Wilmington Day Trip

When Ken's parents were here we decided to take a day trip to the coast to Wilmington, North Carolina. We told Abraham and Tyler that we had four special suprises for them. The first stop: The beach! Abraham has begged us to take him to the beach and he LOVED it! He would have happily stayed there all day playing in the sand.

Tyler wasn't as big of a fan. He didn't like the sand or the wind. He did venture out some though.
I like this picture because I think it looks like Grandma Carlile is taking a nice jog along the shore.
Suprise number 2: The aquarium!!
Abraham and Tyler were both in HEAVEN! They loved all the fish and sea creatures and were fascinated! They'll never be satisfied with the fish department at Wal-Mart again!Tyler was brave enough to touch the crab and sting ray in the petting tank. Abraham wanted nothing to do with it.I thought this crab bore a striking resemblance to Ken.

Not sure what is going through Abraham's mind when he posed here. We all loved the big shark tank though.

Rex woke up for a few minutes at the end and enjoyed the lights and movement in the tanks.

We took probably 10 pictures at this spot, trying to get a decent shot. It didn't happen. This is the best we got!

At the outdoor play area.

Our third stop was a ferry ride! It was a perfect temperature and the 35 minute ride was great. Tyler throwing a huge tantrum when it was time to get in the van and drive off the boat wasn't so great.

Our last stop was a maritime museum, which unfortunately was closed. Just down the street was this pier though, so we stopped there for a few minutes. Tyler had fallen asleep in the car and Rex needed to eat, so we stayed in the car and Ken ventured out with Abraham and his parents.

Muscles!!

Abraham loved finding sand again! He would have once again been content to stay here for hours playing in the sand. I guess we need to plan a better beach visit for him next summer.

We had such a wonderful day together as a family!

Happy Halloween, umm, Thanksgiving?

We loved having Grandpa and Grandma Carlile here for Halloween. I especially loved the help with sewing costumes. Our family theme: The First Thanksgiving.

The boys and I went Trunk or Treating while Ken & Grandpa passed out candy and Grandma held the baby.Our cutest little corn on the cob, a pirate would have just been too obvious. Confessi on: Ken and I wore thesme costumes to a party when we were dating.
Abraham wanted to be a zombie. We told him he could be a Indian Warrior Zombie and then he was cool with it.
Two Awesome Pilgrims
What Thanksgiving is complete without a turkey? I don't know if anyone could eat a turkey that cute though!Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Abraham!!

We weren't sure how Abraham's birthday would play out this year, since it was the day after Rex's surgery. Since the operation went so well, we kept our plans and headed to the North Carolina Transportation museum. We went there last year for his birthday and had the best time and so we went again. Unfortunately since we'd been there last year they decided to start charging admission. Bummer! Although admission included a train ride, which was a huge hit.

Anyone who knows Tyler can hear him, "choo choo"as they look at this picture. He was thrilled. You might be thinking "Why didn't they go there for Tyler's birthday since he is SO crazy for trains?". We were thinking the same thing. Both boys were in heaven though.
Rex woke up for a few minutes on the train. He was wide eyed until it started moving, then he was sound asleep once again. Photo op!
All the boys (except Rex :-) We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Carlile there with us.
This is the face we get when we ask Tyler to smile. I think it is really super cute.
Abraham really loved this construction corner at the museum and spent quite a bit of time there.
Ken and I were there too! It is easy to forget to get pictures of yourself.
Look at that smile. He's gotten so big and is such a sweet boy.
This is how Rex spent most of the day. He was still feeling the affects of the surgery anesthesia and spent pretty much the whole time sleeping.

Brother love.

They had some Halloween decorations up. The kids were okay with these skeletons.

The little wolf man we saw in another room? They weren't so okay with him.

We don't have many pictures with all five of us so we had to take advantage of the opportunity.

This was the drive home. Everybody sleeping. Ken and I thought it was pretty funny.

When we got home, we'd set up his presents in a backroom filled with balloons. He was so thrilled to go running back there. My favorite part was how much he let his brother in on the presents and how kind and sharing he was. I don't think Tyler even realized that none of the gifts were for him.

Grandma and Grandpa Red sent him this really awesome quiet book. We wish they could have been there with us too!

This was the morning after, playing with all the spoils. What a wonderful day he had.

We are so grateful to have Abraham in our family. He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing. Happy Birthday, we love you!

Mad Eye Rexy

Rex had his eye surgery at Duke on Wednesday. We were the first surgery of the day so we had to be there at 7:00 AM. Luckily Ken's parents had arrived the night before and were able to take care of Abraham and Tyler for us. Rex did awesome before surgery. Even though he was quite hungry, he hardly cried and was such a good baby. When Tyler had tubes put in at 8 months and then his tonsils out in July coming out of anesthesia was such a nightmare. Rex was wonderful and didn't even cry at all. We'd been told that because of his age he'd have to spend the night there under observation, but he did so well that they let us come home! Hooray. He slept quite a bit the first day, but since then has been pretty normal. He gets 9 eye drops a day, but only 1 of them burns a little when it goes in, the others aren't painful at all. We go back to Duke on Wednesday to have his eye checked and be fitted for his contact lens. Once he has the lens, he won't need the patch any longer. We are so happy that things have gone so well and feel so grateful that we were able to find and correct his problem so early.

This is Rex shortly after we got home (we forgot to bring our camera in with us and so we don't have any pictures of him in his little gown, you'll have to take my word for it that he looked really cute). This is his first patch (yes it is pink, they were out of blue) and it was really bulky. They took it off the next day and put on the one he wears now, which is much easier to change and clean and much smaller.

He has to wear the arm braces so that he won't bother his eye. He is pretty good at worming his way out of them and immediately goes for his eye when he can reach it. The nurses at the hospital call the braces "no no's"

This is him 48 hours after surgery. Smiling and happy ... just how we like him!

I Love to See the Temple

We had a Primary activity at the Raleigh temple about a month ago and were able to get our picture taken in front of the temple. We just got a copy of the pictures. I can't believe how little Rex looks, even just one month ago!!

Sweet Boys

This is Abraham trying desperately to keep his eyes open. He has a serious problem with always having his eyes closed in pictures.

Happy 2 Months Rex!!

I can't believe Rex is already 2 months old!! He's such a sweet boy and we couldn't love him more. For those who may not know, at his one month check up our pediatrician noticed he had a cloudy eye. After several specialist appointments it was confirmed that he has a cataract in his right eye. If you look closely at the pictures you can actually see the cloudiness in his right eye. He will be having a lensectomy on October 26th at Duke Eye Center. We are lucky to have such a well renowned center and surgeon available to do his surgery. Since he is so young they will have to keep him overnight in the hospital for observation. He will wear an eye patch and have a variety of eye drops for several weeks and then be fitted for a contact lens. He will wear his contact until he is about 2 and can be fitted for a permanent lens implant. It has been kind of crazy, so we are happy to finally be getting it taken care of.

Rex is a pretty decent sleeper and I have just started sleep training him using the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I've been happy with the results so far. He has also just started smiling and we love to see his sweet dimples! His brothers love him and can't keep their hands off of him, he's definitely going to be a tough little cookie!

Happy 2 Month Birthday Buddy!!