Cooper's Ear Surgery

On Friday, July 18th, Cooper had tubes put in his ears at Newton Medical Center in Covington.  He has had over 7 ear infections in the past five months alone so his pediatrician, the ENT specialist and I all agreed that tubes might be the best thing to do for him before cold and flu season starts up again.  Also, when we went to the ENT for our initial consultation, the doctor was a little concerned about his pressure tests that they performed in each ear.  The pressure in his ears was not what it should be and said that tubes would help to fix that.  I explained to him that Cooper was still not walking very well but that his Physical Therapist had dismissed him from therapy as she said that he had the ability to walk but that he was just lazy and that it would come in time.  I have been more than a little concerned as he is now 19 months old and was not walking very well.  He said that tubes may help this but that it was uncertain and for me not to get my hopes up.  We had to be at the hospital at 6:00 that morning but his surgery wasn't until 8:00.  He did very well I must say and was only a little fussy when he got out of surgery.  They gave him some liquid Verced (pardon the spelling if it's not right) before he went back so that he wouldn't be so upset that he was leaving mommy and daddy.  We got to go back into the pre-op holding room with him which was something that we didn't get to do at Rockdale when the other boys had their tubes put in.  While we were waiting for them to take him back, the medicine kicked in and he was too funny!  The nurses were just eating him up and the doctors couldn't believe what a show he was putting on.  He would yell "Hey" to everyone and was facinated by the swinging doors that led to the Operating Rooms.  He would blow kisses and wave bye bye to the nurses and would sing his ABC'S (we only go to D right now) at the top of his lungs, only he looked like a little drunk man doing it. He had hiccups so he would sing A-B-C and then hiccup each time.  It didn't help matters that the medicine made his balance a little off so he would stumble all around the crib he was in and would even fall down some.  It was a riot!!  He called his Stu-Stu and Ross from the makeshift phone he made with his hand and played peek-a-boo with everyone.  I'm telling you, it was quite a show!  The surgery was a success and his pressure is normal again.  I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not but that night after his surgery we went to eat at Longhorn.  Cooper got a little anxious waiting for his food so he and I went outside while daddy waited on them to bring everything to us.  While we were outside, he started walking.  He took at least 8 steps before he fell down (a huge accomplishment and much more progress than the 2-3 steps he had been taking).  He did this several more times that night and I watched as tears streamed down my face.  He is now walking all over the place.  While he is still a little unsteady at times, it is the most beautiful sight my eyes have seen since the day that he was born!

Cooper loved hiding in the end table while we were waiting to go to the Pre-Op room

Am I cute in my hospital gown or what?

Cooper and his Lovie Bunny get ready to go to Pre-Op

Where are we going?

Cooper loved riding on the elevator to the Pre-Op floor

Cooper playing peek-a-boo with some of the nurses-his medicine 

had started to kick in by this time!

Here he is during one of his performances of the A-B-C song.  Notice how his eyes look a little glassy and that he is holding on to keep from falling!

All I Want For Christmas...

Is my two front teeth!

About a week or so before we went to Myrtle Beach Carter was in a minor car accident.  No, Todd nor I had a wreck, Carter did on his battery operated Jeep.  From what I understand, he was riding around in the grass and had decided to come back up onto the driveway.  I think that he tried to come up onto the concrete in a spot that isn't quite a flush with the grass and caught the tire on it.  The Jeep flipped (not totally over) just enough to throw Carter forward and he hit his teeth on the steering wheel.  For the next couple of days, he complained that it hurt when he ate, but I had looked in his mouth and saw nothing.  I told him that he had probably just knocked his teeth a little loose and that they would be sore for a few days until they tightened back up.  This was so not the case.  After about four days I noticed that his teeth were turning a little brown.  Not too big of a deal-one of mine did that from a tumble I took out of a bed when I was little onto hardwood floors!  There's really nothing you can do for it except for it to wait until it falls out so I didn't sweat it too much.  However, while we were in Myrtle Beach, his teeth got really dark and continued to get darker and darker with each new day.  Todd and I are friends with a dentist in our neighborhood so Todd called him when we got home from the beach and talked to him about it.  He said for us to bring him in the next day so that they could do x-rays.  Carter and I went and it was decided that they needed to come out.  Since we were leaving that Saturday to head to Panama City, we decided to wait until we got home to do any pulling or anything.  

This past Monday, Todd and I loaded Carter up and we headed to the dentist.  I was very nervous about how he would do but he really surprised me.  He was a very brave boy and didn't get that upset.  He has also found a love of Nitrous Oxide (not good).  He kept saying, "Mommy this stuff is really good".  I think I'm going to have my hands full as he gets older!  He only got upset twice when Dr. Wolf gave him the shots, but he quickly calmed down and didn't even bat an eye when he pulled them out.  

I was so proud of him that I took him to Target to let him pick out a new DS game-he chose Speed Racer.  He looks so funny without his two front teeth!  He is really doing well though, and shows everybody that we come in contact with his missing teeth!  

Here are some pictures from his big day:

Carter flashing his baby smile one last time for Mommy

Carter really liked the "elephant nose", I mean Nitrous Oxide that Dr. Wolf gave him

Carter proudly shows off his new smile along with the note that Mommy helped him write to the Tooth Fairy

One more smile before he puts his teeth under his pillow

Mommy and her big boy!

Daddy and his little man-it is scary at how much they look alike!

Carter's Tooth Fairy note-Mommy wrote exactly what Carter told her to.  If you look towards the bottom of the note you will see Carter's teeth-Yes, those are his teeth!  They are big and "not so very cute" but we think that they are priceless!  You can really tell just how dark they had gotten by looking at this picture.  

Carter carefully puts his teeth under the extra pillow in his bed.  He said that he couldn't put them under his pillow because he may squish them and then the Tooth Fairy might not be able to find them.  He puts much more forethought into things than I did as a child!

Snaggle Tooth!

Carter woke up before we did and immediately looked under the pillow to see if the Tooth Fairy had come.  He was so excited to see that she had left him a pack of sugar free gum and $20.00 (don't you know that you get more than usual for your first tooth?  

However, Carter got an extra special amount of money because he lost two teeth and because he was so brave when the dentist pulled them out!)

He had already put his money into his piggy bank by the time that I got into his room to make a picture.  I did manage to snap a shot of him looking at the note that she left for him!

Fun In The Sun

Cooper really loves playing (and eating) the sand.  Here are a few pictures of him enjoying his days on the beach!

The idea of getting a small swimming pool and filling it up with water was 

given to us by some friends of ours-Cooper loved it!  I would highly recommend 

this to anyone else with small children.  Even Carter and Jackson played in it some!

Hmmm...What to play with next?

Mr. Cool with his sunglasses on!

Beach Pictures at Panama City Beach

Since we took pictures on the beach at Myrtle Beach, I thought it would be nice to do it again in Panama City.  Jackson was not at all happy about walking down to the "smelly" beach to have his picture made and really put up a fight.  Todd patiently dealt with him and got him to cooperate for a moment or two.  After about 100 pictures, this is what we got:

Not too bad for a fussy boy!

My favorite family photo from our photo shoot

Mommy and her big boy

At the age of five, Carter already doesn't like for me to kiss him in public

He says I'm embarrassing him which breaks my heart-my baby is growing up way too fast!

Mommy, Daddy and Carter

Cooper and his biggest brother

What a sweet moment...

My three sons!

One Little Monkey

Until this trip, I had not been to Panama City Beach since Spring Break my Freshman Year of college.  Needless to say that things have changed!  I was sad to learn that the Miracle Strip had been torn down.  That is the amusement park that I finally got up the nerve to ride the "big swings" all by myself.  I will never forget that night.  "Shout" by Tears For Fears was blaring across the park as I sat in that swing waiting for the ride to begin.  My heart was racing and my hands were sweating profusely.  I contemplated getting off the darn ride, but my grandfather was watching and I didn't want to disappoint him.  I absolutely loved the ride and was so glad that I did it.  Things like that I can remember like they happened yesterday.  So many memories of fun times at that amusement park that my boys will never experience-my heart was broken.  To my surprise, though, one thing that is still there is the "Original Goofy Golf" putt-putt course that has been there for 100 years.  If you have ever been to Panama City, you know the course I am talking about.  It is the one with the huge monkey in the front.  I have made many a picture in my lifetime sitting in that monkey's hand.  It is neat now to look back at those pictures to see how much I had grown each year.  There was never a question about it, my boys HAD to have their picture made in that monkey' hand, even if we didn't play the course!  On Thursday night, my one and only mission was fulfilled.  While everyone else waited at Captain Anderson's to be seated, Todd and I took our boys and Ross and Hunter to have a photo shoot with the monkey.  My boys loved sitting in his hand and really wanted to play the course.  We didn't have time as we had to get back to Captain Anderson's but I promised them that if we went to Panama City again and the course was still there, we would play.  I wish now that we would have made time to do that on this trip...all I keep thinking about was memories...that's really what we do these things for.  Yes it's fun while we are doing them-sometimes it can be hectic and you wonder why you even thought of doing it in the first place-but when it's all said and done, you have made a memory that will last a lifetime.  I guess that's why I'm so big on taking pictures and doing special things with my boys.  I want them to look back on their childhood and smile and say "if only I could go back".  To steal a line from the Hokey Pokey, "That's what it's all about"!

Here are pictures from our photo shoot:

Hunter and the monkey

My little monkey Jackson sitting in the monkey's hand

Carter and the monkey

Ross takes his turn posing for a picture

Cooper looked so little sitting in the monkey's hand

Mommy was not going to leave until she got her picture made with the monkey

Even Daddy was a sport and sat in the monkey's hand...like he really had a choice!

Swimming Like Fish

Now for some of my boys big news:

All of my boys love the water, especially the pool!  While we were in Panama City, I got Ashley (Todd's cousin) to give Carter some quick swim lessons so that he would start swimming without his floaties.  Carter absolutely adores Ashley and I knew that he would listen to her a lot better than he would his daddy or me, plus Ashley used to teach swim lessons when she was in high school!  She gave him about three lessons and he did very well I must say.  

On Tuesday Jackson decided that he wanted to swim without his life vest.  I was very unsure of this as I had all three boys at the pool by myself.  As I mentioned before, we didn't have very good weather until Tuesday so everyone else wanted to be at the beach and I didn't blame them one bit!  It didn't help matters that Cooper had decided that he didn't like his float anymore and I was having to hold him-which he loved!  He kept insisting so I hesitantly said ok.  I told him that if I saw that he was having a hard time, he had to put it back on.  We came to an agreement and the life vest came off.  To my surprise, he dove right in the water head first and swam like a fish!  I was so excited!  He swims with his face under water and doesn't hesitate to come up for air and then put his face right back down to continue to swim.   Needless to say, I had to brag on him to everyone.  He is just three and can swim like he's 10!  I really think that this might just be "his thing".  I was still a little concerned about how he would handle a situation in which he might get tired and start to panic so I stayed right with him and kept a very close eye on him.  After about 45 minutes of him diving in the pool and swimming around, I got my answer.  He had done a "cannon ball" into the water and really went down far into the pool.  I waited with anticipation as he came up.  He got a breath of air and started swimming towards the stairs, but they were far away.  I could tell he was getting tired and started to go over to him, but before I could get there or even say anything to him, he flipped over on his back and swam that way for a minute or two, long enough to catch his breath, and then flipped back over and swam to the stairs.  I am telling you-he amazes me!  He had never heard us say anything about swimming on your back nor had Ashley taught Carter to do that-he just knew that that was what he needed to do.  While I'm not signing him up for the summer Olympics just yet, I really do think that we are going to look into putting him on a swim team.  He's still not strong enough physically for me to not keep my eyes on him like a hawk but I don't worry about him half as much as I do Carter.

Speaking of Carter, not to be outdone by Jackson, he decided that he wanted to start swimming without his floaties that same day.  Again, I was hesitant as I now had Cooper in my arms and a three year old daredevil with no life vest on, but I gave in and let him take them off.  He is doing good, but is scared to keep his face in the water for very long.  It's so funny but watching them swimming reminds me so much of Brooke and I.  She has never been one to swim under the water a whole lot as she is chlosterphobic (sp?).  She is a very cautious swimmer, which is good, but she has a very healthy fear of the water.  While I have developed a healthy fear of the water and know now that  even the best swimmers can drown in an instant, when I was little I was Miss Try Anything.  To this day I still swim much better under water than I do above the water. Jackson is so much like me.  He will try anything that I will let him do.  He has started doing flips in the water and tries very hard to do handstands-we're not quite there yet, though! While I haven't totally retired the floaties or life vest yet (they still ask for them sometimes and it makes me feel better for them to use them when an adult isn't in the pool with them) they really prefer swimming without them now.  What can I say...my babies are growing up!  Thank goodness I still have a year or two left with Cooper before he decides to be Mr. Independent all the time (we've already gotten to that stage with eating)!

Of course all of this took place on Tuesday before Todd got to the beach (he got there late Tuesday night).  I did get some good video of them swimming that day, though.   Here are some pictures of their big day:

Carter jumps in without any floaties at all!

I tried to catch Jackson doing a dive, but he is so little and moves so fast that this is what I caught-just his feet!

Jackson swimming for the stairs!

Carter swims towards the side of the pool

Carter swims with "big arms" and makes lots of splashes!

I managed to get this picture of Carter just before he dove into the water-his dives are getting better and better!

Finally, a picture of Jackson about to dive in the pool

Carter doing one of his silly jumps!

Jackson follows right behind him!

Sweet Cooper relaxing in his float on one of the rare occasions that he let me put him down!

What a group!

Beach Bums

OK, so I think we are officially beach bums!  We loaded up a couple of weeks ago and headed to the beach once again!  This time we went to Panama City Beach and had a great time visiting with Todd's family from Tennessee (this is his mom's side of the family).  It's always neat to get to spend time with them as I look at Todd's Aunt Bobbi and think about what a remarkable woman his mother must have been as I am sure that she possessed many of the same wonderful qualities that his aunt does.

Todd was unable to go to the beach when we did as he had to close out his month at work  so Ross and Hunter went along to help me out. I had no idea what a blessing that would be when we left Georgia on that Saturday. Ross, Hunter, Cooper and I set out in the minivan following Mack, Carter and Jackson who were in his truck. After only a few stops and some surprisingly well behaved children, we arrived in Panama City at about 6:45 (7:45 our time). We got the envelope to our condo and headed to a local restaurant for dinner. Cooper, Jackson and I left the restaurant before our meal came as they had had enough! We got to the condo only to find that our key was not in the envelope like it should have been. I finally got someone on the phone and then had to wait about 25 minutes for them to bring the key to me. Waiting by myself in a parking lot with two fussy children was NOT fun, but we survived! Mack and the rest of my gang arrived shortly before our keys did and we got everything unloaded and put away. Ross and Hunter stayed with the boys and got them in bed while Mack and I headed out for what we thought would be a quick trip to Wal-Mart for groceries. Two and a half hours later, we were headed back to the condo tired, ill and drained physically and mentally. While we were gone on our adventure, Todd's Aunt Bobbi, Uncle Bruce and Cousin Ashley arrived and were there to greet us when we got back. We unloaded groceries and then headed off to bed.

The next couple of days it rained hard and the boys were going stir crazy. I decided to load everyone up and head out for a day at the movies. Mack thankfully kept Cooper at the condo for his nap while the rest of us headed to see Wall-E. I had some errands to run so Ross and Hunter took Carter and Jackson to see the movie and Ashley and I went out for some marathon shopping-I was on a mission to pick up new bedding and accessories for Mason and Will's new room that is going to be a big surprise to them (I'll save that for another post at another time!).

On Tuesday we were FINALLY able to go to the beach. It was not the greatest experience in the world as the horrible storms had brought some nasty algae, seaweed and jellyfish into the coast. Instead of clear blue water, there was green yuck! My boys hated it and the horrible smell made them sick, literally! Needless to say they spent most of their vacation at the pool. This is where Ross and Hunter were the biggest help. They would stay at the pool with Carter and Jackson and I would stay at the beach with Cooper. They would also take all of the boys in for naps so that I could get some more beach time in! 16 year old nephews are the greatest!!! I did manage to snap a few pictures of my little beach bums on one of the rare occasions that they actually stepped onto the sand. Look for another post about the rest of our time at the beach soon!

Brotherly Love...

Carter looks so thrilled to be having his picture made with Jackson

My Three Angels

Jackson just looks like a surfer dude to me...

I think that it's the dark skin and "I don't care" attitude

Carter really didn't want to have his picture made

He was too concerned about getting to the pool

The Beach Boys ready for some fun in the sun

Rub A Dub Dub...

Three boys in a tub!

We have just started letting all three boys take a bath together.  It makes bath time so much easier, except for the times that Cooper gets away from us and hides behind one of his big brothers!  Here are a couple of pictures from their first bath together-they were so excited that I had a very difficult time getting everyone to look at the camera-we did the best we could!

What a tub full!

Cooper feels like such a big boy taking baths with his big brothers!