Abby and Steve's Wedding

Last weekend we spent the whole weekend celebrating a very happy occassion, Abby and Steve's wedding in Sparta, NJ at the Lake Mohawk Country Club. It was a fabulous weekend filled with lots of quality family time. My parents came up for the wedding and were able to help us so much with the boys, since both Ben and I were in the wedding. Here are some photos of the fun event and we are so happy to welcome Steve in to the family!

Some Post-Op Pictures

Rollin is now one week post-op and we went to the surgeon today and they removed his stitches in his eyebrows, which he was not happy about. Poor little trooper. We have to go back to the surgeon again on Thursday because there is a little area in his left eyebrow that is "brown" and they are concerned it may be the fascia that is exposed and the skin is not properly closing over the wound. Hopefully that is not the case. Here are some photos I took of Rollin this past week- you will notice his eyes are pulled pretty tightly (especially the right eye), but our surgeon assures us this will "settle" over the next few months. Rollin continues to be such a happy guy and we think he is loving his new eyes.

Rollin's Congential Ptosis Surgery

As many of you know Rollin has had a few surgerical procedures in his short life of 16 months. This past October marked the fourth time poor Rollie V was put under general anesthesia, this time to correct his bi-lateral (both eyes), congential ptosis with what is called a Frontalis Sling Procedure. We went to Dr. William Madigan at Children's National Medical Center in DC for the surgery. The entire surgery took three hours and the result is pretty amazing. Of course we are only three day post-op, but he can finally see out of both eyes much better. He has to wear eye shields around the clock (even while sleeping- which is proving difficult), and we have to put medicine in his eyes three/four times a day as well (which he does not like). Other than that, he does not appear to be in any pain and has not needed anything stronger than tylenol which he only got twice after surgery. He is not sleeping well- but that always happens after surgery-typically he is back to his good old sleeping self about four weeks after each surgery, hopefully that is the case this time! I will update with more pictures as his healing progresses, but here are some ones the day of surgery (one with Daddy pre-op, one after he got his "happy juice" pre-op and two post-op as we were leaving the hospital). Love this kid so much!

Cox Farms Fall Festival 2010

Each year we have a family tradition of visiting Cox Farms Fall Festival in Centerville, VA. This year we were able to bring along my parents (who were in town for Rollin's big ptosis surgery the following Monday). The boys loved the slides and the hayride and eating tons of kettlecorn. Here are some photos of my beautiful boys.

First Day of School

Everett started school last week (cue tears from mommy) and he loves it so far! He is attending Resurrection Luthern Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings from 9:15 a.m.-noon. He plays a lot, then eats a snack, then plays some more and is learning to make friends and be social (not that he needs ANY help in that area!). The school is only a mile or so from the house, so Rollin and I drop him off and then head to a Monkey Business class with just the two of us (which I love!), and then turn right around it seems to pick him up. I am hoping this is the start of a life long love of school and learning for Everett. Here are some pictures of his first day, and his first trip to McDonalds for lunch after his first day. Love him so much and am constantly searching for a way to stop time so he will be young forever.

Girls Weekend: Destination Chicago!

This past weekend I spent 48 fun hours with my best girls from law school. Monica, Celeste, Cara and Sheri flew in from Phoenix and Ali and I came from DC. We all met up in the windy city for weekend of long talks, good food and of course, some dancing! It had been a few years since we all met up without husbands and babies for a trip with just us girls- and it was so fun. Eight kids between us all and 12 years have passed since we first met, but when we get together it is like no time at all has passed. They are all such amazing mommies and do such a great job balancing busy legal careers with the challenges of marriage and children. They inspire me. Love these ladies so much, I am so grateful for their friendship and love over the years. Here is to many more girls weekends-- even when we are grandmas. Oh, and Ben and the boys did so well without me this weekend and I got the pleasure of having them send me off and pick me up at the airport (Rollin LOVES planes!). Everett started soccer practice- cannot wait to see it myself in person this Saturday! Everett also starts preschool tomorrow!! I am so excited, I can hardly wait- will be such a great experience for him... will post about his first day soon!

Dancing Machine!

Little man Rollin had surgery for his undescended testicals and a double hernia on Wednesday of this week. He was such a trooper and is quite possibly the world's best patient. The surgery itself took 2.5 hours, which was much longer than expected, but his surgeon, Dr. Rushton, was able to successfully move both his testicals down and also repair his hernias. The very next day he was up playing and crawling around. Rollin LOVES to dance, just loves it. For a few days we had to keep all the music in the house off for fear he would start his signature dance moves, which is moving his legs to the beat. Today, we let him dance again. He is our little solid gold mover and shaker. Love him to pieces!