Oglebay

We recently spent the weekend at Oglebay Resort in West Virginia with my family to celebrate my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was such a fun weekend. The guys played golf while all the kids went to the on-site zoo. We had good food and lots of laughs and shared lots of memories with my grandparents. Here are a few pics of the weekend. We wish we could get together with everyone more often. Thanks for a great weekend Granny and Granddaddy!

The Patient

Tessa had to make a visit to Children's Hospital last week for a corrective surgery. We have known about a few kidney issues Tessa has had since before she was born and up until now they had just required monitoring. A few weeks ago after her most recent check-up, her urologist said they thought she would need surgery to fix an enlarged ureter (tube connecting kidney to bladder). Tessa spent the night at the hospital and we've had her home recovering for the past week. The surgery went very well and we are not anticipating any further procedures. The recovery was a little more involved than we anticipated and her little body did not like the pain meds prescribed, but she's doing much better every day. We have a check-up this afternoon and she should finally be able to have the two catheter tubes/bags she has had all week taken out. That will make life for her a whole lot easier. Have you tried to keep a 10 month old still for a week?

We are so very very lucky that my Mom and Dad were able to come for the week to help out as Duke had a pretty busy work week. Grandma Sassy went over and above helping us out and we couldn't have made it through the week without her. Can't thank you enough Mom!

The picture above was while she was getting admitted and prepped for surgery. As you can see she was the cutest patient on the floor that day and was a hit with the nurses! She has done MUCH better than her mommy all week!

Tessa should be able to be up moving around by tonight and will be completely back to herself before we know it! Thank you to all of you who passed along your thoughts and prayers. We very much appreciate them!

Friends

Just some random pictures of Max and Tessa's friends from the past few months. There's one picture from a visit I had with the Beaumont girls (must get more and better pics next time). Ainsley and Emery are adorable and it was so fun to see Jenny and John with them. They are naturals!

Duke and I were honored to be asked to be Elsie Gibson's godparents and we headed out to Elmhurst a few weeks ago for the ceremony. Elsie was a perfect angel and the ceremony was beautiful. Max and Tessa came a long and had some fun play time at the Gibson's after the ceremony.

We got to spend a little bit of time with Jorie, Emme and Delanie over the weekend. Although I wish they could have stayed longer, Max LOVED watching the girls. Tessa was a little tired, so she was being shy. We get to see them again this weekend for the Max and Tessa's first trip to the zoo!

So Big!

We had Max and Tessa's check-up today with Dr. Lynch and they're doing great! Max is almost 22 pounds and Tessa is 17 pounds. Max likes his food! As of the last couple of weeks, they are treating our place like a jungle gym. They are pulling up on everything and those little buggers can move fast! They just started doing so big and I swear Tessa is finally waving when I wave to her. Tessa has three teeth and Max FINALLY got his first tooth a few weeks ago. So far, it's just hanging out there by itself. I think meal times are their favorite times of the day. Max loves everything. Tessa is a bit more picky, but loves watermelon, pears, cheerios, cauliflower and cheese (just like her mommy). They love to laugh at their daddy's silly faces. They are such a blast to be around right now and we are enjoying every day.

Pool's Open!

As city dwellers, our pool access is limited. So, we opened our own pool! As you can see, I bought one and assembled it in the living room and realized it was too big for the back deck. But, Max loved it and got pretty comfortable right away. We ended up putting the smaller pool on the back deck and they love it. Tessa especially loves to splash. We're looking forward to many more pool days this summer.

You Gotta Have Friends

We recently got together with the Fabers, Hoods, and Ponces for a play date. Max and Tessa loved hanging with the gang!

Best Friends...Until You Take My Toy

We've been busy for the last month chasing babies around here. They're fast! Both Max and Tessa are doing great. They are really happy babies and lately have really enjoyed playing together. I often have to separate them to avoid injuries and crying, but they just want to be right next to each other. They like to explore together and roll around together and occasionally try to nibble on the other one's toes for a snack! They play really well together, that is until Max takes Tessa's favorite toy...the music box! Max tries to take everything Tessa is playing with, but watch out if he tries to take the box. She gets mad! She does her best to hold on, but her brother is a little bit stronger so he usually wins. It's been a blast watching them develop their little personalities.