Storm Eye

Right after Luke was born we noticed that his right eye (left when you are looking at him) drooped quite a bit.  I mentioned it to the doctor and he called it ptosis and said we would watch it but not to be concerned.  Well, about 3 months later one of my mom's childhood friends came into town and was telling us about her granddaughter who had a droopy eyelid and turns she had Horner's Syndrome caused by a cancerous tumor.  Of course my mom radar went into high gear.  My doctor still insisted that everything was fine.  Well, at Luke's two year appt the pediatrician finally suggested we go to MUSC's Storm Eye Institute to have it checked out.  They did all kinds of tests and dilated Luke's eyes.  He mentioned the scary Horner's Syndrome from a tumor or he could have Horner's with no cause.  He said that only one case has come about where the child was born with a tumor and since we noticed it almost immediately after birth he doesn't feel like it is a tumor.  So no MRI or anything.  Another cause of Horner's is trauma at birth and Luke didn't have that either.  So, I am not sure if he has Horner's with no known cause or just ptosis.  The doctor wasn't very clear.  But he did say (which left me as a mother a little nervous) "just make sure your pediatrician mashes and feels in his stomach at every visit".  The tumor would be in abdomen area with this syndrome.  So, my plan is to call the pediatrician and ask what all this means since we don't go for another year for Luke's 3 year appt.  Anyway, I don't think it is anything serious wrong because the drooping hasn't gotten any worse that we can tell.

Here we are in the waiting room while his eyes are dilating.

And after the appt with his little glasses on.  Gosh I love that little boy!

Randomness

I walked in the den the other day to see Luke busting the sag!!  He is so tiny and these pajamas are 18-24 months and they kept falling off of him.  But he would not let me take them off because they had all kinds of construction vehicles on them.  I ended up having to roll the waistband over about 3 times to make them stay on!  

This cracked me up.  He is going to be such a class clown.  I know I will get many phone calls from his teachers as he gets older ;)

They both still love the airplane but poor Adeline gets so frustrated because she likes the seesaw part of it and Luke doesn't.  Even when we talk him into getting on the other wing, he isn't heavy enough to make her go up in the air.

Adeline has a huge love for these little toys.  I used to love them as a kid too!  She will play with them for hours after they have "hatched".

On the way to the pumpkin patch...

Sweet, tired boy

I love seeing my two babies holding their daddy's hands.  Makes my heart melt!

He had to take his car with him.  He never let that grip up either.  I love the cute little things he does :)

She loves getting her face painted and this day she chose a ladybug.  

Trying again for a photo of the two of them.  Again, impossible!

My mom gave me this bracelet when I had Luke.  It is supposed to keep up with medicine times, nursing times, and you switch it on your arms to remember what side to nurse on.  I used it for a while but hadn't seen it in a while.  Well, Luke found it the other day and decided to wear it for a good hour as a headband.  I am pretty sure this will be blackmail later in life :)

Stew still won't cut on the heater and so every morning when we wake up it is freezing.  I was fixing breakfast and came in the den to get Adeline and this is what I found.  This girl is such a gift from the Lord.  She has such an amazing personality and there is never a dull moment with her around!

Mission Impossible

We went to the beach Saturday because the weather was beautiful and mostly because I wanted the take the kids pictures in these outfits before they outgrew them.  I just don't get why it is so hard to get them to both look at the camera and smile at the same time.  It's not like I am asking them to do a choreographed dance!!  Just a little smile and face in my direction.  Anyway, it's just not going to happen.  After two years of trying this is what always happens.

Classic one looking away while the other is messing with their face in some way or another.

 Or one has their eyes closed

Or one is smiling and looking sort of in my direction and the other is distracted with something else

Oh, now the other one is smiling and now the once smiling kid is leaving the scene

Believe it or not this is the best picture (out of 326) that I got and it's not even that good!!

I have come to terms that no matter how nice of a camera you have it can't make the kids cooperate.  And that probably I am going to have to rely on those once a year professional portraits where they seem to get them looking at once.  Maybe that is because me, Stew, my mom and the photographer are acting like crazy people behind the camera.  But even if my pictures aren't frame worthy I have no doubt that in a few years I will enjoy looking at these and remembering these precious years when they were little! *tear*

Things I Love

Maybe I shouldn't love this, I know Adeline doesn't ;)  But the things they do to each other sometimes just make me laugh!  This is one example...Adeline was sleeping and Luke took it upon himself to draw a masterpiece on her legs.  He was very proud and called me in there to show me.  Adeline on the other hand was not thrilled.  To see both of their reactions just makes me love them to pieces!!  But I do have a soft spot for Miss Addie...I grew with a younger brother!

I love to go in Adeline's room and see how she has arranged all of her animals.  She plays with these things all the time.  She has everyone memorized and if she is missing one she will let you know which one by describing it without missing a single detail.  She can seriously tell you how many dots, stripes, feet, whatever they have.  It is amazing and so funny.  Instead of dolls in her dollhouse there are animals and this is just one of the many things that I love about her.

I love how she fell asleep holding her momma slinky dog and baby slinky dog :)

I love how he wants to do everything she does.  I try to tell her that little eyes are watching everything she does.  Some days she sets a good example, some days not so much!!

As much as he gets on my nerves I have to admit I love this furry little thing.  He cracks us up daily with all the places we find him (unless he is on my bed or on Luke's navy blue chair).  

I love watching Adeline in ballet and I love how excited she is to go.  And I also love how cute she is in the leotard and tutu!

I love Matilda Jane clothing and I love my girl in it!

I love her smile minus 2 teeth.  And seeing that new one coming in.  This one also makes me a little sad. I think this growing up thing came a little too soon.

I love that she still insists on riding on her daddy's shoulders every afternoon on the way to Mimi's house.

I love that his outfit we made him last year still fits.  I love that he is so little.  As long as he is healthy I love his small size and skinny little legs.  He is my baby!  And I love that the curling iron is behind him because that is his favorite thing.  He thinks it is a dustbuster and walks around with it vacuuming our house.  He calls it a baboom (like a baboon).  Silly sweet boy!

I love his sweet little face and even his crooked haircut his Mimi gave him.

I love watching her try new things like riding a bike without training wheels.  This new thing didn't last and we have since put the training wheels back on :)

I love how he stuffs his mouth full of fruit bar.

I love this picture of him in his glasses after he had them dilated.  And I love hearing good news that my baby boy's eyes are fine and his vision is perfect.  He does have a droopy eyelid and the eye doctor does want him watched by the pediatrician but for right now everything seems good.

I love bathtime with these two.  This is the one place they seem to get along.  

I love having my friends come over with their babies.  It seems like we were just in high school and now here we are with kids of our own.  Crazy!  Oh, and I love all these cuties :)

And most of all I love my Adeline and Luke!!

Monkeying Around at the Zoo

So, Jennifer and I loaded up the kids and went to Columbia for the day.  The weather was absolutely perfect and it wasn't crowded at all.  All the animals were out and the monkeys were yelling and the lions were roaring.  The ride up there almost made me turn right around and go back home.  You see, Luke is NOT a traveler.  He HATES car rides and would rather be home than anywhere else in the world.  But we made it there and it was all smiles (well not all) from then on :)

Here are 3 of the 4 kiddos.

My sweet Adeline in the Kangaroo walkabout

 Can I just say how much these two love each other.  Jake thinks Adeline is the greatest thing and she feels the exact same way.  She will often say she wishes Jake was her brother.  Although, I would love Jake as my own (I already do) I have to remind her that God blessed us with Luke and he is a great brother.  My mom's wish that I understand what it is like to parent siblings who fight is coming true.  Thanks mom!!

Me with the kids and the elephant.  It's not so easy holding them at one time anymore :(

My prissy girl did NOT like the way the elephants smelled!!  She was disgusted.

Adeline was not thrilled that Luke joined her...he, on the other hand, was quite thrilled that he joined her :)

A couple of us feeding Isabella the giraffe

And a few of them "milking" the cow.  Also, let me just say here too how much I am loving Adeline's clothes.  I just started buying this Matilda Jane stuff and I am IN LOVE!!

Luke's first time on a pony.  He did so good and was so cute!

Oh, I just want to squeeze him ;)

Favorite part of the day....Carousel

This is what caused the few tears at the zoo....getting off the carousel.  He would have stayed on for hours.  Not something that this motion sickness momma can handle.

We were going to try and go to the gardens side of the zoo but Luke fell asleep in the wagon on the way back to the car and I was not about to wake him.  He almost made it home before waking up and it was a much more peaceful ride.  Adeline is always a good traveling partner and she even fell asleep some of the way so I got to have some much needed quiet time.  She did wake up a little before Luke and out of the blue prayed for God to give her two babies in her tummy at one time when she is married. I'm not quite sure where that came from but if she does get pregnant with twins later (and I mean way later) I am going to look back on this and smile :)