Luke's X-ray

Today was Luke's 12-month well baby check-up. He now weighs 21 pounds 12 ounces and is 30 1/4 inches long. I still can't believe how big my baby boy is getting, I wish time would slow down a bit! Luke is doing great and was happy to see his doctor, as usual! The doctor decided to do an x-ray today to see how Luke's lungs looked. He pulled up the last x-ray he had taken in the NICU and compared it with the new one. I was amazed at the difference. When Luke was in the NICU last year we were told by several neonatologists that his lungs were severely damaged (due to fluid on the lungs after birth, the agressive ventilation which he received, and a number of other factors) and could take up to two years to completely heal. They said that a simple cold could put him in the hospital. This definitely caused me a lot of worry throughout the winter months, but amazingly, Luke was my healthiest child last winter. The x-ray today showed that his lungs have completely healed. On this day last year the doctors were calling Richmond Children's Hospital and considering transferring Luke there (for possible heart-lung bypass surgery...ECMO) and now his lungs are perfectly healthy. I am so amazed at how Luke has progressed this past year and truly believe that he is my little miracle baby. It is such a joy to wake up to his sweet little face each day!

Almost Home

I've been wanting to give a little update on Jeffrey for some time now. This letter that he just sent out to the family tells a little about what he's been doing for the past seven months.....

Everyone,
We are finally in the vast Atlantic Ocean—recently north of the Azores and now not far from the island of Bermuda. It’s so great to be coming home to the good old US of A, friends, and family. It’s hard to find the words to express how grateful I have been and currently am for the constant support I’ve received through the many emails and digital photos. It has been fun to see the changes in all the kids and hear about your daily challenges with life at home and work. Life out here on the ship has been extremely constant and monotonous; however, I’ve been able to see a number of locations off the ship around the world that I will probably never be able to see again, and have made new friends and memories that will last a lifetime. Over the past 7 months I’ve had the privilege of seeing Naples, Rome, The Vatican, Dubai x 4, Tiger Woods, Jimmy Buffet, Greece, Marseille, Monaco, Monte Carlo, the Suez Canal, Egypt, Morocco, the Rock of Gibraltar, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, The Atlantic, The Mediterranean, The Red Sea, and The Persian Gulf. I’ve stood 10 ft from an F-18 as it powered up to full thrusters and blasted off the ship, I’ve landed on an aircraft carrier in a C-2 prop plane, flown in a helicopter, and treated thousands or our young sailors. It has been quite a ride; however, being away from the ones I love has almost been unbearable. I think back on what it might have been like for the service men and women only a few decades ago when they didn’t have the ability to jump on a computer and see pictures of a sons first birthday the day after or be able to fast and pray for a sick child only hours after hearing about the diagnosis. Those must have truly been difficult times. Our little family has managed to grow stronger through these experiences thanks to an incredible woman back home rearing three little boys on her own. How blessed am I to have such a companion—energetic, motivated, and selfless. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms again. Family is what it’s all about. Thank you for being such a great one to me. Only a few more days to go.
Love,
Jeffrey

I've been telling Jeffrey to get lots of sleep now because his relaxing life aboard the ship is about to end! The boys are so excited to have their daddy come home and are in desperate need of some roughhousing with Daddy! I can't wait to see ALL my boys together again! It's been a long seven months without Jeffrey around, but looking back, the time has seemed to fly by. I've grown in so many ways and accomplished more than I ever thought I could, but I must admit that I'm glad that we'll never have to do this again.....at least we hope not! Just seven more days to go!

My Little Graduate

Tyler had his preschool graduation today. There was a little program where the kids walked in to the traditional graduation music, sang a few darling songs, and were then presented with their "diplomas". It was so sweet to Tyler in his little cap and gown. He absolutely loves learning and and is so excited to start kindergarten next year. I am so proud of Tyler and so happy to see what a sweet BIG boy he is becoming.

Happy Birthday Little Luke!!!

Yesterday was Luke's first birthday. We had a little "fun in the sun" party with some special friends to celebrate his big day. Luke had so much fun being the center of attention and especially LOVED his cake! He immediately attacked it and did a fine job of smashing and smearing it everywhere! A little even ended up in his mouth! I love this special boy more than words could say. He has brought me so much joy. I love watching him learn and grow and play with his brothers. They are such good buddies and he always wants to be with them. He's standing, cruising, and crawling everywhere but not walking quite yet. I'm definitely in no hurry for that to happen....I don't want my baby to grow up too fast! He learned to wave a few weeks ago and loves to wave to everyone with a big grin on his face. He is busy, busy, busy, into everything and constantly babbling in his sweet little voice. I've been thinking a lot about this time last year, when Luke was so sick, and feel so incredibly blessed to be the mother to this this special little boy. Happy first birthday Lukie Bear!!!

Our Birthday Boy

Muscles

These boys crack me up!

Busy, busy

Last week was pretty eventful. Along with all the fun things we did...strawberry patch, scrapbooking night, play group at the park, girls night out, shopping in Williamsburg...there were a couple bad things as well. After having a fever, waking up all night long, and refusing to eat for a couple days, I decided to take Luke into the ER to get checked out. He ended up having a double ear infection and a ruptured eardrum. It was so hard to see him in so much pain. He is doing much better now and is finally getting back to his normal eating routine, but now he's waking up a couple hours earlier each morning. Oh well, at least he's happy!

On Friday I was on my way to pick up Tyler at preschool when I noticed a strange sound coming from my back tire. As I was pulling into the parking lot I happened to pass by my friend Emily and her husband Greg. We noticed that I had somehow run over a screw. They kindly followed me to a service station and Greg talked to the worker to find out that it would be about three hours until they could look at it. Greg then ran across a busy street to check out another place. They waited with me until I was sure that it was going to get fixed right away (they said it would just need a patch). After waiting in the store for about thirty minutes with all three boys, the worker rolled my tire in to show me what had happened. The screw that I had managed to run over was about six inches long and had rubbed away the inside of the tire. I would have to get a new tire and this would take at least a couple hours. Tyler was supposed to be leaving for a campout in an hour and wasn't even packed so I called Emily back and she came and picked us up and brought us home. I got Tyler off okay and then ran with the other two boys in the jogging stroller to go pick up the van, luckily it was only about a mile away. I'm still wondering why this had to happen a couple weeks before Jeffrey gets home, but I definitely feel very blessed to have good friends who are always there to help out. Thanks Emily and Greg for everything!

Strawberries!

Last Tuesday was a gorgeous day, perfect for strawberry picking. We spent the afternoon picking these sweet berries at a nearby strawberry patch with some dear friends. The boys loved every minute of it and had so much fun looking for the "biggest strawberry in the world". I came home with about seven pounds of berries and we've been eating at least a pound a day. Yummy!

Bath time

This is definitely one of Luke's favorite times of the day...especially when he has bubbles to eat!

Mother's Day breakfast

Tyler excitedly woke me up at about 7:00 am yesterday to let me know that he had a big surprise. I got up to find that he had made me a sweet little card (gotta love that backwards writing!) and a special breakfast...a bowl of Life cereal and some pears. Tyler is such a thoughtful little boy and I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed to be a Mom as I ate my soggy cereal (I think he made the card AFTER he poured the milk!) alongside my three sweet boys.

Watch Him Go!

I filmed this just four days after taking off the training wheels. It's now been a little over a week and he's zooming all over the place! Tyler practices just about every day and is so excited to show off for his daddy in a few weeks!

Bye-Bye Training Wheels!

Tyler has been asking me for weeks to take the training wheels off his bike. A few days ago, Luke and Ethan were both taking an afternoon nap at the same time and I decided that this would be the perfect day. Tyler was so excited and just a little scared. I was definitely more scared than him and had a hard time letting go of the bike, even when he would ask me. He's still got some work to do, but he's definitely determined and is outside every day practicing. He informed me today that he doesn't need my help anymore! I'm so proud of my big boy!

A day at the beach

Yesterday was gorgeous here in Virginia Beach...perfect for a day at the beach. The kids had such a wonderful time playing in the sand, wading in the water and being with their friends. They seem to get braver every time we go, which definitely makes me a little nervous. I'm still laughing at the thought of my brave little Luke. He absolutely loved crawling in the cold water. Every time I'd set him down, he'd get a big grin on his face and crawl at top speed right for the ocean. I'd pick him up when the water got too high, put him up the beach a little, and then he'd do it all over again. I loved that look of pure joy on his face. I'm looking forward to the warm weather and many more beach adventures!