Life of the Party

We often joke that Graeme can literally fall asleep anywhere! Must have been the 3 week stay in the NICU with all the monitors and alarms that allows him to tune things out and drift off into a happy sleep! In fact, we have found that the louder the party the longer the nap! These photos were taken at our neighborhood playgroup Christmas Party and Cookie Exchange. With 17 kids (3 and under) and all hyped up on sugar, it was quite a wild event! But sweet Graeme proved once again to be the "Life of the Party" as he drifted off to sleep 5 minutes into the festivities and even slept through our mini photo shoot!!

Gage, Emma and Graeme


We silly Moms are finally realizing that once these little ones hit two it is a lot harder to line them up for a smiling photo on the couch. They sure did look cute in person and the all have so much fun playing together. Wouldn't know it from the picture, but it's true! We feel so blessed to have such fun kids in our neighborhood!

Mariana and Friends

Graeme - 14 weeks

It is hard to believe that Graeme is already almost 4 months old. His new favorite activities include rolling from his tummy to his back, blowing bubbles and giggling. He is such a happy baby!

Visit with Gran and Pop at the Beach - November 2010

In November, Mommy finally gathered enough courage to attempt travelling solo with two. What an adventure! Mariana got sick with the stomach bug the first night we arrived...ugggh! Luckily she recovered quickly and we were able to enjoy some time with Gran and Pop. The pet-me-zoo was a definite highlight of the trip until the duck pictured below decided to nibble on Mariana's ear - poor thing!! She didn' t find this very amusing and needless to say the fun ended there. Other highlights included wagon rides to the beach, playing in the sand, jumping in the ocean, going to the "cool playground" and, of course, celebrating Pop's Birthday!

"Mommy, look at me!"

Happy Birthday Pop!

Feeding the Pigs at Sidi's Farm

"I'm not so sure about this duck..."

Family Picture



"Look at all this sand!"

Hours of Entertainment

Mariana loves the ocean....

....could you see this coming?

Halloween - October 31, 2010

We had so much fun with the kids on Halloween this year. I must say, I think Graeme is the only infant in history who actually enjoyed being in his costume! He certainly fit the role of "Chunky Monkey" and Mariana really impressed us with her endurance for trick-or-treating. "Okay, Daddy, just one more house..." she kept saying. Here are a few pictures of the kids in costume.

Chunky Monkey

Happy Little Puppy

Pumpkin Carving - October 29, 2010

Mariana loved pumpkin carving with Daddy this year. She was amazed at how many seeds where inside a pumpkin and loved the process of getting them out. Here are a few pictures taken throughout the process (in reverse order-oops)...

The Final Product

Helping with the "scooper"

"I'm stuck"

"Look, Daddy, seeds!"

"This hat is heavy, Daddy"

Daddy, Mari and ONE BIG PUMPKIN

Me and My Little Pumpkin

Waking up Smiles - Graeme 11 weeks

Here is our "happy" boy! He honestly smiles all the time. What a blessing!! His favorite activities include cooing, smiling and giggling at his sister!! Daddy has officially nick-named him Winston Churchill, due to his big cheeks and numerous chins. All he needs is a top-hat and cigar to complete the picture.

Trip to Cradle of Forestry - Brevard,NC - October 2010

This fall we were able to enjoy the "peak week" of fall colors with a trip to the Cradle of Forestry in Brevard, NC. Mariana had so much fun learning about all of the animals and their habitats. She was quite proud of herself when she was given a Smokey the Bear sticker by one of the park rangers. She and Daddy really loved riding in the helicopter simulator and collecting leaves during our hike. Our day hike ended with a climb aboard the train. This was totally cool for a two year old who has been reading about Thomas and Friends. A great day was had by all, even Graeme enjoyed a few naps along the way.

A family hike

All Aboard


Eatting Lunch in my pack

Graeme - 10 weeks

Best Buds

What a handsome little chunk!

Sparklers and S'mores - October 2010

We have truly enjoyed some fabulous weather this fall. One evening just as it was starting to get cool we pulled out the fire pit and introduced Mariana to Sparklers, toasted marshmallows and s'mores. Yum Yum!

Baby Doll Picnics!

This fall one of Mariana's favorite activities has been having baby doll picnics. This is most fun of course when Graeme is napping and Mariana has Mommy's undivided attention, but truth be told, we have been known to set Graeme right in there with the rest of the doll babies. What a good sport! Mommy is dying to get a picture of this, but Daddy Sprout fears it just might ruin his "tough boy" image.

October 14, 2010 - Pumpkin Patch

In Mid-October we took Mariana and a bunch of her little buddies to the Pumpkin Patch at Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, NC. What a great place to go in the fall! The kids had so much fun holding and feeding baby chicks, pigs, cows and horses. Picking apples and trying to find the biggest pumpkin were the highlight of the day.


Graeme tagged along with Mommy and the gang - sleeping the whole time in Mommy's Moby. I do believe he wins the award for most flexible traveler. I swear the kid can sleep anywhere - better enjoy that while it lasts!

Sawyer and Mariana Picking Pumpkins

"What about this one?"

Where's Baby Graeme?

One prize winning pumpkin and a very tired girl

A visit from Cousin Ava

Aunt GeGe, Graeme and Cousin Ava - September 2010

Getting the Blog Back in Action - Graeme - 8 weeks

Happy 7 Week Birthday, Graeme!

Smiles

Chef Louise and her Sandbox Creations

Jammie Time

King of the Remote

At seven weeks old, Graeme has started to show us a bit of his personality. He has begun to smile on occasion and is beginning to sleep for a bit longer each night. He still absolutely loves to eat. In fact he would perfer eat every 2 hours all day (and sometimes all night) long. We figure he must be making up for lost time. He is packing on the pounds and is working on filling in his third chin. He has officially inherited the nickname "Little Winston", as he resembles Winston Churchill, with bald head and three chins.

Mariana continues to enjoy loving on her Baby Graeme! She also loves playing outside in her sandbox and playing with her baby dolls. She still would love to drag her brother around like she does her dollies, but at least she is getting used to his presence.

Mommy and Daddy are tired, but managing well. Daddy finally was able to take his paternity leave this past week and we so enjoyed having him home. He was a huge help with the kids and managed to tackle several projects that needed to be done around the house.

Beautiful September Weather in Asheville

Mommy's Boy

Sweet Baby Graeme

Sister Hugs

The Kennedy Clan

Gran's little wiggle worms

Tickle, Tickle, Tickle

We are thrilled to report that after four weeks at home, Graeme continues to thrive. He is such a happy baby and we feel very blessed!! Mariana has become such a good big sister. She loves to play with her baby brother and entertain him by reading him books and singing him songs. She is quite a good helper to mommy when it is time to change the baby's diapers or give him a bath. We really miss Gran's help, but we are slowly settling into a routine of our own.

Good Reports from the Surgeon

Yesterday, we went for our follow-up visit with Graeme's pediatric surgeon. Amazingly enough, he weighed 9 lb. 12 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long. This means he has gained over a pound and a half since is inital pediatrician appointment and has grown 2 inches- Yeah Graeme!! His surgeon was thrilled, as obviously this means he is eating well.

The doctor was also amazed that Graeme was not having more issues with reflux. He is doing so well, that they have decided to take him off the Prilosec. His incision is completely healed and the surgeon seems to think that he will no longer need to follow Graeme, unless he develops some sort of esophageal stricture in the next several months. This is a complication that tends to present itself between 6 weeks and 3 months post surgery.

Otherwise, as Graeme continues to grow, his esophgagus should continue to grow with him and in a sense "self-dilate".

We were thrilled with the good news from the surgeon and we are prayerful that Graeme will not develop a stricture or any complications down the road. God has been so faithful in the healing of Graeme and we are continually blessed by all of your prayers, meals, notes of encouragement, phone calls and support! We can't thank you enough!!

September 8, 2010 - Four Weeks Old and My First Week at Home

Go Penn State!

Bubble Fun


Our Peaceful Boy!

Yummy Watermelon

"Man, these photo shoots are exhauting!"

Rub a Dub Dub, Kickin' in the tub!

Checking myself out in the mirror

Hanging out in the swing

I love my sweet Gran!

Graeme is now home and he is 4 1/2 weeks old. Mommy Sprout must apologize for taking a bit longer to get back into the swing of things with the blog, as having two kids under the same roof has been absolutely exhausting! (And I thought it was rough commuting to and from the hospital). Anyway, we feel very blessed to have Graeme at home and we are extremely grateful to have Gran here, helping us as we adjust.

Graeme really seems to be thriving at home. He is eating well and had gained 4 more ounces at his first pediatrician appointment. Despite the fact that he does have reflux (as a result of his surgery), it doesn't seem to bother him too significantly. He doesn't spit up at all and he has had no signs of aspiration. Pretty amazing for a child undergoing a TE Fistula repair (or so we are told).

Graeme is also sleeping quite well both at night and during the day. We can only hope that this will last in the coming days, weeks and months. So far he seems to be a really laid-back fellow (wonder who he gets that from). He will go with the flow if we need to run errands or take Mariana somewhere and he can fall asleep just about anywhere. Mommy is so jealous!!

Tomorrow we will meet with his pediatric surgeon for his surgery follow-up appointment. We are anticipating that they may take him off his medicine for reflux...which would be truly miraculous given what he has been through!

Mariana has struggled quite a bit with sharing the attention in the house. She has begun to really show us just how bad the "terrible twos" can be and she certainly knows how to push her Mommy's buttons!! She does best when she is able to "help" Mommy with diaper changes and giving the baby a bath, but she just can't understand why she cannot carry Graeme herself or put him into the carseat and swing.

Outside of having several sweet moments of loving on her brother, Mariana has spent most of the week playing with Gran! Oh, how she will miss all the fun times with Gran, when she has to return home on Saturday. What a lifesaver Gran has been!!

Well, that's about it from this week. We are all adjusting to a new normal and trying to catch up on sleep when we can. Thanks again, for all your prayers and support. We hope to update the blog at least weekly, if not more often.