Summer Break 2009

Jared finished up third year on a Friday and we left for New Jersey Saturday afternoon. We loaded up all our stuff and the three kids and drove 4 and a half hours to Jersey. We stayed with Jared's cousin and his cute family. The kids had sooo much fun with their cousins!!! Avery and I messing around with the camera while driving to Jersey! Liam is so cute sucking his thumb! Ben reading the kids a bedtime book, what a good dad!

The next day we headed off to New York! I was sooo excited as I absolutely LOVE New York!!!!! We took the bus in and Lincoln was so excited to ride on the big bus. It's so funny going into a big city with 3 kids. We get so many looks from people, some good but most of them are not. I just give them my, "you want to fight" look and that pretty much takes care of it. Us getting off the bus and headed toward the subway. More pics of us in N.Y.

So I also love the street fair they have every weekend. There is this stand that makes the best fruit smoothies ever. Lincoln thought the blenders were too loud so he covered his ears. He is so funny. We did pass on the chocolate covered marshmallows this time. They are just not the same with out you Tyson! Avery and Linc trying on stuff at the street fair. So they have this giant train table at Toys R Us and Linc loved it. He could have stayed there all day. Liam almost made it through the whole store, but then just passed out.

Ok, so if you have ever seen the movie, Fools Rush In, you know that Gray's Papaya hot dogs were the one thing the main character missed from New York. So we totally wanted to go there and get a hot dog. Sadly they were not as good. Don't get me wrong, the hotdog was actually good but needed to be bigger. The let down was that the sour kraut did not have any "bite" to it. We had a ton of fun though and the kids liked it.

We were able to meet up with Jareds other cousin Mariah whom we have missed so much. We met her in Central Park at the splash park and the kids were pretty happy to see her too. We could spend forever in Central Park.
The kids chasing the pigeons just outside of Central Park.
Good times at FAO Schwartz.

Monday Morning we were off to Massachusetts to my see my friends Aaron and Jessica. So trying to get all the kids to look at the camera at the same time is impossible!

We got there that evening and it was so good to see Jessica and her family. Tuesday we got up and we all went to Cape Cod. It was so pretty and the kids loved it. There were so many Hermit crabs and Leopard crabs. Lincoln just went right to town picking them up and putting them into the bucket, but it took Ave a bit.
Liam also turned 6 months that day! He is growing so fast and he continues to be such a blessing to our family. The kids adore him and can't pass by him without hugging, kissing, or touching him.









Liam LOVED the water!


The next day we rode the train into Boston to go to the Childrens Museum. It was so cold that day, I think the high was like 65!!! When we got to Boston we met Aaron and we all had lunch. Liam LOVED the deep dish pizza. When I would pull my hand away he would reach out and grab them and pull the pizza back to him. He is just so dang cute! We had so much fun there.














Thursday morning we had to say goodbye. The kids did not want to leave. They all played so well together.


Then we were off to Newport Rhode Island. We got there that afternoon and walked the Cliff Walk which ran behind all the mansions. It was sooo foggy which was a bummer, but it was still beautiful!!! You can pay and then tour 5 of the mansions, we didn't get to do this but we are for sure going back next year and taking the tour. So if anyone out there wants to join us, please do because it's going to be amazing! We walked along the beach and noticed the red tide. It was the craziest thing to see streaks of red running through the water.








We then went back to New Jersey to Ben and Tanelle's and met up with Raschell Friday. It was so good to see her, and we know Tyson was devastated that he missed us:0) Thank you sooo much Ben and Tanelle and Aaron and Jessica, we had such a great time and we miss you all already. Please come to D.C. and let us return the favor!!

First Hair Cut

Liam was blessed on the 14th and so the day before I gave him a hair cut. I was so afraid that he would loose his curls, but they stayed thank goodness. His "wings" were getting a bit too long. He just sat there and watched the kids. He is such a good baby.

Before


After

For Tyson And Raschel

For those of you who know what Wegmans is knows that they have the best everything there!!! This is our favorite grocery store and I know I have mentioned it before but I will miss Wegmans the most when we leave!! Here are the kids enjoying their hot dog cookies that look oh so yummy!!

Saying Goodbye To A Great Rotation

Jared has just finished his last day in his Primary Care rotation and I am so sad to see it ending. It has been the best rotation of them all by a long shot. He is home every day no later than 4 and most days is home in the early afternoon. He takes his test this Friday and then we are done with our 3rd year of Medical school!!! WooHoo!! Since he has had so much time off we have been have been hanging out and playing. A bit ago we went to the National Harbor in Maryland. It was fun walking along the waterfront and climbing on "The Awakening" statue. It used to be in D.C. but the artist, J. Seward Johnson, Jr. sold it for $750,000 in Feb. of 2008. I would have sold it too! Avery has also graduated from Preschool!!!! We are so proud of her and how far she has come in those two years. She is such a joy to us and takes great care of her two little brothers. I can't believe she will be in Kindergarten this September!!! Where has the time gone to? So the other night Avery did not want to go to bed. She was crying and carrying on for about an hour. Finally Jared took her upstairs for the millionth time and said that if she gets out again that she will have to go to bed early tomorrow night. So when we went to go up to bed, this was waiting for us at the top of the stairs. We were laughing so hard! She can be sooo dang sweet, even when she is driving you crazy. My Uncle Norm and Aunt Linda were traveling the east coast and stopped by to say hi. I was soooooo excited to see them as I have been missing family like crazy. Uncle Norm played with the kids and they are in love with him. He was so much fun when I was little and now it's fun to watch him do the same "magic tricks" with my kids. We miss you and love you two sooo much. Thank you so much for stopping by!!
It has been raining here so much lately so when it finally stopped, and Jared was off early, we went to the water fountain at Fairfax Corner. The kids LOVE it and will stay there forever. Lincoln kept trying to kick the water and Avery just ran everywhere with a big smile on her face.

Nephrologist, Urologists, and Radiologists Oh My!!!

I swear all that we do now is go to the Dr. I went to the Nephrologist on June 2nd and found out that my right kidney does not work. So when I was in the hospital I was in kidney failure since the other one was blocked by the stone. I am doing fine since my left kidney is now stone free, I just have to do a few test to figure out why I make stone and try to avoid it. Liam had his bladder and kidneys scanned on June 4th and they are doing great!! We did find out through talking with his Urologist that they made his Urethra and there for it is not a "true" Urethra. So, when he is around 4 they will go in and place like a permanent catheter that has a valve on the end. So when he needs to empty his bladder he will just open the valve. I think that will be more convenient for him rather than having to self cath every time as we thought. On June 8th Liam had his back scanned. We found that he has Spina Bifida and will need spinal surgery to repair this. Spinal Bifida is a failure of the vertebraes to close around the spinal cord. We see the Neurologist on July 13th to find out more of what to expect and long term issues from this. I still believe that he will walk, it just might take him a bit to get there. Other than that Liam has turned 5 months old and I can't imagine life without him! He is such a great baby and loves to watch Avery and Linc when they sing to him. All he does is smile and slobber!