afternoon as he shouted "Blue Angels" and "Airplane" over and over (and over and over and over...).









Look closely- there are actually four jets in this picture:











Here's Jack chillin' in his stroller. I put earplugs in his ears so the noise wouldn't scare the daylights out of him. It worked.







On Friday, President Obama was across the street for the Naval Academy graduation. Like him or not, he is our President, and whether you voted for him or not, it is always cool when the President comes to town. I took the boys down the street to watch the motorcade come in. We were able to see his helicopters fly overhead (they fly three helicopters- one of them is Marine One, the other two are decoys), and a few minutes later, we watched his limos arrive (again, one is his, the other is a decoy). He travels with quite an entourage. There were probably twenty-five different armored vehicles, motorcycles, vans, and an ambulance in tow.


Here's Obama's helicopter (I think).

And here's the Secret Service keeping a watchful eye.

And here is the Presidential Limousine arriving.


I often wonder if the children will appreciate what a cool town they live in. Pirate ships, Blue Angels, Presidential motorcades...I imagine that as they get older, these will seem like routine things to them. But I'll know how cool it is.

We ended the week with the kids' preschool end of the year picnic at Quiet Waters Park. After that, we came home and kicked off the Memorial Day weekend with a much needed and deserved neighborhood happy hour. And now reality is about to smack me hard in the face as I head back to work this week after nearly eight months of maternity leave. I'll only be working a few days a week, so it shouldn't be too hard. But what will I do without all that "extra time" on my hands?